Does anyone experience a drop in stamina or endurance doing cardio on a LC diet? My muscles ache and my stamina complete dies after about 3 miles running. My bod is used to going 6-8 miles. But this is really creating a problem --- not to mention my mindset is wacked. Insight? Solutions?

I have run into the same problem, especially on induction. As far as I can tell, it happens because your body doesn't have the carbs it's used to burning for energy, and isn't used to burning fat. On one site, I read that it can take up to 6 months for your body to adjust.

Some people have found that a "carb boost" (small glass of oj or gatorade-type drink, or some oatmeal) right before they exercise can provide enough energy without taking them out of ketosis.

I have found that once I completed induction, and increased my carb levels to 30-40/day, that my ability to run gradually returned to where it was before I started LCing. Anytime that I have returned to induction-level carbs (around 20), I have found that my workouts suffered within about a week.

Another thing that I have found is that any time I cheat and eat a lot of carbs - I can guarantee that my run the next day will be awesome.

AH _ This confirms my thoughts. Thank you. And it also gives me some direction. Because you see, WO is super important to me...weight loss is secondary. I would rather be fit and fat, than out of shape and skinny. So I know I need to adjust somethings to make this WOE work.

Another thing that I did was to run longer but more slowly. I normally run at about 7.2 mph. I dropped to about 6.7, but made sure that I covered the same distance. At first, I also had to walk a minute or 2 for every 10 that I ran. Then I gradually increased my speed and reduced my walking until I was back to where I was before LC

That's an idea SLIMMIN - but -- I have this buddy that I WO with. She's WAY intense! We have been WO together since June, and have really started to see some results in fitness and speed. There's no way she'll settle for going slower.

There have been WO's with her, that I totally have to bail...my muscles were aching so bad, and my energy was just zapped. Once in awhile, we all have bad days when we WO --- but when they kept on happening. It made her start to question it.

We have a terrific WO relationship...and I just don't want to lose that. You know it's really hard to find someone to WO with that really fits.

I appreciate the input...just needed to add this extra info. Because for me, on the days I WO alone, I can change things up a little, and do what you suggest. I understand going slower and longer burns more FAT - it's true. I guess I just want it ALL! (