Nutrition - Bulk buying - Costco

Bullet1

Whilst being a middle income earner I went into Costco today to kill an hour waiting for a meeting. Looking for nutritional value for money and erring on the real foods above 'powder' bought the following. This for a mid 30's intermediate cyclist with a stone or two to lose and getting out 2 x 2 hours per week plus 2 x 30 minutes on a gym spinning bike at lunch time.

Any thoughts - anything I've missed, recommendations.....assume all on good faith!!

Protein 'powder' post workout (not real food I know)
Dried blue berries (antioxidants??)
Sardines in tomato sauce - decent protein post work out lunch on w/g toast
Porridge - good start to the day - fuller for longer
Chapattis - better than rice or naan for curry!
Multi vitms - cant be too bad
Bottled water - more encouragement to drink the stuff
Cous cous - one if the lower fat carbs
Nesquik - in milk post work out

As a believer in Costco for value for money us there anything else in missing? Like nuts and have health benefits but always sceptical about calories to 'full belly' value. Any other dried fruits?

What so folk take as a packed lunch for post work out? Usual option in the canteen is jacket & beans or omelette and beans - sardines and better?

Scuse the rambling - any advice welcome

danlikesbikes

If your eating after a workout you shouldn't need to use protein powder. Just google it and see what mistakes people make as they add this in (typically mixed with milk) and end up taking on extra calories which is not good for losing weight.

Dried fruit on the whole are good as snack, however can be expensive just buy lots of fresh fruit its much easier & you can then also make your own smoothie as a recovery drink.

I don't eat tinned fish, but it is good for you.

No sure on chapattis.

Multi vitamins you shouldn't need if your eating a balanced diet.

Bottled water is quite a good idea as can give you a goal to make sure in the daytime you are getting enough in you.

Cous cous is pretty good & a regular as its quite easy to make, as is pollenate, brown rice, wild rice, brown pasta

Nesquik is very good as a homemade recovery drink, but so too is nutella or peanut butter.

As for lunch, its either salad or pitta with salad and chopped fruit in yoghurt for lunch

ShutUpLegs

Just buy fruit and vegetables and triple the amount of exercise you are doing.

Wrath Rob

Regarding using milk as a recovery drink, don't. The point of a recovery drink is to get protein and carbs into the body as soon after exercise as possible to start the muscle repair process and replenish the glycogen stores that you've just taken a big chunk out of (assuming you've done a decent session!). So, from your drink/recovery meal you want the easiest to digest proteins and carbs possible. Carbs are easy, you want short chain carbs, so glucose, fructose and lactose. Sweets and fruit are great sources of these others such as potatoes, bread and pasta are good, but as they contain longer chain carbs they take longer to release their goodness.

Milk contains lactose and it also contains protein, therefore it could be a great recovery drink. There are 2 main proteins in milk, casein and whey. The former is approximately 80% of the protein in milk and is a large, complex molecule that takes 7-8 hours for your body to fully digest. It also slows up the digestion process in general, delaying any other nutrients, e.g. lactose, from being digested too. Whey protein is a comparatively simpler molecule that takes under 2 hours to digest, with the first signs appearing in the blood 15 minutes after being consumed. For reference, animal proteins (i.e. meat) lie about 1/2 way between the milk proteins.

So, for a recovery drink, do you want something that takes many hours to digest and slows down absorption of other nutrients? Or something very quick and easy? Right. Use a whey based protein powder blended with water. Lay of the milk as a recovery drink. Have it instead at breakfast as it will help keep you fuller for longer. Milk in porridge is a great slow release meal.

jgsi

I applaud your thinking about your nutrition - the more you think about it, the better your knowledge.
but
Simply not enough time on the bike to have any desired effect on your fitness as you mention 'intermediate' whatever that is :?:
3 hours a week is like 'leisure' cyclist.
Presumably you wish to go faster for longer.

Bullet1

JGSI wrote:

I applaud your thinking about your nutrition - the more you think about it, the better your knowledge.
but
Simply not enough time on the bike to have any desired effect on your fitness as you mention 'intermediate' whatever that is :?:
3 hours a week is like 'leisure' cyclist.
Presumably you wish to go faster for longer.

Yes faster for longer and also to shift some excess weight and generally be fitter & healthier.

Would love nothing more than to up the mileage and get out 6 days a week but work and family commitments at present simply don't allow.

It's basically trying to maximise what I've got and trying to do things smarter rather than longer.

Thanks for all your help

Herbsman

Cous cous is just white pasta.

Not sure where everyone got this idea that it's a particularly healthy food.

jane90

Bullet1 wrote:

Like nuts and have health benefits but always sceptical about calories to 'full belly' value. Any other dried fruits?

I think it depends what you mean by "full belly value". If you guzzle a whole packet when you're already hungry then that's probably not a good idea and you're right to be sceptical. If, however, you eat sensible portions at pre-determined times as part of a plan to eat a little, often throughout the day, then they can be very helpful. Personally, I like to eat a handful with either some fresh fruit or some dried dates. The key, as always, is never to eat out of the bowl/packet, but take a handful, put them on a plate and just eat that portion. Pine nuts and almonds are particularly good at keeping you feeling satiated for a good while afterwards.

Costco do very good value large tubs of all sorts of nuts.

charlie_potatoes

I keep tinned Fruit (in juice not syrup),Pilchards and Rice pudding as emergency rations at work for when I can't get to a decent shop.

simon_e

ShutUpLegs wrote:

Just buy fruit and vegetables and triple the amount of exercise you are doing.

^ Do this (though I'd suggest the type of exercise is more important than quantity/duration). I don't do workouts, I ride my bike.

There's not much real food in your list. Protein powder and multivitamins are money wasted. Nesquik is mostly sugar. If you want a choccy milk shake buy real cocoa, or better still eat a banana. Bottled water??? Unless the water where you live is undrinkable then that's more money wasted. Can you not just use a big glass and refill from a tap? If you want antioxidants then eat colours - beetroot, lots of green veg and so on. Try some dried fruit (raisins and apricots), almonds, walnuts and seeds if you like, mixed with muesli and/or plain yogurt. Cut down the portions of bread and other starchy carbs like pasta and potatoes and foods with sugar or sweeteners. Eat less crap.