davetapson

Yep, what he said.

jcza will probably give you a more definitive answer but here's my less-definitive one. Seems that if you are really pushing it, then some carb will probably not hurt, and may be necessary to allow you recover sufficiently between training sessions. Eating some high gi carb will in all likelihood more quickly replace muscle glycogen than using glycogen derived from fat-burning. I also doubt that you want complex / low gi carbs - you want your carbs immediately available and as soon as you stop exercising as possible (while your glut-4 pathways are still shifted to stuffing glycogen into your muscles.) Not sure what to suggest, but when I do it, I try to eat the things I miss, as it is a 'legal' way to 'cheat'. Otherwise whatever is on hand. Otherwise a 'Recovery' product - but I'm not convinced they are all they are made out to be.

Dale, I did a year or so of Maff style training and it gave me awesome low intensity endurance. But I really have no high intensity endurance now. I think Maff style training requires a hard racing season and the early session ramps you up intensity wise. I never got there. Which doesn't really answer your question. I couldn't figure times out either but I was commuting and the low intensity saved me from the dead legs you can get from commuting at too high intensities.

Same thing probably goes for soya beans etc?

This guy has some interesting things to say regarding 'Free Range' etc. http://www.farmerangus.co.za/ I decided to get some chickens as I was buying eggs by the dozen from various sources and I decided I may as well at least know where my eggs come from. Angus then says that proper gmo free chicken feed is not avl in SA... makes you realise just how much crap gets into the food chain that we just are not aware of.

38km / 350m. So only go one way per day... Drive in, ride back, ride in , drive back. Repeat.

What they said about Potassium: When someone says ‘potassium’, dietitians instantly think ‘orange juice’ and ‘bananas’, neither of which is much help if you want to stay keto-adapted. Few dietitians think of meats and low starch vegetables as excellent sources of potassium, but they are. There’s as much potassium in 4 oz of meat as in a medium banana or 8 oz of orange juice. However the Achilles heel of meat and vegetables as potassium sources is how they are prepared. Boil either one and much of the potassium is lost in the broth. If you grill your meat to medium well done, much of the potassium leaves with the drippings. The obvious solution is to not discard ‘the solution’ (i.e., the potassium-containing broth and drippings). Cook meats so the drippings aren’t lost and steam or sauté vegetables rather than boiling them. Enjoy your daily allotments of berries, nuts, and seeds, which all contain appreciable amounts of potassium. Most importantly, consider making your own broth. A chicken carcass boiled for a few hours gives up much of its potassium to the broth, as is true for beef bones and scraps as well. Add all of these together and a well-formulated low carbohydrate diet turns out to be richly endowed with potassium, one of the key minerals keeping you upright and functioning well. Phinney, Stephen; Volek, Jeff (2012-06-15). The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance (Kindle Locations 1083-1091). Beyond Obesity LLC. Kindle Edition.

And their summary at the end of the chapter: Summary The key information in this chapter specific to low carbohydrate diets is that you need a consistent, modest intake of salt (sodium) along with a consistent intake of potassium when you are keto-adapted. Everyone who follows a low carbohydrate life-style needs to heed this caution, because not doing so will dependably lead to fatigue, light-headedness, and impaired physical performance. Phinney, Stephen; Volek, Jeff (2012-06-15). The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance (Kindle Locations 1147-1150). Beyond Obesity LLC. Kindle Edition.

