Good diet recommendation.

mattock

Can anyone suggest a diet or exactly what I should be eating for long rides and so I can shake off the stone that has being stopping me getting over the big climbs.
Currently weigh 95kgs and cycling approx 200klms a week, daily intake is something like,
Breakfast 7am, porridge, tea and slice of toast.
10am, sandwich and yogurt.
1pm, soup and bread or similar .
6pm Dinner meat and veg possibly a dessert.
9.30pm slice of toast and a twix or similar.
During the day I also drink about 1 1/2 litres of water.
Opinions please.

biomed32

kick the desert and the late night toast and twix, big no no. Maybe exchange the sandwich and yoghurt at 10 with a salad and a yoghurt and throw in a couple portions of fruit, say a bananna or melon etc, it will fill you up more.

Vary your excercise as at a certain point your weight loss levels out. Try swimming twice or three times a week along with the cycling.

hope it helps!

Khannie

Well, I'm new to all this cycling business, but not so new to losing weight or eating clean. My limited experience with cycling and trying to lose weight is that cycling without carbs can be hard, but reducing your carb intake just a little (especially if you're covering distance) is going to be the best way you'll shift fat.

Some general stuff: For a 95 kilo guy you're not eating a huge amount of fruit, veg or protein but you are eating a lot of stodge (bread, twix, porridge). In general you should try to get some fruit or veg with every meal. For something specific: Maybe try replacing the 10am sambo + yoghurt with a banana, an apple and a yoghurt. That's about 100-150 calories shaved off. Have half a twix in the evening instead of a full one. Stuff like that.

For long rides: Have some carbs during the ride to keep you going, but try to keep it below the calorie count of the ride so that you're burning fat. If you're eating crap, do it directly after the ride (this is the best time to eat crap). Try to have some source of protein before and / or after the ride too. This will help with recovery. Mostly though, losing weight is just about eating less. I know that sounds self-explanatory, but that's the crux of it.

Hope that helps somewhat.

feck sake lads

a lot depends on your age your height ,
i asked a personal trainer one time about loosing weight ,he told me to stop eating and he was serious:D:D:D

Paul Kiernan

200km a week equates to about 1000 calories a day. On that diet the weight should be falling off you (losing a pound or more per week). Are you omitting anything? Those 10 pints on a Friday night or the two bottles of wine with your Sunday roast?

I'd agree with others that more fruit would help and maybe just have fruit and yoghurt at 10am with sandwich at lunchtime. And while there's no harm with the odd twix you might like to look at the number of calories it contains and think how much blood and sweat it takes to burn it off!

jimbob25w

mattock wrote: »

Can anyone suggest a diet or exactly what I should be eating for long rides and so I can shake off the stone that has being stopping me getting over the big climbs.
Currently weigh 95kgs and cycling approx 200klms a week, daily intake is something like,
Breakfast 7am, porridge, tea and slice of toast.
10am, sandwich and yogurt.
1pm, soup and bread or similar .
6pm Dinner meat and veg possibly a dessert.
9.30pm slice of toast and a twix or similar.
During the day I also drink about 1 1/2 litres of water.
Opinions please.

cut out bread and orther carb snacks with beef jerky [protien]

metamorphosis

Id ditch the toast at 7am, the oats should enough. Again the sambo at 10? Like said, some fruit and a yogurt or a small handul of nuts or something is a better option. Do you really need more toast and a twix as well at 9pm? If you have a decent enough dinner you really shouldnt but if you like to, id cut one out.

mattock

Dont drink alcohol or minerals, but maybe could add a few spontaneous cups of tea and the odd bag of crisps to my 1st post, I will start to replace these snacks with bananas apples and oranges etc.
I work damn hard (labourer) every day 6 days a week, I like my food although I am not a pig I think I eat too many snacks in between just a bad habit.
In my early 40s and 6ft.

