The Jelly Wobbles

stuj15

You know the feeling, you just can't eek out anymore effort, you feel faint, your hands are shaking and you're coming out in cold sweats. Please tell me I'm not alone?

I've started getting these on the commute, it's probably happened only 20 or so times in the last few years but has happened more often in the last month or so. I haven't changed my diet in this time, still consuming the same amount of calories in the day - sometimes I'll have an afternoon banana but will always have a High-5 drink before leaving work. It can happen halfway home or towards the end (16 mile commute), like tonight.

It's not the first time I've had them in my life either, I first remember getting them at around 10 years old while playing football/cricket/rubgy etc over the park. The doctors at the time put it down to growing pains and I continued to get them every now and then throughout my teens.

All the way to my late 20's I had a very active sports life playing inline and ice hockey and didn't have any other issues with this - until I got on the bike seriously 3 years ago. At first, while trying to get used to the commute I put it down to being unfit but 2 serious years of commuting I'd like to think I'm over that now and might have to start taking this seriously... :oops:

Could it be too much High-5 drink before the ride? Obviously I didn't have this type of drink when I was young, but maybe there is a link to some sugary drinks that I no doubt shoved down my neck in the Eighties.

Any one else get this? I should probably lay off the drink to see if it helps.

bails87

It's a 'bonk', your blood sugar is too low.

Eat more, or eat better stuff before setting out on a ride. No idea why it would suddenly get worse though.

I used to have them fairly regularly, but now when I'm cycling to/from work (15-20 miles depending on route) I make sure I eat a banana before I set off on my way home, and always have another one in my bag. If I start to feel like I need some sugar I have it while I'm riding and it staves off the bonk.

skinnypunter

hmmm, if it was me, I'd amble down to the quack and have a chat.

But...

Is this happening on your rides to AND from work?
Do you have some sort of proper breakfast before you go to work / eat a decent balanced lunch?
Don't rely on High-5: try something else, as you may find that a plain banana / pocket full of sultanas is better suited to you.

RowCycle

I get it, I also wondered if it was something related to too much sugar, then as the body tries to control the blood sugar it made it go the other way.

Maybe replace the energy drink with something with a lower GI index?

kelsen

More than likely what bails87 said. You're probably getting a sugar spike from the High 5 then it quickly wears off. Have you tried a more substantial snack than a banana in the afternoon? Maybe a sandwich or cereal bar an hour before heading home.

Edit: Have you had a checkup for diabetes, anemia or low blood pressure?

davis

Aye. I'd go for more complicated-to-digest food (porridge, cereals, pasta. quite a lot of beige food) rather than the simple sugars.
I suspect you're just burning through the simple sugars like a hot cat through butter, then effectively crashing. A whacking headache would be another clue.

stuj15

bails87 wrote:

It's a 'bonk', your blood sugar is too low.

Eat more, or eat better stuff before setting out on a ride. No idea why it would suddenly get worse though.

See I was thinking (read hoping) this but because I pretty much each the same thing everyday at work I couldn't see how this would affect me.

skinnypunter wrote:

Is this happening on your rides to AND from work?

Nope, just riding home. I don't actually have anything in the morning. Just a quick pint of water fill up the water bottle and off I go - Porridge and a Protein shake when I get to work.

I'm going to go without the drink for a couple of weeks, see how it goes.

davis

stuj15 wrote:

I'm going to go without the drink for a couple of weeks, see how it goes.

Don't just drop the drink. Eat more, too.

bails87

stuj15 wrote:

skinnypunter wrote:

Is this happening on your rides to AND from work?

Nope, just riding home. I don't actually have anything in the morning. Just a quick pint of water fill up the water bottle and off I go - Porridge and a Protein shake when I get to work.

I'm going to go without the drink for a couple of weeks, see how it goes.

I was the same, I could wake up, have pretty much no breakfast and I'd be able to ride to work fine. I guess due to digesting my dinner overnight, so having a store of energy ready to go.

On the way home you've been doing stuff all day, so, from the sounds of it, burning off all the calories you've taken in. Like I said, the banana 45 mins before setting out, and an occasional handful of dried fruit and nuts tends to keep me going. If it's really serious I'll also have my 'backup' banana and after 10 minutes I'll suddenly start to feel alright again.

