At that point you’ll have gone through the “metabolic shift” to a fat-burning chemistry and
become comfortable with the diet. Then your personal modifications of the diet can begin. You’ll
be experimenting to see just how your body responds to different adjustments in the diet. You’ll
also find yourself having fun. As you progress and accurately track your progress through
monitoring bodyfat percentages, weight, appearance, and calorie ratios between fat, protein,
and carbs, you’ll be able to refine the diet to best achieve your individual goals.
Below I’ve provided a few of the special modifications to the diet bodybuilders have found
successful to this point. You may find some others, but this chapter will give you a start in ways
you can personally work with the diet to maximize growth.
THE MIDWEEK CARB SPIKE
After your weekend carb loading, you’ll really be ready to work on Monday and Tuesday.
What happens during these days is that you experience a “biphasic” response to the diet. You’re
still burning fat, but you’re also using all that glycogen you received during the weekend. You
look big, vascular, and find yourself motivated and working hard. You’re basically in both modes,
using both fat- and carb-burning metabolisms at once.
After a few months on this diet, you may want to try a one-hour carb load, or “carb spike,”
based on high glycemic foods. The “carb spike” should be done on Wednesday morning and it
will give you an extra “kick.” You can take in as many as 1,000 calories in the hour. You’ll want
to go right back to the high fat/high protein/low carb diet after this, but a little jolt of carbs can
be very productive as needed. It will drive amino acids into the cell and increase anabolic drive
and, as long as you go back to the Anabolic Diet, you’ll avoid laying on fat.
SHORT-TERM LOADING ON WEEKENDS
Some people may complete one day of carb loading on the weekend and find themselves
feeling poorly. They’re tired, sleepy, and feel like they’re retaining fluid and smoothing out
quickly. If this is so, go back on the high fat diet on Sunday. This will make the diet a 6-day
high fat, 1-day high carb experience, but if this works for you then it’s the way to go.
Again, the length of carb loading depends on the individual. The important thing is to
experiment with the length of your weekend carb load and learn what’s best for you.
Eating foods very high in glycemic value with less fat will generally lead to a shorter, more
intense carb load. You’ll almost certainly start to smooth out and retain water sooner, usually
before the 24 hour mark. By using lower glycemic foods and more fat, you’ll take longer to
load. You may want to experiment with both of these approaches to see what works best for
you. (See Chart on Page 68)
Keep in mind that it’s important to document aspects of the diet and its effects on your body. It
may be inconvenient or even painful, but if you’re interested in getting the most out of your
training, you’ve got to chart your progress and responses to changes in the diet. Make notes to
yourself on when you began to smooth out during the weekend, what you were eating, how
many calories, and any other essential information. Leave a trail for yourself.
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