what do non dietters (?) eat?

kieranb

Hi, just read the latest pages of the raisins thread - and over the years have seen lots of threads about diet etc on here. From atkins diet onwards etc, anyway what do people who aren't dieting to lose weight/fat normally eat? Is eating and a good diet so complex? My usual (at least 5 days per week) is:

breakfast: tea (milk, no sugar) 2 or 3 weekabix
snack between breakfaast and lunch: a glass of mixed yoghurt & smoothie, apple and banana, and maybe 2 slices of irish soda bread with peanut butter
lunch: noodle miso soup + broc + sprouted seeds + tofu
snack between lunch and dinner: apple and banana and kiwi
dinner: anything but always home cooked veggie food
Post dinner: a bit of chocolate (nice dark choc), maybe some toast, rice cake or two. glass of wine or 2.

Weekend days similar but more 'bad' snacks (e.g. cake, wine).

Level of exercise: commute 9 miles each way 5 days a week, run approx 10-13km 2 times a week, swim once a week (2-3 times in summer) and a weekend cycle of about 3-4 hours.

Weight: 63kg (bmi around 21, and have done so since late teens).

Strith

I'm about the same as you diet wise but minus the snacks, as an average. It does vary a little depending on training etc.
I don't drink any alcohol during the week, a few beers on the weekend.

My level of exercise contains much more time on the bike, but I don't run or swim (might try through the winter).

FWIW, my weight is 78kg and my bmi is 22.5. I'm quite lean, bmi is no use to me as I'm nowhere near being overweight.

jgsi

Oats soaked in Pinot Noir

styxd

You are "on" a diet, everyone is "on" a diet - its just what you eat on a day to day basis surely.

Looking at the above, your diet could be better. BMI and weight and whatever else doent mean a great deal when it comes to athletes. Lean body mass does. I imagine yours could be better with a better diet. You would probably perfrom better on the bike with a better diet.

vs

Today: which is pretty average.

breakfast - 12 weetabix
lunch - bacon/sausage sandwich, an apple and an orange.
ride: no food.
post ride: 2 slices of toast with mackerel.
dinner - Jamie's Pork: tray baked chops marinated in lemon, garlic and rosemary with parsnips, pears and spuds plus cabbage (dinner is always home cooked food from scratch).
Couple of beers.

48 years old, 10 stone and quite a bit...(it's winter).

jamienorton

vs wrote:

Today: which is pretty average.

breakfast - 12 weetabix
lunch - bacon/sausage sandwich, an apple and an orange.
ride: no food.
post ride: 2 slices of toast with mackerel.
dinner - Jamie's Pork: tray baked chops marinated in lemon, garlic and rosemary with parsnips, pears and spuds plus cabbage (dinner is always home cooked food from scratch).
Couple of beers.

48 years old, 10 stone and quite a bit...(it's winter).

12 weetabix? bloody hell.

mattshrops

Shedding a few pounds currently, but i eat pretty much the same whether "dieting" or not. Only less of it.

Porridge and honey
Big salads with tuna/chicken breast
Griddled veg
fruit
sweet potato/baked potato/wholewheat pasta/granary bread-this is the area i have reduced (finding it easy tbh)
No alchohol.
No processed crap.
Yes i am a saint :roll:

phreak

Depends what I'm doing that day, but it's usually something like:

Porridge or muesli with toast and smoothie for breakfast
Small pot of fruit/nuts for a snack
Wholemeal sandwich for lunch
Banana for snack
Some homecooked meal, usually with pasta/cous cous/rice etc.

Not as concerned by weight at the moment but from January I keep a food diary and am usually around 57kg by summer, which for what it's worth means a BMI of around 21

ChrisMT09

What's the obsession with BMI? It's a poor gauge for an individual as it's based on populations of sedentary people.

kevin69

bmi isn't brilliant, but its an ok indicator of where aerobic athletes should be.
googling will get you various examples of cyclists bmi and they are generally in the 20-23 range
which is thelower end of the healthy range for bmi.

examples from 1997:

