Adventures in Carb Cycling

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

Originally Posted by GME

Friday 3/20

Well, I didn't get on the Wii but the wonky scale was up 1.5 lbs. Could be the regular bounce up or it could be the 8:00 chocolate cranberries. It will all even out in the end.

Focus on the positive progress, the positive improvements you're making to your life, not on the negative feedback from a scale that means nothing.

My weight bounces around all throughout the week. That's why I pick one day to qualify as "weigh in day." Daily fluks are sabotaging to our mindset.

Keep up the great work.

[daisyHair]

Originally Posted by GME

I got on the old wonky scale and it stayed the same though.

Excellent!


"Wonky".. love that word.

Just wanted to say I hope your day is grand and I appreciate you very much!

Cary~

[GME]

Saturday 3/21

First day of spring! It's been beautiful here lately, but its supposed to rain tomorrow. Unless there is a danger of getting swept out to sea, I am still doing my long run in Monterey!

Then I'm going to the Vitamin Shoppe to get some more protein powder. Jay Robb is my fave and since my kids use it too I spring for the stuff with clean ingredients. I was looking around online for a better price and I saw he has something called Yammits (dried yams). I wonder how those would work preworkout. I'll have to search around the net for a review.

I had a pretty low day yesterday:

Calories 1,640
Fat 122.2 1,096 67 %
Carbohydrate 57.6 223 14 %
Dietary Fiber 12.3
Protein 78.5 308 19 %

That's so little protein and fairly low cals for me. 20 of the carbs were from a protein bar (sugar alcohols in fake candy zap my tummy, but for some reason the Think Thin bars don't- extra protein I guess). I had sausage for breakfast, yogurt for snack, chicken for lunch, the protein bar around 5:00 (while doing another track meet pick-up, this one an hour away) and nibbled on a little bacon about 8:00. Just wasn't hungry for dinner.

I'm taking the boys for haircuts and plan to hit Costco and TJs today. Must have more cottage cheese! I'm going to pick up some sprouted grain bread for work lunches on run days.

For my carb up dinner tonight I'm making grilled chicked and a dish everyone likes with brown rice, black beans and corn. Might wrap it in a corn tortilla too. I'll probably do SC oats for breakfast and take a protein shake for post run tomorrow.

I'm not sure exactly where I'm going to park and run to. I'll have to check it out when I get done here. Running Ahead has the best map feature. A lot of people like Map My Run, but it only follows roads. RA will follow trails and the beach.

[GME]

Saturday still

I did a bunch of reading this morning on low carb running, and aside from Betty (on here and another forum), pretty much everyone said they need carbs at some level to run.

The Hal Higdon book says the pasta fest the night before isn't enough, you need several carb up days. Of course, he is talking about a marathon and thinks LC is silly anyway, but the way he explains it makes some sense. I've decided to do 24 hours (or three meals), ending with the last one before the long run.

I had ham & eggs for breakfast about 8:00 and just now had an apple, 1 cup of Cherrios (the TJ brand- Joe's Os) and a half cup of milk. I'll eat dinner about 6:00 and I brought home some dark choc for desert. Tomorrow's breakfast will be the last meal in the cycle.

It feels weird to switch around food types, and now I have a box of cereal starring at me until next weekend.

OK, I just filled out FitDay and this is what I came up with:

Calories 1,615
Fat 82.9 736 45 %
Carbohydrate 105.6 424 26 %
Protein 111.8 459 28 %

Doesn't seem like enough carbs to be a carb-up. I did forget the apple.

OK, added the apple, some more cereal and adjusted portion sizes for dinner (I think I estimated too low) and we have:

Calories 1,964
Fat 95.2 846 43 %
Carbohydrate 155.4 617 31 %
Dietary Fiber 21.0
Protein 124.3 506 26 %

Is that too much fat? Most of it comes from avocado and the chocolate.
Is that enough carbs to be carb-up? There will be more carbs in the oats in the morning. I guess we shall see.

Its funny, I can't really think of anything else carby I want to eat. A wheat allergy lets out most of the"good stuff"- no bread, no pasta, no baked goods.

