Hello All,
New to the zone here and of course I'm having a hard time, since alot of what I read goes against the grain (pun intended) of other endurance type diets. I have a pretty bad sugar/sweets addiction that rears it's head regularly. A few years ago I was about 170, and won my division for road cycling in Texas. Now I'm 215, and living in New York city. I've gained the weight by not exercising (quit cycling for about a year or so), and eating whatever I wanted.

My stats came out at 23 blocks. I'm trying not to get neurotic about weighing the food because the harder it is the easier it is for me to quit.

Eating enough vegetables/fruit for the amount of carb blocks is pretty hard, and I get really bad carb cravings.

My main question is this-
What do I do for 3+ hour rides? Nobody seems to make a drink or bar in the right percentages..that i can eat. I know that Zone bars have the right percentages, but I've checked out the consistency(not good) and there are alot of words I can't pronounce on the packaging..which I don't really like.

Okay..Thanks..

How about some soynuts?

I'm not sure soy nuts would be very palatable going 20+ miles an hour staring at some guys' back wheel..but i'll give it a try...

I also find before morning workouts..eating is a must...Thanks..I'll be checking regularly to ward of the bad thoughts!

Ok, another idea might be to make up some zoned muffins. There are a variety of recipes available. The recipes that I use incorporate oat flour rather than wheat flour. No foreign ingredients if you bake them yourself!

Shaun, check out this article, it'll be a big help to you.

http://www.zonediet.com/FITNESS/Eli...fault.aspx

That's a great idea on the muffins! I'll have to bake something...hmm....

I'll look into that article!

Thanks for all your help, gals..

Glad it was helpful!

I like those questions that gives me an opportunity to think out of the box.