Yendor72

I have been away for almost a year, but I have been active on my bike. Almost a year ago I made a major change and quit my job. That caused me to be unemployed for about 9 months. I've been back to work and now am ready to start a new chapter in my life. I've converted to Keto-ism. My wife and I started last Saturday, so far so good. Not seeing any fat melt off yet, but I didn't get this big overnight.

Anyone have any tips on Keto and long distance cycling? How long until my body is adapted enough to ride 20 miles without crashing or needing anything to eat?

I hope everyone is doing well!

Rock71

Keto diet is a low carb diet right? I used to try to keep my carb count to below 40 a day. Not easy for a guy who likes Little Debbie snack cakes and homemade pie... lol
I pretty much cut out all breads and potatoes, white rice and sugary foods except berries. I eat a good portion of meat with salad and green beans. Believe me you will find 20 different ways to season green beans. Different than the keto diet I like a Ribeye or T-Bone steak but I actually eat more Pork than anything. I took off 30 lbs in 2 months just following a basic low carb diet and exercising 4 or 5 days a week.
As far as how long before your body is adapted to ride 20 miles without crashing or needing anything to eat? As far as not crashing that is going to be on you, how much your willing to push yourself, eating a small meal a few hours before you ride if you can. As far as needing to eat during a 20 mile ride, I have never had that need or know anyone else who has. Make sure you get plenty of fluids in you before, during and after your ride. Water is good enough.

MattTheHat 

I've been on the Harcombe diet since March. It's basically low carbs, low sugar, no processed foods, no taste (lol), etc. I don't follow it religiously, but I have been able to lose about 55 pounds so far.

Interestingly, I don't find that I hit the wall from the lack of carbs. Many of my morning rides are in a fasted state, plus when I last ate there would have been few carbs. I've hit the wall only a few times and it's always been after at lest 40 miles. More recently I started eating a protein bar after a couple of hours on the bike. I find that after about 40 miles I need to eat every couple of hours after that. I will say that I definitely have more energy when I have consumed carbs within a few hours of riding.

If you're crashing sooner, you could always have a protein shake before you start. I've done that on a couple of long rides (over 60 miles) just in case.


-Matt

Yendor72

Yes, currently 20 grams of carbs or less a day, plus high fat and mid level of protein. This isn't my first foray into the keto lifestyle. I tried a little less than 2 years ago. On a 20 mile ride both my wife and I bonked, hard. To the point that we knew we would not make it home, so we had to eat carbs. Since we were training for a multi-day ride with lots of climbs we stopped the keto diet at that point. That was the only time we've had to eat on a 20 mile ride.

Just to give some background on me, for those that don't know me, I am not a casual rider, well maybe this year, I do put on about 2,000 miles a year and push myself as hard as my HR will allow. I'm not new to cycling, just new to Keto and my last experience was not that great. First ride since switching is tonight.

Yendor72

Last night had a short 10 mile ride. Wife didn't do so well. She injured herself on a ride earlier this year and is still recovering a bit. It was an achilles injury and that just takes time to heal. So I zone 2'd it the whole ride while she bonked. Got her home and showered and had her eat a "fat bomb". She said she immediately felt better. I can't say that I could have done a 20 mile ride last night myself though. It will be a few more weeks before we are fat adapted though, so we'll just keep trudging forward and testing ourselves to see how far we can push our ability to use our fat reserves as an energy source. We'll push for a 20 miler this weekend to see how we do. I just need to stay active during this transition.

This is a major lifestyle change, and there are reasons that most endurance athletes don't follow a keto lifestyle. Carbs are everywhere when you are on a long ride and you feel like crap. Hard to find a fat bomb anywhere though, and when you do they are expensive. Trying to figure out how to make portables at home though.

Rock71

I think it helps if no matter what kind of diet you do, the whole household does it also. Hard to maintain a diet and the wifey brings home two boxes of Zebra Cakes. LOL
I didn't know what a "fat bomb" actually was, so I looked it up and there are a lot of recipes for them on the internet. Some look very tasty!

Yendor72

Totally agree, my wife is motivated which motivates me. I have to go to Canada for a business trip next week, I am dreading it.

We do a lemon one that I really like. I need to figure out a way to make them portable. Fbombs cost way too much (that's a name brand).

JLDickmon

Keto is very low carbs.. no breads, cereals, starchy veggies (yellow veggies, potatoes).. Very high in protein, calories from fats (whole milk, cottage cheese, white cheeses)
I was surprised what I can and can not eat.
I can have ranch dressing on heads of cauliflower or broccoli..
can't have oranges..
You're limited to 25 grams of carbs daily.. no tortillas.. but you can eat pork rinds..
Clif bars are a definite no-no.. as are most "protein" or energy bars..
Nuts are good.. almonds, pistachios.. sunflower kernels.. on a bike ride of any length, I'd say sunflower kernels, cashews, maybe walnuts or pecans.. something with a lot of oil in them.. macadamia's.. peanuts would be ok.. little high in sugar, but it you limit them to while you're on the bike they would be alright..

so there you have it..

JLDickmon

I just thought of something else.. people on keto diets put coconut oil in their coffee..
maybe if you added some to your power-ade.. I've never tried either, but I'm told it's the "key" in "keto."

Yendor72

With the weather turning on us so quickly I don't think that coconut oil would stay liquid in my water bottle long, maybe some MCT oil would, but I'm afraid of the oil slick it would leave in my bottle.

We haven't really had many opportunities to ride. We did make a change to our fat bikes though. We ride Framed Wolftracks and visited "The House" in St Paul, MN, the home of Framed. We picked up some wheel sets known as "Fattie Slims". Basically a MTB rim laced to the fat bike hubs. They make the bike look strange, but now I can pull the road bikes into the basement for the winter season and finish out the fall on these. I also have sets of studded winter tires, we will be riding more and more again.

One drawback to the keto life, you have to increase your electrolyte intake. I had major issues on Sunday, headache, dizzy, weakness. One shot of pickle juice later and I felt ready to roll. Unfortunately it was cold and raining. And has been raining since then.

I am down 10 pounds since I started this journey, real weight loss is still coming, but that's a heck of a start.