I have followed beverly contest prep for a few shows so far and have had good sucess, however I would like to experiment a bit too see what works best for my body. For my show on sep 4th,2006 I am contemplating fat loading using PB. I would like experienced fat loaders feadback please, haha. What have you noticed and how have you gone about loading fats the days prior to the shows(not counting the beef and grapefruit diet) Thanks . I understand everyone is individual as far as results precontest go, but have reason to beleive that PB will work for me.

I have had some positive results from adding Natty PB back into my pre-contest diet on Friday and Saturday. I do not go overboard, but have added in one tablespoon with meals on Friday and Saturday. BI goo, in various forms, also usually has natural PB as a core ingredient and I consume that on Saturday beginning about 3 hours before pre-judging.
For me there are two big plusses to adding the Natty PB back in, one is that is seems to help me "fill-up" assisting my muscles in taking up the carbs (glycogen) and secondly from a mental standpoint it just seems to help with both energy and dulling the "I'm always starving" feeling. It will work best if you are truely contest ready and very lean going in to Friday.

may be better to go with almond butter , I have talked to many people that think peanut butter had bad effects on their look towards the day of their comp. I myself am trying almond butter, a lil muscle provider, chunks of 60% cocoa dark chocolate, and some natural maple syrup. I also thought that I looked better the day before the northern before I used the pre pump goo w PB. who knows. but Im going to test it out saturday morning.

quote:

Originally posted by JoeDaniels:
may be better to go with almond butter , I have talked to many people that think peanut butter had bad effects on their look towards the day of their comp.

what would difference be between peanut butter and almond butter that would have an adverse affect on appearance... which the exception of an allergic reaction to the PB? could it just be that body did not respond to fat loading in general?

Peanuts are not nuts. They are legumes (like soy beans). Although exact reasons are not well understood, it's been observed over time that regular use of peanuts and peanut butter can interfere with conditioning goals in many people. While this is less of an issue for someone who isn't getting ready for a competition, it's still something to consider for anyone wanting to get the most predictable results from their diet.

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Originally posted by Rita Kaya:
Peanuts are not nuts. They are legumes (like soy beans). Although exact reasons are not well understood, it's been observed over time that regular use of peanuts and peanut butter can interfere with conditioning goals in many people. While this is less of an issue for someone who isn't getting ready for a competition, it's still something to consider for anyone wanting to get the most predictable results from their diet.

I think the "reason why" would be because its a fat source. I just think that most people arent careful when eating PB. The calories add up fast with it. I would think its those additional cals that would have more effect on conditioning, or lack thereof, than the fact that its peanut butter.

Someone who isnt gettin ready for competition isnt gonna notice if they're taking in an additonal 75 cals with every tablespoon of PB.

I would have to go with Rita on this one. Yes, PB can get out of hand as far as consumption goes since your body should be in a fat starvation mode for contest prep. The type of fats will be determined individually as well. I respond very well to almond butter and coconut butter by "artisana" company(yes it is a butter you eat,lol) I fat loaded IN ADDITION to the beverly contest prep final week and got great success! The fat composition is different when comparing almond butter and peanut butter. it will be a trial and error thing, but overall...conditioning seems too be kept harder when I use almond butter in place of peanut butter.

quote:

Originally posted by Superman:
I would have to go with Rita on this one. Yes, PB can get out of hand as far as consumption goes since your body should be in a fat starvation mode for contest prep. The type of fats will be determined individually as well. I respond very well to almond butter and coconut butter by "artisana" company(yes it is a butter you eat,lol) I fat loaded IN ADDITION to the beverly contest prep final week and got great success! The fat composition is different when comparing almond butter and peanut butter. it will be a trial and error thing, but overall...conditioning seems too be kept harder when I use almond butter in place of peanut butter.

Thats pretty interesting that it would make that much of a difference. Is that across all fats or just PB?

like for example if you fat loaded with olive oil or a fish oil, would it make a significant difference as well? has anybody tried those?

I agree with Rita, but it also depends on bodytype, level of leanness, sensitivity to certain foods, allergies, etc. I routinely use natural peanut butter right up until the day of the show and also fat load with it. J, your metabolism is very identical to mine, and I believe we did utilize PB earlier this year in your prep, and we all know how crazy you looked for your show.

