If you lift heavy ...

macchiatto

what do you find adequately fuels your workouts macro-wise? I feel like I need to lower my carbs again but I'm just starting NROLFW and I want to keep up with HIIT and running too, so I don't want to go too low, either.

Dragonwolf

It's entirely doable to do intense workouts even in a state of full ketosis, provided you're used to it. However, it can be hell at first. The good news, though, is that high intensity workouts can allow you to eat more carbs and stay in that state.

Check out http://eatingacademy.com/ for Dr. Peter Attia's entries on the stuff that he does, which includes long distance biking, all while in full ketosis. If I remember right, one of his biking days, he was able to eat upwards of 150g of carbs without leaving ketosis.

The biggest hurdle is (in my opinion) in the beginning of working out at a lower carb level. Because the carb level is lower, until the body gets to where it switches modes at higher levels of effort, you tend to hit what's known as "the wall" sooner than if you ate more carbs (basically your glycogen stores are depleted sooner). Additionally, without the extra glycogen, you dehydrate more easily. Both of these are overcome with time and tweaks to how you do things.

Another thing to consider, too, is to "carb up" pre workout. This works best if you're not working out every day (then you just eat more carbs on the days you work out). I personally feel it's unnecessary, but some people prefer it to working out completely low carb.

So, the amount of carbs that you'll want depends largely on your goals and how you want to go about them. You can go quite low carb, but it might take dropping down your intensity, then ramping back up. If you don't want to do that, then I'd say try something around 75g-100g of carbs or so (depending on where you're starting). You might still have to drop down a little bit, but possibly not as much.

You might also want to check out the Keto groups. They will probably be able to give you more detailed information on the effects of various levels of carb intake. Even if you don't do very low carb, their information should still be valuable.

macchiatto

Thanks for the info! That's very helpful!

I seem to be able to get away with more carbs since I've gotten to a lower weight and exercising more. The amount I was eating had been sneaking up though ... I was trying to keep it under 120 gm/day but lately I've often been going over, sometimes in the 140-160 range. Probably not a coincidence that I'm now on CD35 with no ovulation in sight. My weight has stayed steady but since it's likely affecting my cycle now, I think I'm going to aim to stay under 100 gm/day (possibly up to 120 on lifting days) and see how it goes.