What do you eat on long rides?

Something to think about:

If part of your goal is to lose weight then you need to be careful about how much you eat both during and after rides. If you take in as many calories during the ride as you expend on the ride you will ride stronger but you will not lose weight.

Almost all of the coaching advice you read regarding sports nutrition (what to eat, how much, and when for optimal performance) is directed at people who are at a healthy body weight and body fat percentage. In other words, people who do not need to lose any weight. If you fall in this category then follow the advice making small tweaks to work best for you.

However, if you want to lose weight and excess body fat then you need to follow a different nutrition plan to achieve both of your goals; riding longer/ stronger and healthy weight loss.

 

Well, when it comes to vitamin B I take it everyday. Actually I take a "super B" complex vitamin. It contains ALL the B vitamins. I take it for two main reasons. (1) it provides a natural method of getting energy instead of caffeine (2) it is good for assisting in nerve growth & repair. It is also good for many other things but I take it mainly for those two things. I have never really noticed any unusual smell when taking vitamin B. It may be just the brewers yeast or a combination of that and something else in your diet.

I also take some supplements that are concentrated "Whole Food". Even Willie G takes those. We have seen a big difference in our bodily function when we have been on and off of them. So along with those things we do eat as healthy as we can. As for Stevia, we use it too, and I will sometimes substitute natural unprocessed RAW honey for sweetner before I use sugar. IF i have to use sugar, it has to be organic.

 

Thanks Honeybee, there's no question that the smell is the brewers yeast.

 

Drew Said:

Buddy, I look forward to seeing you at the CRAM, even if it's only at the start - I'm signed up for the 35 mile, which is the longest single ride I've taken in...well, I was in highschool last time I rode further in one day.

While we're on this riding/nutrition thing, I realize that vitamin supplements are a little controversial.
_________________________________________________________
Drew, rode some with Mickey today and I'm rusty. I've only ridden
400 miles this year. May need to follow the 20 mile route. Mickey
is doing the 62. We'll see how it goes. I feel confident for 35 miles.
Heck, I start my 70th year in August, but even at that, I feel better
than I did at 60.

As far as vitamins go, I feel best when I take them. I take those
recommended for diabetics and vegans.

I take six vitamin pills, pre-packaged for diabetics.:

1. Alpha Lipoic Acid with Green Tea.
Antioxidants. Healthy nerve function.
Those free radicals

2. Multi Vitamin/mineral too much to list. B3,B6, B12.
Nutritional support and eye health

3. Chromium--Carb Metabolism

4. Selenium--Antioxidants--Those free radicals again.

5. Folic acid--Heart health

6. Vitamin C--Good for bones. Recommended by orthopedic
surgeon that I know. 500mg

True story: I would take the vitamins and in minutes all
my aches and pains were gone. So I looked at each pill and
noticed the Green Tea. Well, I know Green Tea has caffeine,
but caffeine was not listed as an ingredient on the box, so
I called Nature Made and they finally admitted that there
were 12mg Caffeine in each Green Tea tablet. I'm telling
you folks, caffeine is a powerful drug and should not be
abused. Decaffeinated Green Tea has 12 mg of caffeine on
my pain relief scale. My Mary gets 100mg in a cup of her
Starbucks. I'm thankful she takes only one cup in the
morning.

Mike may want to explain why diabetics need these things.
I make it easy on myself and use "Nature Made" prepackaged
for diabetics. Dr. Weil has a similar system, but more $'s.

 

I was gifted a bread machine several months ago. I have baked bread in the past but let me tell you the machine is the easiest. I just dump in the ingredients and turn it on and an hour later it is done and ready to eat. What we like best in a Light Whole Wheat (2 c white flour, 1 cup whole wheat flour)

Also we went back to eating the "Diet For a Small Planet" She says use meat as a condiment not a main dish, we we are living on mostly veggies, grains and legumes, and feel better for it.

 

Me too. My bread machine makes two at a time. I've not tried white flour.
I make flour by grinding organic wheat, and other grains, in a coffee grinder.

Make milk in a Soy Joy milk machine. Get organic soybeans from Ingles
or the Health Barn. BTW, prices are often better at the health food store
because they sell whole grains in bulk. One can make flour out of any of
the grains in a coffee grinder. They can be ground coarse or fine, depending
on the length of time the button is held down.

The list goes on and on. I make cheeze with raw almonds. No cholesterol
cows stuff here. Some people I know use cows milk and take cholesterol lowering meds. Some of them are well educated in making a living, but
still don't know how to live.

