Is the 20g of carbs daily limit influenced by exercise?

(Straight outta ‘Straya’) #1

I didn’t have a bad day… in fact it was a decent one in terms of macros and health and energy but I did go a bit over on the carbs (not by much but still over). Is that ‘ceiling’ influenced by the amount of physical exertion during the day? On a day where a person does lots of walking or yard work etc is the result that they can have a few grams more of carbs and still be in the zone?

I’m not super fixated on it but genuinely curious and also a bit more resolved to watch the carb counts of my ingredients when doing food prep.

(Ken) #2

Yes, the Carb amount is flexible, much more so than the 20g dogma. However, it’s dependant on your hormonal resistance State. After you’re adapted you can add some more carbs in as long as it doesn’t create a chronic pattern. If you’re not, keep’em below 20g.

(Rob) #3

Not so much these examples but if you do some proper hard exercise, you can burn up your recent carb indiscretions if you catch it quickly. It is like carb cycling for athletes - take some carbs before a workout and burn them off right away for some immediate extra energy.

Ken is right about your state determining your general carb level. Healthier people can have more carbs and stay in ketosis. More metabolically deranged folks don’t have that luxury. For you to know, you have to determine what your level is by checking ketosis levels vs. carb intake. Otherwise stick to 20g net until fat adapted and then maybe experiment a bit.

#4

exercise creates a “glucose sink” whereby any exogenous carbs are used to replenish glycogen first, allowing you to consume more and stay ketogenic. however this doesn’t mean its an eat donuts or potato chips get out of jail free card, and can be a slippery slope.

(Straight outta ‘Straya’) #5

Yeah, I get that. In this case I had a 25g carb day… and I’m not overly fixated on it (just a little), I was wondering if it was possible that I still hit the mark.

(Mark Rhodes) #6

I would also add that too many consecutive days with a higher car allowance will also throw you out. During the holidays I tried to stay Keto but strayed on multiple slices of almond crust pie and extra helpings of mashed cauliflower and the like. The first day BHB went up. Second day dropped a bit, then a steady plummet. Now in March I find I can hit 50 with no major concern if its just a day.

In response to the other answers I will add my HOMA-IR is 2.2, fasting Insulin 9.8.

(Rob) #7

5g here and there is well within the margin of error for tracking carbs so I definitely would give it a second thought.

(Straight outta ‘Straya’) #8

Thanks for the assurance

#9

The biggest determinants of carb tolerance are genetics, metabolic health, and hormonal state. Further complicating it, they’re interrelated.

(Straight outta ‘Straya’) #10

And somehow I’ve gone worse today… 30g of carbs. Soy braised pork has a shit load of carbs it appears.

Mind you that may just be MFPs interpretation based on a restaurant takeout recipe or something. My wife’s version is pretty low key and may not have that level of carbs.

(Jay AM) #11

In recipes made at home, most people that want to track will add all the ingredients together and calculate it that way.

MFP has a recipe support that you can add recipes into. What I’ve done in the past is added recipes and then broke them down until the carbs were good. Like, an entire recipe might be 40 carbs but, one fourth of the recipe is only ten.

(Straight outta ‘Straya’) #12

I’ve decided to go into a fast day today to try to get back into ketosis but also I am resolved to watch home cooking a bit more closely…

Add to that I found figures in MFP for Portuguese/Brazilian chicken were considerably off. That was a staple for my lunches for some time.