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I've been lurking hard on these forums, so I figured I might as well introduce myself. I am so happy to have discovered backloading, and have been doing so for about a month. I'm 29 y/o, female, and my primary sport is boxing (amateur, competitive) but I also lift heavy and do other sundry things for my conditioning. I'm really interested in how CBL works for 1) other women and 2) other fighters or mixed-sport athletes. So I decided to introduce myself.I've been a lifestyle low-carber for about 4 years now, about 50g-75g carbs/day on training days. Low carb was the only way I found to get lean. When I was trying to go from overweight to normal, regular calorie counting worked. But when I was at the point of going from normal to lean/athletic, I could not get the fat to budge, despite religiously weighing, measuring, and logging my food. I tried keto out of desperation and I was able to get rid of the last 15-20 lbs.I've noticed somewhat anecdotally that some people just seem to be metabolically well-suited for high-fat/low-carb and I believe I am one of them (I get that this is totally un-scientific, it's just an observation). As soon as I started, I felt great, never had "carb flu" or an adjustment period, energy went up, fat went down, I didn't really feel hungry, and so forth. It didn't even really affect my athletic performance; if I needed to, I'd just sip a sports drink through a particularly long and/or hard workout. Unfortunately, as the demands on my athleticism increased, keto stopped being sufficient. I'd been wanting to improve my conditioning and explosiveness, and as I kicked up my training, my recovery backslid. It got to the point where I was shuffling around like an old lady and could hardly get out of bed come Saturday. I wanted to eat anything that wasn't nailed down, and even when my belly was full I still craved food. My performance suffered as well. I knew that something needed to change but I wasn't sure exactly how.The first I read about carb backloading was this article (not by Kiefer, but it espouses similar principles). Psychologically it really appealed to me, and after searching around I found this site. I like the idea that I don't have to give up keto or using fat as my primary energy source, but I can still use carbs as a tool to replenish glycogen and so forth. Plus I love the simplicity of just adding carbs to a late-night meal instead of fussy periworkout protocols. Particularly since I split up my training with a session in the early AM and another session at night (typically conditioning AM, sparring PM). Right now I'm doing two backloads/week, on my hardest training days. My sweet spot seems to be around 100g carbs (75g = impaired recovery, 150g+ = I wake up bloated). I try to keep the CBL meals low fat in order to keep the overall calories down while getting enough carbs, and I eat gluten and dairy free. I also try to keep it low in fructose, mostly starches and glucose/glucose polymers. I may start a thread with some of my sample meals if other folks (women?) have a similar protocol. I lift heavy on Saturdays so I might have a small dessert before bed (~30g/carbs) if I feel like I need it.When I started backloading, I felt like a completely new person. I had energy, actually recovered from my workouts, plus it got rid of that "bottomless pit" feeling as far as food. I wonder if some of the intense hunger pangs I was getting had more to do with needing that glycogen replenishment than needing calories. I am looking forward to continued success, and if I can drop a few pounds of fat in the process that would be killa.Anyway, looking forward to learning more from you folks 🙂
Hey,I can definitely relate to your story. Your approach sounds very similar to how I want to approach CBL. Read this article: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/carb-refeeding-and-weight-loss/#axzz2OVamPrItWhen I switched to a low carb, high fat diet (Paleo), I noticed I had so much better energy and was better satiated after meals. Then I hit a point where I was no longer becoming satiated after a meal. Though I had eaten a "normal" meal. My caloric intake was fine, but my energy for wanting to workout wasn't there. According to that article, it seems that the problem was a hormonal imbalance (low level of leptin due to restricted carbs for so long). I think our stories portray the importance of carbs in performance. It's dialing the correct amounts that is the challenge for me at this point. I am not sure when to do the "refeeds" or how many carbs I should have on a daily basis (I normally just eat veggies). When I refeed I want to eat only clean foods. How has your progress been so far?
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