What to Eat and When

richard36

Hi

I would appreciate some advice.

I'm trying to build up my fitness. During the winter I mainly spent time in the gym on the treadmill. I've now switched to cycling. I'm using a mtb with slicks and at the moment I'm doing one or two 20 mile rides a week. It takes me about 1 hour 25 mins to do 20 miles.

I've read lots of posts about what to eat and when but most of it seems to apply to folk who are doing more regular and longer rides than I am and therefore it probably doesn't apply to my situation.

I am slightly overweight so apart from building up my fitness I also want to lose some weight.

Also I want to gradually increase the length of the rides though I doubt I'll be able to increase the number of times I go out so it will be 2 times a week.

Please let me know whether I should be eating anything 'special' before during and after the ride. I don't want to start buying special energy bars or sports drinks and if I should be eating anything special then I would like it to be 'normal' food like bananas, dates, bread, pasta etc.

It may be that for the moment I just stick to my normal diet but make sure I drink water during the ride. If that is so at what point do I start paying attention to what I eat and when?

Sorry for the long post and thanks for any replies.

Richard

ut_och_cykla

Richard - I don't think you need to worry about more food - especially as you want to lose weight, but you might want to think about food quality - not too much fat , plenty of carbs and some quality protein and timing of food intake.

In real life this might mean splitting some of your meals (like an evening 'dinner') into to smaller parts either side of cycling. eg banana & yoghurt or homemade smoothie before riding, then some grilled chicken/turkey/ fish with potatoes etc afterwards. This allows you to train hard without a full stomach to make you puke, and tops up on most things directly after execising.
obviuosly you need to find what suits you best.
Once you start riding for 2 hours or more ( or less if youride very hard) you'll benefit from having some food with you - bananas, dates, jam sarnie etc - easily digested and eaten on the bikeif you can is the key.

But from personal expereince its easy to eat too much - well I've been cycling for 3 hours- but its the little extras that keep the weight on. Eat healthily, watch portion sizes, skip the fatty/sugary snacks.

richard36

Thanks for that - very helpful

Richard

eh

Yep I agree with the advice above. To be honest even if you ride for hours on end there really is no need to buy special energy products, "proper" food like bananas, simple sandwiches etc. all work well to provide energy. Until pretty recently these were what the pros were using as food (in fact some still do to some degree).

Always take water on anything lasting over an hour.

jonginge

Bananas are the food of the gods! Cheap and come with their own packaging I generally take 2 on club runs (3-4 hours, low-mid intensity)

ut_och_cykla wrote:

But from personal expereince its easy to eat too much - well I've been cycling for 3 hours- but its the little extras that keep the weight on. Eat healthily, watch portion sizes, skip the fatty/sugary snacks.

Cortisol released during exercise triggers appetite so it's easy to pig out after returning from rides. Make sure there are no muffins in the house before going on your rides That said, replace some carbs and a bit of protein (eg nuts) soon after getting in. Then have a reasonable meal a couple of hours later