Gaining weight after a long ride?

Most of the time, my pre-ride breakfast is Eggo nutri-grain waffles. Lots of carbs, not too heavy, not a lot of fiber to cause GI issues.

For longer rides, I bring 1 packet of gu per 10 miles, plus 1 for good luck (I usually can't tolerate solid food during a ride.). For rides longer than 2 hours, I have one 20 oz. bottle of gatorade, otherwise I drink water. For really long rides, I have 2 bottles of gatorade plus water.

I read Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook back in 2001, and used that as a starting point for figuring out what and how much to eat.

Immediately post-ride, I drink orange juice. Other post-ride nutrition varies depending on where I am (home or in a parking lot somewhere), but I try to lean towards a mix of carbs and protein with not too much fat. Smoothies, cereal with milk, or a cheese sandwich are good. After a really hard ride I'll have Kashi Heart to Heart cereal, which has lots of antioxidants.

If I ride 60 miles or more, I treat myself to dinner at Five Guys (awesome cheeseburgers and fries).

By the way, re: Hammergel or other gel for breakfast, I used to know a guy who did lots of inline skating. For his pre-skate breakfast, he put vanilla gu in his coffee.

Dr. Misner suggests the athlete “leave
three hours minimum to digest foods
eaten at breakfast. After breakfast,
drink 10-12 ounces of fluid each hour
up to 30 minutes prior to the start
(24-30 ounces total fluid intake).”

I'm still trying to digest this observation. Presumably he means the calorie expenditure from that breakfast will occur approx. 3 hrs. after it's been eaten.

I consider myself lucky to have at least half hr. rest time after breakfast before jumping onto bike. :confused:

Drifting away...

Maybe it's menopause, but I'm finding I need to eat on a ride now, which I never needed to before. Otherwise I'm toast after an hour and a half of hill riding, or two hours pacelining. IF I have a nice BIG bowl of brown rice about four hours before the ride, I won't need to eat on a three-hour ride; otherwise, I have to eat.

I'm new to longer runs, but I'm definitely finding that I do better on runs over 1h15m if I take in calories. So far I've done fine with plain sugar plus electrolytes on runs up to 2 hours. Michele, I could only wish to run 8 mph over a long run! Heck, I could only wish to run 8 mph for a 5K. :rolleyes:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by OakLeaf

Drifting away...

Maybe it's menopause, but I'm finding I need to eat on a ride now, which I never needed to before. Otherwise I'm toast after an hour and a half of hill riding, or two hours pacelining. IF I have a nice BIG bowl of brown rice about four hours before the ride, I won't need to eat on a three-hour ride; otherwise, I have to eat.

---

Gee, in the last few years, the only time I eat any big bowl of rice is for supper. Even then, I have to be abit careful of spiking my sugar levels at the wrong time of day. It's very rare that I have that type of meal for lunch anymore. Would you be eating this brown rice bowl for lunch or breakfast??? for a ride.

And forget about rice congee for breakfast (which I find bland). I'm too North American for my breakfasts but I suppose I would if no choice, if I travelled around in Asia. This is another reason I don't want to rely heavily on sport gels, drinks....a person must be able to sustain themselves...with local or the least processed food wherever worldwide and at home, while cycling on decent distances.

To whomever was asking about Zone- my husband did that when he was training for triathlons and it seems very sensible. I would stick to real food though, and not the Zone bars or whatever. I think he had to eat on schedule and it was a lot of work to prepare the food and have the right stuff purchased from the grocery store-but I was thinking about that. An analogy maybe-If I bought bad gas from a gas station and my car always ran badly every time I filled up, I would not buy my gas from there anymore. I guess that translates to me putting the right things in my body with thought and consideration.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by shootingstar

Would you be eating this brown rice bowl for lunch or breakfast??? for a ride.

---

A late lunch, before an evening ride. That's why it really takes an effort, because it's all about the timing! I haven't found anything else that gives me the same sustained energy.

