Ok, guys, I was working out the other night and I walked on the treadmill. The treadmill told me I burned 220 calories. My quest is to fugure out A. Did I burn all of the 20 grams of carbs that I ate that day? and B. Once I burned up all the carbs that I had inside of me, did the rest of the calories burn fat (180 calories)? Also, C. If I splurge and eat 60 grams one day, if I go work out that night and burn 240 calories (60 grams times 4 calories), does it mean that I'm back to zero? I would appriciate any insight into all of this, even if my assumptions are incorrect.

Hey Froggie - I can't answer those questions because I haven't a clue. However, if you go to www.fitday.com and open a free account you can log in all of the food you are eating every day and then there is another screen where you can log in all of your daily activities. It will tell you how many calories you have consumed and how many calories you have used. In addition you will get a good idea of your basal calorie requirement and your overall calorie requirement for each day. Your daily consumption should be somewhere in between the two numbers.

Now since I just made that as clear as mud, why not try fitday and log your progress every day?

shortstuff

Heya,
Some good questions you asked and I will not pretend to totally know the answers. What I say is just what makes sense to me from many different sources of inforamtion that I have gathered through the years. Hope it helps. If I am wrong, please let me know as I would love to know the right answers to these as well.

"A. Did I burn all of the 20 grams of carbs that I ate that day?"

I THINK (not sure at all here) that when your body enters ketosis it shifts from burning carbs first to fat. I also know that your brain needs some carbs to function so I think the carbs you are taking in are snapped up by your body first to be used in daily functions. I could be totally WAY off here though, so would like to know for certain if anyone knows the answer.


"B. Once I burned up all the carbs that I had inside of me, did the rest of the calories burn fat (180 calories)? "

I know that with a high carb low fat diet you typically try and burn the carbs off first, because they are used as immediate energy and only after you have used those up will you start dipping into fat stores and if you do not burn them up they turn to fat. I think on a ketogenic diet since you are taking in so few carbs, those are sapped up right away by your body and any additional exercise is right away going towards burning fat not sugar.

"C. If I splurge and eat 60 grams one day, if I go work out that night and burn 240 calories (60 grams times 4 calories), does it mean that I'm back to zero?"

I think that depends on if you are still in ketosis and the effect that those 60g had on you. I am totally not sure here, just guessing. I dont think 60g should have a huge effect, but it might, if you are on induction and taking in 20g a day, 60 might totally throw your body out of line and it might take time to get back into it. Also, I am not sure how many carbs your brain needs to perform daily functions. I dont think it works in the way you are thinking where you go back to 0. If anything I would imagine those carbs would right away be transformed into fats for storage.

Also, numbers on exercise machines can usually be very inaccurate, so I wouldnt fully rely on them.


My suggestion is if you splurge, count it as a splurge and get back on track to the 20 a day. Dont use the mindset that you will just lose it at the gym and head back to 0, that will just justify the splurging and cause it to happen more often. Two ssteps forward one step back, if it happens it happens and just move on. Do the best you can to keep it from happening though and if it does be prepared to suffer the consequences whether they be weight gain, a stall or even just less weight lost than what could have been. Only you know your body and what works for you best.

Good luck,

-MJ-

Thanks for the replies guys, I'm glad to know someone's out there listening to my late night ramblings. All the time I have been on this WOE, I've never EVER counted calories, I've only been counting carbs (though I can take an educated guess to say that I get plenty of calories to satisfy my caloric requirements, heh heh). It was just strange to get onto that treadmill and be reminded of the whole calorie thing. I'm sure it all amounts to the fact that I just over think everything. One thing I can share with everyone out there is that my weightloss goes alot quicker when I exercise a few times a week. I lose at a steady rate when I sit on my butt, but the whoosh fairy usually visits when I've been walking alot. Food for thought. Thanks again for the replies, and if anyone else has any ideas on this subject, I would love to hear what you think.

It doesn't work like that. The goal is NOT to limit carbs, the goal is to normalize insulin levels. Whether or not you exercise, your insulin levels are raised just the same depending on how many carbs you eat. Eat 60 grams of low gl carbs, expect your insulin levels to be raised less than if you ate 60 grams of high gl carbs. Even though the gram amounts are the same, the latter person will have problems with weight worse than the first. Of course exercising will counter the fat gaining effects insulin has (energy in still has to be less than energy out to lose weight), but how effective it is depends on how much you are eating, of what types of food, and how much you are exercising, plus individual metabolic variation.

One thing is certain, it is NOT just a simple formula of exercise to burn 10 carbs, and you can eat another 10 carbs.

Like i said, the goal of the diet is to limit insulin production... NOT to "count carbs". Think of your goal weight as a long road you need to travel, and think of insulin spikes as road blocks which will hault your trip. Limiting carbohydrate intake stabilizes insulin production, which allows your little car to travel effortlessly to slimville .

While running on the Treadmill will easily burn the extra Carbohydrates...it won't as easily undo the cravings. That said, from time-to-time I'll eat an extra 20g of carbs and burn them off by exercising. I usually get these carbs from foods with a low GL...especially low-glycemic fruits (Apples, Tangerines, Tangelos, and such,) and never from junk food...

There is a great article in the Atkins web site that presents a study showing tha tis a complete myth. In factthe study found that brain function improved when using keotenes for energy over carbs.



If you ate the carbs spread out through the day, then they were slowly converted to gluclose and used by your body. Remember the body uses energy for repair, building, transport, and many function even if you are completely sedentry. You burned 200 or so calories. Those calories came from everything you have eaten, or if you aren't eating enough, it will come from your body. Usually from muscles.

Doing more exercise does burn excess gluclose and calories though. This means later on in the later stages of OWL and after, you can eat more carbs. Regular exercise such as strength training, combined with adiquet protien and calories, also increases lean mass. This means improved bone density, increased metabolism, better circulation, and a wide variety of benifits.

If you splurg on carbs, then you will have a blood gluclose rush, which will be answered by an insulin rush, and fat storage. If you do happen to go over, then exercise and additional water can help though. What is a better way would be to slowly raise your daily carb levels, eat them spread out through the day, and always have them with protien and fat. This way the insulin reaction isn't as extream, and when you exercise you burn fat.