Porridge doesn't work???

bendertherobot

I've tried loads of stuff before really long rides (the century ones etc). Some things don't work, some work ok.

But, frankly, the only thing I've ever found which gives me massive power throughout is a McDonalds Sausage and Egg Bagel breakfast (with hash brown and latte)

Manc33

The biggest "boost" I got on my bike was this smoothie thing my mate made with about 8 different fruits in it. God knows what was in it but it worked. Then again that was a short ride, you can't just have fruit on an a 4 hour'er.

meanredspider

team47b wrote:

meanredspider wrote:

Is there much of an insulin response when you are exercising?

Sometimes very little exercise will do it! I bonked on the way to the kitchen this morning, I bonked and i had only thought about porridge, had to eat dates instead!

Ah - but you're a special case

team47b

Yeah I know I'm special :roll:

Forgot to add that exercise increases the effectiveness of insulin not the quantity, the pancreas ( yours not mine) produces the same amount of insulin based on carbs so you have effectively 'more' to lower your blood glucose further than usual.

Anonymous

bendertherobot wrote:

I've tried loads of stuff before really long rides (the century ones etc). Some things don't work, some work ok.

But, frankly, the only thing I've ever found which gives me massive power throughout is a McDonalds Sausage and Egg Bagel breakfast (with hash brown and latte)

Thats the kind of thing I need prior to a decent ride too.
Usually cheese and onion omelette with tomatoes and bagel or brown toast and a coffee, but would have a McD's breakfast wrap if not at home.

Porridge is great before a run, but cycling needs something bigger to start with for me.

mathematics

The last time i 'bonked' I literally laid on the verge at the side of the road as the world spun into a dark world of wanting to be sick. So probably not hitting the wall just tired and maybe a little too far just yet.

I always eat porridge before a ride but a good hour or so before. My old football coach used to swear by a good quality balanced meal the night before and porridge for breakfast then just a light snack. Not sure if it works as I never found it made me any better but I could always run around

dirtymonkey1985

I recently went out for an early morning spin and with around 5 miles left i lost it big time.After Feeling sick and lethargic i checked my heart rate and it was only around 135bpm which for me is low as i hold an average of 150bpm over a 6 hour ride. I had to stop on a grass verge where i promptly threw up all the porridge and coffe i'd had a few hours before! I reckon it took me around 30 minutes to do the final miles. Since then i've steered clear of porridge as it sort of put me off, and i've not had the problem since. I'm not sure it was the porridge as i'd been flat out for the weeks beforehand and i'd lost a lot of weight just from not eating properly. It can be a mixture of things i think and i was just severely under fuelled well before i even had the porridge probably

navrig2

Navrig2 wrote:

I should have expanded on my post.

Scott's porage oats has 355kcal per 100g
Dorset cereals has 378kcal per 100g

There's not much difference until you realise what portions you serve yourself.

Before a Saturday morning ride I will eat an Ikea kid's cup full of muesli, about 120g. So 453Kcal.

The equivalent portion of porage is about 40g (those little sachets) so about 142kcal.

Both equate to a bowlful of "stodge".

I may add some fruit and honey to the porage to make it more palatable but I doubt that will add 300kcals.

Plus in the muesli you get a more balanced mix of cereals, grains, nuts and dried fruit. When fit I can easily get 2-3 hours of riding out one bowl of muesli.

Much more expensive but in terms of marginal gain better value than those titanium pedals.....

PS - Just checked, one of those porage sachets is 30g so the difference between the two is even more.

PPS - I also suspect that oats in cooked form digests more quickly meaning you will get a qucker but shorter bust of energy compared to "raw" cereal. I am not a nutritionist si am not sure.

Tjgoodhew

Dont know if anyone has mentioned but personally its what i eat the night before thats much more important than the morning.

I usually have a cup of tea and two pieces of toast with some jam in the morning and that is more than enough if iv had a suitable dinner the night before and just tops me up.

ai_1

Has anyone tried homeopathic nutrition?
If a 1 in 1,000,000 concentration doesn't keep you going all day you can just make it a 1 in 10,000,000 solution and you'll be sorted.

