Hi Amy:
I don't get on as often as I would like, so it has taken me a few days to reply to your question. I followed a modified low carb diet designed by Dr. Michael Platt, called the Metobolic Solutions. It worked well for me and I lost over 30 pounds. Why I mention it is because my cookbook (Everyday Low Carb Cooking) is based on his plan. My husband who is a 60 year old physician ate out of this book while training for the Boston Marathon this year. It was only his second marathon, and he finished in 3:35:27 - not bad for an old guy! He did carb load the week of the race to give himself extra reserves for the energy needed. And, he did eat some whole grain breads and cereal during his training period. He trained for 6 months to get ready for the marathon.
The other thing that I wanted to mention is that you may not need to eat low carb to lose weight, depending on your training schedule. My husband did lose 20 pounds, but he was a bit over his ideal to start. And, he lost the weight while eating low carb and training for his first marathon, now a year ago. Like me, he has kept it all off. The difference between a weight loss low carb and a maintenance low carb diet is the amount of carbs.
On the plan I followed, 30 grams a day of carb was recommended for weight loss. To maintain, I eat 50 - 60 grams a day and have kept the weight off for over a year (18 months). It will vary depending on your metabolism and your activity level. You will need to experiment a bit to see what suits you.
My husband, since he was a novice marathoner went to a website
www.marathontraining.com where you can get either general information about training or have Art Liberman design a training program specifically for you
This is a lot of information, but it was so close to my heart that I couldn't resist. Hope it is of interest/help.