skatingforums
On the Ice => Off-Ice Training for Skaters => Topic started by: Landing~Lutzes on May 06, 2013, 08:57:14 PM
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Has anyone here tried a ketogenic diet? What were your results, did it effect your skating at all?
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I've never done super full keto (as in almost zero carbs) for over like a week, but I ate way lower carbs and lots of meat/fat for my calories.
To put it simply. It was terrible and I pretty much lost a year of athletic performance from doing that.
Initially, you might feel pretty awesome at first. Because you're sorta "high" on catecholamines, which are adrenal hormones (note amine, think of other substances that end in amine...) But eventually you'll pretty much crash because your adrenal glands will be on basically high alert all the time.
But anyway, my specific experiences, in athletic performance, your endurance is affected, your, say, 1 rep max type of strength isn't really. Worse though, it can be pretty bad running on such a diet doing things like, say, driving, as you'll pretty much be tired and irritable all the time after your honeymoon period is over. Eventually you start replacing carbs with caffeine. Then you're like "wow I'm miserable" and think "Oh, it can't be the fact I've not been eating like any carbs" and this continues until you stop doing the low carb thing. Your nervous system runs on glucose, no glucose, no fun. Carbohydrates are also needed for seratonin, no carbs, low seratonin. Even if the diet physically allows you to be all right, mentally you'll be trashed on the diet after the "honeymoon."
For me specifically, I was 195 during my low carb days, and on a 3000 calorie high carb diet with relatively low fat, I dropped to 182 relatively quickly. It MIGHT be all right if you plan to just use it to cut down 5-10lbs quickly (so you don't go past the honeymoon.) When I told a bodybuilder at my gym about my low carb, he said "yeah, that's for if you're at like 8% bodyfat and wanna go to 6%." Which I think is pretty accurate in their usefulness. Also, I'm wondering if I've messed my hormones up a bit doing low carb or not. Overall, just terrible. I'd say don't do it.
http://anthonycolpo.com/why-low-carb-diets-are-terrible-for-athletes-part-1/
Good article to read.
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It's not quite Ketogenic, but my friend did the Paleo diet several years ago. She went on and on about how great it was. It is low carb in that you are not supposed to eat grain products or potatoes or refined sugars, but fruits and vegetables are allowed. She talked about how great she felt on it. I told her I wouldn't be able to do that because I am an athlete and I need carbs. So she told me there was a version of the Paleo diet designed for athletes, too. So, I looked it up and do you know what it said? EAT CARBS! They said you can eat carbs a certain amount of time before and after exercising. Well, after looking at it, I figured that the only times I shouldn't eat carbs were the times I wouldn't be eating anything at all! So I just eat whatever I want.
A low carb diet is okay for a short period of time if you have a ton of weight to lose or mostly just sit on your butt all day. The primary nutrient for your brain is glucose, so you don't want to deprive yourself of it for too long.
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Wow. I have only ever heard of ketogenic diet in relationship to people with intractable epilepsy. I can't imagine anyone ever doing a ketogenic diet who didn;t have to for a medical reason.
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My former trainer assessed my food intake and labelled me a 'carbatarian'. He said that my cal intake was pretty good, but that I was way out of balance. I think a lot of us eat too many carbs, but that's no reason to cut them all out. I cut out loaf bread for a couple weeks - as most of my meals contained it - and worked to increase my fruit and veg intake. I'd say that I felt really, really good. But my trainer warned me not to overdo it because unless it's medically necessary to cut carbs completely, it's dangerous to do so. Your body needs them for fuel.
I cut carbs once as a teenager, pretty much completely, and I'd have to say that I felt like crap. Irritable, tired, annoyed all the time. However, if you need to drop weight quickly for some reason, it does work. But comparing the two experiences - 'low' carb vs. no carb - I'd say that the 1st was much more manageable and I felt a heck of a lot better.
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Carb/Low carb/no carb etc is not a one-size fits all solution: it depends on how you metabolize carbs. The Ketogenic diet is very extreme - and it is most commonly known to be in use for, as noted, intractable epilepsy. It's also very hard to follow; they use a modified Atkins in some instances (Atkins with extra fat basically). Ketogenic needs to be done under medical supervision.
Myself, a low carb (under 30 a day) makes me feel more energetic, improves my athletic performance, stablizes my moods, makes me more mentally alert and generally turns me into a much happier person. My sugar cravings vanish and I have a happier gastrointestinal system; I sleep better too. But, I have problems metabolizing sugar - which is why the low carb is prescribed. I can go up to about, oh, 50 a day before I start feeling like complete cr*p and dragging my butt around (and snarling at my children and coworkers).
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I tried Atkins, and it made my gallbladder go berserk. My sides hurt, and I felt terrible.
I tried South Beach, using 1 piece of fruit and 1 piece of bread a day, and did ok.
But, I need good carbs to skate, or I don't have enough energy to make it an hour on the ice.
Try www.myfitnesspal.com to track your meals, exercise, and calorie intake. It's free and you can track almost any nutrient. I track the big 3, and cholesterol. There are others out there. Yes, it tracks skating calories burned too!