You've probably heard that the body can become addicted to carbohydrates, or that low-carb dieting can make one depressed. Those things can be true via "addiction" to serotonin synthesis in the brain. Serotonin, which is widely believed to evoke feelings of happiness and well-being, is unlike any other neurotransmitter in that its synthesis is dependent on non-fructose carbohydrate ingestion and the resulting insulin release from the pancreas. Insulin allows the amino acid tryptophan to enter the brain, and serotonin is derived from tryptophan and synthesized there. Put simply, eating carbs makes one temporarily happy, and that's why people "eat their feelings." I know this is true for me, personally; once I break "routine" and eat some crap I'm not supposed to (side note: processed foods generally cause a greater insulin release and therefore, increased serotonin synthesis), I just embrace it keep going even though I know I'm going to regret it later. The cycle goes like this:
Eat things that I know are bad for me > temporary happiness > regret and crave happiness > eat good > feel empowered > weekend comes > get bored and crave serotonin-induced happiness > repeat.
I have long known of this relationship and it's dramatic effect on me personally, and it is a major reason why most people fail to adhere to a low-carb way of eating the long-run. In the roughly two years since I became carb-conscious, there are only a handful of weekends which I've been able to avoid eating out of moderation. Pretty strict Monday-Friday adherence got me a lot leaner and healthier, but not as lean and healthy as I want to be. When I thought up this program a month ago, I'd pretty much maintained for a year and a half, and I felt ready to take it to the next step. The knowledge was there, it was just a matter of putting it into practice. So I thought, maybe I should try eating more carbs (of the unprocessed, starchy veg variety) on my workout days when my body is equipped to use glucose for good rather than store it in adipose tissue, thus inducing serotonin synthesis and that feeling of well-being more often without having to eat 8000 calories worth of garbage on Sundays (and store it!). Right on.
In theory, I had it figured out, but I screwed up in practice by severely underestimating calorie intake. I picked a few sample days from the past 2 weeks where food seemed abundant, and calculated calorie intake. I swear to you, I WAS FULL, but the short eating window kept me consistently under 2000 calories, even on my workout days. That's probably about 600-800 too low, depending on the day. I've been eating more carbs than I was used to on workout days, but still way too few while keeping fat to a minimum. Not only have I not been synthesizing serotonin at the theorized rate, but by Friday/Saturday my body has been starved for energy. I think being so used to fasting caused me not to realize until I was bored. Will-power grows weak under those conditions, and I've got to figure that to be a major contributor to my poor adherence on the past two Sundays.
So here's my plan to remedy. First off, I'm going back to whey for my PWO protein and substituting the fructose-heavy fruit with a white potato - reason being: greater insulin/serotonin response. I still don't want to measure my food - like I've continually said, this is a life-long thing and I don't plan on being the 50 year old guy who carries a food scale around - but I've just got to eat more calories during the week. I'm still an advocate of fat as the primary human fuel, so I'm only going to increase carbs (beyond what I've been eating for the last 2 weeks) on two days each week. On the first of two consecutive workout days, I'm going to eat less fibrous veggies and more starchy ones with my two meals and also add Greek yogurt to the mix (never had an issue with dairy, so why restrict?). On the second workout day I'll eat a moderate amount of carbs from greens and medium-carb veggies like squash, pumpkin, carrots, and beets, and I'll bump the calories with a little extra fat. On non-workout days I'll continue to eat mostly fat and protein, with 30-60g of carbs from greens with a little wiggle room for a "treat." Rather than bypassing healthy meals and by stuffing my face with shit, I'm intending to eat my normal meals first and allow myself a a 400-or-so calorie buffer if I need it. I've made plans before and always broke them eventually but I've never really tried "carb cycling" or a "cheat treat" every third day, so here goes nothing!
Anyway, I got back on track yesterday. BCAAs preworkout, per ushe.
- Low box squat (3:00 rest)
- 335 x 1 + 2 (soooo close to getting 2 on my own)
- 310 x 3 + 1
- 295 x 4 + 1
- 280 x 5 + 1
- Romanian deadlift (2:30 rest)
- 225 x 12
- 255 x 9
- 285 x 6
- Metcon - AMRAP 8
- 10 lunges each leg holding a 45# plate overhead
- 40 side-to-side line jumps
- 20 accordion situps
I was a little disappointed in the squat weights; granted 335 was my max 3 weeks ago, but I feel like I could have completed 2 reps then so there's no real progress there. But again, I haven't quite stuck to the diet plan. If I bare down hopefully I still have time to improve that number with some significance. I was able to up the RDL weights pretty significantly from a couple weeks back, so there's a definite plus. Metcon was tough on the legs after I'd already worked them, so the lunges became the bottleneck - though I only rested about 30 seconds total out of the 8 minutes and I came up 10 accordions short of 5 full rounds. Overall, I can't be too upset with this workout, but I definitely want to fuck squats UP next time.
I had about 25g of whey protein and a large potato with pepper, Frank's Red Hot, and a dollop of plain Greek yogurt to break the fast at about 6:40. I could barely wait to eat again so the presentation was a little weak but these meals filled me up nicely.
7:20PM - ~6 oz. swordfish steak sauteed in coconut oil, steamed asparagus, 6 steamed cherry tomatoes, raw spring mix, Frank's; 3 steamed sweet potatoes, 2 handfuls of berries, cinnamon. Topped both plates with Greek yogurt (~1c. total).
9:15PM - 2c. egg whites, ~2c. butternut squash, 1 large banana, cocoa powder, all scrambled together in coconut oil.
I felt extremely satisfied (read: expanded), and slept great. I hit the gym this morning for 16 minutes of CHI on the treadmill. Two weeks ago I maintained 6mph and 6% grade for 15 and bumped up to 7mph for the final minute; this week I pushed it at 6.2 for speed and grade and sped up to 7.2 for the final minute. Making moves! I just got home from workout #2 but you'll have to check back tomorrow for the results. Adios!
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