The TriNerd

You don’t lose fitness because you aren’t knocking out those runs that your training plan demands, stop worrying about it, have a break, recover!

It happens every time for me, I have a week off exercise for some reason and when I get back into training, I come back quicker.

https://www.strava.com/activities/866876552

Who is Wim Hof

Lets start with Wim himself. I first heard of Wim when he appeared as a guest on the Joe Rogan podcast, my first impression was “who is this nutter? he’s bat shit crazy” but the more I listened to him, the more intrigued I became. He started to pop up on other podcasts, The Ben Greenfield podcast, again on Joe Rogan and he was being talked about on other podcasts too.

Wim is a Dutch “daredevil” who holds 20 world records for his extreme feats, usually involving his ability to withstand temperature extremes. He holds several records for time immersed in ice, he climbed most of the way up Everest wearing only a pair of shorts!, he ran a marathon in a desert without taking water! crazy!

One of the big differences with Wim, is that he is willing to be poked and prodded by scientists and has gone through several scientific studies to test and verify his abilities. In one study, he proved he could regulate his immune system to resist the effects of Escherichia coli (E. coli). After being injected with E. coli, he complained only of a mild headache. The scientists believed that he must have some genetic quirk that enabled him to do resist the infection, but Wim took twelve medical students, trained them and they were then all able to resist the bacteria too.

It all sounds a bit woo woo, a bit crazy, but keep an open mind and give it a go.

What is the Wim Hof Method

There are several elements to the Wim Hof method, the first two are breathing and cold showers.

The breathing and breath hold involves around 30 heavy inhale and full exhalations, followed by a total exhalation, hold, full inhalation and holding again for as long as possible (but don’t go mad)

Cold showers are pretty self explanatory, start with a warm shower, then turn it down as low as it will go and embrace the cold for as long as you can, simple.

There are many more steps, these are just the basics.

Why?

There are potentially a lot of benefits, fat loss, improved immune health and for us open water swimmers, a better ability to withstand the cold UK waters.

There have been several studies on cold exposure and how it can promote fat loss, how “heat shock proteins” can turn your nasty white fat into the healthy and useful brown fat. Brown fat is what we burn to keep warm, if we are wrapped up and sat in front of the fire, there is no need to burn that fat, so it just gets stored.

Our bodies are supposed to get cold, we have evolved to survive the winter. Even when we started to live in shelters and houses, they were cold in the winter. In our modern temperature controlled world, we don’t get exposed to the cold anymore, we aren’t used to it anymore so when we see what Wim can do, we think its crazy, its not, its natural, its just a muscle we haven't flexed.

The Lymphatic system shifts all of the crap and toxins away from our cells and also transports the white blood cells around the body, this system doesn’t have a pump to move the lymph fluid (some animals have lymph hearts). We have turned into shallow breathing sedentary beasts, with slow moving inefficient lymphatic systems. The breathing method helps charge this system and pushes the lymph fluid around our bodies, flush toxins, transporting fatty acids and delivering antibodies to fight infections.

I’m only into week two, but I’m enjoying this little experiment. After a few rounds of breathing, I certainly feel relaxed and I’m feeling much better in the cold too, which is handy because my office is bloody freezing at the moment.

Embrace the cold, feel your inner fire!

More information can be found HERE

https://www.wimhofmethod.com/

https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/2012/09/burning-more-fat-with-cold/

Beat my previous bests.

That is the grand goal, the top level goal, the grand goal of all goals and to achieve that goal, I will need to realise some smaller goals.

To be faster, I need to be lighter.

To be faster, I need to be stronger.

To be faster, I need to be more efficient.

To achieve these goals, I need to be disciplined.

Lighter (target 7% body fat drop of 7%)

I had a bit of a blip in 2016, I’m heavier than 2015, but, I have more muscle.

The plan is to lose the fat, but keep the lean muscle mass.

Some of the 2016 fat gain was down to diet. I experimented with keto for a while, which was good, then moved to more of a paleo diet, but too many times I fell off the wagon. Bread, honey, huge amounts of peanut butter, beer and corn/rice cakes, chocolate were all binged on. So its time to clean it up (discipline).

Fat loss methods to investigate, implement: -

Food timing (carb back loading).

