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, 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.