[brianeck]

I've stuck to more of a Carb Backloading/Carb Night type diet for the last 8 months or so on and off and its been great. I'm very cyclical about it because I travel a lot for work and I also really like to drink. I brew beer with some friends and there is no point if I don't get the opportunity to drink it.

I shoot for < 40 grams of carbs per day, and I try and save most of them for post resistance training. I don't often Carb Backload but once or twice a week I almost consider it like a pseudo cheat day even though its really okay within the bounds of the dietary rules anyway. . . These nights I go HAM on some pizza or a burrito or something else fucking delicious like that and full of carbs.

I've been able to drop from 205 to 195 @ 5'11 and my combined deadlift, bench, and squat 5x5 is roughly 1,000 lbs. No idea what my 1RM max is because I've never tried it and I usually don't lift with a spotter (one of the beautiful things about 5x5 is that you can do it alone).

Those results aren't staggering, but I went from a combined 700lb 5x5 over that 8 months, with plenty of cheating, and looks-wise I've made drastic improvements.

I started it all to combat my stubborn belly fat, and I'm amazed that between 5x5 and the diet I've managed to lose a little weight, build a pile of lean mass, and get significantly stronger at the same time.

On a side note - I can't do a true ketogenic diet and keep up my workout regimen. I gave up caffeine at the same time I started dieting as well, and I've found that my endurance at the gym really suffers if I'm not replacing my glycogen stores after a workout.

I have significantly switched gears and I haven't been doing a lot of endurance cardio since I started this whole process. I'd like to get a bit more ab definition in and then start switching back out to a "normal" but still relatively low carb diet without as many restrictions and phasing back in my longer runs. I have found that low carb and endurance cardio don't seem to go that well for me in terms of overall recovery and durability.