[Guest]

Do you guys follow a certain diet? If so what is it?
I have musli and yogart in the mornings, skip lunch at work, and then have a
biggish dinner(potatoes, veggies, chicken, etc.)

Biggish dinner is wrong I know, any suggestions on how I should change my diet?

Also been looking at some of the USN (www.usn.co.za) products. Protein shakes etc.
Anyone got any experience with this?

 

[LBmtb]

I woulnd't go with any of those 'miracle' shakes or pills. Only pill you should take is a multi-vitamin.

Don't skip lunch at work, instead try and have more, smaller meals throughout the day. What is your goal? Weight loss? Better riding performance?

DO NOT follow any hardcore diet such as no fat, no carbs, high protein, etc. Everything should be in moderation. Having said that, most of your calories should come from carbs. Eat good quality foods. Sure white and wheat bread both have carbs but you're much better off with wheat. Look for whole grains and learn to love fruits and veggies.

Be careful not to starve yourself for weight loss. People think that fasting or barely eating will result in healthy weight loss. What are they thinking? You need strengh and stamina for riding . . . meaning you need fuel (food). Starving yourself also makes you hungrier and more likely to have cravings. Cravings are bad.

If your goal is weight loss, make sure your goals are realistic. Unrealistic goals are unhealthy in addition to being difficult.

I know I missed a lot of info but I'm sure others will fill in the rest . . .

 

[Trevor!]

I don't use special or fad like diets, nor do I take any miracle pills. Just a good traditional balanced diet with a good balance of fats, carbs and proteins and living in Australia I can get fully organic meat and vegitables with no added chemicals at a reasonable cost which is important to me... And of course I have a regular splurge on chocolate, ice cream or whatever after big rides.... With my regular rides and what not I keep fit an healthy.

Its well worth taking some multi vitamins and some glucosamine sulphate tablets when training or your riding schedule gets heavy. I am not too sure if they really work or not, but I feel they help me out - and why not, they do no harm.

Oh and don't skip lunch, even if it is a small meal.

Cheers
Trevor!

 

[zillaoc]

ime not on a diet but i drink 3 N-Large2 protein shakes/ Creatine once a day, shark cartilage once a day and a good multy...
then i drink as much water as i can and eat at least 3 somtimes 4 good meals a day...
my job is very hard work though it takes alot more out of me than riding does so i have to eat like a pig just to keep weight on...

 

[LBmtb]

What's your job?

 

[zillaoc]

Ime a lift mechanic...

 

[WR304]

I try to eat 6 small meals a day.

The aim for cycling is basically the same as a bodybuilding diet: to make sure your body always has the nutrients it needs to recover and improve from the training you do.

High calorie, high carbohydrate and high protein.

Try and eat 2g of protein per lb of bodyweight each day as it will help you recover properly. Whey protein, eggs and fish are all good sources of protein that are easily digested.

The carbs should be complex carbohydrate as much as possible maltodextrin, whole grains, pasta etc. Too many simple carbs and processed foods (sugar, white bread, fig rolls etc) will make you fat no matter how many miles you do.

Skipping meals during the day is easy to do but a bad idea as it'll mess up your body's natural rhythms and if you're hungry you're far more likely to end up eating junk food.

That's where the protein shakes and meal replacement drinks/ bars come in useful. You can take them to work and have them as snacks during the day giving you quality nutrition. They're useful too because they force you to drink plenty of fluid during the day.

There are lots of cowboy companies out there who sell rubbish though so be careful which ones you choose.

Supplements: Again there's loads of rubbish out there. A good diet is the main thing.

Some supplements are quite good however. You just have to try them to find which work for you really.

An iron supplement (taken seperately from your multivitamin) is a very good idea as it's easy to end up anaemic if you're doing a lot of miles on the bike.

Hope that helps.

 

[zillaoc]

i fully agree with you WR304 about how many meal replacement drink companies are selling junk... same goes for multy vit's companies...
with the shakes i drink and eating like a pig i get about 300 grams of protien
a day... its not easy to keep it up either... i definatly dont eat as many carbs as i should and feel it around the 6th hour of DH riding...

what brand are you using for meal replacement shakes??? and do you cycle creatine???

one other thing i came across is Zink... helps my healing time a ton... but again it took me a while to find a good source of it... i finally found twinlab ZMA Fuel... seems to do the trick...

 

[LBmtb]

one other thing i came across is Zink... helps my healing time a ton... but again it took me a while to find a good source of it... i finally found twinlab ZMA Fuel... seems to do the trick...

Twinlab makes some good stuff. I use their once a day vitamins.

 

[zillaoc]

yea twinlabs multys are great... and easily digestible...

i get most of my supplements here >>> http://www.supplementcentral.com/

its about the cheapist ive found...

 

[big_slacker]

I was gonna do a nutrition post, but here it is already.

