Well, so far, so good.

The adverse effects on strenuous exercise resulting from eating very low carbs (about 5 grams per day) have still not manifested itself in any material way. My morning runs have continued at a very brisk pace. My weight training has been steadily progressing as scheduled. And, my wind sprints are now in full swing; I will wait a month or two before marking my 40-yard dash times.

Now, begins my 6-8 week cutting cycle. The past year, my goal has been alternating weight gain and weight loss cycles. The mass building cycle’s aspiration is to gain 5 lbs by lifting heavy weights while eating enough to create a slight calorie surplus. Except for the newbie phenomenon, it’s virtually impossible to gain muscle and lose weight concurrently. The 5lbs will be approximately 3lbs of muscle and 2lbs of fat. Of course, I don’t want to gain fat, but it is a necessary price for the muscle gain.

Afterwards, the cutting cycle begins where food restriction is monitored closely creating a slight calorie deficit. On this period, very low carb is used (even for non low carbers) to shed the 5lbs while maintaining as much muscle mass as possible while shedding the added 5lbs. Again, it’s a give and take. On this phase, I’ll lose 3lbs of fat and 2lbs of muscle.

The alternating between the muscle gain phase (3lbs muscle + 2lbs fat) and the cutting phase (-2lbs muscle + -3lbs fat) results in a net 1lb pure muscle mass gain. My goal is to use very low carb continuing this cycle until my body fat percentage rests at around 5% - 6%.