Big ride today. Big breakfast??

bjdw_1977
bjdw_1977 Posts: 442 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'll be doing 3-1/2 to hours on the bike today. In my shoes would you eat a bigger than normal breakfast to fuel up, or just stick to your norm?

(My 9 to five is almost sedentary and I normally eat a 500ish cal breakfast.)

Replies

  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
    what are you eating during the ride? normally i would do normal breakfast and then supplement during ride (I aim for 250ish cal per hour)
  • bjdw_1977
    bjdw_1977 Posts: 442 Member
    deannalfisher wrote: »
    what are you eating during the ride? normally i would do normal breakfast and then supplement during ride (I aim for 250ish cal per hour)

    I'll be taking a few 200 cal nut bars plus a1L Powerade (another 200ish cal).

  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    I eat a bigger breakfast on big ride days but then again my normal breakfast, if I have one, is only about 200 cals.

    My choice for a cycling breakfast is normally a whole load of muesli or granola (80 grams?), a scoop of protein powder and milk. Easy to digest and gives me good energy.

    I tend to eat hourly (high carb bars mostly) on long rides and 1 litre of fluids wouldn't be enough for me for that duration. Dehydration doesn't just compromise your performance it also makes absorbing the fuel you take on during the ride harder.

    Weighing yourself before and after a ride gives you a good guide to how good your hydration strategy is.

  • bjdw_1977
    bjdw_1977 Posts: 442 Member
    I will weigh myself before and after my ride next weekend. It's still quite cold here at the moment so sweating isn't a big issue, no major fluid loss that way. But over the coming month or two the temperature is going to change drastically and I'm going to have to adapt to that.
  • HeidiMightyRawr
    HeidiMightyRawr Posts: 3,343 Member
    If I feel that my usual breakfast will not keep me full throughout the exercise then I'll have something bigger and more filling.

    Otherwise I'd probably just have my usual, and just make sure to eat the extra calories during the day to account for the significant extra exercise. This may be some during breakfast, but more than likely just a little extra at each meal, or an extra snack.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,611 Member
    Ben_Likes_Beer wrote: »
    I'll be doing 3-1/2 to hours on the bike today. In my shoes would you eat a bigger than normal breakfast to fuel up, or just stick to your norm?

    (My 9 to five is almost sedentary and I normally eat a 500ish cal breakfast.)

    Stick to 500 calories.

    Then eat about 200 calories per hour during the ride.

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