The weight loss 'wall' - keep banging my head :-/

[tulip]

I've been reading this thread with interest and have a question for those who have cut out grains. I've been eating grain and sugar free for almost three months now, have dropped a significant amount of weight (25 pounds), feel great, etc. I've also not been on my bike for more than a few slow miles a week due to an ankle injury. I'm just starting to get back into things (been off since Nov. 10), am starting up with Computrainer days (am still a bit afraid that if I get 10 miles out on the real road and start hurting, I won't be able to make it back home), and am hopefully going to be back to doing at least 40-50 mile rides on weekend days, and maybe longer sooner. I'd been making bike food from The Feed Zone cookbook (rice stuff), and used the occasional gels. What do you gals eat while on the bike or during weeks when you're doing daily endurance riding/training? I've read Paleo for Athletes, and although I understood it, I can't say that it sunk in enough to translate into a practical plan for me. Would love some ideas.

Beef jerky, nuts, and bananas work for me. Not as convenient as PowerBars, though. It's hard when you eliminate sugar. For drinks, I used to rely on G2, but Nuun tablets don't have sugar (I think). I'd be interested in learning some more ideas.

[WindingRoad]

SadieKate - That is interesting information from your friend. When I spin I frequently attain 200 watts for long periods of time. I intentionally push myself hard to get in a workout. I am only guessing, but I think I'm extremely fit for cycling. Other sports not as much. Seems my body is very efficient at cycling because I have ridden a lot. Even when I don't ride as much as I like, I do hard spins like the one I mention or I am commuting while towing things. I had a lung capacity test done in school and I have the lung capacity of an adult male. I realize I'm sitting outside the norms which I guess is why I got nervous to see my calorie count and HR in the first place.

My HR monitor has the chest strap and in the past has been very accurate but since I have been exercising 'hard' at high HRs where people say they aren't as accurate? Well who knows, maybe it is wrong for that. I am happy to discover that I can run again. Apparently the ripped tendon in my foot finally healed, so now I am going to do more of my no so efficient sport: running.

[GLC1968]

I'm not really a good example about how to fuel for long rides as I haven't really done many since I went paleo. The first year, I was still training for tri and doing long runs (2+ hours) and somewhat longer bike rides (3+ hours). I would find that I didn't need to eat anything at all unless it was going to hit a 2 hour workout session. Then I would supplement with gels (my one, non-paleo, regular 'food'). I only drink water.

I got injured before I did my first Whole30 (when I truly cut out ALL sugar) and I've only been slowly getting back into working out regularly again a year later (ugh). The longest workouts I do now are about an hour and I don't need food for those at all. I expect that as my rides get longer, I'll use things like sweet potatoes, bananas and dates when I need the sugar. I'm really not sure what I'm going to do when running as my stomach typically can't handle solid food on a longer run, but we'll see. I may try baby food pouches. I used a couple of those in the past and while expensive, they seemed to work great (easy to carry, easy to consume, easy to digest)

[Catrin]

I've found that beef jerky (nitrate free), dried cherries and macadamia nuts seem to work fine for me on the bike - and a banana when I get home. I've not gone for a REALLY long bike ride since going primal last July, I think the longest ride I've had since then is 40 miles.

This year I will experiment with making my own "larabars". I really like them but it would be more cost-effective to make them myself and then I've total control over the ingredients.

[Owlie]

I've found that beef jerky (nitrate free), dried cherries and macadamia nuts seem to work fine for me on the bike - and a banana when I get home. I've not gone for a REALLY long bike ride since going primal last July, I think the longest ride I've had since then is 40 miles.

This year I will experiment with making my own "larabars". I really like them but it would be more cost-effective to make them myself and then I've total control over the ingredients.

Threadjack: Now I want cherry, macadamia and white chocolate cookies. Good thing that would require going shopping.

[Owlie]

Beef jerky, nuts, and bananas work for me. Not as convenient as PowerBars, though. It's hard when you eliminate sugar. For drinks, I used to rely on G2, but Nuun tablets don't have sugar (I think). I'd be interested in learning some more ideas.

They don't, but they do have xylitol which bothers some people's guts. (I find it a bigger problem off the bike, actually.)