Cycling fuel

Howdy, hope everyone has had a fab weekend. I have done over 100 miles of cycling this weekend, and it got me thinking to do a post on the best foods to eat whilst on the bike. I have tried many things:

It often depends on what sort of ride I am doing. If its a fairly easy pace then something like a nakd bar, and a banana will do every half hour or so. In terms of nutrition I tend to go by the rule of your body weight in kg per hour as how many carbs that I will need. Although if the pace is harder, your body needs more. This is just a general rule as I know many cyclists who will have far less and some who will have more. As I don't tend to stop when I am cycling fast, I need something that is portable and also easy to digest. This has been somewhat of trail and error. But my favourite things to eat mid ride are:

Yep, sweets. They are easy to digest, soft to chew give you a much needed sugar boost. Although not the most healthiest, .when your burning 500 plus calories an hour you need carbs and you need them quick:p 

I find that some cereal bars will give me stomach cramps, especially if the pace is intense. However some of my favourite bars are as follows:

Torq energy bars

Powerbar

Trek bars

I like the Trek bars towards the end of a ride as they contain 11 grams of protein, so you can start the recovery process on the bike. 

I have also been experimenting with energy gels. Some don't tend to agree with me, and I also don't like the taste of many of them. But so far I have found the Torq and GU energy gels to be the best, and I swear they help me with all the hills around Devon. 

Elevation

(Last long ride) 

The next thing that I will be trying out will be some carbohydrate drinks, as when I don't get a chance to eat or if the intensity is too high they are the easiest things to get fuel to your body. 

It has taken me a long time to realise how important nutrition is, and more importantly that it really does make a difference to your rides. However its not just what you eat on the bike, but also what you eat after that is doubly important. I will do another post on refuelling.  My speeds are best they have ever been,  and I  guess I learnt the hard way about what not properly fuelling your  body can do, hence a stress fracture!!! 

If you exercise more than an hour, what are your favourite carbs? (i've had many bad experiences with dried fruit, more so in running though)

Any foods you stay away from? 

Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me

So, the week is nearly over, and I am feeling a  little bit wobbly emotionally at the moment. Stresses of my job, waiting for my CRB, dealing with weight gain, thinking over people whom I have lost is turning my head in to world spin. 

Anyway, my ever so lovely Dad whom has a very bad habit of saying the wrong things to me, has done it again!!! We went out for lunch today with my mum, at this carvery place. I love it because you get so much free veg, if anyone is wondering what a carvery is, its basically where they give you meat or veggie alternatives I had two yorkshire puddings and you get to have as much fresh veg, stuffing, potatoes etc as you like. So I piled my plate high with veggies, and some stuffing. Roast potatoes aren't a safe option for me. Well to cut a long story short, my mum said she would like to go sainsburys and I said I wouldn't mind picking myself up some things from sainsburys as was cooking me and andy something tonight. My Dad then tried to make a "joke" that surely I wouldn't need anything tonight with "all that I have ate", this made me feel awful, greedy, fat, huge. He knows my issues around food, I am trying to rationalise the comment in my head and not let it effect me, but it has. I remember when I as younger he would make silly comments like "eating again" geez its no wonder I developed issues with food. My mum was very supportive and we spent some time in sainsburys and I got some things for this evening. 

I guess the moral of this tale, is it is just that words. Even though I know rationally what I ate was more calorie dense than my Dad's which was piled high with roast potatoes,  I know reading this seems a bit silly to an outsider but I am fairly over sensitive, and do take things personally. I just I guess have to learn to deal with comments. So instead of wallowing thought I would blog instead.

On to more positive news, I am loving my new bike. Managed to understand the gearing, and not have any clipless moments. Oh boy I am going so fast though, one lap I did was an average of 17.9mph, I did 12 miles in 40 minutes. This is good as I have found a route that I can practise for my triathlon as this happens to be 12 miles. Going up hills is also a breeze. My power food this morning was:

Oats cooked with soya milk, chocolate powder, and a banana

Defiantly rocket fuel!! Was comparing a ride from back at the end of January, check out the difference in my lap times 

Laps

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Speed	Time	Distance	Avg Speed
1	1:01:09	16.76	16.4	1:09:27	17.56	15.2
2	40:21	12.03	17.9	41:17	10.93	15.9
3	22:28	4.90	13.1	24:27	4.80	11.8

I did some foam rolling this morning which hurt like a buggery, but guess its good pain. 

How do you deal with unhelpful comments? 

Do you love seeing your times improve? 

Favourite rocket fuel? 

Stress and a fruity day

Good day everyone, I hope everyone has had a nice weekend. I have not been updating much recently as I have been really stressed out. The whole uni situation is still nowhere near sorted and I  am meant to start in less than a month. I am waiting from a decision from occupational health and then I will be taking matters further if it is bad news. I have spoken to many different people about it, even human rights. I don't want to go into too much detail as it would take forever, but as soon as I hear back from them I will let you know. But man I feel awful, and am determined to fight to the end and I will get to university this year. I would understand it more if my GP didn't declare that I fit enough to commence the course, but hey I just have to be patient.

On to other news. Last night was fancy dress for work!!!-I love dressing up hehe, and I was able to fight through those body image issues and wear a short skirt and even roll my shirt up to reveal shudder!! some stomach. Ya know I haven't been able to do that for a long time and it felt okay. 

I still struggle with body image and my thighs, but I think I am never going to see myself and the ed always distorts things. 


I really enjoyed work last night, even got given a free drink. I took home a toffee apple cider

I plan to share it with a friend who wanted to try it. I had it on my birthday, its really sweet and tastes just like toffee apple! is like a desert in a drink:p


I am really loving a few things at the moment:

1. Exercise- I have been doing a mixture of running and cycling. I went on a 5k run this morning and was really impressed that it was under 25 minutes! I actually didn't believe it thought I had the wrong distance or something so when I was on my bike with my other GPS it was the same distance I ran for 2.5k and then came back lol. So it must have been accurate. I know its not overly impressive compared to other runners but I haven't been running long Also my cycling has been improving, my average speeds were usually around 15mph they are now in the 16-17 mph range. I am defiantly noticing the difference in my power from being at a higher weight and eating properly. The one thing that is getting me through this difficult time is keeping up my exercise levels. It spurs me on to get better at it, and make sure I eat well lots to keep up with it, and I it makes me feel so happy too. 

       2.  Cooking- Been cooking lots this week. Made a butternut squash thai curry this evening, and made a paella and another risotto too.

Butternut squash curry with quinoa

3. Working-Its a really good distraction for me and I enjoy being around other people and I am hoping to feel more confident around others. 

Today has been a fruit day where I have eaten a whole honey dew melon, an apple, some watermelon, and another fruit salad consisting of my favourite fruit mango and pineapple. This was much needed after my 40k cycle ride

Fruit salad with greek yogurt and a dollop of almond butter. 

Anyway sorry for the lengthy post, I have just entered celery and cupcakes giveaway I hope I win hehe. Love Rice milk

Question:

How do you deal with stressful situation? Favourite fruit?