Remember weight loss is not all about being a calorie deficit, it has more to do with hormones and your body’s reaction to hormones. I just started reading The Case for Keto by Gary Taubes. I have read all his books. He comes at weight loss from a science journalist point of view.
Paleo for me is so simple. Just adhere to basic rules. Basically all food is minimally if not NOT, processed with very few ingredients. I do use Whole Fat Dairy though.
10 years ago I started down this road because I was looking for an anti-inflammatory diet. My Orthopod Dr told me I was a candidate for knee replacement but I was too young and active. “try cycling” was his recommendation. 3 years later I was doing Ironman Triathlons with no knee pain or discomfort.
I did keto and fasting for almost a year but my time on the bike was limited to 1hr rides and lower intensity I did higher intensity off the bike metcon work outs 20 min or so. I Dealt with migraines a lot… tried lots of stuff. Electrolytes was the biggest help for the migraines. I used salt tabs with the best results. Ucan is great carb source that ont throw you out of ketosis it won’t raise your blood glucose levels. And consuming carbs while at high intensity won’t affect keto as you would think. Peter Attia was consuming up to 600grams of carbs while on keto during his long intense rides. He discusses this a lot on his blogs.
Going to echo with my experience of doing keto for about a year. It helped me deal with cravings and satiety a ton. Doing a multi-day fast was easy. I wouldn’t say keto is nonsense, just that I ultimately couldn’t make a lifestyle out of it cause I couldn’t find a way to make it work with cycling. I saw the same HR spikes you’re mentioning. Probably could have experimented with blood tests more to better regulate carbs, but poking myself for blood didn’t work out(I’m squeamish for that stuff).
I mostly switched to kettlebells & rings during keto. Keto was fine for how I structured those workouts. Really really started to miss cycling after awhile.
Recently started up Renaissance Periodization and have been very happy. I’ve lost more weight faster and get to cycle. I’m the type that needs a very prescriptive structure. It just fits my lifestyle and personality. I hate to throw the baby out with the bathwater on this one, but a diet that fits your wife’s lifestyle might not fit yours.
Yes, it is.
This could be an interesting listen:
Old school thinking. You need to look at all the recent data or older data that wasn’t funded by biased interests.
Give the keto-thing some time if you really want this. Have been riding while in keto for years. Don’t recommend it as a strategy for getting faster, and will stay away from the discussion on its possible benefits but can comment on lessons learned. I did experience some of the heart rate fluctuations in the beginning, electrolytes and especially magnesium helped me get it under control and it is not an issue anymore. On the FTP change, don’t think it is ‘in the tank’ but would recommend to match the duration of your FTP test better with the duration of your rides. A 25 min ramp-test uses different energy systems than a 60-90 min ride. I use the occasional (longer) high intensity outdoor climb as an indicator for adjusting FTP. For me sweet-spot is doable, threshold is not. And keep in mind that fasting is often quoted as the fastest way to get to ketosis, but in my experience a ride is much more effective in raising ketone levels. That also means that adding some carbs before or during a ride will not necessarily push you out of ketosis.
This is a fair question and I appreciate you asking!! When eating keto, we’re trying to eat healthy stuff like salads, chicken, olive oil, salmon, nuts, avocados, etc rather than just eggs and bacon. We’ve had some luck in the past eating like this but never at the same time so it was easy to fall into bad habits again.
It’s my hope that we can eat low carb/keto long enough to lose some weight and create better habits that will be more sustainable down the road when incorporating more carbs and finding a better balance. Between juggling work, family, dogs, etc it’s just far too easy to eat junk/take out/fast food. I know we’re not alone with all that but good habits have to start somewhere!
We’ve been doing some meal prep and getting rid of our old go to snacks so taking baby steps hopefully in the right direction!!!
Spoken like a True Believer.^TM
I’m no expert on diet and speak out of my experiences only. For starters, I have never tried a Keto diet. What I would say is to heed some advice from the coaches here - I recall Coach Chad say in a podcast that pounds are lost in the kitchen, and ounces on the bike. So your desire to drop weight with a diet change is appropriate. Now, I believe in the same podcast, Amber said to never try to diet while training. Your body is craving the fuel to perform, and you would be short changing it by dieting. Perhaps the carbs you are trying to limit/eliminate are the correct ones, but that doesn’t mean eliminating other carbs in the form of raw vegetables should be removed. Better fuel, nutrient dense, and would have none of the impact you are experiencing. Just a thought.
Like you I don’t race but love the training and keeping fit. Stuck with Keto from 2018 until now - with modifications. To give you an idea, I am 5`6 and weighted 89kgs before i started cycling and keto. Started cycling March 2018 and Keto June 2018. By Sept 2018, i was 65kgs.
Couldn’t maintain 65kgs. I am naturally muscular. I modified my diet and increase protein. Now, I am closer to being carnivore. Weight 75kgs at 12% body fat. Feel great. Strong. Carbs <100g per day.
I find now if i eat a banana or a wrap, i am bloated for days.
Thanks for this!! I like hearing how people can find their right weight and healthy way of eating and it’s not a one size fits all approach to get there.
How do you feel with hills and threshold efforts now at <100g carbs?
Hills and threshold efforts hurt!!! They always hurt, even with carbs!
I try to time carb my intake to when I am on the bike when i am doing hard efforts or at the end of an endurance ride. That being said I prioritize protein. I try to eat close to 150g - 200g (1.5g - 2.5g per kg of body weight) of protein daily - for recovery and maintaining my muscle mass. I find that when I under eat protein, I am constantly hungry. This is when a 10 bowls of pasta or pizza look real attractive.
When I eat enough protein, my hunger and cravings go away. I suspect this is why most people gain weight - under eating protein. Dr Ted Naiman has written about Protein / Energy. Really good.
I have always assumed that a 200g steak has 200g of protein…WRONG… It has only 25%. So for me to get 200g of protein, i need to eat about 800g of steak daily!!! Scary for most people.
I know your goal is to lose weight and keep it off. I have managed to do that. What has worked for my might work for you but you need to experiment and find what work for you.
Prioritising protein works for me. Once I have enough protein, then I can decide how I fuel my body, with fat and/or carbs. I suggest start by increasing your protein intake. Oh by the way, fats are essential for your hormones…just saying.
Skipped all the posts, so apologies if it’s been covered (so much keto FUD in the world, nevermind sporting circles)… but I’ve been doing keto for years, and there’s 2 things you need to know for cycling on it:
- The first few weeks, you’re going to have a bad time with workouts that were fine before. Everything will feel harder. Just go with the flow… shorten workouts. This is partly a glycogen/dehydration thing, but there’s also a wholesale remodeling of your metabolism in progress and you just need to wait it out. In 6 weeks or less you’ll be back to your normal self.
- You need to add more salt generally, but also at least 1/4 tsp of salt before workouts. Especially hard ones. Keto will dehydrate you (low insulin levels tell the kidneys to aggressively expel water) and your blood volume will suffer. Low blood volume means higher HR, and can contribute to poor performance.
Hey mate there is an adaption period. I would suggest in combination with Keto using the MAF method in relation to heart rate. It could be a case of doing really easy rides for a few weeks, or months until the body makes the change.
Also worth a follow on podcasts RE this top is Steph Lowe. She has a heap of back episodes worth listening to.
I find it’s pretty hard to get enough protein in daily while sticking to any kind of calorie deficit.
Eating lots of low fat high protein foods is dull and complicates the rest of the day.
Whey protein isolate makes it far easier imo, and a scoop or two in a post workout shake or mixed with greek yoghurt before bed is very easy.