TOUR DE FRANCE RIDER height (m.) weight (kg) BMI
Pantini Marco 1.72 56 18.9292
Virenque Richard 1.79 65 20.2865
Leblanc Luc 1.73 62 20.7157
Zulle Alex 1.86 72 20.8117
Riis Bjarne 1.84 71 20.9712
Cipollini Mario 1.90 76 21.0526
Rominger Tony 1.75 65 21.2245
Andreu Frankie 1.88 77 21.7859
Ullrich Jan 1.83 73 21.7982
Jalabert Laurent 1.76 68 21.9525
Boardman Chris 1.75 68 22.2041
Zabel Erik 1.76 69 22.2753
Ekimov Viatcheslav 1.76 69 22.2753
Abdoujaparov Djamolidine 1.74 70 23.1206
Average for 1997 TDF 1.79 68.75 21.4701

Pigeons in flight

Agree with styxd...we're all on a diet. Typical working day:

Breakfast - freshly brewed espresso coffee (not good as it buggers up your blood sugar)
Toast - 1 slice
Bowl porridge and banana
16 mile cycle commute
Snack - apple/banana and mixed nuts. Another coffee
Lunch - leftovers from prev night. Normally, something like salmon, noodles, stir fried veg. Yoghurt.
Snack - nuts/fruit/ raw carrot
16 mile cycle commute back
Dinner - As lunch, but usually with a couple pieces of dark chocolate (Green & Blacks, etc). I love beer/wine, but try and keep it to w/e. I drink sparkling water with slice lime instead with my evening meal, because what I really want is beer/wine. I drink a lot of water through the day....no idea how much, but comfortably in excess of 2 litres.

The quoted weights don't mean much without height. I'm far from the cycling ideal and there is room for improvement - 5' 11" and 78kg. No idea re body fat %.

adamangler

typically

60g oats/milk
whey protein/milk
apple
orange
banana
500g brown rice
300g chicken
can tuna
tub cottage cheese
baked potatoes
pasta
steak
broccoli
green beans
oats/whey

about 3250 cals

work full time manual job
gym 4 times a week
ride twice a week

dw300

I just eat less if I want to lose weight. I have a terrible sweet tooth and eat quite a bit of processed stuff, but as long as Im recovering ok and not getting fat or ill, i pretty much just eat what i fancy. I've never been near enough to my limits to be worrying about 'what' i actually eat .. maybe if i start competing.

178cm, 151lbs.

gthyer

I wouldn't consider myself to be on a formal diet as such, but trying to cut down on processed rubbish and junk food.
I'm a vegetarian and have stopped drinking alcohol lately. Through cycling I've become far more aware of how rubbish some of the stuff I've been eating is.

I've started a junk diary to include crisps, chocolate, pizza, processed food, fizzy drinks etc and I'm using it to slowly wean myself off of this stuff. Have been reducing these items by 2 each week. Down to 10 a week now. Not good I know, but seems to be working better than when I went cold-turkey and I should be down to a couple of "treats" a week come the new year and when I want to start training seriously.

A typical week day would be:
Breakfast - bowl of cereal with milk
Lunch - two slices of wholemeal bread with butter and jam
Snack - Packet of quavers or a chocolate bar
Dinner - Soup / lasagne / pasta type thing made with fresh veg. Normally a little bit of cheese on top
Drinks - water or diluted squash

Weekend:
Breakfast - porridge with golden syrup
Lunch - Scrambled egg on toast
Dinner - Roast dinner / hand-made pizza / occasional chip-shop chips or takeaway once a month
Drinks - Diluted squash or Choc nesquik with occasional hot chocolate

173cm, 68kg

kieranb

styxd wrote:

You are "on" a diet, everyone is "on" a diet - its just what you eat on a day to day basis surely.

Looking at the above, your diet could be better. BMI and weight and whatever else doent mean a great deal when it comes to athletes. Lean body mass does. I imagine yours could be better with a better diet. You would probably perfrom better on the bike with a better diet.

Understood , but my question was regarding people who are not overly conscious about their food intake, calorie count etc.

I know my diet is not ideal but in a way that is the point, my eating is for a mix of health, fitness, enjoyment, laziness, beliefs, psychological props (the wine and chocolate after the kids have gone to bed). It is not tailored specifically for sports or for weight loss. It also has to cater for the fact that my main meal is a family meal and so has to cater for the tastes and wishes of 3 others. I am not too worried about improving my performance on the bike anymore, I did racing for a few years a few years ago, if I was to get back into it my cycling would have to get a bit more structured!