Ok, I don't think I've ever even looked in here, let alone posted. But it's time for a nutrition intervention.

My story - late forties, riding for my whole life (well, not my twenties, was addicted to cars and Lucky Strikes). Also overweight most of my adult and childhood life. Currently about 225 on a stocky 5'8" (172cm) frame. Would love to get back down to my healthiest jogger's weight I was at 25 (145-150 pounds) but at my age i would be more than thrilled at hitting 175 or so again for the first time in decades.

I don't eat a lot of junk food. My big downfall, I guess, is seconds and even thirds at dinner. I eat lots of poultry and a little fish, beef and pork almost never. And tons of carbs - breadaholic here. Usually eat a decent sized lunch but not a big breakfast person.

What finally drove me to seek help here? I had only ever bonked once - about six or seven years ago I was riding all day, from about 8AM to 3 PM, on a small bowl of cereal for brkfast. Only riding about 5 mph in a park all day, (with friends pulling their baby in a trailer) except at the very end my wife and I did one fast 3 mile loop (about 18-25 mph) and I exploded at the end, collapsed off the bike, shaking, nauseous, dizzy, tunnel vision, the works.

Two years ago I completed a club ride SIG, B group (17 mph on flats avg, rides progressed from 45-100 miles with increased climbs over a ten-week period). Had no nutrition issues there, other than I pigged out after some of the rides, so I lost weight, but not a lot of weight (maybe 10 pounds, 1 per week). BUt was always fueled well and hydrated enough that I became the butt of the group's jokes regarding my tiny bladder and frequent pee break requests.

Last year I couldn't ride due to bad luck - first a broken hand and after that a broken ankle. My weight nearly hit 240 at one point; my BP is now high (about 140/90) and I am taking some meds. (Hypertension runs in my family, I am surprised it took this long to surface in me). With 6 months of meds (and I am guessing/hoping, my return to the bike) it was last checked at 140/82.

Right now, a friend in his 20s got me to do a new club series but I am having trouble keeping up; they're more of an advanced group, people who get dropped off the back are left behind, and it's an 18 mph group. After a light winter of riding, getting back on the bike following a year off with injuries I am starting to think I may need to bail and concentrate on building up a fresh base of fitness before taking on such challenges.

Last week, in a desperate attempt to drop some weight so I could keep up on climbs (I typically stay with the strongest riders on the flats, but am way at the back on hills), I cut out bread and ate well otherwise - fruits, veggies, poultry, a little cheese) and lost about 9 pounds in a week and was light-headed at the start of the ride...turned around after only 20 miles and was a bit shaky by the time I got home.


The first thing I did (after forcing in some carbs and drinking lots of water) was pull out every book on nutrition and riding I own, and I've already learned a lot - such as glycogen being in your system from food eaten before the ride day - laugh, but this is news to me. I read somewhere about Lance weighing his skinless chicken breast and skimping on carbs at dinners to keep weight down and then going crazy with protein and carbo-loading at breakfast before the ride, so I figured that was a good plan. Maybe it would be if, like the pros, I ate a big meal at 8 am, rested for three hours and then rode at 1 PM.

In the real world of weekend club rides, I get up at 5, suck down (too much) coffee in order to wake up enough to eat, and then either eat so much that I'm fueled well, but feel vomitous, or eat less but feel weak on the rides. Either way, I have about ten minutes to digest before stuffing myself into spandex and riding through city streets to the start.

I think I would be okay just dieting to lose weight, or continuing to fuel my rides as I have for many years at my current 80 lbs overweight physique. I'm here b/c I need help figuring out how to lose weight sensibly - for my health - while fueling for challenging rides.

If this is not realistic and I simply need to eat less and ride at a lower intensity for more miles, pls someone clue me in. As much as I love riding and would like to be thinner, faster, etc. I am most concerned about lowering my BP.

I realize my scenarios are probably not uncommon, and there will be threads that address all of this and more...pls feel free to direct me to those if you can.

Meanwhile it felt good to get all that off my chest. I have been riding long enough to know how to fix my own bike, how to dress for the weather, etc. I am even overcoming my retrogrouch ways and the wife bought me a Garmin for Xmas so at least I can now upload my ride info. But I know nearly zilch about sports nutrition - specifically for a cyclist. What to eat, how much, when.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks if you read this far.