Today we’ll look at the problems with eating too much or too little, as well as eating the right food…

is it normal to be totally starving after a ride? I was so hungry after a 2 hour intense training ride of the spinner that I felt really light headed and bad. I had to stop and get a piece of pizza.

I need to eat more I guess not sure what types of food. Is there a diet plan you have/reccomend so I won’t bonk anymore?????

Thanks,
Starving Steven

Hi Starving,

First off, it’s definitely not unusual to be starving after a long, intense ride. You could easily burn 2,000+ calories on a ride like that, so your body is going to tell you it needs food to replenish what it just lost. (It’s also not unusual to want to throw up after a long, intense ride, depending on the circumstances…)

The trick is to eat the right amount of the right foods before, during, and after riding so that you don’t get to the point where you’re starving. You might be eating too little, you might not be getting enough fat and protein, or it could deal with a rapid insulin response to carbs. Or maybe something else.

The light-headedness does make it sound like you’re running low on blood sugar during the ride. Either that or you’re pushing yourself insanely hard in a hot, indoor environment with stale air.

The best thing I can do is point you toward a few links that might help you figure out the right plan for your needs:

First, check my articles:

“What to Eat During a Ride or Race” and “What to Eat Pre- and Post-Ride”

Those articles give you ideas of what to eat before, during, and after a ride.

Next, if you want more ideas of good foods to eat as part of your daily diet, here are a few ideas:

Dr. Mercola’s Nutrition Plan
This sugar-free meal planning resource might not be perfect for cyclists, but it’s useful and free. Check it out for some ideas of wholesome meals.

How to Lose 20 lb Fat in 30 Days
I like reading articles from Tim Ferriss, and this is no exception. You might not be looking to drop 20 lb, but there are a few ideas for meals consisting of mainly meat/protein and vegetables.

The Pre-Race Meal
This article comes from Hammer Nutrition, so it will be biased toward their products, but the meat of the article is about meal type and timing. It’s very thorough (not to mention, correct.)

Healthiest Meals on Earth: The Surprising, Unbiased Truth About What Meals to Eat and Why
If you’re still having trouble, you might want to buy a book full of healthy meal ideas. This is a great book from one of my favorite authors, Dr. Jonny Bowden.

Shape Up!: The 8-week Program To Transform Your Body, Your Health, And Your Life
Another book from Jonny Bowden, this one might not be that useful to you, but it does cover some basics about getting the right food in your diet.

Keep working at it and eventually you’ll nail down your nutrition strategy!

Just as important as eating before and after a ride is eating during a ride. You need to eat and drink during rides to make sure your body is hydrated and has a steady supply of energy. If not, you could bonk, and that’s no fun!

Here is what I would eat during a ride or race, depending on ride duration and intensity:

Short Rides

Here is what I eat during short rides of various intensities.

For a recovery ride:

My recovery rides are typically about 30 minutes. For these short rides, I don’t take food or water.

For a short, easy ride:

For easy rides of 45-60 minutes, I’ll usually take a 16oz bottle of water. If it’s early in the morning before breakfast, I may use a sports drink instead of water to make sure that I’m getting some much-needed sugar to get my brain and body moving.

If I’m not in the mood for plain water but don’t want sugar either, I’ll put a Nuun tablet in my bottle. That gives me some flavor, a few electrolytes, and virtually no calories. (I’m just looking for flavor because sometimes plain water doesn’t go well with an empty stomach.)

Note: I probably wouldn’t even drink the whole bottle unless it’s a hot day.

For a short, intense ride:

If the ride will be fairly short, say 60-90 minutes, but intense, I will do things slightly differently.

I would want to carry at least a 24oz bottle of sports drink, if not one bottle sports drink in addition to one bottle of water. It’s not that I’d need a ton of extra calories, but I do like the refreshing taste, at least for a mental pick-me-up. (Nuun tablets would also be alright in this case.)

To go along with that, I’ll carry an energy gel in case I need a boost between sets of intervals or if the ride goes longer than planned.

