Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 43 total)
  • Stopping "the hunger"
  • maxray
    Free Member

    Hiya,

    I try and ride into work at least once a week. It is a 33km journey each way. I find the ride in is just fine, out of bed, glass of water or maybe a black coffee and I am away. I usually take about 1hr 20 ish.

    The return leg at 5.30 though leaves me with an insatiable urge to eat for the last 10k or so.. proper ‘I may well stop that bloke eating a burger at the bus stop and buy the remnants of him’ all consuming hunger. :S It also takes an extra 15 mins quite often.

    I try and eat a bit more on a cycling day but am concious I want to be burning cals not eating them so on a cycling day I would generally have:

    cereal for breakfast

    2 ham salad baps for lunch possibly some crisps and a ‘pasta in a mug’ type thing

    good possibility of an afternoon snack dependant on what people have brought into the office, generally a biscuit or something.

    What could/should I be eating and when to try and replenish my energy stores to make it home without this horrible feeling?

    I tell ya I could have happily eaten dry super noodles when I got in last night.. reminds me of epic munchies!

    Any advice appreciated.

    captaindanger
    Full Member

    Sounds like quite a lot at lunch, try having less at lunch and slightly more in your mid afternoon snack, and ideally nothing too sugary (like biscuits)

    devs
    Free Member

    How about breakfast before you go?

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    maxray
    Free Member

    hmm yeah worth a go, I kind of thought that as long as the kcals went in it didn’t matter whether it was 1 chunk or spread out as long as it was a couple of hours before you exercised. 🙂

    mikewsmith
    Free Member

    Sounds like not enough food 🙂

    Try some more food for lunch/mid afternoon. Have you tried an energy drink?

    Do you eat more the night before riding?
    Do you eat more the night of riding?

    maxray
    Free Member

    Thing is devs I am just fine going in, feel full of energy when I get in and then have breakfast anyway, I am happy to try anything as otherwise I am going to be rooting in bins and the like for part eaten snaxs. 🙂

    maxray
    Free Member

    Do you eat more the night before riding?
    Do you eat more the night of riding?

    that just made me chuckle for some reason 🙂 If anything I don’t hold back on the carbs the night before, usually I try and keep my pasta portions smaller or have cauliflower rice instead.

    mikewsmith
    Free Member

    Sounds like in my very high level opinion you are running out of fuel 🙂

    If your eating plenty night before and not having breakfast before riding (same here btw) then your burning up everything. Try a bit more cereal and a bit more lunch and a bit more cake.

    Maybe get a HRM/GPS to see your actual calorie burn.

    buzz-lightyear
    Free Member

    Delay eating one of your two lunch baps until 4pm.

    cheburashka
    Free Member

    Reminds me of a mate at work who, while touring in Australia, misjudged his logistics rather on one occasion and resorted to drinking from puddles. He now lives off out-of-date food.

    But to the OP I would think the biscuit isn’t helping.

    chakaping
    Free Member

    I’ve found High5 4:1 drink quite good at taming the post-ride munchies, FWIW.

    jambalaya
    Free Member

    pasta in a mug ? You mean something full of e-numbers and sugar probably ? Doesn’t sound good. Two small baps is fine, if larger size that’s too much bread IMO.

    A biscuit is not a good afternoon snack, probably too much sugar giving an instant hit and then a sugar-low.

    Try an afternoon snack of nuts or Jaffa Cakes are good (dark choclate, jelly and sponge are more slow release). I say Jaffa cakes as it’s impossible to eat only one !

    Gotama
    Free Member

    I may well get corrected on this but your lunch seems to contain a lot of low quality carbs. I’m presuming white baps but maybe try wholegrain and replace the soup with a wild rice salad? Also ditch the biscuits and make yourself some flapjack for mid afternoon snack.

    Early exercise also gets your metabolism kick started and without breakfast you’re probably not eating enough.

    BoardinBob
    Full Member

    Noticeable lack of protein in the food list you mentioned up there. Sugary, carby stuff all day would lead me to feel weak & hungry

    maxray
    Free Member

    🙂 they are multigrain baps I’ll have you know! 🙂

    I think I will try altering the lunch a bit and then having a more savoury snack at 4ish, see how I get on.

    Maybe get a HRM/GPS to see your actual calorie burn.

    Endomondo reckoned I burnt 1300kcal each way .. I don’t believe that for a minute!

    Whathaveisaidnow
    Free Member

    Two decent sized pancakes with honey in the morning . . .

    Eat your lunch as late as possible, sorted . . .

    grievoustim
    Free Member

    Wouldn’t it be easier to just pop a cereal bar or a gel in your pocket and eat that if you get hungry on the way home?

    It’s not worth stressing about so much (unless you are massively overweight or something)

    brakes
    Free Member

    what about a mung-bean and moroccan jellyfish tabbouleh with some quails’ egg parfait as a mid-afternoon amuse bouche? no?

    just eat a banana whilst you’re riding like what most people do.

    corroded
    Free Member

    Have a proper lunch, not a cup-a-thingy but something with protein. And a big slice of healthy cake in the afternoon. I do a daily commute of half your distance and always have a cooked lunch. I bake a cake (carrot, ginger, banana etc) at the weekend and have a slice a day.