Hot/Cold contrast showers (thermoneogenesis)

Intermittent fasting

L-Carnotine

Stronger (keep lean mass at 62kg)

I’ve really been enjoying the Kettle Bell sessions (using the Lolo Kettle app) so I will continue with these workouts. I’ll also continue using the other great apps from Lolo, Butt, Legs, Arms, Abs and Stretching.

Focused weight training.

Kettle bell workouts.

Use weight vest for plyo and short runs.

Timing. Cardio in the morning, Weights in the evening.

Efficient

I need to ensure that I don’t pick up any injuries and I also need to fit the training in around home and work. Being the Nerd that I am and a huge fan of Ben Greenfield, I’ll be using some Bio Hacking tools and methods to cleanse the body and mind.

Regular Massage.

Regular Sauna.

Wim Hof method breathing.

Hot/Cold contrast showers.

CBD oil to reduce inflammation.

Disciplined

This is the killer, the hardest to achieve. I need to discipline myself to stick to the plan, especially my nutrition. I need to get back to swimming! I’ve been putting it off since August!

This is just the first draft, the framework of 2017

I will be adding to this during January

Abstract: 

García-Pinillos, F, Cámara-Pérez, JC, Soto-Hermoso, VM, and Latorre-Román, PÁ. 

A High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)-based running plan improves athletic performance by improving muscle power. 

J Strength Cond Res 31(1): 146–153, 2017—

This study aimed to examine the effect of a 5-week high-intensity intermittent training (HIIT)-based running plan on athletic performance and to compare the physiological and neuromuscular responses during a sprint-distance triathlon before and after the HIIT period. Thirteen triathletes were matched into 2 groups: the experimental group (EG) and the control group (CG). 

The CG was asked to maintain their normal training routines, whereas the EG maintained only their swimming and cycling routines and modified their running routine. 

Participants completed a sprint-distance triathlon before (pretest) and after (posttest) the intervention period. In both pretest and posttest, the participants performed 4 jumping tests: before the race (baseline), postswim, postcycling, and postrun. Additionally, heart rate was monitored (HRmean), whereas rate of perceived exertion (RPE) and blood lactate accumulation (BLa) were registered after the race. 

No significant differences (p ≥ 0.05) between groups were found before HIIT intervention (at pretest). Significant group-by-training interactions were found in vertical jumping ability and athletic performance: the EG improved jumping performance (∼6–9%, p ≤ 0.05, effect size (ES) > 0.7), swimming performance (p = 0.013, ES = 0.438), and running time (p = 0.001, ES = 0.667) during the competition, whereas the CG remained unchanged (p ≥ 0.05, ES < 0.4). No changes (p ≥ 0.05, ES < 0.4) were observed in RPE, HRmean, and BLa. 

A linear regression analysis showed that ΔCMJ predicted both the ΔRu_time (R2 = 0.559; p = 0.008) and the ΔOverall_time (R2 = 0.391; p = 0.048). This low-volume, HIIT-based running plan combined with the high training volumes of these triathletes in swimming and cycling improved athletic performance during a sprint-distance triathlon. This improvement may be due to improved neuromuscular characteristics that were transferred into improved muscle power and work economy.

http://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/pages/articleviewer.aspx?mobile=0&year=2017&issue=01000&article=00017&type=Abstract&desktopMode=true

I’m wondering if reducing the running volume is also giving longer recovery times from running, which is the hardest on your body of the three disciplines, is also contributing to the gains seen in the study. HIIT is also believed to build muscle, whereas endurance running sees a decrease in muscle density.

hmmmm

It would be interesting to see if we can see similar results with cycling and swimming.

For GoVember, Ashmei set 3 challenges

Simply run 1 mile or ride 5 everyday for the 1st week of November and get 10% OFF

Simply run 1 mile or ride 5 everyday for everyday throughout November and get 25% OFF

Run 100+ miles or ride 500 throughout November and get 35% OFF

I chose challenge 3, to run 100 miles in November!

Even back in May, when I ran the London Marathon, I had never ran anywhere near 100 miles in a month (although I should have in training for the Marathon)

I knocked up a spreadsheet to figure out what I needed to do and see how much I would need to extend my usual runs, I needed to double my average!

Most of my weekly running is getting to work, so I worked out a slightly longer route and added a few extra weekend runs so that I could make the distance.

