Men’s Health Month: Eating for Next-Level Fitness

Beware a lot of my comments are specific to endurance cycling:

What changes have you made to your diet or routine to improve your health & fitness?
My regular diet didn't need any changes for health beyond increasing protein intake as my training load has increased over the years. I also have to eat far more generally as my sport burns so many calories.
Rough numbers - about 209,000 calories burned cycling last year.
My cycling fuelling strategy started with getting excellent advice on the principles from a very knowledgable sports physio (and exceptional cyclist) and then evolved with experimentation to fine tune and personalise.

What foods boost your energy levels?
Day to day energy levels for me are more to do with being a good weight and very fit (the more I can do, the more I want to do....).
For long cycle rides it's simple and complex carbs that form the backbone of performance over long durations. It's not so much boosting as maintaining a high level over many hours. e.g. Century ride last weekend my second 50 miles was significantly faster than my first 50 and I could push hard to the finish.

What foods do you eat to fuel your workout or recovery?
Before a long or high-performance ride, it's a protein milkshake with a load of granola in it.
During the ride most of my calories come from sports drink (glucose, fructose and electrolytes). I top up with some solid food on an hourly schedule (carbs again!) as otherwise I get some digestive distress.
Post ride recovery is a mix of protein and carbs, either a proprietary recovery drink if away from home or food if a training ride finishing at home.

What have you found that has worked for you in achieving your fitness goals?
Shorter rides unfuelled and moderate length training rides under-fuelled seem to have boosted my endurance. (You could assume my fat oxidation levels have improved so preserving my glycogen for longer.)
For performance and long rides (3hrs +) planning my fuelling strategy carefully and setting reminders on my bike computer so ensure I stick to it.
Paying attention to hydration as well as fuelling.

Recently joined MyFitnessPal...again! I am a 48 year old male, and plumber by trade. I was on a winning streak earlier in the year and went from 230lbs, (I'm 5'7" just so everyone knows), down to 211! It didn't take long...I would have to say about 2 months, and I am back up to 225 again. To top it all off, I was diagnosed with a supraspinatus tendonapthy in my right shoulder and now currently off work due to a torn bicep tendon in the same arm. Did I mention I'm right hand dominate? Hahahaha. Long and short of it is, I'm looking to keep my calories in check and hopefully lose weight even though I'm pretty sedentary at present.