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    eat more and graze would be my advice. It’s possible to ride in before breakfast but it can **** up your blood sugar/hunger/energy levels for the day.

    Also a decent sized low GI snack before the return home.

    scruff
    Free Member

    Soreen maltloaf.

    jambalaya
    Free Member

    scruff – Member
    Soreen maltloaf.

    with butter, the food of Gods …

    grahamg
    Free Member

    My new commute is about 34km each way… with 550m of climbing, albeit only 2-3 times a week. I’ve taken to using a calorie counting app thing that also offsets exercise. For me, a big brekkie is essential after riding in – 600 calories worth of holland & barrett muesli (no added sugar), then a regular lunch (sandwiches and two peices of fruit), plus a handful of nuts & raisins to snack on in the afternoon.

    I tend to ride fairly hard on the way in and then take a more relaxed approach on the way home… otherwise I’m totally and utterly shagged after two days worth.

    mikewsmith
    Free Member

    Maybe get a HRM/GPS to see your actual calorie burn.

    OK

    Endomondo reckoned I burnt 1300kcal each way .. I don’t believe that for a minute!

    Maybe get a HRM/GPS to see your actual calorie burn.

    Not repeating myself am I?

    If cals are a concern then measure them properly. If not eat more Cake – the tiny works canteen loved me when I rode home as I ate lots of their very nice cake

    hels
    Free Member

    Sounds like dehydration to me, often mistaken for hunger. Drink lots more water, flavor it with wee bit of Hi 5 or something if you need. Throw it back before you leave work on hopefully will make it home before you need to pee. That’s a very salty diet you have during the day btw too.

    jono1982
    Free Member

    Used to do pretty much exactly the same as you, my commute was 30 miles each way, west london to reading and back. 1:40 was a good time.
    fine on the way out, headaches and blurred vision on the last 10 miles home.
    found the key to avoiding it was recognising the teltale early signs, quickley eating something sugary, before you are hungry (double decker and a coke for the win) and taking it easy for a few miles.

    Did it for 18 months twice a week before moving to brighton, by the 18th month i got used to it and could hammer the whole way home..

    jono

    hels
    Free Member

    P.S amused that people think HRM/GPS will give their actual real calorie burn – you know it’s pretendy science, don’t you ? Will give an indication nothing more.

    boxfish
    Free Member

    Sounds like dehydration to me, often mistaken for hunger. Drink lots more water, flavor it with wee

    😯

    mikewsmith
    Free Member

    P.S amused that people think HRM/GPS will give their actual real calorie burn – you know it’s pretendy science, don’t you ? Will give an indication nothing more.

    Step above app on phone though

    stumpy01
    Full Member

    Just eat a banana about 20 mins before you are due to leave in the evening & stick a small cereal bar in your pocket to eat halfway if you need it.

    hels
    Free Member

    Nice one boxfish didn’t spot that ! It’s a lot harder for the ladies you know.

    But seriously OP, try drinking more fluids. Riding 3 hours per day you should be on at least 3 litres of water. 1 each way on the bike, 1 during the day. And coffee doesn’t count.

    SprocketJockey
    Free Member

    Oatcakes are good for an afternoon snack – oats = slow release etc. Have them with some fruit. As above bananas are good.

    alfabus
    Free Member

    I used to really struggle on the return leg of my (15 mile) commute.

    I too was an ‘up and riding with no breakfast’ man… started eating a really oaty cereal (protein) when I arrived at work, then my normal lunch and no snacks. That sorted it.

    Dave

    CaptJon
    Free Member

    Sounds like the board is dehydrated and malnourished: 32 replies and not a single MTFU!

    maxray
    Free Member

    Sorry mikewsmith, when you said HRM/GPS I assumed you meant GPS like Endomondo using gps on phone 🙂

    jono1982 cheers for that, I think I’ll just pop some emergency snacks in my bag and then as others have mentioned make my lunch a bit better and spread it out.

    Cheers all.

    maxray
    Free Member

    CaptJon I was surprised myself.. I think I just need to MTFU 😉

    d45yth
    Free Member

    What kind of weight are you? I could eat what you eat in a day, as a mid-morning snack, especially when biking is involved. I would say you’re eating too little, even if you weren’t commuting by bike!

    teamslug
    Free Member

    Only drink your own wee as a last resort…drinking someone elses is fine though

    Solo
    Free Member

    pretendy science

    My favourite phrase so far 😉

    OP.
    Alter / adjust the amounts of Carbs, fats and protein in your diet. If I were in your situation, I’d consider more fats and protein. Less carbs.

    Also slightly mistified by the association between cycling home and stomach contents. Your ride home should be fueled by glycogen stores, no ?.

    You’re hungry because your stomach is empty and is signalling your brain to feed

    brassneck
    Full Member

    Eat More Eggs

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 43 total)

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