RTL Training Diet

I know that at the moment I have a pretty awful diet. I like all the
things that are bad for me, and don't like the stuff that's good for
me. However, I'm in training for RTL, which is likely to be the most
physically challenging thing I've ever done. So maybe it's time to
look at what I eat.

I think my mid-ride diet of energy bars, bananas, chocolate and Soreen
is probably fine during the ride, but I'm interested in what you guys
eat before a ride, after a ride, and on rest days.

Any advice will either be greatly appreciated, or adamantly ignored
depending on how much I like the food

STM


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semach.the.monkey
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Bassets jelly babies are a popular UK riding fuel and they were half
price at Sainsbury's the other day when I bought 2 packs. Unfortunately
I hid them and now can't remember where

I have been trying some software recently to keep track of my food
nutrients intake and energy expenditure which has proved quite
interesting. Although I've only been using it casually it's helped me
balance my food intake better and I've lost nearly a stone in 6 weeks
(it needed to go) but today's cream cake may make a dent in that

The software I'm using is from 'VidaOne' (http://www.vidaone.com/) and
they do stuff for Windows mobile and desktop.


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unicus

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Y'know, there's a study of tastes, that found that if you eat a taste
something like 5-7 times, you will end up liking the taste. The problem
is that people are wussy and won't risk their poor ickle tastey buds
with new flavours and experiences, so they end up eating a very limited
range of foods. What they need to do is 'HTFU'
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EY7lYRneHc) (don't click the link if
you don't like swear words) and just eat stuff.

If you don't, then you end up only eating a limited range of foods just
because they're what you've always eaten.

In the last few years I've taught myself to like celeriac and celery,
tea, beer, red wine and a bunch of other things that I never used to
like, and it certainly makes life easier.

For what it's worth, I eat a lot of carbohydrates and a lot of
vegetables & fruit. A lot of it in the form of home made curries &
rice, but also pasta, stews, risottos etc. Obviously for you, you'll
want a bunch of meat in all these things, but to eat sensibly for
riding, you've gotta have some vegetables in there too.

Drinking-wise, beer is always a hassle when training, cos it's nice,
but you don't want to let it spoil your training. The easiest thing to
do is make sure that even when you've had beers the night before, push
yourself really hard. This gives you an incentive to not get too
hammered, and stops beer getting in the way of training too much, if
you make sure you get up at a sensible time and do any riding you've
committed to doing however hungover you might be. I try to ride home
from any pub visits / nights out if possible if they're in Nottingham,
because that way you tend not to get too caned either. Having said
that, right now I'm a total lightweight, seems like when I'm training I
can drink a couple of pints and feel pretty darned drunk (I sure am a
cheap date at the moment), if that isn't the case then it's probably a
sign of not training enough.

Joe


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joemarshall

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I've been thinking about the same thing recently. I usually have a
pretty good diet and I am pretty fit but I'm trying to improve myself
even more.

I think a diet full of carbohydrates and protein is most recommended.
Pastas are usually good, and sugars are good for energy. I read
recently that cyclists with pretty hardcore training schedules usually
go for a really high energy diet. This can mean they take in up to 6000
Calories per day, where the usual person takes about 2000. But a diet
like that is generally not reccomended without proper medical
supervision.

Check out some diets of bicyclists. Here is a brief summary of one:
http://tinyurl.com/23sghp


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CoreTechs

UNICYCLE FOR CHRIST
In nomine patris et filii et spiritus sancti


Mikefule wrote:
As an alternative hypothesis of equal validity, God did not design us to
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For an ultra long distance event, eat whatever you like during the race.
Make sure there's a good variety available though. Sometimes you'll
feel like pizza, sometimes you'll feel like ice-cream, and sometimes
you feel like you're going to vomit.

For ultra long distance liquid fuel...I highly recommend Ensure. It's
the stuff we give cancer patients in hospital. The people that do Race
Across America swear by it. So do I. It's much better than some of
the sickly sweet sugar syrups you pay ridiculous amounts of money for.

Also a good supply of Coffee....I can't race without it.


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GizmoDuck

The Uninam Tour 2008.....Hanoi to Saigon!!! www.uninam.net

The Monguni 2009....Unicycle Tour of Mongolia

Email me for details.
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Bowl of porridge in the morrning...


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thejdw

I didn't spell it wrong, you just read it wrong!
kington99 wrote:
A hobnob is an oaty biscuit, the fact that they don't exist in america
just goes to show that you have no culinary heritage


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'Here is a book' (http://tinyurl.com/3ckmq8) that will tell you
everything you need or want to know about the connection between
nutrition and conditioning, i.e. what to eat before workout, during,
and after for recovery. While it's not a "Top 10 things to eat list", I
found it did a great job explaining how food works in your body right
down to the muscle/cellular level, and in the time since, I've been
able to experience and identify problems when I haven't eaten
correctly. So of you REALLY want answers, that's a good source to
check out.

But for quick recommends, I'd say it's important to maintain a solid
mix of protein and carb. Don't load on one and exclude the other. More
protein in advance of hard workouts, easily digestible carbs with less
protein during the workout (i.e. a multi-hour ride), and a mix of about
25% protein 75% carb -within a half hour of stopping -to help with your
recovery.

Beyond those rough rules of thumb, it's whatever you like. When I'm
seriously exercising, I tend to eat the same things day after day
because I have experimented on what works best for me. Most of my
protein comes from soy, although lately I've been on a pho kick which
provides meat for protein and rice noodle for carbs, plus a ton of beef
broth for hydration. Mmmm...pho. On days of big rides, I tend to
crack a Boost energy drink upon waking, just to get protein/carb mix
going immediately in my system. Then the aforementioned bowl of
porridge, ideally with bananas and a wee bit o brown sugar.


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tomblackwood

Tailgate at your own risk...
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This probably won't help much... but I eat cereal, and hamburgers.

During the race, I like to down Gu gels (those... things. I really do
think they help me out) for quick energy, powerbars as a midrange, and,
well, sub sandwiches and burritos and burgers and yucky greasy stuff
for long distance fuel If I'm out for longer than 6 hours, I just
eat whatever the heck I want (as long as I know it won't make my
stomach feel full), because I know that in 2 hours, whatever I'll eat
will be long gone.


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chuckaeronut

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Unicycling: It doesn't get easier; you just do tougher stuff.
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Thanks for the info guys.

I like Chuckaeronuts hamburger advice best But if I'm going to go
through all the effort of learning to like something new, then I may as
well make sure it's the right thing. (fwiw I've already learned to
like tea, beer and red wine so they can't be on my list of new things).
Oh, and I never let a hangover get in the way of a good ride. I
actually like a hard ride to work off a hard nights drinking.

I already eat a lot of meat & pasta or meat & rice dishes, so it sounds
like that's going in the right direction.

Toms book suggestion looks good. I'll see if I can track down a copy
of that here somewhere.

But keep the suggestions coming.

STM


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semach.the.monkey
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I drink home brewed kefir daily.


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Doug

Ride like you stole it!
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