Last year I started low carb dieting around 2/11/2001. I started biking heavily around 4/20/2001. I continued the induction phase of the atkins diet and kept it up all through out the summer. Reaching up to 30 miles of biking and keeping my heart rate in the 160's +. It got to the point when I used a Ketostick it would turn a very dark purple(the darkest I think it can get). I managed to lose about 83 lbs. By around 7/30/2001 I was no longer losing weight. I continued biking all through the fall and the early part of winter. I think by mid december I did manage to lose 2 lbs. I cunsulted a fitness expert at work and she mentioned that it is possible to excersize enough that your body can go into at "Starvation Type Mode". Has any one experianced this? I am now leary of starting this up again. Its a very discouraging feeling excersizing that much and not seeing any bennefits. Does any know if it is possible to Too much exercize too much and not eat enough carbs to continue weight loss? I would like to continue this year and am eating more carbs then I would like to, but I am worried about this "Starvation Type Mode" effecting my weight loss. currently I am biking about 15 miles a day (when its nice enough to get out). can some one help me and explain if what I did was long term weight loss bad? During the winter I did not restrict my eating and gained about 10 lbs back.

recently I have started dieting again (in hopes that i am not in any starvation mode any more) and have increased my carb intake (salad) to a very large salad at lunch (about 1.15 lbs) this has been keeping my ketostick level to the middle range on the stick. but post exercise It turns a rather dark shade (above the middle range but not as dark at it was). I haven’t seen much for weight loss though. I am taking in probably as many calories as I am burning off. I would have thought I would see quicker results. Think I should reduce the exercise or raise the carb level even more?

Results recenly (about the last 3 weeks) has been only about 2 lbs. Water intake... Thats All I have been drinking (occasionaly tea). about 32 oz at work. 1 sports bottle while I ride and another 32 to 64 oz at home in the evening (after I ride).

Francis, I was recently in a similar situation - exercising myself into starvation mode. I took a week off from working out, increased my protein levels and like magic 8 lbs fell off in the course of a week. I've actually done this twice. It seems that when I workout heavily, it is not possible for me to eat enough to sustain fat loss. I can build muscle, no problem, but my body refuses to let go of anything.

Finding the right balance between exercise and calories can take some tweaking. It sounds also like your body adjusted very well to very few carbs - something our bodies are very good at (adjusting).

While I am not suggesting you stop exercising I would suggest a break. The stress of working out w/ insufficient nutrients can cause you to stop losing - cortisol swimming around in your body is a nasty thing, it hinders fat loss and muscle growth.

I would look to increasing water intake (aim for 1/2 your body weight a day in ounces) and I would track protein and calories for a few days - just to get a handle on things.

You might also try mixing things up a little - again to defeat the adjustment factor. Do some different cardio a few times a week, make it higher intensity or lower intensity. Lift some weights. Shake things up.

I would also use a few other measures of fat loss in place of the scale (it lies ) . Compare measurements; keep a pair of 'test pants' handy and try them on every few weeks. Look for other signs of progress - usually they will be evident when the scale shows nothing.

HTH
Nat

hi,


Just my 2 cents. I was anorexic and only ate about 600 calories a day, exericised like a madwoman and ate mostly protein and fat during that time. I was also taking hyroxycut. FOr a while it worked. I lost a lot of weight and quite quickly but I went to an ED clinic for treatment and was put on a 1500 calorie diet. I started gaining weight quite quickly even though I was excercising a lot. My naturopath figured i had sky high levels of cortisol and then finally my adrenals became exhausted. My adrenals being tired had also started to drain my thyroid.
Now, I never eat less than 1200 calories a day, exercise at least 5 days a week but dont make it the number one thing in my life but it's high up there and I am starting to lose weight again with Atkins, my thyroid regulated and my PCOS symptoms being treated. If you are exercising a lot you need to eat more.
Anyways, just my experience.
Danyele

so eat more, I like that. I am trying to do some research on this cortisol and am not finding much, except about testing and cushings. could you tell me more about it? I would like to find a the best way to control it, if that is/was the problem. You have been real helpful. Course how could I not like some ones advice to eat more

Francis, here is a link to an article I posted a few weeks ago on coritsol and how to deal with it:

Muscle Breakdown: Is Cortisol Leading You Down the Catabolic Pathway?

In a nutshell cortisol results from stress placed on the body. This can be emotional stress or physical stress. When dealing with exercise it is the result of the physical demands placed on the body to perform. A controled increase in insulin after a workout will help to neutralize it's effects. As will taking your anti oxidants (Vits C & E, green tea).

If you try a search on this website using the search tool on the right upper corner of every page you should find more information

HTH
Nat

I ate more and took a bit of a break from exersize and in the past few days I dropped about 5 lbs, woohoo!! I am back in the battle!

Awesome, Francis. Keep at it (as in keep 'not at it' )

Nat

Looks like I'm coming to this a bit late, but I too have been so confused about exercise and cortisol and fueling my body - this thread helped and so did the article about cortisol.

My own recent experience has been that if I don't exercise at all I lose nothing, but likewise if I exercise too much I lose nothing and I think it's because my body is going "woah, better not let go of any reserves if this is going to keep up". I've found that what works is two things - first, eating some carb/protein mix right after exercise (I like the Atkins bars) helps replenish me. And second, mixing things up also helps (I do weights one day, cardio the next and then on the third day a recreational activity like walking with my friends or playing beach volleyball). I managed to break a 3-week plateau and have now lost 4 pounds in the last 1 1/2 weeks.

Thanks for the info, guys.

I cannot exercise unless I eat a good part percentage of my carbs just before the activity. Some days I even raise my carb intake a bit to sustain my energy for that day.

Hi
Just to stick my nose in a little here. I have been looking for some advise about getting dizzy down the gym. I have been going 5 times a day and getting really dizzy. I increased my carbs to 25 and I am good now. I also have a snack before I go to the gym.

Since I have been going 2 the gym I have also started eating foods like yogurt and nuts and low carb bread and shakes.

I have been on the diet for 3 weeks and I have lost 14 pounds which is pretty normal I think.

Good luck

Jenny