No Carbs After Five

[RoadRaven]

I've done a quick search because I heard of this "diet" at the end of last year but I can't remember if it was here or somewhere/someone else...

So if this has been discussed here, please someone give me a link... otherwise can we chat about please if you have heard of it or have an opinion.

After my race on Sunday (where climbing was such a chore and my weight a big part of inhibiting my performance - discussed in the Race Results Forum) I have decided that as well as working specific aspects of my cycling, I really really need to drop weight, and drop it as quickly and safely as I possibly can.

This means providing enough fuel so my metabolism is interferred with minimally - I don't want to send it into famine-mode and regain any weight I lose.

I did discuss "no carbs after five" with a body-building colleague at work who has used it effectively before some of her competitions.

Essentially, you eat in your normal, healthy choices fashion, just after 5pm you eat no carbs. So I started this yesterday (sausages and a huge pile of sprouts, lettuce and cucumber) and tonight I feel so very hungry after a meal of three eggs, and cottage cheese and more sprouts. I'm about to open a tin of fruit.

V at work says very effective - a matter of a couple of weeks to notice significant change - though she never gave me numbers/kgs or grams lost.

What do you all think?

I'm 100kg even, and I managed to drop 10kg steadily last year but seem to have plateaued. I really want to be successful in racing and I know my biggest problem on hills is not my power output, which is good, its my power to weight ratio.

Your opinions/ideas/advice most welcome

[han-grrl]

The problem with eating in the evening is that most people make poorer choices at night, boredom or just being very very hungry will make you want something fast and yummy.

if you eat regularly during the day, which means eating every 4 hours, then you won't be startving by 5 PM.

my two cents

Han

[CycleChic06]

RR - I'm guessing a lot of it is mental, you know you aren't supposed to eat carbs, so that's what you crave and so you find yourself really hungry. I found that increasing your fiber intake throughout the day really reduces the hunger pains and makes me feel more full. I eat less, and I don't crave carbs. Also, protein protein protein! Make sure you get enough of it, I knew a body builder and to drop the weight before a competition would drink gallons of water and eat boiled chicken.

Good luck with the eating style change, let me know how it turns out.

Emily

[Veronica]

I'm one of those a calorie is a calorie people. Now if no carbs after 5 helps you eat fewer calories, that's good.

What worked for me was cutting my portions at night. I'd still feel hungry right after I consumed my food, but I'd wait twenty minutes before getting something else. Most of the time I didn't actually need more food.

V.

[koala]

Tread carefully on cutting carbs -- we need carbs in endurance activities. Body-building doesn't work the same way in terms of power demands. It is a pure power in bursts activity, versus long periods of sustained power. I might cut back on caloric intake overall, because I agree with V that a calorie taken in is a calorie taken in. But I don't like the low-carb or no-carb weight reduction plans. I prefer to just count calories very carefully for my basic sustenance level, plus replace all I burned that day. And if you count everything you eat, you might find some other little snackies during the day that you can cut out while allowing you to leave your normal dinner intact.

Three years ago my hubby cut carbs to lose weight at the same time he was boosting his cycling efforts. The result was a disastrous mid-ride bonk that led to a crash, followed by surgery, a long hospital stay & months of rehab afterwards. All because his body completely ran out of stores for him to draw on. He was cutting carbs out of his dinners because he figured that you burn the least calories at night when you are sleeping so you don't need them with dinner.

I have learned a lot about my own metabolism over the past few years of riding lots. I have found I am not terribly effective at processing foods, and don't have much to call on in terms of stores. I can't change that, but I know what it is & can work with it. I find I don't need to eat as much as I used to think I did, but I know better what to eat & when. It is a delicate balancing act.

I read your race results & was pretty impressed with your performance. Maybe your weight is right for you. Sounds like despite a lack of support from your team, you tried to ride hard. I would suggest there were some other issues that hampered you that day, both of which you identified, & both of which could have caused you serious time losses. I am a good climber myself, as I am small & thin, but climbing into a headwind is no easy task & my speed drops considerably then. And riding on the worst day of my period will give me a completely forgettable ride. I don't race, but I'm hard on myself in terms of my riding abilities & am very competitive, so I can understand wanting to do better. But sometimes we just have a bad day. Which is why we go out there again to ride another day!

[Offthegrid]

This seems a bit silly to me. What's the difference in having a carb at 4:30 p.m. versus 5:30 p.m.?

Besides, if you're like me, you do some workouts at night. I can't imagine denying myself carbs are a spinning class or jogging intervals.

I'm not a dietitian, so take this for what it's worth, but I think aiming for a healthy balance of carbs, protein and fat is a better choice. Some swear by 40-30-30. I personally shoot for 50-55 carbs-25 (fat)-20 protein.

Also if you want to lose weight, I'm a big believer in tracking calories. I keep track of every bite (and drink) that goes in my mouth.

Best of luck!

[equus123]

here's my knowledge on the situation...

reducing carbohydrate intake while being an indurance athlete is very risky. please be careful or you will harm your system more than anything else you're doing.

if you're trying to lose weight, changing your mentality, i think, is 50 % of the equation. this is what i do every time i look at a piece of food or drink:

- Food is fuel for the body. Pure and simple, that's it.
- Is this food something I deserve to eat? Have I worked out to afford these calories or the extra calories in candy/chips/snacks/etc?
- How many calories are in it? If my resting metabolism is 1350 calories a day + # burned training = Total # calories I should eat to maintain current body weight. If you're trying to lose weight, take the Total # and subtract 500 calories and that's the healthy way to lose weight.
- Food is fuel. It doesn't have to be indulgent, it doesn't have to taste good, it doesn't have to fill you up, it doesn't have to be pretty. I actually prefer food that doesn't taste delicious because it's way easier to back off when I start to get full and prevents me from craving more when I've eaten the proper serving size for me.