Everything went really well, the extended route took me round some beautiful areas.

Week 2 was interrupted by my wedding anniversary, which involved more eating and drinking than running ;) Week 3 was straight back into it.

Week 4 and I could see the light at the end of the tunnel, wind and torrential rain wasn’t going to stop me. Wednesday night and I had just 7 miles left to run, but my route to work was only 5 miles, so I added an extra loop and Boom! done! completed! 100 miles in 4 weeks.

As an added bonus, my average HR dropped 5 beats for the same pace.

The first Ashmei garments I bought were a running tee, vest and gilet.

I was impressed as soon as I took them out of the box, very good quality and they look great.

The very smart looking Gilet is perfect for when you bump into World champion Triathletes ;)

There are loads of clever little design features, which as an engineer, I love.

Such a simple thing that makes a huge difference, a headphone clip! I constantly yank my headphones out of my ears by catching them with my hands or they get pulled out when the cable gets dragged down simply through friction between the movement of my clothing and skin.

Clipped on your back, both issues solved! brilliantly simple.

I have also since bought some shorts, a cycling top, trisuit and the awesome running hoody. Again, attention to the minute details make these garments extra special. The hood on the hoody for example, is a close fitting hood, its a hood you can actually use to keep you warm, no gaps around your face to let in the cold air and its super comfortable.

The other impressive feature is the material, Mario wool and its ability to resist smelling like the inside of a dead badger. All of my other running kit stinks! and I’ve tried everything, washing them with antibacterial washing liquid, rinsing them immediately, nothing worked. Even when I thought they were clean, as soon as you got warmed up, they would get smelly.

Not so with Ashmei, I wear the same running kit all week and its absolutely fine.

Who says its only for running and cycling? Warm and comfortable when wandering up Helvellyn too.

Blurb from Newton

"Born in Boulder, Colorado, the BOCO AT II brings you a piece of the Colorado Mountains wherever your run takes you. The light and level 3mm drop, and multi-directional lugs, will keep you rocking out on even the rockiest of trails. While the landscape may change, the familiar Newton feeling remains the same. Rain, snow, hail and spilled coffee are no match for the durable all-weather upper. It is time to take your Newtons over the river and through the woods."

 Boulder Colorado sounds much nicer than Birmingham England, but, they get their fair share of miserable wet, cold weather too, so I’m looking forward to see if they live up to their claims.

Unmistakably Newton with a hint of trail running.

Upper features

​NEW upper is lightweight, enclosed, and water-resistant for the perfect balance between breathability and durability Closed-mesh upper and gusseted tongue block out dirt and debris No stitch, heat welded overlays Durable rubber toe bumper protects toes from impact on rocks, roots and other trail hazards Reflective heel tab

I’m not sure I agree with the water-resistant statement, the first time I ran trough a tiny, shallow, feeble little puddle, a thimble full of muddy water splashed onto the top of the toe box and instantly soaked through to my toes. Unlike the On Winter edition shoes which are amazingly water proof!

Sole features

​Four-lug Action/Reaction™ Technology in the forefoot for a responsive, resilient ride Multi-directional lugs to provide optimal grip on uneven terrain Biomechanical metatarsal sensor plate Soft, single-density EVA mid sole provides optimal cushioning and comfort ETC anti-friction, anti-bacterial sock liner

As with all modern Newtons, they come with 4 lugs on the mid foot, its the lugs that raise the mid foot, allowing a thicker heel, while still maintaining a 3mm heel drop. There are also an additional two outer lugs, this makes for a very stable platform with plenty of grip.

On wet tarmac though, they are still quite slippery though. Nowhere as bad as the 2016 Newton Distance and way way better than the On Winter addition! The On are lethal when it rains.

Unique features

To make the shoes more weather proof, the tongue has two gussets up the sides, connecting the tongue at the base and both sides, rather than just at the base. Unlike the standard Newton shoes, the tongue is padded, this makes them a little warmer.

Feel

If you have run in Newtons, then you will instantly feel at home in these shoes. As mentioned earlier, the extra outer lugs do seem make them feel more stable under foot.​

Pros

More weather proof than standard newtons

Cons

Not that weather proof ;)

Conclusion ​

At the time of writing this review, I have ran around 70 miles in these shoes. They feel great, they are nice and light and very comfortable. They do keep your feet dryer, just don’t expect them to be water proof.

