Don’t want to lose weight, don’t want to bulk up. However don’t think my diet is great as have issues with low energy levels at certain times of day and bad snacking habits.

Anyone recommend any good books or web resources on sensible diets for sporty types who are very active? Ideally something that’s nice and prescriptive and has some theory behind it. I’ve seen some sports nutrition books but they all seem to be heavy on the theory with little practical advice.

You are probably eating too many easily digestible carbs.

Do a modified iDave if I were you.

You are probably eating too many easily digestible carbs.

Quick web search tells me those tend to be highly processed foods. Probably do eat a fair bit while snacking. Are breakfast cereals included in this?

Hmm may be time to delve into that idave diet thread…

[edit] … also if I did know what the idave diet was, would i then know how to modify it…?

Yes, breakfast cereals are often very refined simple carbs.

The theory behind iDave as I understand it* is minimising insulin production. Insulin makes your cells take up blood sugar and makes you lay down fat (as far as I can gather).

So if you eat simple carbs they get digested very quickly and your blood sugar goes up, so your pancreas needs to dump loads of insulin in your blood to stop your brain dying (or something). This clears out your blood of sugar quickly and you’re back to square one in no time. (low blood sugar is one of the things that makes you feel hungry).

The exception to this is when you are riding and your cells need lots of energy transported to them, and just after exercise when their stores are depleted (your cells can use up the energy faster than your guts/blood can deliver it)

iDave cuts out things that produce insulin – for the purposes of minimising fat creation. However it also means that what you do eat gives you energy for longer.

It’s also an incremental thing. So if you cut down somewhat on insulinotropic stuff you’ll get some benefit – if you really cut down a lot you’ll get more of an effect. I’m finding I am less hungry on iDave and want to snack much less because I am eating a lot of ‘filling’ foods. And still losing weight. You don’t have to hold back, unlike calorie counting – you can fill your face on whatever’s on the list. I miss sweet stuff a lot though, but I don’t go hungry.

* I could be talking rubbish here, someone please put me straight.

Cutting out sweet stuff would be tough! I suspect part of it is eating enough of the right stuff often enough.

I shall have a dig through the STW archives.

Is there some documentation behind this or is it some diet theory mash up that iDave came up with that worked for him?

Cutting out sweet stuff would be tough! I suspect part of it is eating enough of the right stuff often enough

It is tough, but part of it is your brain which becomes addicted in a small way to sweet stuff. I have carbs on a ride in the form of diluted OJ, and often the desire for sweetness is what motivates me to ride!

It’s essentially a low-GI diet which is very well documented and used, but there are some extra things here because insulin producting is not always related to GI. Milk for instance produces a lot of insulin but is still low GI.

I dunno if iDave came up with it but it’s also documented in The Four Hour Body – which we know iDave contributed to.

I dunno if iDave came up with it but it’s also documented in The Four Hour Body – which we know iDave contributed to.

I came up with a non-slimline version 2 years ago for personal use, then kind of forgot about it. I certainly don’t think I can claim ownership of a low GI way of eating. It’s just a certain combination of certain food. No one owns it, though some people ‘sell’ it.

Yep, almost certainly too much sugar or other refined carbs. More protein will stop you feeling hungry and you won’t crash.