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Does anyone eat more carbs on workout days?

gaelicstorm26
gaelicstorm26 Posts: 589 Member
edited November 23 in Social Groups
Totally curious here.

I have a low carb lifestyle, which for me, means eating 20% of my calories via carbs (about 98 carbs daily). That is total carbs, not net carbs. I do sometimes allow myself extra carbs when I've had a tough workout. So today I ate 116 carbs instead of my 98.

I'm wondering if anyone else allows themselves to recalculate their carb goals based on their activity level for the day.

Replies

  • wabmester
    wabmester Posts: 2,748 Member
    I used workout days to burn off my excess carbs, but never needed to add carbs specifically for workouts.
  • sweetteadrinker2
    sweetteadrinker2 Posts: 1,026 Member
    I don't eat more, but I repostion them throughout the day. Ie, nectarine right before the workout instead of with bfast
  • KittensMaster
    KittensMaster Posts: 748 Member
    I eat more carbs in electrolyte packs

    In the summer in the southeast on a 2 1/2 hour bike ride at a fast pace, you gotta get salt and sugar or just pass out

    When it is 80 in good

    When it will be 95 and up? Oh yes. If professional athletes do it, as a weekend warrior I sure do

    I try to make sure I have 20% of my expected burn in by bike bag. Minimum

    50 miles is about 3000 calories with of burn. I have 3 x 100 calorie GU electrolyte packs and 2 x 270 calorie Cliff bars. And 2 x large water bottles that get refilled on the road at least once
  • Juliste
    Juliste Posts: 298 Member
    I weight train and cycle/hike 6 days per week. I am on a 20 gr of carbs per day. I personally don't require the extra carbs; I do however take BCAA's during and after my training.
  • bluefish86
    bluefish86 Posts: 842 Member
    I don't need to, but I do sometimes use exercise as an excuse to eat more carbs. :p
  • KittensMaster
    KittensMaster Posts: 748 Member
    bluefish86 wrote: »
    I don't need to, but I do sometimes use exercise as an excuse to eat more carbs. :p


    And when we burn them off it is net zero

    I actually log that I eat a Snickers bar!

  • kirkor
    kirkor Posts: 2,530 Member
    bluefish86 wrote: »
    I don't need to, but I do sometimes use exercise as an excuse to eat more carbs. :p

    I don't know if it's still the Precision Nutrition doctrine, but John Berardi used to talk about "earning" carbs through exercise. http://www.wellandtribune.ca/2008/08/11/earn-those-carbs-2
  • Foamroller
    Foamroller Posts: 1,041 Member
    edited September 2015
    I used to carb up on the day of my hardest training (2-3 hrs, including anaerobic work).

    But the last months I did keto level below 50g for the most part. I found that on the hard day, I kinda lost the drive for eating carbs, even if I could!

    IMO, carb up should be earned. Not as punishment, but as a tool for metabolic flexibility. I usually just eat whatever vegs I want, minus rice, grains, desserts and a very occasional fruit. I stick to homemade food from basic ingredients. When a party, I eat desserts and wine and all that without regret, hangover or bloat. The day after is back to lowcarb, no exception. I'm not a party animal, though so it might not work for people who attend lots of parties.

    I remain convinced that the combo of Intermittent Fasting, low-carb and lots of exercise is doing something to help me tolerate carbs better than before :)

    In the latest vid with darthluiggi, they also talk about «earning the carbs».
    https://youtu.be/P6HlzZFSKU0

    I do understand it must be very frustrating for those who are very carb intolerant and need to stay below 20 g. But ignoring that some people are able to bump up carb intake while keeping FA, would be doing the WOE a disfavor too. Many people probably already dismiss trying to get FA, because the keto label is too militant. But that's just my guess. Even Phinney says lots of exercise mitigates to some extent more carbs. In this vid he's conveniently vague on numbers.

    http://www.dietdoctor.com/?s=phinney+performance

    In the paid vid from Cape Town conference, I think he says up to «100-120». He does say that carb thresholds are individual. I'm happy that a respected lowcarb advocate is saying the same as I've been saying since winter. Too bad it's not open source :(

    I also suspect that the amount of muscle mass plays a role in how much buffer the glycogen represents when carbs are ingested. Another good reason to avoid sarcopenia, IMO.

    To OP: You need to experiment to find YOUR carb threshold vs volume and intensity of training. Carb type matters for satiety and cravings, IME.
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