Dedicated Ketosis Thread (Page 12)

Originally posted by manfarr1974

Originally posted by jobaxas

For the Vinnie Tortorich fans.  I had a phone consult with him today.  The man is funny and wise.

He got me to rethink my training - keep it simple Jo.  Don't add intensity, Z2 is your friend, train in that zone and you will go faster by going slower.

Spoke some about nutrition and how to fuel on this very low carb regime.  I'm terified of giving up the Gu and the Gatorade etc. on race day and long runs.

But he says trust it.  Do what you would do normally - get up have your eggs and some cheese, have your coffee with thick cream and then go.  Nutrition during the race - Ucan, whey protein and some coconut oil will do it. (sounds like azz!)

Told me what I already knew - I can lose another 30lbs.  So onto that!

Just email him via his website if you want a consult (there is a cost)

I'm a big Vinnie fan - I went NSNG in Sept - lost 32 lbs to date, I think I have evened out...I do not do ketosis though - I eat lots of berries and don't want to cut back on them I am training for IMLP and I do trickle sugar in training as he suggests...It has worked incredibly well for me...it does take time for the body to adjust, but I have been going long on macadamia nuts and coconut oil and water and salt stick. I trickle sugar (as Vinnie has suggested) with Amrita bar, it has worked for me, and I only use it for training on long stuff.... my energy is much more even now going long instead of crashy like it was GU or Gatorade ... Personally the Ucan didn't work for me but it works for seemingly everyone else, but I have learned I do better on real food! You will have to try stuff and see what works for you. With Z2 - yup, it's true...stick with it you will get faster....but I have found dosing myself with some occasional speed combined with heavy Z2 work has helped me to get faster. Vinnie might disagree with my thoughts on that, but again, this is what has worked for me. Mandy

Hey Mandy - congrats on your IM finish - heard your interview on VT - you rockstar!

Jo

Heard you on the VT podcast today - loved it.  Good work!

Hey friends - been reading up on this thread with interest. Like some of the early posters, I am fascinated by nutrition and the different diet/lifestyles out there. I've lost weight on low-carb before but got sick of meat and swung the other direction in favor of a vegetarian/sometimes-vegan lifestyle for probably 8 years. In February I did an 8-week Paleo challenge - it was difficult to start eating meat again, but I've found if I stick to high quality meats I feel much better (mentally).

I also have Celiac Disease so gluten has always been absent from my diet.

My boyfriend started low-carb a few weeks ago (immediately lost 8 pounds in the first week - whoa!) and has mentioned the keto strips so I think he's reading about the Ketosis stuff. I told him after my 20-miler I would do it with him; I'm looking to lose around 10 lbs. In the first 2 weeks I've lost 4 lbs - yay!

Here is my first question:
Do you allow sugar substitutes like Splenda, Stevia, Truvia, etc.? I ask because I see that products like Splenda are no carb, but wondering if feeding the sweet tooth is a good idea at all on this type of diet? Each of us will be different but what has your experience been? 

Second question:
Do you allow sugars/carbs for long training days or racing? Will that negate any progress or is is necessary for long distances? 

Thanks guys - I really like this thread!

First question

No i don't - purely because they trick my brain and i think i've had something sweet which makes me want more sweet stuff which i deny myself then feel like i'm deprived.  So i just steer clear.  Plus i have no idea what some of those chemicals may do to me.  I try to eat 'clean' unprocessed food where possible.

Second question

It's a hard one to get used to.  I use UCAN as my fuel/race nutrition - it's a modified starch easily absorbed no GI  issues.  It doesn't give you that super boost that a Gu or a Gel does.  If you need that boost then 'trickle' some sugar - basically a little bite of a chomp or a sip of a gu - that's it.  It gives you enough to get up that hill.

Becoming fat adapted takes time - can be a long time depending on how stuffed your metabolism is after a lifetime of dieting (that's me not you!)

Good luck!

I have been on a keto diet for several months and the results have been fantastic.  My strength has climbed and while I initially lost a lot weight (20lbs), I stopped losing weight and continued to gain muscle / strength.  I'm now stuck at 215 but my last bench was 360lbs.  Because I stopped losing weight, I got even more strict on my diet and my strength started declining and I was always sore.  I believe I was not getting enough calories or protein.

I've made two changes.  I'm now doing the cyclical keto and I decreased my weights 10% and started my workouts over to give my body time to heal. I do 5x5 workouts so that's what I mean by starting over.  My bench was 5 sets of 300 for 5 reps each. I backed that down to 270 and I am back to adding 5lbs more per workout.  

I no longer weigh myself.  I am now just going off of my waist size and ab appearance to steer my diet.  I do struggle with jeans because a 34 waist means I can put my fist inside the waist band but now they are tight on my quads.  I got an epidural for my sciatic nerve pain and now I'm able to do squats.  I am now up to 250lbs and I believe I'll be at 300 rather quickly.  My butt and quads are growing rapidly now. 

I love the diet but there can be no one formula because we all train differently.

I do use Splenda in my coffee but that's it.  On a trip to Milwaukee I cut down on my coffee intake and I dropped weight that week. I have read that mentally, substitutes can trigger something to make your body release insulin as it would when you eat sugars.  I am not clear as to whether or not that was true or not. 

Just wanted to share an experience. I ran Chicago Marathon on Sunday, and started eating carbs 2 days before and continued 1 day after - so total of 4 days. I'm talking pizza, nachos, grilled cheese, oatmeal, noodles, cupcakes. Yum. I was really nervous about what it would do to my body since I've had a VERY minimal amount of carbs for ~4 weeks. My weight went up a few pounds after the race (but it usually does) and now I'm down a pound since last Friday. 

I know I can't eat carbs 4 days out of every week but it was comforting knowing that I could fuel myself with what I needed for the marathon and hop right back on the train.

SIDE QUESTION: My sister (Type 1 Diabetic, crazy smart and vigilant about carbs) informed me that wine does not have very many carbs in it (sure enough, my beloved Pinot Noir has less than 5g per 5oz serving), and when she drinks wine she does not compensate ANY insulin for it at all.

Do you guys drink wine on occasion, or just stay away from alcohol all together?

Sorry that I'm late to the party...  I decided to give this a try after finally saying "enough is enough" this last weekend.

SO day 4 of my induction phase and I have a few questions.

I seem to be ok during the day, but at night?  I seem to want something in my stomach and protein does NOT do the trick.  I just gut it out, but does that change?  It's hard to sleep with these cravings.

Does low blood sugar/glucose cause training issues?  Fainting/dizziness?

Here's what's crazy.  I was holding steady at 254-255 for weeks, no matter what I did.  But jumped on the scale this morning after 3 days and down 7-8 lbs?  Maybe dehydration, maybe other factors.  ( I haven't been starving myself, but calories are also down about 1000 per day than previously).  Is that normal?

Do I have to fear excessive muscle loss?

Anything else I need to keep an eye out for?