High-Performance Nutrition: Mike McKnight (The Low-Carb Runner)

[@hopoutside]

This is pure gold….thank you for doing this interview!!! I’m five months into the low carb lifestyle and down 41 lbs. I started running for the first time in over a decade. No inflammation. At 50 yrs old, feel like i’m in my 20s again.

[@liveultralightpodcast]

Wonderful!

[@scoobtoober2975]

Nice work. Similar here, similar weight loss. 40 old here. Hated running before. Now it's easy. I do focus on nose breathing only to keep it lower intensity. Side benefit is you need way less hydration.

[@GTE_Channel]

​@@scoobtoober2975I also found nose breathing to reduce the need for hydration.

[@StangspringDK]

Was a track&field coach for 14 years, running regularly with my athletes, usually having occasionally ankle and/or knee pain. The weight slowly increased, despite 5-6 daily sessions. Stopped as coach around aug. 2020, went keto in feb 2021. Lost 23 kg. Started running, and had no problem running 5k without any issues. Weight is stable around 69kg, 174cm. Running 30-35k a week at the moment. 2 half marathons in the calendar for 2024. Will probably try strategic carbs, suspecting the liver and the muscles will suck glucose like a sponge. :)

[@sugreeva7]

The guy who needs to lose weight mentioned something about a cult-like following. I wouldn’t disagree. I hear what he’s saying, but he clearly doesn’t understand or take into consideration why many people end up taking this route. Guys like Mike are super fit and most certainly metabolically healthy & flexible . Most people who end up on super low carb diets or even carnivore are not. They do it to deal with decades of insulin resistance, obesity, diverticulitis, eczema, chronic fatigue, etc…problems traditional medicine had no answers to. I myself absolutely suffered with eczema that was debilitating for 53 years. I had it at birth. Try waking up 3 or 4 times a night for 53 years and see how that affects a person. That’s just one major issue that’s disappeared completely since I reduced my carb intake to less than 20 grams/day. It’s the end of the week and I got my 40 miles in. I’m on a 18-6 window, I run fasted and I’m not opposed to adding some more carbs as I continue to become metabolically healthy, but yea - I’m a little reluctant. Just not for the reason that made the fat guy chuckle and smirk.

[@chrisgrui1993]

Have been doing Keto for a long time, great for slower exercise, but I struggle when I play sports. Guess I go healthy carbs

[@felixjackson2670]

Excellent. Thank you.

[@liveultralightpodcast]

You are welcome!

[@nolanwardy7409]

Hiked the first 600mi NOBO of the Appalachian Trail with nothing but ribeye, salt and tallow. It was a royal pain in the ass to prep every 3rd day, but it worked very well. Only 20oz of food weight/day. Had to be fresh meat though, so Winter months only. Just figured I’d share. Great content. Ty.

[@bobomac8330]

That's interesting, no jerky? How did you cook up everything, I'm assuming fried in tallow, cut into bite sized pieces and stored.

[@nolanwardy7409]

Yeah. When off trail I’d find a hotel with a small fridge/freezer combo. Cook steaks on a skillet in hotel room and cool, bag and freeze what I needed for next 3 day run. I prepped pemmican/jerky before hand for the hike but learned quickly that I felt like shit after a day or two of just jerky/tallow.

[@bobomac8330]

@@nolanwardy7409 thank you for the reply. I was thinking jerky and pemmican would be good.

[@SpiritualReform]

Last year, i spent some time walking Florida (streets, roads, no trails) sleeping in a small tent i carried with me. Most of the time, I was eating raw meat i'd buy at Walmart.

[@user-PaulFedwar]

Thanks mucho for the info guys, very interesting to hear the great stories and personal takes on nutrition and approaches that work, or not, for you; I'll soon be turning 60 and just aspire to going as fast and as far as I can with training continuously and races

[@liveultralightpodcast]

Happy to help!

[@GTE_Channel]

I really enjoyed this conversation. Thanks to you both.

[@liveultralightpodcast]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@trailsandbeers]

Great video, I can relate to most of it. I actually fast for 24-48 hours before my races now and just take 50g of carbs 2-3 hours before the start. Main problem I have is without an aid crew it's not possible to have meat so I have to rely on aid station food, but as I only do long races the food selection is usually ok and I don't eat much anyway. I have a can of beer in my drop bag as that works well for me. Interestingly the Swiss Peaks 360 had beer at the aid stations this year.

[@liveultralightpodcast]

Good stuff!

[@scoobtoober2975]

Amen to this discussion. Very helpful. For me today. 1 year into fasting and low carb, definitely not no carb, and definitely dirty. I eat ice cream(high fat), beer (homebrew), some junkfood, fast food (only burgers, EVER). And do very well. Never seed oils, i used to inhale potato chips and if i do have them, they fatten me up fast. The other foods above do not do that at all. I'm not an athlete by any means, just active and strive for good mobility. Can run 8 miles fasted no problem. If you struggle with fasting, for me it's walking it out, plain salt intake and listening to uplifting discussions like this one. Mental clarity and focus is very helpful for de-stressing. Fasting while angry doesn't work for me. Nose breathing helps me focus and relax too. Cold showers if you are stressed, focus is needed to be calm in the cold. It straightens me out quick.

[@b-manz]

18:30 There are studies showing (Tim Noakes) that show that Kipchogie requires more energy from fat than carbs to do the marathon in 2 hours. Meaning the higher intensity does require a lot of fat use. If well adapted carbs should be mainly to help with electrolyte kidney function. How this works in the real world for individuals is a question.

[@scoobtoober2975]

Meter out the junk foods, pour the craving food in a bowl. Don't take the bag to the TV couch. Tablespoons of butter help me, or tallow

[@aliciavalentyn5889]

🏃‍♀️🏔️☀️

[@JorgeLopezmeditation]

This was a good podcast, i learned a lot, also i was watching while running🎉,

[@liveultralightpodcast]

Thanks for listening

[@danloucks1251]

Super helpful. I started this journey at the beginning of the year.!! Super great info. Thank you!!