Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Clyde Eat to Live experience ?? Slower?

I didn't eat that much meat but I did pickup a bad habit for the past few months of vending machine before/after lunch and some cherry coke. I received eat to live and decided to finally cut that crap out starting this past Saturday.
All is well except cycling which has been slowly getting worse. Today I hit the point where I jsut didn't have any power in my legs at all. My previous average of 15mph dropped to 10mph and on a stretch near work that I normally hold 20mph+ I could barely hold 10. I don't feel weak or tired just slow? I checked the bike over last night and today when I got to work and nothing is stuck or rubbing.
Has anyone who switched over find they go through an adjustment period where they are just slower? Maybe it is just caffiene and high fructose corn syrup withdrawl.

I believe I am eating enough I am eating alot more then I used to but as the book states is has alot less calories.

How many calories a day are you eating now? Do you know about how many you burn a day, not counting exercise? (There are a lot of online estimating tools that are based on height/weight/age/general activity level)

Get a good breakfast in before your ride (oatmeal is great for this, lots of complex carbs), then make sure that you replace the carbs & electrolytes that you're using while you're on the bike. 200-300 calories per hour, primarily from liquids, with a bit of soy protien thrown in if your rides last longer than 2 hours.


Maybe it is just caffiene and high fructose corn syrup withdrawl.

That's possible too - your body needs time to get used to any new diet, even a healthy one. :)

-DR

According to FitDay with a completely sedentary lifestyle selected (and back to my 21 mile RT commute)
Calories Burned Today
cals % total
Total: 4540
Basal: 2555 56%
Lifestyle: 69 2%
Activities: 1916 42%

According to some silly class at the gym I took it was 3500 total with biking.

I calculated about 2700 from what I ate yesterday, which may be a little high but not much.


I eat oatmeal, a fuji apple and a banana before heading out on my ride. 42 oz of water on the ride and then 1 liter of Straw/blue/rasb/black berry + banana + kale + spinach + wheat germ froma blender smoothie when I get to work which I finish off during the morning along with about 64 oz of water.

I didn't used to have caffiene until 11am or later so I'm not missing any morning buzz. I have to go see my doctor again anyways so I may ask them next week if it doesn't get any better.

Without knowing what your daily intake level is, it will be very difficult to give you any real solid advice, but knowing that you are making a dramatic switch in dietary habits leads me to believe that you are suffering from some type of "withdrawal." Your symptoms are fairly common in someone who has decreased carb intake by 50% or more. More details would be helpful, and then we can help you!

Fitday WAY overestimates how many calories burned, for most things. It tells me I need about 4000+ calories a day too. I'm eating about 2500/day right now, to lose weight. If I eat <2000 for more than a day, I start to feel like you were describing.

According to FitDay with a completely sedentary lifestyle selected (and back to my 21 mile RT commute)
Calories Burned Today
cals % total
Total: 4540
Basal: 2555 56%
Lifestyle: 69 2%
Activities: 1916 42%

According to some silly class at the gym I took it was 3500 total with biking.

I calculated about 2700 from what I ate yesterday, which may be a little high but not much.


I eat oatmeal, a fuji apple and a banana before heading out on my ride. 42 oz of water on the ride and then 1 liter of Straw/blue/rasb/black berry + banana + kale + spinach + wheat germ froma blender smoothie when I get to work which I finish off during the morning along with about 64 oz of water.

I didn't used to have caffiene until 11am or later so I'm not missing any morning buzz. I have to go see my doctor again anyways so I may ask them next week if it doesn't get any better.

As Becky mentioned, the Fitday calculator could be way overestimating, but that Basal amount seems like a good starting point. You may need approximately 500 more on exercising days as a minimum increase.

What else do you eat during the day? Your last meal of the day will have a major impact on the next morning's ride regardless of your breakfast. But the intake looks good so far.

How long do your rides typically last?

