Easy Cycling Diet

BenBilly

Hello,

I have just got into road cycling and I have been trainining quite hard to lose weight. Now I need to know an easy diet to match. I'm currently living at university so getting all the fancy sh*t isn't really an option, all I'm looking for is a straight up simple diet.

Could you brilliant people possibly suggest ideas for my meals such as chicken and rice?

Thanks,

Ben

Garry H

Just eat a balanced diet. Nothing more complicated than that.

andcp

A quick Google of 'cooking for cyclist cheap' suggests
BC https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/knowl ... on/recipes
BBC http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/what-eat-bike
Bicycling http://www.bicycling.com/food/bicycling ... ating-plan
etc.

MiddleRinger

Ride more. Eat less.

bobmcstuff

MiddleRinger wrote:

Ride more. Eat less.

This, pretty much.

Depends how much weight you're trying to lose really, I found calorie counting at least for a short while gives a good idea of where easy savings can be made.

Try to maintain a calorie deficit every day and keep plugging away at it... Be careful not to run it to extremes though as you can wind up feeling pretty crap if you're training hard at the same time as running massive deficits.

pblakeney

Cut out beer, cider etc. Made a huge difference for me.
Whisky works fine! :P

smoggysteve

MiddleRinger wrote:

Ride more. Eat less.

Think I've said this more times than I care to remember. Ride more. DON'T EAT LESS. Where do you expect to get your energy from?????? Eat healthy. Less little and eat often. Does not equate to eating LESS.

Even on a budget you can manage the basics like oats, brown rice, eggs, chicken or leaner meat but its about moderation and making sure the calories are taken in at the right time. Any nonsense about eating less will just make you tire quicker and then when you're drained and nackered you reach for crap to eat. Food high in complex carbs for sustained energy release can serve you better. And plenty of protein afterwards for muscle growth and repair.

A typical pro cyclist will still be taking in between 4000 and 6000 calories a day even when just in training so eating less will get you nowhere fast

imposter2.0

SmoggySteve wrote:

A typical pro cyclist will still be taking in between 4000 and 6000 calories a day even when just in training so eating less will get you nowhere fast

Most pros will be riding around 25-30 hours per week though. Not exactly a good comparison for beginners. Impossible to say whether or not 'eating less' will be useful advice or not, although it may be correct. Either way, there is no 'cycling diet' as such, just eat sensibly.

smoggysteve

Imposter wrote:

SmoggySteve wrote:

A typical pro cyclist will still be taking in between 4000 and 6000 calories a day even when just in training so eating less will get you nowhere fast

Most pros will be riding around 25-30 hours per week though. Not exactly a good comparison for beginners. Impossible to say whether or not 'eating less' will be useful advice or not, although it may be correct. Either way, there is no 'cycling diet' as such, just eat sensibly.

Missing the point again. Why would I expect anything else.

Not suggesting you eat 4000 to 6000 but point is you keep up your energy by eating a healthy amount but just the right type at the right time

imposter2.0

SmoggySteve wrote:

Not suggesting you eat 4000 to 6000 but point is you keep up your energy by eating a healthy amount but just the right type at the right time

Well obviously. Thanks for pointing that out. The point is (ie the point you missed again - but why would I expect anything less eh?) is that eating 'less' may be the answer to the OP if he is currently eating 'too much'. You don't know. Neither do I.

smoggysteve

Imposter wrote:

SmoggySteve wrote:

Not suggesting you eat 4000 to 6000 but point is you keep up your energy by eating a healthy amount but just the right type at the right time

Well obviously. Thanks for pointing that out.

You're welcome

shortfall

Garry H wrote:

Just eat a balanced diet. Nothing more complicated than that.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

This. Avoid processed and tinned food, eat raw where you can, stay off white bread/rice/flour and sugar. It's not complicated.

JesseD

As someone who finds it hard to lose weight even with riding loads, one of the best pieces of advice I was given was to start to keep a food diary about what you eat and when.

