LCHF - Low Carb High Fat Diet Ver 2

[deanbean]

Have you tried coconut oil?

I use it in bullet proof coffee, but in my coffee before riding I prefer the taste and texture(?) of flaxseed oil

[Sniffie]

What's the story with flaxseed oil. I see that the real meal revolution says to never eat it. I love it in my coffee.

Dean I am by no means the boffin on this thread, but there is research that points to a higher incidence of prostate cancer in men with higher intake of ALA (the primary type of omega 3 oil in flaxseed) The following is from Mark's Daily Apple and the references and links to the scientific papers are included in the article.

 

My advice would be to use fish oil as your primary omega-3 source and keep the ALA on the lower side.

If you’re a man? Particularly an older man? I’d definitely suggest you make fish oil your principal source of omega-3s. Is it time to chuck the flax grinder all together? Based on the research, I’d at least put it into semi-retirement. (I’d suggest forgoing flax oil entirely.)

Read more: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/flax-prostate-cancer-risk/#ixzz2zZyz1PEd

 

Fish oil, on the other hand for me always begs the question: How safe can it be with all the mercury and other heavy metal pollution of the oceans?

One thing that one must take into account with all omega 3 oils wether plant oil or fish oil is that it is pretty unstable and gets oxidized very easily. So you should buy very fresh oil from a reputable source, keep it in a dark cool place (fridge) and discard unused oils six weeks after opening the bottle.

How fresh is the capsulated forms of fish oil available to us? I mean how fresh can it really be? The first prize obviously must be deep sea caught oily fish, but for most of us it is not an option.

 

The problem with the westernized diet is the high ratio of omega 6 / omega 3. For me part of the solution lies in avoiding as much omega 6 as possible (grain oils in all their forms; cooking oil, margarine, salad dressing etc) and getting your omega 3 from natural fresh produce as far as possible. This should include lots of leafy greens, grass fed mutton, butter, cream, beef and free range chicken and eggs, and as a second prize, if you cannot lay your hands on the fresh fish, tinned oily fish 2 to 4 times per week.

 

Hope this makes sense.

[P.A.K.]

Time for some tasties:

 

First is some boiled egg & avo salad - I had it for late breakfast and it keeps you full for a long time.

 

Second is chicken strips with a tomato paste and garlic sauce over cooked veggies with generous feta and olive oil. Yummy

[jcza]

New website - http://originaleating.org/

[Cois]

I need to get back on a low carb diet.

 

Weight at the moment rocketed to a heart shaking 87.4 kg

 

Problem is the diet my fiancée leads. Full of carbs and shyte. Now need to get back to 73 kgs. I feel sick all the time. Can't get on the bike anymore. Even if it is a Low Carb diet only and not even high fat, cause I have a fat reserve that is just shocking at the moment.

[DaleE]

I need to get back on a low carb diet.

Problem is the diet my fiancée leads. Full of carbs and shyte. Now need to get back to 73 kgs. I feel sick all the time.

 

You may want to try convincing your fiancé to try a more Paleo style approach than a low carb approach ... it's more flexible and probably an easier adjustment for someone used to a diet "Full of carbs and shyte"

You can always convert her to lchf once she sees the benefits ...

[Snow]

Hi all,

Has anyone had 'problems' with using Ucan on very long rides or races? I am not referring to bonking but on two recent occassions, I have become dehydrated. I believe the advised mixing ratio may be too strong for me, inducing me to drink less (of the mix). This may well just be my own fault - I am not drinking enough water to supplement it. Obviously ione is also eating on such events (for me one was a canoeing event & the other a one-day non-stop MTB event, both > 5 hours). Just interested and wondering.

[DaleE]

Hi Snow,

 

I have used it - also only for rides longer than 5hrs. I mix one packet with 500ml water and then try to drink slowly over 2 hrs.

I also carry water as I think it's critical to keep hydration and nutrition separate - a tip I learned from this forum

Other option is to make it into a paste and put it in a gel tube, then use it like a regular gel.

