Karim's muscle gain carnivore adventure

Karim_Wassef · 2019-05-23 05:53:30 UTC

I think it’s cortisol … it saps muscle to raise glucose

My glucose has been sky high and my work stress is off the charts

x-Dena-x · 2019-05-23 07:29:57 UTC

Awwwww I’m sorry work’s been stressful. I know that sucks the big one, and is messing with your numbers. Boooooooo hisssssss

carolT · 2019-05-23 08:03:13 UTC

Would it be better to leave time for recovery between workouts?

Karim_Wassef · 2019-05-23 10:03:29 UTC

I work out different body parts so each gets a week of recovery… it also relieves by mental stress

I can try to go from 5 days to 3 days starting next week and see

carolT · 2019-05-23 10:09:55 UTC

I knew you were going to say that. Just checking.

Karim_Wassef · 2019-05-23 20:44:01 UTC

Day 27

I actually ended last night at 75G, 2.6K = 1.6GKI

When I’m vigilant on my protein intake, I seem to do fine. I’ve had two days under 150g now. It was 136g on Tuesday and 146g Wednesday. I plan to be at 150g today again.

That’s 1.05g / lb lean mass and seems to be a good place for me.

Also dropped by 0.6lbs which brings me closer to my predicted results - except for lean mass.

The formula predicts 37.2lbs of fat and I’m at 37.5lbs (assuming the scale is not off).

But it predicts 140.4lbs of lean and I’m only at 138.5lbs… so that’s 2lbs of lean mass missing.

So predicting lean mass gain/loss is much more complex. I can’t blame it on reduced protein intake since I’ve been at a steady intake over 0.7g/lb lean mass… and I can’t blame it on not lifting since I’ve been pushing myself more. I use OMAD to maximize testosterone and growth hormone and I take Leucine to boost mToR. I even get UV to maximize melatonin and take ashwaganda to reduce stress.

The variables I can’t control are outside stresses from work and poor sleep due to jet lag (for now). I keep coming back to cortisol or other hormones that are sabotaging my gains.

Karim_Wassef · 2019-05-23 20:56:52 UTC

the lean mass is where I’m just not getting where I want to be while also losing fat.

and the macros (projecting what I expect to eat today too)

so I’ve got the “how to target fat loss” part right. I can’t seem to get the “how to avoid lean mass loss” part…

anyone have any thoughts on what I may be missing? Maybe emotional encouragement? LOL

Texere · 2019-05-23 21:14:52 UTC

I’m so new to Keto (1 month so far) I’m not sure I have much to add - except that about 15 years ago I ended up at a sports medicine doctor and they ran some tests for cortisol. I had (likely still do) rather high cortisol - amongst a host of other issues. The test involved testing cortisol levels over the course of my waking hours. The objective was to figure out when your cortisol levels were lowest so that you would exercise without already high cortisol levels.

So…perhaps a cortisol test would help you target the best time of day to exercise? Which might help with muscle gain? It’s kind of a shot in the dark.

Karim_Wassef · 2019-05-23 21:20:04 UTC

It’s worth a shot… I’ll check into it

Karim_Wassef · 2019-05-23 21:54:33 UTC

Today has turned out to be a big “flush” day. Down another lb…

so bf% is on track but lean mass took another 0.2lb hit…

Karim_Wassef · 2019-05-23 22:53:34 UTC

anyone tried the home cortisol tests?

https://www.verisana.com/hormone-tests-89/cortisol-test

also … home insulin tests?

Karim_Wassef · 2019-05-23 22:59:05 UTC

I’ve decided to lift very lightly today and see where that gets me.

cervyn · 2019-05-24 00:53:14 UTC

I am brainstorming here… ignore if it’s annoying.
Although you are working out different body parts each day, they are still all part of the same body with the same stressed out nervous system. They are all connected and all already under stress from work.
If you try lifting 3x a week perhaps the other two days you could do something restorative like yoga nidra, spend time in nature or vagal breathing exercises to bring your parasympathetic system online more strongly to balance out the stress?

Karim_Wassef · 2019-05-24 01:02:31 UTC

I’ve actually considered the same which is why I decided to go light today.

My personal “feelings” though are that I am much calmer and controlled when I lift. There’s a restorative effect to physical exertion that calms my mind and raises my mood.

It might be that I need to alternate heavy lifting days and more light cardio or other exercise. I’m not into yoga, but I do sauna and use ice baths… more to think about

carolT · 2019-05-24 10:10:37 UTC

Do you check heart rate variability score or just HR?

Karim_Wassef · 2019-05-24 12:22:57 UTC

I haven’t measured either. I already track too many variables but I don’t use s smart watch so this is another bio marker to capture.

I’ve thought of it but haven’t used it yet. Have you found it useful?

cervyn · 2019-05-24 13:47:22 UTC

isn’t heart rate variability a good proxy for vagal nerve tone/function which is a good indication of how strong your parasympathetic nervous system (anti-stress system) is functioning?

Or am I confused… I can’t research it at the moment so I am depending on memory…

Karim_Wassef · 2019-05-24 14:06:35 UTC

It’s a measure of fitness and cardiac adaptability.

It seems to be indirectly related to the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems too.

Karim_Wassef · 2019-05-24 19:43:21 UTC

Day 28

Karim_Wassef · 2019-05-24 19:47:01 UTC

So apparently I gained 0.8lbs overnight with 0.5lbs of it fat.

Clearly it’s water again… and just in time for my DEXA/RMR today… lovely

Ketones still in good shape. Broke my dry fast a couple of hours ago at 1pm with water and salts. DEXA in about an hour.