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Low Carb (high fat) Pirates
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I have no knowledge on the breathing..but impressive info on training and weight loss
8 hour bike without fuelling... makes you think
Yeah it really is quite amazing. At low intensity I really do feel as if I could just carry on. I also find I now lack the energy crash in the latter part of rides I used to have. I was also constantly getting stomach issues on really long rides and it was clearly all linked to my body reacting badly to feeding with carbs and sugar. I actually feel myself getting stronger in the latter part of rides now but that could all be linked to the obvious benefits of pushing less weight along.
I recently did a very hard 6 hour ride in low temps and pretty much found my limits - I was very close to bonking coming home and took a good 24 hours to feel normal again. I also have to up my hydration and salt on hard rides or cramp is a factor.
I am very much using the fasted rides for weight loss currently - when I get down to the weight I am aiming for I will cut this side of the diet down. I am planning on time trialing next year and that will without doubt require some careful carb consumption to give me everything I need.
We have been very strict on the diet so far and added in quite a bit of fasting - this mainly is the result of just not being hungry rather than any real plan. We really had to think hard about only eating when hungry - I was almost forcing myself to eat at times as I just couldn't believe it wasn't necessary - especially post rides when my historic approach is to consume everything in the house within an hour of my return!
all an individual learning curve..sounds good
Hi Red Eye, great to hear how much progress you and your gf have made; well done to you both
Apologies for kind of repeating stuff I put on the fb group yesterday, but just adding this here in case some folk not on fb but on here and interested/have advice!
For women, I was wondering how you all manage LCHF during your cycle. After a bit of a mental day yesterday and a lot of reading last night, I think that I'll need to up my carbs for the week before I'm due, because the carb cravings are horrific! I'm going to start keeping a diary of generally what I'm eating week-to-week to see if I can manage this better so I don't go off the rails in the week before. Any women on here had similar experiences, and what have you done?
That said, since May I've lost 20lbs in total. I lost a stone while mostly LCHF (i.e. little bit of cheating here and there), then plateaued for a couple of months when I was eating crap again, and I've lost another six pounds now I'm back on it. I definitely feel better mentally on LCHF, head just feel clearer, and physically too. My recent runs have been pretty much fasted and I've felt okay on them. I need to add more salts though, I know that's an issue for me. It's all a bit of trial an error to sus what works for each of us I think!
all lady things, hahaha! Awesome, thanks Fe. Will have a look for that later
My GF has had some pretty insane pain during her first period on Keto. Again from reading this is common but the doc recommended having a day off when she comes on. This time she took his advice and had some chocolate and went with other cravings for a day or two... pain pretty much left. No idea about the science there, but it worked. She also lost no weight when on, but then dropped 8lbs in a week after! So I guess water retention for women makes things had to judge week by week and better to look at things monthly.
Great thanks - Im a podcast addict so more the better ..subscribe!
TREJ, Great work mate, love hearing peoples successes. I think FM had answered all you queries but tghinking on to the breathing issue, that sounds like sodium to me.
Next time you get it check your heart rate, it will probably be way high. Simple solution 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of salt in a glass of water, repeat every 30 minutes until normal service resumed. Low insulin levels affect the way the retains salt so we need to supplement. 3-5 grams of salt per day should be normal consumption rate for a fat adapted athlete. More when training hard. Personally I am not a fan of heavily salted foods so I tend to drink a glass of salted water each morning and evening then put a couple of grams per bottle on the bike or drink a glass of salted water before and after each long run. use good quality salt Himalayan sea salt has a good mineral profile as does Maldons. Increasing magnesium can also help balance the bodies electrolytes which may help with sodium retention.
So just completed my mara yesterday. Happy with the result although would have liked 2 mins quicker
had tailwind in bottle and filled that up at about 17 miles. Also had jelly babies. Didn't feel as though I bonked but I did get cramp in the last 4/5 miles and had to stop numerous times. Am I still not getting enough salt or magnesium? Do people take supplements? My legs were very heavy at the end and I slowed down quite a bit. Every time I tried to go a bit faster I got cramp. I have never suffered from this before. Also got 2 blisters which I don't normally get. Hard work for the last 10 miles. Definitely feeling the after effects now
Red eye - well done. Sounds like you and gf have really taken this way of eating on board.
lee - well done. Keep it up. And probably stay clear of pirates. Bad influence
Did my first ultra on Sat 53-ish kms (the medal says 50k but they made changes so it was more like 51.7 and then I got lost and added some more!) of Chiltern hills and Grand Union Canal. Took a long time
but the body felt good and didn't feel too tired until the last bit - wasn't exhausted tho' - didn't bonk at all - ate baby food sachets and nakd bits. Scrounged at the checkpoints but a lot of the food had gluten in it - lots of sandwiches, cake, slices, sausage rolls and pretzels 
but they had haribo and fruit so ate that and drank the squash. Was a happy camper until I left the third checkpoint and realised there were a lot of hills (and a ridgeway) in the 10K between the Ch3 and Ch4 - there was a fair bit of walking up the hills! Then I managed to get lost after Ch4 and one of the marshals found me and went what are you doing over here? And took me back to where I should've been 
moral of the story - don't follow Buttercup!