Paul Kiernan

I would expect someone who does hard physical work AND cycles 200km a week would be struggling to maintain weight. How long have you been cycling 200km a week?

Crisps are the worst of snacks (all fat), stick with the Twix.

Lack of fibre (not enough fruit and veg.) in your diet combined with too much fat (crisps, twixs) could be the problem. Fibre causes fat to pass through your digestive system without being absorbed so it goes down the toilet rather than onto your waist.

mattock

Paul Kiernan wrote: »

I would expect someone who does hard physical work AND cycles 200km a week would be struggling to maintain weight. How long have you been cycling 200km a week?

Crisps are the worst of snacks (all fat), stick with the Twix.

Lack of fibre (not enough fruit and veg.) in your diet combined with too much fat (crisps, twixs) could be the problem. Fibre causes fat to pass through your digestive system without being absorbed so it goes down the toilet rather than onto your waist.

Today my meals were, Breakfast, spagetti hoops and 3 white pan slices toasted with tea, Lunch time two pan slices of toasted cheese and tomatoes and tea and 2 snack bars, 2 pints of water during the day also.
Cycling I try to do 30k monday and wednesday and 70k saturday and 80k+ sunday, I think when I sit down to eat I eat until I am full.

goldencleric

mattock wrote: »

Today my meals were, Breakfast, spagetti hoops and 3 white pan slices toasted with tea, Lunch time two pan slices of toasted cheese and tomatoes and tea and 2 snack bars, 2 pints of water during the day also.
Cycling I try to do 30k monday and wednesday and 70k saturday and 80k+ sunday, I think when I sit down to eat I eat until I am full.

get rid of the pan firstly! get brown or half half.

kerash

goldencleric wrote: »

get rid of the pan firstly! get brown or half half.

Dont eat cheap brown bread get 'wholegrain'. I'd go with the Porridge for breakfast - spagetti hoops wouldn't be the best fuel. You could have boiled eggs in the morning too.
You just need to change your food choices really. So try to get organised in the week and plan your meals and good snack choices for when you're working.
Bananas instead of bars. Good soups instead of sammich - pasta salads, oily fish etc.
You can afford to eat a good bit of food just different types, good luck

morana

I am similar to you.usually start the season at 100kgs and by the end of it down to 90kgs but I must admit I have been a little more attentive and I am down to 92kg aklready. My best weight ever was 84kg and I was motoring.

Ditch the wine go on Vodka! White bread is crap I dont eat it tbh. I am crap at eating breakfast because I always seem to have an upset stomach first thing am.

what I did during the winter was to have a couple of black coffees before the spin and not eat until 2hrs had passed. It wasnt that hard tb. But I think you need to keep up the carbs esp if racing.

High Nellie

mattock wrote: »

Can anyone suggest a diet or exactly what I should be eating for long rides and so I can shake off the stone that has being stopping me getting over the big climbs.
Currently weigh 95kgs and cycling approx 200klms a week, daily intake is something like,
Breakfast 7am, porridge, tea and slice of toast.
10am, sandwich and yogurt.
1pm, soup and bread or similar .
6pm Dinner meat and veg possibly a dessert.
9.30pm slice of toast and a twix or similar.
During the day I also drink about 1 1/2 litres of water.
Opinions please.

Do you know the sensation of hunger? A lot of people think they should be able to loose weight without being hungry at some stage(s) during the day. If want to go into claorie deficit get used to hunger which is a quite natural sensation. In our primitive state, we wouldn't eat until we were hungry.
Breakfast too large. As said before, ditch bread and stuff.
A sandwich for mid-mornign snack is away too much. If you want to be serious, ditch 7 AM breakfast (except tea/coffee) and have it at 10 instead of snack. You will get used to this.
Desert and chocolate, and you are asking us for advice on weight loss - get real!!!

Dubba

Also apart from diet, I've personally noticed pretty fast fat loss when doing extended weekend spins, say 100+km / 3-4hrs or more.

