The runner's low carb diet (log included)

SuppKnight

SuppKnight

Member
Awards
0
I.

Stats:

5'8, Male, 220 lbs (Monday, May 2, 2011).

I used to lift and was 172 lbs. with 15 percent BF until August 2009. After that, a combination of disease and injury forced me to a sedentary lifestyle for a long time. I lost all the muscle previously gained and I gained tons of fat.

I find myself in much better health now and have started a new diet and exercise regimen. However, I have decided not to lift until I have lost at least 30-40 lbs, so that the bulking period can be an extended and more fruitful one. I am a heavy eater by nature, so it makes more sense to eat as I normally do while lifting heavy and regularly, as opposed to lifting on a caloric deficit.

Until I reach my 30-40 lb weight loss goal, I have decided to run, jog, walk as much as possible. My 1-mile time is horrendous (what with the 40+ lbs of extra fat), but my goal is simply to improve my time gradually and to exercise for 1 hour a day, regardless of the 1-mile time.

Since I am extremely sensitive to carbs, I decided to do a low carb diet during this time. However, running and lo-carbing are a terrible combination, so I decided to modify the diet. I will be consuming more or less 100g of carbs daily, but 70-80 percent of them will be pre and post cardio workout. Since my workout is usually at 8:00 a.m., that means from 9:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. the next day, I will consume very few carbs, if at all.

I figured this is the best way to obtain the benefits of a low carb diet while at the same time providing just enough fuel for the body to withstand the daily routine.

If anyone has any advice or input it will be much appreciated.



II.

A. I started the diet and exercise regimen on:

*Monday, May 2, 2011. I weighed 220 lbs this morning. I jogged 1 mile in 14:41:09 (awful, I know). Afterwards, I walked for around 30 minutes.

*Tuesday, May 3, 2011.
I weighed 218.4 lbs.
Jogged 1 mile in 12:29:94 (2-minute improvement) and walked for 30 minutes.

*Wed, May 4, 2011.
Weight: 217.6 lbs.
1 mile: 10:30:07 (another 2-minute improvement). This time I jogged a 2nd mile in 12:30:00 and walked 37 minutes for a total of 6 km in 1 hour. I am feeling really good every morning and the diet is working as it should. I have enough energy during the workout, although after 10:00 a.m. I am exhausted until the following morning's fruit shake. All in all, feeling good.
 
SuppKnight

SuppKnight

Member
Awards
0
*Fri, May 6, 2011.
Weight: 216.0 lbs.
1 mile: 09:50:72 (40 second improvement). I am exhausted, but the weight keeps dropping and the mile time keeps getting better. Tomorrow I have a 3-hour basketball session (amateur league) and Sunday I will rest all day to get ready for next week.
 

colange2

New member
Awards
0
I am actually doing pretty much the same diet plan, but I am a 400m runner. I would try some higher intensity interval running if I were you since I don't think you want to end up looking like a marathon runner. If you are worried about not having enough energy, I was perfectly fine after about a week following the decrease in carbs. I'm also still kind of confused as to why you are avoiding resistance training... It just seems to me that if all you do is run for longer distances your body will rely predominately on your slow twitch, type I fibers and will only set you back further...I also know from my past experience that when I back off from the weights, my running (both short and long distances) suffers and I am injured more frequently....Of course it may be different for you though...
 
SuppKnight

SuppKnight

Member
Awards
0
I am actually doing pretty much the same diet plan, but I am a 400m runner. I would try some higher intensity interval running if I were you since I don't think you want to end up looking like a marathon runner. If you are worried about not having enough energy, I was perfectly fine after about a week following the decrease in carbs. I'm also still kind of confused as to why you are avoiding resistance training... It just seems to me that if all you do is run for longer distances your body will rely predominately on your slow twitch, type I fibers and will only set you back further...I also know from my past experience that when I back off from the weights, my running (both short and long distances) suffers and I am injured more frequently....Of course it may be different for you though...

Very glad to hear that I'm not the only one on this type of diet.

Tell me about the exercise regimen for a 400m runner. Do you practice HiiT? As in, do you run 400m full blast and then walk about 800m before running an extra 400m full blast again? I would love to do that, but sadly, the condition that left me sedentary for a long time is heart-related. Not extremely serious at the moment, but it could get worse and the doctor, although he allowed me to exercise regularly and vigorously, also said that "full blast" is out of the question until they do another echocardiogram next year. Still, I can exercise and I thank God for that.

As for the energy situation, I went on a CKD about 2 years ago and I was able to get in very good shape, but the problem is that I was always hungry and always tired, even after months of getting used to it, so I feel I need at least some carbs pre and post workout.

Finally, about not lifting during the diet. The last time I went on a big cut (about 20 lbs) I lifted 3-4 days a week and was able to lose all the weight. The problem is that you cannot gain muscle that way. The body needs to be in caloric surplus for it to really grow. Because of that, and knowing that I am a naturally heavy eater, I decided to lose a bunch of weight, even if it makes me look too scrawny, and then do a long bulk of about 8 months where I can gain about 30-40 lbs but mainly of muscle rather than fat. I prefer that to losing 10 lbs and going on a 10 lb bulk, rinse and repeat.
 

colange2

New member
Awards
0
For me personally, I currently only train on the track twice a week, with one day focusing on more of the endurance aspect of the 400m, such as a 600m run with shorter distances after, and then the other session focusing more on the 150m-200m range..The only thing is that I give myself considerable rest during the workouts since I'm going for quality and not just to burn fat... I also weight train 3-4 times a week and do a lot of power exercises like medicine ball slams, push presses, and prowler pushes in addition to the standard strength exercises like squats, DB chest presses, etc..In your situation though, it seems like you do have a good plan that will suit your needs so I would just continue with that and see how you do...I would also stick with the diet since this amount of carbs should give you just enough energy for your workouts but still require your body to rely predominantly on fat for the rest of the day...
 

Similar threads


Top