I was in Germany for the last 5 weeks and we did a lot of hiking in the alps. Disclaimer: I am not new to low carbing

Anyway, one day I ate a salad for breakfast which was only lettuce with coconut oil, olive oil and vinegar, I also had a cocoa with cream and coconut oil, then in the car I ate a very small pepperette type thing and that was it until 230 when we started to hike. We hiked a very steep incline for about 3 hours, and it took us I think 2 to get back to the car. Anyway - I felt amazing. It was like, limitless energy, no muscle burning just ENERGY!

Another time we hiked I ate a white bun for breakfast with jam on one half, meat and cheese on the other, and some chocolate. I felt like crap, I hit a wall, my muscles were full of lactic acid and it was HARD work. The funny thing is that it was an easier hike.

I noticed my performance on hard hiking was much better when only eating low carb.. instead of eating carbs "for energy" early in the day.

On both hikes I ate some L-Carnitine tablets, and both nights I stayed up late the night before. I noticed similar experiences on other mountains but the two I am thinking of were just the most extreme. I also like to have caffeine.. well all the time, but especially before exercise.

I think the coconut oil has something to do with the amount of energy I experienced because it seems to facilitate using fat as fuel for energy. .. seems to ME anyway.

Meg

I agree Meg. I think the coconut oil/MCT had alot to do with it ...

Also, fat may be your body's preferred source now. Funny thing, I notice that the athletes that I work with have better physiques and have sustained perormance when I lowered their carbs.

The only carbs they get are during workouts or games, and post-game or workouts. And 1 very carbby meal taken 2 hours post workout every 3 days.

Usually I job about 2-2.5 miles. Well I ate a bunch of carbs and went running. I ended up running 4 miles and I didnt hit the wall. Will increasing my fat help with working out? Im sick of hitting the wall and getting dizzy, sometimes i get little "blackouts".

I had the same problem (I ride a bike), and I have found that now, 7 months in to Atkins I can go as far and as hard as I did when I was eating "normal", maybe the 40 odd pounds I lost also help..

But I remember dirung the first 2 months havign the problem you decsibe. Light headed, "spots", and almost fainting... I have not felt that for a while now..

Yeeha! I love having fat as a preferred fuel. Now, if only I get more of my bodyfat to be burned...

I was thinking this morning about sometime in the next few mos, maybe after Christmas, doing a low fat cycle for 1-2 weeks to freak out my body. But I wouldn't know what to eat! What the heck do I eat if I don't eat a lot of fat? Everything I eat has a high fat percentage, and tastes really good. I imagined what I'd cook and was like, "ew, no thanks." Cooking is one of my passions, but only if I can fattify everything.

It made me laugh because most people I know who start low carbing always complain about there being nothing to eat - they imagine it's all burgers, baocn, eggs cheese and sausage. I can't imagine not eating low carb.

"Fattify". LOL. Funny word.