Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Nutrition

I continue to attempt to dial in my nutrition for endurance racing. Once I get that figured out, I think that I will do really well. I'm thinking about my body and what it needs and likes. On just a day to day basis, what is it that my body likes? The first thing that comes to mind is bland.

Don't get me wrong, I love some good chicken wings, or pepperoni pizza...rich comfort foods, but later or the next day, I can tell that my body did not digest those foods like it would a plate of spaghetti, or another less fattening type of dish.

So, I am thinking that I need to fee my body bland foods on my rides. So how do I do that, I don't know.

But, I was reading about make your own energy food, and looked at gels in particular. My favorite gel is based on Maltodextrin. Hmmm, I have a tub of Maltodextrin sitting at home ( don't ask why). So, I say to myself," Self, why not mix some Maltodextrin with water and add some nuun?" And that is what I did.

To try it out, I skipped breakfast this morning, and drank my concoction on the way to work. One problem with this test is that my ride is only one hour and it was 40 degrees this morning. So it is difficult to really test this past the 4 hr mark which is where I usually run into trouble.

But, I will say I felt good. I sipped on it consistently, felt a twinge of hunger here and there but I actually felt better than when I eat breakfast and then ride to work. And after arriving to work I didn't have that driving hunger that I usually experience. Hmmm.

Any thoughts?


Have a great day.

1 comment:

Chris said...

You need to talk to Brad about this -- he's all about the liquid diet during races. I, on the other hand, need to eat -- my stomach calls for solid foods, albeit with a VERY sweet tooth! I got turned on to Honey Stinger this winter, and their chocolate gels are like pouring honey and Hershey's syrup straight down the hatch ...