Phinney and Volek on magnesium (from Phinney, Stephen; Volek, Jeff (2012-06-15). The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance. ) If you have ever been brought up short in training or in competition by a muscle cramp, you need to read this section. Ask most coaches or most doctors what causes muscle cramps and you will hear: a) dehydration, b) not enough potassium, or c) not enough calcium. Only a few percent of either group will tell you that you’ve got a magnesium problem, but those few are usually right. Magnesium resides inside our cells. There is very little of it in serum, so blood tests for this mineral can’t tell us if we are okay or not. As a result, doctors (who rely on blood tests for most assays), are generally clueless about magnesium. Magnesium calms muscles (including the heart), nerves, and the brain. When magnesium levels fall in these organs, they get ‘twitchy’. Stress them with intense exercise, sleep deprivation, or not enough fuel, and twitchy becomes spasm (aka cramping). If a muscle cramps, you stop using it. If your brain cramps, you have a seizure. If your heart cramps, you die. Luckily, these last two signs of magnesium depletion are rare. But we’ve all seen hundreds of athletes cramp a muscle, but seldom do they know why. Because magnesium is critical for muscle function, there’s quite a bit of it in meat. But if you boil or process that meat (like make it into a hot dog), most of the magnesium is lost. Similarly, magnesium is the mineral at the core of chlorophyll – the green stuff that makes photosynthesis (and thus all sunlight-powered life) possible. The darker green the vegetable, the more magnesium it contains. But if you boil it until it’s mushy, when you throw away the water, you throw away much of the magnesium. So here’s the key to getting enough magnesium from your diet. When you cook meat, capture the drippings and add it back as sauce. If you boil meat or bones, drink the broth or reduce it to make sauce. Steam vegetables rather than boiling them, and cook them until they are ‘al dente’ (to the tooth) rather than soft enough to eat without teeth. Do all of these things routinely and you’ll probably get enough magnesium from your diet without supplements. But if you have frequent muscle cramps, your first order of business is to make them stop. Cramps during or after exercise, or even at night, are a sign that your body has a major magnesium deficit. So here’s the shortcut to ending most night-time or post-exercise muscle cramps. Take 3 slow-release magnesium tablets daily for 20 days. The proprietary brand-name product is ‘Slow-Mag’ ™, but there are a number of equally effective generics now available at a fraction of the brand-name price (e.g., Mag-64™ or Mag-Delay™). Most people’s cramps cease within 2 weeks of starting this dose of Slow-Mag™, but you should continue to take the full 20-day course (60 tablets per bottle at 3 per day lasts 20 days). If the cramps return later, do it again, but after re-doing those first 20 days at 3 pills per day, then continue taking one pill per day. If despite this, the cramps return, take 2 pills per day for perpetuity. Most people can Phinney, Stephen; Volek, Jeff (2012-06-15). The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance (Kindle Locations 1108-1122). Beyond Obesity LLC. Kindle Edition.

It'll have to be beer. Dean says that hydration is paramount...

No - I'm pretty blase about my hydration. Have found out that I don't use so much any more. I will be more conscious about hydration and see if that makes a difference.

Stick at it Dean. Since I have started on JC/HM's strategy of using gels etc during races, I can't believe the energy I have. Have just completed an epic Sabie (7:30+) due to rain/mud and finished with energy to spare. My problem is still cramping, which I still ascribe to mg deficiency (although I'd be hard pressed to defend the 'but you're probably undertrained for the pace you are attempting argument'). I have found that i can manage the cramps by taking 2 Rennies per hour (only figured this out during Sabie - normally I wait for the cramps and then eat the Rennies) So, for me, the limiting factor is now not energy - but the level of effort that I can sustain without cramping. I have a suspicion that my energy availability now exceeds my strength, and strength (or mg supplementation) needs to catch up. Have started incorporating HIIT into my training and hopefully strength will catch up with available energy. Regarding what I eat during races, I find that gels (Cadence) seem to work the best. Tried bars during Sabie but not so convinced. I did the half mara on Sunday as well, and in 45k of quite hilly course I used 1 gel and the rest was banana's and coke - which seemed to work fine. So bottom line, as JC and HM have said before, your fuel consumption when adapted is far more efficient than when non adapted. Edit: And with my current strength vs energy availability, bonking is completely a thing of the past. Couldn't bonk if I tried. Will see if this changes as my strength (hopefully ) increases.

Probably depends on what Cocoa powder you buy and what they put in it. I bought a foil sachet of cocoa powder from Woolies a year or two ago and sheesh, that stuff was bitter. I doubt there was much sugar in there. Haven't managed to find it since - maybe it was not a good seller. The carbs that are in your cocoa powder may be other starchy components - either natural, or added. Edit: in terms of carb consumption, you probably can get away with something like cocoa powder - if you are eating 1g and 30% of that is carb, you are only eating 0.3g of carb. You just need to worry about triggering the munchies which can happen if you eat/drink something sweet. Proper cocoa as far as I know is not particularly sweet. If it is, they've added sugar.

Well, I gave it a go. Mine turned out a bit thin - I think I added too much lemon juice (although I used lime as that is what I had left lying around). I will use a lot less next time and add more if it is too thick. The coconut oil doesn't seem to solidify in the fridge. I'm not sure I'm convinced I like the flavour of coconut in my mayo. May just make this with deflavoured olive oil and / or deflavoured coconut oil. I know there are arguments against deflavouring, but the end result should still be better than seed oils?

Sniffie, I've had the makings lying around for weeks now. Each time I go to Woolies I just pick up an another jar of 'Extra Creamy Mayo'. It's too easy. But one of these days I'll get off my ass. Maybe this weekend seeing as you've put it out there...

Found out yesterday that it is possible to get a sidewall cut from a car bumber. Some stoopid biaatch nearly flattened me. I squeaked by but she hit my rear wheel. Looked fine but burst a couple hundred meters further on. I did hurl some invective.

I'll give you R60...

Please tell me you noticed a difference?