I guess I'm doing something right if I've been able to maintain the same body weight +/- 1 pound over the last year. It's all in your head. If you think you're hungry, you're going to make yourself hungry. If you think that you've had enough based on the numbers - then force yourself that you've had enough.

[RoadRaven]

Thanks so much for all the responses.
I really appreciate it.

han-grrl... yes, eating regularly and often is something I try to do. I think my metabolism is more efficient now that I am eating only when hungry which has effectively meant smaller but more frequent "meals".

CycleChic... oh absolutely, I'm sure alot of my hunger last night was mental. My son had cooked a big lot of delish pasta... *Raven drools* (I did have a bit this morning after I got back from my early ride.

Veronica... I have tried cutting portions at night, and not eating dessert except for very occasionally... but eating smaller evening portions seems to be keeping me at a steady weight but no longer helping me lose it.

koala... I appreciate your story. Its a very valid one and good reminder for anyone who is altering their food habits. I am aware that we do need them though. I am not increasing my training volume at the moment - just the type of training I will be doing. I have every intention of eating carbs the evening before a race... I figure I want every advantage and if "no carbs after five" works for me, then one evening before a high energy/power output race the next day should not interfere.
Thankyou also for your feedback on my racing. I have certainly improved alot - comparing this year's efforts to a year ago, I am so much faster and stronger. But at 5'10" and weighing in at 100kg, I still can afford to drop some weight.

Offthegrid... yup, my thoughts too when I first heard about this - why 5pm? why not 4? or 6:45? But I think the idea is that many people (and I fall into this group) do not exercise in the evening. I prefer morning rides, and if I have to start later, I like to be all done no later than about 4 in the afternoon.
So, what happens is people come home from work/whatever, have a big meal of potatoes or pasta and then watch telly and then go to bed. All those carbs are converted and stored as fat.

And equus... I absolutely agree... food is fuel. Although this is something I have always known, it took this forum to truly help me see that food was not my enemy - something to hide from or to crave or to be guilty about. It is fuel, and I need to feed/refuel efficiently and effectively and sensibly... This is such a good summary of this idea, thank you for posting it so well, equus.

[equus123]

you're welcome i'm glad i could help

[CycleChic06]

- Is this food something I deserve to eat? Have I worked out to afford these calories or the extra calories in candy/chips/snacks/etc?
.

This is an idea that caught my eye. Everyone looks at dieting or eating right their own way, but I think looking at food like you "deserve" to eat it because you worked out today is the wrong way of looking at it. There have been lots of articles recently showing that people who excersize more tend to take in more calories than those who just eat healthy. As in, I ran an extra 2 miles today, I'm allowed to eat that cookie. There have also been discussions here about how many cyclists (or bike riders...whatever) tend to overestimate the number of calories they burn during a ride.

We need to move away from thinking of food as something we deserve and, as many women do, as a way to comfort ourselves, and more in the direction of what we need to sustain a healthy living style. Does this make sense? I'm not sure I'm explaining myself well.

[equus123]

to clarify my point of view - my perspective comes from maintaining my current weight. i'm as low as i want to go and i just want to keep it. if i do have a hard or long ride one day i will tend to eat bigger meals that may have some yummier stuff (yummier usually means less healthy) instead of being as strict as i usually am because i now feel like i deserve to eat these kinds of food - i worked my *** off that day and i'm gonna eat what i want dammit. that's what i mean by "deserving".

[RoadRaven]

CycleChic and equus... I see both your perspectives... and here's my "take" on it.

If you are limiting your food intake in order to lose weight, then it is inevitable that some of the things you want you will not be able to have.

However, in order to stick to a tough regimen, I think it is also important to give yourself permission to have a "treat" every now and again - whether its a pizza or its double choc-chip extra creamy icecream. If you never allow it, you will crave that thing.

So I think its just word-smithing... yes, limiting our food intake is part of what needs to happen if we are to change shape or lose weight... but eliminating fave foods forever is not achievable.

I have a moro bar waiting in the fridge for me... I got it in my "pack" at the Sunday race. At the moment I don't feel like it, and part of me doesn't want to eat it regardless. It is there for when I want to eat it. A couple of years ago I would have eaten it within the hour of receiving it, and then felt guilty about it for days (possibly weeks). Now I know I will savour and enjoy it when I do eat it, and know also that I "deserve" it because not only have I listened to my body, I have done loads of cycling and been eating sensibly as well.

[equus123]

yes

[CycleChic06]

to clarify my point of view - my perspective comes from maintaining my current weight. i'm as low as i want to go and i just want to keep it. if i do have a hard or long ride one day i will tend to eat bigger meals that may have some yummier stuff (yummier usually means less healthy) instead of being as strict as i usually am because i now feel like i deserve to eat these kinds of food - i worked my *** off that day and i'm gonna eat what i want dammit. that's what i mean by "deserving".

I was just trying to open up what I find an interesting area of debate related to road raven's question.

[equus123]

gotchya...