What should i be eating?

npowell28

I'm sure this question has been asked a few times before but i need some advice on what people eat when they ride. I commute to work 17 miles each way. I find that in the mornings i am fine and don't need breakfast before i leave. However after a days work i often find that my energy levels just suddenly drop and i can be left with no energy at all. I do watch what i eat and try to keep to 1500 calories a day. Oh i'm trying to lose another 20lbs before the summer(already lost that amount since January).

Can anyone suggest what i should eat during the day to give me the energy to get home and also assist with my goal of losing another 20lbs.

Thanks in advance.

Jamey

Plenty of suggestions on here:
http://thisiswhyyourefat.com/

always_tyred

You will be burning about 1000 calories just by cycling. I think being comatose uses about 1000 calories over a 24 hour period. I assume you would therefore burn a few more than that being awake.

Your maths doesn't add up.

You could be encouraging your body to digest muscle (which it will do in preference to using up vital fat stores, when deprived of food). You may find, if you take advice, that you would be better off in the longer term consuming nearer 2500-3000 of the right sort of calories. This would encourage your body to get rid of the fat and build/repair muscle.

For info - concentration camp rations were about 1500 calories a day.

npowell28

Yeah sorry forgot to mention. I checked out how many calories i should be having a day via a toolkit on the internet. I should eat 2200 a day to survive. I tend to try and get a calorie deficit each day of 700 to 1500 using the following formula:-

Calories consumed - daily allowance(eg 2200) - calories used in exercise

so for example 3000 consumed - daily allowance of 2200 - calories used(2 x rides approx 800) = a deficit of 800 calories.

This is an example sometimes the figures change but there is almost always a deficit. Rarely i ever go over.

always_tyred

npowell28 wrote:

Yeah sorry forgot to mention. I checked out how many calories i should be having a day via a toolkit on the internet. I should eat 2200 a day to survive. I tend to try and get a calorie deficit each day of 700 to 1500 using the following formula:-

Calories consumed - daily allowance(eg 2200) - calories used in exercise

so for example 3000 consumed - daily allowance of 2200 - calories used(2 x rides approx 800) = a deficit of 800 calories.

This is an example sometimes the figures change but there is almost always a deficit. Rarely i ever go over.

Good news. This will help the prevention of coma.

salsajake

You can't ride 34 miles a day on 1500 calories and not eat anything else without becoming ill. Once your body starts eating your muscles you won't feel very good at all. All things in moderation, 2500 calories and 34 miles a day and you will still lose weight. I am not losing weight, but ride the same commute and need to eat like a horse to keep going!

npowell28

salsajake wrote:

You can't ride 34 miles a day on 1500 calories and not eat anything else without becoming ill. Once your body starts eating your muscles you won't feel very good at all. All things in moderation, 2500 calories and 34 miles a day and you will still lose weight. I am not losing weight, but ride the same commute and need to eat like a horse to keep going!

I appreciate the above and i did correct myself showing the equation i use. I really wanted to know what sort of foods people eat to give them energy.

Rich158

Anything with a low GI. I find rice and pasta are good, in fact any starchy carbs work for me, and if I don't have any in my evening meal I feel it the next day. Plenty of fruit, and weetabix in the mornings with milk and honey keeps me going through the day, if I don't eat after riding I suffer from increasing muscle soreness through the day.

salsajake

sorry, yes I see what you mean now! I ride 35 miles, same as you, have a couple of slices of toast with jam, or a bowl of cereal and some toast, or whatever is kicking about, porridge etc - basically, a normal breakfast. When I get in, I have half a handful of nuts, then through the day usually 2 bits of fruit, a tupperware container full of last nights leftovers (pasta/cottage pie etc - yum), or 2 rounds of very fat filled sandwiches or a full baguette(basically quite a large lunch), a yoghurt or mullerrice, packet of crisps, chocolate bar and some milky drinks. Don't have it all at once though, spread it through the day and have a decent eat an hour or so before you go (thats normally fruit and chocolate time). Then when I get home, usually a glass of mars milk and 2 slices of toast, then a nice big meal, then maybe something else to snack on at supper. To lose the weight I would remove the crisps and chocolate in the day and the supper and maybe have another 2 pieces of fruit in the day?

As long as you keep yourself just topped up (and stay off the ale!), you will struggle to put weight on at 34 miles a day I reckon

linsen

Since I started cycling seriously, I have been able to eat what I like and still lose / not gain weight... Takes a few months to kick in though.

IMO, 1500 cals a day with your level of activity will send your body into panic mode and it will store everything.......

DonDaddyD

I'm still trying to find a balance on my daily intake. I eat healthy but not sure if I'm eating enough of it because I don't think I'm actually loosing or gaining weight.

I'm told I eat a lot anyway.

symo

Woth my weights and Yoga and Turbo trainer sessions i need to consume loads or I feel weak and hungry all the bloody time.