Ocassional low-carber ready to go full time & training for a marathon. Tips please :)

[whitehorse]

Hi Everyone,

I am so glad I found this forum as I really need some tips & feedback on a long term WOE low carb for me. I have previously done Atkins induction and have had instant weight loss (that stays off for a long while) but I find it hard to incorporate Atkins too much into my lifestyle as a WOE.

I started walking/running last year feb and have enjoyed it so much, I plan to prep my self & run a marathon next year. So during the peak of my run training I was more on carbs... more fibre rich foods and stuff but well, Running out of energy about 40 mins during a workout does not help much & I started reading about running on low carb.

My low carb experience so far:
. An atkins induction sort of low carb when I am in the 'gotta loose some pounds now!' mode.
. Then overall I avoid white rice & white bread. Avoid sugar mostly but well not too well controlled. Avoid all starchy stuff too.
. Avoid fruits too, but I kind of miss that.
. Find it very difficult to meet my daily required meat & fat intake. This is what puts me off completely. I find it really tiresome planning every aspect of what I am eating and how much and that makes me give up despite the weight loss.
. ocassional carb days when I eat stuff I like and go all out. Sausages, KFC & Pizza once a month or so.

I know that I am going to have to start from scratch and train my body to run using a low carb diet from the beginning. So thats what I am doing now. A new training regime which starts in feb for about 5-6 months. Since I just recently moved to barefoot running I am having to start from scratch anyway. So this would be like two birds with one stone

I would like to get more feedback from LC friends who include fruits, dairy, veggies, meat, fat into their diet. (and even do longer than 1 hr workouts too?)

I am considering the paleo diet for athletes & atkins combo... but not sure how exactly to go about it.

[PianoAl]

I'll be training for a 100-mile bike ride soon. I'll do many 1 - 5 hour rides. I don't eat any more carbs than normally (that is, < 20 grams). I mostly eat nuts on a ride. I might have a bite or two of a high-carb power bar now and then.

[LoriAS]

There are several posts about the beginning of ketoadapting your body while training on these boards.

Basically you will find that for the first 4-6 weeks you may not be able to workout quite as long/hard as you have been, but after that you should get back to your key levels and then you just need to experiment with fuel. I am not running near the levels that I did 6-8 years ago, but I am older and heavier. I did notice about week 5 or 6 running low carb became much easier and I am finding that my times and distances are improving now that my body has "adapted".

I do not run for long periods of time right now, so I cannot help you with that. However, I do plan on starting training for a 1/2 in a month or so, and I am interested in the information you get.

Good luck.

[Sharon]

Welcome to LCF with your first post

I've done 4 marathons and 5 Portland to the Coasts on a relay team of 5 so we all do about 25 miles of the 129. Lots of fun. I've upped carbs and done the carb loading the day before and only have a bagel that I pick at before the marathon. I'm one who doesn't like to eat before and can't eat a good hour after I finish. My first marathon, I hit the wall about 1/2 mile from the finish. In fact, I told the guy next to me that I couldn't finish and he yelled at me that "You're going to finish this and he talked me through that last 1/2 miles".