Quote:
Originally Posted by RubyTears
Does anyone find that they have less energy when they eat low carb? I know that carbs are the body's primary source of fuel, so where do you get your energy when you reduce carbs? I eat about 30 grams of carbs a day and I do a lot of cardio, but I have been struggling with my jogging ever since starting low carb. What do you do to avoid this kind of lethargy?
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Umm...Ruby? Carbs are only the body's 'preferred' source of fuel, not their primary source. On a low carb diet, you teach your body to use fat and protein as primary fuel sources--that's why a low carb diet works to burn stored fats and help reshape your body. However...I just read your stats...and now I really have some questions. Your profile says that you are:
Start weight: 121.8
Current weight: 111.6
Goal weight: 90
Height: 60 inches
Gender: Female
All due respect, Ruby, but have you considered that you already may be AT a healthy weight? Unless you are extremely petite, with a very small frame, 90lbs could very easily be UNDERweight, with too little lean muscle and too low a body fat percentage for an average woman of five feet tall who isn't a competition athlete.
I'm five feet tall, with a heavy frame (when I try to circle my wrist with my middle finger and thumb, they do not meet, which is an indication of a heavy bone structure.) Even at my least fit, I carry 99 lbs of lean body mass--and there is no way that I could be healthy (read: carrying sufficient body fat for normal cell and hormone functions) at less than 22% body fat, which would put my goal weight at least 120 lbs, if not more. At my most fit, I carried 118 lbs of lean body mass, and had a goal weight of between
140 and 150 lbs.
If you can circle your wrist with your thumb and middle finger, and they overlap, you have a small bone structure/frame. If your fingers just touch at the tips when you do this, you have a medium bone structure/frame. If your fingers don't meet (mine don't), you have a heavy bone structure/frame.
While I realize it's POSSIBLE to weigh 90 lbs at five feet tall, depending on your frame size 90lbs may NOT be a healthy goal weight for you to either aim at or maintain. It may sacrifice the lean body mass, muscle and healthy body fat percentage which you need for optimal cell and hormone health, especially if you are over 25. Is it possible that you are over-doing the cardio, and that you aren't taking in enough calories, period? Just a thought.
Gaelen