Papa Tom

So I admit I'm a Weather Weenie and I put my bike away in the winter. Unfortunately, the time of year when everybody is throwing sweets at me and they feel so warm and delicious coincides with the time of year I'm getting zero time on the saddle.

In the spring, summer, and fall, when I'm riding to work every day, doing tours on the weekend, and riding recreationally in between, I'm OK with fueling my rides with donuts, brownies, and Peach Snapple. But marrona mia, in the winter time, the lingering sugar habit puts the pounds on fast.

Last week, I looked in the mirror and was horrified to see a small but potentially irreversible muffin-top pouring over my belt line. As of today, I have been completely sweet-free for six days and I am going out of my freakin' mind. It's a very tough addiction to break, and I keep telling myself it will be OK to go back to snacking on that garbage once I get back to bicycling and bike commuting in the spring. However, I think I'm going to have to kick the habit altogether as I get older and my biking seasons get shorter.

'Anybody else out there big on the donuts and cakes during riding season and paying heavily for it in the dead of winter?

I-Like-To-Bike

Not a problem for me since my "riding season" is 12 months long and includes the dead of winter.
Try it, you might like it, and may be easier than going sweet free.

AusTexMurf

You can burn off the sugar when the metabolic fires are stoked.
However,
Akin to fueling your boiler/heating stove with paper rather than hardwood oak or coal….burns fast, lots of flame, not much lasting fuel…
Maybe try cutting back on sugars and refined carbs and up the good fats such as coconut oil, olive oil, avocados, almonds, etc…
More satisfying, less crash and burn, less metabolic and capillary damage over a lifetime.
Just a thought.

Papa Tom

I do all those things as well. But with so many riders (especially my age group 50+) always talking about how much they enjoy pie or other sugary treats on their rides, I can't help getting sucked in to the mindset that I DESERVE a reward every time I ride. It's psychological, I know. I am a strict vegetarian and I stay away from most crap food. but the sugar thing is very difficult, especially because so many sugary foods are marketed as miracle fuel for bicyclists.

Dave Cutter

You are NOT alone! Sugar is addictive. Most of us suffer from cravings for sweets and/or caffeine. Sure.... nothing as problematic as say cigarettes or heroin... but it's still a burden. Bad habits remind us that we are only mortals. Not always a bad thing to remember.

I returned to my Lose it! app just yesterday. I earned the extra holiday pounds I put on... whether the sweets and cheeses were worth it or not... is another story. I am not looking back (regrets are useless). I going to work on new better habits.

Ridefreemc

I feel that just because I ride year round/daily doesn't get me a free pass to eat sugar. I told my doctor once that I was thinking about starting to eat just a bit here and there and he said that was like dabbling in crack. Made me think twice about it. For me its not pounds, as I have been within 10 pounds for the last 30 years, but more about overall health. With the sugar I feel okay, but without to I feel great!

AusTexMurf is onto something there with the other types of "fuel."

Papa Tom

I totally agree with everything that has been said here about sugar. I am NOT a junk food junkie. I have been a strict vegetarian for almost thirty years and I am generally a snob about the quality of the donuts, brownies, or cookies I will eat. Most of the year, I will not go near a Dunkin Donuts, will not even look at a Hershey bar, and would rather stab myself in the throat than put a packaged 7-Eleven brownie in my mouth. But when I'm in the cycling groove and I'm perusing these forums where it seems everyone ends every ride at a pie shop, all my standards go down the toilet and I just start gorging myself on every sugary snack I can squeeze into my pannier.

I, too, have maintained pretty much the same weight all my life - and I usually end up LOSING weight during my very physically-active months, despite the constant sugar orgy. It's when biking season ends, depression sets in, and three months of Christmas chocolates fill every shelf in the pantry that I start to feel like the Pillsbury Dough Boy.

no motor?

I find I eat more sugar and simple carbs when I'm riding. But I don't exercise much in the winter, so the pounds creep back on.

noglider 

A couple of years ago, at 5'9" and 178 lbs, I figured I should lose ten pounds. I cut back on sugar, not only for my weight but because it is really bad for one's long term health. Well, I lost 20 lbs. I've always been slim, and I didn't know I had 20 lbs to lose, but I take it as a good sign. My energy level is as good as ever. The less sugar I eat, the less I crave, and that's a very good thing. Some sugary foods taste bad to me.