I eat oatmeal, a fuji apple and a banana before heading out on my ride. 42 oz of water on the ride and then 1 liter of Straw/blue/rasb/black berry + banana + kale + spinach + wheat germ froma blender smoothie when I get to work which I finish off during the morning along with about 64 oz of water.

Just my opinion here, FWIW, but I'd say you were very light on protein here.

Doesn't look like many people had experience with "Eat to Live" to offer, so maybe this will be helpful. I used what I learned in "Eat to Live" to help me loose 50 lbs in ~7 months last year, and I think the world of the book and encourage everyone that will listen to read it. I did not notice a slowdown, or loss of energy. However, I also didn't follow his serving size suggestions. I followed the principles of changing what I ate to be all unprocessed natural fruit & vegetable based diet, but I made sure to eat until I was full. That's what I found to be the key - your body will tell you when it's getting enough. Those serving suggestions are for people looking to loose weight who can't get out and exercise (bedridden). Keep it up - it changed my life!

My morning commute is about one hour overall, today was about 90 minutes. I'm lugging my 290lbs self and a 67lb loaded touring bike on marathon plus tires 11 miles in with lots of stops.

I'll look into more calories and then some protien in the mornings. Calories were much easier when I drank a couple cherry cokes and ate a couple cup cakes before my ride last friday :)

OMG you're going from cherry cokes and cupcakes to this?!?! Wow! :D Once you're more used to it, you're going to feel so much better!

I've never done "Eat to Live," but I've done low-carb (which I'm aware is different, but it's also a major change), and I felt pretty bad for about 4 days until my body got used to it, then it got better. Withdrawals were mentioned by uncadan and Dr Robert, sounds more and more likely to me, too!

Good luck!

Oops. Make that 2400 calories so I may have been shorting calories more then I thought in addition to the big change in diet.
I picked Blueberry, crisp in fit day (they don't have blueberry raw) thinking it was fresh crisp blueberrys :o. Not some kind of blueberry desert type thing. It seems my blended goop is best guess only 564 calories, 15 grams of protien though so not too too bad.

Oops. Make that 2400 calories so I may have been shorting calories more then I thought in addition to the big change in diet.
I picked Blueberry, crisp in fit day (they don't have blueberry raw) thinking it was fresh crisp blueberrys :o. Not some kind of blueberry desert type thing. It seems my blended goop is best guess only 564 calories, 15 grams of protien though so not too too bad.

Sometimes looking up the plural helps. For instance, they don't have "blueberry raw" but they do have "blueberries raw."

I've noticed a few post mentioning the Eat to Live book. i decided to check it out. The cheapest I found it was on Amazon. The selling point for me was reading the reviews about the book. It sounds like something I've been slowly changing to. I think I'll give it a read.;)

I've noticed a few post mentioning the Eat to Live book. i decided to check it out. The cheapest I found it was on Amazon. The selling point for me was reading the reviews about the book. It sounds like something I've been slowly changing to. I think I'll give it a read.;)

If I have the right book, the cheapest I found it was free -- at the library. Who is the author, I would like to make sure I have the right book, before asking to have it sent to my branch.

If I have the right book, the cheapest I found it was free -- at the library. Who is the author, I would like to make sure I have the right book, before asking to have it sent to my branch. Dr. Joel Fuhrman

Fitday WAY overestimates how many calories burned, for most things.

+1. It also told me it was ok to eat like 5,000 calories a day :lol:

It would be a nice piece of software if they fixed that.

Oops. Make that 2400 calories so I may have been shorting calories more then I thought in addition to the big change in diet.
I picked Blueberry, crisp in fit day (they don't have blueberry raw) thinking it was fresh crisp blueberrys :o. Not some kind of blueberry desert type thing. It seems my blended goop is best guess only 564 calories, 15 grams of protien though so not too too bad.

I agree with unixpro; it does seem like you are a little light on the protein. But then again, I do better on protein and moderate carbs than I do on higher carbs and low protein. You may want to consider adding a scooop of protein or some other type of protein-rich source to your "goop."

Dr. Joel Fuhrman

Thanks, I'll order it this afternoon....