Overeating aver long rides?
iTswape
Posts: 38 Member
Hi all,
Last Friday was 'Freedom day' in South Africa, a long weekend, and we went to a neighboring province with our local MTB club to bike at an awesome nature reserve and mountain biking park. Went on two long and challenging rides each one burning over 1700 calories according to my HRM.
I found that despite my large calorie burn, my NET calorie intake was higher than normal. Partly because it was a social event and there was a lot of barbecuing and food and drinks being shared. But I also had the mentality that I could eat whatever I wanted because I had such an awesome ride.
I am of two minds on the issue. I have a lot of weight to lose and I will be restricting my calories for a long time to come, so part of me feels like this is a good way to indulge and eat things that I enjoy but are higher in calories. But I do worry about the "anything goes" mentality and think that I have to be more careful in the future. I ate more than I think I should have.
Curious to hear about other people's experiences. Do you overeat after long rides? Do large calorie burns help you in along in your weight loss journey or 'backfire' by causing you to overeat?
Last Friday was 'Freedom day' in South Africa, a long weekend, and we went to a neighboring province with our local MTB club to bike at an awesome nature reserve and mountain biking park. Went on two long and challenging rides each one burning over 1700 calories according to my HRM.
I found that despite my large calorie burn, my NET calorie intake was higher than normal. Partly because it was a social event and there was a lot of barbecuing and food and drinks being shared. But I also had the mentality that I could eat whatever I wanted because I had such an awesome ride.
I am of two minds on the issue. I have a lot of weight to lose and I will be restricting my calories for a long time to come, so part of me feels like this is a good way to indulge and eat things that I enjoy but are higher in calories. But I do worry about the "anything goes" mentality and think that I have to be more careful in the future. I ate more than I think I should have.
Curious to hear about other people's experiences. Do you overeat after long rides? Do large calorie burns help you in along in your weight loss journey or 'backfire' by causing you to overeat?
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Replies
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I used to eat whatever I wanted the rest of the day but I realized it makes me feel like crap. I have since really tried not to go too crazy after my rides. I also added in a recovery drink after I ride but before I drink and I seem to be feeling a lot better in the evenings after long rides.0
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I've done it too. For me it is the exception rather than the rule. Most rides don't end in a party, but the 1 or 2 that do each year I enjoy, even if I go over by a few hundred cals. I still don't go totally crazy, I focus on the barbecue & fruit, limit the dessert and chips and allow myself a few adult beverages.0
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Boet, I have done exactly what you did a couple of weeks ago, went for a 17km run and then ate back almost 3500 calories. The next day I felt like I had a lead weight in my stomach. It took me nearly 3 days to recover. Lesson learnt was not to go over board with eating back or using exercise as an excuse to indulge.
What I have tried to implement on those types of days, is to eat what I want but have restraint and know when to stop.0 -
This can be a slippery slope, especially if you're not doing big rides every day. I like to indulge from time-to-time, but I find that if I start eating a lot when I ride that this constant eating carries over into recovery days. One mind trick I use is that when I ride a lot, I want to get better on the bike and I know that so much of recovery is due to a healthy diet. Food is fuel and when I'm riding well and feeling great, I don't want to sabotage my performance and recovery.0
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Thanks for the advice guys. Good to know I'm not the only one who struggles with this! I agree that it is a nice way to indulge without harming my weight loss goals, but I think I need to keep it under control.0
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Make sure it's genuine hunger and not dehydration. You will feel hungry after a ride, even if you have eaten a reasonable amount, if you are actually in need of fluids - not food.0
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Make sure it's genuine hunger and not dehydration. You will feel hungry after a ride, even if you have eaten a reasonable amount, if you are actually in need of fluids - not food.
Seconded; 'they' (whoever 'they' are,) always say "If you are feeling hungry, have a big glass of water first. If you are still hungry after the glass of water, then eat."
Apparently, the vast majority of people don't know the difference between 'thirst' signals from the brain and 'hunger' signals?!?!0 -
What's the point of doing a long ride is not for not feeling guilty about downing a pizza or three?
But it's not how much, though, it's what: if I can stay away from cake: everything is fine. I can't physically eat enough normal, healthy food to get to "over eating"0 -
I used to maintain my typical restricted calorie diet (about 1,650 cals) on big burn days thinking that I would really lose some weight that way. But after reading Chris Carmichaels "Food for Fitness" I started bumping up my total calories, especially carbs on big burn days and started losing weight. Weight loss had stalled before I bumped the cals up. I still do not eat all of my exercise calories, but I allow myself to get close on long ride days.0
