Berardi's 7 habits - Anyone follow it exclusively?

[isol8d]

Meal #5:

1 baked potato/yam

As you can see, the plan has no starchy carbs such as potatoes, oats or rice etc in the main meals. I think the only time he advocates them is post workout, possibly during too.

Precision Nutrition quickstart guide uses starchy carbs...

for example:

7:00 AM: Scrambled Eggs, Cheese, Veggies and a Piece of Fruit + 2 Fish Oil Capsules
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM: Workout (Sip workout drink here)
12:00 PM: Quinoa and Chicken + 2 Fish Oil Caps
3:00 PM: Irish Blueberry Oatmeal
6:00 PM: Chicken with Chick Peas and Mediterranean Salad + 2 Fish Oil Caps
9:00 PM: Super Shake


Habit #4 - Eat Veggies and Fruit with any meal; "other carbs" only after exercise.

Want to eat bread, pasta, rice, sugar etc? You can - just be sure you save them until 1-2 hours after you exercise.

Bottom line: eat carbs only when you deserve to. No exercise, no carbs (other than fruits and veggies, of course)

I've had no problem with energy levels following PN, exercising 1-2 hours a day (cardio or resistance + kung fu/sparring)

[Teh El Macho]

I tried a strict South Beach Diet one time (from the original book). I had so little energy I could barely work let alone workout. I guess maybe your body transitions to it but I couldn't function. Also, going cold turkey on caffeine gave me horrible headaches.

Yeah man, that's how I've felt whenever I tried such types of diet. I gotta eat a big, mega ass bowl of oatmeal with milk and all kind of stuff in it every morning, and I need my carbs and fat (oooh the fat) everyday.

I've just watched a bit on the DVD where he makes ALL of the meals for the day as listed in that menu in 15 minutes. That's hardly taxing is it!

If one is diligent, it can be done. I'm very messy in the kitchen, and it takes me about 30 to 40 minutes to prepare everything. Add an extra 30 minutes if I have to cook meat from scratch.)

It helps to cook and freeze stuff for several days in advance (meat and pasta for 2-3 days, or stuff like peanut butter sandwiches, for example.) It also helps to keep some protein bars or other similar snacks handy to go with your regular meals. Otherwise, it can get cumbersome, tiring and time-consuming to prepare 7 meals a day every day.

Kashi has a line of healthy frozen food (very low sodium and fat, good carbs, fiber and protein). A bit expensive, but it helps to keep a few of them in the freezer when you are really on the go.

[spirez]

Just a little update. I've been sort of following this diet since starting this thread and i feel great. I have been cheating by having porridge in the morning though, but i have it with fresh fruit and a handful of spinach after.

I've been feeling fine during training as the workout drinks make up for the lack of complex carbs in the meals before hand.

I'm going to start writing a food log as i need to follow it more strictly to see if i really can work with it.

Might chuck some quinoa in with my pre-workout meal though. It's convenient and low gi as well as a good protein source.
isol8d do you follow that diet every day?

[syberia]

Have any of you guys followed a diet like this exclusively and found energy levels to be ok throughout training etc? Usually i would always eat a meal with brown basmati before training as it's low gi etc, but then i'm guessing the sheer amount of veg would cover this?

I've done a No-carb diet. It was different to this in that I ate three main meals a day and then maby a snack or two. I found it to be OK during training, but i only ever extended the no carb thing to a max of two weeks at a time. I usually had a pre-training snack, like an orange or something and i was usually OK.

[isol8d]

I don't follow it 100%.

My general diet is 6 proteins, 6 carbs, 2 veggies, replacing carbs with veggies anytime I feel like it. I'm taking in between 1800-2400 calories daily. I try to eat my starchy carbs after I work out. 2-3 meals a day are smoothies or meal replacement bars. I give myself a play day a week, as much for myself as it is for my family. I don't go crazy, but we'll order pizza or go out.

[Siphus]

I did that exact diet for a while and my energy levels were fine, lost a good amount of BF% and remained/gained in my lifts.

I suggest throwing in some Hot Rox twice a day though, and enjoy those cups of green tea.

[spirez]

Not too bothered about losing BF% at the moment mate. I'm around 10%, 5'10 and 73kg so i'm a small dude.

I need to lose around 3kg eventually so that i can fight at 70kg (same day weigh-ins means no water cutting for me) but i dont want to lose strength.

The main thing i enjoy about this diet is the simplicity of the preparation.

Just made my evening meal in 5 mins!

Chop onion
fry beef, add onion
chuck a load of spinach/rocket/watercress on a plate
throw on some cherry toms
Chuck on the beef/onions and done!

One thing that does surprise me is that there seems to be quite a lot of beef. Red meat does tend to get bad press if eaten in large quantities but then what constitutes excessive red meat consumption?

[ironlurker]

I tried a strict South Beach Diet one time (from the original book). I had so little energy I could barely work let alone workout. I guess maybe your body transitions to it but I couldn't function. Also, going cold turkey on caffeine gave me horrible headaches.

The key part with low-carb or ultra-low carb is getting through that transition period, especially if it's very low carb (atkins induction phase, anabolic diet during the week).

It can take up to three days to get through it, you can also do what's called a "fat fast" to speed it up (1000 calories, 800 fat, the rest protein and basically no carbs) for up to three days.

The first day or two, especially the first time you try it, really does suck. I felt like I had the flu. As I think you hinted at Whiteshark, you also get brain freeze to a degree as your brain says "where the **** is the glucose?", before it adapts to using the ketones for energy.

If someone wants to try very-low carb (<20/30 carbs a day), my suggestion would be to start during an off time when you're not training (or as you said) working very intensely, and to keep eating as frequently as possible (even more than 6-7 times a day).

[spirez]

Does **** loads of veg still constitute a low-carb diet? Are you referring to any carbs or just starchy carbs?

[Teh El Macho]

Starchy carbs should be nixed no matter what. Most of your carbs should come from fibrous greens like brocolli and for whole-wheat products. Carbs are carbs, but some of the stuff pple think as "carbs" are much, much worse than others.

But eating shitloads of brocolli or cauliflower, for example, you make it the bulk of your meal. There's so much that you can eat, per volume, in a day. And these bulky foods have a much lower carb-to-volume ration than whole-wheat products, for example. By including these bulky vegetables, you reduce the amount of volume left to protein, fat and the other carbs you should take (such as whole wheat products.) That's one way to achieve a low-carb diet IMO.