I would never admit it, but this may well be part of it. I've changed my training plan - I'm no longer Maf'ing, but doing some HIIT combined with very low intensity recovery rides. Currently trying to do three sets of 30s HI, 15s off repeated 12 times. Due to the nature of my commute and my lack of strength I'm probably managing three sets of 6. However I've only just started doing this so it will not have made much of a change on my strength/fitness. The reason that I think mg is part if it is that the cramps come on earlier than I think they should, and that I'm also getting cramps in my hands etc afterwards which I think points to a mg deficiency. Also that they respond to Rennies. I'm beginning to think that Maf style training works for properly long endurance events (i.e. triathlons) where the winning margin is made by being able to maintain a slightly higher steady output than your opponent over many hours. I'm not sure it is appropriate for mtb marathon style events which require irregular higher intensity bursts over an already quite high intensity race pace. I am just not as strong as I would like to be, and when you consider Maf style training, why should I be? Hence the HIIT style training plus I try and hit some of the hills I commute over rather than trying to maintain a pace to keep my HR below e.g. Maff level.

HM / JC - I've taken your advice on the nutrition during races, and chow the carbs with the best of them. I'm full of energy - but still getting cramps. Exactly as Ben says - nothing during training, but races, for sure. Except when I think about it I've had some training rides that my muscles have been a bit twitchy. That's when I start my patchy mag supplementation again. I'm gong to start conciously trying to take a mag with each meal and see if that makes a diffs for Sabie. The Rennies do make a difference - I think it is due to the magnesium content.

I don't like to whinge but a couple of comments: 1. WTF with the gate going in to the estate? Not all of us chose to drive 4 x 4's to Dullstroom. I have other options and would prefer not to leave the guts of my car on your gate runner. Farmer Glen can reroute is race overnight in hours - surely you can mound a ramp over your concrete block? Or tell us to bring the 4 x 4. 2. There was just no sense of pride in this race. You go to Barberton/Sabie, the commmunity is involved and proud and it shows. This race... not so much. 3. I've got caught short with no water on hot days so I'm paranoid about carrying enough - so I didn't stress about the pretty ordinary water tables, but geez, they're going to have to do better than that. MTN should be kicking their asses - you want to have your brand associated with that!?

OK - Dullstroom MTB was also a crampfest. I still think it's lack of magnesium - and again post race I was getting cramps in the one had I was steering with - if you drove on the Elandskloof road, and you have a Polo Blueline that has lowered suspension for improved fuel economy, you'd know why might get cramps... Volek and co have written about Magnesium supplementation - I need to dig that out. Also find out why magnesium is an issue with LCHF.

There is a fair amount of evidence that eating grains (even if you are not gluten intolerant etc) doesn't do you a whole lot of good. That is not the theme of this thread, but if you google 'wheat belly' you find all that you might want to know in terms of 'what is wrong with...' Mueli etc that is commercially produced tends to have sugar snuck in somewhere / somehow - it's what makes it palatable for the masses. Give them up for a while and then eat them again - you can actually taste it. If you do want to eat grains, then you probably need to find a souce of real 'home-made' muesli or make it yourself. The irony of this all (for me) was that I worked at Discovery for a number of years, In their canteen you could get a solid fryup for about R7. I, however, being fitness minded, used to eat muesli and yoghurt - for R13. When you have a look at the sugar content of commercial muesli (esp granola) and low-fat yogurt, it is HIGH - normally 10% or so. So 10% of this so-called health food is sugar? Actually makes me quite angry that I was doing what 'they' said was the right thing to do and meanwhile I was effectively eating candy for breakfast at twice the price of food. White rubbish? Anything made of white stuff - flour, potato etc. Not cauliflower - it's white but you can eat it... Bread (all kinds), pasta etc are nutritionally empty foods - they have taken any food value wheat may have had, removed it, and ground up what remains (starch). Why would you actually want to eat it / think that it may have any health value? When you start trying LC, you suddenly find just how carb based our diet is - which is probably why you're having the reaction you are (i.e. "I honestly don't know how you would..."). Don't forget that Noakes is not demonising carbs. Noakes says that you should restrict your carbs to a range of 200g per day or less. The amount depends on how carb intolerant you are.

An interesting site for those interested in ketogenic diets,,, http://ketodietapp.com/Blog/

You've taken a page from a guy (Dr McDougall) who has a business interest in poo-poohing anything but the "McDougall Program" so it doesn't exactly come from a non-biased source. Out of interest, "The McDougall Program uses a pure-vegetarian diet based on starchy vegetables, plus fresh or frozen fruits and other vegetables." If you're looking for reason, rationality and the burden of proof, here are a couple of studies that may interest you: http://authoritynutrition.com/23-studies-on-low-carb-and-low-fat-diets/