Struggling with the eating fat logic

[Boardingblues]

So I get the bit about not eating carbs so that calories are gained from proteins and fat and that the objective is to burn fat…. But surely if I eat fat, it is that fat that will get burnt first and my fat, the stuff I want rid of, will just sit there, unused! Someone please explain this to me!

sleepwhenidie - as long as it's working for you, that's the main thing!

I have followed a lc diet on and off for years. First Atkins and then that other chap whose name I forget and then ...my own version which is less strict and more suited to me than anything else. I tried and failed to fully understand the science behind it TBH. But the one thing I can tell you is that it works - completely and relatively painlessly.

I don't enjoy the eating pattern particularly so I don't stick to it all the time but every Feb/March I start it and I get to a suitable weight within a few months - then I go back to a normal diet (I avoid excessive amounts of processed carbs anyway - yes to lentils, oats and rice, no to pasta, sugar and bread) And I don't pile the weight back on, in fact I don't put on a lb during the summer/autumn - it creeps back on over the winter as I have to go back on my ADs and I overdo it over christmas.

Until I began to suffer from chronic depression and went through the menopause I didn't need to diet - I exercised and ate a reasonable diet and stayed a healthy weight. Things changed and if I didn't want to get heavier and heavier every year I had to address it.

Thank you quite .
I read a lot!

And I question everything. I like to search science papers too,-having studied research methods and taught it- as I know what a lot of crock they can spout. I believe nothing until I do. Iyswim.

I've been reading around it since end of 2012, so I suppose I have taken in more than even I thought I had!

Yes, there is a vast difference between 1,500 cals of mostly carbs and 1,500 cals of mostly fat.

This website is the best guide for beginners

Www.diet doctor

I will link, but phone playing up and if I do it now, I will loose the post above (2nd time I've typed it)

biwi has a brilliant thread on low carb bootcamp. I'm on it. But this is the last week. The next starts may 11 the I think, but there will be a continuation thread if you want to learn more. Everyone bar none, is lovely and supportive.

Diet doctor

Brilliant stuff here...

Can I add my own tuppence worth from my own experience/research. Very low carb (VLC) is difficult to sustain long term and can be hard on the thyroid. Some proponents recommend low-ish carb of safe starches which are tapioca, rice, potato.

I have tried paleo but it wasn't completely right for me as the carbs in veggies aren't enough for me (athletic, lose weight easily)

I follow the regime of a U.S. guy called Paul Jaminet. His knowledge s brilliant - v technical though - www.perfecthealthdiet.co.uk

Sass, can I ask if your improved tri times are on complete low-carb, or with some carbing-up to race?

I experimented with LCHF for training but feel like I lack the real oomph for racing on it. Or maybe I'm just not good enough at sticking to it to allow my body to get completely used to it.

pootlebug - you need to stick with it so that you're properly fat adapted.

I stuck it for 6 weeks with no cheating at all.

It was fine for long slow training….just not high intensity intervals etc. Maybe I just didn't try for long enough.

Sorry pootle I probably wasn't clear.

I wasn't lcing then. I'd never even heard of it. (2009)

I was trying to make the point that when I undertook a gym instructor course, I became more knowledgeable about how my body works whilst exercising and the difference was quite extreme. Therefore when someone learns how their body works when eating, it will make a difference (in answer to something sleep said)

I have yet to get fully back into yet. I have hip and back problems, and 3 under 5's! I just about make it through the day!

But since I have been lcing I have managed my 1st 10k since 2009 and I managed it straight after a one hour bike ride. I nearly knocked myself out with the surprise. I've struggled for years trying to get much past a 5k.

The difference was the pace. Lcing is a fat burning way of working. Having a gym qualification and training for triathlon has/had shaped me into a hit training frame of mind. I would have in the past totally poo poo'd fat burning zones and probably rolled my eyes.

When I did the 1 hr bike ride and then the 10k run, I didn't do race pace or a tempo run or any of it in vox max. I did it mindfully in fat burning pace. About 65% of you vox max.

Formula 220- your age is your max. Divide it to get 65%.

Sorry if you already know this.

Also it will depend what your sport is? If you did carb load? If you are fat adapted etc?

If you want to share, I can try to help.

