These days, with the increasing awareness on the ugly side of body fat, the number of people who want to burn fat is rapidly increasing. Those days where a woman’s beauty and overall health was judged by her body weight are gradually fading away. And the men are not left out.
Everyone now wants to burn fat, and keep a healthy weight. But most people are still at a loss as to how to go about losing weight the right way. For most people, the strife to lose weight, have made them lose so much muscle (which was not their intention).
And this has landed them in social rejection, low self-esteem, body shaming and other psychological issues.
It’s now an established fact that, “Diet is the best medicine; we are what we eat,” and more campaigns are going on to make “your plate your tablet.” In the world of fitness and health, there are a lot of diet plans. Some of which are even confusing to most people. But accessing the right information would save one from a whole lot of trouble with dieting.
The human body was designed to receive nourishment from food. Eating food is essential, but much more, eating the right quality and quantity has a great role to play. The body generates energy from food called calories, and uses these calories to maintain body functions, maintain muscle mass, amongst others. Hence, the absence of food over a long period would eventually lead to deterioration, loss of body tissue, and even death.
History Of Anabolic Diet
So, in the bid to lose body fat, there shouldn’t be total abstinence from food (for long periods). Instead, certain foods should be replaced. That brings us to the anabolic diet. The diet is said to have been developed by Dr. Mauro Di Pasquale as a way to induce safe steroid-like gains for natural lifters. History has it that he recognized the dangers associated with steroid use and the legal implications, and so he went ahead to think about a safe, and legal alternative to PEDs (Performance Enhancing Drugs).
The diet was basically based upon the diets followed by many bodybuilders from decades prior.
But most people incorrectly consider anabolic diet to be another ketogenic diet. Anabolic diet is a high protein-low carbohydrate diet that allows one to preserve as much muscle mass as possible by alternating the intake of carbohydrate and thereby, giving the body the opportunity to burn off fat as fuel.
Who Can Go On An Anabolic Diet
In other words, the anabolic diet plan alters metabolism to favor fat, so normal amount of calories can be eaten yet; reduction in body fat percentage is achieved. The diet is also designed to help manipulate hormones in order to encourage the production of anabolic androgenic hormones such as testosterone and growth hormone.
And it is very much suitable for athletes, weightlifters and bodybuilders as it is not calorie restrictive. But at the same time, anyone who is interested in losing body fat, building muscle, and getting in healthy shape is free to go on an anabolic diet. Going on an anabolic diet may not be so easy at first, but it’s definitely worth it. In an anabolic diet, protein and fat are the macro nutrients.
And for effective result, the right proportion of each nutrient must be considered and adhered to. There are three phases in the anabolic diet plan; Maintenance/Induction phase, Cutting phase, and Bulking phase. It’s worthy of note that, the bulking phase doesn’t come first.
Anabolic Diet: Maintenance or Induction phase
Interestingly enough, the first phase is the maintenance phase and it lasts for four weeks. The idea is to consume sufficient calories to maintain the current body mass. This would be more achievable when the daily caloric requirements are well known. And the daily caloric requirements can be calculated by making use of online macro calculator tools. This phase lasts for 4 weeks and it is designed to prepare the body for the next two phases of the diet.
Anabolic Diet: Bulking Phase
Once the first-four weeks of the maintenance phase has been completed, the bulking phase begins in the fifth week. This is where things begin to get more serious. The goal is to gradually build muscle mass while keeping body fat gain to a minimum. As a general guideline for bulking, the ideal body weight should be multiplied by 15. Here, a person needs to bulk until he reaches an optimal body weight or too much body fat is gained.
Anabolic Diet: Cutting Phase
This is the final phase and it begins immediately after bulking. And it will last for as long as it takes for a person to cut and be satisfied by how lean and defined he is. Now, again calories will be restricted in order to slowly and gradually lose excess body fat, whilst preserving as much lean muscle tissue as possible. This means that, less calories than the body needs to maintain its present form would be consumed. It is essential to keep weight loss slow and gradual, to avoid lean muscle mass.
Conclusion
In summary, the lack of fiber and micro nutrients, primarily from minimal vegetable, legume and fruit intake is a major drawback of the anabolic diet. But on the other hand, fat loss, muscle building, strength, and more efficiency are its advantages.