Fueling for a long ride or fun w/ diet restrictions

[dinabean]

I am on a low glycemic, gluten free, low or no dairy diet at the moment. (God, I sound so high maintenance!). It's working -- I feel a lot better, have rid myself of most of my GI issues, and have lost 15 pounds so far. Still about 30 pounds to go.

I wish I had thought to ask about this at my last appointment with the nutritionist, but I signed up at the last minute to do a 4 hour "spin a thon" to raise money at my local Y (it's next Saturday). I did 4 hours of spin last year, but I fueled with pretzels and gels. I never really got the whole fuellng while exercise thing to begin with, and now I am trying to do it while not messing up my diet too much.

So what should I eat, and when? I plan to have my normal meal replacement shake for breakfast (UltraMeal 360, for anyone familiar, per the doctor), but I know I can't go 4 hours on a spin bike with just that and water. Bring another shake? Something else? I fear gels will spike my blood sugar too much too fast, and now that I have been eating this way for a while, it will give me a raging headache.

I have the same issue for an upcoming half marathon as well - I know it will take me around 3 hours for that, and feel like I should have a fuel plan as a result. Help!

[indysteel]

Bananas?

[indysteel]

Larabars might be a good choice, too. They're gluten free and while I don't know their GI number, given the ingredients, I'd be surprised if they were high GI.

ETA: I tried to find some GI information about Larabars. It would appear that they use a fair amount of dates as a sweetener. Dates have a high GI number. So, I'm not sure they'd work for you.

[OakLeaf]

I'd really talk to the nutritionist about the glycemic index. Generally you want your calories to be immediately available when you're fueling a long exertion.

[Becky]

Have you looked into using very small amounts of carb throughout your workout, rather than a big slug of something every 30-45 minutes? As someone with Type 1 diabetes, I have the best results keeping my blood glucose stable by using small sips of sports drink every 5-10 minutes, rather than slurping down a gel and then dealing with ensuing spike. My drink preference is Vitalyte (http://www.vitalyte.com/), as it's fairly low in carbs compared to many out there, but still provides some necessary carbs and is easy on the stomach.

Can you experiment a little between now and then?

Good luck!

[GLC1968]

Generally, any simple sugars you consume during exercise will be burned during said exercise and not cause the problems and distress that they cause during normal daily activity.

You might check out the Paleo Diet for Athletes (a book by Loren Cordain and Joe Friel) for more info/ideas. They suggest bananas, sweet potatoes and other such typically higher GI foods to fuel exercise (apple juice too, if I remember correctly). The Paleo diet is grain and dairy free, so in general, their suggestions would probably work well for your diet restrictions.

[KnottedYet]

And for off the bike, be sure to check out this website: http://glutenfreegirl.com/

[Melalvai]

Way to go on the low GI and all. It sounds like a lot of restrictions but I've learned there are still so many more foods than you CAN eat than that you can't. I don't have any restrictions exactly, no celiac or food allergies, I just quit sugar on a whim a year ago and it's awesome. I'm trying for lower GI foods in general. A friend of mine though, has tons of allergies plus trying for low GI AND she is vegetarian besides. And yet she still has more foods she CAN than can't eat.

[dinabean]

Thanks all. I ended up using Larabars (2 of them) just to get me over the hump -- ate them at 1:30/4 and 2:30/4 and drank about 4 bottles of water and 4 bottles of nuun (2 bottles of fluid per hour). It worked well and I felt great afterwards. I know the Larabars aren't low glycemic, but they at least combine protein with sugars and from real-food sources.

[OakLeaf]

For a sugar-free electrolyte replacement, I use Zenergize Hydrate (http://www.zenergizehealth.com/products/hydrate_orange.html).

Unfortunately it's much harder to find than Nuun. Their website suggests that they've given up on retail and are selling only through the web at this point. But it has no artificial sweeteners, no sugar alcohols, and no antifreeze ... worth bypassing the local stores, in my book, which I really try not to do. (Also, the tablets are larger; you'd have to break them in half for a bike-sized water bottle.)