 

As an aside, I discovered that the slow release feature of uCan can also be a serious downside .....

I did TransKaroo over the weekend, and the plan was always to ride within my aerobic level (HR<135bpm) and ride on water alone. I've been following Maffetone's regimen for a while wanted to test how well my body has adapted to using fat for energy at this pace.

So, all was good to the 180km mark (9hrs) - water only, no hunger, no cramps, feeling good .... then there is a 10km climb at that point and half way up my wheels came off spectacularly .... not a slow bonk, more like hitting the wall - had to sit down! My guess is that glycogen stores were now depleted and HR was out of aerobic level, so also no ability to burn fat.

Anyway, I pulled out my ucan, mixed some and drank it .... problem is it took at least 30min before I started to feel the effects and energy started to return. Had another ucan 45min after the first then water only to the end (around another 3,5hrs).

So, if you need a quick boost then ucan won't do it for you ... you do need to plan intake a lot more carefully than you would with a regular gel/gu.

Good side to this story is that after the ucan had kicked in, I felt much better and finished feeling good.

[Snow]

Very interesting DaleE and appreciate the feedback. My first hiccup was on Dusi day 2 this year which is a long paddling day and I have to admit that I wasn't particularly fit. I don't normally drink a lot and have only had the occasional problem over the years. (I have been doing Dusi for over 25 years and some days are like heat waves). Well would you believe that my second occurrence was about 30 minutes behind you on TransK - I had been drinking a mix of Ucan the entire day plus some water but I also imploded spectacularly on Ouberg. Cramps, nausea the works. Eventually had to have a drip at the top as I was dehydrated. I think some of my problem is that I am loosely following the diet so the body may not be fully adapted to burning fat.

[Newboy]

First an introduction. I have been on LCHF for the last 3 weeks. I am already seeing a lot of positives, more energy, weight loss and better sleep. I have always eaten very little carbs with no rice, pasta and very little bread so transition was not very hard. The challenge was mostly in upping the fat and avoiding Easter eggs!

 

Now for asking some help. I stay in Morningside, can anybody point me towards a place where I can get no-carb flour, flaxseed, coconut and almond?

 

I really enjoy this topic, I alway find good advice here.

[DaleE]

........ but I also imploded spectacularly on Ouberg. Cramps, nausea the works. Eventually had to have a drip at the top as I was dehydrated. I think some of my problem is that I am loosely following the diet so the body may not be fully adapted to burning fat.

 

Ouch, never good when the day ends with a drip !! We were definitely not the only casualties on Ouberg ... I saw lots of walking and lots of grumpy folk

My sense of it is that full adaptation to burning fat at higher exercise rates takes 3-4 months f consistent careful eating and careful exercise - not easy. Also remember that even when you are fully adapted you will need external carbs once you are anaerobic - see many posts by Jc and others in this thread in this regard.

[DaleE]

Now for asking some help. I stay in Morningside, can anybody point me towards a place where I can get no-carb flour, flaxseed, coconut and almond?

 

Welcome to the 'club'. Glad to hear the change has been a good one for you.

 

Dischem or Wellness wharehouse will both sell Coconut and Almond Flour. Beware of ground flaxseeds - they go rancid really quickly after grinding, so you rather want to get whole flaxseeds and grind them yourself just before use.

This stuff ain't cheap

 

http://www.credeoils.com/shop/nutrition-oils/coconut-flour/

http://www.wellnesswarehouse.com/shop/foodmarket/baking-cooking/flours/coconut-flour/

http://dischemonline.co.za/product-view/383/natures_choice_almond_flour_300g_gluten_free

[Branne]

Just like to share my experience with my lchf journey so far...

