Any one have any experience with adjusting their eating for endurance events? I will be taking a week long cycling trip and will be riding about 6 hours per day. I normally eat 3 meals at 4 blocks and 2-3 snacks at 1-2 blocks. I am not sure if I should increase my block amounts for breakfast and dinner? While riding I don't like to eat large meals, how often I should eat a snack? I drink more than enough water and I found some electrolyte relacement drinks with no sugars. Anyone have any ideas for meal adjustments? I don't want to bonk, but I also don't want to go over board and stall my weight loss efforts. Thanks Terri

I find when I go on any extended trips that involve constant physical activity such as biking or hiking or canoeing, I get the best results by increasing my blocks and by spreading them out into more frequent meals. Normally, I'm a 15 - 5 for breakfast, 4 for lunch, 1 for midafternoon snack, 4 for supper, 1 for late night snack. When I go on any outdoor excursion, I up that to 17-19 blocks depending on my level of activity. And it goes more like this - 3, 2, 2, 3, 2, 1, 4, 1. That way, my constant need for a steady source of energy throughout the day is met and then I finish the day off with a nice sized supper and as always I have my late-night snack. Shizzaun

[quote="Shizzaun"]I find when I go on any extended trips that involve constant physical activity such as biking or hiking or canoeing, I get the best results by increasing my blocks and by spreading them out into more frequent meals. " I do pretty much the same thing. I eat every 2-3 hours - but usually 1 or 2 block snacks. Most convenience stores have string cheese singles so you can also grab a small apple or other carb as an easy snack. I buy Balance bars when they're available also. If you have access to a grocery store, you can easily put together a 1 or 2 block snack. I always carry a ziplock of slivered almonds in my bike bag so I can eat some extra fat along the way too (although my sister prefers peanuts). Good luck.

Get back, Jo Jo. You're right on about string cheese, nuts and Balance bars. Terri, the short answer is eat as much as you feel you need to during an endurance event, just keep all the food in the Zone. For me, like the above posters, on cycling events, this means bring your own non-perishables (bars and nuts), grab cheese and turkey whenever it's available, and obviously avoid those pasta dinners and pancake breakfasts.

Hi, I'm still struggling staying in the zone on the days I exercise intensely. On days that I don't exercise at all I have no problems staying in the zone (1-3-1-4-1-4-1 day, focused all day, maintaining fat% of 22%), but on days when I exercise more intensely I tend to feel pretty tired a few hours after the exercise. At first I thought it was due to the fact that I was not eating enough blocks so I've been experimenting by replenishing the blocks with the calories I'd burnt during the exercise, e.g. On a 30 minute run on the treadmill I burn between 400-500 calories depending on the intensity of the run (between 11-16 km/h), so I thought if I eat 4-5 blocks afterwards I should be ok (not) I still feel tired a few hours after the exercise. I also started experimenting by adding more fat to my meals (but maybe not enough) and by snacking fat (nuts) only in between the meals (so without the protein/carbs) but I still experience the tiredness a few hours after the exercise. I also experienced that my resistance to catch colds and other viruses tends to decrease after exercise. I do take some additional magnesium/vitamin C occassionally which helps getting rid of the muscle pains quicker, but not against the tiredness. Am I doing something wrong or is it just fatigue caused by the exercise I'm suffering from that cannot be replenished by any food? Thanks in advance for any help provided. Regards, Denise

Denise, My cycling partner and I were having the same problem. When her blood pressure went up and she started having palpitations she had blood work. Her potassium was critically low. We were drinking water while exercising and thought that was enough. ITS NOT. Since I have started drinking electrolyte replacement before, during and after intense cycling rides I no longer feel tired, nausea, stomach cramps etc. I can ride longer and harder and I don't get the all day fatigue feeling I had before. I did some searching on the internet about electrolyte replacement. I never realized how important it is. I knew electrolyte imbalance can be very dangerous, but I just assumed drinking water while exercising would suffice. We need to replace Calcium, Magnesium, Sodium and Potassium at a minumum and in the right amounts. I would encourage you to research it and definetly find the replacement thats right for you. Just to save you a little leg work. I went to every health food store in town looking for a electrolyte replacement without sugar and very little to no carbs. Everyone thought I was crazy. Most believe if you are exercising intensely you need the sugar to keep going. I would rather eat a zone bar or some other zone snack for my energy. I don't do well with sugar. Anyway here's the best one's I found: 1. Emer-gen C by Alacer. Comes in multiple flavors. Individual packets that you mix with 4-6 oz of water. Not really great if you are big on sweet flavor. Closest comparison would be Alka-Seltzer. Best mix of minerals and vitamins and only 4 carbs. (this is the only one I did find in a couple local health food stores) 2. Ultima (www.ultimareplenisher.com) - No sugar. 9 g complex carbs. Comes in orange and lemon-lime. I thinks it tastes very good, but read a lot of complaints from runners who usually drink Gatoraid not liking it. I use 100 oz instead of 20 oz water and drink slowly over about 2 hours during a ride. 3. Endurolytes by Hammer- Powder or capsules. The powder is has no sweet or good flavor, but also has very little flavor. Kindof salty taste. Excellent mineral mix. No sugar. No carbs. Hope this helps Terri [quote:54e77ce338="djmorris"] I'm still struggling staying in the zone on the days I exercise intensely. ...days when I exercise more intensely I tend to feel pretty tired a few hours after the exercise. I also experienced that my resistance to catch colds and other viruses tends to decrease after exercise. I do take some additional magnesium/vitamin C occassionally which helps getting rid of the muscle pains quicker, but not against the tiredness. Am I doing something wrong or is it just fatigue caused by the exercise I'm suffering from that cannot be replenished by any food? Thanks in advance for any help provided. Regards, Denise[/quote:54e77ce338]

Hi Terri, Thank you very much for your post. Until now I also thought that all those sports nutrition drinks were nonsense as "normal" water also contains magnesium, calcium, etc, but you've made me start to think it over again. For all my life I have a problem getting dehydrated very easily. The last time I was hospitalized for a few hours in order to get hydrated again was only a couple of weeks ago,when I catched a virus and could not help myself vomitting. Usually I do drink lots of water (over 3 liter) a day already. I drink two glasses of water before each exercise, I replenish little bits during exercise and also drink two glasses of water after the exercise. The last two times I was hospitalized for dehydration my kalium tended to be very low, so I've been looking for foods containing kalium (like tomatoes) already. But any other tips are welcome as well. I haven't found the brands mentioned by you here in the Netherlands but they do sell a sportswater called "Aquarana" (from the same manufacturer as Aquarius). Would you consider this to be a good electrolyte replenisher? Another forum reader who could not post on the forum but did send me a personal reply advised me to replenish 5g creatine after each intense workout. Thanks again for your help! Regards, Denise