Will starting reintro negate fat adaptation?

[jendes10]

I finished my first W30 on 8/30, and so far I have not reintroduced anything (mostly because I am waiting until monthly lady-issues subside so as not to confound my results).

I am wondering, though - does reintroduction of certain foods, especially grains or dairy or added sugars, interrupt or undo whatever progress I have made in becoming fat-adapted? I surely don't feel like i'm 100% there yet and I understand that will likely take a while longer. But I don't want to undo any progress I've made.

Help?! I want to do a solid reintro but it is more important to me to become fat adapted than be able to eat cheese or peanut butter! If I do the reintro as laid out in ISWF but at least MOSTLY stick with the W30 way of eating when riding my own bike, will I still become fat adapted?

[LadyM]

Good question. I'll be eager to see what a mod has to say.

As I understand it, fat adaption isn't all or nothing. Once you're there, you can bounce back after an off roading experience rather quickly. But if you don't feel you're there yet, I'm not sure what the effect will be.

[Tuni]

Great question. I'm curious about this too.  I'm looking forward to hearing what the mods have to say.  Thanks for posting it.

[Physibeth]

Doing the reintroduction period as outlined in the book will not make you magically switch back to being a sugar/carb burner. Just like it takes a couple of weeks for your body to adopt to being primarily a fat burner it takes a lot of offroading to switch back (in my experience).

 

That said...the primary thing that will hinder fat burning is intake of sugars/starchy vegetables directly before physical activity (because the body will burn sugars first if it is there from what I understand).

[jendes10]

Thanks so much Physibeth. I will be cautious of what I eat before working out. Typically I go for nuts, because....well frankly I am getting egged out!

I posted on another thread about larabars, but I guess this goes for all sugars and starches - what about during sustained intense activity? Recently on a fairly long and arduous hike, I ate a larabar (which for me is not a sugar dragon trigger, and frankly I think they're kinda gross). It was about week 3 of my W30. But when hiking I get a bit light headed and, as I described it, "woozy" sometimes and feel like I need a quick and portable carb source. I get that fruit is not ideal, but larabar controversy aside, if I feel i need food to sustain activity, is it setting me back to opt for carbs? Should i even be feeling that way at all if the adaption process is occurring as it should? I had eaten a nutritionally solid meal 1, and meal 2 immediately before leaving the house. And was drinking plenty of water. I guess i'm not sure if it is normal to feel that way or if it points to a problem I may not be aware of.

Always appreciate your sound advice.

[Tom Denham]

Eating a larabar during a long and arduous hike is completely reasonable and not a problem. And I am a larabar hater!

 

Getting woozy after a few hours of hiking is curious given your reporting a solid meal 1 and 2 before starting. I'm not sure if diagnosing the experience as a problem based upon one incident is wise, but it is something to be curious about.

[jendes10]

Thank you Tom! It isn't that uncommon for that to happen to me - not just a one-time incident unfortunately. I am thinking I may need to experiment a little with the size of my meals or adding an additional meal if i'm going to be burning an extra 1000 calories in a day. Not sure i've fully gotten the hang of this yet. But rather than "freak out" and run to the doc I will see if I can do something differently that will prevent it. I am definitely in calorie-counting recovery so, I may need to spend some extra time learning what is truly right and balanced for me.

I appreciate your time and insight!

[LisaLulu]

Jendes that happens to me too. Not if I exercise for a regular amount of time (under an hour) but if I go for a several hour bike ride/rollerblade/run I will hit a wall and can't go on without rest and extreme amounts of calories. I think it's something about completely depleting your glycogen stores and needing to refuel. Maybe your body is trying to protect itself.

 

How can you tell when you've become fat adapted? On both whole 30's I felt really nauseous and off food from about days 9-11 and after that point I got my appetite back but it was much smaller and I could go much longer between meals without feeling hungry, and didn't feel as shaky/miserable if I had to wait a bit longer to eat. I guess eating off plan this summer put me back into sugar burning mode?

[jendes10]

Thanks Lisa! I didn't have quite the same experience during my whole30, but I've been calorie restrictive for so long, I think it is just taking a long time for my body to readjust and send proper signals. I also spoke to my mom about it today (she is a nurse, and spent years being very active) and she suggested it may have something to do with the vagus nerve and actually not a blood sugar issue. So I am going to explore that possibility as well and maybe try holding off on refueling next time it occurs, and see how that goes.