can someone explain the deal with excercise?

  • I am just curious, because I would like to workout but have been told it might be bad?? how can excercise be bad??
  • They recommend that you allow your body to adjust to the new way that you are fueling it. The low calorie and low carb can cause you to be tired and low energy the first week or two. For me I backed off lifting weights and running, but never stopped working out, instead I walk, do yoga, and just started pilates.
  • This is from the official FAQ Protocol:

    Dieters on the protocol are on a very low caloric diet, yet their body is actually
    "getting more calories" than they were prior to starting our protocol. Why? Because
    they are burning (using their fat stores) fat. They are getting about 900 Kcals per
    day from the foods they are eating (on Phase 1) but if they lose 4 lbs per week (on
    average) 4 x 3500 Kcal/lb of fat means 14,000 Kcal/week, divide by 7 equals 2000
    Kcals per day. They are actually consuming 900 Kcal + 2000 Kcals = 2900Kcals per
    day. Understand their bodies must make the necessary enzymes to fully burn the
    ketonic bodies that are produced from fat metabolism (beta oxidation). It takes
    about two weeks for this to happen. During the first 3 weeks, your body is getting
    the necessary "enzymatic machinery" in place so it can use 100% of the ketonic
    bodies (for cellular fuel) that your body is producing from burning the fat. In the
    first couple of weeks, it cannot use all of them and you breath them out (acetone
    breath), "pee them out" (ketostix turn purple when you dip them in your urine) or
    you excrete excess ketones in your feces.

    If your blood sugar gets too low during this time period, the proteins we supply and
    the muscle you have can undergo gluconeogenesis and glucose can be produced.

    If you increase the glucose demand (i.e. exercise vigorously during these first
    3 weeks) you will increase gluconeogensis markedly. This CAN result in muscle loss,
    SOMETHING WE WANT TO AVOID!!!!
    If you MUST exercise during the first 3 weeks,
    please do it lightly, (1/3 to 1/2 your normal intensity) or not at all. Here's the
    beauty of the program: During this period...you literally are "peeing out calories"
    without having to exercise!!! You will lose the same amount of weight, but will not
    risk losing muscle. This is not about calories in - calories out, it's about hormones
    and metabolism. They were fighting a hormone (Insulin) before and you can't
    exercise your way out of that, the hormone always wins. After the first 3 weeks, you may exercise, but please keep in mind:

    Do not get overly tired
    Supplements are a must! (serious cardiac problemscan result; arrythmias, tachycardia, etc)
    Keep well hydrated, if exercising you must increase your
    water
  • thnk you!! I havent been getting a straight answer that actually made sense to me...
  • there is also a whole chapter on exercise in Dr. Tran Tien's book. you might want to check it out. Link is always in the first daily or weekend post.