Rehydration

sarajoy

Well I wasn't so keen on the crazy coloured drinks anyway..!

Yeah. I really ought to get my act together. Well once I get this routine under way (see 'default option' thread) I should be able to make sure I stock up on stuff to eat post-ride midweek and fill my desk drawers.

So, then, on a distinct tangent to the thread title - what's a good mini-breakfast to have on arrival, that doesn't require refrigeration or heating?
-- Banananas
-- Flapjacks?
-- Or..?

snooks

Headhuunter wrote:

sarajoy wrote:

snooks wrote:

Just a quick thought...are you eating when you get to work?

You should be eating something after your commute as well

Well, aye, disorganised as I am, I don't always managed to have some food ready to eat once I arrive. Which is indeed a bit rubbish.

Banananananas. Must buy some tonight.

That could be the root of your headaches then, lack of food. An 8 mile commute will drain your reserves and you need to top up! Especially in the morning. Sounds like you just need to eat properly rather than consume Powerade and other over priced energy drinks....

I have breakfast at work, I might have a banana at home before I set off, but my work does a good breakfast bar...so I just go for a bowl of porridge, take it to my desk and top it off with honey and mixed fruit

I don't tend to drink while I'm commuting at the moment...I used to cycle 13 miles into work and could do that without drinking in the winter...in the summer I had a camelpak.

Now I'm down to 7 miles I just take 1/2 a bottle of water if that...I don't often get time to drink it so I'll drink before I leave, and when I arrive... the way I see it is there's no point in having a light bike if you're then going to stick 750g to a kilogramme of excess weight (water) on it

davmaggs

It could well be a lack of food causing the headaches.

I have to say that as far as hydration goes it seems to be the marketing industry that has convinced people to go for a jogs clutching circular bottles when they're only going to be out for a few minutes. It takes quite a while to become dehydrated and it's unlikely a short commute would do it in this weather. Also a lot of myths about tea/coffee so you will see office workers carrying bottled water around as it they are in the desert.

One thing I would add is that each person is very different so you can't always compare yourself. It's something you have to play about with. Also I've found that my metabolism has changed over the years. From barely needing to eat, I now need good food levels before or after exercise to avoid feeling sick.

PS I've had water intoxification, a two-day comma and do not recommend it.

Headhuunter

sarajoy wrote:

Well I wasn't so keen on the crazy coloured drinks anyway..!

Yeah. I really ought to get my act together. Well once I get this routine under way (see 'default option' thread) I should be able to make sure I stock up on stuff to eat post-ride midweek and fill my desk drawers.

So, then, on a distinct tangent to the thread title - what's a good mini-breakfast to have on arrival, that doesn't require refrigeration or heating?
-- Banananas
-- Flapjacks?
-- Or..?

I would say something like a healthy cereal with yoghurt (not the stuff with tonnes of added sugar), may be mixed with a sliced banana (you seem keen on them!) or other fruit, or if you haven't got fresh fruit, keep a stock of dried fruit and nuts/seeds at work and mix them in or snack on them through the morning.

You know, it's the usual healthy stuff really! Avoid refined sugar products which have a high GI and will give you a rush of energy followed by a crash, or simply make you fat. Low GI food as above will release the energy more slowly.

I tend to cycle (or run) to work after a glug of water (6 miles) and eat 4 slices of wholemeal toast when I arrived (I find I don't need to eat before the commute), then snack on dried fruit and nuts through the morning. Lunch something salad-y usually, then bowl of cereal mid arvo and then something with a pile of veggies in the evening. Something along those lines anyway.

benno68

Headhuunter wrote:

I seriously doubt sports drinks are necessary for an 8 mile commute. I would follow the previous advice by drinking more water through the day and before you set off. If you set off 1st thing in the morning perhaps you should have something small to eat before you head out on the commute, something with a low GI index like porridge oats, or dried fruit. Not too much but enough to put a little energy into your system

I agree with this, porridge is the way to go - with a bit of dried fruit to add some interest to it. Couple of decent sized glasses of water before you leave and a banana and more water at the end to get you through to lunch time.

sarajoy

Humm, wish I liked porridge...

I'll find something I'm sure, will go on a mission tonight to the supermarket to stock up my desk tomorrow for Thurs/Fri and see if I manage to avoid the fuzzy head!

Headhuunter

sarajoy wrote:

Humm, wish I liked porridge...

I'll find something I'm sure, will go on a mission tonight to the supermarket to stock up my desk tomorrow for Thurs/Fri and see if I manage to avoid the fuzzy head!