For a short, intense race:

For a short, intense race, things change once again. For something like a Short Track XC race or Cyclo-Cross (CX) race, you probably won’t eat anything. You might not even carry water. That’s partly because the race is short, but also because it’s not easy to eat while keeping a fast pace and dealing with obstacles.

All you really need for these 30-60 minute efforts is a quick drink when passing through the feed zone. Just be sure you are properly hydrated before the race.

Longer Rides and Races

Here is what I eat during longer rides and races of various intensities.

For a moderate ride:

For a moderately paced ride around two hours long, I switch from water to sports drink. I will take two bottles of sports drink if the ride will be a little over two hours; one bottle water and one bottle sports drink for rides a little under two hours.

In this case, I also carry an energy bar or gel. I might not eat it, but for any ride over an hour, I like to have some food on hand just in case.

If the ride is pushing over two hours, I’ll definitely eat the food. I could finish the ride without it, but then I am so ravished that I binge afterward (in which case I eat too much and get sick.)

For a mountain bike race:

Mountain bike races vary in length, anywhere from 1 to 24 hours (a typical XC race will last 1-3 hours,) but they have one thing in common – rough trails and intensity.

So the key difference here is that you’ll need to focus on high-calorie sports drinks and energy gels, because you’ll need to keep your hands on the bars the majority of the time.

Whether you do it with a bottle of Hammer Perpetuem or you take quick shots of GU gel, you want to ingest your calories quickly and easily so you can concentrate on the trail.

(That’s how I get my calories during a mountain bike race. As for the number of calories I consume, that depends on the length of the race and follows the same set of guidelines listed in the rest of this article. )

For a long endurance ride:

For an easy to moderate pace ride that is 3-6 hours in length, I will be pounding down the sports drinks and energy bars.

At three hours, I usually stick with Powerbar Endurance or Hammer Heed. Any longer and I definitely consume a higher-calorie drink like Accelerade or Hammer Perpetuem. I’ll drink at least one bottle per hour (depending on the heat) to make sure I’m hydrated the entire ride.

I’ll also fill my jersey pockets with energy bars and snacks.

Overall you want to consume about 250-300 calories per hour. You could get that with an energy bar plus sports drink, two gels plus sports drink, or maybe three gels plus water.

The key is to start eating early. Even though you might not eat at all on a two hour ride, if you’re riding four hours, you should start eating 30 minutes into the ride!

(Whereas I might not eat at all on a two hour ride, I’ll have consumed 400-500 calories of solid food within the first two hours of a six hour ride! It’s very important to make sure you constantly replenish your glycogen stores, because this food will fuel you at hour six.)

Continue drinking every 15 minutes and eating every 30 minutes for the duration of the ride. That is either half an energy bar or one gel every 30 minutes.

Last tip: This list was what I would eat during a ride. As for what to carry during a ride, always carry more food than you think you need. The weight of a spare energy gel is minimal, but it could save your life. (You never know if you’ll get hungry, face an unexpected headwind, take a wrong turn, or something similar that will extend your ride time.)

Plus, you never know when you’ll have to boot a tire!

Happy riding, and happy eating!

Photo credit: ianmalcm

Today’s question is about eating the right foods before a cyclo-cross (CX) race…

I have a cross race this Sunday at 12:00pm. I was wondering what foods should I eat for dinner the night before, and for breakfast the day of the race. I know carbs, but I always seem to bonk in the middle of a race and feel absolutely starving at the end of a race. It is a 45 minute race, so I can’t eat during the race.

Thanks,
Crossin’ Chris

Hi Chris,

It’s common to be anxious about getting the exact food at the exact time, but it’s not something to stress over.

I wouldn’t be too worried about the night before, just avoid junk food and anything that could upset your stomach. As long as you are eating some sort of food you should be alright.

For a few ideas, check out my “What to Eat Pre- and Post-Ride” article.

As usual, don’t try out new foods right before or during a race! (Always test new foods during training to be sure they agree with you.)

Before the race I’d stick with mainly carbs since they digest quickly. But for fueling, your body holds about 2,000 calories of muscle glycogen, and you won’t burn through all of that during a 45 minute race. So you could actually skip breakfast altogether.

