Prof Tim Noakes' U-turn on Carbohydrates

[Topwine]

Have you tried Macadamia or Almond butter? You can make your own as well. Divine! Especially with a banana

I am too lazy to make my own, but send the recipe anyway as I might try it. Banana has too much sugar in for me if it is too ripe and big.

[Topwine]

I realised this morning that i have not used my asthma pump in about 4 weeks. The only thing i changed in the last 8 weeks is my diet so i guess that played the major role

 

That is great ! Ashtma and related issues is known to be associated with High Carb diets, especially wheat and gluten.

[Karinvdw]

Have you tried Macadamia or Almond butter? You can make your own as well. Divine! http://1.1.1.5/bmi/cdn.bikehub.co.za/forum//public/style_emoticons/default/drool.gif Especially with a banana

I will give Almond butter a try this weekend. Thanks again for the advice!

[ccc2]

i have been on a low (no junk food) carb diet since the beginning of December - no bread, biscuits,crisps,sweets,carbonated drinks,pasta,cereals,rice,potatoes. it has thrown the family meal into a bit of a spin (kids 16 & 20 think i'm wierd) but i just make myself a salad instead of rice/tatties/. we always have veggies with our meal. wife is more intrigued than anything else, reason being, i weight 73 kgs , 1,72 m (was 74+ during winter holidays). my ideal racing weight is ±70 kgs. my wife runs and weights 57 kgs, so we aren't a 'big' family and have never watched what we eat.

i have had no cravings yet but am worried about 'bonking'(this is a cycling term for hitting the wall for those that don't know) because my meals are maybe lacking some nutrients.

read in this thread about one of the bloggers taking magnesium and potassium supplements to stop cramping.

my biggest problem is finding food with 'good fat' ie , its almost about impossible to find any dairy products that is full cream everything is 'low fat'.

inbetween meal snacks are also a problem, i used to love a wholewheat bread sandwich with salami/cheese or peanut butter/jam, now it is fruit or a tin of sardines/cocktail tomatoes/grated cheese and mayonaise on provita/matsos/ryevita (i don't read labels so i don't even know if this is an appropiate snack or not.

any pointers / advice

[Jaco-fiets]

I have been following this style of eating for about 10 weeks now. Between meals i snack on nuts, peanut butter, cheeses, droewors, biltong and sometimes a whey protein snake.

 

Since being on holiday i wake up around 7am, have a coffee or 2, handfull of peanut and a piece of cheddar and then go for a 3hr ride between 9 and 10 with only electrolites and BCAA in the bottle. Not even hungry when i get back. I ride about every 2nd day now on holiday and on the days i don't ride, come lunch i realise i did not have breakfast yet.

 

Taking in extra salts/electrolites/magnesium i reckon is very important. I still struggle somewhat when i push the intensity but i am not close to fit yet so i might be impatient. Once a week i eat what i want and lots of it.

 

At this stage my plan come races will be to have a light carb meal the night before and still take a gel or 2 during the race as and when i feel i have to during the race. If i understand the science correctly, your body can always use carbs as fuel but if not fat adapted it will always seek carbs as its fuel source. So taking some carbs on race day to fuel your high intensity efforts wont take your body out of a fat adapted state immediately

 

I add good fats to my meals. Olive oil, canola and coconut oil. Avo is also good source but it contains allot of carbs as well. When you buy cream cheese (my favourite) look for the whipped cream cheese. If you like mayonaise then you are in for a treat. I eat mayo on most of my meals

Edited December 26, 2012 by Jaco-fiets

[ccc2]

I have been following this style of eating for about 10 weeks now. Between meals i snack on nuts, peanut butter, cheeses, droewors, biltong and sometimes a whey protein snake.

 

Since being on holiday i wake up around 7am, have a coffee or 2, handfull of peanut and a piece of cheddar and then go for a 3hr ride between 9 and 10 with only electrolites and BCAA in the bottle. Not even hungry when i get back (same with me , and it scares me) I ride about every 2nd day now on holiday and on the days i don't ride, come lunch i realise i did not have breakfast yet.

