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Ever heard about someone cutting back on carbs and dropping 5-10lbs of weight in a really short period of time?
Whelp, it was mostly water 💦 weight.
When we eat carbohydrate foods our bodies break them down to use for energy ⚡️and also store carbohydrates as glycogen in our muscles and liver. This stored carb energy is like our gas tank ⛽️. The longer and harder we are training, the more our body relies on this gas tank to fuel us.
When we reduce our carb intake, we put less fuel in our gas tank to be able to use for training. Our muscles and liver go from full tanks to partially full.
For every 1g of carb we store in our muscles, we store about 3g of water as well. Carbo-HYDRATE… So carbohydrates also help our bodies stay hydrated by retaining water.
What happens when we reduce our carbohydrate intake? We not only reduce the amount of fuel in our gas tank, we reduce the amount of water content our muscles are storing as well. This is a major reason why reducing carb intake can mean a lot of weight loss quickly…water weight loss.
While reports of 5-10lbs dropped rapidly might sound alluring to individuals looking to modify their body composition, as an athlete, keep in mind reducing carbohydrates means you have less fuel for your training and your body will be less hydrated. In terms of performance, this is not ideal. 👎🏼
If you’re an athlete working on a body composition goal, I can help guide you through the best way to approach it and talk to you about how it might impact performance. Don’t take a gamble on weight loss through a fad diet, work with a Sports Dietitian that can individualize a plan for you.
For more silly, I mean educational, videos, check me out on TikTok @jessicathesportsrd
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