Redfulcrum,
You seem like the kind of dude who'll go balls to the wall for a bit of knowledge, I respect that. I'm not questioning whether or not you put on 10 lbs in a week, or whether you were able to eat tons of meat in a day.
I do question the claim that it was muscle. I could put on 5 lbs this very week with a MUCH less extreme version of what you're doing, but it's comprised of water, glycogen (all glycogen is stored with an equal amt of water), bowel weight, fat, and muscle. Muscle being only a fraction of the total weight.
For quite awhile I've been eating plenty of raw meat and grains (Father forgive me for I have sinned). Maybe I'll post the details of what I've been up to the past few months on another thread. Anyways, one of the first things I notice when going back to a VLC, high fat diet (from a diet high in grains), is that my bowels will quickly clean out in a day or 2, and I'll lose 2-3 lbs of what was primarily stored food in the intestines. Getting back in to ketosis also means lower glycogen levels, which means less inflated looking muscles. I lift heavy in the gym (heavy for me). At 173lbs I deadlift 300lbs for 2 sets of 5, squat 245lb for 2 sets of 8. After a week of adjusting to ketosis, my size and body weight have gone down slightly, but my strength is the same as right before cutting the carbs.
What does this tell me? It tells me that I have roughly the same amount of muscle fibers as before, even though I am a good 5 lbs lighter. So when you say that you've put on 10 lbs of muscle, but then confess that you've been eating grains and drinking beer, I already know from research and experience the effect that has on the body. Yes, carbs have an anabolic response, and if not used for energy or glycogen, will get converted to fat. There is no real impetus on the body to store carbs as glycogen unless you are using it up during exercise which must then be replenished.
Furthermore, you haven't posted any results about how much you can lift, so it's even harder to say whether this really was all muscle or not. And trust me, 10lbs of muscle would be DRAMATIC in the difference of what you could lift. Not only that, you're an IF'er. From what you've said, your weight fluctuates dramatically because of this. Makes sense that you're body is well adapted to feast and famine.
And of course, given some of your remarks, I have to allow for a little bit of embellishement on your part. Realistically, I believe that you may have put on 9 lbs in 8 days, eating UP to 6-8 lbs of meat in maybe 1 or 2, 24 hour periods. Probably put on a couple lbs of muscle (b/c yes, eating is definitely anabolic), a pound of water weight, a couple pounds of fat, and the rest as gut weight.
It seems like you've done some research on metabolic pathways and macronutrient utilization. If you really are a truth seeker, and as long as you're going to put yourself through such extremes, I would attempt to put a few metrics on your results. Take weight, waist, chest, and arm circumfrence measurements every morning. Go to the gym a couple times a week, and see if you're getting stronger. Make posts about your strategies, results, and questions. Talk WITH us about what you're doing, instead of talking AT us about what you're doing.
We'll give you the benefit of the doubt that you did put on 10lbs in a week, but it's doubtful that it was mostly muscle. And even if 3-4 lbs was muscle, we can very well suspect that it was related to already being underweight from fasting.
If you can show us changes in body measurements, lifting capability, and maybe even a picture for those visual learners that back up your statements; AND you can sustain this type of growth over a few months; then you will gain some credibility.
Cherimoya, please do us a favor and don't ban Redfulcrum. A little overdone on the anecdoetes and tone, a little underdone on the evidence and explanations, but I think overall a genuine guy. Let's see if he can cowboy up and contribute to our knowledge base before excluding him.