 

Background: after laughing at "crazy lchf people" for years, including my sister, I was convinced by my "medical contacts" that I should give lchf a try. For me I was looking at cycling performance first and foremost. Health and weight loss WAS secondary. Last year I was racing with Elite and Subvets groups depending on race and mostly finished with front bunch. So be able to perform hard racing with lots of high intensity "anaerobic attacks" was a prerequisite for this eating plan for me, otherwise straight back to carb insanity land...

 

Training on Lchf: so starting this year I took a break from racing and been on a "strict" lchf diet for about 3 months.

My training consists of either low intensity endurance, always less than 180-age HR

or

HARD intervals LT/Aerobic at least twice a week.

 

Endurance low intensity rides done on water only on bike. But often coffee and nuts before. Most of my training happens early morning. If longer than 3hrs a "fatshake" was consumed - fatshake- I could substantially digress at this point, but will keep focused

 

For the interval training I always have a cappuccino just before session. I'm a coffee addict, and thus have invested in my own fully manual monster machine at home, that make Eskom nervous in the morning when I power it up...

Use caffeine wisely is my motto! Then, as I start the interval session I indulge myself with a large teaspoon of raw honey. Then I go HARD. Appr. 20min of high intensity time and 1hr in total. As I complete the last interval I down 100-150ml of full cream milk. Subsequent to that, I will only eat when I get hungry, which can take 45min-1hr after session. This is the sequence that seems to work well for me, but I'm still working in that...

 

It took me about 3-4 weeks to feel I was being able to go really hard on the bike and recovery being at least as quick as before lchf.

 

Racing on lchf: this weekend was my fist race on lchf. I was worried about high intensity issues. I knew it would be hard road racing with constant attacks and breakaway attempts, for 150km.

My strategy, after carefully looking into it, was to not carbo load PRIOR the race at all. Eggs and bacon and loads of butter 4hrs before race with lots of salt and lemon-water to drink.

 

But once 20-30min into the race, I had Gu's every 40min.

 

I rode in "Subvets league" category with some pretty strong guys in the line-up. The race started with 2 "anaerobic red line" (at least for me!) attacks in the first 10-20min. After that my carbs were ingested continuously. "Train low-race high" - I suppose. Straight afterwards I had 1/2l of full cream milk with 1scoop of leftover recovery powder from last year and some nuts and Droewors.

 

After my first Gu in race I really felt a bit strange. Lightheaded perhaps... But it went away quickly. Felt a bit "sugar-hangoverish" afterwards but nothing serious.

Race went really well! Was with the front bunch the whole way to the end. Never once got close to be dropped by the top team guys. No high intensity "issues". It is very hard to compare to pre lchf, but I judged myself to be at least at the same "racing fitness level" as per previous high carb diet. One thing I noticed though, my heart rate was A LOT higher than I've ever seen in a race before. I had some peaks with HR above what previously was my max! (Measured at SSISA)

 

Notes:

this way of eating/diet seems to work for me in both general day to day living, working, training and so far racing (N=1).

I feel good on it, all bloating, gas and constant hunger has disappeared.

I have more energy during work throughout the day

I seem to sleep a bit less but better...?

I simply LOVE eating REAL FOOD I wouldn't have dreamt of a couple of months back! Butter, bacon, fat off chops, chicken skin and CHEESE! Did I say cheeeeeese? Man is it good to tuck into DOUBLE-cream ANYTHING!

 

As Noakes said about Banting, it's not for everyone. And some of my friends, both high performing cyclists and other athletes, just never felt ok on it, even after giving it some time. But for others it seems to really work...

 

My 5 cents worth...

[DaleE]

Interesting post.

 

There seems to be the perception out there that lchf lifestyle is good only if you want to go long and slow, so nice to hear an n=1 where that is not the case.

[Leon Besaans]

Just like to share my experience with my lchf journey so far...

 

 

 

If longer than 3hrs a "fatshake" was consumed - fatshake- I could substantially digress at this point, but will keep focused

 

 

 

Now now… Tell us about your fat shake…. Please

[davetapson]

 

Now now… Tell us about your fat shake…. Please

Indeed!