Cycling Appetite

I have always had a fairly stable metabolism, low body fat, and reasonable stamina.

Since making a conscious decision to avoid driving a car whenever possible, I've been averaging over 90 miles cycling per week, often doing 150. Not that much you may say, but more than double what I used to do.

For about 10 months my appetite was, as expected, higher than usual, then it slowly tailed off so that consistent need for more and more food disappeared, yet I now realise my eating patterns fluctuate more than ever before; I'll have a couple of weeks without appearing to need more than average calorie intake, then several days of almost obsessive consumption of carbs. Breakfast now gives me a real mood lift like I've never realised before.

Could it be that I've got used to doing the miles physically and psycologically, and my body no longer reacts by telling me to eat food? Could my reserves have dwindled to the point that breakfast makes such a difference?

Has anyone else experienced unpredictable eating patterns? I'm particularly interested in hearing if it common among people doing consistently high miles or those who mix their cycling with other sport. Opinions are useful to give a start for further investigation, so thanks for your comments.

the_smiling_buddha mentioned appetite way back in this thread:
http://www.londonfgss.com/thread710.html

Chris.

yes. you are correct.
when i first started cycling my calorie intake jumped. i was having bowls of porridge before going to bed and eating toast/bagels before an evening meal. it's because your body goes into survival mode, all of a sudden you are stressing your body so it thinks there is a crisis and reacts accordingly by storing fat ready for the impending war/famine/catastrophe.
took a few months for my food intake to stabalise.
intense cycling uses about 400-500 calories an hour it has to come from somewhere :-)

I'm hungry

I'm eating a biscuit. I had some yoghurt and honey earlier. Yesterday I only ate chocolate ganache covered banana and cinammon volcano birthday cake with strawberry jam lava and chocolate strand/drop ash/boulder particles.

I inhale more food while I'm asleep than you eat all day..

Agree MrSmith. I only do 15 miles a day and at first ate like a horse. Now food intake has stabilized and I have lost a stone since March. I need to lose about another stone and then it'll be about right.

I had apple crumble & custard, and a couple slices of toast for my 12 o clock breakfast today.

Kind of makes me feel sick & lethargic when I eat sugary stuff when not hungry like in this case, but I always have a huge hunger for carbs. Can happily eat pasta, potatoes & toast as a meal. And tend to finish off any meal with a few pieces of toast.

I inhale more food while I'm asleep than you eat all day..

It was about a kilo of birthday cake.

It was about 5 hours sleep.

What you're saying sounds plausible, MrSmith; that old survival instinct kicking in. I'm guessing that because it has now stopped I have to consciously keep stoking my boiler, so to speak, so I'm not running on empty without realising.

My missus thinks I'm a greedy fecker already and hates that I can eat for England yet still never put weight on. It's really going to annoy her when I stick labels on the doors and cupboards at home saying "Remember to eat", "No cake, no ride", and "Pedalling means pasta".

I can eat more sugar than anyone else on earth.

When I was 15, I ate a whole 36-pack of kitkats in 4 hours, and that was long before I started cycling again. The best thing is I didn't even notice it - I was only disappointed that I'd run out of kitkats.

i often have nightmares about eating batteries.
is this odd?
they never taste very good.

^^Welcome to my Club (token biscuit reference).

I had to admit defeat, however, when I was dared to drink a bottle of liquid artificial sweetener. In the 80s.

I've drank a half pint of undiluted ribena before... the sad thing is that didn't really have much of an effect either.

i read somewhere that riding in the low blood sugar zone before you bonk properly was actually good training as it improved endurance. i tested this out the other week but it meant i spent the last 10miles in an apoplectic rage swearing at cars as my blood sugar was so low. time to take 2 flapjacks with me instead of 1.

It works, but some people need to combine it with anger management therapy.

went on a decent length training ride this morning, no water, no food- cos i'm an idiot and woke up late and left in a hurry, got home knackered and tried to avoid the inevitable sugar crash by nailing a pasta, but failed and just woke up from a couple hours nap.

must remember to eat on rides.

don't forget you'll eat more when it's cold and you are riding those miles, Chris.

I reckon the body knows what it wants, if you're hungry, then eat.

You'll also find, as I did, that if you increase the intensity of the riding that you are doing (but not the mileage) then you'll jump another notch into being a greedy bastard.

very important to eat some protein within an hour of finishing the ride, too.

for muscle repair.

ahh, the joys of milk.

officially the best after sports drink.

I can eat more sugar than anyone else on earth.

Wanna bet?

"When I was 15, I ate a whole 36-pack of kitkats in 4 hours, and that was long before I started cycling again. The best thing is I didn't even notice it - I was only disappointed that I'd run out of kitkats."

Meh. I'd eat a family-sized mudcake for breakfast with 1.25L of iced coffee to wash it down.

hippy, when did you start cycling again?

how long have you been an athlete?

I've drank a half pint of undiluted ribena before... the sad thing is that didn't really have much of an effect either.

2L of iced coffee in 4:18. I still hold the milk challenge record amongst my mates. Try harder weakling. :P

hippy, when did you start cycling again?
how long have you been an athlete?

I haven't.
I'm not.

I used to be bulimic.. without the purge bit.

Chip buttie?