During the summer I try to get at least a gram of protein per lb of bodyweight to maintain muscle/recover from exercise. I'm doing more riding and less weights. 6+ 'meals' a day. Post ride/workout I do a low carb protein shake and fruit. Carbs are mostly from 100% whole wheat bread, the rest from fruit and veggies. Fat is low, although I supplement with fish oil before bed. I also take a multivitamin. I don't bother with calorie counting at this point, I just eat so I'm not hungry. I tend to eat a lot of chicken/lettuce/pita or veggie burgers in a pita. Steak and lean ground beef occasionally. I have two or three 'cheat' meals a week, usually marinated steak and garlic bread, pizza or thai! At the end of the summer I usually end up close or into single digit bodyfat but my weight is down around 150-155.

Winter I'm not riding bikes due to snow and tend to concentrait on oly and powerlifting with some snowboarding for good measure. Diet is similar but protein is 2 grams per lb and I try to get quite a bit more calories to put on weight. I use regular protein shakes instead of low carb. Fat is a bit higher, more steak and burger type stuff and even occasional pasta! I end up winter around 165-170 with BF in the low teens.

Supplements are just that. Get the rest of your diet in order first and then try to fill in gaps with supplements.

 

[WR304]

what brand are you using for meal replacement shakes??? and do you cycle creatine???

one other thing i came across is Zink... helps my healing time a ton... but again it took me a while to find a good source of it... i finally found twinlab ZMA Fuel... seems to do the trick...

After a lot of experimentation I use Maximuscle products www.maximuscle.co.uk mostly.
They're not cheap but are good quality.

I use Promax Extreme (protein powder), Cyclone (All in one carbs, protein, creatine etc) during the day and Recovermax (carbs, protein, MCT, ribose etc) as a pre and post ride drink. Their bars are seriously overpriced though which is a shame as they do taste nice.

Twinlab are quite good too although I haven't used anything by them for a few years now.

Personally, I quite like Creatine: I find I can sprint better when taking it but like all supplements it's best to stop taking it every now and then. I tend to get a bit of water retention as well, especially at 10g a day or so. Stopping it for a while gets some bulk off painlessly.

If you're taking ZMA make sure you don't have any protein powder or dairy products for at least an hour beforehand or afterwards as the calcium stops it being absorbed. I've had good results taking it along with tribulus terrestris late at night for maximum recovery. I try and go to bed for an hour or so to make sure I'm sleepy before taking it. It works better for me like that than taking before training.

 

[Managuense]

Ok, I must ask, How in God's name do you take in 2g per pound of protien per day? Assume an average weight of let's just say 160, that comes to 320grams of protien. I eat like a pig too, nutritiously, but cannot imagine getting more than half of that. Would be curious as to what your diet is.

 

[LBmtb]

Ok, I must ask, How in God's name do you take in 2g per pound of protien per day? Assume an average weight of let's just say 160, that comes to 320grams of protien. I eat like a pig too, nutritiously, but cannot imagine getting more than half of that. Would be curious as to what your diet is.

I've never really understood that either. I am also curious as to how you eat that much protein. Guessing they get it from supplements?

 

[zillaoc]

the protein shakes i drink have 55 grams of protein i usually drink 4 a day plus eating alot of chicken, beans and rice, a chefs salad and tuna once a week...

 

[Trevor!]

the protein shakes i drink have 55 grams of protein i usually drink 4 a day plus eating alot of chicken, beans and rice, a chefs salad and tuna once a week...

I think all that protein is unnecessary.

Riders do not want to bulk up at all to be honest, and that just seems extreme I probably don't consume that much protein in a week and I still do really well.

 

[LBmtb]

I think all that protein is unnecessary.

Riders do not want to bulk up at all to be honest, and that just seems extreme I probably don't consume that much protein in a week and I still do really well.

I agree

 

[WR304]

I've got an apology to make...

Typo...

I meant to put 2g of protein per KG. Which is around 1g per lb. AHEM

Not quite the same thing.

2g of protein per lb isn't going to do any harm though and if you're doing a mixture of cycling and weights could easily be necessary.

I weigh 12 stone and usually eat around 4-4500kcal per day with protein intake of between 150 and 200g per day.

Remember that processed meat such as in McDonalds burgers etc may give protein and plenty of calories BUT it's also high in fat, salt etc and should be avoided.

Quality is everything when it comes to your diet!

 

[WR304]

Trevor!: Slightly OT but why can't I edit my old posts?

 

[WR304]

Anyway, The point I was trying to make is that you need plenty of protein to recover from hard training.

A "fairly" typical diet eg: cereal and milk for breakfast, Ham sandwich for dinner and a plate of pasta plus a tin of tuna for tea won't provide anything near the amount of protein needed for recovery. That would provide 69g of protein approx which is nowhere near enough.

In terms of bulking up from too much protein whilst cycling it doesn't seem to happen for me personally.

I just recover better and feel stronger as a result.