What I found was that I ate at the wrong times of the day (big meals in the evening), I ate too much in the way of carbs and not enough veg, ate too much white bread (or bread in general), and definitely drank more than I thought I did. Also I never drank enough water throughout the day, and used to snack a lot on chocolate/biscuits/pastries etc.

I actually probably eat more now however am very mindful of what I eat and when, don't have carp in the house any more, prep my lunch for work every evening so I am not tempted to go buy shi7 instead of eating healthily, I eat a smaller meal in the evening but more during the day and always have breakfast (usually in work after my commute by bike which gets my metabolism moving).

Cutting down on alcohol will definitely help as well although if you are a student in halls I dare say you probably wont like this option. Oh and skip the kebab on the way home from the pub too.

Tashman

Shortfall wrote:

Garry H wrote:

Just eat a balanced diet. Nothing more complicated than that.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

This. Avoid processed and tinned food, eat raw where you can, stay off white bread/rice/flour and sugar. It's not complicated.

What have you got against tinned out of interest? This is an amazing way of preserving freshness for many products. To blanket all tinned goods, especially to the poster who's on a restricted budget isn't helpful at all.

shortfall

Tashman wrote:

Shortfall wrote:

Garry H wrote:

Just eat a balanced diet. Nothing more complicated than that.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

This. Avoid processed and tinned food, eat raw where you can, stay off white bread/rice/flour and sugar. It's not complicated.

What have you got against tinned out of interest? This is an amazing way of preserving freshness for many products. To blanket all tinned goods, especially to the poster who's on a restricted budget isn't helpful at all.

I don't have a problem with all tinned food and if the OP is a savvy shopper who reads labels then fine. As a general rule of thumb though tinned foods are likely to contain colourings, preservatives and tons of added sugar, chemicals and salt. Buying the raw ingredients is often cheaper and the only additives are what you put in when you cook it.

smoggysteve

Tashman wrote:

Shortfall wrote:

Garry H wrote:

Just eat a balanced diet. Nothing more complicated than that.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

This. Avoid processed and tinned food, eat raw where you can, stay off white bread/rice/flour and sugar. It's not complicated.

What have you got against tinned out of interest? This is an amazing way of preserving freshness for many products. To blanket all tinned goods, especially to the poster who's on a restricted budget isn't helpful at all.

Yup. Nothing wrong with tinned fish. Sardines, tuna or salmon are excellent and quite cheap

Tashman

SmoggySteve wrote:

Tashman wrote:

Shortfall wrote:

Garry H wrote:

Just eat a balanced diet. Nothing more complicated than that.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

This. Avoid processed and tinned food, eat raw where you can, stay off white bread/rice/flour and sugar. It's not complicated.

What have you got against tinned out of interest? This is an amazing way of preserving freshness for many products. To blanket all tinned goods, especially to the poster who's on a restricted budget isn't helpful at all.

Yup. Nothing wrong with tinned fish. Sardines, tuna or salmon are excellent and quite cheap

Exactly my point. I'm assuming that the OP as a student has a level of intelligence where labels wouldn't be too much of a challenge.

davesnothere

Shortfall wrote:

Tashman wrote:

Shortfall wrote:

Garry H wrote:

Just eat a balanced diet. Nothing more complicated than that.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

This. Avoid processed and tinned food, eat raw where you can, stay off white bread/rice/flour and sugar. It's not complicated.

What have you got against tinned out of interest? This is an amazing way of preserving freshness for many products. To blanket all tinned goods, especially to the poster who's on a restricted budget isn't helpful at all.

I don't have a problem with all tinned food and if the OP is a savvy shopper who reads labels then fine. As a general rule of thumb though tinned foods are likely to contain colourings, preservatives and tons of added sugar, chemicals and salt. Buying the raw ingredients is often cheaper and the only additives are what you put in when you cook it.