Vitalyte looks really good as a sports drink, I hadn't seen that before. I've been using HEED - the xylitol isn't really that big of a concern for me, I just mentioned sugar alcohols in connection with Nuun since I know they do give some people trouble - but it looks like Vitalyte is both purer and less expensive, and I'm really not convinced of the need for long-chain carbohydrates during exertion, especially in drink form when you're ingesting it pretty much continuously.

[Becky]

Vitalyte looks really good as a sports drink, I hadn't seen that before. I've been using HEED - the xylitol isn't really that big of a concern for me, I just mentioned sugar alcohols in connection with Nuun since I know they do give some people trouble - but it looks like Vitalyte is both purer and less expensive, and I'm really not convinced of the need for long-chain carbohydrates during exertion, especially in drink form when you're ingesting it pretty much continuously.

Vitalyte has changed its name at least twice in the past 5 or 6 years. First, it was Gookinaid and then Hydralyte ERG. That makes it hard to develop a brand following! It's also hard to find in stores.... But I like it enough to order it online, and it works well for me despite my somewhat-unusual needs. Just as an FYI: if your stomach tends to be sensitive, you may want to try a flavor other than orange. It's the most strongly flavored, and sometimes gives me stomach cramps. None of the others do this.

I'll have to look for Zenergize- it looks good!

[arielmoon]

Way to go on the low GI and all. It sounds like a lot of restrictions but I've learned there are still so many more foods than you CAN eat than that you can't. I don't have any restrictions exactly, no celiac or food allergies, I just quit sugar on a whim a year ago and it's awesome. I'm trying for lower GI foods in general. A friend of mine though, has tons of allergies plus trying for low GI AND she is vegetarian besides. And yet she still has more foods she CAN than can't eat.

I love this attitude. I am a whole food vegan and there are so many whole foods to choose from!


Thanks all. I ended up using Larabars (2 of them) just to get me over the hump -- ate them at 1:30/4 and 2:30/4 and drank about 4 bottles of water and 4 bottles of nuun (2 bottles of fluid per hour). It worked well and I felt great afterwards. I know the Larabars aren't low glycemic, but they at least combine protein with sugars and from real-food sources.

I love love love Larabars!! I buy them by the case from Amazon's subscribe and save section. 15% off and free shipping! Woo hoo!

[aicabsolut]

I use ZYM tablets. They're kind of like NUUN but don't have any sugar alcohols (at least the lemon lime flavor...there is a new orange one I haven't looked at and a berry one with caffeine).

I won some, so I tried them out, and they really help in the summer and for indoor workouts. In the summer, I really need the extra electrolytes, but I will get stomach distress from drinking too much of my sports drink with sugars. So, I'll have one bottle with calories and one with Zym (and maybe one with straight water to dump ONTO my body). Zym in one bottle and the rest plain water is enough for most of my indoor workouts to keep me from getting headachy, but if it's a long one, I might add a gel.

[OakLeaf]

I use ZYM tablets. They're kind of like NUUN but don't have any sugar alcohols

But they do have acesulfame potassium. http://gozym.com/products/endurance.php

Gotta love when they advertise "Natural flavors, natural colors" and forget to mention the artificial sweetener. :rolleyes:

[Chile Pepper]

Gotta love when they advertise "Natural flavors, natural colors" and forget to mention the artificial sweetener. :rolleyes:

Yep--drives me crazy. I bought a couple of tubes of Nuun a few months ago, thinking cool, finally a sports drink I might like (I don't want the calories in the regular ones, but do not under any circumstance use artificial sweeteners), only to find out that Nuun uses acesulfame potassium. I just didn't read the label closely enough. So now I can't bring myself to throw them out unopened, but also can't give something I consider toxic to a friend. Sigh.