Also make sure you give it a good go. If you've been eating unhealthily/very little in the past, try to find some healthy stuff that you like and stick with those things. You won't see instant results, your body'll take a bit of time to adjust to the new diet. Hopefully after a few weeks the headaches will have gone and you'll even be cycling faster as your body will have decent energy reserves. Also cut back on coffee and tea, or at least don't drink alongside healthy stuff - both inhibit the uptake of a number of vits and minerals like iron, vit C and some of the B vits. Don't drink tea or coffee at least 30 mins before and after a meal.

sarajoy

Oh, I will do, promise.

I'm not incredibly unhealthy (I realise how it looks...), as I REALLY enjoy a good salad, love my banananas and satsumamas, and generally behave myself. However, breakfast is just something I have never been good at. Have always preferred to spend the extra 15 mins in bed!

Coffee only happens twice a day, 10am and 2pm (ish), and even then only a fairly weak milky one.

itboffin

2 - 3 mugs of fresh coffee first thing, then a glass of OJ, a pint of water before the ride and about 1 x 750ml bottle of sports drink for every hour of x hard riding, when I get home another couple of coffees (proper coffee) inhale as much food as is available then proceed to drink myself to sleep.

I really need to find a job :oops:

Edit: if I only had coffee twice a day :shock: I would quite literally kill people :evil:

Headhuunter

sarajoy wrote:

Oh, I will do, promise.

I'm not incredibly unhealthy (I realise how it looks...), as I REALLY enjoy a good salad, love my banananas and satsumamas, and generally behave myself. However, breakfast is just something I have never been good at. Have always preferred to spend the extra 15 mins in bed!

Coffee only happens twice a day, 10am and 2pm (ish), and even then only a fairly weak milky one.

OK, doesn't sound like you're too far gone then! I'm not a doctor or a nuritionist BTW, so feel free to seek advice from other people, these are just my thoughts and things that seem to keep me healthy

Headhuunter

itboffin wrote:

2 - 3 mugs of fresh coffee first thing, then a glass of OJ, a pint of water before the ride and about 1 x 750ml bottle of sports drink for every hour of x hard riding, when I get home another couple of coffees (proper coffee) inhale as much food as is available then proceed to drink myself to sleep.

I really need to find a job :oops:

Edit: if I only had coffee twice a day :shock: I would quite literally kill people :evil:

If you drank less coffee you probably wouldn't need the alcohol to make you sleep! And if you're asleep you can't kill people....

sarajoy

Sometimes common sense is all I need to hear, Headhunter

ITB blimmin' ell, if you can do that without keeling over with crazy headaches, I must be able to sort myself out..!!

CiB

sarajoy wrote:

So, then, on a distinct tangent to the thread title - what's a good mini-breakfast to have on arrival, that doesn't require refrigeration or heating?
-- Banananas
-- Flapjacks?
-- Or..?

Couple of weetabix or porridge if it's cold + a coffee before setting off, and a bowl of muesli stuff after recovery once in the office, then normal 2-3-4 tea or coffee through the day plus fruit & whatever else I've brought in as a normal lunch, gets me through the day and back home. I' found a packet of Morrisons finest budget muesli [floor sweepings and rabbit droppings included in there if I'm not much mistaken] which cost 58p that looks like it'll last a good couple of months. Milk is already available here. In reality tho I wouldn't think that 8 miles even allowing for the hills down there should be that much of a drain on resources. Is your diet otherwise healthy? Presumably you're not lining on KFC, McDonalds & Wickd Blue in between cycling to work...

Headhuunter

sarajoy wrote:

Sometimes common sense is all I need to hear, Headhunter

ITB blimmin' ell, if you can do that without keeling over with crazy headaches, I must be able to sort myself out..!!

Well good luck with it! Let us know how it all goes!

benno68

Throlkim wrote:

I drink an absolute ton of apple & blackcurrant squash every day. I get through a bottle of Robinson's every 2 days (which probably isn't a great habit). It's excellent at keeping you going though, and it's nice for riding.
On a reasonable day at home I'd say I'm drinking upwards of 10-15 pints of squash/tea/cider. But that's what seems right for me, I wouldn't go recommending that to everyone else!

I also quite like that orange Powerade. Doesn't taste bad, seems to work.
Also, tea and coffee are diuretics, but you still gain more liquids from a cup than you lose due to the increased...uh...toileting.

QI said so!

Jeepers Throlkim - you must be pi$$ing like a race horse after all that!!!

itboffin

sarajoy wrote:

Sometimes common sense is all I need to hear, Headhunter

ITB blimmin' ell, if you can do that without keeling over with crazy headaches, I must be able to sort myself out..!!