Have you been losing weight? Could it be that you'd been running on empty, so you'd been burning off fat reserves, but now you've not got much fat left, so you just run out of energy instead.

EDIT: also, what do you eat during the day?

stuj15

kelsen wrote:

Have you tried a more substantial snack than a banana in the afternoon? Maybe a sandwich or cereal bar an hour before heading home.

Edit: Have you had a checkup for diabetes, anemia or low blood pressure?

I'll give this a go, cheers.

Not had a checkup for diabetes or anemia. I know my blood pressure is pretty spot on though due to me being on the Anthony Nolan register and had a possible match earlier in the year.

Davis wrote:

Don't just drop the drink. Eat more, too.

I don't think that's physically possible during the day at the moment but is obviously my bodies way of telling me something isn't right.

Thanks for the replies.

skinnypunter

stuj15 wrote:

Nope, just riding home. I don't actually have anything in the morning. Just a quick pint of water fill up the water bottle and off I go - Porridge and a Protein shake when I get to work.

Bloody hell! No brekkie before a ride? This is sort of adding up - you're not balancing your intake and output effectively by starting the day with an energy debt.

Would heartily recommend that you try eating something before your ride, and have a good look at what you're eating during the day - like the others are saying.

Basic rule - some form of carbs before & during the ride (with good hydration), and protein after for recovery.

msmancunia

Try eating slow release carbs rather than the fast ones. So that's brown bread, jacket potatoes, cereal bars, flapjacks, malt loaf, rather than the refined sugars in white bread, white pasta, haribo etc. These give you a quick burst of energy and then drop, so your blood sugar plummets. The slow release ones give you a more regular feed of sugar as they take longer to digest. Look up low-gi foods on the net - you'd be surprised at some of them. Mashed potato is one of the worst, for example.

bails87

skinnypunter wrote:

stuj15 wrote:

Nope, just riding home. I don't actually have anything in the morning. Just a quick pint of water fill up the water bottle and off I go - Porridge and a Protein shake when I get to work.

Bloody hell! No brekkie before a ride? This is sort of adding up - you're not balancing your intake and output effectively by starting the day with an energy debt.

Just remembered, when I'm biking in the next day, I'll have a bowl of 'tropical fruit oat crunch' cereal (essentially cold, crunchy porridge) right before going to bed. It means I can have a lighter breakfast but still have plenty of energy ready to be used.

skinnypunter

bails87 wrote:

I'll have a bowl of 'tropical fruit oat crunch' cereal

My kid picks all the tropical fruit out of that so I get left with some sort of hamster food and dust...

walkingbootweather

The guys have said it all. We've all bonked but usually there is a reason why - haven't eaten or drunk properly or overdone the exercise. If it is happening more frequently or without good reason I get yourself checked out to rule out things like diabetes. If it i very recent then you might have some sort of virus.

Hope you are feeling better soon.

bails87

skinnypunter wrote:

bails87 wrote:

I'll have a bowl of 'tropical fruit oat crunch' cereal

My kid picks all the tropical fruit out of that so I get left with some sort of hamster food and dust...

Wouldn't it be easier to buy them a bag of dried pineapple/papaya/banana?!

Or a hamster.

skinnypunter

bails87 wrote:

Wouldn't it be easier to buy them a bag of dried pineapple/papaya/banana?!

Or a hamster.

No, he'd never eat a hamster. He's a veggie.

Wheelspinner

Hmm, while I won't disagree with the bonk diagnosis, I'd wonder what is the real reason. Your commute is 16 miles each way? How hard a ride is it, and how hard do you ride on it? After a couple of years doing that I'm surprised it's not a breeze really. If the bonk occurs halfway into the ride home, that's only 8 miles. A warm up.

If the trial separation from the sugary drink doesn't work pronto, get a professional opinion, and including a blood (liver function) test. Sudden changes in how your blood sugar levels behave are not things to be flippant about IMO.

dhope

Have the protein shake before you set off and the porridge after you get to work, that's my routine. Then mid-afternoon I'll have a cup of posh muesli with a few large spoons of greek yoghurt.

