Enough Energy with 100 Carbs a Day?

[DavidMavec]

Hello...

I am a former fat guy and am presently on day 20 of the V-Diet. I have been training muay thai for a few months in Thailand (taking a break for the V-Diet) and when I finish the V-Diet, I plan on returning to training. I like the idea of Chris Shugart's 100 carb a day article as a way of keeping trim and fending off the cravings. But I am afraid that being scarce on carbs will give me too little energy to have enough power for the high intensity cardio of muay thai.

Any thoughts?

[K_Man32]

What are your body image goals?

[DavidMavec]

Lean and cut, washboard abs, developed muscularly but not big. Now I weigh 78 kgs (172 lbs) and am 180 cm (5'11"), and want to keep getting leaner. I've attached a photo of my present appearance front...

[PB_Andy]

play it by ear... if the carbs you are eating aren't fueling your workouts, you should notice it (sluggish, fogginess, etc). if that's the case, eat more carbs.

even with the small love handles that I detect you still have, you are lean enough overall to not be so skeered of carbs.

[DavidMavec]

PB Andy wrote:
play it by ear... if the carbs you are eating aren't fueling your workouts, you should notice it (sluggish, fogginess, etc). if that's the case, eat more carbs.

even with the small love handles that I detect you still have, you are lean enough overall to not be so skeered of carbs.

Thanks. Yeah I do still have some love handles as well as stomach fat and/or loose skin from losing about 100 pounds at one point; hopefully I can continue to shave this down in the next several weeks.

Once I finish the V-Det I am going to try to keep the carbs at a minimum since I know that this is what leads to cravings for me. For the most part my goal will be to eat protein + vegetables and some fruit.

But I do think it will be necessary to have some starchy carbs (e.g. muesli) on muay thai days given the intensity of the training; would I eat this directly before my training? Like carbs for breakfast at 8 AM and training at 9 AM?

Thanks...

[eightohfive]

i'm at a similar state, fairly lean, highly active. I would say your amount of carbs will vary DIRECTLY with how much you train. 100g is alright if your training intensity is fairly low..but if you lift weights often, AND fight muay thai, that number will need to get boosted or i would suspect you start losing/stalling with strength and LBM gains. i fought muay thai and krav maga last summer, probably got <~5% BF but my strength was sapped. I didnt necessary "lose" strength or LBM, but i saw NO gains whatsoever.

[WestCoast7]

PB Andy wrote:
play it by ear... if the carbs you are eating aren't fueling your workouts, you should notice it (sluggish, fogginess, etc). if that's the case, eat more carbs.

even with the small love handles that I detect you still have, you are lean enough overall to not be so skeered of carbs.

Maybe it's just the lighting, but you look decently lean in your picture, and I wouldn't want you to wander down the carbophobic path.

On hard training days I'd say you want at least 150-200 grams of carbs, or your going to stall. I spent almost 6 months working out with sub 100 grams of carbs per day, and it stalled and ultimately wasted all the training I was doing.

Low/No carb is great for losing weight, but it is not wise if your looking to maintain or build muscle (IMO).