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

Gina, your carb totals are better, the latter totals, but if you're upping carbs, you want to keep your fat to 30% or under if you can, and by doing that, you're gonna be adding to your carb or protein amounts/percentages. It works out.

I would just eat more of the same, carb wise. And try to keep your fat grams a little lower.

If you enter your food by meal, you can more easily target your %'s for your macronutrients until you get the hang of it and wing it easier.

Best of luck to you.....You're doing great! Run like the wind!

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

Think oats. Oats stick with us well, and that helps for endurance training. Bananas are good for potassium levels.

Whole wheat bread
Oats
Bagels
Low fat whole grain waffles or pancakes
Brown rice
Sweet potatoes
Cereal
Fruit

Just some suggestions.

[GME]

Sunday 3/22

I had a fabulous day today. Went for my 6 mile run in Monterey. It was 50 degrees and sunny, but wiiiinnnnddddyyy. I woke up about 4 am to my deck chairs sliding around and rain pounding the windows. I was afraid I wasn't going to be able to run, but I was all carbed up... I had to!

The 3 miles out were into the wind and slightly uphill. I lost hat more than once. I stopped for a bottle of water at the turnaround and the run back was pretty pleasant.

At mile four I realized I had never run further than that before and I still had two miles to go. I took some walk breaks but never stopped moving. My energy was better. No lead legs. I'm still suffering from some lingering effects of the flu... had a little bit of a hard time getting air and my nose was running, but it felt good to be out there.

I had taken my son to another town for an activity and still had about 3 hours to kill when I was done running, so I drove out on the pier, ate my cottage cheese and strawberries and listened to a little Jack Johnson... feeling wonderful.

After I ate I did some shopping. I bought a running water belt at REI and then got some more protein powder at the Vitamin Shoppe (can't buy it anywhere around here).

My totals for today don't really look HC or LC. I had oats and fruit before my run and went LC after. Cals are kind of low, but I just wasn't hungry. I even had a shake after dinner to get my protein up.

Calories 1,879
Fat 115.3 1,029 51 %
Carbohydrate 88.5 349 17 %
Dietary Fiber 12.1
Protein 157.0 647 32 %

I didn't get on the Wii, but I did weigh on the wonky scale to see what is going on. TOM started today, so all this may be off, but for what it's worth:

Saturday (in the morning before carb up).... 202.5
Sunday (before the oats and run)....... 202.0 (a bit of a surprise to be down)
Monday (after the run and last-half LC day).... ? we'll see manana

Edited to add....

One of the other moms at my son's activity teaches the same grade as I do at another school in my district so we usually chat about school when we're at these things. She was talking about joining a gym. They live in the mountains so they all come to town in the morning and she hangs around after work until her kids get done with all their sports and whatever, so she thought that would be a better use of her time. I told her I had started running and she exclaimed "I noticed you look great!" Like she wasn't sure if she should say something and was relieved I brought it up. Anyway I told her about the C25K and she sounded pretty excited. She said she didn't really want to go to a gym, but wanted to get healthier.

I love that I can be a "running ambassador." If I can do it, just about anyone can.

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

Originally Posted by GME

I love that I can be a "running ambassador." If I can do it, just about anyone can.

Gina, I love that you're a running ambassador too

Glad you had a good run. Here's to a great week.

[GME]

Monday 3/23

Wonky scale says 201.5 this am. That would probably translate into 199 official weigh-in. Up from my low (normal), but down since before my carb up.

To a great week! (I would put a toasting smiley here, but I don't know how to do that)

[GME]

Monday evening 3/23

Had a strange day today. My energy was fine most of the day, but I was hungry. I had some sausage and cottage cheese for breakfast and by 9:00 I was hungry again. Ate yogurt and strawberries about 11:15 and I was OK til lunch at 12:30. I had smoked sausage and broc and was full, but then got hungry again by 2:00. I finally broke down and ate a protein bar I keep in my desk and then had my planned protein shake at 3:45 and was hungry again by 5:00. Then a wave of naseau (how DO you spell that) hit at about 5:30 and I had to lay down. I wound up sleeping for about 45 minutes. I had a little dinner and got up and around a bit. ??????