HamishD

Wheelspinner wrote:

Hmm, while I won't disagree with the bonk diagnosis, I'd wonder what is the real reason. Your commute is 16 miles each way? How hard a ride is it, and how hard do you ride on it? After a couple of years doing that I'm surprised it's not a breeze really. If the bonk occurs halfway into the ride home, that's only 8 miles. A warm up.

If the trial separation from the sugary drink doesn't work pronto, get a professional opinion, and including a blood (liver function) test. Sudden changes in how your blood sugar levels behave are not things to be flippant about IMO.

Agree with this.

Unless you live at the top of Mont Ventoux and work at the bottom, in which case it's perfectly understandable..

stuj15

Sorry chaps, I was in the middle of a large reply last night when the laptop died on me. So, I'll try and summarize without massive quoting.

- It's only happening on the way home - 5 times in the last 20 rides home.

- Lost just over 3 stone in 2 years and still steadily losing 1 or 2lb a week this summer so nothing drastic recently. Still at around 205lbs.

- Typical weekday food intake :

Post morning Commute : Porridge (no milk) and Protein shake with water.
Snack : Banana
Lunch : Tuna (no mayo) jacket with salad or tuna and 3 bean salad.
Afternoon snack : mixed nuts and protein shake.
Pre commute : High-5 drink and sometimes Banana.
Evening meal : Chicken and steamed veg/salad or chicken stir fry.

At least 1.5l of water during the day and no Apples or pure diary due to allergies.

- Commute is very easy and flat, sometimes I won't even bother pushing myself. When it happened last night there was a healthy tailwind all the way and I was still only on for my normal time (1hr) due to angering the Red Light God. So I wasn't using anymore energy than normal.
Elevation graph (Home to work) :


- It can happen anywhere between 8 and 13 miles. Never really starts after 13.

Wheelspinner wrote:

If the trial separation from the sugary drink doesn't work pronto, get a professional opinion, and including a blood (liver function) test. Sudden changes in how your blood sugar levels behave are not things to be flippant about IMO.

Sure, it's especially weird how I used to get these bonks as a kid but they stopped for nearly 20 years. Sound advice mate, cheers.

Food diary with times of intake starting today and going cold turkey on the High-5.


ps: don't tell the Mrs okay or I'll be frog marched to the quacks straight away.

UndercoverElephant

Hi there,

I've certainly had this before, in fact, I can get it doing nothing if I haven't eaten a *load* of food over the day. I'm one of these people who can eat anything and everything and will burn it off. Naturally, as I put a lot into my commuting, I now need to eat even more. One of the benefits of having a *massive* thyroid.

I've had this on the way home ( 12.5 miles ) several times, almost always when I've eaten healthily for lunch. I carry an energy gel in my backpack, which usually gives me enough of a boost to get home. When I've forgotten one, I've ended up staggering into a chemists and buying Mars bars before. Lucky they were still open, because I was nearly out completely.

Probably not a bad idea to get checked out, though, if it's unusual for you.

stuj15

Forgot to add that it can happen on both gym or non gym days. The more I analyse this, the more I'm thinking its the amount of pre home commute sugar intake. Why it's not happening everyday though.....

UndercoverElephant wrote:

I've had this on the way home ( 12.5 miles ) several times, almost always when I've eaten healthily for lunch.

Hhhmmm. Maybe I'll try a week of burger and chips.

bails87

UndercoverElephant wrote:

I've certainly had this before, in fact, I can get it doing nothing if I haven't eaten a *load* of food over the day. I'm one of these people who can eat anything and everything and will burn it off. Naturally, as I put a lot into my commuting, I now need to eat even more. One of the benefits of having a *massive* thyroid.

I thought I was the only one! It happened once when I worked with a diabetic, so she checked my blood sugar for me, it was low, but not 'diabetic low' apparently.

Just as an example, yesterday, when I biked in I ate:
Breakfast: 2 slices of brown bread (with bits) with jam, and a banana. An 'all day breakfast' panini and a strong coffee when I got to work.

Lunch: Baked potato with butter, chilli and cheese.

Snacks during the day, before and after lunch: Pear, orange, chocolate bar, a few shortbread biscuits, a couple of cups of coffee, a banana just before setting off, a handful of dried fruit on the ride home.

