Carbs and Fat

[Reesha]

Catrin, my experience has been that I burn muscle when my body isn't saturated with calories during workouts. ONLY during workouts though. If I'm riding, I've got two bottles of Gu Brew or Accelerade and 2 gels. I'll have a snack before. Basically I fuel for the specific ride and eat my normal pseudo paleo diet(keeping wheat in the diet in preparation for abundance of wheat on my ride this summer). My PT suggests 300 calories per hours of riding at least, and more if you're riding harder.

I shall have to check out the bod pod. Was it expensive?

[Catrin]

Catrin, my experience has been that I burn muscle when my body isn't saturated with calories during workouts. ONLY during workouts though. If I'm riding, I've got two bottles of Gu Brew or Accelerade and 2 gels. I'll have a snack before. Basically I fuel for the specific ride and eat my normal pseudo paleo diet(keeping wheat in the diet in preparation for abundance of wheat on my ride this summer). My PT suggests 300 calories per hours of riding at least, and more if you're riding harder.

I shall have to check out the bod pod. Was it expensive?

I think this is the problem - not fueling enough prior to an intensive workout session - for a "normal" weights session I think my usual approach is fine - but I've really kicked up the intensity over the last 2 months in the attempt to build muscle and lose body fat... I know how to fuel for riding, but the increasing intensity of my workouts really has changed things.

Thankfully the bod pod did not cost me anything - it was part of a team body-fat loss challenge at my gym that included 2 group training sessions a week (for 10 weeks), and 2 bod pod sessions - all for the sum of $15 My gym charges members $45 for 1 session (we get one free session a year) so depending on the facility it doesn't really seem all that expensive.

They also do VO2? max testing, which would be interesting as it shows at what point we change from burning fat to carbs for fuel - but I can't justify a $100 test just for the sake of curiosity. It isn't like I will ever race!

[Reesha]

I guess the carb thing your dietician said still makes sense for me if I take into account calories over the whole day and not per meal. Surrounding any 2 hour workout aerobic intensity or over, I'm taking in carbs like crazy. 2 gus, 2 bottles accelerade, a PBJ or banana before... That gets my percentage of carbs per day into the 40-50% range, where without those, it's down near 30%. Sometimes even closer to 20-25%. I don't feel good when I get 50% of calories from carbs in a meal. I try to limit my carb intake per meal to under 25g unless it's right before a massive ride.

[Catrin]

I agree - she wants me to get 2 servings of whole grains per meal...and to me that sounds a bit much for someone prone to insulin resistance. I think the new calorie targets are good and I will keep those - and I have lost weight, (though I fear it was from the decrease of muscle combined with the decrease in body fat).

I get my regular A1C test next week, which will provide information as well regarding how well this is actually working for my body.

I have not really tried to consume 2 servings of whole grains per meal as she recommended - just one serving and the rest of my carbs have come from vegetables and fruit. At the end of the day I wind up with an average of 45-50% carbs - but most days I am active and some of that is from workout/ride fueling. Looking back at my log I see that most rest days my carb intake drops to 35-43% on average...

My former trainer once told me that the nutritional aspect of trying to build muscle was an entirely different game - and this certainly proves how right he was!