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Is anyone else out there doing the 4 hour body diet? I LOVE it and have lost almost 20lbs BUT I'm having trouble figuring out what to do about bonking. My long rides are generally on saturday, which is my 'cheat' day anyways so I don't worry about eating stinger waffles then. Lately however I have started going longer distances with a group during the week after work and I bonked hard last night. Any ideas on how to stop this?
What is the 4-hour body diet? That's a new one on me--not that I'm up on all the diet trends.
As for the weekday right bonks, what are you eating before and during the rides? How long are the rides?
Slow carb is basically no-carb but with legumes added in for a carb. So bread, noodles, etc are out, Lentils, beans, sprouts are in.
Basics of the diet in the 4 hour body (the slow carb diet) are:
Avoid White carbs or anything that could be white (no brown rice, bread, cereal, potatoes etc)
eat the same few meals over and over again (pick 3-4 meals and repete them)
Don't drink calories
Don't eat fruit
Take 1 day off a week and go nuts - eat whatever you want (Cheat day)
Before I rode last night I ate the leftovers I had from Chipolte (lettuce, pinto and black beans, steak, and guacamole) and then mid ride I ate some almonds.
How quickly have you lost the weight? Are you increasing your calories enough to compensate for the energy you expend on your rides?
You need to make sure you are taking in enough calories to fuel your ride. I looked up the 4 hour diet, and without spending a lot of time looking at the details, it doesn't seem too outlandish, as many "fad" diets do- as long as you get a good mix of the recommended foods.
But if you aren't getting enough calories (including some from carbs), you will bonk. Nancy Clark's The Cyclist's Food Guide will give you some good guidelines as to how much you need to eat. Food is your energy source, and just like you can't drive your car without gas, you can't ride without enough energy from your food. It is hard to lose a significant amount of weight and keep up your energy for cycling. You might need to slow down your weight loss.
I've been doing this for about 2 months. The weight came off super fast at first, but has slowed to about 1/2 a pound per week, which I'm ok with as I really only need to lose 5-8 more lbs. I'm trying to eat more calorie dense foods but maybe I didn't get enough yesterday :( I hate the feeling of bonking.
How many hours before the ride did you eat? Beans have carbs, but not all of them are digestible and, in any event, they are slow to digest. So, it's possible that you just ate too late in the day to access the energy you needed for your ride. But I'm no expert. I'm an eat everything in moderation kind of a person.
Putting aside the Paleo idea that if you don't give your body carbs, it will burn fat, it seems to me that you should add in some easily digestible carbs before your long ride days, regardless of whether it's an official cheat day or not. You can still choose vitamin/mineral rich foods instead of just, say, white rice. Why not have something like a banana before your rides (easily digestible, lots of carbs and potassium to boot)? And are you making sure to replace lost electrolytes during and after your rides? For as hot as it's been, it's absolutely imperative that you do.
I like almonds during a ride, but only in addition to something with some easily digestible carbs. Larabars, bananas, and dried apricots are my go-to foods right now during rides.
ate @ 4:45 (ish) rolled out @ 7
Then I don't know. How long was this ride, at what pace and in what conditions?
One bonk doesn't necessarily mean that your entire diet is off. It could be that you just had a bad day or were dehydrated. I do a bit better if I have something within an hour of riding, but that depends on how much I've otherwise eaten during the day.
All that said, I still stand by my advice. Eat something that offers an accessible energy source before your longer rides.
It doesn't sound as if this diet even considers regular, moderate to very vigorous physical activity for more than 1 hr. (and we know that 1 hr. for some sports can be intense).
So, no fruit at any time?
I agree that sometimes people eat too much for a moderately paced bike ride for 1 hr. that may have only 1 short hill (if that), but for long rides, I find for myself I need to eat something small / sip some water, every 90 min. or so for any ride over 25-30 km. long. Then I can last up to 75 km. before needing a sustantial meal beyond a half a small sandwich.
For instance, last weekend we cycled 77 km. in 4 hrs. on major highway shoulder with cars maxing out beside us, at the speed limit of 110 km. per hr. There were 4-5 hills at 8% with another additional 5 hills at 6%. I conisder that ride in terms of calorie-burning, moderately high with some stress because of high speed cars near us. (And to me mental stress of constant car traffic around, just pumps my adrenaline a tad more.) It was mitigated by 70% of the ride with a tailwind. :) We were cycling with panniers packed with our own clothing.
It was 30 degrees C dry heat, bright sunlit summer day.
During the ride, I ate fruit, drank water and then at 65 km had an ice cream bar. 1/5 hrs. before the ride I had a breakfast of:
scrambled eggs
1 bagel
2 coffees with milk
1 small glass of fruit juice
2 slices of bacon
Yea, sure I had that (bad) carb. We were at a hotel. I needed that breakfast. We were going to be cycling on route that would have no food outlet along the way for the first 50 km. Out on the prairies...with no trees.
I'm just giving this example that a 4 hr. diet may be a good way to help someone from snacking/eating too much throughout the day. But it is not sustainable for endurance physical activity lasting several consecutive hours.