The worst ones are the prepared jar sauces like Dolmio or ready made curry/chinese sauces. They are FULL of sugar and are to be avoided. Very easy to make up a big batch of pasta sauce from simple ingredients and then freeze in small portions, tastes better and a lot healthier.

As above, cutting out or reducing your alcohol intake is a big help (although being a student suspect this may not be so easy)

For me i wasn't too bad on breakfast or dinner, it was eating unhealthy stuff during the day, crisps and chocolate etc

shortfall

SmoggySteve wrote:

Tashman wrote:

Shortfall wrote:

Garry H wrote:

Just eat a balanced diet. Nothing more complicated than that.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

This. Avoid processed and tinned food, eat raw where you can, stay off white bread/rice/flour and sugar. It's not complicated.

What have you got against tinned out of interest? This is an amazing way of preserving freshness for many products. To blanket all tinned goods, especially to the poster who's on a restricted budget isn't helpful at all.

Yup. Nothing wrong with tinned fish. Sardines, tuna or salmon are excellent and quite cheap

I don't disagree except to say that the OP wanted advice on an "easy, straight up, simple" diet. What can be simpler than buying your own ingredients that are as close to nature as possible and preparing them exactly how you like them? It avoids the need for scanning labels for hidden sugar and other nasties. Nobody is saying never eat tinned food ever again or you'll look like Russel Grant, just to avoid the obvious pitfalls that people fall into when they wonder why they aren't losing weight.

guy.spartacus

Shortfall wrote:

Garry H wrote:

Just eat a balanced diet. Nothing more complicated than that.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

This. Avoid processed and tinned food, eat raw where you can, stay off white bread/rice/flour and sugar. It's not complicated.

What's wrong with tinned tuna, tomatoes, chick peas, kidney beans or Fray Bentos pies?

'Eat raw where you can' is a fad diet

shortfall

guy.spartacus wrote:

Shortfall wrote:

Garry H wrote:

Just eat a balanced diet. Nothing more complicated than that.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

This. Avoid processed and tinned food, eat raw where you can, stay off white bread/rice/flour and sugar. It's not complicated.

What's wrong with tinned tuna, tomatoes, chick peas, kidney beans or Fray Bentos pies?

'Eat raw where you can' is a fad diet

Nothing wrong with those things mate. But the OP asked for advice on weight loss. If eating tinned pies helps you keep the fat off then whatever works for you.

smoggysteve

Shortfall wrote:

SmoggySteve wrote:

Tashman wrote:

Shortfall wrote:

Garry H wrote:

Just eat a balanced diet. Nothing more complicated than that.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

This. Avoid processed and tinned food, eat raw where you can, stay off white bread/rice/flour and sugar. It's not complicated.

What have you got against tinned out of interest? This is an amazing way of preserving freshness for many products. To blanket all tinned goods, especially to the poster who's on a restricted budget isn't helpful at all.

Yup. Nothing wrong with tinned fish. Sardines, tuna or salmon are excellent and quite cheap

I don't disagree except to say that the OP wanted advice on an "easy, straight up, simple" diet. What can be simpler than buying your own ingredients that are as close to nature as possible and preparing them exactly how you like them? It avoids the need for scanning labels for hidden sugar and other nasties. Nobody is saying never eat tinned food ever again or you'll look like Russel Grant, just to avoid the obvious pitfalls that people fall into when they wonder why they aren't losing weight.

Obviously never been a student living in digs on a pittance.

shortfall

SmoggySteve wrote:

Shortfall wrote:

SmoggySteve wrote:

Tashman wrote:

Shortfall wrote:

Garry H wrote:

Just eat a balanced diet. Nothing more complicated than that.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

This. Avoid processed and tinned food, eat raw where you can, stay off white bread/rice/flour and sugar. It's not complicated.

What have you got against tinned out of interest? This is an amazing way of preserving freshness for many products. To blanket all tinned goods, especially to the poster who's on a restricted budget isn't helpful at all.

