low carb and tri training

By low carb, how low do you mean?  I can train successfully on about 40%ish carbs, which I consider to be low when compared to some of the recommendations calling for 60-65%.  It's really all about the timing... I use carbs before, during, and after my workouts and rarely otherwise (or at least that's how it goes when I am following my nutrition plan perfectly). 

I think Paleo Diet for Athletes ends up being pretty low carb.  Personally, I won't give up things like beans and cottage cheese, so the plan is not for me, but there are a few people on this site who have success with it. 

Similar to DMW, I do about 40% carbs, which is low compared to what most athletes do, as she mentioned.  40-80g seems really low for your weight.  You do need energy for your workouts.  The key is finding out the threshold of just how much.  Also, you need to look at your overall calories.  If you eat 40g of carbs, that's 40g x 4 calories/g = 160 calories from carbs.  Or 320 calories if you eat 80g.  You've will need to be getting an enormous amoung of calories from protein & fat in order to get to a reasonable amount for you.

 Check out Body For Life.  I followed a program extremely similar and had tremendous results.  

 I would also suggest you add strength training.  I strength train more than I do tri training, mainly b/c it gives me the body I want and I'm not willing to give up the *free* calorie burn that increased muscle mass provides.  Muscle burns more calories than fat.  So, the more muscle you have on your body, the more calories you burn while sitting watching tv. 

Here is my breakdown of pretty much what I eat:

daily calories:1766

carbs: 130g (28%)

Protein:   265g  (57%)

Fat:   30g         (15%)

What the hell??  I lift two to three days per week and tri train at least 6.  I have always been big, muscle ...  Over the past two months or so I was hoping to go from 235 to 220-225 before Silverman..  Now at 254!!!  Damn. even if my bodyfat % has dropped, which I think it has..  that is still a ton of weight to carry for 12,000 vertical feet of racing..  what gives...??

Nice!!!!!!!!!!

All Im saying is that I find it hard to see doing full Ironman training on 80-130 grams of carbs!

DUDE!!! You are totally starving yourself. Get thee to the fridge and EAT!!

I probably eat 2200-2500+ calories per day and I am a 138 lb female and my weight is maintaining. Oh, did I mention that I have 22-24% body fat? I am training for IM WI, so I've got a similar training schedule as you. But if you are eating only 1766 calories per day and are 250 lbs with 15% body fat, you are going into a major calorie deficit everyday. So much so that your metabolism has probably shut down to nothing. Starvation mode.

I'm serious. You need to figure out what your basal metabolic rate is and the amount of calories (approximately) you burn for each activity and only shoot for a 500 calorie per day deficit. If you want to go lower carb, fine, but make sure your deficit is no more than 500 calories per day (1lb per week weight loss).  I would do lower carb for your meals, but do not skimp on training calories. I'm surprised you've been able to train at all on that low amount of calories.

Trust me. I've lost 70 lbs, and only have about 10-12 more to go.  You need FOOD!!! GO EAT RIGHT NOW!!!

I agree that the eat more food thing is used a lot. But the reason it used a lot is because people trying to lose weight, will, most of the time, take in too few calories and it makes them feel miserable. Time and time again, I see other girls on 1200 calorie diets with exercise. That is not realistic or maintainable.  Eat more = feel better= able to continue as long as it takes.

At 15% body fat, it will be difficult for the OP to lose 2 lbs a week and maintain a grueling training schedule. Not impossible, but difficult. I have backed off the reduced calorie bit during IM training because I do not want the quality of my workouts to suffer.  I will resume my reduced calorie diet after my IM.

But really, the best thing anyone wanting to lose weight can do is to journal everything they put in their mouth and to know their BMR and activity calories. This is crucial information for success. Winging it does not work!

Question: What types of food are you eating?  I agree with the other members. You are starving yourself. A good website to check out is precisionnutrition.com. They have a lot of good ideas on how to train with a low carb diet.

Another thing, you could be over-training your body; therefore putting to much stress on your body which is releasing the hormone Cortisol, which I believe slows down fat burning in your body

You should try using  .8g of protein per body weight instead of 1g and use 1.2-1.5g for carbs. And make sure your fats are comng from good fats such as oilve oil, walnutts, almonds, fish oil and flaxseed. I wouldn't look at carbs as they are bad. Look at them as a reward, because some of the best tasting foods all come from carbs. And if you are training that much you should reward your body and not deprive it.

 Carbs: 1.2g=300g =1200 kcal   and 1.5g=375=1500kcal

Protein: .7g =175g =700 kcal and .8g = 200g =800kcal

 Another suggestions, I am not sure how you are training, but maybe throw some HIIT running workouts in there.

When I started training for my first tri this summer, I was weighing in around 256 and coming off a heavy training session for a strongman event. I started to train for my tri and I had to change my entire nutrition outlook on things as well the way, I train. I to come to terms with, if i was going to be able to finish the tri. I was going to have to loose strength and mass.

Hope this helps.

Just my two cents......