Touring nutrition

[bohrsatom]

isn't the yoghurt tricky to carry, or do you buy it from a shop each morning?

We generally buy it at lunchtime or mid afternoon for the next morning. At the top of a pannier there's little chance of it leaking although it's usually carried in a plastic shopping bag just in case.

I think technically yoghurt has to be refrigerated at all times but it's always survived OK overnight with no ill affects to the consumer (!).

[Thehairs1970]

Recent trip to Holland/Belgium - eating/drinking routine.

Kettle on for pre-breakfast cuppa while sorting sleeping bags etc. Then breakfast cuppa. Bread with jam/peanut butter. Bread is normally a whole meal or spelt flour thingy as it’s harder for body to break down so fuels for longer. Then kettle back on while we finish packing to make a coffee for the trip. One hour in to the ride we stop for coffee (insulated cups) and a snack - stroopwaffle/flapjack/waffle/biscuits. Ride till about 1. Lunch - bread and cheese/ham. Sometimes humus/tomatoes watch. Ride for another couple of hours or so. Go to supermarket, get evening meal and bottle of wine before last push to campsite. Rarely have meat. Lots of beans, veg, pasta, potatoes, noodles. Also buy pre-dinner snacks - bag if chips, nuts etc. Eat around 7.

Repeat.

Normally have a bag of sweets for encouragement/morale boost too. As required.

And we still manage to loose a few pounds!

[scottg]

[snip]
So what do you eat on tour? What food is easily available and healthy on tour?

I consult the holy book of the French, it is an infallible guide to food stuffs.

[Vorpal]

I tend to eat bread with stuff for lunch, especially in places with nice bakeries & cheese I will often supplement it with fresh fruits or veg, if available, and nuts (e.g. salted cashew, trail mix, etc.).

Snacks are fruit, nuts, and flapjack or granola bar type things. I prefer to eat seasonal, local fruit, if it available. If it isn't, I'll eat whatever looks / tastes best, or buy dried fruit.

Depending on how far I've pedalled, evening meals tend to be one-pot type things, for example pasta or rice with lots of other stuff thrown in, cheese, beans, whatever else I can easily get & include. I enjoy cooking more complicated things, but touring, I'm usually tired & hungry, so the balance is on the side of fast, easy calories, rather than a nice meal. I do like to eat a pub or restaurant meal now & again if the budget allows. If it doesn't, I will cook more complicated stuff on rest or easy days.

I tend to carry emergency supplies of an extra banana or apple, and some pre-measured energy drink powder to add to water in case I bonk, or feel in danger of it. I don't usually drink energy drink, but I do find that combined with fruit, it's more effective than many other things at getting me to the next rest stop.

[VinceLedge]

On our recent tour of New Zealand (Te Aotearoa route) we basically ate whatever whatever was available in cafes and eateries, supplemented by bananas and the excellent Whittakers chocolate. Rural NZ is not a foodie paradise , sandwiches have not yet migrated out to many rural cafes!

[Bullsnut]

With regard to your arrhythmia look up the York G.P on YouTube.
I have had an arrhythmia (ectopics) and started taking Magnesium tablets from Holland and Barrett and now have a regular rhythm. If you research this you’ll find not many of us get enough magnesium. Obviously there are many causes so do check with your GP first but this may help.

[Slowroad]

With regard to your arrhythmia look up the York G.P on YouTube.
I have had an arrhythmia (ectopics) and started taking Magnesium tablets from Holland and Barrett and now have a regular rhythm. If you research this you’ll find not many of us get enough magnesium. Obviously there are many causes so do check with your GP first but this may help.

Presumably not this one: https://www.youtube.com/@YorkGP/featured
Is it York Cardiology?
Or could you post a link? Thanks.

[MrsHJ]

With regard to your arrhythmia look up the York G.P on YouTube.
I have had an arrhythmia (ectopics) and started taking Magnesium tablets from Holland and Barrett and now have a regular rhythm. If you research this you’ll find not many of us get enough magnesium. Obviously there are many causes so do check with your GP first but this may help.

Thank you for this. It appears not- I’ve experimented with magnesium taurate but it didn’t seem to make any difference. I had changed my diet a lot so less calcium (but not a deficit) is possible. I can see that it’s definitely worthwhile seeing if you are magnesium deficient though.

I’ve managed to avoid any AFib for over a fortnight now by increasing calories and avoiding sugar lows so my best guess (as an accountant!) is that it was either the calorie deficit or the carb deficit that caused the problem. Hopefully the doctors will get to a more scientific conclusion. The ectopics are also reducing so all round I’m pleased but puzzled as I’m having to manage what I’m eating really carefully to avoid sugar lows (lots of healthy small meals as I don’t want to put the weight back on- I’m eating 6 times a day) and I’ve never had to do that before- another one for the doc.

[HarryD]

MrsHJ

If you do get AF how quickly does it go after getting some carbs in?

