Food after long rides
I have a tendency to eat really healthy all week and then completely blow it out all day Saturday. Its something about those Saturday long rides that make me want to eat everything in sight. If you burn 2500-3000 calories in a bike ride, how much do you need to replenish? I'm trying to lose this last 10ish pounds so I've started logging everything I eat. I need around 2100 cals per day to maintain my weight. Assuming I burn an additional 2500 in a long ride, that 4600 calories! How much of that should I be looking to replace? Do most of you just do a recovery meal and then continue to eat healthy after that?
0
Comments
What is your typicall recovery meal?
I usaually have 1 cup lowfat chocolate milk, 1 Bananaa when I get home then follow that up with a few hard boilded eggs (2 whole 2 just whites) and wheat toast and more fruit.
Sweet, but that could be why you are still hungry. And you are suppose to eat that while you are riding.
I know nutrition is very personal, but my favorite is a fully-stuffed Chipotle burrito w/ guac. I also allow a diet coke on REALLY hard days for my sweet tooth.
Burrito is actually one of my favorite post-ride meals, but it's a healthier variety than Taco Bell! I don't usually think about the cals in the "solid food" meal much. Maybe I should.
@scott - I absolutely love anything wrapped in a tortilla. I've been doing the "eat anything I want" strategy for the days where I workout over 3 hours and I feel thats the reason I can't get this last 10 pounds off.
I think protein is the key to trying to get yourself full while not putting garbage calories in you. I have found with recovery drinks/chocolate milk, I feel full after drinking them immediately after a workout. Yes, I'm hungry later, but not as bad as if I waited or ate empty calories. I've really come to enjoy black bean pancakes too, great with sour cream on them!!!
Dan
It's been proven (paging Penny for verifying my facts!) that protein/carb intake within 20 minutes is beneficial, then adding more within the next 2 hours afterwards.
I had the same problem but would come home and make a huge stack of pancakes or french toast. Devour it and pass out on the couch. Lots of fun and delicious but probably not too good for body comp. There was another thread on post workout routines last year where people were posting what they ate and the "meals" hardly looked like snacks to me. I learned that making sure to consume ~250Cal/hr on the bike (with some protein) and a recovery drink immediately after the ride drastically reduced how hungry I was later. So much so that I was able to make a smaller stacks of pancakes but still pass out on the couch.
Typically I’ll use Ovaltine and milk in the OS but once the rides get longer I’ll switch to Ultragen from First Endurance.
A Taco Bell Grilled Stuffed Chicken Burritto has 670 calories (and a mind boggling 2010 mg of sodium!). And if you consume about 250 calories per hour on a four hour bike ride that is another 1000 calories, which brings you within shouting distance of the 2500 extra calories that you estimate you burn on the ride. This means that an extra piece of cake with normal eating over the remainder of the day could more than compensate for your expended calories.
You may want to total up what your are eating vs. burning - the net result could surprise you a bit.
Like others I usually have a big glass or two of chocolate milk right after I finish. If I'm feeling hungry in the next 15-30 minutes I'll also have some peanut butter on a bagel. Then I take care of admin stuff and eat an actual meal about 1-2 hours after the workout.
I'm with Nemo and others on this one...depending on how far I am from home, I'll have something in the car/cooler waiting for me after a long ride or run. Often, banana, granola bar, and choc milk or a pbj, banana and choc milk.
If I'm home/near home, I make a fruit smoothie (with nonfat greek yogurt, oj, and frozen fruit) or a choc milk smoothie (choc milk, banana, pnut butter) and have some wheat toast. If I do a long run, that's all I can stomach for a few hours (until the blood is back in my stomach)...
Like you, I will sabatoge myself after a long brick/ride by overeating...
burritos are definitely one of my favs: but the DB and I have been making our own lately (and pizza, too)... so we can be sure they're good for us - saute onion, garlic, green pepper; add black beans, chx, diced tomato, and seasoning to taste; roll it into a tortilla (I actually find the ones that have nothing but corn and water) with cheese, wrap tightly with foil...bake for 20 minutes... add sliced avocado and salsa when they're out of the oven... filling and healthy! (in fact, I have some leftovers... that will likely be my post-brick dinner tonight).
Hi Branan,
The post ride, eat-right-away advice is right on. I have some thoughts on the other part of your question about getting the last 10 lbs off...
Even though I'm far from overweight, I would like to get off 5-7 to get back to the weight I have been for more than 15 years. I just got diagnosed with hypothyroid, so those extra pounds just came out of no where and they are not budging. Like you, I am tracking every mouthful through FitDay. I never truly believed people when they said they couldn't get weight off because of a med condition
, but I'm here to tell you it is true, and it sucks. I digress....
That said, I talked to teammate/nutrtionist extraordinaire Penny Wilson, and she agreed that getting my resting metabolic rate (RMR) tested is hugely important and informative. I think many over-estimate what their RMR is, thus taking in too many calories day in and day out, even when "watching it." Big red flag is "having trouble losing when tracking every mouthful." Once you know your real RMR, then you can really figure out what you need to eat in the course of a training day--from pre-ride, to in-ride, to post-ride, and beyond.
