[Closed] Stopping "the hunger"

Sounds like quite a lot at lunch, try having less at lunch and slightly more in your mid afternoon snack, and ideally nothing too sugary (like biscuits)

How about breakfast before you go?

hmm yeah worth a go, I kind of thought that as long as the kcals went in it didn't matter whether it was 1 chunk or spread out as long as it was a couple of hours before you exercised. 🙂

Sounds like not enough food 🙂

Try some more food for lunch/mid afternoon. Have you tried an energy drink?

Do you eat more the night before riding?
Do you eat more the night of riding?

Thing is devs I am just fine going in, feel full of energy when I get in and then have breakfast anyway, I am happy to try anything as otherwise I am going to be rooting in bins and the like for part eaten snaxs. 🙂

Do you eat more the night before riding?
Do you eat more the night of riding?

that just made me chuckle for some reason 🙂 If anything I don't hold back on the carbs the night before, usually I try and keep my pasta portions smaller or have cauliflower rice instead.

Sounds like in my very high level opinion you are running out of fuel 🙂

If your eating plenty night before and not having breakfast before riding (same here btw) then your burning up everything. Try a bit more cereal and a bit more lunch and a bit more cake.

Maybe get a HRM/GPS to see your actual calorie burn.

Delay eating one of your two lunch baps until 4pm.

Reminds me of a mate at work who, while touring in Australia, misjudged his logistics rather on one occasion and resorted to drinking from puddles. He now lives off out-of-date food.

But to the OP I would think the biscuit isn't helping.

I've found High5 4:1 drink quite good at taming the post-ride munchies, FWIW.

pasta in a mug ? You mean something full of e-numbers and sugar probably ? Doesn't sound good. Two small baps is fine, if larger size that's too much bread IMO.

A biscuit is not a good afternoon snack, probably too much sugar giving an instant hit and then a sugar-low.

Try an afternoon snack of nuts or Jaffa Cakes are good (dark choclate, jelly and sponge are more slow release). I say Jaffa cakes as it's impossible to eat only one !

I may well get corrected on this but your lunch seems to contain a lot of low quality carbs. I'm presuming white baps but maybe try wholegrain and replace the soup with a wild rice salad? Also ditch the biscuits and make yourself some flapjack for mid afternoon snack.

Early exercise also gets your metabolism kick started and without breakfast you're probably not eating enough.

Noticeable lack of protein in the food list you mentioned up there. Sugary, carby stuff all day would lead me to feel weak & hungry

🙂 they are multigrain baps I'll have you know! 🙂

I think I will try altering the lunch a bit and then having a more savoury snack at 4ish, see how I get on.

Maybe get a HRM/GPS to see your actual calorie burn.

Endomondo reckoned I burnt 1300kcal each way .. I don't believe that for a minute!

Two decent sized pancakes with honey in the morning . . .

Eat your lunch as late as possible, sorted . . .

Wouldn't it be easier to just pop a cereal bar or a gel in your pocket and eat that if you get hungry on the way home?

It's not worth stressing about so much (unless you are massively overweight or something)

what about a mung-bean and moroccan jellyfish tabbouleh with some quails' egg parfait as a mid-afternoon amuse bouche? no?

just eat a banana whilst you're riding like what most people do.

Have a proper lunch, not a cup-a-thingy but something with protein. And a big slice of healthy cake in the afternoon. I do a daily commute of half your distance and always have a cooked lunch. I bake a cake (carrot, ginger, banana etc) at the weekend and have a slice a day.

eat more and graze would be my advice. It's possible to ride in before breakfast but it can **** up your blood sugar/hunger/energy levels for the day.

Also a decent sized low GI snack before the return home.

Soreen maltloaf.

[b]scruff[/b] - Member
Soreen maltloaf.

My new commute is about 34km each way... with 550m of climbing, albeit only 2-3 times a week. I've taken to using a calorie counting app thing that also offsets exercise. For me, a big brekkie is essential after riding in - 600 calories worth of holland & barrett muesli (no added sugar), then a regular lunch (sandwiches and two peices of fruit), plus a handful of nuts & raisins to snack on in the afternoon.

I tend to ride fairly hard on the way in and then take a more relaxed approach on the way home... otherwise I'm totally and utterly shagged after two days worth.

Maybe get a HRM/GPS to see your actual calorie burn.

Endomondo reckoned I burnt 1300kcal each way .. I don't believe that for a minute!

Maybe get a HRM/GPS to see your actual calorie burn.

Not repeating myself am I?

If cals are a concern then measure them properly. If not eat more Cake - the tiny works canteen loved me when I rode home as I ate lots of their very nice cake

Sounds like dehydration to me, often mistaken for hunger. Drink lots more water, flavor it with wee bit of Hi 5 or something if you need. Throw it back before you leave work on hopefully will make it home before you need to pee. That's a very salty diet you have during the day btw too.

