Low carb and exercise?

dewsmom78

I have been doing low carb (20-40 net carbs per day) for 2 weeks now and have lost 4 lbs.

I just started exercising this week, and I guess I just want to know - with going low carb, will I feel more tired adding in exercising? It's been drilled into my head that you need carbs before a workout and protein after. Does anything negative happen when you exercise and your body has no carbs to use?

Leonidas_meets_Spartacus

Read my profile. In a nut shell, you don't need carbs for most part unless you are competing in sprints and power lifting competitions. You might need to reset the expectations and slowly build the exercises. I didn't even work out for first 4 weeks on low carb, when I started working out in week 5, it was horrible and sluggish. But, fast forward 2-3 months, I ran 5 half marathons in 5 weeks and finished 3rd place in one of the races. No you don't need carbs but you need to gradually build your exercise and take couple of weeks off if you need time to get adjusted to low carb lifestyle. While I was training for my races, I also did 1/1.5 hr of P90X3/ weight training.

albertabeefy

As you're only 2 weeks in you MAY find it difficult, especially if you haven't keto-adapted yet (which is quite possible. We're all different on when that happens.)

Unlike Leonidas (who, as he mentioned, often engages in endurance running), I engage in some extremely high-intensity interval exercise. As such I have to "target" my carbohydrate intake to correspond with my exercise times. (I typically eat a little carbohydrate 30-45 minutes prior to a high-intensity exercise session.) I also eat a little more carbohydrate than many ketogenic dieters, but my high-intensity bouts are of a longer duration than most others.

Most keto dieters have enough circulating glucose to do short bouts (a few minutes) of high-intensity work (by high-intensity I mean over 95% of your VO2 max), but not enough for long bouts.

The best thing to do, as I see it, is TRY your chosen exercise, and see what happens.

If your chosen activity isn't high-intensity, and you find it difficult, it may be a simple case of not being keto-adapted yet. Keep at it and the process will happen, and things will improve.

If, on the other hand, you're doing higher-intensity exercise and can't accomplish it - try having one of your higher-carb meals/snacks a little before the exercise.

GiGiBeans

You might feel fine depending on the exercise, you might feel sluggish but adapt gradually or you might not and need to time a small meal with carbs prior to exercise. Nothing bad will happen though. People do fasted exercise all the time and some prefer it.

dewsmom78

Thanks. I started Jillian's Body Revolution, it's a 90 day program. It worked for me last year so I am doing it again. Had our second baby 7 weeks ago, so I need to get back into shape.

I am enjoying the low carb. I eat alot of eggs, meat, salads, cheese. It has totally killed my appetite and cravings for anything sweet.

I haven't felt sluggish other than the normal tiredness of being a new mom again. I just wanted to make sure there weren't any major health risks of doing low carb with exercise.