(Similar to a “short, intense ride” as described in my “What to Eat During a Ride” article.)

On to bonking…

To be specific, bonking is running out of energy, i.e. depleting your glycogen stores. But in reality, the “bonk” can be just as much about your legs/heart/lungs as it is about taking in carbs. So if you are bonking during a 45 minute race, my best guess is that the problem lies in your legs, not in your diet.

Unless your body is harboring a tapeworm, your glycogen stores + breakfast is more than enough food to fuel a 45 minute race, no matter how intense it is.

What’s probably happening is that your motivation to do well in the race leads you to push yourself harder than you do in training, and your legs just aren’t ready for it.

Keep training and you should find that “bonks” occur less often.

Hunger…

It’s possible the hunger is just a byproduct of the fatigue from exerting yourself so hard in the races and hard training rides. (After a long, hard race I’m usually either starving or want to throw up.) You are burning a lot of calories and your body’s natural response is to say, “feed me.”

So keep eating healthy, eat and drink during your rides and races, and train hard (rest hard, too) to prepare your body for the stresses of racing.

Photo credit: Andrew Maiman

One of the hardest things to figure out is what to eat before a race. During a race, you’re probably eating energy bars and gels, but before and after the race, what do you do?

There are so many options, but only some of them are smart, healthy choices. To make things worse, everyone is different. So what works great for your friend could be horrible for you.

With that in mind, I want to give you an idea of what foods you should be eating before and after your rides. Exact foods will vary by personal preference and type of ride, but this will give you a good overview.

Think Before You Eat

Before making a choice, there are considerations. The right meal choice will depend on ride duration, time of day, and ride intensity.

For example, if I’m riding early in the morning, I will eat nothing beforehand. I’ll just go straight into my during-ride nutrition consisting of energy bars, gels, and drinks.

Since you should have eaten dinner the night before, and your body will hold about 2,000 calories worth of energy in its glycogen stores, you technically don’t need breakfast. As long as you do start eating while riding, you’ll be fine.

If the ride is late morning or afternoon, I will eat a meal 3-4 hours before the start of the ride. That way my body has time to digest the food beforehand.

During intense rides, you don’t want food in your stomach. (Well, unless you want to puke.)

With longer, slow rides, I worry less about timing because I can still digest food at the slow riding pace. I can literally eat as I walk out the door.

What To Eat Before a Ride

When I do eat a considerable meal 3-4 hours before a ride, I am looking for a balance of whole grain carbohydrates, healthy fat, and protein. The meal will be based on complex carbs (no steak and eggs,) but you don’t want to skimp on fat and protein.

This type of meal will take longer to digest than something based on simple carbs, but that’s fine, because you have 3-4 hours for that. Also, the protein and fat will supply longer-lasting energy and a feeling of satiety.

Just don’t consume too much fat, protein, or fiber immediately before or during the ride, because you need to focus on riding, not digesting!

Here are a few examples of what I might eat before a ride:

• Hearty oatmeal.
• Whole wheat toast + natural peanut butter.
• An apple.
• Hearty, natural granola (whole grains, almonds, etc.)
• Cheerios without milk. (If I need something quick while walking out the door.)

What I would not eat:

• Sugary cereal like Froot Loops, Cap’n Crunch, etc.
• Pancakes with syrup.
• White bread or bagels.
• Yogurt.
• Citrus fruits. (Acidic fruits could possibly disrupt digestion.)

You could also try to eat twice before a big ride. In this case you would have your big meal (i.e. oatmeal) four hours beforehand, then have a small snack (i.e. dry Cheerios or Nature Valley granola bar) at 45 minutes before heading out.

In this case my big meal would be roughly 800-1,000 calories, and my snack would be 90-200 calories.

What To Eat After a Ride

Immediately after a ride (ideally within 15 minutes of finishing,) I’m looking for a meal that will quickly replenish my energy but also rebuild my muscles. So I will go ahead and eat some simple carbs, but I want a little protein, too.

At this point, your body is most receptive to refueling, so the carbs will go towards replenishing muscle glycogen (instead of being stored as fat.)

