A no-sugar ride

Several months ago I gave up sugar. Well, except for ____. (The exceptions keep changing.) Currently the rule is: one dessert every 22 days. That's actually working a lot better.

Anyway today I did what is my longest no-sugar ride yet. It was 40 miles. I had 3 boiled eggs, 2 bananas, a piece of bread, and pomegranate fruit leather (which admittedly has a pretty high glycemic index).

I think it went all right. It was a little hard to tell because I foolishly wore my reflective orange road vest and got a bit of heat exhaustion until it finally dawned on me that I needed to take the darn thing off. I sure didn't need it for visibility in broad daylight with a white jersey. It helps with motorist respect--right after taking it off, someone passed us way too close. But the one I have is just too warm.

And I ran out of water. One bottle per 10 miles, so why did I only bring 3 bottles? What with the heat exhaustion I needed 5 bottles today. 6 miles away from home I called my husband and asked him to bring me 2 more bottles! It didn't even occur to me to put the bike on the rack and jump in the car with him!

So it's a little hard to tell how not having sugar impacted the ride, but actually I think it helped. I think I felt a lot better the rest of the day for not having had any sugar on the ride.

congrats on the ride!!! how long did the ride take?


i would make a suggestion of drinking one water bottle per hour instead of every 10 miles.


also the higher the effort the slower food is digested. at a very relaxed pace you can get food into your system, but remember that some foods take 3-6 hours to get absorbed.

it is very important to eat right after a workout and snack for the next for four hours. after that your body goes back to its norm. that way your body has all the energy for the next ride. recovery is most important for not felling tired and wornout.

you didn't mention electrotypes. i suggest elete or nuun. they are sugar and carb free. just add to your water and you are good to go. no taste either.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Melalvai

So it's a little hard to tell how not having sugar impacted the ride, but actually I think it helped. I think I felt a lot better the rest of the day for not having had any sugar on the ride.

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I'm really confused by this statement... do you just mean no refined sugar? Natural sugars are still.. sugar!

As someone who has to account for every gram of carbohydrate I consume, regardless of the source, I can definitely attest to the fact that there was a significant amount of carbohydrates, largely in the form of sugar, in what you chose to bring as fuel for your ride... it's hardly "sugar free" :confused:

Yeah I'm pretty sure she's talking about eliminating 'added sugars', not naturally occurring ones...

I think it's a good way to approach sugar in general. Naturally occurring ones like those in fruit, nuts, dairy, even veggies come with all the other benefits those foods offer like vitamins and minerals, etc. Sugar in other forms should be really an occasional indulgence, not standard ride-fare.

When I DO indulge in sweets, I want it to be in the form of a brownie or chocolate ice cream, not coming from an energy bar. :D

No sugar for me means no refined sugar and no corn syrup. From what I've learned about glycemic index, the sugars in fruit are bound up in soluble & insoluble fibers which have a time-release-capsule effect so that you don't get a sugar rush and the crash.

I'm not trying to control for carbohydrates. Just glycemic index. I don't know the GI of pomegranate fruit leather, but it's kind of high for pomegranate juice so next time I might leave that one at home.

By one bottle per 10 miles, I actually meant one bottle per hour, because on longer rides 10 miles = 1 hour for me. That is, I typically average 12 mph but with breaks it works out to 10 mph. (I'm curious as to what I'd average on a lighter bike...this is my commuter work horse and it weighs about 40 pounds.) This ride, as predicted, took 4 hours.

Electrolytes: I adore V8. I used to hate the stuff but I started drinking it on bike rides and now I love it.

This is what I've always done because I never cared for the ingredients of the processed 'sport' food. We bring raisins, dried cherries, bananas and homemade lara bars. For electrolites, we add elete to our water.

I would say the bananas, bread, and fruit leather are still all high-glycemic. Perhaps not as much as table sugar, but even white potatoes are higher than table sugar--so natural doesn't = low-glycemic in some cases. I didn't go near bananas during the early stages of Atkins (which is all about low-glycemic, natural foods), nor bread, nor dried fruit.

Even without high-glycemic carbs, that was a lot of calories for 4 hours, especially in the heat. Your body would have needed more fluids just to process the volume of food. I feel better riding when I don't eat much, since my body has to work to burn the food. For a 4 hour ride a Clif bar and Nuun in my bottles (plus refills of water) suffice, as long as I have eaten enough pre-ride. If I eat too much I just feel sluggish.

To me that is a huge amount of carbs and a huge amount of calories for a 40mile ride. I think folks think they need way more food than they really need on the bike. On a 40 mile ride, at most I will consume 2 bottles of muscle milk light, and 1 small bag of pretzels.

Lately, I have been needing more food on the bike. Maybe it's the fact I have been riding in hot weather? I tried restricting it a bit and that was not good.
For example, yesterday I rode 45 miles. My riding time was around 2.5- 3 hours (I don't usually care). I had one bottle of Accelerade (the lower sugar kind) and another bottle of water. I drank about 2/3 of the Accelerade and at about 30 miles, refilled it with water and mixed in some more powder. I sipped about 1/3 of the water. At about 25 miles I felt really sluggish and hungry, despite the fact I had egg whites/cheese, whole wheat toast, and fruit for breakfast. I had to stop and eat about 1/4 of my bar. A few miles later, I finished it. At mile 41, we stopped and I had a fresh fruit plate and coffee, then rode the last 4 miles home. I was ravenous and a little "buzzed" by which I mean I get this weird feeling after a long and hard ride... not shaky or anything, but it only goes away after I eat a good meal or snack. Unfortunately, I chose to stretch for 20 minutes! So despite thinking I would have a nice low carb salad with chicken breast, I opted for a chicken sandwich on a whole wheat roll, cole slaw, and melon. I had a snack of half a ciabatta roll, a slice of cheese, and one slice of low salt ham at 5, since I was going out to dinner, late. I was starving until I ate dinner!
I find I feel much better when I eat a little bit continuously during a long ride. Sometimes I need a shot block every hour, too. In fact, I often eat half a Luna bar before starting a ride, even if I have had breakfast within 2 hours.
So, even though I try and watch my carbs quite a bit when I am not riding (more to control my weight than for any medical reasons), I just can't do it on the bike. Yet, my DH can ride quite well without eating or drinking anything. I have to remind him to drink and he never uses anything but water or occasionally some Nuun.

