Opinions on increasing carbs?

I  met with a personal trainer this morning. We started on a walking/jogging routine. Although I'm disgustingly out of shape I thought that went fairly well - until I stopped. My blood sugar went low. I had never experienced that before. Got very dizzy and broke out in a cold sweat. She had me drink a regular vitamin water and after a few minutes when I was still very weak she had me eat a packet of sugar (yuck). I had told her before that I was post VSG and my calories mainly come from protein. When I got there she asked if I'd had anything to eat yet - I told her I'd drank about a 1/4 of my protein shake. When I told her I was keeping my carbs around 20 grams she said that to exercise like that I would need to increase them. While I certainly don't want another episode like that, I'm concerned that they may slow my loss. I'm wondering if the increased exercise intensity should make up for the added carbs? She's not recommending I stray too far from my existing plan - just increasing my good carbs. In all fairness what she recommended was pretty similar to what the nutritionist suggested, but I've been following the 600-800 calories and 20 grams of carbs advocated here - and since I have my losses have increased a bit. I'm 10 weeks out. Opinions?

 

I originally posted this on the main forum by mistake.

 

Protein will not give you the ready carbs you need for exercise.  Good carbs is what you need.  I would go with what she says, staying within a legitimate calorie range.  Your body will burn stored fat in the normal daily routine of things, but when you exercise it needs the energy you get from the carbs.  Talk to your nutritionist about it as well and see when the best time to eat the extra carbs would be.  Half hour before, right before.  That sort of thing.

I do not count carbs, just calories and protein, but increasing good carbs from fruit and veggies and whole grains is not as harmful as everyone says, unless they are trigger foods for you.  A well balanced diet does have good carbs in it.

My NUT said that if I'm going to participate in vigorous exercise (more than just my normal walking on the treadmill) they'd like me to eat something with about 15 grams of carbs in it about 30 minutes beforehand. I don't think it's possible to do that and stay under 20g, but I usually just try to stay under 40.

A good personal trainer should be able to give you ideas of food/drinks to try that will help you get the most out of your workout AND stay as close to your diet requirements as possible. That said, you may have to increase your carbs on heavy workout days.

There are protein drinks that athletes use that are specifically designed for before, during and after workouts.

Giving you sugar the way your PT did, is an emergency measure - which is fine for an emergency. Talk to the PT about what to eat/drink before during and after a hard workout. If the PT can't help you stay as close to your dietary requirements as possible - don't walk, RUN away and find a new PT.

Seriously, this is part of what you are paying for. You may have to offer some education on your post-surgery food needs, but all good PT's should understand, total calories, protein, carbs and should have a good feel for what foods/protein drinks should be used to get an optimum workout.

I started working out vigorously after surgery and ran into a similar issue.  I solved this with milk.  About 1/2 cup of skim milk 20 min. before vigorous exercise (NOT walking, we're talking sustained raised heart rate) helped give me the carbs I needed, and kept the shakiness of low blood sugar at bay.  I often coupled that milk with my protein shake in the morning so that it was slower to be absorbed.  Once you get to a normal body weight this will need to be reevaluated. 

Thank you for all the great responses.  She did go over an eating plan with me and gave me the recipe for a smoothie she wants me to drink a half hour before I go.  Another episode like that isn't anything I care to do again.   I'm glad that everyone pretty much agrees that the increased carbs shouldn't be detrimental because they're the good ones.    Admittedly, the extra bit of variety will be welcome if I can get all of the components of a balanced meal down.  It seems to me like my restriction is better now than it was even a couple of weeks ago.    I did feel hungry at lunch today - that normally doesn't happen.  I wonder if maybe it's still on the low side - it has also left me with a headache.   

A good pre-workout food is some NF Greek yogurt with a few berries. That is what I have before my workouts and I did this during the weight loss phase. It has a good ratio of good carbs to protein and is good for you. I also sometimes make a smoothie before a workout.

I have a PT too...great guy who knows how to build muscle but he is not a NUT nor is he qualified to deal with VSG issues. My doctor recommended I eat Half a banana before Jazzercise.

Sounds like your personal trainer is giving you good advice.   Most trainers are not  certified to give nutrition advice (although many do all the time) and even fewer have any experience with weight loss surgical procedures.   A few extra carbs pre workout will give you the immediate you need for your workout without the blood issue.  Protein and fats just cannot convert to energy fast enough for workouts.  

Keep up the great job!!   

That's great to hear from someone in the profession!  I was so embarrassed.  I really thought I was going to pass out on her.  She did everything she could to try to reassure me that she sees things like that all the time, but I have to wonder if she was just being nice.