What should I be eating before and after an intense workout?
Since starting keto, I've been paddling a lot more. I do dragon boat on Saturdays, which consists of an hour of core workout followed by two hours of rowing, and I do outrigger canoeing on Sundays. I'm also starting training sessions on Thursday that consist of a lot of running.
Last Sunday we spent three hours paddling 13km. It's a morning training, so I left home at 8:30am. I had some eggs and bacon before leaving, but it obviously wasn't enough. The train ride home after training was miserable. By the time I got home at 1pm I was dizzy and felt sick. It was a terrible feeling.
During the training, I tend to drink about 1.5L of water. I may need to bring more, but I'm fairly certain dehydration wasn't the issue.
I've been on keto for three weeks. What should I be eating in the morning to prevent feeling dizzy/weak after the workout? What should I eat after the workout?
Posted Feb 7, 2012, 6:04 AM UTC
You could try some medium chain triglycerides (like coconut oil) if you feel sluggish, it's readily converted to ketones and could help with the dizziness if it's related to exercise using some of the ketones the brain would usually use. It takes a few days to get used to, so try it when you have access to a bathroom.
You could also try some protein if it's a problem with low blood sugar (could help through gluconeogenesis, and would probably spare lean mass).
I posted this in another thread:
Try to eat some Spinach and/or some Avocados (calcium/magnesium/potassium), and swap out your regular salt for mineral salts (contains magnesium/potassium). Both mild magnesium and potassium deficiencies have fatigue and muscle weakness as symptoms.
"The Ketogenic Diet" by Lyle McDonald, page 79.
It takes a few weeks to adapt to the diet, I posted this in another thread (there's some details in the follow-up posts also):
It can take up to three weeks for your muscle to adapt and stop using ketones when glucose is sparse, it might be that if you do intense exercise the energy need of the muscle will surpass the amount of ketones being created, and I'm guessing you could get the same "bonk" (but I can't really verify that):
"The Ketogenic Diet" by Lyle McDonald, page 46/47.
After that period your performance is limited by the available fatty acids and not ketones (ketones are made from fatty acids, mostly, by your liver). The definite time it takes to adapt might vary, but a study over six weeks show that people can still increase their endurance on Keto during that time frame:
...
Phinney SD, et al. "Capacity for Moderate Exercise in Obese Subjects after Adaptation to a Hypocaloric, Ketogenic Diet" J Clin Invest. 1980 November; 66(5): 1152–1161.
Looking at another keto endurance study in well-trained cyclists shows an increase at the fourth week of keto (EBD = eucaloric balanced diet, EKD = eucaloric ketogenic diet, EKD-4 = week four of keto):
and..
..
Phinney SD, et al. "The human metabolic response to chronic ketosis without caloric restriction: preservation of submaximal exercise capability with reduced carbohydrate oxidation". Metabolism. 1983 Aug;32(8):769-76.