I had a bit of a cold the last week so I was a bit reticent to run faster than I did - did not want another blow up like the canal HM and really not knowing how I was going to do on an ultra - so when they all took off I was like go hard my lovelies Im just going to plod along and all will be well - and it was. Really happy with how my body dealt with it all - don't appear to have injured myself, just DOMS which appears to be receding with great speed. Maybe next time I can go a bit faster
Duda - thanks. Just been googling. is there a particular product you use. And what ratio or how much do I need
Buttercup - well done on your ultra. You'll be fine on a long distance run with all the carbs unless of course you're gluten intolerant/allergic but sounds like you had a good day. Apart from going in the wrong direction!!!
Apparently I wasn't the only one
got caught up by some of the faster guys who took the complete wrong turn and added an another 3 miles onto their day! The place I got lost was silly too since I'd run over it before and I remember thinking this isn't the way I went before - but thought maybe it cuts back in so kept on going - it never cut back into the forest - I think it was more I was not paying enough attention and keen to get back to the start/finish line!
Good job on your marathon SS! I used the salt tabs which I think have magnesium in them.
Thanks for that Duda Why only a month?
Sorry I should have been clearer only a month at that dosage. Drop it down to half that if you still need it. but usually a month is enough to bring the body back up to normal and balance the electrolytes.
I am nearing the end of a 2 week test - NO carbs and NO sugar. It's made me think about my whole way of eating. Like you TREJ, I got by on eating lots of sugar and carbs - probably in every single meal. I would fuel up before a bike ride, snack on the ride and then eat/drink milkshake when I returned. During the test I've only been doing low intensity workouts, but done 2x2.5 hour bike rides on just water and have survived - felt fine. I feel a lot better in myself while doing this test and it will definitely make me eat PROPER meals, including dinner. Quite often dinner would be a cup of tea and some biscuits. I still crave sweet things in the evening, but thankfully my willpower is strong and I substitute it with some baby cherry tomatoes. After the test I look forward to introducing the odd bit of good quality dark chocolate, milk, yoghurt, fruit, sweet potato and wild rice. Haven't really missed anything else.
Definitely lost weight, but I seriously don't need to lose it, so it's important to me to have some carbs back. I plan to eat 1 meal a day which has carbs but I know there will be times when I will have the odd piece of cake (not everyday like I used to).
As for the breathing, the past 2 mornings when on the train I have experienced the exact same thing. Feels like I can't take a full breath and breathing is quite shallow. Very unsettling. If I knew what asthma felt like I would probably think it is similar. Goes after an hour, but very strange. I take it I need to add a magnesium supplement?
Definitely think it is salt/magnesium related for my issues... its much better today after a real effort to up my intake in the last week,
My taste buds have changed to the point I can taste too much sugar for my liking in things I previously added sugar too. I find plain strawberries very sweet - before I added lots of sugar as they were sharp. I have to buy a different malt whiskey as I like the odd glass and my normal favorite is now way too sweet. Baked beans... I had a spoonful the other week and my cheeks recoiled from the sugar!
seriously - with a bit of research and effort you can easily get around feeling like your missing out.
When you want something sweet...
Blueberries/Strawberries and cream with a little bit of sweetener if you really need a fix
When you want cake...
Dark chocolate microwave mug cakes - these are amazing and our go to. Take about 2 minutes to make start to finish... have them warm with cream, or cool them for a muffin effect and have with whipped cream
When you want pizza-
Fat head pizza - google it - its amazing. Plus you can use the dough for crackers to use with dips... or for a flat bread style bacon sarnie.
Ground almonds can replace flour in nearly everything!
Just ordered the calcium/magnesium tablets recommended by Duda, hopefully it will help with the cramp episodes in our house. As comedic as they are it would be lovely to stop them.
Don't just take loads of magnesium - and don't take any extra Mag if you have any existing conditions.
I think most people need to up salt on this diet --- I no longer eat anything processed - that's a lot of salt missing from my diet all of a sudden. Add to that the other effects of ketosis and it's pretty obvious why I am noticing a change.
TREJ, can you explain why people should not increase mag supplements?
edit:
HC, I went back through and looked at the nots I had on Mag again with the Super Cal/Mag its only 1 per day you need. if you have SlowMag or MAG-64 you should take a day
Im very much not a doctor! But I have read quite a bit recently during the whole keto education and while trying to work out why I was feeling off.
On hclf you will probably be consuming quite a bit of magnesium anyway - there is lots in nuts, green veg, spinnach, almond flour, soy milk and many other foods that are common in the diets of keto people.
If you start taking loads more in suppliments I have read about lots of dangers - most wont hurt you but will be unpleasant - at worst it can kill you. You can over dose on mag.
If you have any issues with kidneys, known or unknown it is a very bad idea to up your mag intake without medical advise.
I was doing quite a bit of fasting - with exercise. So I felt mag supplements plus extra salt was needed. With a balanced diet I doubt anything more than a little boost of mag would be needed.
I just mentioned it as I realized someone could read some of the posts above and go off and start taking a mag tablet in every drink.
Sorry HC, typing on my phone its should say 3 Slowmag or Mag-64.
TREJ, if you have a copy of the Art and Sciene of Low Carbohydrate there is some interesting stuff regarding magnesium and cramping in there. It also explains how an underlying magnesium deficiency and make it difficult to raise sodium and potassium levels back to normal.