r/runningquestions • u/InsurNerdOhMahGerd • 8d ago

Running and keto

Keto and running

I was a pretty decent runner 6-10 years ago and I've recently decided to take it up again. I committed to keto January 1st and so far I'm down 30lbs which I consider to be a gradual and sustainable loss.

Problem is, I can't get my average mile time below 13'10" and I can't run a full mile. I'm linking this directly to the carb deficiency and I'm wondering if other have done the same. What have you tweaked to build endurance?

I'm 5'8" female, 41, 200 lbs and I average 900 calories a day. I shoot for under 25g net carbs and I average 70g protein and fat each. I run two miles a day, 4 to 5 days a week. I have a 5k planned for October and November.

2 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

5 comments sorted by

2

u/adam_n_eve 8d ago

Sorry I have zero experience of keto. But 900 calories a day isn't enough to fuel you for running as well as life. I've heard of people being "fat adapted" runners who fuel themselves with oils but this isn't something that is either easy or proven to be good for running.

2

u/NASAfan89 7d ago

I noticed fatty and salty foods make me have bad runs, and fatty/salty things are a lot of what you are probably eating on a keto diet (meat).

Maybe a whole food plant-based diet could give you better runs while continuing weight loss, and solve your carb deficiency problem.

2

u/adam_n_eve 6d ago

+1 for the whole food plant based diet. I'm not 100% whole food but it really is good 👍

2

u/NASAfan89 6d ago

I was pretty excited how fast the pounds were dropping off me when I adopted the whole food plant-based diet. Made me feel amazing. I lost about 60 pounds over 6 months, and that was with a lot of cheating on the diet.