Running: Less Endurance/Sore Legs Since Atkins. HELP!
 

I started Atkins a little over 2 weeks ago now and the weight has been falling off. One problem I am experiencing surrounds my running.

I've been running for a few years. Over the past year or so, I put on about 20 lbs because of a major back problem which has since healed, as well as a very bad year emotionally. I had started running again about 3 months ago and was progressing well - up to about 45 minutes duraction for 5 or 6 days per week. (usually, my runs are 30-35 minutes.)

Since starting Atkins, I'm finding that my legs get sore and tired within 5-10 minutes of starting my run. Usually, by 25 minutes, I'm ready to stop. Yech!

Any advice from anyone would be greatly appreciated.

Yep, i had this too. I 'cheated' to solve it after discussing it with Mmoranmic, who does some awesome runs and also reading stuff from Trainer Dan.
These two use carbs during cardio.

I run for about 45 mins in the mornings, the first half of it uphill.
Before I leave the house, I have a 200ml glass of grapefruit or orange juice - 16 carbs, in a very 'instant' form.
It takes me about 10 minutes to drive to where I run.
The carbs are beginning to hit 0 - 5 mins into my run.
I checked my ketosis out afterwards and at no point during the morning was I out of ketosis.
So my reasoning is that my muscles need the carbs to work this intensely maybe as there's a limit to how fast you can oxidise fat, that the carbs are totally used up during the workout so don't affect my ketosis later.
It solved the wasted legs feeling, so that I was able to get a normal workout. Before that, my legs ached so much, I couldn't go fast enough to get a sweat on or puffing.

More in my journal and some in Mmoranmics too. She has tried hard to execise intensely on lowcarbs too and has given up, she says she needs carbs during the exercise.

All the best, hope this is some help, Jay

Dear as265,
I know the feeling! That's why I switched from Atkins to Schwarzbein, it gives more freedom in adjusting your carb level to your activity level. I use the carbs when I'm engaged in sustained aerobic activity and revert back to low carb when I'm not. Some people will tell you that your body can be trained to use fat as an energy source but mine won't, I tried and I bombed on a long training run.
I eat about 70-90 carbs a day on Schwarzbein. I am losing weight although it's slower that others.
Good luck to you as you progress on your new way of life. I've never felt better and I've met such wonderful people of this forum!
Bye,
Maureen

don't forget potassium
 

On Atkins, with all the water, you lose potassium which has to be replenished every day anyway. The suggestions to do some carbs just before work out sound like a great idea and I am going to try added carbs before I go swimming. sometimes I am almost too weak to walk after my swim.

I have read over and over that it takes time for your body to adjust to using fat as fuel. So at first it will be really hard to run. Long distance running is not intense (as sprinting/weightlifting) so depending on how fast you need/want to lose the fat, you can just wait it out or start supplementing with carbs.
Try drinking more water - at least 1 gallon per day, take your vitamins and eat your veggies. If your muscles are sore, glutamine is a great supplement - 5-10g per day, in powder form. (It is really expensive! though I found several $55 bins in GNC that were on sale for $8 because they were cleaing out stock. make sure to check the expiry date)

I hike frequently on some very intense trails (heart rate goes up past 200) and have found that I perform better eating low carb, although initially it was not so.

Check out this site, it talks about nutrition for athletes, and explains why low carb (though higher than atkins induction) is better for athletes.. AND how it takes time to adapt for increased performance.

www.second-opinions.co.uk/athletic_diet.html

Well, it's now no longer an issue. I'm a diabetic, and when I told my endo I was on Atkins, he flipped out. I'm on medication to prevent future kidney damage (which I already show the advanced symptoms of) and the high protein/fat content of Atkins is considered to be very bad for diabetics.

So I'm back to carbs at about 120 g/day as I was before, and my running is great now.

Thanks to all of your for responding!

do some research about diabetes
 

MANY doctors have concluded that Atkins if the best approach to diabetics.

Do some research.

