Diet changes as riding season starts - advice please

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G6612
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Location: Pittsburgh, PA

by G6612

Now that spring is right around the corner I am hitting the trainer a little more and now getting some rides in. Now my appetite is getting a little out of hand and I really do not want to start eating junk food. My weight is a little up from winter so looking for what everyone eats to not gain weight but just curve your appetite so I am not starving all the time. I noticed I really don't feel good sometimes until I eat, should I just eat more or what is a good snack to eat and when to eat.

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victorduraace
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by victorduraace

Get something with low GI, slowly releasing carbs. Like muesli, wholegrain stuff. Something to keep you away from hunger.

AGW
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by AGW

Oatmeal/muesli or whole wheat bread and a serving of fruit with each meal keeps me pretty well fueled and matches with my carb cravings during higher intensity training. When intensity is low during the off season or if I'm just doing high volume, replacing about 10-20% of my carbs with proteins helps me stay satiated without under fueling.

drchull
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by drchull

It is hard to eat well, especially in todays fast food heavily processed world. After really hard days or when muscles are sore I crave food salty, sweet, carb rich food like crazy. I have a few simple rules that help and same I tell all my patients, though they don't listen.

1.No fast food-never, that crap is the same as soda pop and cigarettes. It is designed to addict and kill you. There is no nutritional value. We can't control the air we breath, but we can control what we put on the fork. If you eat garbage what does that say about what you think about yourself.
2. No eating in front of the television. It is unconscious eating done to not satisfy a hunger but out of habit. Tends to be junk and will go on unlimited as long as you are sitting on your ass or until the bag of chips is empty.
3. Cut out the processed junk, same as 1 really but at home. Don't worry about GI or anything like that. The less processed the better. Fresh food. if organic or non GMO great if not at least fresh.
4. Give yourself a break. I love the idea of a cheat day. If you are disciplined all the time you will crack and crack big. Give yourself Friday or Saturday to eat what you want. If you are disciplined all the time you will probably find you still don't go for the double bacon cheeseburger, fries and six pack of beer, but maybe you will, oh well it is one meal in 21.
5. Tequila, beer has a lot of carbs.
Not really cycling related but translates well with a few tweaks.

asdf123
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Joined: Mon Sep 24, 2012 12:58 am

by asdf123

drchull, very good pointers. Sums it up pretty good.

Note to the author:
Think about low IG carbs, fiber intake and healthy fats witch make you feel satisfied and filled after and also help absorb nutrients.

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Tapeworm
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by Tapeworm

In addition to the above, some very general "guidelines" (we all know the difference between rules and guidelines...right ;) ) :-

1) if you buy it, you will eat it. So if you have an issue of sneaking a few choc biscuits late at night...don't buy the freaking things in the first place.

2) if trying lose weight - don't drink calories. Liquid calories help "bypass" some of the satiety "safeguards" we have. Conversely when trying to stack on muscle it's great.

3) calories in vs calories out is mostly correct (with some wiggle room). It cannot be ignored.

4) there is a deep, deep psychological relationship with food that we don't fully understand. Don't buy into any hype diet, or extreme viewpoint including the ones I just posted. An ice cream will not hurt. The odd beer won't change a thing. The "cheat day" is awesome - I love my "all you can eat" day. But eat it because you want to. Not because you deserve it, or that you've earned it. There is a difference, one is healthy, the other two...not so much. Recognise it and life will be good.

5) when you eat certain things can be just as important as what you are eating.
"Physiology is all just propaganda and lies... all waiting to be disproven by the next study."
"I'm not a real doctor; But I am a real worm; I am an actual worm." - TMBG

jooo
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by jooo

drchull wrote:5. Tequila, beer has a lot of carbs.

Rubbish! Most common beers aren't high in carbohydrates at all. Alcohol itself is packed with kilojoules though so all forms of alcoholic drinks should be treated with some caution.

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devinci
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by devinci

alcool and training is just generally bad

jpanspac
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by jpanspac

Very good advice from drchull and Tapeworm. I'll just add a couple things. If you're not used to much fiber in your diet, increase it gradually to let your body adapt. And contrary to common knowledge, protein is more satiating than fat. Try to eat less fat and more lean protein. And lots of fresh fruit and veggies.
My favorite components are the ones I never have to think about.

drchull
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by drchull

Really the last point was a joke, and because I was drinking tequila at the time.

Alcohol is also thermogenic and in limited quantity spirits balance out somewhat. Certainly though beer has significantly more, usually with between 7-15g of carbohydrate per beer (for non-light beers) and around 150-200 calories. Obviously this varies widely. Tequila on the other hand has a little under 100 calories and 0 carbs for a 1.5 ounce. Now if you mix it into a margarita, different story.

Don't get me wrong, I love beer but seriously try to limit it if training hard. Part of the reason I ride so much is so that I can drink beer without getting fat(ter). Can't use willful ignorance as an excuse like so many.

Tape brings up a good point about liquid calories. For those Canadians on here, a double double has as much fat as a big mac and a ton of liquid sugar. A coke has 22tsp of sugar. Store bought juice is essentially flat pop as far as nutritional content. Don't even get me started about milk fat.

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devinci
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by devinci

Please, do start on milk fat....

drchull
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by drchull

I always thought one of the funniest stories I saw when in France was when there was a movement to stop giving the kids milk in school to try and prevent them from getting onto the american milk fed diet and giving the wee ones watered down wine instead.
I love the kooky French. Guess that is why they had the lowest rates of heart disease and highest rates of liver disease in the first world at that time.

ultyguy
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by ultyguy

Yeah, all good stuff in here. I also get a big bump up in appetite which is completely normal. I generally don't try and lose weight when I'm training hard. I find it much easier to cut back on consumption lose weight during my easier weeks of training and also it doesn't affect my immune system by training hard when under fed.

1- don't eat anything sweet or salty out of a package- this cuts out an enormous amount of calories

2- if I have a huge hunger urge (outside of post-ride), grab a piece of protein. I like to scarf a bunch of sushi, but chicken breast or some other lean protien is good too, eggs work as well.

3- don't keep anything naughty in the house- if you really really want it and are dying for it, make yourself leave the house in order to get it. A little something naughty won't kill you, but you'll only end up getting it once or twice a week if you do this.

Butcher
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by Butcher

Coke 22tsp of sugar? 12oz can has 39g of sugar. Tsp has 4g. I know the education in America is not up to par, but that equals a lot less than 22tsp.

Technically, in America, it's not even sugar, it's HFCS.

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devinci
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by devinci

HFCS gets a bad rap but there is tons more to the issue then simply bashing on HFCS

by Weenie


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