Are you still eating low carb?
There’s a reason why low carb diets make you feel moody and lethargic, leading to low-key training sessions, followed by poor recovery…hardly ideal as I’m sure the idea is to make progress and see results right?
Whilst we’re at it, how’s your sleeping when eating low carb?
The body has a primary objective, which is to fuel the brain, the rest is secondary.
1 – Carbohydrates are the bodies’ primary source of energy, so if they are present, the body will use them first to provide energy for the brain, daily activity and exercise.
2 – They are vital in the recovery process after exercise, restoring depleted glycogen stores so that you’re ready to go again whenever your next workout is.
3 – The more active you are on a daily basis, in addition to training frequency, the greater your requirement for carbohydrates (think quantity), over someone more sedentary.
Eating carbohydrates will not lead to fat gain, overeating on a regular basis will!
After a prolonged period of low carb eating, re-introducing carbohydrates may lead you to feel funny at first; this is simply because you’ve restricted them for a period of time, not because you have a problem with them.
You’ll possibly weigh more on the scales too, don’t panic! This is down to your muscles holding the carbohydrates, don’t confuse this with fat gain – it isn’t!
Whether your goal is muscle gain or fat loss, it’ll take you far longer to reach that goal if you’re not performing at your peak the majority of the time, and carbohydrates are vital for performance.
A thought for the week – Suppose you remove or majorly restrict a certain food group, do you have a legitimate reason for doing so, such as a genuine allergy or intolerance?