Oh, and going off the mid week beers, tho this obviously isn't a issue for you as a non-drinker.

michael196

Mattock

I was ur weight last year, exactly 1 year ago, and now after 1 year of cycling, I am at 13 stone.

What i saw in ur posts is a lot of white bread. Change this immediatly to brown bread and reduce the overall amount of bread u consume.

I eat 4 slices of soda per day ( 12 hour shifts) and days off would be 1 small brown roll as a chicken roll. sedantary job.


buy a protein drink ( recovery drinks) to get into u after a cycle, ( within 20 minutes) this looks after physical hunger cravings after a cycle , and u will be a lot less hungry. if this is evenings rest up with no further food. u will be hungry but will awake fine.


long spins worked best for me, for wt loss, like 3.5 to 4 hours, then only the protein drink afterwards. usually 2 lbs down afterwards. get a protein recovery into u at that stage.

howver i alos noticed that say 3x 2 hour spins day after day after day had the same effect. ( no food afterwards if in evening time : see below).

feed urself prior to a spin: always, as said above, cycling is hard enough without going on an empty stomach. use the power bars for energy during a spin or even energy drinks also during the spins.

the more nurtition u have starting and during the harder u can go: the more u burn. but only protein afterwards.

200 per week sounds like what i would have been doing also throughout the year.

crisps and chocolate ( frequently combined are killers for weight !!! )


think of it like this also, u will loose the 2 lbs (weekly target ) on the longer spin, then use the short spins to maintain that loss untill the next long spin

hope this helps, can be done, alright .

Paul Kiernan

morana wrote: »

I am crap at eating breakfast because I always seem to have an upset stomach first thing am.

Maybe it's the vodka:).

Seriously though, I wouldn't recommend anyone skips breakfast, especially before any kind of exercise. Skip the morning snack or the evening snack but not breakfast - it really screws up the metabolism.

velogirl

Seriously - the only diet that works is the one where you eat less.

I should know - I have lost 3 stone over the past 2 years.

Cut the desserts, cut the bread (or preferably ditch it altogether), ditch the biscuits, limit red meat and increase fruit, veg and salad and a good one that works for me is not to eat after 6.30/7.00pm. (this might not work for everyone - but I was inclined to pick at food at night)

Another 9lbs to go to my target weight and I aim to get there by the end of the summer.

Good luck and even when the weight loss plateaus out (and it sometimes does for weeks ) keep going - it is worth it

michael196

agree 100% with Paul Kiernan. plenty food before hand and during none afterwards , kind of apporach. 1 x Longish spins are best : would suggest u change a spin up to 100K and say 2 x 50 K . but remember if that 2 x 50 could become 3 x 50 for the summer .


people need to undertsand u are a labour worker so u will need extra carbs anyhow. its easier to sit in an office and feel hungry !!!


u will hear of lads doing starvation rides out on no breakfast :

boardman did this in training for a limited time

Dont do this : I know lads who got long spells of illnesses after going this route.


u said when u sit down u eat till ur full, avoid this after the spins, make the evening spins like this, 60 K then protein then rest. this wouldbe highly effective .


dont be afraid of a weekend blowout, chips. chicken , a tayto or 2 ... wont kill u !!

michael196

velogirl wrote: »

Seriously - the only diet that works is the one where you eat less.

I should know - I have lost 3 stone over the past 2 years.

Cut the desserts, cut the bread (or preferably ditch it altogether), ditch the biscuits, limit red meat and increase fruit, veg and salad and a good one that works for me is not to eat after 6.30/7.00pm. (this might not work for everyone - but I was inclined to pick at food at night)

Another 9lbs to go to my target weight and I aim to get there by the end of the summer.