I've done the research!
 

It's true the Low Carb living will definitely lower blood glucose levels; what is also true, however, is that diabetics must pay close attention to their fat and more importantly, their protein intake due to our tendancy to suffer from kidney complications later in life.

There is much credible research indicating that high protein diets are simply destructive to diabetes and are not recommended.

That's not to say that for non-diabetics, low-carb, high fat/protein diets may not be beneficial. My concern here is for my condition, and since I'm already experiencing the intial stages of kidney damage, I wouldn't recommend that I or any other diabetic person play around with high protein diets unless I came across credible research in this area.

And by the way, 80% of diabetes dies of cardiovascular disease, or stoke. With stats like that, I'm scared of high fat/sat fat diets like Atkins. The effects of high fat diets on the heart are well documented. While others may lose weight on a diet like this, the long term effects are still not certain, however, with an 8/10 chance that I'll die of a heart/stroke problem, I'm not willing to chance it, nor should any other diabetic.

Since researching this issue further, I've become dismayed at how supporters of high protein/fat diets attempt to convince diabetics that these diets are suitable. Again, they will cause weight loss for everyone and I'm not disputing that they may or may not be dangerous for non-diabetics, but what's at issue here is excessive protein and fat intake for diabetics, and from all counts, the research there is pretty conclusive.

I'm not condeming what you do; it's your choice and I'm sure it works for you, but some diabetics look for an easy way to control blood sugar and I fear that without researching Atkins and other diets of these types for how they effect diabetics in the long run, they may be ruining their health and once the damage is done, it cannot be undone.

I'm always open to reading legitimate research on this topic -- I'd be foolish to turn down something else that works and isn't risky. To the best of my knowledge, no research has been conducted on the long term effect of these types of diets specifically for Diabetics. Do you have a link to such a study? I'd appreciate reading it.

Thanks!

Dr Bernstein is a diabetic himself and a proponent of low carbing - he's written his own book - he got into lowcarbing to sort out his diabetes.

Remember - these are not high protein diets, they're adequate protein diets, its not like the stuff weightlifters do, 10 steaks for breakfast sort of stuff.

Helping with vascular disease is one of the reasons people are put onto lowcarb diets (including saturated fat). In the absence of high insulin levels, the sat fats are not a problem. Protein Power and Protein Power Life Plan are the books to read on this.

The 'establishment' don't recommend lowcarb diets for anyone (yet), but there's mounting research to show that they are a very good way to handle both diabetes and cardiovascular disease. I haven't got the links to my fingertips - I'm sure Nat or Voyager could point you to some.

Take care, and obviously you make your own choices, but don't dismiss this one too soon, the medical establishment may not go with it, but they're not necessarily right!

Thanks for your response. I'm not against checking into other options. I still remember listening to Dr. Gabe Mirkin say on the radio for years (http://www.drmirkin.com) that he had evidence that stomach ulcers were caused by a bacterial infection, and he was dismissed. Well, we all now know that this is the accepted diagnosis, so "the establishment" can be wrong.

I'll check out the Protein Power diet you recommend and see what it has to say. If you find more interesting links, let me know.

Thanks!

Well, I'm back on Atkins!

I made a deal with my doctor that I would try it for six months; he has said that after six months, he'll recheck my blood and urine work and see what happens.

What prompted my decision to go back on?, Well, when I went off Atkins and back onto my 1700 calories per day diabetic diet, my mood changed; I had ups and downs; I felt worse than I did on Atkins; I thought about food and felt hungry all of the time; but worst of all, I put on 3 lbs! Argh!!

The only improvement was related to my running, which I found I had much more strength and endurance for.

I'm looking forward to getting through induction again!

Just a thought, related to your running... you might want to try supplementing with coconut oil before you run, the way you would with carbs. I've read that your body uses it quickly, providing energy for exercise. Just an idea.. I have not tried it myself yet.

Meg

ps: NOT trying to get into another MCT oil debate ;)