My apologies for the sloppy English in my previous post.  I was off to a
7:00am start for rowing training, so I threw my response together a bit
too hastily.

This brings me to the point of this second post: maintaining energy levels
on a low-carb diet.  I mentioned that I had no problems in this respect.
Let me give you now a couple of examples.

In 2001, about 3 months into NHE, I competed in my fifth 'Panton Marathon'
rowing race over 8.5km.  This is a strenuous event taking our crew about
30 minutes (What is the standard of our crew? We came fifth in the final
of the World Championships in 2002 - out of about 30 crews from around the
world in our 55-60 age category and we were by far the lightest crew in
the final; many of the other crews in the fianl contained ex-Olympic
oarsmen who were all comfortably over 6 feet tall - we average about 5
feet 10 inches in height).

The 2001 Panton Marathon was rowed on a Sunday morning and Sunday is the
day, following Rob Faigin's suggestion, that ends for me with a carb-load
meal after 4 days of low carbs.  I was very nervous - but, no problem!  I
was amazed and delighted to discover that my endurance and my ability to
maintin the pressure and even sprint at the end were undiminished.

The second example is from this week.  On Thursday I got up at 4:00am (and
listened to the direct broadcast from the UN), had some steak, cycled 8km
to rowing training, rowed 10km and then cycled another 20km to work.  It
was the first time I'd cycled for three months as I had previously judged
the distance just too far to commute.  Throughout Thursday, I noticed no
difference in my energy levels from a normal day.  I cycled back home a
further 27km.  Sure, I was tired at the end, but I stayed up till 10:30
when I felt sleepy enough to head to bed.  Next day I started at the gym
at 7:10am and did a body core workout and felt just fantastic.  The
fantastic feel was not backed up by a better than average performance, but
neither was it any weaker than usual.  I drove to work, as I haven't got
the time to cycle commute more than once a week.

This morning (Saturday), I felt a bit tired after today's rowing training,
but that's about what I'd expect and I had no qualms about cycling to the
gym with my wife and son for a 2:00pm workout (squats and bear running
followed by a stretch).

So, based on my own experience, I don't think you need to worry about
diminished energy levels.  Give it a try, give yourself time to allow the
body to switch to fat-burning mode and post your results here, Matt!

Robb asked about post-workput nutrition.  Back in the carb days, I used to
worry about this - a worry driven largely, I now understand, by the carb-
induced food cravings.  Now that I have eliminated cravings, I have to
remind myself to eat.  What I normally do is governed by (1) personal
convenience (2) broad paleo principles and (3) NHE principles - not fine
tuning based on the complexities of human physiology.  What does this mean
in practice?  As I go to the gym or row most mornings, I get up (4:30am
rowing days; 5:30am gym days), drink 600ml water, brew fresh coffee,
lightly fry 200-300g red meat in suet, eat a third of it and chop the
remainder into about 1.5cm cubes which I nibble in the car over the 30-
minute drive to work.  I also drink a further 700ml or so of water by the
time I reach work.  That's my pre- and post- workout nutrition; the
results are fine.  How do I define 'fine'?  I'm not hungry before lunch, I
adapt quickly and effectively to new exercises and I build up strength and
reps to my satisfaction and my body fat is quite low - I'd guess 10-12%.
My guess is that if I went back to carbs after workout, I'd be
experiencing hunger cravings (not real hunger) during the morning.

I could go on, but hand it over to you now to ask any questions so I can
give further postings the focus that you'll find most helpful.

Examples of my food intake are at
http://www.evfit.com/intake.htm
and over the next couple of hours I'll add my intake on the six days 13-18
January.

Keith

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