You have to have carbohydrates in your diet in order to maintain the stamina to work out. Carbohydrates are an essential source of energy and without them your body can achieve exhaustion more quickly than you think and that can induce severe body strain.  This class of injury has been occurring much more often in recent years. A proper diet for an athlete involves consuming quite a few carbohydrates.

To be sure, the amount of carbohydrates that are required to be consumed by athletes is much higher than the amount required for people who are couch potatoes.  And most certainly, the harder and longer the athlete works, the higher the necessary carb intake. To determine the exact amount of carbohydrate consumption that you should personally aim for it is important to talk to your sports medicine doctor.

Increased consumption of carbohydrates is encouraged during competition and most particularly if the athlete is cross-training or competing in more than one sport at a time.  This is to ensure that the body has enough energy to handle the rigors that you are placing upon it during especially strenuous activities.   And predictably, there are other times when your doctor may recommend cutting back on carbohydrate intake.  Your medical and/or nutritional specialist should be consulted if there is a question of getting the proper nutrients.

Fad diets appear in the markets almost weekly, and although the temptation may be strong to follow one of the new “sure fire” diets, it is especially important to consult your doctor and listen to what he or she has to say about your particular nutritional requirements.  An athlete is recommended to store as much as 15 grams per kilogram (2.2 pound) of body weight in the form of carbohydrates.  For an average 180-pound athlete this translates into as much as 1227 grams of carbohydrates.

So how do carbs relate to calories? Use the following conversion. One gram of carbs is about four calories of energy.  So, for our example of the 180-pound athlete, the 1227 grams of carbohydrates they should consume would be about 4909 calories.  While this may be an enormous number for most people, there are some athletes for whom this is a minimum.  Ultimately, it is up to you working with your doctor to determine the best level for your individual needs.

Remember, cutting back on carbs can be quite damaging to the body. If you are not consuming enough of them, the body will starts breaking up proteins for energy. This fine example of biochemical adaptability can be dangerous in the long run because protein is designed to help fuel your muscles and provide the muscle mass for the body, rather than simply providing energy for the body. The end result for many who are not consuming enough carbohydrates is an overall weakened condition and less energy to actively engage in the sport of their choice.

Remember to give important consideration to who is giving you the advice on your dietary needs.  Coaches are not always “in the know” on the most up to date nutrition information. So be careful about taking a coach’s word about how much you should be consuming each day in calories and carbohydrates. To achieve the best results possible consult with your coach, your doctor, and nutritionist to work out the best possible diet that has both your fitness goals, athletic goals and your health goals in mind.

Maintaining your personal health as the top priority is vital to ensuring you are healthy enough to compete. Remember, as you change your level of activity – particularly as you cross over into competitive athletics — imperative to adjust your carbohydrate consumption.  If you do it with a doctor’s supervision you can ensure that you are in a position to maintain your overall health.  Your physical safety is a bigger obligation that requires more consideration than simply reducing your carbohydrate intake.

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So now you’ve decided to restrict your fuel intake.  That’s a good thing.  However, if you wanted to lose weight by only restricting the fuel intake, how long would it take to lose weight?  Consider this: a pound of stored fat contains about 3500 calories.  That means that one pound of fat has more than two full days’ worth of “fuel” for a “normal-sized” person.  That means if you’re 10 pounds overweight, you have 20 full days of unburned fuel inside you.

Would you like to speed things up?  I knew you would.  The obvious thing to do is to boost your “burn rate”.  Any level above your “normal” activity is a boost of your burn rate.  If you’ve been sluggish for a while, you will need to start slowly AND under medical supervision.  With a gradually increasing exercise program you will begin to consume more calories from your stored reserves progressively faster.

Then there’s the question of the flab.  It’s one thing to lose the fat.  It’s another thing altogether to increase muscle mass.  A well-designed regimen will increase your muscle mass, which will boost your metabolism, which in turn will accelerate the rate of fuel consumption (i.e. fat burning).  The really cool thing is that once your muscle mass gets to a certain percentage of your body weight, magic begins to happen.  Your metabolism is going so fast that you actually burn fat while you sleep.  How cool is that?

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