The sizing is around half a size bigger than the standard Newtons, which leaves room for some thicker winter socks. I had considered buying a half size bigger than my regular shoe, but I’m pleased I didn’t.

​

This is an overlay of Frederik van Lierde and me. We can see that his head is lower, the surface area of the rider facing the air flow is smaller, smaller cross section, smaller amount of drag.

Aligning the saddles (freddie has longer legs than me) and you can really see the difference, my back and head is much higher.

I have two options to get a lower aero tuck position on my bike, I can grow longer legs, or I can lower the aerobars to get my arms and the front of my body lower on the bike. To do this, I needed to change the stem.

As well as lowering the front end, I thought I should go for a more aerodynamic stem. There isn’t a lot of choice for aero stems, Zipp, Pro, 3T and tririg seem to be the only real options. The Pro and Zipp stems are very expensive and the tririg is difficult to get in the UK (also very expensive) Luckily, I found a 3T Integra stem on sale :D

My original stem was 90mm long and angled at -6 degrees.

The Integra is 100mm and -10 degrees. 

This gives a difference in vertical height of 8mm, now that doesn’t really sound like a great deal, but every millimetre counts

Like all performance bike parts, its made from carbon fibre.

Under the aero cover is a simple metal clamp for the base bar. There are no options for internal routing of cables, but thats not an issue, I’m planning on going wireless later.

Together with my 3T aero and base bars, the stem fits in beautifully.

I have fitted the stem at its lowest possible position, giving me an extra 4mm and a total height reduction of 12mm.

This stem is wider and a little chunkier at the front, this means my old bottle cage bracket will not fit, so time for a new one.

Using a sheet of 2mm thick ABS, I fabricated a small bracket to clamp to the steering tube.

I’m not happy with the zip tie, but this is just the prototype.

This was my first open Time Trial, and at a distance of 25 mile, its the same as the bike leg of an Olympic distance triathlon. I’ve only ever raced during a Triathlon, so the first thing I did was strip off some of the triathlon paraphernalia from my TT bike. Without having to swim or run, there is no need to carry and nutrition, so I removed the front and rear bottle cages, I also knocked up a mount for my computer and replaced the bar tape with grippy sand paper (that seems to be what the pro’s are doing)

​The day started off early arriving around an hour before the start of the race. Unlike a big triathlon event, everything was nice and calm, parking was ample (It is a world class GP circuit after all!)  We wandered over to registration to pick up the timing chip, when went out for a warm up (needed that, it was bloody cold!)

Pictures by Aniko Towers

I never thought I would ever get to ride on the Silverstone GP circuit! Awesome

Time for a warm up

After a few laps of the warm up track, I made my way over to the pits ready for the start of my wave.

The track seems tight and twisty when you see it filled with F1 cars, but on a bike, the track is HUGE! Even with 250 people out on the track, there were times I was on my own.

The main straight had a pretty strong headwind, so I experimented a little with really getting into a low aero tuck, to really get my head down and reduce my frontal area as much as possible.

Usually, in a triathlon, there are junctions, traffic lights and tight turns that force you to brake and sit up, but with the track being so wide, I didn’t touch the brakes once! so I was in the aero position and constantly peddling. By the end of the race my neck was killing!

I finished the 25 miles in 01:05:23, not too bad for my first time trial, but room for improvement.

Nutrition - Pre Race

Yogurt, nuts, honey breakfast

Hornet Juice, Primal Pantry bar, Beta-Alenine

Post Race

Whey20, Primal Pantry bar

Kit Used

Huub trisuit

Sugoi RS Ice jersey

Gore gloves and arm warmers

Rudy Project Wing57 aero helmet

Specialized TriVent SC

Cervelo P3, Zipp 808 front and rear

Garmin 520

Blue Seventy race belt

In this age of smart phones, there is always “an app for that” so there is no excuse not to include SC into your training. There are many apps available to help with motivation, instruction and structured training plans.

Every weekday morning at 05:20 am, I do a 30 minute workout using the following apps: -

Monday - Kettlebell

Tuesday - Butt Trainer

Wednesday - Six Pack

Thursday - Kettlebell

Friday - Leg Trainer

You don’t need to go to a gym, you don’t need a lot of expensive equipment, all I use is a yoga mat and 2 kettle bells.