Used to do pretty much exactly the same as you, my commute was 30 miles each way, west london to reading and back. 1:40 was a good time.
fine on the way out, headaches and blurred vision on the last 10 miles home.
found the key to avoiding it was recognising the teltale early signs, quickley eating something sugary, before you are hungry (double decker and a coke for the win) and taking it easy for a few miles.

Did it for 18 months twice a week before moving to brighton, by the 18th month i got used to it and could hammer the whole way home..

jono

P.S amused that people think HRM/GPS will give their actual real calorie burn - you know it's pretendy science, don't you ? Will give an indication nothing more.

Sounds like dehydration to me, often mistaken for hunger. Drink lots more water, flavor it with wee

😯

P.S amused that people think HRM/GPS will give their actual real calorie burn - you know it's pretendy science, don't you ? Will give an indication nothing more.

Step above app on phone though

Just eat a banana about 20 mins before you are due to leave in the evening & stick a small cereal bar in your pocket to eat halfway if you need it.

Nice one boxfish didn't spot that ! It's a lot harder for the ladies you know.

But seriously OP, try drinking more fluids. Riding 3 hours per day you should be on at least 3 litres of water. 1 each way on the bike, 1 during the day. And coffee doesn't count.

Oatcakes are good for an afternoon snack - oats = slow release etc. Have them with some fruit. As above bananas are good.

I used to really struggle on the return leg of my (15 mile) commute.

I too was an 'up and riding with no breakfast' man... started eating a really oaty cereal (protein) when I arrived at work, then my normal lunch and no snacks. That sorted it.

Dave

Sounds like the board is dehydrated and malnourished: 32 replies and not a single MTFU!

Sorry mikewsmith, when you said HRM/GPS I assumed you meant GPS like Endomondo using gps on phone 🙂

jono1982 cheers for that, I think I'll just pop some emergency snacks in my bag and then as others have mentioned make my lunch a bit better and spread it out.

Cheers all.

CaptJon I was surprised myself.. I think I just need to MTFU 😉

What kind of weight are you? I could eat what you eat in a day, as a mid-morning snack, especially when biking is involved. I would say you're eating too little, even if you weren't commuting by bike!

Only drink your own wee as a last resort...drinking someone elses is fine though

[i]pretendy science[/i]

My favourite phrase so far 😉

OP.
Alter / adjust the amounts of Carbs, fats and protein in your diet. If I were in your situation, I'd consider more fats and protein. Less carbs.

Also slightly mistified by the association between cycling home and stomach contents. Your ride home should be fueled by glycogen stores, no ?.

You're hungry because your stomach is empty and is signalling your brain to [i]feed[/i]

Eat More Eggs

I do a 35 mile round trip 3 times a week, started it about 6 weeks ago now and am just beginning to feel less hungry. I think it takes a while for your body to adjust and get used to the new levels of exertion and fuel requirements.

I usually have breakfast 30 mins or so before I leave, not ideal but I'd rather eat first. I carry water on the bike but generally don't drink it til I get to the other end (~1 hour) then the full 750ml bidon goes in a few minutes. Another 750ml water before lunch (and a coffee), then a wholemeal baguette for lunch - usually chicken and something - with some crisps. I keep a stock of cereal bars in my draw, currently Jordans as they were on offer, so I'll have one of those for pudding. Another 750ml water through the afternoon, and about 4pm I'll have another cereal bar and/or a snickers from the vending machine to see me through the ride home. Once home I'll drink another 750ml of water and maybe eat something from the fridge. Dinner is about 7:30.

For the first couple of weeks I was seriously hungry, quite often felt hollow legged and weak on the way home, blurred vision etc. As soon as I got home I'd stand at the fridge eating for 5-10 minutes. This slowly got better, now I generally get home, drink water, and wait for tea (put kids to bed etc).

I've never been one much for studying the contents of food (fat, calories, salt, etc) I just eat it if it tastes nice and fills me up. I would say just make sure you eat enough, whatever it is.

Snickers bar, 1hr before leaving for home. Food of champions. That and eat a decent breakfast before leaving. I'm a porridge or muesli man with a second egg course when riding.

You are burning an extra 1000 calories a day on your commuting days - when are eating them?

Interesting reading. Although not a daily commute my route is approx 65miles around trip. Ride in no worries, just a coffee and a banana and I'm done. Get to eat cooked brekkie when in work. Nothing fried just poached eggs and toast. I'll pig out at lunch and have a stodgy desert and before I leave I'll have a can of coke and a yorkie. I'll dont eat anything on the return trip. I've been doing this commute for 8yrs and as I've got older I've found I could eat less. When I first started I had to eat flapjacks and bananas all the way home otherwise I'd get the hunger knock big time. FWIW I'm 40yrs and 68kg and 6ft. It may be your body just getting used to the ride. My advice would be to eat every half hour on the ride back. Just a mouthful should do it. Without food your body wont function how it should. As you get fitter I'd expect your body to want to consume less. Give it a try.