some carbs necessary?
 

Howdy folks,

I'm new to the forum. In the last couple of months I've reduced my carb intake dramatically and I'm seeing the results. I'm also a fitness nut, though, and while I find that some carbs are necessary for me if I dont want my workouts to be a hellish slog through exhaustion... So far, a formula that seems to work for me is eating plenty of vegetables, including some starchy vegetables, and one cup of brown rice with my evening meal (I work out in the mornings). I don't need refined sugar, at all, I'm happy to say...

I'd be interested to know how other athletic types have navigated this issue? What works for you?

Thanks!
Lucas

You have to do what works for you. And hopefully some of our very wise folks here will answer your question.

In a nutshell...no, you don't need carbs.

You need to be in ketosis and that way you burn fat not carbs/glucose for energy. So you need to keep carbs to a minimum (under 20g a day to start with) and eat plenty of fats - butter, coconut oil, avacados, nuts etc. Thats basically how it works.

Jo xxx

This chap is a good one to look at if you're into serious exercise etc http://www.runnersworld.co.za/nutri...-dietary-ideas/

Jo xxx

I feel much better with 40-70 carbs per day. On athletic days or not. This way it's always "go time" and I never worry about crashing or exhaustion. I don't have to watch my available glycogen for sugar-burning exercise.

I would never do sugar-burning exercise every day though. I'm with Sisson on "chronic cardio" where he talks how perhaps we aren't built to go intense for hours every single day, without health consequences.

Thanks for your input guys! I used to think I couldnt work out without a good intake of refined sugars, and I've since found out that that's not the case at all, so I wouldn't be at all surprised if my current perception of needing to have some small amount of rice isn't entirely accurate either.. I guess I'll just need to experiment a bit and see what works for me... so far, upping my intake of leafy greens and protein has improved my workouts and energy quite a bit...

Seejay, who's is Sisson? I might look him up and do some reading...

thanks everyone!
Lucas

Mark Sisson of the "Primal Blueprint" nutrition and exercise program. He has really good stuff for active people. Best is to google him and start reading what appeals to you!

Google "Mark's Daily Apple" to find him.

Look into CKD and TKD type diets, (cyclic and targeted ketogenic Diets respectively). I do think you will have different needs if you are truly a fitness nut, so keep that in mind. Here is a link talking about it
http://www.ruled.me/3-ketogogenic-diets-skd-ckd-tkd/ I haven't read that, so maybe I should link it, but it will give you an idea of what I am talking about.

If you are looking for straight information about Ketogenic Diets, I would advise getting some books. I started with Atkins a very long time ago(1998 I think), which was informative at the time, I think you can skip it though. I'm not sure if I'll be breaking forum rules saying this, but "the Ketogenic Diet" by Lyle McDonald is a must read in my opinion, he has other books targeted more towards weight lifters, but the basics of why low carb diets work are outlined there.

I personally don't do ketogenic diets really, unless and when I want to lean out. I do eat fruit on most days. My diet is more or less just real foods, meats, fish, eggs, veggies, fruits and such, just minus rice and potatoes and starchy veggies like corn. I've been doing this a long time, and it's very much a low carb way of eating, when you don't eat packaged(processed) food, carbs are hard to get outside potatoes or rice.