I remembered I've taken a nap for the last three days after not taking one for months. Carbs? TOM? Longer run? Allergy meds? None of those account for all three days.

Today's totals:

Calories 2,272
Fat 156.1 1,401 62 %
Carbohydrate 88.7 342 15 %
Dietary Fiber 17.4
Protein 129.3 516 23 %

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

Originally Posted by GME

Monday evening 3/23

Had a strange day today. My energy was fine most of the day, but I was hungry. I had some sausage and cottage cheese for breakfast and by 9:00 I was hungry again. Ate yogurt and strawberries about 11:15 and I was OK til lunch at 12:30. I had smoked sausage and broc and was full, but then got hungry again by 2:00. I finally broke down and ate a protein bar I keep in my desk and then had my planned protein shake at 3:45 and was hungry again by 5:00. Then a wave of naseau (how DO you spell that) hit at about 5:30 and I had to lay down. I wound up sleeping for about 45 minutes. I had a little dinner and got up and around a bit. ??????

I remembered I've taken a nap for the last three days after not taking one for months. Carbs? TOM? Longer run? Allergy meds? None of those account for all three days.

Today's totals:

Calories 2,272
Fat 156.1 1,401 62 %
Carbohydrate 88.7 342 15 %
Dietary Fiber 17.4
Protein 129.3 516 23 %

All of the above. TOM consumes me with hunger issues. Absolutely consumes me. Not to mention robs me of energy, even while trying to fuel adequately.

Second, sometimes when our metabs get a nice shove, it will make us hungrier.

Carbs, it depends. If they were balanced well at the time you ate them, that shouldn't be a factor. If they're eaten alone, or w/o sufficient lean protein, that can spike hunger.

I've been a bottomless pit for most of the last several days, a few days being the exception.

Hang in there....it's not gonna mess with ya. Keep on plan with food/workouts. It will all come together.

[GME]

Originally Posted by WATCH-ME-SHRINK

Hang in there....it's not gonna mess with ya. Keep on plan with food/workouts. It will all come together.

You're right, I know. I think TOM is throwing the whole thing off, but I have to pay attention anyway.

202 on the wonky scale this am. I feel pretty good about that. I wasn't expecting any losses this week, I just wanted to be sure I didn't gain big from the carb up. The way I did it, with the 3 meals before my big run, messed with my daily totals. Next time I think I'll look meal by meal and calculate the 24 hour total. Sunday will be my next "big run." It will be pretty close to 6 miles like the last one.

OK, I said it out loud on a thread about goal weights yesterday (typed it really)....... I am going to do a marathon. Not soon, but it is pretty common for people to train for a year out. I'm thinking 1.5 or 2 years. How crazy is that? You know what sealed the deal for me? Yesterday I was driving to work and came up behind a car with a little round sticker that just said "26.2" There may not have been anyone else on the highway but me who knew what that meant, but I want that sticker on the back of my kid-and-dog-hauling, mom-looking minivan. Heck, if I finish a marathon I'll get two or three in case I buy a new car.

I've always had my goal weight at 175 since I weighed that in high school. I'm thinking 145-150 now. My aunts and my mom weigh about that but they are shorter than me by a bit. I think I would be fairly thin at 150 and in shape. I don't think I want to haul 175 lbs 26 miles on foot. If I make 150 I would have lost 100 lbs and run a marathon- pretty big accomplishements!

[GME]

Way low day today. I had Open House tonight at school and just wasn't hungry. It sure is funny how hunger comes and goes. Over 2000 cals yesterday and still hungry, today... meh

Calories 966
Fat 56.5 508 53 %
Carbohydrate 39.1 148 15 %
Protein 76.5 305 32 %

I'm going to have to eat more tomorrow. I'm doing a mod carb day and a med run in the afternoon (about 4 miles).