OK, I never thought I would be writing here, but I seem to be having the "gain weight after a ride" issue. I noticed it last year a bit, but now it's definitely a pattern.
It's not just after long rides, either, but it's more after a long ride. My weight fluctuates 2-3 lbs. normally. I have to be uber disciplined, or I will gain 5-6 lbs just looking at food. I eat healthily, and I don't starve myself. I have had to mix up my exercise, which seems to help, but now that cycling season is here, it's a noticeable trend. When I first started riding, I lost about 10 lbs (needed). After long rides, I would actually lose weight. In the past couple of years I have tried to be aware of not eating too much i.e. Luna bars and if it's less than 25 miles I only drink water or use Nuun, which is only 5 calories. I do use Accelerade on long rides as I bonk easily. I usually drink skim chocolate milk as a recovery drink.
I am not overweight, but I see definite changes in my body in places I don't like. I guess it's back to weight lifting, which I hate, but...

I rode nearly 300 miles on a weeklong cycling vacation a couple of weeks ago, and I didn't lose any weight. I wasn't trying to, but I found that interesting. Could it have been the post-ride recovery chocolate malts??:eek:

It's true that much of my cycling involves social stuff and eating. I have never expected to lose weight on tours where visits to gourmet restaurants are involved, but I do expect to be able to maintain my weight during normal week day and weekend riding.
I cannot ride and restrict my calories too much. I normally try and eat a low glycemic diet, but I absolutely have to add in some good carbs when I ride. It seems that I am at the point that eating a whole wheat bagel causes me to gain a pound! I don't want to obsess on my weight, but I have worked hard to still be thin at age 55. I's not effortless, as some people think.

I haven't been following this thread too closely, and I think it did sound like the OP's issue was likely calorie-related.

BUT. I read something a while back that said the #1 predictor of hyponatremia after a long run was weight gain. Not total water intake, not anything else - weight gain.

I really struggle with electrolyte replacement, so I don't have any good advice on how to know when plain water is enough and when it isn't. Often it seems I just can't get enough salt, but my BP tends to run a little high so I'm careful with it, and I wind up hyponatremic. Thank goodness, never so severely that my heart has been affected, but enough that I've wound up severely dehydrated after a few days of just trying to sip plain water because I couldn't keep anything down. It honestly took me over a decade to figure out what was going on, including a trip to the ER for rehydration where neither the ER doctors nor my PCP figured it out. At least I know now that whenever I'm nauseous, it's probably hyponatremia. But I still have no idea how to figure electrolyte quantities preventively.

Just another thing to think about. As if there isn't already enough in this thread to think about. :rolleyes:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tulip

I rode nearly 300 miles on a weeklong cycling vacation a couple of weeks ago, and I didn't lose any weight. I wasn't trying to, but I found that interesting. Could it have been the post-ride recovery chocolate malts??:eek:

---

Nah! :D ;)

I love this thread. I woke up this morning after a 60 mile ride this weekend, having gained 2 lbs. What's hardest to take is that I'm still so tired, and to have gained weight on top of it's pretty irritating. (I have a hard time relaxing on weekends even after a long ride, and by the time I'm ready for a good night's sleep, the Monday morning alarm goes off). Glad to know I'm not alone. I could cut the beer back on Saturday nights, but honestly, I'm so tired at that point, I only have a couple.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tofu

I could cut the beer back on Saturday nights, but honestly, I'm so tired at that point, I only have a couple.

---

You know an ounce of beer has about ten calories. I'd rather have an ice cream than a couple of beers.

Veronica

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Veronica

You know an ounce of beer has about ten calories. I'd rather have an ice cream than a couple of beers.

Veronica

---

Deal! You can have the iceream and I'll take the beer:D

Thank you so much for everyone who responded to this thread!

I have 20 more pounds to lose (after losing 95) and I have been frustrated with those giant jumps in weight after key workouts. Now that I understand why they are happening, it will definitely help my attitude!

Thanks to all! :)