Nutrition on the road - What, How and Why?

400ml full fat milk + 6 teaspoons of Nesquik and a tin of fish mashed with chilli sauce and peanut butter on white bread.

I make the milkshake and mash the fish/peanut butter/chilli sauce before any epic suffering and scull the shake while the bread is toasting.

• milk 99p for 4 pints
  
• Nesquik £2.39 for 500g
  
• fish £1 for 3x50g tins of pilchards in tom sauce
  
• peanut butter £2.85 for 1kg (no added sugar)
  
• rolls £1 for 12 small rolls (two per serving)
  
• chilli sauce 99p a bottle
  
  

And yes, fish and peanut butter are surprisingly good together :)

... seems excessive

It's not excessive if you need x grams of protein, measured.

babies get all they need from milk alone and studies demonstrate that choccy milkshake is on a par with commercial recovery drinks

How are those breast milk smoothies working out for you?

Protein supplements are for bodybuilders, not cyclists.

If you're training you are 'body building'.

I can get a three tins of pilchards, or two of tuna, from my pound shop: no need for fish oil supplements either.

A bottle of cod liver oil tablets costs less than a quid. The quantity and quality of research into fish oils is massive and dates back to the 70s. It's not a fad diet. Most of the stuff I've read concludes even a very good western diet falls well short of the optimum amounts. The truth is your diet is more the product of culture and industry since ww2 than human evolution a diseased mind ;-)

[edit] I just read your recipe [edit]

Protein supplements are for bodybuilders, not cyclists.

I'm building my Förstemann thighs...

It's not excessive if you need x grams of protein, measured.

Quite. I warrant that there aren't a dozen people on here, who couldn't achieve adequate dietary protein if they calculated their need.

How are those breast milk smoothies working out for you?

Kinky. Milk is a complete food and has been demonstrated to at least equal recovery drinks.

Evolution 1 : 0 Industry.

If you're training you are 'body building'.

True, but not aiming for hypertrophy (Yukirin excepted).

A bottle of cod liver oil tablets costs less than a quid. The quantity and quality of research into fish oils is massive and dates back to the 70s. It's not a fad diet.

Apologies. I didn't mean to suggest that fish oil was bunkum; rather that if you eat the source food, there is no need for the refined supplement.

Most of the stuff I've read concludes even a very good western diet falls well short of the optimum amounts.

So don't eat a Western diet. If you have a poor diet, surely it makes more sense to change it rather than continue with your poor choices, supplementing them with er... supplements?

Apart from the expense, supplements only add the good stuff, not remove the crap we'd be better off not eating in the first place.

The truth is our [modern] diet is more the product of commerce and the Industrial Revolution than human evolution. Well I'm glad we could, at least, agree on that. :)

And if my mind is diseased (which I don't dispute), it's the product of a krypto-fascist, industrial complex; the sole objective of which is the subjugation of free will and the rights of the common man, through the agency of chicken nuggets and pop tarts.

My twopence:

Western diet probably does not provide enough of everything we need, and certainly does provide too much crap, which can be managed by being moderate.

But eating well, and supplementing in key things (i have read a lot saying Omega 3 supplements are definitely worth it) and at key times (I always have whey after training) is necessary if you want to try to get the best out of your riding.

Whilst things like milk are awesome for recovery and general health, I certainly wouldn't rely on chowing just two pints of that and a banana if i'd just put in a 4- 5 hour hard effort in order to replenish my body.

Completely agree. The 30 minutes straight after a ride are most important in terms of recovery - you need protein and carbs. Whey-hey milkshake is the best way of getting them straight in, and has the added bonus of being easy to consume if you're not at home. Next up, especially when the weather is like it is right now, you want to get out of your ride clothes and shower to prevent infections.
Finally, I'll be ready to make some proper food. And keep eating proper food voraciously for the next 12 hours.
Side note - not sure I could stomach tinned fish several times a day.

Is it ok to eat only bananas, one an hour for a four or five hour ride? As long as I eat one thing an hour I'm good, and I survive / thrive on just bananas but maybe I'm missing something.

Cat food!

When I rock in at 11pm I'm not making anything other than an Instant Mass Heavyweight, shower then bed with a couple of ZMA caps.
But I get that for free... If I had to pay I'd probably have a different outlook.... and be 12kg lighter.

I came home last night from 5 hours at 75% FTP.

Smashed two sachets of ReGo as soon as I came in the door.
Showered.
Ate a large tin of mackeral followed by a large bar of chilli chocolate.

Real Food......pffffft.

Ahh ZMA - that's Victor Conte's thing, right? What does it do?

That's the most depressing 'meal' I've ever heard described...

I'd go for milk drink over pissing about with a blender every day of the week.

You can't out-lazy me.

fish and peanut butter are surprisingly good together

dead to me

I snort whey powder

A bottle of cod liver oil tablets costs less than a quid

Really? Fish oil isn't something you want to cut costs on.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_oil#Supplement_quality_and_concerns

If it works for you then of course it is.

I looked into ZMA and the research is basically shit and there's no evidence of benefit apart from trippier dreams.

Empty your wallet, 2/3rds of fuck all and the Vit B can give you wild dreams (I've got that before on plain old Vit B tablets - which I don't take any more because most of the larger scale meta studies of vitamin supplements show you actually die sooner on them than by NOT taking them).

Get decent cod liver oil. I buy bottles of locally produced stuff. The capsuls can be a bit dodge.

I have a large tablespoon of cod liver oil every morning washed Down With a berocca. Admittedly I agree With Hippy regarding the Vit tabs. But I seem to be addicted none the less.

Victor Conte

Who?

Helps maintain testosterone levels, protein synthesis and gets you into a deeper sleep state quicker. I generally only get 5-6 hours sleep a night and it has a mild effect on how refreshed I feel when I wake up. Should work better if I could wait longer after taking the shake but I can't wait around.

Wish I got the trippy dreams! GABA did, but I don't have a free supply of that now.

That's WEYHEY! powder.

I have a large tablespoon of cod liver oil every morning washed Down With a berocca

Grim.

I'd fucking laugh if I lived longer than you. I mean, not at you, but just because of all the weird shit you take vs. my healthy Breakfast Beers™.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2129161/

"Brilla and Conte [13] reported that ZMA supplementation significantly increased free testosterone, IGF-1, and isokinetic strength gains during training. Results of this study do not support these findings."

"ZMA supplementation had no significant effects on total and free testosterone,"

"no significant effects were observed between groups in changes in 1-RM strength, upper or lower body muscle endurance, or anaerobic sprint capacity."