I recently wrapped my series of carbohydrate: the skinny on carbohydrate. Before I take another dive into complex topics in nutrition I wanted to take some time to write up a brief update of my training and eating. As well as how I have been feeling in general. This will be a less science heavy post and will cover basic first hand stuff that I have been experiencing lately. Please read on if you are curious how I have been applying knowledge in my life lately.
The last post that I wrote that had to do with me specifically was Ketosis 2.0. In this post I detailed a transition back into ketosis after having had some time being less than disciplined in terms of carbohydrate restriction. That was a fun experiment and since then I have been pretty much rolling along nicely. There are a few things I have noticed the longer I spend time on a high fat low carb diet cycling carbs in post workout. First, lately I have been getting super sleepy after I eat, if I eat my first meal later in the day or I eat too much. peta dunia . I think this may be because I have increased my volume in training considerably in terms of mileage and conducting long strength and conditioning workouts. One thing I have been experimenting with is basically an intermittent fasting protocol. What I will do is skip breakfast or at least delay breakfast for several hours after I wake up. The main reason I have been doing this is that on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s I have to wake up at like 4:45am. I will train my 7am client and then eat breakfast around 8:30. I’ll feel pretty good before I eat, but about 30 minutes later I will literally be falling asleep. I’ll take like a 20-30 minute nap and then be feeling great. I wont eat again until about 4p with the exception of some protein powder around 1 or 2. Usually I don’t experience the same level of tiredness after the second meal.
Another cool thing I have noticed is that when I do back load my carbs, I’m not getting that drugged up sleepy feeling I used to get when I first started carb backloading. I even feel at times like I am still in ketosis during backloads, which I know probably is not possible. What I like about this is that it probably indicates that my overall insulin sensitivity is improving and my cells are more receptive to sugar uptake. Also, I am experiencing smaller variances in weight during extended periods of carbohydrate depravation. When I first started cutting carbs I would lose like 5-7 lbs every 3 days then gain it back after a backload. Now my variance is much smaller and I only suffer a loss of about 1-3 lbs after 2 or 3 days of carbohydrate restriction. I also feel a lot less depleted during extended periods of low carb intake. I am really starting to get a handle on what it feels like when I actually need carbs, rather than just being hungry. Speaking of being hungry, I am almost never hungry. The primary time I am is when I did not get very much sleep. Some days I eat lunch at 1p which was my first main meal of the day. I wont be hungry again, but I’ll eat again around 7p because I know I need the calories and protein.
The tricky part has been that I have adjusted my workout schedule and I have to workout in the mornings some days. It’s very weird to try to back load later in the day when I am no longer hungry and I do not feel like my cells are as receptive to glucose uptake. Typically I will do a smaller more moderate backload with white rice or sweet potatoes and some ice cream. I prefer to workout in the evening and backload in the evening, but life does not always workout that way for me. I am considering dropping the backloading thing altogether for a few months to see what that is like. I would might go ketogenic for long periods like 3 weeks of a month then re-feed. Or only re-feed before races. The problem is that is not very much fun and I wouldn’t be able to eat ice cream. I accomplished my goal of 150 and 6-8% body fat. I am not trying to gain muscle or lose body fat right now. My primary goal is to get more fit for Spartan Racing. Well that’s all I have to say now. Thanks for reading!
Elijah Markstrom 