I got a couple of running books in the mail today and I said the M word out loud to DH. I wasn't planning or saying anything yet, but he asked.

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

It sure is funny how hunger comes and goes. Over 2000 cals yesterday and still hungry, today... meh

That's usually the pattern I follow:
Huge calorie day, followed by lessened/suppressed day of hunger....TOM exceptions, however.
Can't predict SQUAT with TOM.

[GME]

Wednesday 3/24

200.5 on the wonky scale and 198.9 on the Wii. Not bad, almost down to my low and TOM is still here.

I wound up having a handful of almonds and some decaf with milk after I posted my totals last night so they're a little off.

I plan on running 4 miles tonight. I had oats for breakfast, brought yogurt and berries for morning snack, a sandwich on sprouted wheat bread w/ cottage cheese for lunch and an apple for after school. I brought a protein shake in case I'm hungry during the day. If not, I think I'll drink it post run.

I can't find a good listing on FitDay for the bread so I'll do totals at home tonight when I can enter it as a custom food. It has quite a bit of fiber and 5 gms of protein per slice. Love Trader Joe's.

The idea of a marathon is really settling into my brain as something I can do. I bought a book that was written by a gal who wasn't a runner at all (or exerciser of any kind) to raise money for stroke victims. She had recently lost her grandpa to one. That got to me since that's how I lost my Papa. He could build anything, do anything, fix anything and was a the best person you could ever hope to know. A stroke cut him down in an instant. I better stop talking about him since I'm going to cry and the kids will be here soon.

[GME]

Anyway, reading so much and watching that marathon video has me thinking I really can do it. The Chicago Marathon starting line has people packed in all across a big city street, at least six blocks deep. If they can do it, why can't I? I've looked at a couple of training schedules and what I am running now is week 2 or 3.

I do want to lose more though. 198 lbs is a lot to haul 26 miles. I have my two races planned for this summer (5 miles & 6 miles) so I think I'll look for a half in the fall. That should give me a pretty good idea of what to expect, then I'll decide when to do a full. I want to get my kitchen remodeled first too.

[GME]

Whew, three journal entries in one day. I should probably work more at work.

I tallied up my totals for today:

Calories 1,795
Fat 95.9 863 45 %
Monounsaturated 2.6 24 1 %
Carbohydrate 137.2 538 28 %
Dietary Fiber 15.3
Protein 129.5 523 27 %

Great run tonight. 4.5 miles in about 1:09. Not speedy by any means, but I just keep chuggin' along. I found seven sand dollars (well, nine but two broke since they were so crammed in my pockets), but there was a dead sea otter and sea lion within 20 feet or so of each other.

[GME]

Thursday 3/26

198.0 this morning. Back to my low. TOM is winding down, maybe it'll take some fresh pounds with it.

I made up my mind last night. I'm going to do a half in Novemeber! There is one attached to the 5K I ran last year. I downloaded the course map last night and I ran almost half of it Sunday without realizing it was the same route. I can register April 1.

I'm going to run 13.1 miles with people watching.

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

Originally Posted by GME

Thursday 3/26

198.0 this morning. Back to my low..........
[COLOR="DarkOrange"]

I'm going to run 13.1 miles with people watching.

[/COLOR]

[GME]

This is my 1000th post. I need to get out more.

Anyway.....

Saturday 3/28/09

197.7 today. Not too much down, but it is fresh low.

Rest day today and higher carb dinner. I need to check the tide and see when I want to run.... sweet.... the tide will be way out at 7:30.

[GME]

Monday 3/30

Blech, now I know how NOT to have a carb up day.

I got up Saturday, intending for it to be an "up" day (Sunday morning was to be a six mile run). I had breakfast, an egg, some bacon and two pieces of sprouted grain toast. So far so good. Lunch was a bowl of Chreerios (1 cup, measured). Then we went out for dinner and things went downhill.

We went to a BBQ place and I had grilled shrimp (OK) and ribs (too saucy). For sides I choose the mashed sweet potatoes (but neglected to tell them to hold the brown sugar topping) and fries (I haven't eaten fries in so long). And I ate the sweet crunchy top off a corn muffin (which gave me a wheat-induced stomach ache). Then we did a bunch of shopping and stayed out too late.

