Water Weight from Sodium?

**mahoney** · 03-07-2011 06:17 PM

thanks, i've been going to the gym wearing sweats and i feel myself sweating a lot of it out. My main concern with this is dehydration though...

and i was on a low carb diet because i figured it would keep me leaner as to maintain weight. but i suppose carbs are a crucial part in providing energy for my muscles. ill add some more carbs into my diet.

any suggestions on some good sources of carbohydrates? are there good carbs and bad carbs?

**AdamGB** · 03-07-2011 06:47 PM

The intensity of your CV training and the musculature that you're going to develop should see your burning through calories and staying lean.

But the metabolism boost that you should get from an regime like a boxer's isn't going to happen unless it is fueled by carbohydrates.

You can eat no carbs at all... but if you eat 4000 kcals a day of proteins and fats when your body only needs 2500 (as an example

) then it doesn't matter where those calories came from... fat... protein.. carbs... whatever, the extra 1500 is stil going to be stored as fat.

Carbs get a bad press but it's only the high GI, refined ones that are any worse than protein or fat... your body can process refined carbs too quickly, they make your blood sugar shoot up too high so your body reeases a load of insulin to bring your blood sugar down... by quickly storing it as fat!

Also if you severely restrict a major food group then you run the risk of being difficient in the nutrients that come with it 9grains have types of fibres, minerals and vitamins that you will struggle to get much of elsewhere)

But to train and function effectivley you need carbohydrates... stored in your muscles as glycogen... boxing is an anaerobic sport so you need acess to that quick energy... if you want to see a drained fighter with low glycogen stores then look at Oscar De La Hoya when he fought pacquio...

Eat low G.I. carbohydrates (whole grains such as oats... sweet potatoes etc) and as long as you don't eat too much (again... too many calories will make you gain weight... no matter where they come from) and you'll have all the glycogen you need to box effectively and fuel intense C.V. and weight sessions which will fire up your metablism and get your body burning fat all day long even when you're not training.

Ignore magazines and pop nutrition... not all carbs are bad!

mens health and recreational gym users will tell you that the carbs you get from some spinach and peppers will fuel your muscles... but when your idea of working out is 3 sets of 8 reps of a few chest and tri exercises and then 20 minutes of 'intense intervals' on a cross trainer is your idea of a workout I think air is just about enough to fuel it!

As for sodium... it can draw water into cells... but if you're working out and eating clean and not adding extra salt to your foods then it should not be an issue at all.