Eating during and after long endurance exercise

jamesha100

Hi,
Does anyone do long endurance exercise and, if so, what are your eating strategies before/during/after?

I regularly do 200km or longer bike rides at a farly sedate pace (average 20km per hour) and normally eat what I like on the day of the ride and the day after. Since starting MFP again to lose weight I have done two rides and put on three pounds both times when weighing myself two days after the ride.

I probably am over-eating a bit but I am pretty ravenous and thought that, having burned 4000 odd calories, I could get away with it.

Just interested to see how other people handle this and whether the weight jump, which seems disproportionate in terms of calories consumed, is common.

SuzySunshine99

Your weight increase after endurance exercise is normal and has nothing to do with what you ate.

Muscles retain fluid and water as part of a normal healing process after extreme exercise.

After a week-long backpacking trip in the mountains, carrying 40 pounds on my pack for 50 miles, I gained 12 pounds. None of it was fat. The extra pounds were gone a week later.

Pay attention to your weight trend over time, not the day-to-day fluctuations that really don't mean anything.

jamesha100

Thank you Suzy - that is reassuring. I was still aching this morning so my muscles are definitely still recovering

janejellyroll

If I run long enough that I can feel it the next day, I almost always see a gain on the scale. As mentioned above, this is most often your muscles recovering. It isn't a consequence of the food you consumed during the activity.

If I'm running more than 9-10 miles, I'll usually have a light breakfast and then some fuel during the run. Yesterday I ran twenty miles. I had some homemade oat milk and cold brew coffee before the run (about 100 calories). During the run I had Tailwind (200 calories worth) and a Gu Liquid (100 calories). Based on how I felt from miles 16-20, I should have probably consumed another 100-200 calories. Once I got home, I had a big smoothie.

However, you wrote that you're eating "what you like" the day of the ride and the day after. I have no idea what that means for you, but for me two days of eating "what I like" in the quantities I want would absolutely lead to weight gain long term. I do make sure to meet my calorie goals overall for the day (accounting, of course, for the calories burnt during the exercise).

Duck_Puddle

I am a long distance runner and my long runs are currently in the 20+ mile range. I’m a short female so I’m not burning anywhere near 4K calories (about 1/2 that).

1. I am absolutely ravenous after my long runs and often eat 4-6k calories in total on long run days. It’s often a struggle to keep it that low.
2. I am typically up 5-12 pounds the day after a long run-this is from the run (and water retention for muscle repair), the extra food, and the extra carbs/sodium in what I eat on long run day.
3. I budget my calories for these heavier intake days. I know I’m going to be ravenous after a long run so I save some of my calories on lighter days to have the buffer on the days when I need it.

As much as I would like it to be true, no matter how long my run, or how many calories I burn, I cannot eat whatever I want without consequences. So I budget accordingly and sometimes have to skip things I’d like to eat even though I just ran 20+ miles.

Weight fluctuations are a real thing and can be significant with endurance exercise.


As for specifics-Before a long run I eat things that work for me (oatmeal; banana, bagel, etc). During the run, I consume products designed for endurance sports (typically carbs & electrolytes-possibly a bit of protein). After - I have a recovery shake designed to replenish glycogen after endurance exercise (that’s got some protein too). Otherwise I just eat food that I like, that fits my calories & macro goals and has the nutrition I need.

sijomial

That weight gain after a very long ride isn't fat gain - just inflammation.
Just work out how many calories over that day's enormous TDEE you would have to eat to gain that much fat.

My example cals for a 200km ride would be 6500 expended and 4000 to 4500 eaten so a substantial deficit but I would still expect to weigh more the day after.
Gentle recovery rides on the days after the big ride can help flush blood through tired muscles and help with reducing that inflammation. (Walking or swimming two other options if you get saddle sore.)

For a long distance ride where I'm also trying to perform at my peak I will be at maintenance cals the week before the event and will eat even higher carb than normal in the few days leading up to the day.
On the day or the event/ride it's a whole lot of carbs. Big bowl of granola or muesli in the morning, sports drink and carby snacks (cereal bars and malt loaf) on a fairly strict time schedule.
For recovery I tend to stick to roughly 4:1 carb to protein ratio.

I ended up at the house of a highly respected sports scientist after a 114 mile ride and was intrigued what special supplements and foods he would provide for recovery.
Tuna pasta bake and garlic bread - simple as that!