When you know your real RMR, add in the calories expended in the workout, and consume ~500 under that for a loss of 1-2 lbs. per week. For example (to do easy math) say your RMR is 1500, and you burn 1000 on the ride = 2,500 for the day to maintain your weight. Consume ~2,000 total for weight loss. Don't forget to add in the calories you consume during that 4 hour ride too. They count.
If you are interestedin getting your RMR tested, this web site allows you to plug in your zip code and see how has the Medgem or Bodygem in your area. Penny uses the Bodygem, and it is reviewed well everywhere. A lot of the RMR charts were conceived in ~1920. There is a better way to figure out the amounts we really need to eat.
I'll post what my results are. It will be interesting to compare how it stacks up to what I think my RMR is based on the norm. I bet the news ain't good.
Soooo, I've done a search based on all of Mississippi. Guess what, not offered here.
Bummer. But keep digging a bit, maybe call the company. I don' t think that list is complete by a long shot. Gyms have them, hospitals, ask your doc, etc. I know, you have nothing better to do.
Not a nutritionist, but that seems to keep me focused on bigger days...now when fatigue goes up over long term in IM training, I might eat a bit more...
P
Rich had written something waaaay back in his Crucible Fitness materials that has stuck with me ... to the effect of "the moment I stopped using a long ride as an excuse to go postal on the chow, the pounds started dropping away." This has been a huge item for me to reach Racing Weight for the last 4 seasons. So, more than ever, the discipline that you're exercising all week comes into play after a long ride. And the normal tricks you exercise all week apply ... normal portions, eat slowly, chew each bite and savour taste, bla bla bla. Your stomach is exactly the same as it was the other six days of the week and satiety will kick in at the same time and after the same # of cals. At least i'm pretty sure that's the case. But the moment you get into "I burned xx cals, so i can consume xx more cals than normal," you tend to get into trouble.
An easy trick to fortify this discipline: keep eating during your workout. It's amazing how many people - seasoned racers and new - forget this. By the time you're in the 4th or 5th hour of a session, the desire to continue to swill gatorade / clif / cytoplexmax / whatever has long since passed, and the Thrill is Gone. So a lot of long rides have fine nutrition until the last hour, and then people tend to back off and think they have enough cals to get to the end, even if they're running on fumes for 30-40'. Problem is, once the ride is done, they're famished, and any self-control is somewhere on the road 25 miles ago. (This is a really easy one, but also very very good practice for long course racing, where 'eating for the next event' is more important than ever.)
I recognize this is a huge weakness for me, so in the last hour or a big ride, I'll have something different and tastier than whatever fuel i've been using the last 4 or whatever hours. Again, a la Rich in Crucible, this is normally a X-large gas station almond Snickers. And yeah, a bananna would be better, but I've been riding all day.
Last caution is avoid treating fueling during the ride as a chance to cut calories ... again, this leads to a pretty serious blowback after ride when you're starting at the fridge or Chipotle Menu or whatever. Again, some people really do think "I'll just not eat for the last hour and create a huge deficit and boy will i be lean. " or "I'll take 200 instead of 350 cals per hour to game the numbers and boy will i be lean." Trust me ... avoid this.
Hi Guys,
Sorry for the disappearing act. I was working on my dissertation proposal and finishing up the end of the semester. A college would be a great if it weren't for the students
No, really. I love most of my students. The end of the semster is just always crazy.
Back to the program. . .
Branan: What are you eating/drinking during your ride?
I wholehartedly agree with what others have said. Have your Endurox waiting in your car to drink as soon as you get back. Don't wait! Don't wait. Did I say it. . . Don't wait! Having it quickly helps with the hungry feeling AND gets the recovery process underway. You want that first recovery meal within 30 minutes or sooner of getting off the bike. NOT getting home.
Once we know what you are doing during your ride, we can also help with post-ride intake.
Try the drink immediately after then check back, too.
On a separate note, I started tracking everything I eat. I'm getting a ton of Sodium in a day. What's a reasonable goal for someone that trains like we do?
I'm with you on the sodium. I love a naked burrito at Chipotle (black beans, chicken, peppers and onions, pico and guac for fat), 550 cals but 1500 mg Sodium. A quick meal at Starbucks with their Spinach wrap is 1100 mg Na+ also. I find it hard to eat less than 2000 mg sodium if I eat out at restaurants.
I have emailed Penny about the sodium issue but it sounds a little variable based upon individual and exercise/sweating/day.
Vince
What is a "ton" of sodium?
My answer is like most. . . it depends. It depends on your health history and that of your family. If you or someone in your family has hypertension I'd recommend a lower amount (1500 mg is the recommendation, following the DASH diet is a good thing). If not and you are a salty sweater, I'd probably say a higher amount. I would also look at if you are a salty sweater, how much are you replacing during your workouts with the supplements. Unfortunately, not an easy answer.