I didn't get to bed until midnight, slept way too hard and didn't wake up until after 8:00. When I woke up I felt hungover. I got up feeling in no shape to run, and up four pounds. I had a big glass of water and it didn't help. I made coffee and read some of my marathon book (looking for inspiration), and that didn't help either. I wound up not running at all.

All day Sunday, everything I did was a chore. I felt light-headed and out of sorts (low blood sugar feelings). I was determined to stay low carb and ride it out, but I felt so bad I finally had a banana and some dried cranberries. It didn't really help.

I'm not feeling much better today, and I'm still up three pounds. I'll be back later to post my lessons learned.

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

Gina,

Pick yourself up and move on. Better to have tried and failed than not tried at all. And yes, you will learn a lesson from this carb up attempt.

What I learned as I began introducing carbs back into my WOE was that as carbs go up, fat needs to come down. It's the combo of those two macronutrients that gives us that "weighed down" feeling. It's how they interact metabolically.

Take it meal by meal to make it simpler. Let's say you wanted to have a meal with higher carbs, knowing you would be running, and wanted a little more energy.

Take this meal for example:

1 cup Cheerios
1/2 c skim milk
2 oz of choppd banana
1/2 scoop whey protein (stirred/shaken into skim milk before pouring on Cheerios)
1 Tbs natural PB

This gives you:

361 cals

11 gr fat --- (28%)
45 gr carbs (47%)
5 fiber
24 gr protein (26%)

It's a higher carb meal, but you'll notice the emphasis is on the carbs, the fat has dropped to 30% or below, and you're still getting a decent amt of protein in this meal, assuming you're shooting for 25-30 gr per meal.

Later in the day, run is over, let's say. That's when you can taper back to more fat and protein for your meal, keeping the carbs tapered to green veggies.

Fat + protein = Good mix. Fat + Carbs = Bad mix

This is why many people will complain about feeling like CRAP when they have their so-called cheat days, it's because they've combined a ton of crap carbs along with fat among their choices. It doesn't work very well that way.

Shake it off. You should feel better soon. Drink plenty of water. Go on a power walk and tempt yourself to jog a few intervals. It will help burn up the glycogen and rev your furnace up a bit, release some endorphins.

One little setback. Big lesson learned.

Onward.

[GME]

Tuesday 3/31

Still up a couple of pounds, but I'm not doing any "official" weighing. I'm feeling a little better, but not great. I have developed seasonal allergies for the first time in my life. I tried Zyrtec and that worked pretty well, now I'm on Claritan and it doesn't seem to be helping much.

I don't think I'll be doing any full day carb ups again. Sunday was just too much. Doing the two or three meals just before a run worked much better. I'm planning a short run tonight so I've had some sprouted wheat bread, yogurt and fruit. I think that should be enough for 3 miles. We are having company this weekend so I probably won't get any long runs in. I'll just try for 6-8 miles this week and give it a fresh go next week.

Trying to lower fat when I up carbs is harder than I thought. It's been so long I am out of the mindset altogether. I don't have any "low fat" stuff either. This is certainly a learning process.

There's a good thread on the main lobby (or exercise board maybe ????) about being a long distance runner on LC. Interesting information.

[GME]

Wednesday 4/1

Stayed off the scale this morning. Feeling a little better today, but still abnormally hungry. Hunger has been off the charts since Sunday. Bready and sweet stuff is all that even sounds good. Yesterday was a breakfast potluck here at work and I just stayed OUT of the breakroom. I went to Costco last night and got a few things, came home and ate probably a third of a chicken. Every day eating has been a little better and I think I'm ready to be back to normal today.

I had some sausage and cottage cheese for breakfast, have a spinich salad and chicken packed for lunch, blueberries & yogurt for snack and planning bunless burgers for dinner. We'll see what happens with the running with company coming.