[dinabean]

I've never heard of acesulfame potassium, I had just assumed it was the delivery method for some of the potassium/electrolytes. Can you direct me to some info as to what the problem is with it? Thanks!

[aicabsolut]

Oops, missed that one. I think my brain just read "potassium" too. It's aspartame. That is better for my gut than the -itol sugar alcohols, though. The ZYM tablets aren't very sweet, so hopefully, they aren't using that much of the stuff. They don't have that diet soda aftertaste or anything. No artificial sweeteners would be better, of course.

[OakLeaf]

It's not aspartame, but it is an artificial sweetener with some safety concerns. One of the main differences with aspartame is that acesulfame K is a more stable molecule, so it can be stored for longer periods, or heated.

http://www.cspinet.org/reports/chemcuisine.htm#acesulfamek
http://www.cspinet.org/reports/asekquot.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acesulfame_potassium


ETA: and the polyethylene glycol in Nuun grosses me out at least as much as the acesulfame K. :p

[Chile Pepper]

dinabean, I generally avoid all artificial sweeteners on principle (including natural stevia extract). Not only are many of them suspected carcinogens, but they just don't work for weight loss. Here's a short explanation from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_substitute):


Animal studies have indicated that artificial sweeteners can cause body weight gain. A sweet taste induces an insulin response,[citation needed] which causes blood sugar to be stored in tissues (including fat), but because blood sugar does not increase with artificial sugars, there is hypoglycemia and increased food intake the next time there is a meal.

A teaspoon of sugar has 15 calories. I just don't see the need for artificial sweeteners, and I prefer my food to be chemical free to the extent possible.

[aicabsolut]

Oh, my brief use of Google told me it was aspartame. Guess I should've read more than one site. :o

The point of these is not weight loss. It's how to make electrolytes not taste funny when you don't have added sugar. All of those "electrolyte enhanced" waters lack sodium, which is precisely what I need, considering that I'll be crusted in white at the end of a summer ride. So, when you add sodium to the formulation, you need to add some sort of other flavoring.

I wouldn't mind it if they did use a little bit of real sugar instead, but I guess that doesn't work for some reason.

[OakLeaf]

I think real sugar is just impractical for this application. All of these sweeteners, including stevia that Zenergize uses, are many times sweeter than sugar. You'd need a pretty substantial envelope of sugar to get the same sweetness you get in an electrolyte tablet. Plus, it would tend to take up moisture and get sticky.

[Triskeliongirl]

OP, I just responded to your query over here: http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=14941&page=5

[dinabean]

THanks for sharing that re the sweetener. I had never heard of that one. (I am with you on avoiding artificial sweeteners for the reasons you point out re fooling your body in a bad way, and I've mostly cut them out). So then, what do you use for electrolytes?

[OakLeaf]

I don't have a problem with stevia in small amounts, so I'm fine with the Zenergize.

But other things I do are mix a hydration solution myself at home (doesn't taste that great, but when I need it, I need it) - on a longer ride I start with HEED (sugar alcohols don't bother me either, in small amounts) - and once my bottles are empty, I take Endurolytes capsules and eat salty foods on breaks. On long hot runs, I put Endurolytes powder into my water. My Nathan Synergy pack makes that really easy, because I can put plain water with lots of ice in the main bladder, and Endurolytes mixed extra strong in the other side, and get a constant dilution even while the ice melts. I carry nutrition separately and that way I don't have to worry about cleaning sticky moldy stuff out of my hydration bladder, drink tubes and bite valve.

It's pretty easy (too easy, most would say!) to find salty foods in a convenient store on a long ride. Magnesium and calcium are harder, which is why I've learned to keep some Endurolytes capsules in a little ziploc in my jersey pocket. (I actually learned that from a friend, who carries a *big* stash to give away to her riding buddies when we start getting cramps. Generous and a great idea and almost makes you wish Hammer was a MLM company. :p)