I had a meatless diet for about 20 years and during that period, I ate far too much sugar. I've heard it said it is common among vegetarians. Now that I eat meat once again, I find it to be a good sugar-craving killer.

hooCycles

I do notice that I perform much better during a ride if I've eaten a significant amount of simple carbohydrates beforehand. Simple carbs get such a bad reputation in this country but they are indispensable for best physical performance.

Try thinking of sugars strictly as your 'best fuel' and that your allowance of them should be eaten when you can use them best, that is, before a ride. I think that this is a healthy relationship to have with sugar.

With all that said, I do ride year-'round...

PatrickGSR94

OP either get a trainer, or get winter riding gear. IMHO it's not a good idea to be sedentary for any length of time at any point in the year.

Phil_gretz

I don't eat sugary things, so cannot offer any enabling sympathy, Tom. Once you've gone sweet-free for a month, you've begun to ingrain a healthy habit. Keep it up year round. Substitute a slice of toast with apple butter for the donut. Or a peanut butter sandwich. Or a piece of fruit. Or some raisins and nuts.

Agree with others that you should remain active year round. Trainer, rollers, spin classes, swim at the Y, yoga, P-90X, something...

What are your winter goals?

Phil_gretz

Oh, and how are your cholesterol and triglyceride numbers?

tarwheel 

I ride all winter long and have the same problem. It all starts around Halloween with all the candy and continues through the holidays with cookies, pies, cakes, etc. By the time January rolls around, I'm addicted to sweets. I have gotten a lot of exercise through the entire period but still put on weight. I keep telling myself that I need to cut out the sweets but the addictive cravings are very strong.

noglider 

@hooCycles, I find it helps during a prolonged effort such as a long ride. I suspect it's unhealthful at all other times or maybe all times. The question for me is not when it's good for me, it's how much bad stuff I can get away with without harming myself.

bmthom.gis

Everything in moderation...

As for sugary energy for riding, just remember that what goes up, must come down. I hate gel packs and other things with lots of sugar marketed to cyclists and runners. I would rather eat breads, PB&J, cheese, meats, etc.

I prefer my sugar after it has been consumed and farted out by yeast

bmthom.gis

I don't mind the caffeine/coffee addiction. I drink mine black, or by way of an espresso or Americano. I do probably get a lot of sugars through fruit, which I love to eat and usually have 2 or 3 different kinds in my lunch (today is an apple, banana, and clementine). Every now and again, I'll have a coke, but sometimes it is hard not to grab a cold can from the fridge, just because it is different than water.

noglider 

Yeah, I strongly prefer food over formulas marketed at purported athletes!

zhi

+1 to the no processed, sugary foods crowd.

Not quite there myself but getting closer and closer. I still have a piece or two of dark chocolate at the end of the day.

Donuts are my weakness, and I'll have one occasionally.

zhi

I've found this to be true as well.

I was a veggie for two years, and those were my carbiest, sugariest, and processed-foodiest years (as well as my pudgiest).

While I still have bleeding-heart guilt, and do try to limit meat to one meal a day, I feel much better back on it and am able to control my cravings much more easily.

mcours2006

I like sweets also. I mean, c'mon, who doesn't?! But I do eat mostly clean. I give into cravings sometimes, but I'm a year-round rider/runner whatever I put in there gets burned off. Been at the same weight (high school junior weight) for the past 10+ years now, so I must be doing something right.

no motor?

I too prefer whole foods or yeast residues. Sugar lowers the pain threshold and is the most potent source of energy for cancerous cells - remembering that makes it easier to to stick to a smaller serving to prime the pump before exercising.

Leebo

What's this off season you speak of? Try wool, fleece and a big bowl of HTFU. Fat bike? Studded tires? Both work well, and together really well. I just don't buy it or keep it in my house, less temptation. I do like a small 2 " square of dark chocolate with some almonds on occasion. Start there. Or something like a whole wheat raisin bagel, plain. Try something a little sweet, not just all sugar. Dried fruit with something else?

AlmostTrick

https://youtu.be/h9nE2spOw_o

Papa Tom

All excellent. I'm very healthy, physically. I just find myself hooked on sweet everything after my biking season ends. My sugar levels are also good, so it's not diabetes or any of the glycemias.

Today is Day 8 without a single sugary treat. It's rough, man.

(Thanks for the Archies video, Almost Trick!)