I have similar issues to yourself. Low carbs during exercise can trigger arrhythmia/ mild AF but taking on carbs when it is detected followed by a normal meal usually ends it. Detection to normal pulse is around 4 hours

Cheers

[simonineaston]

There's a company that carries out quite detailed examinations of an individual's diet and the effect of what they eat on aspects of physiology, the most obvious of which is blood sugar. As the company is in effect selling a product, there is a charge, however for folks who are particularly interested in the topic, the charge may be considered good value for money.
https://joinzoe.com

screenshot of Zoe web page...

[pwa]

Touring can be strenuous and tiring, but it isn't racing. So my own approach to nutrition is to try to eat a normal, healthy diet, with plenty of fibre to keep things moving, but allow for a little more in the way of carbs than usual. No supplements (other than what you might normally take for any condition you have), just good, sensible food. And cake, of course.

[axel_knutt]

Typically a 2 month tour I'll lose around 4Kg.

That's a deficit of over 500kcals/day if you're measuring your weight accurately.

I’ll be eating 6 times a day I think (that’s what I’m doing at the moment- 3 meals and 3 reasonable sized snacks. But I’ll top up if I need to.

When I'm cycling all day on tour I stop to eat every hour. At home, I'll do up to 30m non-stop, on a regular 40m circuit I'd stop for a snack at the 17th mile.

I’m heavier than you Axel so that might be why the calorie difference as I’m not doing much climbing but I agree ball park a couple of thousand calories extra. I’ll be more than delighted to lose some weight too but I need my body not to go all spacey due to lack of blood sugar as the next stage tends to be odd heart beats ie I need to get on top of it when hungry. I’ve been tweaking the current diet carbs up a bit and overall increased the calories a bit to manage the heart beats ie I’d rather eat a roll or some more fruit than get arrhythmia even if I lose weight slower. My output at the weekends is quite high so it could be my calorie deficit is too large and I don’t want that happening on tour.

The 4400kcals I quoted above is what I was burning, my intake was 4600kcals, so I gained about 700g. Without access to a bathroom scale on tour, my consumption has to be based on calculation, and <5% error's not bad. I'd rather overeat a bit than run low and spoil the trip. There were a couple of days when I know I ran too low and struggled though. Getting cold & wet ups your consumption significantly.

I’ve experimented with magnesium taurate but it didn’t seem to make any difference

Someone on the arrhythmia forum was complaining that he still felt unwell despite taking magnesium, and the symptoms he was describing were those of magnesium overdose. My diet is giving me double the recommended daily intake without supplement.

[MrsHJ]

Thanks for the good ideas. I have been considering doing Zoe to get my results @simonineaston.

On the subject of getting a fib during exercise @harryd - I don’t, it was more a problem overnight especially if I’d exercised in the evening and hadn’t eaten enough afterwards but I find eating when hungry avoids the build up eg palpitations. Also now I’ve upped my calories for about a month I no longer seem to be on the edge of afib so much ie my body has a bit more tolerance. My last overnight a fib per my Fitbit was 8 April. I hope you are able to manage your afib- maybe some glucose tablets or is the immediate carbs plus a meal enough?

I know it’s not supposed to be super accurate @axel_knutt but my Fitbit also gives me an idea of the calories I’ve used so I can try and keep an eye on when I might need to top up a bit. I’m still slowly losing weight and I do hope to lose a few pounds on my 3 week tour-hoping to go from slightly over 30BMI to slightly under. I’m hoping that if I keep eating plenty of healthy food my body might respond better to a modest calorie deficit with exercise and use some fat up. However any hints of trouble and I’ll be increasing my calorie intake. No sugar lows for me on this tour. I got the Fitbit to help me track the afib, I didn’t realise that I’d end up using it to help me ”manage” it.

@pwa - cake or not cake is the question but I am planning on being a bit more relaxed about sugar whilst on tour whilst hoping not to get back into bad habits. I think the question is going to be more about gelato and chocolate and pain au chocolat in reality.

[HarryD]

Cheers Mrs HJ for your comments and suggestions which chime with me

Looking at my ride and AF records it looks like the episodes follow a day or two after a long ride with a cafe stop but only come on after approx. 50mins of running

However, no episodes follow long rides if I constantly top up my carbs during the ride irrespective of cafe stops

Initial conclusion is that long rides (50 to 70 miles with around 6,500ft) deplete my glycogen reserves which don't recover sufficiently in time for the next full bout of exercise. When I top up it's with around 70g of carbs/hr (approx. 1g/kg of body weight) mixing energy drink and high carb snacks. Topping up starts from the off and is little and often. Starting later gives me gut ache. I certainly don't feel as stiff or hungry after a topped up ride

For me touring is less intense than day rides with more breaks and I've always stopped to eat something after 90min then every 60min without any problems. Only normal food on tours