I lose weight and inches when I low carb
I also feel a lot better (fibro, thyroid issues and peri menopause)
However I do struggle as I am allergic to cheese and yoghurt...
I also do not really like fish and am allergic to shellfish.
Any ideas how to make low carb work better for me?
I like eggs, luckily! :)

And I can really recommend that you read The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance which will explain how you can perform well/better if you're eating a low carb diet.

This is the one book, I haven't got round to reading yet, but it's on my list.

The art and science of low carb performance

By Jeff volek and Stephen phinney.

Might be useful to you pootle

Cross post sass

It's a great book, actually - even if you're not an endurance athlete.

Low carb performance

biwi

Robert lustig took me Sooooo long!

Sorry that should say vo2 max!

Have read it! And lots of Peter Attia etc.

Sass I do triathlon too. Anything from Sprint to half ironman. My first season was last year.

I do feel better on a lower carb diet. Totally happy without bread etc. But my weakness for good quality ice cream won't quite go away! It seems there are several schools of thought on low-ish carb performance:

• Pure low carb, fuel on fat - Volek/Phinney
• Low carb for the vast majority of the time, add slow-release carb for long/tough sessions and racing - Peter Attia etc
• Paleo-ish approach with carbs including gels etc before and during racing, and for recovery immediately after, but low carb rest of the time - e.g. Nell Stephenson etc

Tricky one as I have let the low carb slip majorly since Christmas, and with only 11 weeks til big-race day I don't really have chance to train sub-optimally for weeks at this point. So I should really try number 3 above if anything.

Low carb performances is a subject close to me heart atm. Previously when I have lc-ed I knocked the running on the head for a while as I simply couldn't cope - no energy, no stamina. This time I was booked in for a 10k and I know I couldn't take two months off training. So I just ran through it - first three weeks were so hard - I really struggled - but I persisted. Last Monday it was like I had just flicked a switch! I am faster and have way more stamina. I am still not very fast it has to be said but then I never have been. I was beginning to wonder if I'd have to carb load before the race - hopefully not.

The thing I noticed this time I started lc-ing was that a lot of niggle little symptoms disappeared - regular bouts of thrush, wind, stomach cramps and mild diarhea (sp), no libido, mouth ulcers. All went almost overnight. But I am not sure whether that is an wheat intolerance that I have wondered about before, or just the lc diet as a whole.

I would say that 6 weeks probably wasn't quite long enough for you.

But, I was doing paleo when I knocked 11 minutes off.

OK. Trawling my mind for ATP knowledge. It's to do with aerobic (with oxygen) and anaerobic (without oxygen).

If you are running/biking/swimming at a slow pace you are aerobic. Your body as time to make oxygen in your muscles. If you are fast (probably 80% and above) you are anaerobic and your body can't turn over that oxygen fast enough, which is where creation comes in. You have 2 types of anaerobic fuel. One lasts about 30 secs and one lasts about 90 secs and once that has used up, you will bonk (hit a brick wall) this is why no one can run at full pelt for any length of time. However you can train your body up, so that your 100% vo2 max is now your 80% max, and can become your 60% vo2 in the future- iyswim.

Right, so the bit I can't pin down completely without looking it up, is how this is effected by carbs, but I know it is. Or I think I know it is, I might be wrong once I've read the performance book, but I think it's this anaerobic bit that works better with carbs?

Sorry if that doesn't make sense, or if I've put something wrong ( in case anyone more knowledgeable is reading)

Which race are you doing?

I think with that amount of weeks left till race day, I would chose paleo too.

Creatine! Bloody auto correct.

Have you read Joel friel?

ATP

It definitely works, no doubt about it. As a health coach I would steer people very far away from calorie counting or low fat diets, I don't feel the same about low carb or paleo however, from my pov they at least mean you have a high probability of giving your body plenty of what it needs (good quality protein and fat and veggies) and little of what it doesn't (sugar and processed crap). Finding a balance that works for you long term is key though, rather than swinging from a set of rules to a f**k the rules mind set

Irian my DH is a cyclist and cycles Tour de France alpine routes regularly. A friend who cycles occasionally joined him and a few other guys recently on a four hour steep climb. I was chatting to him afterwards and discovered he follows a low carb diet, he knew nothing about this in relation to sport performance but he had managed the ride without bonking, felt fine, no sugar injection required. So it definitely seems to suit some people very well once they have flicked that fat burning switch