All the "voices" drown out the headaches :twisted:

sarajoy

ChrisInBicester wrote:

In reality tho I wouldn't think that 8 miles even allowing for the hills down there should be that much of a drain on resources. Is your diet otherwise healthy? Presumably you're not lining on KFC, McDonalds & Wickd Blue in between cycling to work...

Well, fairly healthy - I don't eat a huge amount, though. And it may be that other things are at work in me, setting me off-kilter.

See I have PCOS (google it for more detail) which in some cases - including mine - manages to make it very easy to put on weight and end up obese (as I was, in 2006/7). Somehow it links itself to insulin resistance, not entirely sure how or if it's connected to the increased testosterone - but you end up in a spiralling upward vicious cycle of weight gain. I ate relatively little but the body didn't 'see' the insulin, so instead of converting it all to energy, it got stored away as fat.

Anyway since then I got put on a drug called metformin (commonly taken by type-II diabetics, which is where I was headed had it not been diagnosed), which somehow sensitised the body to insulin again, and allowed me to actually use more of the energy I was eating - and further - burn off more and lose some of the fat reserves.

Since then I've managed to find a balance and have stopped taking the metformin - BUT I wonder if maybe I've shot myself in the foot. Despite now managing to keep my weight in balance, even losing pounds very slowly (not yet hit my soft target of BMI 25), maybe I'm still more insulin-resistant than I think, and not allowing enough energy-throughput.

Interesting. Hadn't really thought about that until now.

Throlkim

Benno68 wrote:

Throlkim wrote:

I drink an absolute ton of apple & blackcurrant squash every day. I get through a bottle of Robinson's every 2 days (which probably isn't a great habit). It's excellent at keeping you going though, and it's nice for riding.
On a reasonable day at home I'd say I'm drinking upwards of 10-15 pints of squash/tea/cider. But that's what seems right for me, I wouldn't go recommending that to everyone else!

I also quite like that orange Powerade. Doesn't taste bad, seems to work.
Also, tea and coffee are diuretics, but you still gain more liquids from a cup than you lose due to the increased...uh...toileting.

QI said so!

Jeepers Throlkim - you must be pi$$ing like a race horse after all that!!!

I like to think of it as efficient!

lost_in_thought

I try to make myself drink at least 2 litres of water a day, and about 2 litres of tea, this seems to be plenty.

However, whilst in Australia, I was getting through about 5 litres of water a day, before tea...

I realise, by the way, that tea is not as hydrating as water, but I do drink it black, which I understand helps.

Headhuunter

lost_in_thought wrote:

I try to make myself drink at least 2 litres of water a day, and about 2 litres of tea, this seems to be plenty.

However, whilst in Australia, I was getting through about 5 litres of water a day, before tea...

I realise, by the way, that tea is not as hydrating as water, but I do drink it black, which I understand helps.

Tea is even better green. Lots of plant polyphenols and catechins which are lost in oxidisation to make black tea (ie the usual Typhoo, PG etc). Better still, make green tea with water below boiling point. Boiling green tea actually eliminates a lot of the beneficial minerals.

lost_in_thought

Headhuunter wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

I try to make myself drink at least 2 litres of water a day, and about 2 litres of tea, this seems to be plenty.

However, whilst in Australia, I was getting through about 5 litres of water a day, before tea...

I realise, by the way, that tea is not as hydrating as water, but I do drink it black, which I understand helps.

Tea is even better green. Lots of plant polyphenols and catechins which are lost in oxidisation to make black tea (ie the usual Typhoo, PG etc). Better still, make green tea with water below boiling point. Boiling green tea actually eliminates a lot of the beneficial minerals.

That IS interesting.... I drink green tea, Jasmine tea, funny tea from singapore... but hadn't heard about the water below boiling point thing...

Headhuunter

lost_in_thought wrote:

Headhuunter wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

I try to make myself drink at least 2 litres of water a day, and about 2 litres of tea, this seems to be plenty.

However, whilst in Australia, I was getting through about 5 litres of water a day, before tea...

I realise, by the way, that tea is not as hydrating as water, but I do drink it black, which I understand helps.

Tea is even better green. Lots of plant polyphenols and catechins which are lost in oxidisation to make black tea (ie the usual Typhoo, PG etc). Better still, make green tea with water below boiling point. Boiling green tea actually eliminates a lot of the beneficial minerals.

That IS interesting.... I drink green tea, Jasmine tea, funny tea from singapore... but hadn't heard about the water below boiling point thing...

A lot of minerals and vitamins are very susceptible to damage from heat, hence the raw food movement. However some vegetables like carrots and leafy greens are actually better steamed for a short time, or juiced, as they have very tough cell walls which the human digestive system is unable to break down, steaming actually weakens these cell walls releasing the vits.