65% Carbohydrates?

OLFATUG

I was reading something the other day, that when training for a marathon your diet should be about 65% carbs, 10% protein, and 25% fat. This hardly seems conducive to weight loss, and very counter-intuitive, can this possibly be right? I love pasta, bread, and beer as much as the next guy, but even *I* don't know if I can get 65% of my caloric intake from carbohydrates.

I also do some strength training, and that 10% protein seems... flat out wrong?

lauleipop

The amount of carbs you need to train is really dependent on how you train. Personally, I eat between 40 - 50% carbs and that level sustains me through my training. About 25 - 35% is protein. I have to work to get my carbs above 40%, as my natural tendency in eating is high protein (I don't like bread or pasta).

When I upped my running from 3 days a week to 4, I noticed a drastic decline in my energy levels. I was eating 20 - 30% carbs at the time. When I increased my carbs my energy went back up.

The 10% protein level seems exceptionally low for anyone who exercises regularly, especially so for someone who lifts. I would be wary of that as a target.

I think it's also important to note that when you eat the carbs is almost as important as how many.

bshedwick

When you are few days out from the race, that doesnt seem too off. But during training, but eating normally should be alright for you.

ebaymommy

The amount of carbs you need to train is really dependent on how you train. Personally, I eat between 40 - 50% carbs and that level sustains me through my training. About 25 - 35% is protein. I have to work to get my carbs above 40%, as my natural tendency in eating is high protein (I don't like bread or pasta).

When I upped my running from 3 days a week to 4, I noticed a drastic decline in my energy levels. I was eating 20 - 30% carbs at the time. When I increased my carbs my energy went back up.

The 10% protein level seems exceptionally low for anyone who exercises regularly, especially so for someone who lifts. I would be wary of that as a target.

I think it's also important to note that when you eat the carbs is almost as important as how many.

I agree with all this. I'm currently 6 weeks out from my next marathon and I'm eating about 45-50% carbs, 30% fat and 20-25% protein. If I dip low on carbs my energy levels suffer. I think I'd feel nasty on 65% carbs though. I got up to 55% carbs a couple days before my half-marathon a couple weeks ago and that was plenty for me to load up and be ready for race day. Probably will shoot for the same amount when carb loading before my full.

brandyk77

Marathon training and weight loss don't really go hand and hand. Sure there are people who can do it but if you are really training for a good race vs. training just to finish, you need to feed those workouts.

scott091501

The amount of damage you do to type I muscles running isn't comparable to the repair needed with type II muscles and lifting, so 10% is probably fine. As said before each of us is different and a different macro split will work best, but the noted split isn't out of the norm.