adamflores

Here is the back story I began riding to work about 4 months ago because I was 280lbs and my cholesterol was rediculously high. I changed my eating habits stopped eating meat, and dropped all of the processed suger and flour. The commute to work and back is 30 miles and up until around 2 weeks ago I was averaging 15 miles an hour. During the last couple of weeks I am very tired during my rides and my average has dropped around 3.5 miles per hour. I have no energy.

Here is an example of my daily eating routine.
5am ride to work
6 am package of oatmeal
7 am bannana
8 am apple
9 am 1/cup of almonds
10 am protein shake
11am bowl of soup
12pm 2 black bean echiladas
1pm plum
2pm apple
3pm protein shake.
4 pm ride home
bowl of grapes
8pm homemade pizza with lowfat chees and mushrooms

any advice would be appreciated and welcome.
thanks

hanshun

I'm no nutrition expert, and there are guys on here that know far more then I do, but it seems as if you aren't eating enough. For a guy your size and that much riding, I really think that you need to eat more. How much weight are you losing a week, I think the goal is only 2 lbs a week and anything more then that and your body starts burning muscle. Also, I personally would cut out the protein shakes and trade them in for real food.

adamflores

I was just worried that since I cut meat out that I would need to supplement with more protein.....do you think maybe some more raw nuts?

ottsville

Why did you cut meat out?

ottsville

A quick glance looks like you are eating lot of carbs though... try to eat some protein with your carbs(ie almond butter on apple slices instead of just an apple) to mellow out the glycemic response...also include some whole grains with them.

It may not be that you are not eating too many carbs, just not enough balance of the other macronutrients

adamflores

I cut out meat because I had astronomical cholesterol levels. the number that the doctor gave me was 415. so I dropped meat to get that under control, and I plan on introducing very lean meats back into my diet as my numbers get into a better range.


Thanks for the advice on the almond butter that sounds like a great idea. I am having some trouble getting enough protein variety... that sounds like a good alternative.

at the risk of sounding ignorant what do you mean by glycemic response?

adamflores

Hanshun, in response to your question about how much I am losing a week it was a steady 4 pounds a week until around two weeks ago.

UmneyDurak

Thats a bit high, I think normal guideline is 1-2 pounds a week. How much sleep/rest are you getting?

robinthehippie

My personal experience has been that I feel better if I eat a little breakfast before I leave, snacks throughout the day, then a bigger meal an hour or two before I head home.

(I have a high metabolism, by my scale, a "little breakfast" is two packets of oatmeal with extra raisins, with the amount you're eating maybe just a banana. My bigger meal is usually something like whole wheat pasta salad with veggies.)

What are you drinking when you ride and with your meals? Once the weather got really hot here I found if I didn't replace electrolytes while I was riding I'd slow down and get a headache, now I mix water and gatorade and feel much better. Also, a glass of soy milk or milk with your after-ride snacks will add some protein.

Edit: I forgot the main reason I wanted to reply. If you can continue your 30mi RT commute feeling so lethargic you're goin 3.5mph, that's serious mental toughness!! Good for you, keep up the fight, soon your commute will be one of the more pleasant experiences of your day.

peiffer83

Adam,

What is your current weight, age, and height?

Also are you eating 1oz of almonds or more? Also how many pieces of pizza?

My total was calculated that you ate 1oz of almonds (which is like 22 almonds) and 4 pieces of pizza.

From what I calculated:

Your taking in around 2000 calories, 52g fat, 301g carbs, and 100g protein.

Thats good, but I think you should break it up into like 5 meals, and also always eat something high carb before you leave. Like banana and oatmeal. You are definatly burning most of this off. Considering going 15mph for an hour is around 800 calories, your burning 1600 for the day. If my calculations are correct your having a net of around 400 calories a day. I really think you should be eating around 3000 calories a day. Just my thoughts. If you give me your age, weight, and height I will be able to give you a better estimate on what you should be taking in. Hope i helped.

adamflores

Man this forum is chock full of helpful people I am glad I found it.

umneydurak- i wasn't sure what I should be losing when I first started so I was happy with losing that much, but now looking back I am beginning to worry that I may be losing some muscle as well. the only good thing about losing that much is it does help me keep motivated to see some results. also I sleep around 7.5 hours a night.

robinthehippie - thanks for the encouraging words, the 3.5 mph drop really bugs me lately, but I really love riding now and you're right it has become the favorite part of my day. I almost feel ashamed that it has taken me so long to get back on a bicycle. to answer your question I drink just water all day long and when I ride. i used to drink lots of pops and coffee and other not so good stuff so just went cold turkey and only drink water now. do you think I need to drink some sort of sport drink with electrolytes and what not?