Runtastic

Runtastic (now owned by Adidas) have produced a great set of apps, three of which I’m currently using in my off season training. The apps all upload your workouts to the Runtastic website, where you can log in and track your progress, however, there is limited integration into other platforms. Runtastic does not sync with apple health, garmin connect or strava for example. Only Facebook, Google+, Jawbone up and Myfitness pal will sync with Runtastic.

Back in 2014, I picked up a running injury, I strained my Tibialis Posterior which is the key stabilizing muscle for the lower leg. I used the Leg Trainer app to build up the strength in my legs and once I got back to running I felt so much stronger, it made me a much better runner.

Runtastic - Leg Trainer

When you first us the app, you will start at Level one, which at first is quite easy, but don’t be deceived, it does get every difficult as you move up the levels. You can choose either a male or female trainer, but it makes no difference to the exercises or intensity.

Fire it up and hit go!

During the work out you get an animated trainer showing you how to perform each of the exercises, there are also audio cues with a countdown to start and number of reps.

The Leg Trainer app is a must for runners.

Runtastic - Six Pack

The Six Pack app works in exactly the same way, but the exercises concentrate on your core strength, with plenty of very tough exercises.

I really struggle to complete the reps, this is really difficult. Maybe its just highlighting my weaknesses! I certainly feel the pain with this app and I’ve only just got to level two!!!

Runtastic - Butt Trainer

The Butt Trainer is a good addition to the Leg Trainer, it works on similar areas of your body, but has a different range of exercises. Again, I really recommend this for runners.

With all of these apps, once you have completed all of the levels, you can then go back and do any of the workouts, you can even create your own routines. If I have time for a longer work out, I tend to start with level 1 as a warm up, level 3 as the main set and level 2 as a cool down.

Lolo - KettleBell

Kettle Bells are a great way to get a whole body workout and as we get older, we need to do a lot more lifting, more weight training. Don’t worry, you aren’t going to end up build like power lifter with legs so big that you can only waddle rather than run. To get that big you need hours of intense heavy lifting and maybe some chemical help ;)

A kettle bell workout will help with your overall strength and the extra toned muscle will help with burning away fat.

The Kettlebell app from lolo works much the same as the Runtastic apps, with an animated trainer to show you the moves, audio cues, music, and a training plan. All of the setting are customisable.

Work outs are uploaded to the Lolo site, and this app will sync with apple health.

You can use any weight of kettle bell and the app also gives you the option to use either 1 or 2 kettle bells. Its best to use 2 kettle bells to get the full range of exercises. Unlike the Runtastic apps, the sets are time based rather than number reps, so you can go as slowly or as quickly as you like, although I would recommend trying to keep the same rhythm as the virtual trainer.

If you have a range of kettle bells, you can tailor your workouts further, maybe using heavier kettle bells during a build phase then using lighter ones for maintenance.

But that doesn’t mean our genes dictate what we can and can’t do, we are complex beasts and many things interact to determine our athletic ability.

DNA testing is a way to optomise our training and diet based on our genes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avrom_Lasarow

“DNAFit is a UK based company, founded in 2013 by Avrom Lasarow. DNAFit,  has now become a recognised global trademark that is associated to the world of genetics and fitness. The company DNAFit Limited since its inception has achieved global media coverage mainly for assisting athletes to tap into their genetic potential and use the power of their genetics to get performance gains naturally. The company also successfully assisted leading international players prior to the world cup 2015 to include Bryan Ruiz, Glen Johnson and Georgio Karagounis. DNAFit is also being used in a lottery-funded pilot project in Essex to help obese people lose weight. A growing business, DNAFit has recently won Market Gravity Innovation Award at 2015 Lloyds UK National Business Awards”

There are a large selection of packages to choose from at various price points. You can choose from a basic diet report, right through to a full diet and fitness report.

The Test Kit

The test kit arrived within a few days and comes in a very snazzy box.

Pull the tab on the right hand side and the “drawer” opens on the left.

This contains the cheek swab, sample tube and a silica capsule which you pop in the sample tube to keep it all dry.

The right hand side has the introductions, bar codes and a free post envelope for sending the sample back to DNAFit.

