low carb and olympic weightlifting workouts

This morning I had my 2nd olympic weightlifting workout while on the induction phase of a low carb workout. I felt fine at first, but I became fatigued about half way through the workout. I want to lose weight, but not if it means screwing up my progress in weightlifting. So I've decided to eat a couple cups of white rice before my strenuous workouts, and a cup of milk with whey protein post strenuous workouts. I only do 3-4 difficult workouts a week, so I'm relatively certain if I follow a strict low carb all week except when I eat to fuel myself well for a strength training session I'll get the best of both the weight loss and weightlifting.
This morning I weighed in at 290.4lbs, a loss of 4lbsin 3 days of low carb dieting.

Low carb and olympic weightlifting day 1 and 2

I'd Googled Low carb and olympic weightlifting to see if there was any info on the web, there wasn't. I decided to use myself as a guinea pig and post everything I learn here on my blog.

Day 1: My first day going low carb was Sunday. By noon I was thirsty, a little irritable, and by that evening I had a headache. Other than those three things there's nothing interesting to report.

Day 2: I woke up weighing 294 lbs. 4/10ths of a pound lost in one day. Pretty good so far. Day 2 was even more boring than the first day. I woke up with a little residual headache from the night before. Other than that I felt completely normal. During my work I felt just as strong as usual. I fatigued quicker, but I think that had more to do with having competed in a big weightlifting competition on Saturday. It's almost 4pm, I've worked out, and I've been doing this diet for over a day and a half & I feel completely normal. I don't feel any of the horrible side effects I've read about the induction phase online.

So far this experiment is very boring. Nothing of any significance to report. It will be interesting to see if my endurance returns while I'm on the low carb diet or if I'll struggle to finish my workouts until I increase my carbs again.

low carb induction phase

This was my 4th day back to the low carb diet induction phase and 4th day back to duathlon training. The 1st few days of the induction phase I was grumpy, tired, and light headed. My workouts had been horrid. This morning I woke up and felt great. During my 17 mile bike ride today I also felt wonderful. This morning I weighed in at 230 for a loss of 6 pounds in 4 days.

The training program I'm on right now will have me peak for the Missile Man duathlon on Saturday Febuary 2nd at White Sands Missile Range New Mexico.

low carb and endurance running

I'm currently attempting to build up my run miles for next years Angel Fire endurance trail run. It'll be a challenging 31 mile run over mountains and through valleys using national forest trails starting at the base of the Angel Fire ski resort. Currently my endurance is poor, I have a long way to go. Last week my longest run was 6 miles. I ran it slowly and it was uncomfortable.

Earlier this week I started a low carb diet I read about in "The art and science of low carbohydrate performance". It's a low carb diet for endurance athletes. When I started this diet I assumed my endurance and speed would decrease. I was also fully expecting to feel horrible. So far I feel great. Today I ran a little over 7 miles consuming nothing but water and felt fantastic. Feeling even better than I had felt on a traditional endurance athletes diet was not what I was expecting, but that is exactly what has happened.

On my first day of my low carb diet I lost 2 1/4 pounds. I'm back into the 220's again! So far I'm loving this.

a new sport and a new diet to go with it

I've decided to give up cycling for awhile (see last post for the reason why), I'm now finishing my 1st full week of training to be a pure runner.

I'm adapting a new diet to go along with my new exercise routine. I'm trying a low carb diet from a book called "THE ART AND SCIENCE OF LOW CARBOHYDRATE PERFORMANCE", by Volek, phd and Phinney MD. Tim Olson who followed the low carb diet advise found in this book won the Western States 100 mile trail run with a record-breaking pace. Now I'm going to try it too! I'll let you know how the low carb diet works for me while doing an endurance athletes regimen. Stay posted!

diet myths

From late 2003 until early 2007 I was on a low carb, low processed food diet. I dropped from 292 pounds to 227. Very quickly after I got on the low carb my cholesteral & trigliceride levels dropped from dangerously high to healthy levels. For the last year I've been eating the more traditional diet & my cholesteral & triglicerides have gone back up. I also struggled less staying on a diet consistantly on the low carb, my weight fluctuated less. No coincidence I believed. Now there's proof. Although I do believe the low carb & low processed foods diet is healthier, I won't get back on it because right now i need the carbs for my endurance triathlon training. As soon as I'm done with Ironman Arizona I'll hop back on the low carb & start having my cholesteral & triglicerides tested frequently again. Depending on how the tests come out & how I feel I may stay on it forever, or get off of the diet once I get to 180 pounds. I'll see & keep you all informed.

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/ss/body/91167.php

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lowcarb101/a/lcbenefits.htm

http://www.vitacost.com/Lowcarb.html

http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/Research/Research-shows-metabolic-benefits-of-low-carb-diet

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25708495/

http://www.comcast.net/data/fan/html/popup.html?v=800530080&pl=824979077.xml&plc=824979077&launchpoint=Cover&cid=fancover&attr=default_headline&config=/config/common/fan/default.xml

190 or bust

I've really made great gains since Nov. I've made great improvements in my bike, my swim, my weight, & a healthier diet. This has been a great 4.5 months. My first 3 months of trying to lose weight I was averaging 3-4 lbs of weight loss a week. It has recently slowed to 1 lb a week. I'm so close to my goal in terms of body weight. But the closer I get to my goal of 190 the slower I lose. Of course weekends of overeating like I had this weekend doesn't help.

I'm a very impatient person. One of my favorite things in the world is coffee. I really love coffee, but I drink instant coffee simply because I don't like waiting for regular to percolate. I'm running out of patience with getting to my ultimate weight. I've struggled with my weight most of my adult life. So I really have allot of experience with diets. I've tried every diet you could ever have heard of. Perhaps in this case that's a bad thing. Back in the summer of 2008 I lost 25 lbs in 30 days doing allot of base work & eating a low carb diet. I eventually got off the diet even though got really fast results because its too difficult to live everyday life on a low carb life style. One of the reasons I love weight watchers so much is I can live a normal life. I can eat the foods I want, just in moderation. But I am simply tired of waiting for that magical # of 190. I have decided to go low carb until I get to my goal weight. I know its a stupid decision. Low carb doesn't work for endurance athletes, its an unhealthy diet full of artery clogging fats, etc. But dang it I'll get fast results! I will probably get to 190 in less than 2 weeks! In my mind that IS worth it. Now that I've gotten to 200 I've done great maintaining it. I believe once I get to my goal weight I'll be able to maintain that easily. Its so much easier to maintain a weight than to get to a certain weight. My daily calories will go up once I reach that weight, I'll stop having to desire that dang # of 190 so much. I can think of dozens of reasons to go low carb, only a couple not to. So starting today, I'm on the Atkins diet until I'm at 190. Wish me fast results. The faster I get to 190 the faster I can get back to a healthier way of eating. The faster I can get to a diet that is more conducive to an endurance athletes needs. Thanks for tuning in.