underfeeding/overfeeding

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imported_henk8

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Hello to all. The main idea of this post came to me a while ago while looking at some different diet approaches. I came across a diet where the narrator tried to imply that the diet would cause an increase in lean weight and a simultaneous decrease in bf. (I know, I know... improbable for a natural trainer). The diet basically had two parts to it, the overfeed and underfeed days, spread out over a given period alternating between the two. On the UF days you would eat about 500-750 cals less than maintenance, and the same amount for the OF days.
While I have serious doubts on the effectiveness of the diet for doing the two things stated, my question is what would in fact happen? Would your weight stay the same? increase/decrease? Would there be some kind of compensation on a macro level on the OF days, like the dynamic described in the abcd diet?Would there be a slow increase in lean body weight, and very little fat?
ps. the diet consisted of something like 25%pro / 20% fat /55% carbs, with less carbs on UF days.
 
I think you might be referring to the "ABCDE" program. There was much discussion in the HST forum. Looked to me like another idea that was too good to be true.

Do a search under ABCDE and you'll find the thread.
 
No, I wasn't referring to the ABCDE program, that program as far as I understand works in 2 week blocks of over/underfeeding. I'm struggling to find the web page i'm referring to, but will post the adress as soon as I find it.
 
I've actually been experimenting with something very similar for the last 12 weeks, as follows:
Weights: Standard- issue HST x 3/ week, w/ drop- sets during 5s
Cardio: low- intensity treadmill 40 min, 3 x/ week
Overfeed: 600 cal above maintenance, divided over pre- & post- workout shakes and feeds subsequent to weight training. After that I consume maintenance calories throughout the 36- hour post workout window (when protein synthesis is elevated), except before cardio (see below). Total overfeed calories/ week = 1800
Underfeed: Cut calories by total of 500 over the 3 feeds prior to weights. Always have a low calorie protein & fat (ie zero carb) feed 2 hours prior to cardio. Saturday: underfeed by 150 cals/ meal for 5 meals after breakfast. Total underfeed calories per week = 2250 plus however much is burned during cardio.
I've been using Berardi's protein & fat OR protein & carb combinations.
Results: hate to sound like a cop- out, but the jury is still out for now. This is because I:
a) didn't get my Tanita scales (with athlete, but not bodybuilder mode) until the 5th week, making objective appraisal of my results difficult,
b) I had 1 week of extremely bad food poisoning (which interrupted training, and knocked kilos off my bodyweight, in like, less than 3 minutes
crazy.gif
)
c) 2 of those weeks were spent in SD, on pure maintenance calories (in which I inevitably lost some muscle weight, and have just gained it back by the conclusion of the 15s)
However, preliminary results are encouraging:
1) I can confirm that I lost 2lbs of fat and gained 3lbs of muscle in the 4 weeks of 5s/ negs until the start of SD (that was a stable and visually noticeable change, not just a once- off on the scales)
2) I have lost 2 inches off my waist since I started 12 weeks ago
3) I have gained strength at a tremendous rate; not something associated with traditional diets, which leave me feeling flat and weak, and struggling to maintain strength. In fact I'm pushing pretty much all new records, at least since my old pwerlifting days
4) I have had no trouble sticking with the diet. No major cravings; I know I never have to wait long for an overfeed.
On the other hand, before anyone is tempted to get too excited I would note the following:
1) This doesn't seem to be any more effective than the traditional bulk- up, then cut down diet
2) A decent amount of my gains could be attributable to making a comeback after a nearly 8- month hiatus from training
3) Some of the weight loss could have come from the food poisoning
So not really conclusive feedback, but if anyone is interested, I'd be happy to post up the results in 6 weeks time; I've just started the 10s and all going well I should be able to assess the diet without any of the following factors skewing results:
1) muscle memory
2) sickness (hopefully!)
3) SD
4) lack of bodyfat scales
Overall I think that this diet would suit the patient type, and that it avoids the yo- yo dieting that I've been prone to over the years. However, without wanting to hijack the thread, I think that the amount of HIIT recommended in the article you linked would be disastrous (I'm no fan of that stuff).
 
I would appreciate it if you could post your results, so far it seems to be going ok (sparing the food poisening ;) ). As for the HIIT cardio, I dont like it either, I just posted the link to see what the reaction would be, because it seemed like a strange approach. I didn't post it to imply I agree or disagree with the approach, especially the training is desperately lacking (maybe that should tell me something about the diet
blush.gif
).

The reason I was interested is that some people, myself included, seem to gain alot of weight (lean and fat weight) after a period of dieting. I know this comes down to some amount of compensation for the lack of food during that period. The problem is that by the time you realise that you are eating too much cals. you've already gained 5 or 6 pounds and that starts an endless loop, dieting gaining, losing muscle, gaining, losing etc. Not eating enough isn't usually my problem ;) , but the effect would be slow gains( which is just as terrifying ). So an approach that would minimise fat gain wouldn't need that much dieting(during which you'll lose some muscle too), would be ideal. (The point is i'm still looking A man can dream...)
 
You might also want to use the search engine to dig up the "zig zag diet" thread. It provides mostly positive feedback on one of Dr Fred Hatfield's diets - one very similar to what you've described.
 
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