How EXACTLY is pumpkin different from rice or potatoes?

[SteelWeaver]

No more rice or yams for me this week - switched to pumpkin instead. But wondering what to do NEXT week, final week before comp., to

a) not have any fibrous veggies in diet to prevent bloat (so does pumpkin qualify as fibrous here?)

b) ensure I have enough glycase (um, the carb enzyme, is that it?) to not mess up my carb-up (assuming that very low calories haven't left me in ketosis for much of this time anyway) ...

ANY suggestions, info, ideas GREATLY appreciated.

 

[JJFigure]

Don't use oatmeal either - too much fiber. Definitely left me retaining water.

After seeing me at my last comp, HardAsNails73 gave me this recommendation for the last week of prep:

'I know where you screwed up - when you depelete sodium you must replace it with potassium in order for nutrients to get to the muscle. Thursday water intake was too high no more then 1/2 gallon; friday it should have been sip (1/4 gallon ) cut after 6 pm. i would have started to carb tuesday at 100 grams weds 200 thursday 100 friday 75 - all grape fruits. and starting potassium on monday !! and increased it through saturday

thursday cut all fiber earlier if you are bloated like tuesday

friday meal 1 -6
4 oz sirloin with 1/2 grape fruit ( aid in losing water naturally)'

The carb load recommendations are specifically for women - his levels are higher. He dries out very well on this plan. I hadn't thought to use grapefruit for my carb load - I'd always gone with oatmeal/c.o.w. I haven't tried carb loading on grapefuit yet - I'll test it out one of these weeks to see how I look.

 

[MS]

Well I am of the strong opinion/experience that is can be a big mistake to introduce any new foods (that haven't been on your diet so far) in the last week before a show. So if you're not used to pumpkin, then maybe stay clear of it. Ditto the grapefruit. The other option (which isn't really an option for Steel) is to try it out several weeks before the show.

However, if this is a pre-comp diet that your new, esteemed, trainer has told you to follow, then I would do that TO THE LETTER for this show, including whatever electrolyte/water manipulations she suggests. If your trainer did not make these recommendations, then why the pumpkin switch this week?? You have to expect that if you ask a question like this on an internet chat board you could get dozens of different opinions mostly based on anecdote and superstition which is exactly what you DON'T need right now.

BTW, I carb up really well on oatmeal, but am allergic to grapefruit. See what I mean!

 

[JJFigure]

I love picking your brain, MS, so I have another pre-comp question for you. Do you fat load the day/evening before your show?

 

[MS]

"Do you fat load the day/evening before your
show?"

Yes, if possible. More to the point I try to finish my carb load by Friday evening, and then drop carbs while I 'dry out'. But the last two shows I did I was trying to make a weight class which meant I couldn't START my carb load until Friday morning (after weigh in). This is a pain and quite tricky because to make weight I had to be decarbed and dehydrated on Friday morn, and somehow manage to fill out without going all mushy under the skin. In those cases I didn't 'fat load' although I did have lots of EFAs during the carb up. At least EFAs don't inhibit glucose sensitivity as much as poly and sat fats.

 

[SteelWeaver]

Yes, my trainer suggested I switch to pumpkin this week - mostly because fat loss has slowed grrr. It allows me to eat more whilst taking in fewer cals, whilst also metabolising more slowly (?) This is the part I want to know about ... according to my nutrition database, pumpkin has no fiber????? I can't believe that. I know it's supposed to be different from, say yams, or rice or oatmeal, but different in what way? Lower insulin response?

We haven't had time to go over the last week in detail yet - and she's still watching what happens with fat loss, so I'm not completely clear on the plan, but I trust her.

Whatever happens, I will have given my best, and will get on stage in a not blushingly embarrassing if not great state, my friends will cheer loudly, I will beam happily, my posing will be great, and then I will have 3 weeks vacation to completely relax and look forward to new size gains.

So, is pumpkin fibrous? Or starchy? Or both? And will it keep the glycase flowing? I wanna know, because I intend to carb up on yams, rice (which I will sprinkle here and there this week and next) and r-ALA.

 

[makedah]

My Shari's Organic canned pumpkin (100% pure pumpkin no added salt, sugar, water, etc.) is 4 gm fiber and 10 g carbs per 1/2 cup.

 

[MS]

Yeah makedah, that sounds in the ballpark....~5-10g of NETT carbs per 100g serving (from 0-3g fiber), depending on the type of pumpkin and how it's cooked. The GI is moderate (around 75 on the glucose scale). Maybe your trainer finds it more filling or harder to overeat pumpkin?? I dunno. It doesn't really matter. It IS low fiber compared to 'fibrous' veggies, and definitely lower in carbs than, say, a spud (same fiber as a spud though). It should be a good food to carb up on, although it's mostly water so I assume that gets taken into consideration if dehydration is part of the game plan?

I would not consider pumpkin to be fibrous, and it is low in starch as a percentage of total weight. However as a percentage of total calories, it IS 100% starch.

 

[SteelWeaver]

Well, thanks for all the info, advice, everyone.

You only cut fiber 2 days before, JJ? This is kind of why I was asking this question - if I'm eating pumpkin as carbs, is it a bunch of fiber, too, but, thank you MS and makedah - you cleared that up nicely.

The pumpkin, in my mind, is perfect dieting food - you get your starchy carbs, it's very filling, tastes absolutely yummy, and is simple to prepare. AND, it's full of lots of very good vitamins! I'm *definitely* going to make this a dieting and non-dieting staple.