Good luck and even when the weight loss plateaus out (and it sometimes does for weeks ) keep going - it is worth it

yep defintily limit the evening food, to nothing preferably !!! and do be aware of plateaus, where ur weight stops dropping even though u are training hard. it can go on for weeks You will eventually that u are ready to loose weight again. its like ur body is adjusting getting ready for more loss.

mattock

I really do know that I need to eat less and that I need to cut out the snacks and the odd desert that I do have, but I was perfectly honest in telling you what sort of food I do eat.
What type of protein drink/shake would you guys recommend, as I feel it is the evening snacks after my cycles etc that are undoing the good, I would have no problem cutting out the toast at brekkie the morning break can do with the fruit and yoguart muid day I need to refuel the tank for the last 4 hrs work, the dinner is all good home cooking, something like two potatoes roast beef veg and gravy maybe 2 deserts a week max washed down with water and sugar free juice

Dubba

I think short / commuting spins can be done in the morning on an empty stomach without any ill effects and its a good way to burn fat if you've the opportunity to do it regularly.

Paul Kiernan

Dubba wrote: »

I think short / commuting spins can be done in the morning on an empty stomach without any ill effects and its a good way to burn fat if you've the opportunity to do it regularly.

Unfortunately, your body would probably disagree with you. When you exercise without eating the body assumes you're being starved and goes into preservation mode. It tries to store food (as fat) and tries to limit the calories you burn. As a result you'll have less energy and will put on weight.

The body has a natural cycle where it shuts down at night and comes alive during the day, hence the reason for eating early in the day and not eating late at night.

morana

michael196 wrote: »

u will hear of lads doing starvation rides out on no breakfast :

boardman did this in training for a limited time

Dont do this : I know lads who got long spells of illnesses after going this route.

2 cycle 2 hours without having any food isnt starvation.you need to be doing 6 or so. but I take your point somebody like the skinny lads in the bunch shouldnt even do this.

We go out and spend k's on bikes and bits and then tuck into crap! what is going on in our heads....btw I am more guilty than anybody else.


Have we any dieticitions reading?

chakattack

jimbob25w wrote: »

cut out bread and orther carb snacks with beef jerky [protien]

Bad advice for a cyclist. You need carbs for energy, reducing them a little is fine but them cutting them out completely is not good. Switch white for wholegrain though and get some protein at lunch.

morana

chakattack wrote: »

Bad advice for a cyclist. You need carbs for energy, reducing them a little is fine but them cutting them out completely is not good. Switch white for wholegrain though and get some protein at lunch.

....and vodka dont forget the vodka!!!!

anoble66

make your own brown bread, takes 10mins to mix up, literally just throwing in everything in at once, and put in the oven for an hour. Will give you 3 loaves...much more filling, plus no salt or sugar.

Dubba

Paul Kiernan wrote: »

Unfortunately, your body would probably disagree with you. When you exercise without eating the body assumes you're being starved and goes into preservation mode. It tries to store food (as fat) and tries to limit the calories you burn. As a result you'll have less energy and will put on weight.

The body has a natural cycle where it shuts down at night and comes alive during the day, hence the reason for eating early in the day and not eating late at night.

I'd have to disagree with you there Paul Kiernan, diet/exercise isn't and exact science and there's no one size fits all.

The arguments pro/con of morning pre breakfast exercise are old but realistically a commute/ short spin of sub 1hr on an empty stomach wont do you any harm. Much less than not eating after a 4hr weekend ride IMHO.

chakattack

morana wrote: »

....and vodka dont forget the vodka!!!!

