Smoothies

Heather4448

I've recently started bringing a blueberry/banana/almond milk smoothie with me to the gym. I have noticed that I hit my goals without as much fatigue, especially squats and leg presses. I know this has a lot of carbs and I definitely don't want to derail my wt loss. Have any of you had a similar experience? Should I just suck it up and omit the high carb smoothie?

cstehansen

There is no "right way" to do this. You will find people on both sides of the fence. If you are going to have something higher carb, then timing and quality are important.

Personally, I found once I was fat adapted, my endurance dramatically increased. I have never been a runner. However, now, there is a contest at my gym (and I am hugely competitive) where it is a cumulative amount of miles on the treadmill. Honestly, the only reason I am only getting 6 miles a day each morning is because of time. I do not get fatigued like I would have before. I had done zero running for over 6 months prior to mid January when the contest started. About 4.5 of that 6 miles is running with about 3/4 as a quick paced walk for warm up and about 3/4 as a cool down walk..

This is a completely fasted workout pre-6am and I don't generally even eat until close to noon.

Before this contest, and once it is over in a few weeks, I will go back to more strength training mixed with a much smaller amount of cardio. Even at that, I noticed a difference where performance improved and endurance was better after I became fat adapted.

Jeff Volek did a study called Faster which investigated endurance athletes on keto which explains how this works.

All that said, I am a man in my mid 40's, and judging by your pic, you are not, so YMMV.

Heather4448

Thanks for the reply! How long did it take you to become fat adapted?

cstehansen

Experts say it takes something like 6 weeks of eating keto level carbs (under 20/g per day). I wasn't really measuring it. It was just something I noticed somewhere around that time before I had really finished doing all my research. I drastically cut carbs for BG control after being told I was diabetic. It just made sense to me as I knew all carbs turn to sugar in your blood. Learning nuances like this took a while since I was just making sure I got the basics up front like getting enough electrolytes. BTW, having some extra sodium about 30 minutes prior to working out and then drinking an extra 8-12 oz of water shortly before is also beneficial. Your blood volume increases when you are HR rises which pulls water (and sodium) from your cells. The extra sodium and water help with both hydration and fatigue. One thing Dr Volek found in his study was that without the extra sodium, the athletes' HR were higher meaning they were hitting max levels at lower levels of exertion. The extra sodium allowed for more exertion before hitting max HR. I started adding the sodium a few weeks ago, and it seems to be helping at least with the hydration.

cstehansen

@Heather4448 - Here is a quick video from Dr. Mark Hyman on this topic from just a few days ago. He is the Director of Functional Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic. He does these "House Call" videos where he answers questions. The first one is actually related to this topic.

http://drhyman.com/blog/2017/02/09/acid-reflux-snacks-endurance-athletes-difference-celiac-disease-gluten-sensitivity/

Just thought you might be interested in hearing this from the mouth of a respected doctor from one of the most prestigious hospitals in the world.

Kimo159

I'm not doing it currently but I have been know to have carbs and protein before a workout. Usually about 50g of carbs 30-60 minutes before my workout. You're doing the carbs intra workout it sounds like. If there was a time to have carbs on a low carb diet, before/during your workout would be prime time. Keep carbs low at other times of the day and you'll likely still fit within your carb limit. Or, you could opt for becoming fat adapted. I always found myself to perform my lifts between with some preworkout carbs though.

Sunny_Bunny_

You can do it however you want to of course. There was a guy here that ate a snickers before really long, intense bike rides. It worked for him.
But, the increased energy could also be because you're not allowing full fat adaptation and so your body really feels the need for the carbs or it could also be that the increase in insulin causes sodium retention in the kidneys since low sodium is a common source of low energy especially when working out. The carbs would prevent the low sodium for you.
Phinney recommends getting 1000mg sodium within 30 minutes of a workout.

Heather4448

Thanks everyone. I'm definitely going to add salt to my morning routine to see if that will help with the muscle fatigue. It's so great to have this forum!

JohnnyLowCarb

Heather4448 wrote: »

Thanks everyone. I'm definitely going to add salt to my morning routine to see if that will help with the muscle fatigue. It's so great to have this forum!

Yes, I too love these guys/gals on the forum, so quick to respond, positive and very knowledgeable!

Heather4448

Just a follow up... Adding salt into my 'before'and 'during' work out drinks has made a huge difference! Yesterday, I added one more mile on the treadmill with no fatigue. Today, I added 1.5 miles.
Thanks!

motherofdragons84

Heather4448 wrote: »

I've recently started bringing a blueberry/banana/almond milk smoothie with me to the gym. I have noticed that I hit my goals without as much fatigue, especially squats and leg presses. I know this has a lot of carbs and I definitely don't want to derail my wt loss. Have any of you had a similar experience? Should I just suck it up and omit the high carb smoothie?

Bananas are really high in carbs.

I make smoothies with coconut cream. It's high in fat and calories but low in carbs.
1/3 cup coconut cream (make sure you mix it up!)
1/2 scoop chocolate protein powder
1 cup of water
1 tablespoon peanut butter
ice

I think there's 4 net carbs in that one. It really fills me up.

I will eat nuts before going to the gym. They have fat/protein and give me enough energy.


Here's some other smoothie ideas: wickedstuffed.com/keto-recipes/low-carb-smoothies-shakes-with-5-net-carbs-or-less/

RodrigoBuntan

Heather4448 wrote: »

Just a follow up... Adding salt into my 'before'and 'during' work out drinks has made a huge difference! Yesterday, I added one more mile on the treadmill with no fatigue. Today, I added 1.5 miles.
Thanks!

Well you've just swayed me to add some salt to my 'before run' drink tomorrow morning prior to doing 5k.