The Anabolic Diet Blog

This is a basic overview of my first week experience on the Anabolic Diet, and how it felt. For even more information on the first week, check out StrongLift.com’s write-up.

I first started on the Anabolic Diet in April of 2007. I read up on it for about two weeks before beginning, and then dove in head-first. I chose to follow the guidelines in T-Nation.com’s popular Anabolic Diet thread — specifically to eat low-carb/high-fat for the first 12 days rather than just the first 5, so the body becomes better fat-adapted. This is not necessary, but the reasoning behind it seemed sound to me.

Most accounts of the Anabolic Diet warned that, sometime late in the first week, you’ll hit a wall. A painful, slow, dull wall, and you’ll want to quit right there.  On day two of the Anabolic Diet, I hit that wall. I ate low carb and high fat on Monday, and woke up Tuesday sore and like there were a hundred little sandbags taped to my body, pulling me down. And I plowed through that day, using every bit of energy I had to get through my daily tasks. It was truly a challenge.

An even bigger challenged awaited me after working for the first half of the day, though: my workout for that night.

Don’t push yourself too hard in your workout when you hit the first-week wall. If you’re like me, you have the balls-to-the-wall attitude when it comes to training when you have a goal, but trust me, you will have endless energy and strength to power through every single other workout for years to come. You don’t want to wear yourself out too much, or worse yet, risk injury.

The feeling of having hundreds of little sandbags taped to my body continued slightly through Wednesday, held on a little through Thursday, and was basically gone by Friday.

Don’t give up during your first two weeks of the Anabolic Diet! Trust me, it is absolutely painful when you hit the dreaded “wall” but when it’s gone, the feeling you get is wonderful. I have lots more energy than I ever had on a traditional mixed-fats-and-carbs diet, and just feel better in everyday life. Eating carbs throughout the day always gave me a bloated feeling, and that is gone with the Anabolic Diet.

If you’re going to give the Anabolic Diet a shot, give it at least three weeks. By the end of the third week, you should be pretty fat-adapted and trust me, you’ll feel better than you’ve ever felt before.