Eating before exercise?

(Amanda ) #1

Hi everyone,
I’m 4 days into keto so it is all new. I am looking to lose 10lbs but more importantly looking to shift my body to use fat and be more efficient instead of being hungry ALL the time on the SAD.

So my first post is to ask about exercise. I am training for a half marathon and get up at 5:30am to run or cross train. I used to always eat have of an RX bar because I wake up starving. I am still waking up hungry which I’m sure will happen for awhile until I can get the keto going.

So, what can i snack on in the morning so that I have enough oomph to get my workout in?

(Chris W) #2

I will answer your question with another question

When is your half marathon?

I would personally recommend after about the 2nd week that you do not eat until after training or exercise fasted.
If you are physically fit and young and don’t suffer any metabolic dysfunctions like T2D and IR then you could possible load carbs but I would highly discourage you to not to. There will be a period starting about now and running for the next several weeks were you will loose your cardio ability. I would recommend that you instead focus on resistance training as your cardio will hit a wall very quickly. You will not have the same energy management system that you are used to in the end if you follow through with this. To a certain extent you will have to retrain yourself to use your muscles in a slightly different fashion. To that end I can tell you I am not a marathon runner and after that I am of little help. My experience is bike riding and it suffer for several months over the winter for me, but now I have not hit a limit(although I honestly have not been able to ride much yet).

I will also warn you if you were carb loading before this diet you might have a hard time at the adaption phases, marathon runners in particular can have real messed up metabolisms, that said if you are just starting this training it should not be a big deal. But without question it will be different. I would also encourage you to make sure you are eating to your maintain weight macros for several more weeks, if you active you will loose weight. If you cut your fat macro(weight loss) you will end up in fat conservation mode sooner or later, and at first this is not a big deal but when you run only on fat that becomes more of a problem. Hope this helps.

(LeeAnn Brooks) #3

I highly suggest NOT eating before your workout. You don’t want to carb load any longer, and most things higher in fat will not sit well while exercisizing, especially any cardio. I learned that the hard way.
Also, don’t be disappointed to find your workouts suffer while becoming adapted (typically 6-8 weeks but can vary from person to person). I went from running 4 miles 3-4 times a week pre-Keto to barely being able to do 2 mile speed walks. I’m working back up now, but it’s not a quick process.

(Amanda ) #4

Thank you both for the info. My half marathon is in 10 days so now I see that starting keto right now was not a great idea. Hmmm, do I press forward? I ran 10 miles on Sunday only one day into keto and it was the best 10 I’d had in a long time. But I did carb load right before the run, not understanding how high carb the rx bars actually are.

I was eatlng low carb before this so hoping adaptation isn’t 6-8 weeks. I did wake up with keto flu so I’m not immune, that’s for sure :frowning:

I’ll just keep listening to my body and try to skip a pre-workout snack tomorrow.

(LeeAnn Brooks) #5

Honestly, if I were you I’d hold off till after your race. Then dedicate a good 2 months to allowing your body to acclimate.
If you carb loaded before your run, you probably weren’t in ketosis or knocked yourself out.
From my understanding, there are two phases to Keto. The first is achieving ketosis. You have to severely limit your carbs and increase your fats to achieve this. It was pretty easy for me. You can achieve ketosis after a few days of eating this way. At this point though your body doesn’t know how to efficiently use the extra ketones so your body doesn’t really have a good fuel source. You don’t want to give it more carbs at this point because you will throw yourself out of ketosis. But your performance will suffer. Sometimes a lot. It did for me.
The second phase is fat adaptation. This is when your body switches over to burning fat as it’s fuel source. That’s when all the magic is supposed to happen. I’ve been reading about marathoners and ultras running whole races completely fasted because their body is using its own fat as the fuel for endurance.
I’m just starting my 6th week tomorrow, so I’m not there yet, but about week 4-4.5 I did start to feel better and have slowly added distance and some speed back to my runs. I’m still not where I was pre-Keto, but I’m getting there. And knock on wood I should be fat adapted within another week or two. I just did a 5k on Sunday and it was difficult. I used to do those no sweat. Even took home a few wins. This one was my worse time ever and I had to walk a small portion up a hill because I was going to throw up if I didn’t. But I finished it, and two weeks ago I wasn’t able to run more than a mile without my legs turning to jello. So I’m optimistic about this eventually improving my performance.

(Amanda ) #6

Thank you. That all makes so much sense. Now I wish I’d done much better research before starting. If I continue on keto and bail on the race, I bail on my running partner.

To be clear, I’m not a marathoner. I run half marathons which has me doing cardio for 2.25 hours (slow pace). I’ve never “carbo loaded” which is not necessary for a half marathon. (People might think it is, but it is not!)

Based on my 30 minute “cardio” class this morning, I agree that I won’t be ready to run my 9 mile training run this weekend. So very sad!

(LeeAnn Brooks) #7

I never thought I carb loaded either, but I used to eat a banana about an hour before races. A banana averages 27 carbs. That’s more than my whole day now.
And my go to breakfast before doing my morning runs was a bowl of Special K Red Berries with unsweetened almond milk. Also 27 carbs for the cereal.

(Amanda ) #8

LOL! You are so right. Banana was a great item before and I won’t be eating those again!

I’m feeling better now after reading this, that I can continue keto. I was doing 18 carbs a day so I think I will increase to 35 or so and see how that effects my exercise.

For ketogenic dieters who do endurance exercise regularly:

Follow the recommendations for fat, protein, and calories above.
Start with a standard ketogenic diet (fewer than 35 grams of carbs per day), and assess how that affects your exercise performance after 1 to 2 weeks.
If you notice no effect or an increase in endurance, then keep your carb limit as it is.
If you are struggling to match your prior performance, then consider increasing your carb limit or supplementing with MCTs or exogenous ketones before your exercise bouts.