Hello Everyone,

To give a quick recap and bring you up to speed here's what's up,

I am 2nd year in college, Ran Cross-Counrty for four years in High school and 1st year in College until some back injury problems, So I've been on the bike ( road) for about 7 months now, Due to cross Country background I am not to bad at collegiate level cycling even with little experience, The main problem that i have however is not the riding but the nutrition. That is why I am asking for help. After every ride with the team i feel like I've just took everything out of my body's reserve. I've been vegetarian all my life, But I am open to eating meat ever since my doctor told me that i was not getting enough energy due to the enormous physical efforts that i put out on the bike. So i came here to ask about an average day food consumption? what should be included? how much? I would really appriciate someone giving me a list of what is a good food list for each day so i don't feel like crap in my class after the hard rides.

-Thank You

How much are you riding ?
What are you eating now ? You can get protein powder as a supplement.
You need to give more specific details.

Hey there,

Right now the riding is hovering around 35-45k a day with 5 days a week!

Food wise, being a vegetarian the only things I eat are Eggs and toast in morning and potatoes and rice at night with snacks for lunch, but i am willing to try meat if that would help!

You don't need meat, you need protein. Tofu, seitan, whey. Stuff like that. Also, snacks for lunch after a hard ride in the morning is not good. You would be better off having the eggs for lunch and cereal in the morning. Protein after exercise helps build the muscles. I also suspect you are down on calories and potentially other nutrients.

More importantly, you need to learn to balance exercise with rest. I suggest that you get a good book on the subject.

maybe you are just not eating enough. for an idea of how much you need to eat you could take your Basic metabolic rate and add calories burned during the ride. 35-45km depending all on how you ride could be another maybe 750-1250 calories. got a heart rate monitor? that could give you an estimate. are you losing weight?

i eat a lot of Eggs, raw cheese, raw milk. raw cashews, raw walnuts, peanut butter without oil or sugar added, beans, (brown) rice, whole wheat everything whenever possible (no white bread, white rice, white pasta, etc.). potatoes are not really good, high glycemic, like white bread, but they sure do taste good. i eat an apple everyday. Then, as many vegetables as possible. kale, chard, spinach, and salads. beets are real good, but i don't love them. quinoa is a good grain for vegetarians, supposedly it is a complete protein.

what are you taking in ON the bike and right after?

Eat more, probably a lot more. If the situation is bad enough your physician is noticing malnourishment you are probably way off. A 40km ride shouldn't leave you shattered unless it's a true race effort.

Secondly what kind of vegetarian doesn't eat anything green? I love meat yet it sounds like I eat a lot more green stuff than you. Eat a nice salad with healthy fats and protein with your carb fest dinner.

Try drinking some milk after your ride.

Raw milk? Isn't that illegal? Having seen a farm I'm ok with it being pasteurized, cow nipples can't be that clean.

Potatoes are fairly high glycemic but compared to other "white" foods they are pretty nutritious.

35-45k five days a week isn't that much. I'm vegetarian and ride a lot more than that. And I'm over twice your age. There are pros who are vegetarian and who ride twice the volume I do.

It sounds like you need to eat more varied foods, possibly eat more food, and possibly rest when it's appropriate.

+1 on protein (after rides mostly), and eating more.

Not to be a wise guy, but "enormous physical efforts " and 35-45k a day 5 days a week don't really jibe.
Eat helthier food as suggested, get good rest, mix up the types of rides.

Anything useful in Training & Nutrition ?
https://www.bikeforums.net/forumdispl...-amp-Nutrition

I thought so too but around here there are some farms that sell raw milk.

Nonetheless I drink only pasteurized milk.

Back in the day we would get raw milk from a local farm sometimes. The gallon jug was about 1/3 cream .... Mmmmmmmmm.... Needed a spoon for the top layer.

Not illegal here but you have to buy from the farm directly. It is per state. But i don't think the OP is going to be doing that.

Are you eating mess hall food or do you cook for yourself?

which is another name for gluten. Nutritious and quite tasty, but the OP want to make sure there would be no adverse effects

Are your iron levels low? It's a bit of a pain but you might have your blood checked to get a better idea of what is going on.

Cookies, lots of them. I prefer chocolate chip made from scratch, but a box of Keeblers will do in a pinch.
Also, ice cream, lots of it.
Occasionally I will twinge with guilt and eat some broccoli.
Bacon, eggs (with lots of cheese and spicy salsa), foil packed salmon, Hamburgers, occasional chicken but I'm really not a fan.
Milk, usually mixed with cookie bits.