Yup. Nothing wrong with tinned fish. Sardines, tuna or salmon are excellent and quite cheap

I don't disagree except to say that the OP wanted advice on an "easy, straight up, simple" diet. What can be simpler than buying your own ingredients that are as close to nature as possible and preparing them exactly how you like them? It avoids the need for scanning labels for hidden sugar and other nasties. Nobody is saying never eat tinned food ever again or you'll look like Russel Grant, just to avoid the obvious pitfalls that people fall into when they wonder why they aren't losing weight.

Obviously never been a student living in digs on a pittance.

At the risk of turning a thread about weight loss into the Month Python Four Yorkshiremen sketch, I know what it's like to be poor trust me. Anyway, I've offered my opinion, the guy can choose what he thinks is the best advice. I'm off to lick t' road clean.

harry-s

When I was a student, house/flatmates would try and nick my grub while I was eating it. If I had tried to cook, freeze and store it, I'd never have seen it again!

guy.spartacus

Shortfall wrote:

guy.spartacus wrote:

Shortfall wrote:

Garry H wrote:

Just eat a balanced diet. Nothing more complicated than that.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

This. Avoid processed and tinned food, eat raw where you can, stay off white bread/rice/flour and sugar. It's not complicated.

What's wrong with tinned tuna, tomatoes, chick peas, kidney beans or Fray Bentos pies?

'Eat raw where you can' is a fad diet

Nothing wrong with those things mate. But the OP asked for advice on weight loss. If eating tinned pies helps you keep the fat off then whatever works for you.

If I eat tinned pies but remain in a calorie deficit I'll lose weight - it's how it works

To the OP - calculate your TDEE https://tdeecalculator.net/ and adjust based on your activity levels on particular days

Use My Fitness Pal to track what you're ingesting and hold yourself to account - try to keep protein up around 1.5g/kg of lean body weight to maintain muscle mass and drop the fat

imposter2.0

Tinned pies - Fray Bentos? Come on. They're great.

smoggysteve

Who ate all the pies? Who ate all the pies?........

keef66

I read it that the OP was actually asking for specific meal suggestions rather than generic advice about weight loss or eating a balanced diet.

But as a biologist I use the term 'Diet' to mean what you actually eat.
Others see 'Diet' and immediately think of some kind of restrictive / extreme / bizarre / ultimately unsustainable eating regime with rapid weight loss as it's goal.

To the OP: buy a recipe book you like the look of. Quick meals for one, eating on a budget type of stuff, rather than Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall roasting an entire pig in a fire-pit job.
You got fellow students you can share shopping / cooking with, take it in turns to do an evening meal? That's how I learned to cook.

homers_double

SmoggySteve wrote:

Who ate all the pies? Who ate all the pies?........

:oops:

courtmed

keef66 wrote:

To the OP: buy a recipe book you like the look of. Quick meals for one, eating on a budget type of stuff, rather than Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall roasting an entire pig in a fire-pit job.
You got fellow students you can share shopping / cooking with, take it in turns to do an evening meal? That's how I learned to cook.

Great advice. Most of the meals I have come out of the Good Housekeeping - Complete Healthy cookbook. Common ingredients(mostly), nutritional info and most of them are really easy/very tasty.

bobmcstuff

SmoggySteve wrote:

MiddleRinger wrote:

Ride more. Eat less.

Think I've said this more times than I care to remember. Ride more. DON'T EAT LESS. Where do you expect to get your energy from?????? Eat healthy. Less little and eat often. Does not equate to eating LESS.

From my fat stores. That's the point.

To lose weight you need to have a calorie deficit, and you may need to eat less to achieve that.

We don't know what OP currently eats and what he would be burning - even if you ride an hour every day that's likely only between 400 and 700 calories burnt (depending on intensity etc.), i.e., unlikely to be game changing especially if you fall into the trap which many people do of doing a little bit of exercise then eating extra food.

Weight loss starts in the kitchen.