by BigE » Fri Nov 05, 2004 2:54 pm
Nope. Can't argue at all. I've no intent to do that!
OTOH, you experience has made me more interested.
5' 8" to 5' 9" is intriguing. Yet I can't see an inch of knee cartilege growing back, so there's got to be another explanation. Perhaps at 5' 8" you were radically dehydrated? Disks in the spine can become thinner as a result of dehydration, and less functional, and possibly quite painful. Meniscus can become thinner and less resilient so that damaging knees requires less trauma. Some could call that pain "arthritis".
My personal experience with Ketogenic diets (Atkins is in that class), is that the lack of glycogen in the body means that water won't bind. ( One part glycogen binds to two parts water. ) I was doing a cyclical ketogenic diet, so I'd carb up on the weekends to ensure sufficient energy to make it through the weekday workouts -- weekends were for resting. I would gain 7 to 9 pounds each weekend from the carb-up, and loose 9-11 pounds from M-F. Net result: approx. 2 lbs of fat off per week. No measurable lean tissue loss. (used fat calipers etc.)
Unfortunately meniscus and discs take the longest to full re-hydrate (over two days.) Consequently, I tore both meniscii doing deep squats while warming up. Fortunately, I did not hurt my back.... Good hydration is critical to good health.