 

Taking in extra salts/electrolites/magnesium i reckon is very important (noted) I still struggle somewhat when i push the intensity but i am not close to fit yet so i might be impatient. Once a week i eat what i want and lots of it.

 

At this stage my plan come races will be to have a light carb meal the night before and still take a gel or 2 during the race as and when i feel i have to during the race. If i understand the science correctly, your body can always use carbs as fuel but if not fat adapted it will always seek carbs as its fuel source. So taking some carbs on race day to fuel your high intensity efforts wont take your body out of a fat adapted state immediately

 

I add good fats to my meals. Olive oil, canola and coconut oil. Avo is also good source but it contains allot of carbs as well. When you buy cream cheese (my favourite) look for the whipped cream cheese. If you like mayonaise then you are in for a treat. I eat mayo on most of my meals

thanks - i felt a bit dead on this morning's ride but i think it was the excesses of xmas.

[Jaco-fiets]

thanks - i felt a bit dead on this morning's ride but i think it was the excesses of xmas.

 

I currently use Hammer's Fizz tablets during rides lasting more than 2hrs. From now on i will also use a extra magnesium supplement frequently. Get into the habbit of adding some salt to your meals.

 

I feel sluggish at the start of most of my rides but after 1hr i can actually pin point when my body starts burning fat for fuel. I just get into this relaxed "easy" zone. Well that is how i feel anyway

[DaleE]

i have had no cravings yet but am worried about 'bonking'(this is a cycling term for hitting the wall for those that don't know) because my meals are maybe lacking some nutrients.

I follow a similar diet and have not experienced this to be a problem. I do however take some carbs in the form of macadamias & cashews or banana when racing or on rides longer than 3 hrs.

read in this thread about one of the bloggers taking magnesium and potassium supplements to stop cramping.

Try rehydrate .... just the regular one, not the 'sport' one. I mix it one packet to 750ml (about 30% dilution ... has solved the cramping issue for me ... and I used to cramp LOTS. more training also helps

my biggest problem is finding food with 'good fat' ie , its almost about impossible to find any dairy products that is full cream everything is 'low fat'. Melissa's do a full cream yoghurt ... look for a maroon / pinkish label. Also, organic markets are usually a good source of natural hi-fat products. Full cream milk in coffee / tea.

inbetween meal snacks are also a problem, i used to love a wholewheat bread sandwich with salami/cheese or peanut butter/jam, now it is fruit or a tin of sardines/cocktail tomatoes/grated cheese and mayonaise on provita/matsos/ryevita (i don't read labels so i don't even know if this is an appropiate snack or not.

Nuts (in small quantities, raw unsalted), biltong, seeds, cheese all work for me. Just be carefull of nuts, they have a huge calorific value! e.g. 100g macadamias = 700 calories!

any pointers / advice

One other comment ... its critical to eat within 30min after exercise. I know you're not hungry, but make sure you get some protein and a little bit of carb into you. This will sort out the sluggish feeling you have the next day when starting your ride. My preference is yoghurt (the Melissa's one) after a short ride or chicken with Kraft full cram mayo in half an avo after a longer or hard session.

Edited December 27, 2012 by DaleE

[HappyMartin]

I'm curious about performance of you guys on this diet. Would a 100 km race in sub three hours be no problem? How hard are you going?

 

I realize its all relative to ability but I hear a lot about how great everyone feels on the diet. To put it bluntly I don't care how good you feel, or how good I feel while riding or racing. I care about how fast.

 

Personnel experiences please. Not interested in what someone else wrote in a book or anything. How are your race times on this diet? Up or down and what are the times

[Jaco-fiets]

I'm curious about performance of you guys on this diet. Would a 100 km race in sub three hours be no problem? How hard are you going?

 

I realize its all relative to ability but I hear a lot about how great everyone feels on the diet. To put it bluntly I don't care how good you feel, or how good I feel while riding or racing. I care about how fast.

 

Personnel experiences please. Not interested in what someone else wrote in a book or anything. How are your race times on this diet? Up or down and what are the times

 

I wonder as well. The Boeckaert Soenen will be my 1st race on this diet followed by the Porcupine Ridge mtb followed by the Tour de Stellenbosch. By this time i can give you a opinion based on experience. Also will be doing the Grape Escape, so by the 2nd of March i can give you really good feedback. Guess you don't want to wait that long............

