Braces-half my diet has been eliminated!

[GLC1968]

Tape the gel packet to your bike's top tube? I've heard that triathletes do this and just tear them off and open in one step.

Yep, this. Tape just the top of the gel to the top tube (you can layer them if you need a bunch for a ride) and just rip one off at a time. The top stays taped to the tube and you get just an open packet in your hand. Works best with electrical tape.

[Becky]

Glad to hear that this works! I intend to try it for mountain bike racing next season.

[e3rdpower]

At the time, I was riding 200+ miles a week and living on yogurt and soup was hard, as I needed to consume a lot of calories to keep up. I was starving at times, and that induced a few breakdowns. But it got easier; I swear.

Thanks, Indy. This is a big concern for me as well. I just finished a 2 month training block of 15-16 hour weeks (road, likely 250-280 miles ish). Thank goodness right now I'm in a lower volume, going back to the gym phase, but I'm still hungry. Base training will be coming up soon though, so I'm hopeful that by then getting adequate calories won't be an issue.

Yep, this. Tape just the top of the gel to the top tube (you can layer them if you need a bunch for a ride) and just rip one off at a time. The top stays taped to the tube and you get just an open packet in your hand. Works best with electrical tape.

Perfect. Thank you very much!

[jessmarimba]

This is just a random comment regarding food and braces - I haven't read the entire thread. But within hours of getting mine off, I made my mother take me to the candy shop in Williamsburg so I could get a caramel apple. I'd wanted one for three years.

(I'm not supposed to eat apples without cutting them, anyway, since one of my front teeth is mostly fake and is eventually going to snap off again, but that was a worthwhile exception).

[e3rdpower]

Apples are definitely high on my list of favorite foods, so having the ability to eat them at all (even cut up) I'm looking forward to!

Also, a friend of mine told me about the Gelrilla grip-another option for holding/opening gels.

http://www.gelrillagrip.com/

[indysteel]

e3rdpower, how are adjusting to your braces? Has the worst of the pain subsided yet?

[e3rdpower]

e3rdpower, how are adjusting to your braces? Has the worst of the pain subsided yet?

Thanks for checking on me! (I'm Erin, by the way.)

Actually, I still can't chew. I have very little discomfort when I'm not trying to chew, but chewing is very uncomfortable and the teeth feel "wobbly." I also had an extraction of a lower incisor last week, so that most likely is contributing to everything. My molars are still not touching, as I gather it that may continue as my bite is corrected. Tomorrow will be 2 weeks since I was braced, so they're still fresh. I don't have an adjustment until the 26th, so I'm really hoping to be able to eat a little on Thanksgiving, since I'm cooking it all!

So, still soft foods for me for now. Mashed cauliflower has by far become my favorite veggie.