Wunnunda

Homeopathic nutrition

ai_1

Wunnunda wrote:

Homeopathic nutrition

I can see it, it's too much

Celery is probably a good start but it's best to grind it into a fine paste then combine with purified water and filter out any solids. Then dilute repeatedly to about a 10^-30 concentration. If any celery molecules remain, best to dilute again just to be sure. Then fill your water bottle and prepare for the power boost of your life.

Manc33

In the bible they had a machine that produced algae from the air, its how they survived in the desert for 40 years wandering.

The algae even contained enough water and, its all speculation but apparently that's all they ate for 40 years.

Basically it is ancient technology. If you don't believe that exists check out the Antikythera mechanism!

Not a thread derailment, if you could figure out how to make that machine you'd have free food and water for life, which is kinda an important issue.

ai_1

Manc33 wrote:

In the bible they had a machine that produced algae from the air, its how they survived in the desert for 40 years wandering.

The algae even contained enough water and, its all speculation but apparently that's all they ate for 40 years.

Basically it is ancient technology. If you don't believe that exists check out the Antikythera mechanism!

Not a thread derailment, if you could figure out how to make that machine you'd have free food and water for life, which is kinda an important issue.

Oh my

Manc33

Ai_1 wrote:

Manc33 wrote:

In the bible they had a machine that produced algae from the air, its how they survived in the desert for 40 years wandering.

The algae even contained enough water and, its all speculation but apparently that's all they ate for 40 years.

Basically it is ancient technology. If you don't believe that exists check out the Antikythera mechanism!

Not a thread derailment, if you could figure out how to make that machine you'd have free food and water for life, which is kinda an important issue.

Oh my

I don't "believe" the bible, its just that it says it in it somewhere, apparently. :P Its not a machine in the bible, its all done with metaphors (as is the entire bible including Jesus being the "sun" not the son but, thats another thread).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manna_Machine

"...a nuclear reactor used to power the manna machine was stored in the Ark of the Covenant"

Hehe I love this stuff whether its BS or not. :twisted:

This also "explains" why the Ark killed anyone that went near it - radiation. The fact that some people were carrying the thing around on a stretcher or whatever it was, doesn't seem to matter. Maybe they had it encased in lead but then how would they carry it, they were starving for a start and all that lead needed to protect people from radiation that powerful couldn't be carried by the amount of people depicted in the pictures we see of it.

imposter2.0

Manc33 wrote:

I don't "believe" the bible, its just that it says it in it somewhere, apparently. :P Its not a machine in the bible, its all done with metaphors (as is the entire bible including Jesus being the "sun" not the son but, thats another thread).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manna_Machine

"...a nuclear reactor used to power the manna machine was stored in the Ark of the Covenant"

Hehe I love this stuff whether its BS or not. :twisted:

This also "explains" why the Ark killed anyone that went near it - radiation. The fact that some people were carrying the thing around on a stretcher or whatever it was, doesn't seem to matter. Maybe they had it encased in lead but then how would they carry it, they were starving for a start and all that lead needed to protect people from radiation that powerful couldn't be carried by the amount of people depicted in the pictures we see of it.

Whatever you do - don't ever, ever, try reading the book of Ezekiel..

olake92

Every time I browse the 'road beginners' section I see the title of this thread; it angers me.

olake92

Man, I love porridge.

Pituophis

olake92 wrote:

Man, I love porridge.

Porridge with banana and raisins. Its like a dream come true.

southdownswolf

seanoconn wrote:

I eat porridge and bonk regularly.

At the same time? :shock:

olake92

^^ This guy has got life sorted

secretsam

Right. So it's not the porridge, it's me. I get it.

As for the comment about me having 3,000+ posts and being a road beginner: I used to be a commuter only. And there isn't a "Road Intermediate", "Road semi-competent" or "Time-starved MAMIL" section, so here I am. And here I stay, until I do my first imperial century...then - who knows?

apreading

SecretSam wrote:

And here I stay, until I do my first imperial century...then - who knows?

Dont worry - I have done two imperial centuries now but would still consider myself a beginnner! :P

Bobbinogs

Pituophis wrote:

Porridge with banana and raisins. Its like a dream come true.

We clearly have different dreams

ai_1

apreading wrote:

SecretSam wrote:

And here I stay, until I do my first imperial century...then - who knows?

