Carbs, Cravings and Exercise
 

I'd like to know what kind of carbs are people here ingesting when exercising?

More specifically, what foods with carbs do not set off uncontrollable cravings?

I lost a lot of fat while strictly low carbing and zero exercise. Now, at 37, I'm returning to a fairly active sports life. I'm doing a lot of mountain biking and soon tennis. I'm a 6'2 male and weigh 194 pounds. I've gotten as low as 181, but at that point I was thin but very unathletic. Now, my weight is fluctuating a lot as I'm trying to enjoy sports again.

I find that I just don't get enough energy without eating carbs. The problem is that once I'm done exercising, I have uncontrollable cravings and eat lots and lots of bad stuff like cookies and ice cream. I'm doing the exercise more for intrinsic enjoyment than just focusing strictly on fitness and appearance. When I go biking, I want to be able to cycle for a long time and not get tired quickly. I understand that a lot of people are able to do endurance sports while strictly low-carbing, but despite a lot of effort, this just doesn't work for me.

I had tried a lot of different, supposedly healthy foods, like bananas, orange juice, blueberries. But, inexorably, hours later, I'm at the 7-eleven eating crap.

The trick has been to look for foods with carbs that are easily digestible while exercising but for whatever mysterious reason do not set off the cascade of cravings. What seems to work ok for me is uncooked plain instant oatmeal. It's easy to carry while biking and it tastes ok when I wash it down with unflavored whey drink. Adding potassium salt substitute helps with the taste and replaces electrolytes.

However, this doesn't really get me a big boost of energy. What I've tried lately is adding in table sugar to my plain whey drink. Now, I'm a committed low carber, and adding plain white sugar to my protein drink with potassium salt seemed like a sacrilege :) But, for whatever reason, this nasty concoction gives me energy without the crazy cravings. This is really important for mountain biking where you need big bursts of energy that the oatmeal just does not give me.

Any ideas? This seems highly personal, since my wife is set off by plain oatmeal and what works for her are grapes. For me, anything fruity and acidic sets me off. Somehow, adding the salt to the whey and sugar mix makes it taste better without "tasting too good." BUT, if fat is added to the mix, like in a cracker, then all bets are off...

In general, I feel that a lot of the low-carb philosophy focuses too much on the scientific study of how food is digested rather than on appetite and cravings. I've dutifuly plowed through 'good calories, bad calories' and read a ton on ketosis, intermittent fasting etc. But, in the end, the effect that seems to matter to me personally is whether whatever I'm eating now will trigger an uncontrollable appetite burst... What do you guys think?
Sorry if this is totally rambling!

I totally understand all of that. I run and I just do what I need to do, mostly potatoes.

MMM, potatoes... LOL
that's too much of a comfort food for me... maybe the cravings are a function of what we grew up eating?

I think your shake sounds perfect. You'll use the extra sugar while you're biking. The easier to digest, the better when you're doing something vigorously physical. I'm pretty sure the blood gets re-routed straight to the muscles and decreases digestion. That's why you can get a stomach ache if you eat carbs that are more slow-digesting, then try to work out hard.

If you get cravings when you're done biking, eat fat and protein. Feeling full should help take care of that.

As far as the protein shake, I use designer whey unflavored whey protein. It's the cheapest protein that works for me. I've found that the protein mixes with flavorings and sweeteners invariably set me off on carb binges.
Rather than replacing the sugar, the artificial sweetener just gives me the craving for the real thing.
Ever since I realized this, I try to avoid all artificial flavorings and additives. Not so much for a desire for "healthy" food, but just as a way of fending off craving attacks.

A strange craving...
 

About every 3-4 weeks I get the craving for a glass of milk. I can tell when its time to have a glass because my body wants to binge eat without stopping! :help: The crazy thing about this is that I am lactose intolerant and have to take one of those Lactaid type pills when I have the milk, or I get very sick! :thdown: Once I have the milk...the cravings and binging stops. Anyone out there with a similar problem?

When I am running my long distances I also need some extra carbs so I use a non-food like GU or Accel Gel. Neither one causes me to crave anything, I don't want *more* of either, and they both satisfy the need for a quick burst of energy with a sustained carb-up for the extra miles. I would think Hammer Gel would work the same way -(often sold at biking stores). In the past I've had luck with the Extreme Beans by Jelly Belly too.

I get what you are saying for sure though. When I first joined up on the low carb WOL people would say if I didn't eat all the carbs maybe I wouldn't hit a wall. Yes, I still hit it. Or, maybe some nuts and berries along the way - not practical.

As an experiment, I did a mountain bike trail with zero carbs - only whey protein drink. I had less energy than usual, but still did better than when I started cycling.
Next day was exhausted and depleted.
The following two rides, I went back to the oatmeal and whey/sugar concoction. Much better energy level. I am noticing more sugar cravings on the zero carb days, but not too crazy.
I survived a visit to the 99 cents store without a mishap :)
I'm hoping that as my fitness increases, I'll need less of a carb boost and I'll be able to cut down my bodyfat more.