No strength or endurance on LFRV when training?

Hi I'm a competitive cyclist that has been training hard all winter, I am transitioning to the 811rv diet from being vegitarian. I am really struggling right now, I use to be able to train 4-5hrs a day and ride hard, now I'm lucky to get a solid hour without feeling totally wasted. Now my leg muscles are shrinking, I have no power or strength on the bike, and I start to really go downhill only after 1hr. It feels like no mater how much fruit I eat it simply doesn't restore the glycogen in my legs like starches do. I can eat 2,500 calories a day of things like buckwheat and quiona and my legs are strong for hours, what gives?

Have any fellow cyslists, runners, weight lifters etc doing 811rv out there have any personal insight into this, could this weakness and pathetic performance I'm having so far all be because of transition? Did you go through the same thing when transitioning seeing a big drop in strength, muscle, endurance and performance initially?

I have been on the LFRV for a month now, and I am eating ungodly amounts of fruit, as much as I can eat without getting sick as I am big 180lbs and very active and probably need 5,000 calories I'm guessing. So for 3x days I did get my total calories up to 4,500 thinking that was the problem since I was only doing like 3,000 before, but I still feel really weak and have little endurance.

So far these are the only two explantions I've found

1) Eat more calories

2) You're just detoxing or transitioning

But I think neither explains how I can eat half the calories but different kind of calories and have 5x the amount of strength and energy transition or not. I'm really trying to make 811rv work, as I see lots of great wellness improvements so far

1)weightloss

2)much better digestion

3)much better sleep

4)Better recovery, well sort of, I did at first, but now my legs just burn and hurt most of the time. It's like I'm falling apart eating 811rv and training.

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Permalink Reply by Stan The Fruitman on March 6, 2011 at 8:19am

Interesting, thank you, I really don't have much thirst when eating so much watery fruit I can't imagine that I would need to drink lots of straight plain water in addition, but I will give that a try, if anything I noticed I need more electrolytes. I have been green juicing 2x a day with celery as a key ingredient.

I do make sure to drink more when eating things like dates, so far bananas seem not to agree with me. I'm all about mangos, apples, grapes etc ahaha, managos are my new favorite fruit I could eat a truck load of them in one day haha

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Permalink Reply by Madelyn on March 6, 2011 at 8:26am

I usually don't feel the need to drink more water either, but when I do (like 3+ liters) I really notice a difference. My digestive system works so much better and I notice an increase in energy.

I have notice that some people can't eat bananas on here while others can. They are not my favorite, but if nothing is ripe or I can't afford other fruit I turn to them. Mangos are the bomb. I too could eat them all day long. Actually I could live off them. Literally. :)

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Permalink Reply by Stan The Fruitman on March 7, 2011 at 10:33pm

Yes I'm starting to figure things out, and I think the lack of drinking plain water, it being winter, my sweating hard during training, and detoxing all required me to need much more plain water then I realized I needed. It's so deceptive when you eat lots of watery fruit, it kind of tricks you into thinking you're drinking enough, I do think you need far less plain water when eating LFRV compared to SAD diet but it seems like you still need a decent amount of plain water.

There have been other clues also that I need more plain water, I had nosebleed when training the other day, and have been having lightheaded spells when standing up, and not peeing 8-12x day I think both of those where because of not drinking enough.

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Permalink Reply by Stan The Fruitman on March 7, 2011 at 10:34pm

yes, had some coconut water yesterday, love that stuff! thank you

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Permalink Reply by ednshell on March 7, 2011 at 4:46am

are you peeing 8-12 times daily? This is a good way to determine of you are well hydrated.

Are your bananas ripe, I start eating my bananas when they look like the bananas on the right at the top of this page, if you eat them before that stage they won't digest well.

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Permalink Reply by Stan The Fruitman on March 7, 2011 at 10:37pm

somedays, but not all days, as I think we've figured out one of my problems was not enough water + detoxing + dry cold winter here+ training/sweating hard + eating watery fruit which reduced my desire for plain water.

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Permalink Reply by Angelo Portia on March 6, 2011 at 9:20am

I have to agree with Madelyn WATER is key!!! when your eating any fruit, but in particular bananas and dates, i eat heaps of both and sometimes i can eat so much but feel empty and i mistake the hunger for thirst i was drinking 3 liters before and looking back now it was not enough, now i drink alot more water, MINIMUM 4 liters a day and it helped so much more..

The feeling of weakness could be your bodys abililty to digest so much more food and fibre than on a cooked diet ,we have been eating food without alot of fibre for years and than to chugg down 10 bananas or 20 dates is alot of fibre and it requires ALOT more water...

I also would advise you to take more rest off the bike and have alot more rest days where you sit around and eat, drink and sleep so your body will take its time to do the things it needs too..

If you keep training you will just postpone your bodys ability to thrive and heal on this diet, i think that rest is very important in the begining, eat alot more dates atleast 2 to 3000 cals worth of dates a day!! and drink the good H20

Patience and perseverance is key :)

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Permalink Reply by Alex Wall-Clarke on March 6, 2011 at 9:35am

+1 yes water is really important, doesn't matter if you're eating watery fruit. If you're on the bike for hours you need more to stay hydrated. Make sure your pee is clear always, if not you're dehydrated.

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Permalink Reply by melissa jackson on March 6, 2011 at 8:26am

Hey,

it's been said but honestly EAT ALOT MORE. do smoothies out of bananas, dates etc. Stick to HIGH calorie fruits only. I'm 5'6 115-120 pounds. I eat anywhere from 3000-7000 a day. I am not an athlete, or a guy. If I don't eat enough day to day, I feel smashed and tired no matter how much sleep I have gotten/ how many liters of water I've drank.

How many pounds of greens are you eating?

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Permalink Reply by Alex Wall-Clarke on March 6, 2011 at 8:29am

Seems strange to me, I found my energy levels and endurance went way up initially, my muscles just seemed to stop fatiguing to the same extent. The problem I had was physical strength which initially declined, that was until I started pounding down the greens. Do you eat many greens/vegetables?

It sounds like you're getting enough calories, more can never hurt but I don't think it's your problem. If you're still in the early stages of 811 then it could well be detox still, your body has it's own agenda for healing and when healing is the priority you can forget about feeling good on the bike. I'm sure this will pass as your body adapts to the new fuel.

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Permalink Reply by sugar nutrition on March 6, 2011 at 9:07am

your body has it's own agenda for healing and when healing is the priority you can forget about feeling good on the bike. I'm sure this will pass as your body adapts to the new fuel............. BINGO

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Permalink Reply by Stan The Fruitman on March 6, 2011 at 8:33am

Just as a side note, I wanted to thank you all for replying, it's such a relief to find a community of like minded individuals, feels like a family, percentage wise rawfoodist are such a minority thank god for the internet so we can connect and support each other like this!