peiffer83 - I am 30 years old 6'2", and i now weigh 220, down from 280(yay)
I think i am eating around that in raw nuts. mostly almonds and pecans. when i have them it is usually two large handfuls. sorry that isn't more scientific a measurment. and I have around 2 slices of pizza. thanks for your advice, i will take a look at finding a way to add more good calories into my diet prior to my rides...do you think that is the reason that I am getting lethargic during my rides? Not enough "fuel" to keep up my Killer pace haha.

again i really appreciate all of the great feedback.

peiffer83

Yep I believe that's it and your not replenishing your muscles. You should be taking in around 300 calories in mostly carbs like 4/1 ratio before you start your ride. Like 45-1 hour before. I am attaching my nutrition sheet for you. You can change anything you want and it will recalculate. This shows your BMR and a healthy calorie rate you should take in each day. I came up with about 3100 calories. If you have the time measure what you eat and log it one day. Use https://caloriecount.about.com/ its free. Anyways check out the attachment. It shows how many calories should be in each meal. If you do 6 meals just change the formula. Any more questions pm me.

Oh and great job on loosing that weight! Oh and meat isnt bad. Just eat fish and chicken, its good for you. Protein helps a bunch, with repairing your muscles.

adamflores

peiffer83 - thanks a bunch for the help i will be applying this new approach starting this weekend to get ready for the next week. I will let you know how it turns out.

thanks

The_Spaniard

thats a good tip on the almond butter, do you eat on your ride, also do you replace your electrolytes durign your ride, Thats about an hour right? I would suggest drinking some watered down gatorade or try some G2 gatorade, my friends who dont like the sweetness of regular gatorade love the G2 stuff. I suggest only cutting aobut 100 to 200 caloriess off what your burn daily anyhting more will give you waht you have low energy, Remember your body is pretty much starving, when yous tart working hard it ganna respond by trying to conserve, it you try and loose weight a little slower your body will have a easier time adapting to your weight loss. Also just a funny thought maye you needa get your bike tuned and re-lubed maybe your loosing energy kuz your bike is a bit hard to ride, meaning you burn a little more calories on your rides which makes it so you feel like you have no energy anymore heh, Just and idea. For your protein shakes Try to take them right after your excercise(rides) That way they are used at the time your body wants protein most. Also if possible try to have that lunch meal around 1pm or even 2pm, That way your food isnt all gone by the time you get ont he saddle, Try to take in some type of simple sugar(easily digested carb) food before your ride, i dont know anything about the nutritional value of black bean echiladas , im assuming the beans for protein , and the tortilla for carbs. Maybe try to put some whole grain in your lunch meal or something that takes awhile to digest. Also for your levels i suggest taking in some fish for the omega 3 and omega 6's good for the heart. Those almonds are great for it also but might want to take a little more almonds or maybe snack on some trail mix every couple hours. Also for the protein, Everything has protein in it, and unless your tryin to build muscle you should be fine with the food your taking in, if anything see what you recommended protein intake would be. Because protein shakes depending on which one you use have allot of protein specially if you take it with milk. Im thinking you actually get more than you need.

ericgu

I agree with the others, you are starving your body and that's why you have no energy - you've run through all your reserves.

I don't think your food choice is particularly bad, but it doesn't seem very substantial to me.

My advice:

1) Make sure you are eating while you are riding. 200-300 cal/hour is a good target, and you want to mostly have carbs. You *might* consider a small amount of recovery drink as well - an hour is a bit short to require it but you're running a big calorie deficit and riding twice a day, so maybe 100 cal or so from that would be a good addition as well.

zowie

I'm surprised no one mentioned IRON if you cut out meat and feel fatigued.

Donate blood. They check your hemoglobin as part of the screening process and you'll be able to find out for free if you're a little anemic.

knotty

I would add a variety of veggies, breads, pasta, rice.

knotty

The_Spaniard

good tip on the low iron i totally missed that. Also you can have allot of stuff missing from not eating meat. Im hoping you looked into what meat gives you that you cant get from most other foods. a Good multi vit. will cover most of it tho.

mehhem

I'd cut out red meat. Chicken and fish are good for you though. Also you might want to take a supplement pill like GNC's Mega Men. I use that and really like it.

adamflores

Wow,

this is great, I really appreciate all of the great advice.

I haven't eaten on my ride as of yet but I will make sure to have something higher in carbohydrates as close to my commutes as possible.

I cut out meats because my cholesterol was extremely high and I didn't want to take medication at this young an age for something that I brought on my self.....but you guys/gals do bring up a great point on the iron intake. I currently take a multivitamin , but it is possible that I need one with a larger amount of Iron. that is a great point.

I also gave my bike a tune up yesterday and it seems to be riding a little easier.