A guy who was semi-pro in his youth told me to have an irish coffee or two before a timetrial. Maybe the alcohol helps numb the pain?!

feck sake lads

6ft and 13 stone your not overweight buddy check your body mass index your normal;) to get over those hills train harder on hill's and eat less rubbish.
if we could all take a leaf out of Velogirls book then the weight problem would be a thing of the past.
i always start off great for the first few days then fall back into my old habits eating crap and less training.:mad:

michael196

feck sake lads wrote: »

6ft and 13 stone your not overweight buddy check your body mass index your normal;) to get over those hills train harder on hill's and eat less rubbish.
if we could all take a leaf out of Velogirls book then the weight problem would be a thing of the past.
i always start off great for the first few days then fall back into my old habits eating crap and less training.:mad:

think u misunderstod, michael 196 is 13 stone and mattock is 15 stone

biomed32

There is some great advice here in the thread. In the last year I have lost 3 stone in weight and to be honest I didnt deprive myself. I cut down on what I ate and introduced healthier choices.
Breakfast consists of fruiteith toasted porridge oats and a mug of tea
For lunch I eat a baked potato ( i.e. microwaved) with root veg (frozen then microwaved) or soup
Dinner consists of brown rice/ rice noodles with chicken/turkey and lots of veg
I never eat after 7pm
I swim 4-5 days a week and cycle 4 days a week

I think the key is to vary the excercise. I found that I only cycled for a couple weeks and didnt swim the weight loss for some reason slowed signifigantly but with the swimming the weightloss remained steady

I cant myself eat bread as im gluten intolerant and to be frank, refuse to buy the expensive gluten free stuff, but as you say your in a physically demanding job as a labourer, just switch from white to wholemeal, multigrain, grannary etc. A much more effective carb source

sorry for the long post, hope it helps

15lean

first thing is to cut out all junk food. get rid of the desert and the twix really only provides you with temporary satisfaction. If your feeling peckish have a handful of mixed nuts or a scoop of peanut butter.

Your diet is decent overall except for the sweets. Once you have that sorted try and replace some of your staples with fruit and or veg. Even going to the extent of having a vegetable salad for breakfast (very popular with ultradistance runners)

Once you have done this and fat loss slows again you should minimise carbohydrates. The body can function perfectly on as little as 30g's a day so you can really cut back alot on carbs without any drop in performance. Carry this plan out and the weight will fall off

pprendeville

Great thread with great advice.

I'm 5'8" and weigh 67kg. Can't seem to get lean no matter what. Have little belly on me for God knows how long. Just did 300k week including too long rides on Sat & Sun. To my knowledge, long rides at low to moderate intensity result in fat being burned while shorter intense rides rely on carbs.

I think my carb intake must be too high. Don't have time to do other sports (swimming, jogging etc). Eat loads of fruit and nuts also. Guess I just need to get used to being hungry.

Ryder

Is 67kg too heavy for 5'8''? TBH if anyone is eating a healthy diet, high in fruit veg nuts etc and low in simple carbs, there is no need to be going hungry. Eat healthily and the weight will come in time. There is no need to get to ultraskinny levels to enjoy/be good at the sport.....just focus on training harder

shaungil

OP you seem to know what you are eating and if you were to see someone professionally the first thing they'd so is get you to keep a food diary to see what you are shovelling in.

A food diary is a great way of disciplining yourself as having 10 bags of crisps a week when written down looks worse that saying I think I had 2 or 3 but can't really remember.

Everyone has what works for them and will advise it has but you need to see what works for you. Replacing highly processed food with fresh fruit or veg seems to be universally accepted as good as well as healtheir carbs for "better" ones. The one ara that can sneak food in is portion control. Average portions sizes are much smaller that we (like to) think. Look it up and see if you are controlling this.

I know an A4 guy who has has lost 3 or 4 stone after going to a dietitian and this approach worked well for him. www.indi.ie has their details I guess if you spend the money on a professional you are more likely to follow their advice. A lot is commonsense and self control but there may be other issues affecting it. (My OH is a dietitian btw)

Finally I'd say try to mix your training up a bit as your body gets used to it and needs to be challenged more.

Khannie

pprendeville wrote: »

Great thread with great advice.

I'm 5'8" and weigh 67kg. Can't seem to get lean no matter what. Have little belly on me for God knows how long. Just did 300k week including too long rides on Sat & Sun. To my knowledge, long rides at low to moderate intensity result in fat being burned while shorter intense rides rely on carbs.

