I know that I have read on this site before showing that keto diets and low carb non-keto diets are both effective at burning fat.
However the studies say that low carb eaters who are not in ketosis experience a greater craving for carbs.
Just looking to hear some personal experiences of anyone who has been in a situation like this because I am considering adding a serving of Surge PWO three or four times a week, drinking about half during my workout and the rest after.
I know that the sugar in Surge will kick me out of ketosis, but I am thinking that its pros would outweigh the cons, because anti-catabolic effects of Surge and not to mention I have much better strenght and stamina in the gym when I lift and drink Surge.
I try stay in ketosis and have a plain protein shake peri-workout. I add BCAAs for the anti-catabolic effects as I find it works better when on a restricted calorie diet.
I think that it would be best to see what works best for you by trying both methods for a few weeks and see how you feel/progress.
I’ve been doing a carb cycling plan with restricted carbs. On lifting days, I’ll have some oatmeal for breakfast, a piece of fruit mid-morning, then a full serving Surge with my workout, and a sweet potato or beans with dinner. On conditioning/fat loss days, I’ll have maybe one or two pieces of toast with breakfast and one scoop Surge peri workout. The third day is rest and no carbs.
The carbs are usually <100 training days, <60 conditioning days, <30 rest days. I’ll usually eat a little more Friday night/Saturday, as I’m aiming for about a 1000 kcal deficit during weekdays. This usually happens every couple of weeks when I start to feel really beat up.
I was doing as low of carb possible before, however my performance/recovery I felt to be effected. This was low carb with Surge only like what you are thinking about doing. At the end of the week, I would feel just too beat down/not recovered and ended up missing a scheduled conditioning/fat loss workout on Fridays.
I will still scale back the intensity of these sessions if I don’t feel recovered enough, but I won’t skip them all together anymore.
It’s been working fine although it is a pretty recent change, however the no carb days are pretty bad. I attribute it to the lack of overall calories though and trying to fill a chunk of time devoted to training with not eating. Overall, I haven’t experienced many carb cravings and I’ll be tempted to skip the oatmeal on lifting days occasionally just to cut back.