I've been following a thread on the main lobby about LC long distance running. Very interesting. I printed an article about training your body to run on fat instead of glycogen. It would be great if I could do that. I've got an abundant supply! I'll give it a read tonight.

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

Gina,

Lots of things could be causing your hunger. You could just trying going with it a while, eating on plan, but at maintenance levels, let your body fuel up and level out.

Also, if it's true cravings, L-Glutamine is very effective. I use the powder, dump it under my tonuge, and it's almost immediate relief.

[GME]

Monday 4/6

Just a quick check-in to move me up a couple of pages closer to the front.

MIL, SIL and the kids have been here since Friday and are leaving this morning. We had a weekend of fun- all day at the Boardwalk of Saturday and the beach yesterday. No running, but had a nice long walk yesterday. We walked a couple of miles down with MIL & SIL, then they turned around and I hiked up the bluff with DS so he could show me the place he hikes down with his friends. Good walk all in all.

I haven't been tracking so I don't know macros, but all my food has been OK (except the chocolate covered bacon I've been waiting to try from the Boardwalk candy shop- meh, it was OK).

I work four days this week, go to the folks Friday night for Easter weekend and then glorious Spring Break!

I'm planning to run M & W after work and Friday morning before we head out for Easter. I didn't do too much running last week and it really did work out for me. I ran too many days straight the week before and burned myself out a little. I'm anxious to get back at it now.It was hard not to take off running and leave my guests behind yesterday.

The article I mentioned earlier says almost exactly what I've been doing- stay LC when you are doing non-strenous stuff, but increase carbs for races or long run days. It SO matches my experience. I know I've typed it before- I can do anything (bike, hike, archery, kayak) all day on bacon and eggs, but to run I need some carbs. Its good to see it in print since all of the running books and websites say carb-up all the time. They also are filled with stories of people running many miles a week and not losing a pound. I guess that's OK if you are running just for the workout and don't need to lose weight, but they give the same advice to everyone.

[GME]

Tuesday 4/7

Food was good today. I tracked up through the afternoon, then had a bunless burger while out and about this evening.

I went to get new running shoes and they are out of my size. They said they'll order them and it will take about a week and a half.

I had a happy little vision today. I watched myself walking in the reflection of a window and I could almost see light all the way between my legs. Then we went shopping and I picked up a jacket on clearance and it was a large. Not an XL or XXL, but just a single L!

I'm still up a couple of pounds, but am feeling OK. The reflection and the jacket are .

I signed up for the Wharf to Wharf Race last night. I'm in now- no chickening out. I'm planning a half this fall and there is a marathon in San Francisco next fall. I'm not committing to that yet, but its a something to think about.

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

[GME]

Wednesday 4/8

Kind of high cal day today. I came in from my run FAMISHED. Had one hamburger patty that DS had barbequed and some broc... then STILL hungry, I had another. I had been pretty LF/Mod carb until then. Effect of the carbs maybe? I had tomato bisque and a toasted cheese sandwich for lunch and a banana with a protein shake about 3:45.

Calories 2,274
Fat 132.5 1,184 53 %
Carbohydrate 125.2 486 22 %
Dietary Fiber 15.1
Protein 141.7 574 26 %

My new shoes need to come soon. I had a good run (fastest time yet to the turnaround, but I walked a bit after since I had tuckered myself out pushing to get there), but I have little pains creeping up here and there and I bet its from the shoes.

Tomorrow is my "runniversary" April 9th, 2008 was Day 1 Week 1 C25K. I'm thinking about oficially signing up (and paying) for that half I've been kicking around to celebrate.

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

Originally Posted by GME

Wednesday 4/8

Tomorrow is my "runniversary" April 9th, 2008 was Day 1 Week 1 C25K.
I'm thinking about oficially signing up (and paying) for that half I've been kicking around to celebrate.

What a milestone to celebrate. April 9th. Hmmmm. Definitely celebrate with pride.

[COLOR="DeepSkyBlue"]Gina, next time you feel the hungries like that, try upping your protein a little more, see if that helps.[/COLOR]