Don’t forget protein though – you need to add some protein into this meal to aid in recovery, and a few studies have shown that you can actually absorb more nutrients with a carb:protein mixture.

Just be careful not to eat too much protein or fat just yet, since that could slow the absorption of carbs. (That’s good at other times of the day, like in the evening after the big ride, but not right now!)

Here is what I might eat immediately after a ride:

• Peanut butter banana smoothie.
• Toasted peanut butter banana sandwich.
• A banana.
• Whole wheat pasta with tomato sauce.
• Specialty recovery drink.
• A glass of Ovaltine.
• Baked potato.

Just make sure you get something that’s high on the Glycemic Index right after the ride. (If you must have something sugary, like pancakes and syrup, do it now!)

What I would not eat:

• A plate of bacon.
• A huge steak.

I’d still avoid white bread and sugary cereal because I cut those foods out of my diet, but if you were going to eat that stuff, now is the time to do it.

Later in the evening I might have a meal consisting of whole wheat pasta, chicken breast, and some steamed vegetables. Or you could have your steak and baked potato.

Those are just some ideas from my kitchen. To find the right meals for your needs, keep experimenting. It could take a few years but eventually you should figure out what works best!

Eating Tip: keep all of this information in your food log so you can determine what works best for you! And when you find the perfect pre- and post-ride meals, remember them!

For more nutrition advice, stay tuned for What to Eat During Your Ride.

Photo credits: eyeliam | terren in Virginia | mollypop

As if it wasn’t hard enough to choose healthy food in the first place, the news media and researchers seem hell bent on destroying our hopes for ingesting any sort of nutrients.

I’ll explain below, in my answer to this question…

Coach,

Regarding your oatmeal article: Does the profile you wrote about apply only to raw oatmeal or cooked (heated, toasted, etc.)?

It’s always been my understanding that heating denatures proteins and fats, and destroys or diminishes vitamins. I’m always curious about this, because so many nutritional claims are made based on data from raw ingredients, but the actual ingredients used are cooked.

It’s an interesting discussion and I’ve never fully gotten to the bottom of it.

- Oatmeal Owen

Believe me, Owen, I’m curious too! The topic is interesting indeed and I bet the science and research findings will change before we get to the bottom of it!

But amidst all the debate, oatmeal is the least of my worries. This is just my theory, but I would think a whole grain has a better chance of standing up to hot water than a vegetable. Plus, the insoluble fiber in oatmeal should fare well.

And the inside of your body isn’t exactly a refrigerator, so I think there must be some leeway with heating foods.

But you’re absolutely right about raw vs cooked nutrient claims. I really like this article because it covers a lot of the most interesting points, such as when cooked is better than raw and vice versa.

I try not to get caught up in that too much anymore, though, because there are so many variables it could drive one insane!

Personally I’d rather just eat whatever fruits and vegetables taste good than worry about what soil they were grown in, crop rotation procedures, pesticides, acid rain, freshness, packaging and shipping procedures, exact cooking procedures to ensure that the optimal percentage of Vitamin X is released for ideal digestion, etc.

I mean, I get as many vegetables straight out of the garden as I can, eggs from the local chickens, and go to friend’s farms for the rest, then I eat some raw and cook some lightly, get lycopene from the cooked tomatoes in pizza sauce, and wash pesticides off any fruits before eating.

But there comes a point when you have to ask yourself, is it really worth it? The stress of worrying about minute details is surely worse for your health than cooking your vegetables, right?

Sometimes I think these researchers are trying to get us to give up on vegetables! If I find out any of these studies were commissioned by Dunkin Donuts, we may know their motives!

Although, with what the FDA is doing, store-bought vegetables will be completely devoid of nutrients anyway.

Back on topic… my view can be summed up like this:

It’s harder than ever to eat healthy, even if you eat all-natural and organic foods, with a diet high in fruits and vegetables. But there’s a point at which you go from “health conscious” to “clinically insane.”

For further reading on healthy diets, I suggest “5 Foods You Should Eliminate From Your Diet Completely!”

Photo credit: erix!