Talked to Mike and Dr Laurie on our last ride. She told me of a person
that took himself off his diabetic meds after a weight loss, only to find
his A1C to be 14. Good is 5 or less. Mine runs 5-7. Never over seven
and I still have 25 LBS to get off. Came in yesterday after a ride with
Mickey, and my BG was 88. There are a lot of diabetics in the world
that don't know it. Don't be one of them. Check it often as you approach
50 and onward. I discovered mine at 60. Same with some of the other
killers. Know your numbers. The first indiator is often sudden death.

 

I had a bread machine for a couple of years and it gave up the electric juice. We wore it out! I couldn't keep enough natural bread made around my house. I got a new one the other day, and it has started again...can't keep enough made to satisfy these guys.

I know of a website that has all sorts of stuff for making and grinding your own natural grains and beans etc. You can get the grains and beans from 1 lb baggies to 6 gal buckets of the stuff. Natural or organic. visit: www.breadbeckers.com Haven't had natural cow milk in nearly three years. Tried it once several months back and the "fat" literally coated my mouth and it nearly made me sick and that was from a 2% jug. It was just nasty feeling...sort of like slime. Had to keep "clearing" my throat.

I keep close tabs on my sugar too. Since my mom is diabetic...we all started eating almost like a diabetic when she got diagnosed. I try to keep a close eye on mine, because if I don't my sugar will get too low and I wind up in a bad way..usually by passing out and becoming coherent in the ER. OH well, another reason to eat healthy. hahaha

 

how do you carry all the vegetables and fresh foods up and down all these mountains?

 

I gotta tell ya,By the time i made it to Norris Lake I was ready to thow all of it out on the road.I was debating on leaving my tent sleeping bag spare cloths and pouring out my water bottles.
So unless someone can come up with a powdered drink and super dooper pooper scooper energy food that weighs less than air;i am afraid propel and ramen noodles will be the bulk of my on board staples.

 

Ok, Lets see i left Dandridge about 2pm made it to Love's Creek in K-town about dark.
Left right at dawn and road to about 12 miles past Halls Crossroads.
Was riding from just after sunrise till just before dark most days.Then i began stoping earlier if i was near a place i liked for making camp.But then i found out it is better to leave about 10am or so to let the condesation and/or dew dry off the tent before packing it away.
So now i have settled into a pattern of about 8 hour days,with a nice lunch break in the middle.I am wondering if that constitutes (8hrs) a long ride?
Anybody remember when i left Dandridge? Or what happen to my first days post? I can't find it now.Did A.D. delete it?

 

I still like good old Gatoraid. After all it was developed by a doctor for the Florida Gators football team. I have read a lot on it and it is a good balance of electolytes and the sucrose you are burning for energy as you ride. Best part is that you can carry the powder and mix it as you go.

 

I like the Gatorade too. But some of the posts about it are as bad as the propel.If i am at a place where i can get the powdered Gatorade i may try it as well.Not sure the price will be comperable to the propel tho.Besides isn't propel made by the Gatorade prople?

 

I'm not a fan of gatoraid. First off, I don't like most of the flavors, second, it's too salty. A buddy of my, who is a wedgy riding lunatic who cranks out 2-300 miles per week (and yes, I call him a wedgie riding lunatic to his face) put me onto some stuff called Cytomax. No artificial sweeteners. It's better than gatoraid. I've done some testing.

Gatoraid is gatoraid. Lets face it, it keeps me from dehydrating, but it leaves me thirsty.

Cytomax does not leave me thirsty, although I would say it's very nearly too sweet for me. It *does* (as they claim) supress your lactic thresh hold letting you push a little harder for a little longer before you feel the burn - or maybe just ride more miles in a day. I've found that when I feel myself getting tired in the leg, I seem to be able to recover more energy faster just by soft peddling for a while than I can by stopping to rest when I'm drinking anything else.

It's expensive, but for supplemental hydration (meaning I carry a gallon of water and a half gallon of cytomax) on long rides, I'll keep it.

 

How easy is it to get?I have had to leave some wiggle room in my agenda for unforseeable changes in travel.
I don't want to carry anymore than i have to but not sure how to get it forwarded if i have to change my route before the next scheduled p.o. stop.

 

Dude, I have tried gatorade and propel. To me, IMHO gatorade is too sweet...propel is too salty. However, I DO NOT like the artificial sweetner in propel (splenda). Cytomax is GOOOOD stuff. I like to get the "lemonadey" types. They are very refreshing. Between Willie G and me we drained an entire cannister of the stuff on our self supported tour in Florida one time. GOOD STUFF....