Training & Nutrition - Loss of appetite

When I ride long distances (60 to 100 miles or more), I can't make myself eat during or after the ride. I have no appetite. Even the thought of eating a cookie or piece of fruit while riding almost makes me nauseous. If I eat a piace of a banana and keep riding, I feel like I'm going to puke for the next 30 minutes. I know I need to eat because I need the energy and I can barely get through the ride. I can drink a lot of water and gatorade without getting sick, but is that enough? Do I need to make myself have a cookie or energy bar or something and just get used to this feeling? I also have no appetite after I ride for a few hours. Help! Thanks!

Have you tried gels?

UD

Gels? Tell me more!

Anyone else have any input please?! Is this normal and something I should get used to? When I'm on these long rides I see people eating and I can't do it.

Yes, it's normal ... especially as you venture into distances you have not done before. It takes some time and effort to train yourself to be able to eat while riding.

Some tips ...

I always bring gels as an emergency back-up ... for when the nausea kicks in. They go down better than solid food and I've done some significant distances on a gel or two.

I use liquid nutrition. On a long ride, I usually carry a bottle of Ensure ... Ensure goes down really well for me and provides me with a lot of energy. I also make sure one of my bottles contains a sports drink (preferably HEED).

I nibble. Rather than trying to eat a whole granola bar or cookie at one go, I eat one bite of my granola bar or cookie, and then put it in my Bento bag. 10 minutes later I take another bite of my granola bar or cookie, 10 minutes later ... etc. Doing that is MUCH easier on the stomach.

Thanks. I didn't think about small quantities. I'll try it on my next long ride. I've never had any ensure... does it taste better cold? Well, I'll take a look at that, too. I was hoping not to need that stuff for another 30 years!

Ensure is great. I have trouble eating anything solid before about 10 am, so when my rides start before 10 am (and they usually do), I drink a can of Ensure which gets me through the first couple hours of cycling.

I can drink it cold or warm ... I like it both ways.

And it isn't an old person's drink ... it's the fuel of choice for the RAAM riders.

When I ride long distances (60 to 100 miles or more), I can't make myself eat during or after the ride. I have no appetite. Even the thought of eating a cookie or piece of fruit while riding almost makes me nauseous. If I eat a piace of a banana and keep riding, I feel like I'm going to puke for the next 30 minutes. I know I need to eat because I need the energy and I can barely get through the ride. I can drink a lot of water and gatorade without getting sick, but is that enough? Do I need to make myself have a cookie or energy bar or something and just get used to this feeling? I also have no appetite after I ride for a few hours. Help! Thanks!

You only need 250 cal/hour or so. That's really a surprisingly amount of food. You can get it purely from liquids, and I recommend trying a few different ones to see what works for you. Gatorade isn't a very good hydration drink for a number of reasons.

You will also likely need to experiment to find out what works for you as far as solid food goes. If you are riding hard, it's difficult to digest much of anything.

Finally, exercise suppression is normal.