 

Based on training i can tell you that LSD and tempo rides are fine.

[HappyMartin]

I'm perfectly happy to wait. In no way am I knocking the diet. I am just curious. I would love for it to work.

[Topwine]

I'm curious about performance of you guys on this diet. Would a 100 km race in sub three hours be no problem? How hard are you going?

 

I realize its all relative to ability but I hear a lot about how great everyone feels on the diet. To put it bluntly I don't care how good you feel, or how good I feel while riding or racing. I care about how fast.

 

Personnel experiences please. Not interested in what someone else wrote in a book or anything. How are your race times on this diet? Up or down and what are the times

 

I think I and others have posted our performance increases inthis thread before. My 28km time trial performance have improved. Also my climbing performance have increased quite a lot. There is a caveat though. You cannot start with your muscle glycogen levels at too low. Somehwere between full and 30%. If it is too low you are going to have to compromise on the intensity. I have not tested on longer rides of more than 90 minutes where I have previous reference times.

[Jaco-fiets]

I think I and others have posted our performance increases inthis thread before. My 28km time trial performance have improved. Also my climbing performance have increased quite a lot. There is a caveat though. You cannot start with your muscle glycogen levels at too low. Somehwere between full and 30%. If it is too low you are going to have to compromise on the intensity. I have not tested on longer rides of more than 90 minutes where I have previous reference times.

 

I tend to agree. I reckon you should start the race with topped up glycogen stores to fuel the high intensity bursts. It is for this reason that i think you should still have a good carb meal the night before and take a gel or 2 during the race. Your muscles will be like a sponge and will soak up the carbs. Trick is to probably take just enough not to "spill over". It is probably a good thing to have a energy bar on your long training rides as well (like the TKD approach). This will just keep those glycogen levels at a certain percentage so tomorrow's training is quality as well

[HappyMartin]

Yes I am aware people have improved times. But what times? I mean no disrespect but I want to have some idea of what type of riders you are. As an extreme example if you are doing the Argus in over 4 hours and now you can do it on 3:40 then I am not so interested. Someone who is doing the 94 in under 2:40 and has now improved their time on this diet and I am interested.

 

I know that is not the whole story but I think you know what I mean.

[Topwine]

Yes I am aware people have improved times. But what times? I mean no disrespect but I want to have some idea of what type of riders you are. As an extreme example if you are doing the Argus in over 4 hours and now you can do it on 3:40 then I am not so interested. Someone who is doing the 94 in under 2:40 and has now improved their time on this diet and I am interested.

 

I know that is not the whole story but I think you know what I mean.

 

Like yourself has said, it's all relative. A big improvement from a 4h argus will be the same as a small improvement in a sub 3 h argus. The performance increases, if any, will obviously be lower at the top of the field, for obvious reasons. but a 1 or 2 % difference there could mean a lot ito position results. If you are so good as you obviously think you are, are you then not interested in ANY possible advantage ?

[DaleE]

Yes I am aware people have improved times. But what times? I mean no disrespect but I want to have some idea of what type of riders you are. As an extreme example if you are doing the Argus in over 4 hours and now you can do it on 3:40 then I am not so interested. Someone who is doing the 94 in under 2:40 and has now improved their time on this diet and I am interested.

 

I think that you may need a controlled study to try to prove a 'cause and effect' theory for this diet. The problem is that most folk who start following a strict diet also tend to get more serious about their training, sleeping, etc, so all those factors together are affecting their race times. Also, many people loose weight on the diet, and we all know about power to weight ratio.

 

My personal experience is that this diet allows me to train and race harder and for longer without bonking, also recovery times are significantly better, so training is better and easier. In other words, it's not the diet that makes me faster, but it's an enabler to better training which makes me faster.

 

Last 2 Argus times were 3:10, but looking at current performance I reckon I'll be 15 -20 min faster this year ... not exactly the 2:40 racing snake you were asking about, but gives you an idea.