Running on a low carb diet

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ES110791
ES110791 Posts: 43 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Is it a bad idea? Does it, in your experience, affect your running performance?

I don't really mean running for weightloss. I would like to lose around 3kg but my main priority is improving my running. I'm just kind of stuck on this weight and have been for like a year now, so I figure it's time to try something different.

Replies

  • aneary1980
    aneary1980 Posts: 461 Member
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    I had a lowish carb diet and I ran but I have a lot more than you do and I made sure my protein was up.
  • fleetzz
    fleetzz Posts: 962 Member
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    Running on low carb diet made my legs feel like lead.
  • throoper
    throoper Posts: 351 Member
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    Yep. I'm a runner. Once in a while I do a low carb kick like Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet for a couple weeks (no fruit / bread / pasta / sugar / alcohol), and it makes me feel weaker and run slower for sure. I try to eat vaguely low carb in general (I limit bread / pasta but definitely have fruit, some sugar, wine) and I can run just fine on that kind of intake.
  • arussell134
    arussell134 Posts: 463 Member
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    How much running are you doing? If you're just running 20-30 minutes here and there, it's probably not a huge deal. However, if you're logging some serious miles, you might want to rethink this.... or give it a try for a week and see how you do. Personally, my runs just suck unless I'm eating a decent % in carbs.
  • ES110791
    ES110791 Posts: 43 Member
    edited October 2014
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    I'm running between 30-50km a week. More when I'm training for an event.

    I would never go on a seriously low carb diet. Right now I eat about 60-70% carbs, I love them too much to give up and those macros make me feel really good currently. I was thinking if dropping both my calorie and carb intake a little. Otherwise I will be ravenous on those macros. I find dieting pretty hard lol.

    I do NOT want to do it if it's going to make me feel terrible. I only want to lose 'vanity' weight, so it wouldn't be worth it.
    It's just frustrating because I was a certain weight for a long time and I gained 3kg last year on holiday and it's strayed on and I don't really like my body at it's current weight, but I can deal with it if I have to.

    I may try it, but I think it's always a good idea to ask what other peoples experiences are anyway.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    No matter what we post here, you won't really understand how awful it is until you try it yourself. So my suggestion is...go try! :smile:
  • hermann341
    hermann341 Posts: 443 Member
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    Well, I get 20% or less of my calories from carbs, and I run marathons, so I guess that qualifies. In fact, I did a 22 mile run this past Monday (3:11 or about 8:40 pace) taking only electrolytes and water. I have been eating low carb since January, and have lost about 60 pounds. My half marathon time has improved from 2:20 to 1:47, and my next full marathon should be about 70 minutes faster than one I did in Dec 2013. If you are going to low carb and run, you need to do it for months to see if it's working for you. You have to train your body burn fat instead of glycogen, and it takes a bit of time to do. First, it will take several weeks of what Atkins calls induction (20g carbs or less) to get your body into ketosis. Then, it will take several months to determine what your maximum level of carbs is. Over the past 10 months, I have gone from about 20g to 120g. When you consider how much glycogen you have available (~2000 calories) versus fat (~100,000 calories), low carb running makes sense to me.

    Also, here's a website from a doctor, who has run actual experiments with endurance sports while in ketosis: http://eatingacademy.com/my-personal-nutrition-journey.
  • DavidMartinez2
    DavidMartinez2 Posts: 840 Member
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    I have not tried this but a friend of mine goes low-carb/high protein for most of his training cycle (80+ mpw). About a week out from race day he re-introduces carbs to his diet.
  • ThickMcRunFast
    ThickMcRunFast Posts: 22,511 Member
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    at only 30-50 km per week, chances are upping your mileage will do more than cutting carbs.

    However 60-70% from carbs seems high for that amount of running. Its hard to know without seeing how much you eat every day and what your stats are, and what your current times and goals are.

    I have done carb depletions before loading in race training cycles. I always feel like warmed-over butt on those runs. Some people work well on fat burning, but it takes months to adapt to that, and honestly I'm not into making all my runs feel like crap.
  • hermann341
    hermann341 Posts: 443 Member
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    If you do try, you really have to give it at least a month to give it a fair shake. Your current carb intake suggests that you would lose the desired weight within the first week, but it will probably be several weeks before your running feels normal again.
  • eldamiano
    eldamiano Posts: 2,667 Member
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    I would never do it. I would never have a hope of getting personal best times.
  • Zekela
    Zekela Posts: 634 Member
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    I couldn't do this... carbs are energy source, you need energy for running.
  • jrline
    jrline Posts: 2,353 Member
    edited October 2014
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    Don't go longer than 5k if you are going low carb. I lost 100lbs without having to go low carb. I Use the Runner's Diet 50% carb, 25% protein, and 25% fat.

    url=http://www.myfitnesspal.com/weight-loss-ticker]29509743.png[/url]
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
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    What do you mean by low carb? Everyone's definitly of this seems to be different. Do you limit to a certain # of grams/day or a certain percentage of your daily intake?
  • stuffinmuffin
    stuffinmuffin Posts: 985 Member
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    I don't know if I could function in every day activities, let alone run on very restricted carbs.

    Like someone else asked - how little carbs are you eating?
  • GillianMcK
    GillianMcK Posts: 401 Member
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    As above, what are you defining as Low Carbs??
    I have a vegetarian friend, who thinks low carbs is anything below 70%, I'm normally around 25% carbs, I'm not a very fast runner, but I'm running for weight loss at the moment not performance and I'm logging about 50miles a week currently.
    You've mentioned that currently on 60%-70% carbs, what are you thinking of dropping them to, as other people have mentioned try it and see, if it's not for you, change back!
  • goanothermile
    goanothermile Posts: 98 Member
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    fleetzz wrote: »
    Running on low carb diet made my legs feel like lead.

    That has been my experience as well.

    However... the the OP is doing 60-70% carbs. That seems high to me. If you're staying within your calories, then it seems certain that you are falling far short of the protein goal.

    Try dialing the carbs back to a lower amount, like 40-50%. See how that goes for a few weeks.

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