Taking the sample is really easy. First thing in the morning, before eating or brushing your teeth, you take the swab and rub it around the inside of your cheek for about a minute, then you pop the swab in the collection tube, snap off the end of the swab, pop in the silica capsule, then screw on the cap. The last step is to apply the supplied bar code, put the sample in the pre-paid envelope and drop it in the neared postbox.

Then try to wait patiently for the results.

The Results

After around two weeks, I received the email notification! the results were in!!

The “Fitness and Diet pro” results start with the info-graphic report, this gives a summary of the results with easy to understand descriptions.

Next up is the individual reports for Diet and Fitness. These PDF reports go into more detail, giving your actual gene variations and a more in depth explanation of how these variations effect you.

Excerpt from the Fitness report on Understanding Genetics

The DNAFit Premium report is designed for people of any fitness level. Whether you are an absolute beginner just wanting to train the best way for your body, a personal trainer keen to offer the very best service to your clients, or a professional athlete seeking that extra edge, our report can help you. WHAT ARE GENES? A gene is a segment of the DNA (short for deoxyribonucleic acid) molecule that contains the instructions for how, when and where your body makes each of the many thousands of proteins required for life. Each gene is comprised of thousands of combinations of four letters that make up your genetic code: A, T, C, and G. Each gene’s code combines these “letters” in various ways, spelling out the “words” that specify which amino acid is needed at every step in the process of making the proteins required for your body to develop and function. Increasingly, your genes can also tell you whether you are predisposed to specific health risks. WHAT ARE GENE VARIATIONS? With the exception of identical twins, all people have small differences in the information that their DNA contains and it’s these differences that make each of us unique. Gene variations are slight changes in the genetic code that are present in at least one percent of the population. For example - one genetic “letter” (A, T, C, or G) may be replaced by another. These variations can lead to different processes in the body, just as altering one letter in a word can completely change its meaning. When the variation affects only one genetic letter, as in the goat/coat example above, it is called a “single nucleotide polymorphism” (or SNP, pronounced “snip”). ARE GENE VARIATIONS “BAD”? For a given population, one genetic code for a gene may be found more frequently than other genetic codes for that same gene. The genetic codes for those genes that appear less frequently are referred to as “variants”. Variations should not be thought of as “good” or “bad,” rather genetic variations are simply the differences in the forms of the genes present in our bodies. The key is to know which form of the gene you carry, so that you can make the right exercise, dietary and lifestyle choices to reduce your health risks. WHAT IS NUTRIGENETICS? Nutrigenetics is concerned with the effects of our individual genetic variations in response to our diet, exercise and lifestyle, all of which can cause the genes to be “expressed” in a positive or negative way. Nutrigenetics testing enables us to identify where we are on our journey towards achieving our individual, optimal health potential.

Still want more? Then you head to the DNAFit website and log in.

Here, you can download your PDF reports, but you can also look at the online version of your report.

This goes into even greater detail on your genes, showing the differences between the specific gene variations.

Each page highlights a topic, eg “Aerobic Potential”, “Carbohydrate Sensitivity” and shows all the genes that effect, for example, your Anti-Oxidant Need. On each page is also a forum where you can ask questions on your results.

Once you start digging deeper, prepare yourself to spend going deeper down the rabbit hole, its fascinating!

Online (and if your package includes it) you also have access to the Olympian Benchmark where you can compare your results with a few Olympic Athletes who have also taken the test.

What did I learn?

I’m still digging through the results, I’m studying a different area each week to get a better understanding of how I can apply the results to my training, diet and lifestyle.

Some observations I have made so far: -

Diet -

Low Carb

Increase -

Folic Acid Vit B6 & B12 Antioxidants Calcium Omega 3 (fish, kale, spinach, algae) Fibre Monounsaturated Fatty Acids = 15% total calories(avocados, olives, almonds, peanuts, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts, pecans, cashews) Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids = 12% total calories

Decrease -

Salt Caffeine Saturated Fats (coconut, burgers) MAX 8% Refined carbs / sugars MAX 6% Grilled/smoked meat

Exercise -

More strength and conditioning

Its really fascinating and in some ways the results have confirmed what I already knew about myself, which is a good feeling. I’ve never been a fan of long endurance races and I always perform better quickly over a short distance, my genes confirmed this. I also know that carbs have a devastating effect on my weight, I can pile on the kilos if I eat lots of carbs.