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Permalink Reply by rubidoux on January 5, 2013 at 5:43pm

I'm not sure what Bernstein says about it (it's been about 12 years since I read the book) but I had this amazing experience with low carb and energy and exercise a while back, and right after it happened, I read the part of Good Calories, Bad Calories (great book to read if you're going to be doing any kind of low carb diet!) that predicted it would happen. Another book to read if you're planning on doing low carb and working out is Phinney and Volek's The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance. I think they recommend no exercise for the first two weeks after starting LC.

Basically, before I started LC'ing I had no energy at all and just wanted to sit around as much as possible. Then after I started LC, I got this energy boost that was great (knew this would happen as I've been on and off LC for years), and always makes me feel ten years younger. But about six weeks into LC'ing all of the sudden I started WANTING to exercise. Like, I just wanted to move and exercising just felt good. This is not normal for me. lol But apparently it is something that kicks in once you get into a deeper state of ketosis and it feels great. I didn't need any added fuel and definitely not carbs.

I don't know if this would carry you through if you're working out seriously (I was just getting a bit of exercise). I wouldn't be surprised if it did, though.

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Permalink Reply by Leo2 on January 5, 2013 at 6:00pm

His recommendation is so minimal I can't imagine it helping anyone retain their weight. 4 grams. No one is gaining weight on that and an hour's exercise.
You may need more than 4 grams just to keep out of lows. Depends how vigorous.
But I do not know what he suggests for those desiring to lose weight.
Personal research trumps all else so that one knows what one's blood glucose is doing with weight loss exercise. Test, ensure you're at 100 (give enough glucose tabs to get there). Determine the type of exercise and do each kind for timed segments and repeat it when you exercise so you then know exactly what your blood glucose is doing. Test every half hour. And test 2 hours and 4 hours afterwards, too.

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Permalink Reply by acidrock23 on January 5, 2013 at 6:31pm

I don't think that you need that many carbs to fuel a workout. I've been running since 2009 or maybe the last week of 2008 and have maybe 6-8 oz of skim milk (ok, sometimes I'm *really* lazy and just swill it out of the bottle...) to run 3 miles. It's not an hour but I push myself as hard as I can most of the time and generally see a "predicted high" about a mile in, as the milk hits, and a "predicted low" near the end, as it burns off. I like it when this happens as I feel like I know what I'm doing. I don't usually eat that many carbs during the day, maybe like 30-45, usually eggs/ veggies/ toast (8G/ slice) in the AM, 1/2 peanut butter sandwich (17G) plus 8G of carbs worth of carrots/broccoli @ lunch and maybe a Greek yogurt for another 7G of carbs. I can run 3 miles on that. If my BG is higher when I start, I skip the milk but I'm usually in the 90s and it goes ok w/ milk and I end up where I started. I've played around with different rates and adjustments but that's what works for me.

Dr. Bernstein is very interesting but is very hardcore. I've lost some weight (peaked @ 275 and am now around 185-90 lbs...) and haven't ever gone to 30G of carbs/ day. I like "Good Calories/Bad Calories" too, along with Taubes' other book, "Why We Get Fat" and they seem to suggest that less carbs can get you there as readily as picking an arbitrary low number. The "history of the science" suggests as many as 75G of carbs can result in weight loss. I eat more than that but maybe I cheat by working out a lot. I don't think 1x tab/ hour will make you gain weight. It's most important to keep your BG ok but I think that if you moderate your diet and exercise to "get healthier" (faster, stronger, more able to enjoy a stroll...) you can lose weight.

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Permalink Reply by andrea on January 5, 2013 at 7:33pm

i have always considered myself to be basically following the bernstein diet...low carb, moderate protein, but reading up on it now there are a lot of details i missed out on! can anybody here tell me what they eat on a typical day while following dr. b

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Permalink Reply by Judith on January 5, 2013 at 7:59pm

I'm approaching my 6-year anniversary of controlling T2 with diet and exercise only thanks to Crazy Bernie, as we called him when we started. But I am also rapidly approaching age 63 with other physical difficulties, so eating super low carb is very important because, while I exercise 75 minutes to 2 hours/day, it is necessarily at a moderate level. I eat 4-6 ounces of meat/day, mostly chicken, but also good small steaks or roasts, fish, etc. Eggs and cheese for protein, also. A big, simple salad twice/day of mixed greens, red bell peppers, green onions and mushrooms. My sweetie also does really delicious lightly sauteed veggie mixes. The biggie for stability has been finding 4-carb pitas and lavashes from Joseph's bakery---made with flax, stone ground wheat and oat bran. After 6 years there are tons of tastey substitutes available. Berries are the only fruit I can eat---mostly blueberries, but also sugarless raspberry jam and I always have homemade sugarless cranberry sauce on hand.

But I also use the flax pitas to make a great pizza. With Gerri's help, I never lack for a lo-carb sweet treat if I want one. I make a mean lasagna with chard leaves between layers instead of pasta. My sweetie has developed 2-3 great creamy soups that are low-carb comfort food for winter (my faves are mushroom and pea).....

Etc. Once you get focussed and committed, one can eat like royalty and it is fun to adapt old favorite recipes......Judith in Portland

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Permalink Reply by Hannah Hamlin on January 5, 2013 at 7:47pm

Hello, I just finished reading his book last month. What I got from it was that he suggests taking one glucose tab each hour for extended cardio to stop blood sugar from dropping. The amount of calories in glucose tabs are minimal so if you need them while you are working out, don't hold back. Make sure to check your blood sugar frequently during your first couple sessions to find out how your body responds to that exercise. A general rule is that strength training increases blood sugars and extended cardio(~20mins +) reduces blood sugar. Let me know if you have any other questions! Hope this helps a little.

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Permalink Reply by Brian (bsc) on January 6, 2013 at 7:27am

I've followed Bernstein since 2006. Bernstein doesn't recommend any specific amount of glucose, he recommends you ingest the right amount to maintain a normal blood sugar. If you are doing low-moderate aerobic exercise for more than 30 minutes, it will be common for you to start to drop lower as your insulin sensitivity can double during exercise. Bernstein suggests that a gram of carbs raises your blood sugar 5-10 mg/dl (although for me it is more like 2-3 mg/dl). If you drop 50 mg/dl over an hour of exercise, you would need 5-10 grams of carbs to maintain a normal blood sugar. Not even one glucose tab. He would recommend you take something smaller, such as a number of smarties which are 0.4 gram for a little tab.

Even more important, for many of us, aerobic exercise such as weightlifting or sprinting increases blood sugar. So I rarely have trouble going low and when I do undertake aerobic exercise and start to go low, I can sprint and offset the drop. In fact, Bernstein actually recommends that you undertake weightlifting or interval training as a preferred method of exercise.

ps. Glucose used to treat a low properly (to restore a normal blood sugar) has no effect on weight. Overtreating a low can lead to weight gain.

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