Why do folks always say to avoid pumpkin and corn when dieting? Gee, I'd much rather have LOTS of pumpkin than a measly one bowl of rice

With enough carb room in the diet, one could even have pumpkin/egg white/oatmeal/corn fritters! My next project! Develop a bodybuilding friendly pumpkin fritter - yum yum!

 

[JJFigure]

Cutting fiber 2 days before was a recommendation I got AFTER I did my show. Unfortunately, I didn't cut fiber...at all. Lessons learned.

I'll probably cut back on fiber starting on Monday with fiber completely out by Thursday for my Saturday show.

If you come up with a good fritter recipe, make sure you post it.

 

[MS]

Pumpkin should be a staple food (well it IS in our household.....we have them growing over every conceivable vertical surface in the garden). Pumpkin and chickpea curry is an all time favourite of mine. It can be easily dehydrated and rehydrates quickly for hiking trips, makes great soups, sauces and pies, keeps well, tastes great, it's cheap.....can't think of a better all-rounder.

 

[starfish]

How are you all eating pumpkin? Canned or Fresh?

Brands???

 

[SteelWeaver]

Yeah, JJ - I'm cutting fiber from Monday, thus checking if pumpkin could serve as starchy carb, no/little fiber - YES, baby! My new all-time favourite: PA ..PUM ...PUMP ...PUMPKIN!!!! I'm currently eating the skins too, will cut those and the broccoli out on Mon.

As for the fritters - I'm thinking a mixture of egg whites, pumpkin, oatmeal, maybe some protein powder, cinnamon and sweetener. *Possibly* crumbed with wholemeal bread crumbs.

I had another idea too: the protein pancakes that are all over these boards, but pumpkin flavour:

egg whites
oatmeal
(protein powder, if desired)
pumpkin
cottage cheese
cinnamon
sweetener

Blend it all up, cook like pancake, serve with sf syrup. OR, one cook make the pancakes as usual, then use pumpkin as a FILLING!

I've thought about doing this with yams, too, but then one ends up with so many carbs ... wow, pumpkin fits the bill for everything!

Pumpkin pie
Pumpkin muffins
Pumpkin and oatmeal cookies
And, of course, pumpkin and chick pea curry I've made that before, MS - but the pumpkin all dissolved into mush - I can't imagine that dehydrated Do you put it in last, so it stays in chunks? Do you guys have the small round green pumpkins or the huge flat white ones? How about butternut? - heeey! I bet butternut is as good as pumpkin for all this stuff

And on the topic of food - do you make your hummous with olive oil and tahini? I've been wondering about that and the whole no carbs and fats together thing - I tried hummous with yoghurt instead of olive oil, and it was good, but it just wasn't the same.

 

[JJFigure]

Steel, by any chance do you like pumpkin?

Now you've got me curious - gonna have to try some this weekend.

 

[MS]

You have to use the right kind of pumpkin to get it to stay in firm chunks. Crown or butternut are best, and you don't throw the pumpkin in until the chickpeas have basically finished cooking (cook chickpeas first, then throw in the pumpkin etc....) When you're in NZ, you should try this dish with some kumera thrown in too!

Tahini all the way for hummus. It's really just the saturated fats that you should avoid combining with HIGH GI carbs. Chickpeas are not high GI, and tahini is low in saturated fat (in fact it is mainly polyunsaturated). So enjoy IN MODERATION.

Keep this in the front of your mind. Post competition, you could eat 1000 cals per day in excess of requirements for a week, and in the VERY UNLIKELY EVENT that your body stored it ALL as fat, you would only gain a kilo of fat. In reality, your body will store very little of this as fat as long as you stay reasonably active. But if you eat 5000 cals per day of excess sugar and saturated fats, your screwed. So go ahead and live a little post comp, but do not develop a binge eating mentality. Stick to 6 meals per day, maybe keep the leptigen on if you have any left, and eat a moderate amount of above maitnenance mostly healthy foods.

 

[SteelWeaver]

Well, JJ - it's funny - I've never really been a big fan of pumpkin. I mean, I liked it well enough, but didn't do a WHOLE lot of cooking with it. It's just this week, after my trainer suggested it, and I tried it, that I discovered all its wonderful bonus properties, for both dieting and bulking. Of course, it also helps that I'm constantly ravenous, and am at a point where pretty much ANYTHING would probably taste good to me, but this pumpkin has been really good - so sweet and filling.

I haven't had a chance to do much *real* bulking cooking experimentation - not in proper bodybuilding style, so I'm looking forward to getting really creative in the kitchen when I get home. I will definitely post up any breakthroughs I have I'm quite a good cook when I take the trouble.

Good luck with whatever you try this w/e - let us know if any of it turns out well

MS - here, for you:



I appreciate your advice SO much. That puts my mind much at rest, although I'm feeling pretty paranoid that my body has ground down to a 500 cal/day maintenance level I really have no idea where my maintenance level is now. I really really want to eat pizza for one meal post-comp., but after that I think I could be happy with good hearty wholesome food, if there's enough of it. And make sure there's some sf ff pudding around - I got my hands on some of that once or twice - wow, it's almost as good as chocolate mousse And they have lots of fat free products in Oz and NZ, don't they? Cheese and stuff? I could have wholemeal bread and ff cheese and cottage cheese - yum!

Why do you suggest keeping the leptigen in? Do you mean in this final week, as well? I was gonna drop it with everything else from Sunday. I think it has actually helped a bit, you know - my energy levels have been pretty reasonable, my heart rate hasn't dropped like it did last time (although I'm taking a lot more yohimbine and Nor than before, too), and strength has stayed fairly good. Who knows ...

What's kumera?