Ok - oh dear - I take it all back! Today's lesson was worse! I was still trying to digest that huge breakfast I ate when I hit the court so it didn't work out!. I think exercising on an empty stomach is better.

Thanks Loops for that advise. I'll take it on board.

I'm not sure if its just my body finally getting used to this WOE but I seem to have a bit more energy this week, although I didn't do my gym work on Monday which is usually 45mins of cardio followed by A pump class and a step class, which is my hardest days excercise. But Tuesday with my spin class I seemed to get through it easier tha the last few weeks so maybe it was the easy day MOnday or maybe I'm getting used to it. I think I probably need to modify my breakfast on a Monday morning to get through the 2 aerobics classes. I'll try that next week and see how I go.
Jen

I've just been playing around and have finally worked out how to add my signature. What do you think?

Its puzzling, you should have more energy than ever since you are not at goal weight yet; at 58 I can windsurf for hours without eating, most everyone out there sailing have some sandwiches and snacks-- I used to have peanuts and diet soda, now I only drink water laced with Morton's Salt Substitute 1/4 tsp has 610 mg of potassium. Even at the end of the day I am not very hungry, I used to not be able to drive home without stopping for fast food. Maybe its a supplement issue? Many of us take quite a lot of stuff as you can see in the Tech Forum: Nutrition & Supplements. My limited understanding has always been if you do take in some carbs do it immediately after exercise-- not before. One day we had 40 Mph winds, I had to go home early to patch up an injury and I had 1/2 banana and some walnuts then went back out for two more hours until my mast snapped. The food did help some, but I am not sure I had to have it.

Best wishes and good luck with your progress

Oops, I just noticed you are on the naturopathic approach diet:

"Breakfast - wholefood muesli made from rye, oats, barley, millet and brown rice flakes, sweetened with dried fruits and honey and taken with yoghurt or buttermilk, plus a herbal tea or chicory coffee.
Lunch - the main meal of the day is made up of salads, raw vegetables, seeds, nuts, sprouted grains and plant oils, plus wholegrain bread and soya or other protein.
Supper - a light meal similar to breakfast, or simple steamed/raw vegetables and vegetable juices, plus wholegrains."

Maybe you are on the wrong diet for you, are carb sensitive or have a food allergy-- grains are the #1 culprit for many people. Also that diet seems low in protein.

Mike_d - I'm not sure if it is actually naturopathic, the menu you just described is nothing like what I am eating. I am using an approach given to my brother in law from his naturopath so I just said it is naturopathic.

I am eating about 25-30g of carbs a day and 80g of protein which is just the uusal meat and salad and vegies just low carb.
I'm not sure what plan it is. Maybe I should change it on my profile to "low-carb" or "my own plan" or something.
Sorry for the confusion

It sounds like you're getting enough protein. But for aerobic exercise (running, swimming) you probably need more carbs. I treat carbs as energy food, meaning I have some shortly before a run. Since the elevated heart rate will burn off the carbs quickly it doesn't much matter what you use. I prefer power bars or plain chocolate chip cookies. If electrolytes are a problem I would use pringles. Potatoes get in the blood stream as sugar faster than sugary cookies do.

I ran a marathon last weekend. Pringles saved me for not finishing the race.

Also if you are working hard the sugar goes right into the muscles without needing insulin so you shouldn't need to worry about spikes.

If I take a 100-calorie Gu before a 3-mile run, is that enough to get me going further than 3 miles? I was doing 6-7 miles a day before starting Atkins 2 weeks ago. I'm running out of gas at 3 miles since starting Atkins. I ran marathons in the my 20s and 30s and would like to get back to that, in time of course.

The sugar primes the fat-burning pump. That is, a 100 calories Gu packet doesn't mean you only have enough energy to run one mile. I find I need a second dose of sugar somewhere between 5 and 7 miles. However, the faster you run, the sooner you use up the sugar. Take one Gu but keep another in your pocket. I wear Race Ready Shorts because the pockets are the right size for packets of Gu.

Actually prefer the idea of Pringles or something else salty and carby. So do I go by just calories, like 100 cal of Pringles before start and then a Gu during the run if I need it? Or am I looking for a certain number of carbs to down before going out?

Thanks for the great advice.

Hair

I prefer Pringles to Gu but it's not something that I can take with me on trail runs. Even better than Gu is Hammergel. They sell individual flanks that hold the equivalent of 4 or 5 Gu packets and still fits in the Race Ready pockets.

There's no way to answer your question. I've never found an online formula that worked for me. You are going to have to find the magic number yourself.

Runners World Magazine says a person burns 100 calories per mile. But is that for a 100 pounder or 200 pounder? Also the calculations starts from the idea that you are burning sugar only. We know that we are burning fat and sugar together. I've been trying to find the magic number of sugar calories needed per mile for me. I'm not there yet. But I hope you see my point; You'll need to experiment to find your magic number.

What's your feeling on not using any sugar and trying to work off of body fat? Two weeks ago 6 miles was a cake walk for me. Part of me wants to try and work back up to that just burning fat, but I don't know if that's possible. I saw the research paper about the bike riders who did it, and I read a couple of posts around here of people who are training long distances not using any carbs, but is this really the norm?

I'm also determined to drop my weight using low-carb. I don't want to get back in a cycle of carbing up and then getting bloated and not being able to drop the weight. Nutrition will drop the weight faster than running will.

I can stick with strict Atkins for the next month or so and see if my "fat-burning" stores kick in for the mileage, but if it doesn't, the next best thing seems to be carbing only for the activity, which it sounds like you are doing.

Sorry if this has already been discussed.

I read what Atkins said about exercise, then read what Sears (Zone Diet) said about exercise. They both feel all you need is fat for energy. And I tried for years to run on fat only.

One source said you need fat in the stomach to stimulate the fat-burning enzymes. So I tried a 10 mile run after drinking Olive Oil. Man was that a mistake. I tried it again using peanut butter. Failed again.

What I've found is I cannot run well without some carb on board. It doesn't have to be much but once it's gone I'm reduced to a slow walk. I know some on this list say they don't need carb at all. But that's not me.

The online calculator says I've got around 16% body fat. Maybe that's the problem. If so I should get better as I lose fat. So I don't know what the answer is. Long term, the fitter you get, the better you should be at burning fat for energy.

As I understand it, an untrained body burns sugar. With training the body begins to rely on fat for energy. The body is always using a mixture of fat and sugar. Training allows the body to rely on fat more than sugar.

If you are breathing hard during a run you are burning sugar. That happens to me if I try to run faster than an 8:00 pace. Think of an elite marathon runner. They're doing 5:00 miles for the entire marathon. Their training is such that at 5:00 pace they aren't breathing hard so they aren't burning sugar.

I have exactly the same problem - training on zero carbs and lots of fat doesn't work - most of the time. There have been a few days when it did - but they haven't been many. I've given it a lot of time as well - 9 months. I'm sure there is a magic number too - but I can't seem to find it!

I've tried fruit but that doesn't seem to work very well. Next up is - as Kaypeeoh suggests something completely forbidden on low carb! Chocolate chip cookies!!

Anyway when I'm training my muscles burn and I get in a bad mood without carbs. But this is only tennis - swimming is great - even a SLOW run is great. Sprinting is OUT OUT OUT though on no sugar.

cycling carbs, called in some ways TKD (targeted ketogenic diet) works wonders for the gym: basically you only have carbs right after your workouts and you can stay in ketosis. I've used it extensively, primarily eating whey+ oatmeal