Originally Posted by
nuclear_biker
As for diet, I'm mostly concerned with nutritional timing I guess. I'm not so much concerned with exactly what to eat as with when to eat what with regards to training (some stuff is obvious like eating a healthy source of carbs on the ride).
When you eat isn't too significant.
What you eat influences the fat/glycogen balance when you exercise (lower carb diets shift the balance towards fat), energy dense foods are easier to over-eat, and carbs have shorter lasting satiety so you're likely to eat more although there's still _a lot_ of latitude there too.
How much you eat is the big factor, and the answer there is likely far more than you need to sate your hunger. I found that within half an hour I felt as full eating 1/3 less than I was consuming.
It takes about 30 minutes for your appetite to catch up with your intake, so you're over doing it when you eat until you're full unless you're at a sushi bar where the chef feeds you two bites at a time slowly over two hours.
After growing to 205 pounds and at least 36" around (noting that Esquire magazine measured a 39.5" waist on Dockers labeled that size) with a sweaty crease between man boobs and belly I adopted a very simple philosophy:
1. Only eat when hungry.
2. Only eat enough to be sated 30 minutes after the last bite, going back for seconds and even thirds when necessary.
3. Always eat when hungry to avoid becoming too ravenous to follow rule
#2 .
That plus a lot of riding got me down to 137-138 pounds with a 26" waist measured with a tape measure.