I think my carb intake must be too high. Don't have time to do other sports (swimming, jogging etc). Eat loads of fruit and nuts also. Guess I just need to get used to being hungry.

I'm 5'8" and 67KG and lean. Are you carrying quite a bit of fat but not muscle? Anyway, there's no need to get used to being hungry. A 500 calorie a day deficit will see the weight come off slowly (about half a kilo a week) with basically zero hunger once you eat mostly good stuff.

morana

shaungil wrote: »

(My OH is a dietitian btw)

So youse havent been talking for a while then ?


Sorry Shaun if I didnt I lose my card!!!!!

shaungil

pot and kettle?

This observation has been noted on more than one occasion. to be fair you should have seen me when I was 17 &1/2 stone.

Harrybelafonte

Three years ago: 6ft, 117kg (18.5kg)

No change in diet for a year, just started commuting a few days a week.

Two years ago: 6ft, 107.5kg

Upped the cycling, cut out bread, all choclate, all crisps (bar a weekend mini-binge), no eating after 7, did some occasional swimming, the odd, short and slow run, but walked as much as possible.

This February: 6ft, 90.5kg

Then I messed up and started eating bread again, and choclate, and crisps and eating late and put 3kg on in a very short period, plus was off bike because of injury. I think it just shows that simple courses of action will work, but you have to stick to them.

I try and look at the calorie content of snack food and calculate how much pedalling it would take to burn it off, some of them have over 300 calories for chrissakes

Notice my height never changed though.

mattock

Ok from yesterday I cut out all choc snacks and white bread, I also stopped eating after 7pm, went for a 40klm spin into a tough headwind and just took a protein drink after.
Weighed myself yesterday morning and the scales tell me I am 92kgs, I feel if I stick to the above and keep up the exercise the weight should drop off, anything else I should be doing or not doing,

Thanks to all who contributed so far, will check back to this thread next week with an update.

15lean

mattock wrote: »

Ok from yesterday I cut out all choc snacks and white bread, I also stopped eating after 7pm, went for a 40klm spin into a tough headwind and just took a protein drink after.
Weighed myself yesterday morning and the scales tell me I am 92kgs, I feel if I stick to the above and keep up the exercise the weight should drop off, anything else I should be doing or not doing,

Thanks to all who contributed so far, will check back to this thread next week with an update.

Dont stop eating after 7pm, If you go to bed in that condition your body will feed on muscle rather than fat during the night. Ideally you would have a slow absorbing protein source with some healthy fats pre-bed. This could consist of an omelete, cottage cheese with peanut butter or a casein protein shake. Remember your trying to get rid of fat and starving yourself isn't going to allow this to happen

michael196

mattock is not going to bed hungery. the portein drink after the cycle has probably > 500 calories on board. the protein looks after muscle damage / rebuild during the cycle and carbs look afer the 'after cycle ' hunger. there is no deprivation or starvation there.

Pretty sure Mattock woke up not feeling hungry or starving , and then had a good breakfast.

mattock

michael196 wrote: »

mattock is not going to bed hungery. the portein drink after the cycle has probably > 500 calories on board. the protein looks after muscle damage / rebuild during the cycle and carbs look afer the 'after cycle ' hunger. there is no deprivation or starvation there.

Pretty sure Mattock woke up not feeling hungry or starving , and then had a good breakfast.

Went to bed last night earlier and boy did I sleep the habit of eating late is/was my downfall, felt OK this morning and had a good bowl of oats to set me up for the day soup at lunchtime with brown bread and a banana. Home from work early and heading for a spin.

Paul Kiernan

If you want to lose weight why bother with the protein drink? You shouldn't need any extra calories unless you're cycling for more than about 3 hours at a time. Even then you should try and just get by with your normal diet (have lunch during cycle for example).

