Bonk Training and Weight Loss

Here's some interesting information I found on Wikipedia.

As runners and marathoners know, you have 2 main sources of energy to utilize in your runs.

1. Glycogen. Simply put, sugar.
2. Fat. Simply put, Pork Belly.

I won't delve too much into the mechanics of Carbo Loading or healthy diet as yet as I am still myself learning bout it. What I do want to talk about is what I have stumbled upon accidentally. Through out my research, I've been informed that consuming food within 1 1/2 to 2 hours before your run is not a good thing due to the following.

1. Your food need to be digested. Depending on the type of food that you take, you may face some Gastro Intestinal Discomfort. This may range from simple gassiness or a major need to use the restroom, pronto.
2. There's also the influx of Glucose level in your bloodstream. What this does to your system is even more complicated. From what I understand, an influx of Glucose to your bloodstream before your run causes your body to utilize Glycogen as your primary fuel, giving you a higher possibility of bonking/hitting the wall. (do correct me if I'm wrong).

As a result of that, I've always done my LSDs without breakfast. I prefer to do my runs early in the morning so it doesn't make sense for me to wake up like 4am in the morning to have breakfast before I go for my run. (who knows, I may HAVE to do that and go back to bed next time). Best of all,  as my LSDs are meant to build the foundation of my Aerobic level, I generally run at a pretty slow pace (conversational pace). This puts me in the position to burn fats as my primary source of energy .

What I did not realize is what's stated by Wiki.

Bonk trainingBonk training is an exercise program designed for weight loss. It suggests the following strategy: on an empty stomach the first thing in the morning, when glycogen store levels are low, consume coffee or caffeine equivalent to 2 or 3 cups of coffee, run or cycle at a casual pace (60% of max heart rate) for 20–90 minutes, and have a normal breakfast right after exercising. Proponents claim this will force the body to "bonk" shortly into the exercise, and subsequently burn more fat to generate the energy. It is not clear how medically sound this idea is; exerting too much energy and "bonking hard," or experiencing severe hypoglycemia, can be dangerous.

Looking at the above, the only difference I have from the what's been mentioned is the lack of caffeine before my run. I do realize I experience minor bonking in my LSDs and have lost quite a bit of love handle off me within this pass 1 month plus.

This clearly shows that without proper knowledge, we can tread into dangerous territory without us even realizing it. Like I said, I may have to wake up earlier by 1 1/2 to 2 hours just to have breakfast before my LSD or come up with a more time efficient solution to this I guess.

For those interested in losing those extra waistline, I would recommend  you to read up a friend's blog on how to teach your body to burn fat. His method is more holistic compared to what I'm doing I would say. Links to his posting are as below:

TRISTUPE.COM: Training Your Body To Burn Fat Part 1
TRISTUPE.COM: Training Your Body To Burn Fat Part 2