I just got this book. It all makes sense, the programs are progressive and use periodization. There’s a good emphasis on deadlifts (one of my favorite lifts when I actually do them). And squats and lunges – man my legs were jelly leaving the gym today, I can only imagine what they’ll feel like tomorrow.
Interestingly, for lifters he recommends more of a Zone diet than anything else.
I came off Atkins a few months ago and have been following BFFM principles for about 2 months now. Loving it, lifting heavier and glad to be eating good carbs again. Just wanted to report back on adding carbs back in … it’s going very well and I seem to be doing just great on oatmeal, brown rice, sweet potatoes, rice cakes and even white potatoes. I’m also eating all kinds of fruit – all within reason though. The only thing I just don’t seem to tolerate well is bread. Even real wholewheat bread. I just bloat right away. Visibly … like I’m 2 months pregnant 
Anybody else find that? I wonder if that indicates a wheat intolerance? I don’t feel bad or anything, I just bloat a little. I guess it will then be the same with wheat pasta, though I’m avoiding that as it used to be a trigger/binge food for me.
Anyway, no big deal, I can certainly live without bread! Just wanted to share that and to let people know that, if you cut the fat and keep an eye on your calories, you CAN come off Atkins safely and enjoy eating good carbs again without gaining any weight back.
Anyone found any good research articles on glycogen replenishment within a low carb diet? I’m asking because I’ve maintained a fairly intense lifting workout schedule on an Atkins induction-style WOE and I can’t explain why I don’t fatigue more easily if I’m truly "depleted" of glycogen. I want to know more.
Some thoughts: when we deplete glycogen initially on a low carb diet to initiate ketosis, we still replenish that glycogen, correct? The glycogen then would have to come from (I assume) the breakdown of ketone bodies, protein, or tiny amounts of carb in an induction diet being converted into blood glucose. Does glycogen not replenish as quickly from ketone sources as it does from carbohydrate sources?
Most studies look at glycogen replenishment from the standpoint of someone NOT initially in ketosis, but from someone who may have just finished strenuous exercise. Does it work differently if the subject is in ketosis?
My under-informed hypothesis would go something like this: The body seeks to fill its glycogen reserves on a constant basis, particularly in response to feeding. If feeding stimulates little insulin because of a VLC diet, the body is still regularly converting ketones to blood glucose, and a portion of that is being squirreled away as glycogen all the time. Thus, the body is constantly "sopping up" some of its available blood glucose to replenish glycogen (perhaps even on a more regular and constant basis than in an carb-induced insulin spike) and as a result, as blood glucose is removed from the system, the body draws on lipolysis to create more ketones and thus more blood glucose – since it finds no available substrate in the form of carbohydrate, and finds plenty of excess ketone bodies floating around). This would have the advantage of keeping one in a lipolytic/fat-burning state while maintaining stable blood glucose and sparing protein.
I’m just wondering if anyone’s seen the research to explain the process or point out observations about it that specifically addresses individuals on a VLC diet. Since our bodies can only hold something around 2000 calories in glycogen, if I deplete 1000 of those in an hour workout, how long do they take to replenish vs. a high-carb diet with more definite insulin spikes?
Most of what I’ve read (again, not dealing with VLC diets) says glycogen depletion takes more than 24 hrs to recover from, and that a lot of factors affect recovery (age, gender, smoking, carb intake, etc.) But if I burn up, say 1000 calories in glycogen daily, and on a VLC diet I’m not replacing them just as rapidly, after a few days I should feel unable to maintain my workouts at the same intensity – but I’m finding (anecdotally) that isn’t true, and I know I’m not taking in 1000 calories’ worth of carbohydrate or even protein that could be converted into that glycogen replenishment. Do our bodies, while in a ketotic/lipolytic state, "convert" to fuel our glycogen stores by using dietary fat, body fat, or both? If so, how rapidly or slowly does this occur?
In my research, I came across a diet I had never heard of before The Anabolic Diet by Dr. Mario Dipasquale. It’s targeted as a bodybuilding diet, where you eat 30 g carbs throughout the week, then switch to a higher carb-lower fat diet for 36-48 hours on the weekends. There are different phases, but I believe he recommends starting out at 3000kcal per day.
I really like the principles of this diet, and I’ve done some mild carb-cycling before with good results. I’m wondering, as a woman:
*with about 20 pounds to lose
*who works out 5-6 days/week with cardio and weights, but does endurance style weight training, not heavy weight training (like Jari Love and Cathe Friedrich DVDs)
… would this kind of diet be advisable for my weight/fat-loss goals IF I kept the calories down? I’m between 160 and 165 lbs, 5′6, so maybe keeping them at like 1500-1600 throughout the week, and upping them on weekends?
Does this make sense, or should I just stick to lower-carb in general and count calories?
thanks for any advice!! 
I started back at the gym this past Wednesday (haven’t gone for over 5 months). I did a lower body workout Wednesday evening and an upper body workout Thursday morning. My legs are still sore today. I planned on a lower body workout today because tomorrow will be an upper body workout. Is it too soon because I’m still sore? If I don’t do the lower body workout today then I won’t be able to get to it until Sunday.
any experiences?