Two weeks in; A few questions

[DavidBlack]

So, I found the Wai diet about a month ago, and had a bit of a rough start due to misunderstanding the rules of the sample diet, as well as some under-eating. However, I've been very strict about it for the past two weeks, and have been following the rules to the letter. My acne has cleared up significantly, but it's still far from gone.
I'm a 15 year old male, and am fairly small for my age, but that's mostly bone structure. Not much I can do about it.
I do exercise every day, to gain some lean muscle, and I have a few questions in regard to when and what I should eat around/during/after my workouts.

Currently, my diet consists entirely of bananas, the occasional apple, olive oil, and egg yolks.
As my family has not taken too kindly to my new eating habits, I have to pay for all of my food myself (With the exception of the eggs, for them I just raid the fridge). This is the cheapest way to maintain the sample diet I have found.
Anyways, I usually eat a banana followed by some olive oil, then do a short workout, then another banana immediately followed by three egg yolks.
I'm wondering if that's alright, or will the physical activity inhibit digestion of the banana? Also, does the fiber from the banana interfere with digesting the egg yolk?
Thanks for your time,

-David

[RRM]

..to gain some lean muscle, and I have a few questions...
Currently, my diet consists entirely of bananas, the occasional apple, olive oil, and egg yolks.

You need high energy, low fiber foods,
such as juices, egg yolks, fish, oil and sugar.

I usually eat a banana followed by some olive oil, then do a short workout, then another banana immediately followed by three egg yolks.

Bananas are fine, but high fiber and a banana supplies you with way too little energy for a wrkout.

will the physical activity inhibit digestion of the banana?

The banana eaten before the workout cannot supply you with the required energy.
You will have to build that energy (glycogen in your muscles) prior to the workout.
During the workout you can use water with sugar to keep your blood sugar level up.

does the fiber from the banana interfere with digesting the egg yolk?

Yes, it will slow it down, as compared to egg yolks consumed alone.
your main concern should be your energy intake right now.
Fresh juice with sugar and some oil added is the easiest way to increase that.
Do your parents have a juicer?
If so, what kind of juicer?

Maybe juicing is too expensive for you.
So, maybe we first have to convince your parents that this diet works,
and then ask them for funding to make it healthy as well.
You could do a one-week "attack-version" of the diet to clear your face rapidly to convince your parents.
For this you just need to boil water so that the added sugar is easily dissolved, and then let it cool down a bit and add the oil.
When its cool enough you can drink it for energy.
Once you have the funding, you need to replace the boiled water with freshly made juice.

[DavidBlack]

The banana eaten before the workout cannot supply you with the required energy.
You will have to build that energy (glycogen in your muscles) prior to the workout.
During the workout you can use water with sugar to keep your blood sugar level up.

How do you recommend building up the glycogen stores? Would the sugar-water be sufficient for that?

Yes, it will slow it down, as compared to egg yolks consumed alone.
your main concern should be your energy intake right now.
Fresh juice with sugar and some oil added is the easiest way to increase that.
Do your parents have a juicer?
If so, what kind of juicer?

Would taking the egg yolks in a mixture of sugar and water be okay? Or would that still slow down digestion?
I only ask because I feel as if I need the extra sugar after a workout, although that's probably due to not consuming enough energy prior to and during it.

No, they don't. I'm pretty sure I'm meeting my energy needs, though. I haven't lost any weight since the first few days of the sample diet.

Maybe juicing is too expensive for you.
So, maybe we first have to convince your parents that this diet works,
and then ask them for funding to make it healthy as well.
You could do a one-week "attack-version" of the diet to clear your face rapidly to convince your parents.
For this you just need to boil water so that the added sugar is easily dissolved, and then let it cool down a bit and add the oil.
When its cool enough you can drink it for energy.
Once you have the funding, you need to replace the boiled water with freshly made juice.

So, you're suggesting a one week period in which the only thing I consume is water with added sugar and oil?
Would that have any detrimental affects on my health? It doesn't seem like I'd be ingesting all of the required nutrients.

It's not a matter of convincing them it works. It's mostly that they don't eat any fruit at all, so they would have to pay for both their standard American diet and my fruit-filled diet.
But I'll see if I can convince them to at least partially invest in a juicer.

[DavidBlack]

Also, is there any way for me to tell how many calories I have used from the muscle glycogen stores during a workout?

[Oscar]

Building up glycogen stores can be done with juice or sugar-water alright.
Taking the yolks with it is fine.
A juicer can be simple and therefore cheap, like $15-20.

[RRM]

A juicer can be simple and therefore cheap, like $15-20.

True, but the oranges may be too expensive for him...

[RRM]

Would the sugar-water be sufficient for that?

Yes, sugars are most effective.
Whole fruits contain so much other stuff (including fiber) that replenishing glycogen depots is much harder that way.

