All I can say is "can't believe I was actually able to do what I was doing" considering my carbohydrate intake was well below par. And it's no wonder I was feeling so down mentally but most of all physically for a while. My nutritionist Rebecca said my carbohydrate intake based on 7gms per kg of bodyweight should be 469gms. After filling out my food diary for a couple of days it was estimated that I was only getting around the 160-180gms - RIDICULOUS.
I wasn't doing it on purpose - I am just not a big bread eater, or pasta eater, or potato eater. And really not having a big knowledge of foods I was just not going for things that were going to be fuelling me for my next workout. And so instead of going into each workout with my muscle glycogen stores all topped up I was trying to squeeze out most of my workouts on depleted muscles. No wonder everything hurt and I was starting to hit the proverbial wall earlier on in nearly all of my workouts.
So now I am armed with a Meal Plan and a list of Carbohydrate Foods for Fuelling and Recovery that I can eat whilst I am on my longer training sessions. It states that endurance athletes should be trying to consume between 30-60g of Carbs every hour after the first 60mins of exercise. So now that I have my list it is time to start getting creative with the different types of foods I can eat whilst on the bike and order myself the High 5 Energy Gels (these are the only ones I like). Two of these gels would give me 46g of carbs without that disgusting aftertaste that most seem to give me. I also really only like the Orange Flavour, but Summer Fruits are too bad either.
I also need to weigh myself a few times pre/post long activities. The goal is to lose less than 2% of my total bodyweight in fluid. Anything over that is not acceptable. And of course I forgot to do this this morning when I headed out for my bike ride at 0600hrs. Brain wasn't in gear at that time of the morning but I did do a 2hr bike ride before hubby left for work and managed to ride 48km. I also ate an Uncle Toby's Muesli Bar which gave me 20.2g of carbs and had 500mls of Staminade which gave me 30.4g - a good total for the hour of 50.6g. For breakfast before I left I also had 3 Weetbix, a cup of coffee and a glass of water. So I think I was pretty set for the first hour.
Needless to say I also need to hydrate well which I have been doing religiously now. My hubby ended up hiring one of those Water Cooler Stations and it is perfectly positioned next to my computer considering I spend alot of time writing - remember this is my passion. So, no sooner is my glass empty I just turn around and refill it. Rebecca has also said that hydration is really important not only for the obvious reasons but also because I am increasing the intake of fibrous foods this could upset the gut - so fluids will keep things happening - literally.
~Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they're supposed to help you discover who you are.~
~Bernice Johnson Reagon~
