food an performance

Stumpjumper25

Hi,
I was wondering what food other ladies eat before a ride?.
The reason why i ask is i find i perform better in the morning an after eating more protien than carbs. As carbs make me feel heavy some times bloated. Anyway---
On sunday after a good cooked breakfast i found that i kept up with the guy's on the climbs, where i am normaly at the half way when they are at the top,And i kept a good pace.
Yet yesterday i had cereal & yogurt for breakfast, then a sandwich for lunch. Went out with mate around 2pm an felt crap struggled up a couple of the hills, my pace had dropped a bit.
I know it was maybe because i had'nt eaten enough.
Have any of you noticed the differance on performance after you've eat certain foods?.

MrsMoo

Hi Stumpjumper.
Yep I think food definately has an impact on performance. I've only been into mtbing for 3 months now so have a lot to learn and am trying to get fitter, but have noticed that I what eat the day before a ride makes a difference... I find that if i've eaten loads of junk food the day before, then i usually feel less energetic and tire more the next day, but if i eat well the day before then i have a bit more energy. But I guess a good breakfast also helps too, trouble is i'm rubbish at eating breakfast as don't usually feel very hungry early on, so haven't figured out what I can eat yet that I can stomach and will be good for me. I love a full english breakfast but couldn't face cooking/eating one early in the morning! Usually just end up forcing myself to eat some malt loaf and a banana which i guess is better than nothing.

Any tips from anyone on good stuff to eat would be appreciated !

The Northern Monkey

Hey guys,

have a read of the mountain biking diets thread... might help a bit

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12631060

hearndenemma

Hi

yes i am at my best 1-2 hours after eating high protein foods! also feel great afterwards especially if followed by protein snack 1 hour after finished any sport not just mtb. There is science involved in this but can't explain that sorry! its great you kept up with the guys...

Stumpjumper25

Hi All,
Thanks for the replies, well it seems that protein is the way. Yes there is science involved but like you Hearndenemma i can't explain. :?

Since i've been taking thyroine i have to wait 30 mins to a hr before i can eat anything. So by the time i've waited i'm ready for food lol. I've never been a big potato,pasta,rice,bread fan i can go for wks without touching bread.

I do use protein recovery shakes after any sort of training.
I'm just getting into jogging, no good at it at the min but am hoping it will help .

Mrs Toast

I did read that carb-loading isn't as useful for woman as it is for men, and that we process energy from sugar more efficiently than men. So I have a large quantity of cake and chocolate before a ride. And during the ride. Post recovery, I favour cake and biscuits.

Stumpjumper25

If i was to eat cake an chocolate i'd be to big to get onto me bike

MrsMoo

Mrs Toast wrote:

I did read that carb-loading isn't as useful for woman as it is for men, and that we process energy from sugar more efficiently than men. So I have a large quantity of cake and chocolate before a ride. And during the ride. Post recovery, I favour cake and biscuits.

mmmmm liking the approach Mrs Toast... chocolate, cake & biscuits Sounds good ha ha

miss notax

MrsMoo wrote:

Mrs Toast wrote:

I did read that carb-loading isn't as useful for woman as it is for men, and that we process energy from sugar more efficiently than men. So I have a large quantity of cake and chocolate before a ride. And during the ride. Post recovery, I favour cake and biscuits.

mmmmm liking the approach Mrs Toast... chocolate, cake & biscuits Sounds good ha ha

Yup - I like this logic too

Anonymous

I always feel flaky after a few hours if I'm doing a big ride, but haven't fueled up the day before on pasta, or some other carb-rich food.

thighsofsteel

You're right, women don't process carbs the way men do so actually carb-loading for women is pretty pointless...

Couldn't help but reply to this thread as I have fuelling issues on a regular basis and it's taken me 6 months to sort it out! I'm an ex-footballer and always found i needed to eat at half-time just to get through 45 minutes of intense running, but struggled to eat anything too heavy pre-match... However with cycling i seem to be different as i guess there's less 'jiggling' of the stomach area?

Anyway, i've finally discovered that protein is 100% the way forward for me - carbs leave me feeling bloated and then I'm hungry again an hour into the ride. But the other week i had a big pile of scrambled egg on wholemeal toast with baked beans, and i was flying! Sugar helps too though and I had Haribo for along the ride as i found i still needed the odd sugar boost.

I seem to burn through food very quickly so carbs are blddy useless whereas protein supplemented by sweets seems to work.

supersonic

There is plenty of carbs in that meal too though!