Experiment Reflections: Keto & Plant Based Experiments

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  • September 17, 2017 at 10:35 PM #3914
    Tim
    Keymaster

    Now that i’m back to the US i’m doing some reflecting on the experiments I was able to do with my own diet during my time in Asia this year.

    Most notably was experimenting with a ketogenic diet (all out for 2 weeks) and a plant based diet (no meat, no artificial foods, no added sugars) for 8 weeks.

    Keto – 2 weeks – Boracay Island – April

    I had to discontinue the ketogenic diet as I was was using it to cut weight in order to better keep up with the Phillino players during the intensity of a few week long worlds tryout. Turns out the body needs glucose in order to optimize ATP and anaerobic power. Therefore keto doesn’t work well during the competitive season for explosive athletes. I felt less explosive and just needed carbs to keep up.

    Plant Based – Bali Indonesia – 8 Weeks – July – September

    I was inspired to go no meat plant based by two of our top performing Team Philippines WCBU athletes. Dada & Tajji. Two of our top performing athletes and they don’t eat me and haven’t for years.

    These two bros have plenty of muscle, were the strongest on the team and are super explosive, yet they eat no meat. I started to question weather I really needed meat to stay lean and I know I need to be lighter to be faster on the beach.

    Upon trying 8 weeks plant based I experienced significant improvements in gut health. I was significantly more regular, pushed food through more efficiently and rarely experience bloating or constipation. I implemented this diet in Bali which was a huge advantage as the fish and produce there is very high quality and very affordable (for the record Bali is an amazing training environment and a great place to do training cycles).

    To test strength I planning to do a 8 week off-season block in alignment with this diet but 3 weeks in we were invited to play AOUGC with the Garudas, so we had to make an unexpected shift back to in-season and I wasn’t able to objectively test the diet as much as I would have liked.

    The off-season will start for me after OCBC and i’ll continue to experiment and write a deeper post with reflections / details / conclusions in the future.

    I’d also like to eventually get some blood work to test food allergies and see what it tells me.

    Anyone else do any diet experiments this year or have any experience with food allergies testing ?

    September 27, 2017 at 2:40 PM #3938
    Morgan
    Participant

    I’ve always been a bit skeptical of keto; whether it’s useful for most people, whether it supports athletic performance, whether most people who do it are actually maintaining ketosis (vs just eating low carb). But fwiw I talked a bit over the series the last couple weeks with a buddy who’s 39 and has lifted for quite awhile who says keto is the only thing that’s really worked for keeping his weight where he wants it and he’s done it pretty seriously with the testing strips and whatnot. He had the same performance issues you experienced and said he found that taking glucose tablets immediately before practice or games gave him the fuel he needed to compete but without taking him out of ketosis since it all gets used immediately. Worth noting if you’re interested in trying again at some point.

    Regarding gut health, did you eat a lot of vegetables before trying the plant-based diet? I know most people don’t get nearly enough fiber on a normal diet and switching to plant-based can basically force you to consume an adequate amount of veggies.

    September 29, 2017 at 12:36 PM #3944
    wowens
    Participant

    I tried the ketogenic diet once for 8 weeks for the purpose of weight loss. Prior to starting keto, I was lifting six times a week (focusing on a different muscle group each day), and performing cardio training three times a week. I maintained this regiment throughout the 8 weeks of the keto diet.

    In terms of weight loss, it was successful. I lost 8-10 pounds over the course of the 8 weeks. As you mentioned though, Tim, energy levels were an issue throughout, especially during the first 2 weeks. While I did find my energy levels rebounding during weeks 3-8, they never reached the levels before and after keto. In addition, I found myself getting headaches during those first two weeks, and I was having trouble staying regular throughout. If your goal is simply weight loss and you are out of season, I think it can be effective, but the costs can quickly outweigh the benefits.

    I’m intrigued by the plant-based diet. My biggest issue is I am not a big fan of fish, so I would need to find a substitution. I am definitely excited to hear more when you start it up again after OCBC!

    October 2, 2017 at 3:49 PM #3953
    Tim
    Keymaster

    Will I’m curious about your schedule of eating and fasting…

    As well as what foods you were eating and if you took any support supplements …

    Can you summarize ?

    October 3, 2017 at 2:23 PM #3955
    wowens
    Participant

    It was several years ago, so I can’t recall exact details, but my schedule was similar to this:

    Feeding between 10am and 6pm, fasting between 6pm and 10am.
    Cup of tea or coffee when I woke up
    Breakfast (10am): 3 eggs and 2 slices of bacon
    First snack (~11:30am): protein shake
    Lifting (12pm-1pm): Simply tried to maintain during this time
    Lunch (1pm): Grilled chicken breast, grilled veggies, handful of almonds
    Second snack (3:30pm): 3 eggs and 3 egg whites
    Dinner (6pm): Grilled chicken breast or steak, grilled veggies, salad, handful of almonds
    Light cardio (8-9pm): 5 mile jog/run, average 8:00 pace, 3 days a week
    Lots of green tea and water throughout the day, as well as almonds if I ever had a craving between meals or snacks. Only supplements were the daily protein shake and a daily multivitamin.

    Again, this was several years ago so exact details are a bit fuzzy. I was not well-educated on macros at the time, so I was simply trying to limit carbs/sugars and maintain a deficit.

    October 6, 2017 at 2:13 PM #3967
    Tim
    Keymaster

    Got it.. See i’m tinkering with a big of a different style. Just bulletproof coffee during the day, a big salad in the afternoon and then a meal in the evening after training.


    @morgan Regarding gut health, did you eat a lot of vegetables before trying the plant-based diet? I know most people don’t get nearly enough fiber on a normal diet and switching to plant-based can basically force you to consume an adequate amount of veggies.

    Good question and the answer is no… not as many as I should have…. a lot of that was due to lifestyle and budget… this is why Bali was the place to introduce this because they have such affordable high quality fruits, veggies and vegan cafes.

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