Working out in the morning...

[Scott LaPierre]

I like to work out in the morning, which used to be easy before I was trying CKD because I could have a pre-workout shake of dextrose and whey.

For those of you who work out first thing in the morning, what do you do?
If you consume something first, what do you consume?


Thanks,
Scott

[slothasor]

consume a typical keto meal, high in fat and moderate protein, 1 hr before your workout

[Eileen]

Breakfast, usually a cream cheese or avocado omlette.

[Scott LaPierre]

consume a typical keto meal, high in fat and moderate protein, 1 hr before your workout

I don't really have an extra hour to wake up before my workout. I already get up early to work out and don't want to have to wake up an extra hour earlier. Know what I mean? Sleep's important too .


I meant to write that I'm doing TKD, not CKD, so what I think I'm going to do is have a pre and post-workout shake consisting of some dextrose and whey...I'm just not sure how much yet.

[Eileen]

I definitely think you need to eat something before lifting. Apart from anything else, throwing up on an empty stomach is disgusting.

However, if you are going to the gym to lift, and are not planning lots of cardio as well, then you probably don't need as much carbs as you think. A keto style mini meal of coffee and cream, or coffee and coconut oil, might be all you need.

I always found that the preworkout carbs became necessary when there was going to be high intensity cardio or plyometrics or something similar as well.

[Scott LaPierre]

I definitely think you need to eat something before lifting. Apart from anything else, throwing up on an empty stomach is disgusting.

However, if you are going to the gym to lift, and are not planning lots of cardio as well, then you probably don't need as much carbs as you think. A keto style mini meal of coffee and cream, or coffee and coconut oil, might be all you need.

I always found that the preworkout carbs became necessary when there was going to be high intensity cardio or plyometrics or something similar as well.

Hi Eileen,
Thanks for the reply. Yes, I definitely agree that I want to consume something before lifting too.

Actually, I do perfrom quite a bit of cardio: 60 minutes per day usually. I do my cardio in the evening since I lift weights in the morning. On the mornings I don't lift weights, (since I only lift weights 4 days per week) I do cardio in the mornings, and then sometimes again in the evenings.

I don't do the cardio after weights though...weights and cardio are spread apart by apart 12 hours. Sometimes I change things up and do cardio in the mornings and weights in the evening. If I do cardio in the morning, I always perform it on an empty stomach.

Considering everything I've just written, and considering I want to follow TKD, what would you say about carbs now?

Would you recommend carbs pre and post-workout, or just post-workout? I weigh about 175 pounds. You have any idea how many carbs I should consume?

What did you mean by a keto style meal? I've never heard of that before. When you said coffee and cream, or coffee and cocount oil, do you literally just mean coffee and some healthy fat? No protein? Why not a shake containing some whey and a tablespoon of oil?

Thanks again Eileen (or anyone else who responds ),
Scott

[Eileen]

It depends on the intensity of your cardio whether you need to eat carbs before hand. For straight cycling, I don't need any, but for cycling with children on the back, combined with lifting, yes I do. I need carbs before taekwondo, but not before badminton. Get the idea?

You'll have to find out what your intensity levels are, and work from there. You only need enough carbs to fuel the difference between how hard you are working, and what you can get from fat.

A keto style meal is any high fat, moderate protein, low carb meal.

I've nothing against protein before working out, but whey breaks down so easily in the body that it could end up being used for fuel, so it will knock you out of ketosis, and teach your body to burn protein for energy. How about scrambled eggs?

[Scott LaPierre]

It depends on the intensity of your cardio whether you need to eat carbs before hand. For straight cycling, I don't need any, but for cycling with children on the back, combined with lifting, yes I do. I need carbs before taekwondo, but not before badminton. Get the idea?

You'll have to find out what your intensity levels are, and work from there. You only need enough carbs to fuel the difference between how hard you are working, and what you can get from fat.

A keto style meal is any high fat, moderate protein, low carb meal.

I've nothing against protein before working out, but whey breaks down so easily in the body that it could end up being used for fuel, so it will knock you out of ketosis, and teach your body to burn protein for energy. How about scrambled eggs?

Hi Eileen,
Thanks again for the reply.
Since I do cardio for an hour, it's lower-to-moderate intensity, which I know burns more calories from fat than carbs, whereas higher intensity cardio burns more calories from carbs than fat; therefore, I don't have any desire to take in carbs pre or post-cardio. I've been doing my cardio this way for a while, and it works well for me, so I'm going to keep doing it this way.

So you think consuming whey shakes, aside from the 30 grams post-workout would be a bad idea? I ask because I use whey protein in 2-3 shakes per day. You think that might knock me out of ketosis?

I never take whey protein by itself: it's always with a tablespoon of EFA's, and sometimes with 8oz of soy milk as well. Do you think that changes anything?

Thanks again,
Scott

[Eileen]

If you must take whey, then with some sort of oil is best. Aim for more fat than protein in your shake.

I would be very wary of soy milk. I know the macros are keto-friendly, but there's a lot of research coming out now that seems to show they have no real health benefits and many drawbacks.

Just as a matter of interest, why whey rather than casein which is cheaper and takes longer to digest? Whey is so bio-available that it's very easy for your body to turn it into glucose, unless it has an immediate need for it as a muscle repairer.

[Scott LaPierre]

If you must take whey, then with some sort of oil is best. Aim for more fat than protein in your shake.

I would be very wary of soy milk. I know the macros are keto-friendly, but there's a lot of research coming out now that seems to show they have no real health benefits and many drawbacks.

Just as a matter of interest, why whey rather than casein which is cheaper and takes longer to digest? Whey is so bio-available that it's very easy for your body to turn it into glucose, unless it has an immediate need for it as a muscle repairer.

When you say more fat than protein in the shake, do you mean more grams of fat than grams of protein, or just more calories of fat than calories of protein? Hope that made sense. Also, why do you stress so strongly that there be more fat than whey if you don't mind me asking?

Not that I don't believe you, but can you show me any studies validating what you're saying about soy? I knew powdered soy protein wasn't good, but I didn't know soy milk was bad too. What are some of the drawbacks you're talking about?

Why do I use whey instead of casein? Good question. I'd actually rather use casein than whey, but I try to use almost exclusively EAS products because of the great deal I get on them and EAS doesn't have a casein product. Well, they do have a casein product if you count Myoplex Deluxe shakes as casein products, but Myoplex Deluxes also have like 15-20grams of net carbs in each one.

I know our bodies can turn whey into glucose much easier than other protein sources, but doesn't EFA oil slow down that process?

I know there are a lot of questions in my response. Thanks ahead of time.

[Eileen]

You want to eat enough fat to keep your body burning fat for fuel. If you let fat levels drop, then the body will switch to burning protein instead. That's what the 65% of calories from fat is about. It's not set in stone, but it is enough to make sure most people say in fat-burning mode.

I have a feeling that I read the soy story in print, not on the Net. The gist of it was that soy very slightly reduced your chance of hot flushes, did nothing for your bone density or heart disease, but significantly increased your cancer risk. Soy milk is just soy protein that's had extra processing. If you must eat soy, then eat the beans, not the milk.