I feel as if I need the extra sugar after a workout, although that's probably due to not consuming enough energy prior to and during it.

No, thats normal. Your body will always need extra sugar after a workout,
to replenish the blood sugar level, and the glycogen depots.

So, you're suggesting a one week period in which the only thing I consume is water with added sugar and oil?

Only if you need to convince them and you dont have the money to buy plenty of fruits.

Would that have any detrimental affects on my health? It doesn't seem like I'd be ingesting all of the required nutrients.

As long as its only for a week, thats no problem at all.

It's not a matter of convincing them it works. It's mostly that they don't eat any fruit at all, so they would have to pay for both their standard American diet and my fruit-filled diet.
But I'll see if I can convince them to at least partially invest in a juicer.

Its not so much the costs of the juicer, but more so the costs of buying all those fruits.
When you make orange juice, you need a LOT of oranges daily...

[panacea]

If you are concerned with nutrients on that water/sugar/oil diet, egg yolks are nutrient dense and cheap, but you need to work up to consuming these and there is a limit to prevent acne is susceptible individuals (it might be six a day). so you would eat 1 the first day, if all is good, 2 the next day, etc..

[DavidBlack]

Alright. I'm completely clear now, for the first time in a long time. I still eat whole fruits for many meals, but my need for energy is on the low side due to the fact that I'm fairly sedentary, besides a short workout every other day. I also don't weigh that much, even though I look rather heavily muscled. So I end up taking in 1800-2000kcal per day.
Which can easily be achieved with whole fruits, oil, white sugar, and egg yolks (With the occasional fish, of course. Thankfully, I was always a fan of raw salmon).

First off, I'd like to thank you (RRM), for keeping this information freely available. That was one of the things that convinced me to start this diet; you have nothing to gain for other people adopting your eating habits. It helps with the authenticity of the information provided.

Just a couple more questions now:

What would be the effects of replacing olive oil completely with coconut oil? As is, I consume about 80g of OO daily.
I only ask because coconut oil is cheaper and I find it much tastier. Doesn't sting the back of my throat going down, either.

Also, just out of curiosity, what would happen if someone tried to combine this diet with the standard treatment that most people use to fight acne? (Cleansers, benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid, ect.)

[dime]

I wouldn't completely replace olive oil, best is to balance it. Coconut oil is all saturated fat, for some things it may be better, but for other olive oil (monounsaturated) may be better. Keep them half-half maybe. 80g of oil sounds quite a bit, almost half of your 1800-2000cal, are you sure you're getting enough micronutrients? I mean oil and sugar are cool, no fiber, no antinutrients, cheap, but also pretty much no micronutrients.

[DavidBlack]

I wouldn't completely replace olive oil, best is to balance it. Coconut oil is all saturated fat, for some things it may be better, but for other olive oil (monounsaturated) may be better. Keep them half-half maybe. 80g of oil sounds quite a bit, almost half of your 1800-2000cal, are you sure you're getting enough micronutrients? I mean oil and sugar are cool, no fiber, no antinutrients, cheap, but also pretty much no micronutrients.

Yeah, I'm sure I'm getting enough micronutrients. As I said, I do also eat both whole fruits and egg yolks. The only time I eat white sugar now is when I need to replenish or build up stored muscle glycogen. I've run my diet through the nutrient calculator, and everything checks out.
As for the large amount of oil, I need to get about half of my daily calories from fat, otherwise my blood sugar level fluctuates WAY too much.

Good to know about the difference between the two oils, though. I was wondering about coconut oil's large amount of saturated fats.

[RRM]

I need to get about half of my daily calories from fat, otherwise my blood sugar level fluctuates WAY too much.

An effective solution for that is reducing your meal size and increasing meal frequency accordingly.
The smaller the meal (and the more frequent), the smaller your blood sugar fluctuations.

[DavidBlack]

As I've mentioned, I'm rather sedentary, if you disregard the short workouts every other day. So wouldn't a slightly higher ratio of fat/sugar be better?

Also, as I'm still in adolescence, should I be taking in more protein than is usual on this diet, for growth purposes?

[DavidBlack]

...wouldn't a slightly higher ratio of fat/sugar be better?

Eh, nevermind on that question, it seems Oscar already answered a similar question;

The 2:1 sugar (carbs in the calculator) to fat ratio is a guideline. The more active you are the higher the ratio should be.

[DavidBlack]

Alright, this is really strange.
I recently had a family dinner, about four days ago, during which I ate a lot of cooked protein, bread, milk, ect. Just generally a bad meal. Now, of course, I've been consistently munching on a few prepared food items each day since then, justifying it as an experiment. The odd part?
No breakouts. Absolutely none. I've been taking in 30+ grams of cooked protein each day, and while I have noticed water retention, there doesn't seem to be any repercussions from the binge.
Is it possible that my skin condition was triggered by something I put on my face a while back, and now that the symptoms are gone, I can eat whatever I want?