I personally don't think it's too much food/carbs for a 40 mile bike ride, but maybe better used by your body after and during the ride than all just before to help you protect lean muscle mass. Eggs and banana maybe before the ride for fuel, the fruit leather or something similarly portable during, and the bread or oats, something like that, immediately post ride to restore glyogen in your muscles. I've read somewhere that sprouted grain bread is like the perfect post-ride/workout complex carb, I usually do something like that with a protein shake. And then lots more protein later...:D

Presumably the temp. for Melavi was over 80 degrees F for that ride?

For 40 miles in humid high temp. I have at least a light breakfast of (1/4 cup of) oatmeal,abit of milk, fresh fruit and tea before cycling. Then during ride sometime, a small sandwich or I admit, something that does have sugar, a cookie or similar.

I'm not religious about low GI but know if I don't cycle regularily I could have problems that accumulate.

"course water, which probably will amount to half a bottle or more. I have natural fruit juice over any energy drink as a boost during a ride. I'm riding it off.

But off-bike, at home, I rarely drink natural fruit juice. I have fresh whole fruit instead. Yes, certain fruits are higher in GI than others. Alot of melons are high in GI.

We are all abit different -body wise. For certain, I know I could not eat 3 boiled eggs before/during a bike ride. It would be 1 boiled egg (which I did several times in Europe).

Maybe somebody can better educate me. I will freely admit that I don't monitor my diet like I probably should. I do eat a lot of fresh veggies, beans, legumes, fruit and (mostly) lean proteins. When given a choice, I go with whole grains and low fat dairy. But I also like my sweets, so I'm not an authority on low versus high glycemic foods, and certainly not as it relates to cycling.

I certainly appreciate needing or wanting to limit refined sugars and HFCS, but isn't there a place for high glycemic foods (be they naturally or unnaturally occuring) during endurance activities like cycling? I know one goal is to make sure what you eat on the bike is easiliy digestible, in part so that you get the use of that energy sooner rather than later, but also in part to avoid stomach upset. For really long rides, it seems to me that a mix of high and low glycemic might be the way to go, but I'll admit that I never really think about it in those terms when I ride. If the ride is long enough, I'll likely eat every 15 to 20 miles anyway. Minus nuts, I rarely eat much protein when I ride. It just doesn't sit as well with me.

Perhaps these basic questions need to be asked of self:

Are you trying to lose weight now? Or is it just to maintain present healthy weight?

Did your doctor advise you something re diet? Or a/near diabetes 2 reading?
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I have not cut out refined sugar completely out of my diet. (But I could, because for first 20 years of my life that was my diet. except for some occasional dessert 1-2 times per month. )

I am not diabetes 2, but I had a near diabetes 2 reading on my blood test.
My sister who did have diabetes 2 ..put herself on a low glycemic diet. She lost 50 lbs. ..but probaby regained 15-20 lbs. She recently had 2 children, which makes it challenging.

When she lost 50 lbs., she also took up jogging. (She still jogs but not as frequent.).

The following higher GI foods were reduced drastically, OR at least eaten near the beginning of day (whereby one can burn off later through exercise, if you can guarantee this):

white rice (this includes jasmine rice, sticky /sushi rice, etc.)
rice vermicelli
bread
refined cereals
certain fruits
etc.

Over the past 3-4 yrs., I have reduced my white rice intake by 70% or more. I only have it 2-3 times per month. I used to have it daily for supper. After I eat alot of sushi, I do notice now I get a sugar crash. So I allow myself some sushi in careful amounts..about once a month. I lean more heavily on sashimi which is more raw seafood. Some types of brown rice is still not agreeable to me. I have found red rice works for me.

Certain pastas I don't buy for home ingredients --heavier Italian pasta. Instead will have certain lighter Asian pastas or a very light Italian linguine.

Bread- we only buy artisan bread anyway. If I eat it..I try to have it at beginning of day.


There are always exceptions since I don't have diabetes 2, and am maintaining weight. And those exceptions, are when I break them..at a restaurant/cafe or for special occasion meals (birthdays, etc.) or when I am travelling abroad.

My downfall is a little biscotti here and there several times per week. Definitely on days that I bike.

I am the same weight as I was 5 yrs. ago....but this has required some more diet tweaking and several thousand kms. of cycling annually to remain this way. Which means my metabolism must be slowing down. :(

Oh well. I'm healthy. That's what counts now. :) I still explore new foods....carefully.

Does anyone know this doctor-specialist?

He has a personal interest in cycling fuel.
http://www.cptips.com/xauth.htm

If you go to II. Nutritional Physiology from this page, maybe some more general info.
http://www.cptips.com/xtoc.htm#table

I do eat a certain amount of veggies daily. I always have.
I never had interest in soft drinks. Not even diet pop. Probably never will.

I understand why some people have to monitor everything they eat, although I'm not one of them, at least not yet. That wasn't the point of my question. Rather, I'm just trying to understand whether there's actually a legitimate purpose for high glycemic, rather than low, foods during a long ride or other endurance activity. When my energy starts to wane during a ride, I typically want a food with quick-release energy (I like bananas, personally) that's also easily digestible.