Abbas,
Here is my input:
1) Creatine increases intracellular water retention specifically in muscle tissue. This is why muscles look fuller when using creatine.
2) NEVER use diuretics. They are dangerous and habit forming. To make the body shed water you need to drink more water. Water is critical to survival and if the body knows there is a steady supply it will eliminate excess thru the kidneys. If you don't drink enough, your body hordes water. Also remember that your carb and glucose levels affect Dexa scans. You actually will show a higher body fat if your glucose levels are high - this is a known issue with Dexa scans.
As for body fat, the way people store body fat is different and a body fat analysis is of your WHOLE body not specific spots. You may have low fat in your legs and arms but higher fat in your abdomen but the whole body fat measurement is still 8%.
3) I have written many posts about pre-workouts. In my opinion, they are useless and create a metabolic crutch. The reason you feel the way you do is you are overloading your CNS. All pre-workouts contain some levels of caffeine. When you overdo the caffeine it is like taking crystal meth - you overstimulate your nervous system and burn out all your energy. Best advice is dump the pre-workouts and stop the caffeine pills. Get your energy naturally from nutritious foods.
4) The answer is not to cut your calories further. If you take in too few calories, your body goes into survival mode and actually slows down your metabolism and conserves energy. The net result is stalled fat loss. I would try upping your carbs and fat. I would cycle the carbs so you eat more on workout days and less on non-workout days. Unless you show your body that it still can get adequate levels of carbs and fats, even if it is not everyday, then your body has no incentive to burn more fat.
5) See #4 above
6) Your biggest and most calorically dense meal should be post-workout. This is macro timing in its simplest form. No need to make it any more complicated or over thought.
7) Take all the nutrition advice, even mine, with a grain of salt. The human metabolism is a complex system and there is no one-size-fits-all plan that works for everyone. You need to experiment and get to know what foods work for you and what foods have negative effects. I try to offer advice that I believe is most applicable to all but it is based on my personal experiences and nutritional beliefs.
Unless you have Celiac disease, you can eat grains of all kinds. The no grains, no dairy pundits are those primarily that advocate a full Paleo diet. The research shows that extreme diets of any kind are not optimal. The human body is designed to eat a myriad of wholesome foods from ALL sources. The longest living populations in the world have been eating grains like rice for millenia. The latest nutritional research is showing that the amount and types of bacteria we have in our intestinal tract play a much larger role in health, body composition, and immunity than ever thought before. This bacterial world needs wholesome foods like grains, fruits, fiber, vegetables, dairy, etc to grow, stay healthy, and provide a strong immune system. Cutting out certain food groups affects this delicate balance of beneficial bacteria.
My advice is if you have no problem eating grains and wheat, etc keep doing so. Don't listen to the extreme nutritional "advice" on the internet. The only extreme advice I expound is that the human body is meant to eat wholesome, nutritional, natural foods devoid of processing and chemicals and man-made sugars and fats.
8) When you EAT fruit versus drink it, the fiber slows down the absorption and processing of the fructose. Fructose is not an evil sugar - it only is when combined with glucose to form the man-made high fructose corn syrup. Fruit is no different than any other macronutrient - if you eat more calories than you need you will not lose body fat. Some fruits with a low GI like blueberries, apples, raspberries, blackberries actually help you lose fat due to the important phytochemicals they have just like vegetables. The bottom line is you can eat fruit and still lose body fat. You just need to make sure your TOTAL calories from ALL food sources do not exceed your daily caloric goal.
John
