My diet in terms of what I eat food wise appears to be even poorer than I thought it was…over the past 4-6 months I've been utterly dead on the bike, no energy and after about 15 minutes of going, I'm lifeless, legs very heavy, struggling to breath comfortably and generally feeling utterly knackered.

I've put this down to the real likeliehood that I'm not eating enough of fast, medium and long acting foods – I suspect I'm eating a mix of fast and long acting so when the fast energy is gone, it takes a good hour for me to start feeling better.

So, I'll eat pretty much anything (although liver, kidney and tofu are out), but what should I be eating on a daily basis and then the day before, during and after a bike ride – I'm certain I'm unfit but I'm also certain my unfitness is being made worse as I'm not eating the right stuff.

I'm not looking for a complete diet change, but I am looking to make improvements to my general diet and helping keep my energy levels up whilst biking.

Advice would be appreciated.

I'm diabetic but throughout this 6 month 'discovery' my diabetes hasn't been a factor in terms of blood levels, they are all spot on – which also leads me to believe I'm not eating the right foods in general.

Cheers.

I recently moved to a diet based on the Primal Blueprint dead easy, to follow, lots of meat, fish, fruit and vegetables, mixed with nuts and seeds.

I recently moved to a diet based on the Primal Blueprint dead easy, to follow, lots of meat, fish, fruit and vegetables, mixed with nuts and seeds.

You mean eating a health diet then? 😉

I've got a balanced diet in terms of vegetables, fruit and meats, etc…but I suspect the quantities are all wrong and this is what is causing my issues. I'm not to fussed if I start something that has a name to it, just looking for pointers on the sort of balance I should be eating and of what.

Sounds a really daft questions to be asking but I tend to just eat the food without much thought, if it tastes good, I eat more of it…but I suspect my eating 'habit' isn't helping and needs improved.

yeah kind of but you basically omit anything that wouldn't have been available to early man, so no grain, rice, etc. Very similar to the Paleo diet

If you are a diabetic you should be able to get advice from a dietitian easily and that will be better than anything you get on here.

I suspect your diabetes might be causing some of the issues that you describe.

wot TJ said

we're omnivores, it doesn't much matter what you eat so long as it's not too much

[edit] or too little…

Diabetes isn't affecting it as I've been checking my bloods throughout the rides as that was my initial suspicions (got to checking the blood every 15 minutes so it was fairly accurate – tested over a few weeks so also not just a once-only test), also the feeling I was having wasn't the same as my hypo symptoms, so I'm certain it isn't caused by that and due to lack of fitness helped by the wrong diet.

OP: look up glycaemic index.

If you are a diabetic you should be able to get advice from a dietitian easily and that will be better than anything you get on here.

I suspect your diabetes might be causing some of the issues that you describe.

"I've been utterly dead on the bike, no energy and after about 15 minutes of going, I'm lifeless, legs very heavy, struggling to breath comfortably and generally feeling utterly knackered."

This sounds like me last summer.

I'd just moved to a new house and had a train commute to london. I'd play footy afterwork then get the train back.

The first week I felt shattered on the train. So I started bringing a sports drink.
But I gradually felt worse and worse, felt like I was going to pass out on one run.

Also got the out of breath thing one time I was playing footy was nt soo much out of breath.

Anyhow obviously as I cut out sports drinks as they seemed to be related and also sugar in my tea also any squash+fizzy drinks.

Also I tried to eat more low GI foods.

Felt much better very quickly (which could suggest I was just feeling under the weather but pretty sure I wasnt)

Must admit I never went to check my blood but Im pretty sure Im not either of the 2 diabetics. I just dont think foods/drinks with high GI sugars agree with me. To be honest I might have noticed this before the first time I used a sports drink for a race I felt awful but I put it down to other factors.

I just dont think foods/drinks with high GI sugars agree with me

bearing in mind all carbs have to be broken down into glucose and/or fructose, wouldn't an inability to handle high GI foods be effectively low level diabetes ?