He's kind of a nut. I think his idea of nutrition is actually closer to what might be expounded here - he just has this idea that eating organ meats, for, example, is not reasonable in the modern world, so he wants people to eat lean meat with vegetable oils to mimic the fat ratios in organ meats. He seems to think sat fat in organ meats is great, just nobody will eat them so he offers his next best alternative. It's pretty backwards. I don't remember him being so into yolkless eggs, though. I don't think he's that extreme.

A little off the topic ... I eat VLC, generally less than 20 carbs/day. I am training for a marathon, then ironman and I find that when I endurance train for more than 2 hrs I bonk hard to the point of being hypoglycemic if I don't take in gels or some form of carbs during my run/cycle. I haven't tried in several months so perhaps I'm more ketoadaped now, but I'd like to try another long run without any carbs - anyone have any suggestions to avoid the hypoglycemia thing?

I do find that when I carb load for a race it's like adding jet fuel to the tanks though

Sybil: I found the same to be true on long bike rides. i allow myself some good carbs while riding, but no sugary sweets/gatorade. Whole grain/yogurt bars, fig newtowns, olives, bananas, and I drink Propel alternated with Nuun. It works and there is no problem transitioning back to LC immediately afterwards. I do not carb load pre ride. I also manage my effort level to be sure I stay below the exhaustion threshold.

Let us know how your training and competing goes!

Fig newtons great idea! Thanks! I'll give that and banana a try Sunday. I usually stay at a lower effort on my long runs/rides as well - I try to stick to heart rate training, so it's only on shorter workouts that I do hills/intervals. I don't usually use an electrolite drink, I just use Thermolite pills and they work well ... a bit more potent than Nuun.

I don't usually find any problems going back to LC right afterwards even if I do have a carby breakfast and/or gels as long as I work out long enough and it all gets burned off I'd just rather not have to deal with the cravings that I get for a couple days afterwards.

I had a BBS/HIT workout at lunch time today. I have been <15gms carbs/day for a month (doing a slightly modified version of Eades's 6 Week Cure), no alcohol. Except for a couple tablespoons of half'n'half in my decaff in the morning, I was fasted for about 17 hours prior to working out (since dinner the night before).

On the 5 of 6 sets (row, chest press, leg curl, leg press, lumbar), weights were up 10-20 pounds from previous workout with same or greater TULs, despite getting an EIH on the first set. The sixth machine (abs) was new to me so I can't compare. The headache was because of too many reps on the chest press due to the trainer having me readjust my grip because my elbow was catching. The momentary rest let my slow twitch fibers come back online so I didn't hit failure as soon as I should have.

Oh, this was on top of having moved about 3/4 of a pallet of windsor block one at a time the day before so my lower back was tired. Even so, I had improvement on the lumbar set.

I'm not as fast or as strong as the other girls she trains (on high carb diets) but I am the only one consistently losing weight each and every week

AND

losing inches.

I do HIIT on Monday, long distance run on Wednesday (up to 6 kms so far) and strength training on Fridays. Functional exercise on the weekend (walking).

I use Hammergel. It comes in flasks that fit into the hip pocket of my running shorts. The only problem is remembering to take a sip regularly before bonking. Or taking too much and needing a potty stop.

I'm a figure competitor and when I prep for shows I always use a low/no carb diet.
I actually gained strength during resistance training workouts during the 12 week prep. I didn't start feeling depleted until I eliminated fats.

Do you find it's mandatory to even greatly reduce fats to eke out that last little bit of bodyfat removal?

Yes! Especially as a female competitor. You have to get that last bit of fat off your glutes and hamstings. In the last 4 weeks of my prep, My ratio of protein/vegetable days to protein/fat days is 3:1. It can get pretty brutal.
Throughout the whole prep though all of my fat sources are from nuts, salmon, supplemental 3-6-9's, and Macadamia Nut Oil.

Plus 3+ hours of cardio at my THR.

Of course I wouldn't suggest this diet to anyone unless they were competing. If you drop the fat you'll start to lose strength in a hurry. Luckily it only lasts about 4 weeks.

Coachjeff,

My current and short term experience is that when I am on a highly restricted calorie deficit as well as a carb restricted diet, intense exercise of any sort, but especially endurance exercise is not only fatiguing, it seems counter productive. I am probably in ketosis 5 days per week right now, with per day calorie intake at 1450.

Most of the time I walk around feeling like the energizer bunny on my diet. But my weight training typically drops to a much lower level too. Yet I'm very strong for my age and a moderate level training can mean dropping down to sets of 16-20 reps with 175 - 185 pounds in bench presses as an example. I do cycling at a level of say 420 calories per hour, instead of my usual 600 - 650 calories per hour. (The typical stationary cyclist goes at 280 calories per hour though and quits after 20 minutes). If I attempt my old intensity levels at cycling, my fatigue will last into the next day, but oddly I don't even notice the fatigue build up until I've done close to an hour, then it hits, and hits hard. Pun intended.

My experience with most people who do HIIT is that they do not have much of an endurance foundation. I talking about taking many monthes or years to build up real endurance.

It is my intent to eat a low carb life style around 70% of the time once I get my body fat levels down, and learn how I can cheat for some 6-8 week cycles to build strength . What's important to me, when I reach that point, is to keep BS spikes at a normal to near-level. Carbs IMHO make it much easier to pack on muscle, the problem is organ destroying blood sugar spikes. Endurance can be optimised on a low carb diet if it does not include large calorie deficits too.

Nudging thread

Hardcore ZC makes my training so effective. I am getting the nutrients I need and my energy is through the roof. I don't need to eat much before training and I never bonk anymore (I was a vegetarian eating every 3 hours). Once you give yourself a chance to adapt to very low/no carbs, nothing can stop you.

I don't read the science, all I know is what works for me, I am low carb, between 30 - 60 carbs a day max. I work out with weights 3 days a week, am 21% bf (from skin fold measurments). do cardio for 1 hr a week ontop of my 3 day a week warm up and cool down, as well play soccer every Sunday, and last sunday I played two games back to back as a forward, still had great bursts of speed in the last part of the second half. For me this eating has increased my energy levels to something crazy. I played over 2 hrs of soccer with full out running as a forward and felt great afterwards.

All I can tell you is that from my experience I have increased stamina, greater speed and feel awesome even after I give it my all. My recovery periods are faster between work outs as well.

I just might be a mutant, lol.

This is awesome!!! I have watched soccer as a soccer mom and it is so obvious how draining 2 hours is for a forward.

Hey I'm a college football fan, wouldn't it be amazing if the teams could quit gassing out in the fourth quarter all around? On the other hand, speaking of mutants, I know you athletes, you would just fight harder and get just as tired if EVERYone was super energized the whole time.