Quote Originally Posted by indysteel View Post
I would agree that a lot of people...use a sports drink of some kind when water will do....my hunger usually manifests itself 24-48 hours following a heavy weekend of riding.
Unsurprisingly, the cheapest sports drinks are the ones made with HFCS, so those are the ones that casual athletes and ride organizers tend to use. Most people DO need to replace electrolytes and plain water WON'T do for the duration of a ride. Yes, things like Nuun and Emergen-C are available, but they're expensive and available only at specialty stores.

I was just remarking how the sole advantage of the holiday grease/salt/sugar binge is that I haven't needed to intentionally add salt to my beverages...

And it may not be true for everyone, but if I'm ravenous a day or two after an intense ride, I'm depleted in many different ways, and it's not healthy - not least because I'm not up to continuing my regular workouts on those days. If I replenish glycogen and a bit of protein immediately after a ride - within the window of an hour or two when I really have to FORCE myself to eat - then I don't overeat because I'm not hungry at all, in fact the idea of food is nauseating; and I don't experience the ravenousness that kicks in once my body realizes it's depleted, because I don't allow it to become severely depleted.