The Low Carb Athlete Podcast is returning January 2022!
After a taking the past few months of recording podcasts, I am re-inspired to record a new season for you – the ambitious, driven, high charging athlete!
I had to step away from the podcast as ask myself- why do I keep doing this when hosting a podcast costs money and my numbers are down plus I don’t have money to spend on growing the podcast professionally as so many other top podcasters are doing out there these days.
I started co-hosting the FIT FAT FAST podcast in 2011 with Jon Smith to help educate other endurance athletes how to become fat adapted. Since then, the podcast name evolved to SHUT THE FRONT DOOR then to THE WHOLE ATHLETE then to The LOW CARB ATHLETE (since I was given a cease and desist letter for using WHOLE ATHLETE as it is a gym in San Francisco).
During the past two years or so, fasting and keto has continued to grow in our world – which is a positive BUT confusing for the “Type AAA” driven, ambitious, competitive athlete. Most of athletes live with the mantra – “MORE IS BETTER” and we push past fatigue, pain or discomfort. We are motivated and consistent with our workouts and nutrition plan so if someone hears about eating low carb and carbs are not needed – then to fast 16-18 or more hours then exercise as normal then we may be creating or contributing to METABOLIC CHAOS and overfilling our beaker of stress.
My mantra over the years, based on my own “LIFE IS NOT A RACE” experience with “adrenal exhaustion” and life is a journey transformation, has become to be “LESS IS MORE”, more is not always better and we are all unique individuals. We can adjust and course correct based on our own N = 1 experiments with fueling, training and performing – but understanding that we all experience different sources of internal and external sources of CHRONIC Stress that do accumulate (especially when we are living life as a race with MORE IS BETTER philosophy).
The new season of THE LOW CARB ATHLETE Podcast will be focused on how to become a fat burning athlete but adding in research and experiments of how low carb should you go or when to add carbs – or not to add carbs. Also, I want to dive into fasting and exercise – when do we eat or not eat before a workout as well as do we eat afterwards or wait to eat? What if you are a female athlete who is pre-menopausal or menopausal? Are the guidelines different for a female athlete? Did the research study, that is being shared on blogs and podcasts, include any females in the study?
We have a lot to dive into this next year and I really want to bring you this information as I don’t think we are hearing enough of the right guidelines and research for the athlete and the female athlete when it comes to fueling, training and performing as a low carb athlete.
How much fasting is too much stress?
When should we do a fasted workout and when should we have a little carbs before the workout?
It depends.
After taking my break from podcasting, I re-discovered my fire, drive, motivation and purpose to record podcasts for you – the athlete that is similar to me and who is trying to do all the “right” things but still struggling to get their body and vibrant self back again.
I do need your help – as I am horrible at marketing, social media and promoting reviews on iTunes. Could you help me grow the podcast when the new episodes are released every Tuesday on your favorite podcast apps? Are you able to share the links as well as give love to the YouTube video version of the show?
Ten years ago, podcasting was easy and simple.
These days, you need a team to record, edit, publish and promote the podcast. I am just me… one person with a small income with a drive to create impact. I want to inspire others to be FIT and HEALTHY from the inside out in order to improve their health and longevity.
We only have one life.
Let’s take ownership of our life and choose to THRIVE each day rather than struggle.
My goal is to help other athletes as myself live their best life in their second half of their life – to be the best version of themselves. To strive to thrive each day. To look, feel and move their best each day.
Are you ready to join my journey and help inspire other athletes? I need your support. Let me know if you are ready and we will continue to grow THE LOW CARB ATHLETE podcast in 2022 together.
Here we go…
Let’s dive into fueling and training for the low carb athlete now.
Fasting Research for the Athlete…and the FEMALE ATHLETE!
Men vs. Women Fasted Exercise
“In the studies that have been done on men versus women and fasted exercise, what they found is that women who eat before exercise but then don’t eat after exercise tend to burn more fat for a longer period of time compared to the opposite scenario. And men are completely the opposite. Men who fast before exercise then don’t eat after exercise tend to burn more fat.
Ageing Research Reviews, Corrected proof. doi:10.1016/j.arr.2016.10.005
Women burn more fat for a longer period of time if they EAT BEFORE EXERCISE then DON’T EAT right after exercise
Men who fast before exercise then don’t eat after exercise tend to BURN MORE FAT.
And it’s related to how women versus men–women tend to be more efficient at burning fat as a fuel.
When women are given a little bit of carbohydrates before a workout, they eat a little bit of carbohydrate before the workout and then they go out and they do the workout and then they’d fast after the workout, they actually burn more fat.
And men are the opposite. Men, they don’t eat before the workout and then they eat following the workout (they burn more fat)
We tend to see a little bit of a difference in the sex response to this. Now, you need to realize this was done in lean trained individuals.
So, I would say, again, a caveat for like a really lean trained female would be that you may actually want to again eat something small before a workout if you fall into that category of a lean active female because I have seen some hormonal issues arise.
And the cool thing is if you do that but then you fast after the workout, you still see a really good increase in fat oxidation. Some of the studies that have been done on men versus women are really fascinating.
Then we have… Dr. Stacy Sims on Fasting and The Female Athlete…Is it better to train fasted or after eating?
There are many trends that have led to people thinking that fasted training is the way to go, primarily due to the buzz of “training low” increasing “metabolic efficiency” for improved performance, and, of course, intermittent fasting. It is important to highlight that there are some key differences based on gender, so fasted training for men can lead to different results than for women.
For men who are looking to manage their weight, there may be a slight benefit to fasted training. Research in the past couple of years has demonstrated that in young, healthy men, fasting before morning exercise decreased their 24-hour energy intake and increased fat oxidation during exercise. For performance, however, it is a different story.
Fasted training does enhance fat metabolism (oxidation) in well-trained male endurance athletes, yet this might not translate to improved performance when exercising at moderate to high intensities (as is required in triathlon racing).
Women, however, do not respond to fasted training in the same manner as men. Women do not have an increase in oxidative activity (fat utilization) of the muscle as a result of fasted training, but do incur a greater post-exercise immune stress and greater post-exercise inflammation as compared to men. They also show an increase in muscle tissue damage and breakdown (leading to potential losses in lean mass). The theory is that since estrogen promotes fatty acid utilization, women are already at a maximum capacity for fat oxidation.
What is your experience and journey as an ambitious, driven, high performing athlete?
Share your experiences and struggles with me to learn more as we are all unique individuals with different genetics, ancesters, microbiome, external and internal stressors!
The Low Carb Athlete Podcast is returning January 2022!
