Energy Bars drinks and Gels

slowrider001

I've been trying to lose weight after packing up smoking, But with cutting down my food intake I find I'm running out of energy a lot quicker. Can anyone tell me do all these energy bars drinks and Gels really work. If so which are the better one's to use?? I also need some advice on what foods are best to eat pre rides.

Dippydog2

How long are your rides?

slowrider001

Only 30miles at the moment just don't seem to have any energy after that

bernithebiker

You don't need gels, you need more training.

racingcondor

Bars, drinks and gels certainly work (they're essentially food with sugar for an immediate boost plus something slower in the bars) but that doesn't mean you necessarily need them.

I take a bottle of energy drink on rides >30-40 miles (usually a bar too for the rare occasions where I get hungry) but a banana would do just as well. Big advantage of a bar is that if you don't eat it you can take it next time (don't have to worry about it getting bruised or going off).

I don't know how quickly you've increased your riding to 30 miles but if you have just started then it's probably more because you're doing quite a bit more excercise than you're used to than is is food intake. Give it a few weeks and your body will adapt.

I ignore gels for the most part. They're useful racing where you can't slow down to chew and a caffinated gel is a great pick me up on a really long ride but they're rarely required (I take them on 100 mile plus rides. Rarely have them at home), expensive and not quality food. They're all about getting energy on board fast.

slowrider001

Thank you for your replies great help will take it all on board,
will put more miles in and get some more of this weight off (10kg) so far

slowrider001

My other issue is sore skin but have just been reading about Assos skin repair cream, I have seen it In Rutland cycles but put it back down when I saw the price. But it sounds as though it works and it last for ages so might give it a try

Dippydog2

For that distance you shouldn't need any food, just water.

Try eating a good healthy meal the night before a ride, and then ride in the morning before eating. Then eat a cereal type breakfast when you get back.

I lost loads of weight sticking to that plan.

As you up the distance, so you are riding for two hours or more, then it's time to think about a little food.

However, I agree with the concept that you should train on real food and only use bars and gels when you have to for convenience, like if racing.

And jelly babies are better than gels. Same amount of sugar, no wrapping and you can eat a few at a time as opposed to a gel that you risk filling your jersey with sweet goo if you put it away half full.

michaelede

Have a look at fasted training (i.e. training before you have breakfast) can take some getting used to but it can really teach your body to burn fat as fuel (I've done a number of 1-2 hour rides after a 36 hour fast without problems but I've built up to that over a year, it just seemed a natural progression after starting the 5:2 diet) personally I wouldn't follow it with a carb rich meal, blunts the post exercise fat burning effect, I use it as an opportunity to have some bacon and eggs (although the cereal may be a better choice if you are planning on training again the next day). On occasion I have misjudged things but I always carry a gel / energy bar to see me safely through those occasions and get me home slowly. I also try to keep my carbs to a minimum generally in my diet whilst I am trying to lose weight, can be fairly unpleasant until you get used to it but it doesn't take long for sweet cravings to go.

With regards bars and gels, if you can afford them and you like the convenience I see no problem with using them, they aren't the healthiest choice by a long shot but every once in a while isn't going to hurt. Even occasionally during training rides if you want to go really hard (I try to mix it up between fasted rides and hard well fuelled rides). I like the High5 range and the SiS ones, the Mule tangy orange energy bar is nice but all of the Mule gels I have tried are absolutely rank, imagine the taste of honey but 10 times sweeter (and the thickness), yuck!

Obviously things may work out differently for you and I am a relative novice at the cycling game.

Colinthecop

If you get hunger pangs on a 30 miler, a small pack of jelly beans in your pocket can make the world seem a nicer place...

Jelly babies too.

meanredspider

Personally I wouldn't be messing about with fasted training when you're trying to lose weight. You need glycogen to burn fat (else no-one would bonk) and that's where the problem might lie. Long slow rides will be your friend, alternated with faster, shorter, stuff. And by "slow" I mean really slow. This will improve your fat-burning adaption whilst not using up much glycogen.

Make sure you get some good sleep too.

Tjgoodhew

Belvita breakfast biscuits iv found to be pretty good. If im going out in the morning i dont like to have a big breakfast so these do the trick. They come in packs of 4 so i would have two before a ride and take the other two with me - pretty easy to eat whilst riding too. They are slow release apparently so should be preety good of allowing you to sustain energy over longe periods of time.

That combined with a good meal the night before and you should be fine. Lots of green beans is my food of choice in prep for a long ride

I was always a jelly baby fan but im starting to get a bit sick of the sweet sugar taste and have found myself craving real food.

I always take gels with me but only use them if I feel im getting tired and could do with the caffeine boost. The fitter im getting the less i need them

slowrider001

To meanredspider When you say really slow rides how slow do you mean My avg on strava and on a road bike is around 15mph to a lot of riders this is very slow. Is this slow enough or do you mean slower
to everyone that mentioned jelly beans and babies sounds good to me, taste better and cheaper,
Plenty of good ideas there for me to work with too

brettjmcc

Tjgoodhew wrote:

Belvita breakfast biscuits iv found to be pretty good. If im going out in the morning i dont like to have a big breakfast so these do the trick. They come in packs of 4 so i would have two before a ride and take the other two with me - pretty easy to eat whilst riding too. They are slow release apparently so should be preety good of allowing you to sustain energy over longe periods of time.

A serving is one pack of 4 cookies and will set you back 230 calories. (A breakfast cereal is usually 120 calories before milk, 170 with milk). It’s got the equivalent of 3 teaspoons of sugar (less than 1 tsp per cookie). At 3 grams, fiber isn’t a big feature here. Most of the nutrients are tacked on as fortifications.

Here is the ingredient list:

Whole Grain Wheat Flour, Enriched Flour [Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Folic Acid], Sugar, High Oleic Canola Oil, Whole Grain Rolled Oats, Whole Grain Rye Flour, Dried Apples, Baking Soda, Disodium Pyrophosphate, Salt, Soy Lecithin, Datem, Caramel Color, Cinnamon, Natural Flavor, Ferric Orthophosphate (Iron), Niacinamide, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Thiamin Mononitrate (Vitamin B1).

As you can see, this is not 100% whole grain product. In fact, the second ingredient is enriched flour. That’s why Kraft is adding whole grain roll oats and whole grain rye flour to the mix. But despite these efforts, only 3 grams of fiber in here. Sugar is the third ingredient in the list, followed by a large amount of oil, which contributes to the 8 grams of fat in this product.

Better off having a quick bit of porridge IMO

drlodge

Porridge is the king of all foods! I like mine with a chopped up apple and banana thrown in and perhaps some raisins.

simonhead

Agree on the porridge front, i put a spoon of oats in with my smoothie in the morning, keeps me going to lunch.

1 spoon oats
1/2 banana
frozen raspberries
1 hard boiled egg or 1 tablespoon peanut butter
spinach
apple juice