Ketogenic Endurance Athletes...?

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I recently picked-up The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance by Volek and Phinney. It has been really eye-opening. It shouldn't be. I lost 60#s years ago while following Atkins for about 2 years. I got down to 124#s. Then I fell off the wagon and regained 20. I started running almost 7 years ago in the hopes that I could re-lose the weight without "dieting." FAIL. I am now 30#s over my low weight and halfway back to my heaviest starting point.

For years I have struggled with how to go back to eating a low-carb/ketogenic diet AND engage in my favorite activities -- running and cycling. I fell victim to the aerobic-exercise-requires-carbs myth. A few times I tried cutting my carbs down to a "moderate" level of 100-150 net/day, but could never run or bike for more than about 45 minutes before bonking. And the insane hunger with even that many carbs in my system. That has been the biggest challenge any time I have tried to cut calories. Atkins was like a dream come true for me. I lost weight without crazy hunger and felt healthier than ever.

I'm only about a third of the way through the aforementioned book, but reading it has given me a big DUH moment! If I'm not actually in ketosis and I cut back on carbs, then my body has no clue what to do once my limited glycogen stores are depleted. BUT if I don't let my body run on glycogen from the outset, then it has no choice but to power itself on fat stores. This was true before I became an endurance athlete and did weight workouts. It's still true.

I still have 2 more cyclocross races this season (so I need to wait to start back up with low-carbing until race season is over, since I will likely have at least a week or two of adaptation away from carb-fueled fitness), but starting 12/3 I will be back on the ketosis wagon. I'm really looking forward to it. I will miss beer and wine, but I can't wait to indulge in all of the keto-friendly foods I can eat with gusto, again (my love for bacon and cheese are the stuff of legend). And I won't miss the 20-30#s that I hope to lose in the next year. I would love to be able to set some new race PRs with a lighter body.

And I turn 40 in Feb., so I want to get my weight off before it starts to become an even bigger challenge with middle age.

shar140

You saved me what I was going to say in the third paragraph!

Here are a couple other resources - try also reading The Paleo Diet for Athletes by Loren Cordain. It wasn't useful to me as it is only for endurance athletes - not applicable to team sports (I play rugby). You don't have to eat Paleo, but it's a good resource as it gives some guidelines around how much carb to eat based on activity and duration.

Another is Dr. Peter Attia's website, http://eatingacademy.com/. He did a self-experiment to see how his body/performance changed by changing his diet to be keto. http://eatingacademy.com/my-personal-nutrition-journey also explains the background.

Good luck on your upcoming races!

wfte

I was just going to recommend eatingacademy myself. He has a video of him training showing just what can be done on low carb.

You may also be interested in his recent articles about Superstarch. Haven't read them myself as seems a product geared towards "proper" athletes but from what I can tell its a low carb solution to carbs.

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I stumbled across that site and thought it looked interesting. I should bookmark.

The same friend who recommended the book mentioned superstarch. Gonna have to research that more.

betoarango

Awesome thread...
I'm on week 7 of my Atkins diet at 30-40 g/day looking to loose about 45 lbs. To shape my leaned body I do weight training combined mega-sets... lift heavy 8-10 reps, 4 muscle groups before resting, 3 sets of each. 4 groups of exorcises. It is sort of an aerobic/anaerobic torture. It has worked great bringing up my metabolism and i feel the difference in strength and muscles, however I really feel it when my body says... no more for you today... we are out of energy...

The difference is awesome, during the first mega-sets i am Conan the barbarian... the last mega-set I'm a whimpering girl scout... I struggle to finish but know the reason is purely glycogen based... I would really enjoy going for failure in my sets (as i do in my first sets) in my last ones, as well as the conan thing :^) I am looking for a way to obviate this, and was thinking of pre-workout sugary fruits or similar at the failure moment.. or somewhere around there... I also want to do insanity... and i believe it would be deadly on a low carb diet...

I will dive into the articles immediately. Thanks for posting them SHAR140.

SKArunner

Hey . . .

I am 42 years old, ultra runner, and only been running 'really' for about 2 years now. Two years ago, I hit my peak 205 and high blood pressure. I was a 158 or so as a rock climber in my thirties.

With a classic diet, eat less and run more, I lost majority of my weight. Even after a year training for the Leadville 100, I was a stable 164. After switching to a low carb diet with no exercise (injury) I lost 9 pounds in 9 days.

I then became more strict and went Keto. I am loosing about 1 pound a week and running hard. It is amazing how I can run for hours and not need extra fuel . . . I am on day 28 of my Keto diet.

Super starch . . . I bought UCANN mix on a recommendation, and haven't tried it yet.

I will let you know . . .

I started a new group . . . Keto Endurance: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/10013-keto-endurance

navydentalchic

I have had to go low carb due to Insulin resistance, and struggling, but slowly but surely it is easier to stay 50 and under. I am training for a 10k and I find I lose steam fairly quickly. I was starting to lose motivation to keep traning because of lack of carbs, but this has me telling myself just get through it and I will adjust. Thanks!

SKArunner

I have had to go low carb due to Insulin resistance, and struggling, but slowly but surely it is easier to stay 50 and under. I am training for a 10k and I find I lose steam fairly quickly. I was starting to lose motivation to keep traning because of lack of carbs, but this has me telling myself just get through it and I will adjust. Thanks!

I know everyone is different . . . I started off on a lower carb diet for the first month not knowing I was switching to a keto diet. Now at day 30 in ketosis, I don't have the cravings anymore. I do reward myself on days that my carbs are really low. I eat an ice cream sundae with Breyers low carb ice cream, Spanish peanuts, and 2 table spoons of peanut butter. OMG! That cures me every time. Is it recommended???? It probably gives me a spike, but it hasn't kicked me out yet.

SKA

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After switching to a low carb diet with no exercise (injury) I lost 9 pounds in 9 days.

I then became more strict and went Keto. I am loosing about 1 pound a week and running hard. It is amazing how I can run for hours and not need extra fuel . . . I am on day 28 of my Keto diet.

Super starch . . . I bought UCANN mix on a recommendation, and haven't tried it yet.

I will let you know . . .

I started a new group . . . Keto Endurance: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/10013-keto-endurance

Heh, so 5 days prior to starting LC/keto I busted my right wrist (typing sucks!) mountain biking, so until I get my cast on Fri there has been no exercise (making me crazy, but I am really uncomfortable in a bulky splint). Planning to resume running ASAP and will join a little local gym for a month or two for use of their recumbent stationary bikes. In the meantime I started back on Atkins, as planned 2 days ago and have been in ketosis for >24 hours. Hard to tell with all the swelling and the splint, but I think I have already pee'd away ~5#s in just a few days. Some of that is diet, some injury swelling clearing out.