I recently finished Matt Fitzgerald’s book “The Endurance Diet” and have jumped on the DQS band wagon 100%. Since adopting the Endurance Diet I have been successful in losing weight (I was 83kg @180cm and have lost 11.1kg) while simultaneously increasing performance. Currently, I am about half way through his other book “Racing Weight”.
When I got to the part of the book where he recommends carbohydrates consumption, I was a little shocked…
Calculating my intake needs using my estimated race weight of 70kg (~155lbs) with an average of 5-6 hours a week of training on the low end this would put me at 426.25g of carbs. I have been keeping a detailed food journal the last few months and I am having a hard time consuming enough carbs. It is especially difficult when I stick to Matt’s methodology to stop eating when satiated and not over stuffing oneself.
As you can see Monday, I got close but Tuesday I was still 100g shy.
FYI - I am allergic to some High FODMAP foods (gluten being the big one) so that does kind of put a damper on some of my carb heavy fuel options… I am interested in suggestions on what foods do y’all eat that are carb heavy? Perhaps there is a carb super food that I could incorporate into my diet that I do not know about…
Also is there anyone in the same boat as me, who is having a hard time consuming the proper amount of carbs? Have you noticed any decrease in performance due to carb under consumption? What about weight gain (1/2 a pound of potatoes is A LOT of food) from carb binging? Monday, which was a rest day I felt absolutely stuffed, and almost a little sick. So I took it easier today, and missed out on almost 25% of my recommend carb intake.
Hello GravelNut. I’m vegan and low fodmap. My go to source of carbs is jasmine rice. Buy a rice cooker and cook up a batch. Let it cool a bit and then store in the rice cooker cooking pot in the fridge. A couple scoops with every meal helps you get heaps of carbs without too much extra fibre. If it gets boring put some sushi vinegar on it, soy sauce or hot sauce.
Hi GraveNut! I also follow a vegan diet and try to keep my carbs at around 60% for my macros. In looking at your Tuesday chart there is a missing entry at breakfast for the carb contribution of your oatmeal. Using the MyFitnessPal app for 2/3 cup of oatmeal should add another 40g of carbs (still under your target).
I eat oatmeal almost every morning and use steelcut oats with chia seeds, raisins, dried cranberries. I make one pot a week for 7 servings (each 320 grams) and weigh them out into individual pots (a pain to cook every day!). I heat up at work (after my TR workout). Using the MFP app (the recipe part) it calculated that each serving gives me 60g carbohydrates. I just log it each day using this app.
Sweet potatoes are another great option - you can roast medium-sized ones whole and heat up later with black beans and avocado as a great meal (toppings are endless). Medium-sized ones are around 150-200g yielding 45g carbs.
My carb-focused diet really does help me keep on top of my training (around 450-500TSS/week).
assume you are weighing everything, are you using the back of packet data or MyFitnessPal type app to scan and enter the amounts?.. there seems to be room for more (natural sugar) high carb fruit (apples, pineapple) in the diary ?.. good luck, i read the book and loved it, but no-way can i eat the carbs for my workout volume and weight (83Kg and 10-12hrs / wk…)… good carbs definately help especially in the recovery leg aches…
Good eye @nataliebs I went in and fixed that mistake.
That is quite the TSS per week. I’m more mid 300’s. Maybe I shouldn’t sweat it too much and go more off of how I am feeling. Thank you for your insight and advice
@timpenylong I typically use the packet data, but sometimes I have to resort to google for foods without that info… That’s an impressive workout regimen you have; and yea you’d probably have to spend more time eating than working out just to consume Matt’s recommended amount
I typically cook my oatmeal with a little honey every morning, and yesterday I happened to read the label and saw that each tsp has 15g of carbs! I had not considered pineapple (119g of carbs for a whole fruit). That is a great suggestion. Perhaps, I could eat 5 or 6 of them the day before a big race
I know this is an older topic - but glad I found this thread - I am reading Endurance Diet currently and really enjoy the approach - simple enough to not deter me, and easy enough to track with the app, only took me a year or so of being a TR listener and hearing @Nate_Pearson mention in over and over
The main missing part of the equation for me tends to be healthy/non refined carbs. I load up on tons of fruits and vegetables and get some quality carbs with my oatmeal in the morning. It’s lunch and dinner I struggle with - I used to eat too many pita chips and tortilla chips with meals - but want to reintroduce the carbs in a healthy way. Sounds like brown rice, Quinoa, some quality breads are the way to go. I am always hesitant with baked potatoes - but if topped well suppose they’re nutritional?
Black rice is awesome. I think potatoes are incredibly nutritious. Top one with salsa for a healthy, low fat, low cal topping.
Where is the protein on this diet?
I’m currently dieting, counting calories with an app. It’s set for losing 1/2 pound per week. On top of that I’m following two recommendations of a sports nutritionist. One is to get at least 20 grams of protein 3-5 times per day. I do four - three meals and an extra recovery meal. I seem to hit about 150 grams of protein per day which is .78 per pound which is inline with what most sports nutritionists recommend.
These guys also want me to get 400 grams of carbohydrate. That is been tough. Free range, I’d consume 250-300. Lately I have intentionally cut the fat a little bit and upped the carbs in the form of an extra cup of rice or an oatmeal snack.
So far this has been working well. I’ve been losing, haven’t been too hungry, and have been hitting Strava PRs. I even got a KOM the other day.
It’s there, but when you’re following the carb recommendations in his books (Racing Weight and Endurance Diet), your goal is no longer to lose weight. It is to build fitness and performance. So when you are trying to lose weight the macro balance is very different and more protein-focused than the rest of the training cycle. The books are great reads for people interested in eating to boost performance. They aren’t specifically aimed at weight loss though.