Your body's fuel system is like a car's petrol tank. It works just as well when it's nearly empty as when it's full. If you eat more than is needed to fill it the balance is converted to fat, if it runs out you bonk (no energy, headaches, etc.). Ideal is never to run out and never to overfill.

metamorphosis

Id recommend to post over in Health and fitness, there's a mound of so much sketchy advice here (meant all in good will in fairness though).

In short - try to stick to whole foods, ya know, foods that are ingredients rather than foods that have an endless list of ingredients.

It doesn't matter what time you eat, eating before bed is not a cause of weight gain - eating too much is regardless of time. Your body is not a ticking clock and your metabolism does not shut down at night.

Read the health and fitness stickies and the stickies in nutrition for the basics. They will show you how to work out your calorie requirements with and without exercise. Once you know those, go about creating a daily deficit. You could easily cut out 500 cals a day without too much hassle or going hungry. This would lead to a pound loss a week (3500 cals is a pound of fat in theory). This deficit can be done through diet and/or exercise. Be careful though - most people over estimate the calories burnt during exercise. If you went for a 2 hour spin at a nice easy regular pace, where the heart rate is lowish, you will burn much less calories than a two hour intense ride where the heart rate is higher.

15lean

metamorphosis wrote: »

Id recommend to post over in Health and fitness, there's a mound of so much sketchy advice here (meant all in good will in fairness though).

In short - try to stick to whole foods, ya know, foods that are ingredients rather than foods that have an endless list of ingredients.

It doesn't matter what time you eat, eating before bed is not a cause of weight gain - eating too much is regardless of time. Your body is not a ticking clock and your metabolism does not shut down at night.

Read the health and fitness stickies and the stickies in nutrition for the basics. They will show you how to work out your calorie requirements with and without exercise. Once you know those, go about creating a daily deficit. You could easily cut out 500 cals a day without too much hassle or going hungry. This would lead to a pound loss a week (3500 cals is a pound of fat in theory). This deficit can be done through diet and/or exercise. Be careful though - most people over estimate the calories burnt during exercise. If you went for a 2 hour spin at a nice easy regular pace, where the heart rate is lowish, you will burn much less calories than a two hour intense ride where the heart rate is higher.

Best advice so far in this thread! Fat loss really is that simple

Calories in > calories out=weight gain

Calories in < calories out=weight loss

littlesista

if you have an iphone or smart phone i recommend myfitnesspal
you can get it as an app or you can use the web version.

Its a food/exercise tracking devise and is a real eye opener of where the extra cals are sneaking in.

It has a database of an impressive aray of foods and their nutritional value.

You tell it how much you want to loose per week (ie. 2lbs)
then basically you record calories in (food), calories out (exercise) and the pal sets you a calories goal per day to stay within.

It records you've burned 2-3000 on weekend spins and you eat accordingly, no more and no less so no worries about bonking or about overeating.

IT works for me!

Icyseanfitz

might as well hijack this for my own little question sorry tc, im heading on hols to lanzarote in about 5 days, and i know there will be a fair bit of alcohol consumption going on (people im heading with arnt fitness nuts and do like their drink), my drinking has pretty much stopped since i got into the cycling before xmas (maybe a night out every month if im lucky) and i really dont want to feck myself up fitness wise while im out there, what would be the drink that will do the least damage to my fitness?

petethedrummer

Coors

"I'd drink a good few alright. Coors beer was great if you were running a race the next day. You'd only sweat it out very slowly. You could drink a lot of them and it'd only do you good."

Khannie

Pretty sure drink wont directly damage your fitness at all. Not exercising because you're hungover to bits may.

There's a sports information leaflet on drinkaware.ie though (I haven't read it). Personally I try to keep calorie intake with booze down to avoid weight gain. Your options there are generally light drinks (bulmers light, yada yada) or short + diet mixer. At only 56 calories a shot, a vodka + diet anything is good stuff. Try to get good quality vodka though. Cheap muck = horrible hangover.