4-5 days of hard cardio a week...40-60 minutes...after the first ten minutes or so...I'm crashing/bonking hard. Same goes for my 3-4 weekly hikes/jogging...need a recomendation for something that will go into my system quickly(half hour or so), but won't pack the carbs back on. I've tried to eat a bit before, but I find it *slows* me down and makes me feel *full*. When I raced mtn bikes, it was bagles, pasta, etc...I'm so paranoid that if I start down that road again, I'll fatten up...any suggestions would be appreciated.

Cheers!

How long have you been doing low carb? It can take a while to get fat-adapted, but hang in there; it will happen. I think the back-and-forthing of adding carbs/not adding carbs will hamper this metabolic switch. Once you are running on your body fat, you won't believe your energy level.

It takes patience when you switch from high- to low-carb. The other issue is to make sure you are ingesting enough calories for your workout. That and staying hydrated. Good luck!

Try a potassium supplement...if you need it...it will help.

been doing low carb for more than a year...

What about a good protien shake? Looks like you are doing great!

Is it a conditioning thing or are you for sure running out of gas? You may need to up your calories a little bit. How low are your carbs?

nope...running out of gas...my carb intake is 30 grams or so a day. I may not be eating enough...going to try half a banana

Usually upping the cards slightly will do the trick. At 30 grams, you've got some room to play with. If you don't want to up the carbs, then up the protein/fat calories in small amounts.

Try a protein shake before your workout. Working out on an empty stomach tells your body to burn muscle for fuel.

Try something like Smart Water too. You can get it at Whole Foods and Trader Joes. It's basically electrolytes in water and nothing else. It tastes just like any other bottled water. If find that particulary when I do HIIT it really helps to keep things running well.

You've gotten some good advice here. When I first started my cardio workout, I too bought into the 'myth' of fasted cardio. My body didn't wait very long before it started telling me that I needed to eat something! Now I consume about a 100 calorie portion of whey protein in lowfat milk just before my jog and immediately after. This provides me with the boost I need to keep my cardio strong AND the shake afterwards, helps with recovery.

I'm not sure if you're eating around 30g of carbs per day, that eating a banana would be the best choice. I'm on a more moderate program, 130g of carbs per day, and even though I think I could 'handle' the glycemic impact of the banana, I am a little cautious of that type of spike. Try something a bit less concentrated and see how you do.

First make sure your in ketosis!!!

If your ketoadapted then you have an endless supply of fuel.But the thing is that your body sometimes cant break down the fat and make ketones fast enuff.So you need to add more fat.

Try a coffee with heavy cream like 1/2 cup.Even better is coconut oil as many claim its like nitro boost for ketosis diet.

I crash bad too. I think my liver is a little slow making glycogen. I find the carbs in nuts keep my blood sugar better stabilized then any other food. I keep my carbs 35 and just decided to not exercise that hard until I'm maintaining. I also put potassium salt in my water bottle, its a cheapy no carb sports drink.

The whole reason for low carb eating is to suppress insulin secretion. But when you are doing cardio, the elevated heart rate allows glycogen to enter the muscles without the need for insulin. Not everyone does well on low carb. Not everyone does well on high carb. Most people fall somewhere in the middle. I've found I can't run well on low carb. I can run but my pace is pathetic. If I eat carb shortly before the workout, I have a better workout.

For weight loss, extreme cardio works the best. It stimulates Growth Hormone which has a steroid-like effect on the body. A seminal study done at Laval U showed that short bursts of exercise done at 90% of heart rate caused much greater weight loss than long bouts of cycling. The only problem is working that hard is tough on the muscles and joints, if you're very overweight.

Some say they can run well on almost no carb, bragging about their fat-burning ability. If anyone can keep their heart rate low, fat-burning occurs. But running at 90% max heart rate is nearly impossible. At least for me. And I've been a runner for 20 years and low carbing for 5 years.

I forgot to mention. Ketosis is a temporary side effect of fat burning. In time, the body begins to burn the ketones for energy, rather than waste them in urine. I've seem people all in an uproar because they don't get the color change on ketostix, not realizing they've moved beyond that phase.