Hi everybody!!!! I have been doing Atkins for one year and 5 months and the results are amazing!!!
I have been exercising since the beginning but 5 months ago I star serius lifting and I am happy with the results ( I am toner, slimer and with more lean muscle).

But I love to read about low carbing and about bodybuilding and fitness and I start getting confused about many things.... many people say that to build lean muscle it is important to eat carbs before and after trainning but I do not know... I do not want to eat high carbs again as I am very happy with my style of life....I do not want to feel hungry all the time and to have craves for sugar and carbs again!!!!

I am very confused about those things because many people have talked about carb cycling and many other things that includes carbs and I do not want to do that....

I am very appasionate about fitness and my goal is to compete in a fitness figure contest one day but I need some support!!

You do not have to eat carbs to do anything. I worried about TKD, and CKD, and carb cycling and whatever else. Don't let anyone tell you what your body can do. I backed off on the cardio lately, but I have done high-intensity intervals, aerobics, walking/sprinting intervals, and heavy weight training ALL on low carb.
If you do eat a bunch of carbs (say you cheat or whatever) you should take advantage of the insulin sensitivity though and workout before or after you stuff your face and get a lot of protein. At least you'll put on muscle and get something out of it. That's what I do.

We don't need carbs to build muscle. We need protein, fat, vitamins and minerals.

The reasons for eating carbs to train comes from short term studies about performance and also from the insulin effect on amino acid uptake.

The studies showed reduced anaerobic performance in athletes that switched from high carb to low carb. This is normal and is part of the adaptation process as the body makes more enzymes to metabolize fat. But after a while, strength returns to normal. However, those studies can't show this because they were too short. So that's why they continue to advise to eat carbs for training.

The insulin effect on amino acid uptake is enhanced, or so they say, by the intake of carbs which drives insulin even higher than just protein alone. The problem with this advice is that it only works if cells remain insulin sensitive and when it does it's only short lived. As we know of chronic high carb intake, that's not what happens. As we continue to eat carbs, cells become insulin resistant and whatever effect there could be can't be had anymore. I would venture a guess that this advice also comes from those who use external aid such as synthetic testosterone. It's also become common to inject insulin to take advantage of the same effect.

You'll notice that those who eat carbs grow fat as they gain muscle. It's standard practice.

any, my husband is a body builder, and he does carb cylcling...i could ask him some questions for you. he swears by it, says it helps him lose fat! im not sure its for me, but it seems to work for him!

j-lo carb, did you notice a difference when you backed off the cardio? i just did the same thing, i was reading that post about how cardio can actually be bad for say...belly fat...so what do you think? what kinds of work outs do you do?

Hi mattie!!! about cardio I like to walk fast on the treadmill, I also use the elliptical machine and I love to do spinning classes at least 3 times per week. When I stop doing cardio I loose less body fat ....
In my case I loose more body fat when I do cardio after lifting...

thanks guys for responses I know that everything you said it is completly true it is just that sometimes I need to remember it!!!
the only place where I am understood is here!!!!

thanks again!!!

Mattie-

I love the way I look with lots of muscle, but all the cardio is killing my right ankle and my left knee. I'm only 32. I'm starting to think all the cardio is not necessary. Right now I lift 2x/week hard as I can for upper body and do about 45 min. jumping/boxing, walking/sprinting, video, whatever for cardio also 2x a week. That's all I seem to need to maintain my muscle.

I quit smoking about 6 months ago and just kept watching the scale go up. It sucks, but whatever at least I'm not smoking.

It totally sucks, but no matter what people tell you about the belly fat thing, you have to keep losing weight to get rid of it.
You gotta learn to love the little belly. Bellies are cute and they're not supposed to be totally flat.

congrats on not smoking! sweet.

ya, i know what you mean... i think some women just dont have the genes for a flat, ripped tummy...im trying to learn to love mine! its "womanly" right?

It's not!!!!! Here's most of the post I just wrote in another thread about low carbing and muscle gain:

I'm a 60-year old, post-menopausal woman who's been low carbing for a fairly long time. Two months ago I began doing Super Slow weight training. In those two months I have put on 10 pounds of rock hard muscle while continuing to lose body fat and inches. That's right. TEN POUNDS OF MUSCLE. My pecs are so hard they feel like bone; you can bounce a quarter off my biceps.

My recently measured oxygen consumption is 100%. Oh, and I work out a total of 40 minutes a week - 2 twenty minute sessions. Period.

Here's what I ate yesterday - 1983 calories, composed of: 81% fat; 15% protein; 4% carbs. To be precise, that was 26.1 total carbs, and 11.1 fiber, which means I ate 15 net carbs.

My normal/average calorie intake is between 1300-1500 per day, but I worked out (for only 20 minutes!) on Tuesday morning, and I'm always ravenous the next day.

I have more energy than is good for me, sleep like a teenager, and am told I look about 20 years younger than I am.

Get the Slow Burn Revolution - written by a bodybuilder and our own Dr. Eades. You'll not only build muscle like never before - you'll never need to do cardio again, yet have all its benefits. Promise.

Lisa

Lisa, I would LOVE to see pictures of your progress. Being 53 myself, seeing more mature women making wonderful progress really interests and inspires me. Thanks.

Galatia - if I can figure out how to use the camera on my new cell phone, you might get your wish. Guess I could start with the picture of fat me in a wheel chair about four years ago. That sure would contrast to a picture of me today. Btw, that picture of you next to your name is fabulous!

Lisa

Lisa, Thank-you for the compliment. I'm coming back from a lay-off, surgery and then 3 weeks vacation. So about 10 weeks of being a slug.

I look forward to the pictures. Why were you in a wheel chair? Nice to "meet" you, by the way.

I'm not sure a slug ever looked so good.


You, too. I was in the wheelchair because, aside from being morbidly obese, I had severe arthritis and femur bone deformation in my right hip. Losing a lot of weight and body fat helped the first part - and a trip to Belgium for the new hip resurfacing (rather than 'hip replacement') completely fixed the second part. I was given a completely new lease on life - and I hit the ground running.

Lisa

Lisa you told me you where only doing Slow Burn "and I hit the ground running." no cardio. Just teasing...Bru
PS What a great turn around...Congrats