Tea: Stir fry chicken, veg and rice, cornetto then later on an apple and a yoghurt

I think that's it, and I was still kind of peckish when I went to bed. I'm a smidge under 6 foot tall, and 65kg BTW, no idea how! :?

Kieran_Burns

bails87 wrote:

Just as an example, yesterday, when I biked in I ate:
Breakfast: 2 slices of brown bread (with bits) with jam, and a banana. An 'all day breakfast' panini and a strong coffee when I got to work.

Lunch: Baked potato with butter, chilli and cheese.

Snacks during the day, before and after lunch: Pear, orange, chocolate bar, a few shortbread biscuits, a couple of cups of coffee, a banana just before setting off, a handful of dried fruit on the ride home.

Tea: Stir fry chicken, veg and rice, cornetto then later on an apple and a yoghurt

I think that's it, and I was still kind of peckish when I went to bed. I'm a smidge under 6 foot tall, and 65kg BTW, no idea how! :?

Me either.

You bastard.

iPete

First time I went on a long ride, 30 miles or so, I ended up lying on the pavement less than half a mile from home in a state of drunk hysteria craving sugar!

I've since learnt to stop if I feel i'm going to bonk, it can still catch you out no matter how fit you get, just carry an emergency snack/gel with you.

UndercoverElephant

Kieran_Burns wrote:

bails87 wrote:

Just as an example, yesterday, when I biked in I ate:
Breakfast: 2 slices of brown bread (with bits) with jam, and a banana. An 'all day breakfast' panini and a strong coffee when I got to work.

Lunch: Baked potato with butter, chilli and cheese.

Snacks during the day, before and after lunch: Pear, orange, chocolate bar, a few shortbread biscuits, a couple of cups of coffee, a banana just before setting off, a handful of dried fruit on the ride home.

Tea: Stir fry chicken, veg and rice, cornetto then later on an apple and a yoghurt

I think that's it, and I was still kind of peckish when I went to bed. I'm a smidge under 6 foot tall, and 65kg BTW, no idea how! :?

Me either.

You bastard.

I'm probably even worse, for example yesterday:

Nothing before the commute.
1 pint yoghurt "Liquid breakfast".
Kit-Kat.
Bag of crisps (McCoys, because there's loads of them).
3 slices of cake (someone's birthday)
3 banana and chocolate muesli bars.
Banana
Orange

Lunch:
Sausage roll
steak pie
Slice of chocolate cake and a custard

Afternoon:
Bag of crisps.
Banana

Get home:
Slice of toast with jam
Snickers bar
Fisherman's pie & Garlic bread & steamed veg
Peanuts
Half-bottle of red wine

I'm 6'3", and weigh in at 83kg, with no fat on me.

Edit: And a cholesterol level of 4.0.

bails87

UndercoverElephant
So, you want a competition eh?

Kieran_Burns
It costs me a bloody fortune!

UndercoverElephant

bails87 wrote:

UndercoverElephant
So, you want a competition eh?

That would be so unlike me

Long_Time_Lurker

stuj15 wrote:

Forgot to add that it can happen on both gym or non gym days. The more I analyse this, the more I'm thinking its the amount of pre home commute sugar intake. Why it's not happening everyday though.....

Gym and non-gym!
So you are cycling and going to the gym and only eating that much. My brother-in-law is a fitness freak - cycles with me to work and goes to the gym. He has to grazes all day in order to get the right intake of food in order for him to do all of his excerise.
I would say that you are relying on the effects of the protein shake, when all that is doing is mending busted muscle so that you can excerise the next day. That won't give you the required energy you need.

stuj15

Gym days will have more intake per meal - twice the porridge portion for example and an extra Protein shake pre workout. As I've been steadily losing weight at 1 or 2lbs per week, with some plateau weeks, I come to think that the fat loss / muscle build was in the right proportion. I don't go too hard at the gym either, just a quick all over upper body circuit for back, shoulders, chest and arms.

But, I admit I'm now probably not getting enough intake to satisfy my bodies needs, if it ain't broke etc.........seems it is now though. I haven't been to the gym this week, I'm going to stabilize the food intake for 'normal' days, cut back on the High-5 and see how I go.

Thanks for the comments.