Almond butter has much more sodium (even the no salt variety) therefore I never use it. However, I've always achieved better results by fat loading from WED-FRI using an oz of cashews with each meal.

For the meso/endo types who lean more towards endo, I'd avoid fat loading.

quote:

Originally posted by Aram:
I agree with Rita, but it also depends on bodytype, level of leanness, sensitivity to certain foods, allergies, etc. I routinely use natural peanut butter right up until the day of the show and also fat load with it. J, your metabolism is very identical to mine, and I believe we did utilize PB earlier this year in your prep, and we all know how crazy you looked for your show.

Almond butter has much more sodium (even the no salt variety) therefore I never use it. However, I've always achieved better results by fat loading from WED-FRI using an oz of cashews with each meal.

For the meso/endo types who lean more towards endo, I'd avoid fat loading.

yeah, I prefer the PB loading... taste MUUUUUUCH better!!

A friend who teaches public health at the university level and does medical research for a longevity clinic told me that peanuts and peanut butter cause an inflammatory response in the body and that's why they can hinder your efforts to get extremely conditioned. He turned me on to almond butter instead. Now, I'm an inveterate peanut butter lover, but one taste of pure almond butter and I was in heaven. I LOVE the stuff. Even now, two weeks before competing in the NPC Kentucky, I use 1 tablespoon twice a day in my chocolate UMP shakes.

Aram, you might be mistaken when you say that almond butter has more sodium than peanut butter. My jar of Maranatha peanut butter lists a 2 tablespoon serving as having 80 mg sodium, while my jar of Maranatha almond butter lists the same serving size as 0 mg sodium.

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Originally posted by Steve Weingarten:
A friend who teaches public health at the university level and does medical research for a longevity clinic told me that peanuts and peanut butter cause an inflammatory response in the body and that's why they can hinder your efforts to get extremely conditioned. He turned me on to almond butter instead. Now, I'm an inveterate peanut butter lover, but one taste of pure almond butter and I was in heaven. I LOVE the stuff. Even now, two weeks before competing in the NPC Kentucky, I use 1 tablespoon twice a day in my chocolate UMP shakes.

Aram, you might be mistaken when you say that almond butter has more sodium than peanut butter. My jar of Maranatha peanut butter lists a 2 tablespoon serving as having 80 mg sodium, while my jar of Maranatha almond butter lists the same serving size as 0 mg sodium.

Hi Steve, thanks for the info. The last two jars of almond butter I checked at the store had 80 and 120 mg of sodium even though they were "no salt". My natty PB however is zero sodium.

I would go with what you respond to. Almond butter, cashew butter, peanut butter...it's all good stuff.

More so than nut butters, my concerns would be with other foods. Again, this depends on bodytype, metabolism, etc. J has no probs dipping below 3% bodyfat (yes, BELOW 3% using PB). However, what I would generally avoid the final few days leading into a show would be soy, wheat and wheat gluten, vegetable fiber, and dairy. In fact I would eliminate dairy outright at the beginning of contest prep. For meso/endo's especially.

Another strategy I would avoid during the final few days would be introducing a new carb source into the diet which you are generally unacustomed to, or haven't eaten in quite some time. This may have potential sabotage effects on conditioning and spillover.

But there is no way I'm givin up my PB!!!

Ha..

quote:

Originally posted by Aram:
But there is no way I'm givin up my PB!!!

I'm with you on that!

i like switching to 92-3 lean beef for the few days before the comp if I feel I am lean enough. the only problem is that no matter how well i chew, i mean it could look like pate by the time im done with one forkful, i still tend to run into the constipation issue. but I guess 2.5 lbs a day for me would do that no matter what.

quote:

Originally posted by JoeDaniels:
i like switching to 92-3 lean beef for the few days before the comp if I feel I am lean enough. the only problem is that no matter how well i chew, i mean it could look like pate by the time im done with one forkful, i still tend to run into the constipation issue. but I guess 2.5 lbs a day for me would do that no matter what.

Aram has me doing that too... but at 96% fortunately the grapefruit i'm eating with it staves off the constipation... man does that stuff fly through me, ha.

TMI, I know.