i train jiu-jitsu. I've cut weight and eaten healthy but never cut out grains and carbs like this. I'm on day 11 and really like the diet but I am lacking energy when I go train. Warmups feel tougher than ever and when I roll my energy and cardio feels nonexistent. I'm eating a good amount of protein and plenty of veggies and greens.
Anyone had this effect?
Is it because its early on since the change in diet and my body will adjust or do I need to add something?
I basically ate paleo when I was just lifting weights (before BJJ) and always felt like I had a lot of energy. I've also had great success in the past with low-carb dieting when my only exercise was weighlifting and elliptical/yoga/whatever.
I do BJJ 6-8x/wk now and tried to go back to eating paleo for about 3 weeks and had a similar experience to yours. We have a crossfit box as part of our gym and my coaches are big into crossfit/paleo, but I just felt like I would have to dramatically reduce my training if I were going to continue eating paleo. I'd like to lose some bodyfat, but I need to improve my BJJ skills more than I need to lose bodyfat so I just added back in the non-veggie carbs.
dalexan242 - I basically ate paleo when I was just lifting weights (before BJJ) and always felt like I had a lot of energy. I've also had great success in the past with low-carb dieting when my only exercise was weighlifting and elliptical/yoga/whatever.
I do BJJ 6-8x/wk now and tried to go back to eating paleo for about 3 weeks and had a similar experience to yours. We have a crossfit box as part of our gym and my coaches are big into crossfit/paleo, but I just felt like I would have to dramatically reduce my training if I were going to continue eating paleo. I'd like to lose some bodyfat, but I need to improve my BJJ skills more than I need to lose bodyfat so I just added back in the non-veggie carbs.
thanks for the response. I'm trying to drop a weight class for the no-gi pans in september, so i figure a slow weight loss is the way to go, rather than cut calories/dehydrate and have them come back on fast like all the other times ive dropped. gonna stick it out for another week or so and see if things improve.
I tried a paleo diet and found that it gave me the necessary energy to do my crossfit workouts but if I tried to do my crossfit workout and then do my mma workout I didn't have the energy to do both. Through some research I found you need to have complex carbs to be able to compete and train at a high level and paleo doesn't have those. You can still follow the paleo but add the complex carbs in there and that should help with the low energy problem.
You are likely still eating too much sugar, it sounds like you are sugar crashing. With Paleo you should almost be in ketosis all the time and therefore would be burning fat for energy which is pretty much unlimited for most of us. You might also need to increase your fat intake.
cdueck - You are likely still eating too much sugar, it sounds like you are sugar crashing. With Paleo you should almost be in ketosis all the time and therefore would be burning fat for energy which is pretty much unlimited for most of us. You might also need to increase your fat intake.
i cut out excess fruit the past few days and have been feeling a lot better.
thank you dude. i cut out fruit and am feeling 1000x better. my cardio is back and im dropping weight steadily but not too fast.
<blockquote>shermbe - i train jiu-jitsu. I've cut weight and eaten healthy but never cut out grains and carbs like this. I’m on day 11 and really like the diet but I am lacking energy when I go train. Warmups feel tougher than ever and when I roll my energy and cardio feels nonexistent. I’m eating a good amount of protein and plenty of veggies and greens.<br /><br /> Anyone had this effect? <br />Is it because its early on since the change in diet and my body will adjust or do I need to add something?</blockquote><br /> cutting carbs is a huge no no, especially for the pans and for bjj in general. thats like cutting out gas to a car which is why you feel sluggish and have no energy. probably too late now since its on saturday but your much better off reducing your carbs and not cutting it out completely, removing saturated fats and just lower calories for the day. paleo imo is a bad idea for mma or bjj. you could also lose a pound of two a day beforby dropping your sodium levels.
agreed with the above. cutting out carbs is great for dropping body fat quickly, however for performance it is a no-no. it is true that a gram of fat contains 9 calories as opposed to a carb source containing 4 but your body utilizes them differently...ya'll must remember Mighty Mouse saying that when he cut carbs out of his diet before the first Uncle Creepy fight he gassed extremely fast; "what is glycogen depletion"
It might take a few weeks or even a few months for your body to adapt to the enzyme needs of using fat for energy...
Dr Greg Ellis has many YouTube clips talking about this and recommends a slow progression from carbs to fat over time. Start cutting some of your daily carb intake each week, but don't forget to replace it with a healthy source of fat:most people fail with the low carb approach because they cut carbs cold turkey and increase protein instead of fat.
I went from 288 to 265 in about 9 weeks...When I went Paelo I went cold turkey with cutting the grains. So far no problems with energy levels. Remember you are allowed to have potatoes. I usually eat sweet potatoes when I have 2 a day training sessions with conditioning and BJJ. Look at Paleo for Athletes, I guess it gets less stringent during specific training cycles.
Ttt
I have no problems at all with BJJ training if in mild ketosis and I've seen similar in other people.
It's often a problem if carbs and protein are too high to allow your body to access fat stores, but too low to supply adequate carbs. It's that middle range that people have the most trouble with in my experience.
I also think that if you're training a lot of BJJ, in addition to other training - weight lifting, running, etc then you probably need to alter the diet some by getting additional carbs and protein. The timing matters also.
I've been paleo for two years now. (Most people need at least a month to transition. You'll experience super low energy around week two.)
I have way more energy than I used to and my training is much better.
On good days, I have pretty much unlimited energy for training. Two weeks ago, I rolled 20 mins. straight with Saulo Ribeiro and felt fine energy-wise -- got smashed technique wise.
I trained a 25 min. round with a tough brown belt. No problems there.
I used to be an endurance athlete before starting bjj.
Carbs for enery, imo, is a bit of a myth.
I've been experimenting with intermittent fasting and eating only for dinner.
I actually feel great when I train in a fasted state.
I dont know how some can do high intensity or multiple activities with no carbs. Ive tried it and it left me feeling gassed