So, just thought I would let everyone know that this morning's ride was very good I was up 1.5 mph from last week's average. I felt better. I took everyones advice and applied it today. got up a little earlier and had some oatmeal with raisins in it around 30 minutes before my ride. put some watered down G2 in my water bottle. Yesterday I took my Multivitamin at night and made sure that I had more protein intake yesterday as well. so far i feel really good.

Today's ride home will be the real test as it is projected to be around 105 degrees outside!
I have also made plans to go have some bloodwork done this week. to check on the iron.

thanks everyone.

snowdog650

Perhaps a lot of the issue is that you may be overtraining. Your symptoms suggest it, anyway. Try taking a week off from riding. Eat as you normally would (i.e., as if you were riding). See if you feel better on the bike after a brief hiatus.

The_Spaniard

+1 i use the mega men sport pills. They are great.

vuelamanuel

Dude, you are eating a load of carbs, very often and your diet seems to be missing some
essential nutrients that help you body deal with glucose energy. Iron was an excellent idea too. Specially with your increased energy expenditure and you decision to reduce you protein intake.
I am concerned about your glycemia yo-yoing (up & down).
Any changes recently in your thirst too?
I have a bunch of ideas for you but first you should go to you doc/nutricionest and have some blood work done to make sure your iron, B vits, glycemia, etc is under control. The blood test should also reveal if you have an infection of are suffering from allergies (if your doc knows where to look). Afterwards, some mods to you diet plan could bring you exponential rewards.
For now, I say, use lower Glycemic Index fruits (& eat them with the nuts) and space you meals a bit more. Eat with more variety. Add some green, leafy vegs. Find something that will substitute the meat you are not eating anymore (salmon?buffalo?). Vit. B containing fermented foods/eggs. Bananas & apples are not you best choices (High GI), try papaya, pinneaple,green apples, figs, dates, etc... Are you drinking enough H20? Have you tried switching to steel cut oats (lower GI, lower allergen content).
BEST LUCK!

PS. I am not sure Pizza before going to sleep is conducive to getting in shape either...
If you crave the combination a fresh Tomato Soup with a bit of goat/buffalo cheese might have lower GI & a higher nutrient density. Or a Capresse Salad (fresh basil, fresh tomatoes, pepper, olive oil & buffalo mozarrella). If you go to bed with a load of carbs in you belly your body will have a harder time recuperating for the next day, it's going to be busy putting all those carbs away, mostly as fat...
Have a lighter meal and night and don't be afraid to add some protein to your breakfast. If you have to eat your pizza do it at Lunch or early in the evening...

As someone put it "running through your reserves", that might be exactly it...you minerals (Vanadium, Zinc, Chromium, Magnesium, etc), your vitamins and many other nutrients play a huge role on how you "burn" sugar to produce energy...when you run out the furnace might have coal but no oxygen...
We used to walk around picking a bunch of roots, nuts, berries and the ocassional little animal so our diets where more calorie poor but nutrient rich...when we started growing our food we flipped this equation. Getting some minerals, healty fats & vitamins back in you body should help your energy modulation...

adamflores

that is great advice.

to answer your question i am thirsty a little more than usual.

I make that pizza around once/twice a week on the other 3 days i usually have a guacamole tomatoe and goat cheese sandwich... , but i get your point I should probably mix in more protein.

I will look into foods with a lower GI rating. I will probably be introducing some very lean meats back into my diet sometime soon and hopefully that will help me with my constant hunger....which in turn will help me space out my meals a little more evenly.

thanks for the great advice.... i will be going to the doctor to have some blood work done soon, I will report back with the findings.

Jashue

I was surprised that no one suggested the possibility that you're over training until snowdog did so late in the thread.

Last month I went through a period of lethargy and it made no sense at all to me. My spring and early summer buildup seemed perfectly prudent but then-- all of the sudden-- my performance started to suffer. On training rides I couldn't get my heart rate up to where I wanted it to be no matter how much effort I gave. On one of my club's weekly ten mile time trials I think my average HR was something like 160! Plus-- my time was over a minute slower than it should have been on a night of very good atmospheric conditions. I was already depressed-- but the poor TT was the final straw. I took a few days off and when I returned to the saddle (a new saddle which as it turned out gave me more problems) I needed to take more time off still.

This week I'm back at it (with chamois cream) and my heart rate is back up to where it should be on my rides and I'm taking on the hills of the finger lakes where I live with great enthusiasm and vigor.

The advise you've been given on diet in this thread is good. At 280-- you're probably not getting quite enough carbs, IMHO. But your body usually tells you when you are under-nourished in the form of hunger-- and you didn't say in your post that you were hungry. Are you? If not, then it could be a case of too much too soon.