Dont worry - I have done two imperial centuries now but would still consider myself a beginnner! :P

I have 5 or 6 - still a novice really.

saprkzz

I put it down to fitness levels,

I have only "bonked" twice in 3 years, and both these times have been after a short time off. This year, I have only done 4 rides at a max of 30 miles, on my own at my own pace and have felt super fine!,

Last weekend I went out for a training ride with the Elite boys and had a totally different experience. I lasted 40 miles with them, and hit the wall. Had to leave them to it, and make my way home. The 15 miles home was horrible.

My food was spot on, drinking fine, just fitness I reckon on this occasion.

roger_merriman

SecretSam wrote:

Right. So it's not the porridge, it's me. I get it.

As for the comment about me having 3,000+ posts and being a road beginner: I used to be a commuter only. And there isn't a "Road Intermediate", "Road semi-competent" or "Time-starved MAMIL" section, so here I am. And here I stay, until I do my first imperial century...then - who knows?

Does rather sound like fitness/learning to read how your body works, I'm lucky in that while no racing snake I seem fairly resistant to bonk/wall etc, I tend to only fuel at coffee stops etc. I'd only stop once on a 50/70 mile ride, rode 121 miles to brighton and back few years back fairly easly on a SS main concern was heat.

cycleclinic

you can hit two kinds of wall. You go to hard and you just can't sustain the Power output that has nothing to do with fuel. You can also simply run out of glycogen and other sugars. That bonking.

I used to suffer from both alot. training has helped alot with the first to the point it rarely happens now except for the last few weeks where i have been doing some daft efforts, but daft effort over very long distances do require lots of food.

I have found what I eat in the days before a ride is as important what I eat on the morning. Given I ride 5 days a week that means I am always eating with a view to riding. For example breakfast on Sunday for 118 miles quick ride was 6 Wheatabix. After the warmup ride 33 mlies to the sdcc relability ride i ate two bananas and 3 marathon bars and then it was the group ride For 60 miles And I had to resort to 2 gels to keep me going. Back at the club house had a bowl of pasta and apiece of cake and rode home. I did not bonk but it has taken alot rides where I did to figure out how to keep myself fueled for long ride. Your muscles should have about 2 hours worth of glycogen in storage if you have eaten well the night before. After that you need to eat but you are limited in how many grams of sugar you can absorb per hour and that differs for glucose malt dextrose sucrose and fructose and other sugars. This is why taking bananas and other foods on long rides with a mix of sugars is a very good idea as you digest the mix quicker. I have got used now to how much I need to eat when riding to avoid the bonk but that will depend on the intensity of the ride. Eat too much during a ride and that were the stomach cramps can start. I would also stay away from gels unless you are in a race and simply need sugar to squeeze down your throat quickly. Bananas and flapjack are a favourite for long rides. Peanuts are good too but it has to be a mararthon effort for those to help. Never seem to have flapjack in the house though.

A bowl of porridge in the morning has never cut it a bowl of porridge and two eggs yes. Eggs are what I normally have in addition to cereals to keep me going if I have enough time to cook them.
Also loading with carbs the night before helps alot.

team47b

Interesting to see your fuel is all high GI fast acting simple sugars and in combination high glycemic load, this is great for the first 15 minutes, then your body will produce a large amount of insulin triggered by this simple sugar diet and this is what can cause post prandial hypoglycemia or bonk

The reason you need to eat large quantities is that they are all single chain carbohydrates, if you added some complex carbs and some fat and some protein and some fibre you wouldn't need to keep refuelling with short distance sprint food.

But we all have differently abled pancreas so maybe for now your beta cells are able to cope with this large amount of insulin, but it's not a diet to be recommended in the long term.

meanredspider

Yes, Team47b is right. Eating too much high GI before a ride can cause all sorts of issues. Not only will you have the spike in glucose followed by the spike in insulin but, with the liver responding to exercise by pumping out glucose too, you actually risk going a bit hyperglycaemic before the crash.

Also, you really need to carb load a couple of days before a hard ride depending upon how depleted you are. The night before won't get the job done - 2 nights before is far better.

We're all a bit different in this domain but it's good to understand the various processes going on and how they (normally) interact.