Liz33

I'm chaging my eating habits to a no sugar, very little grains, diet, and low on carbs. Im also vegeterian, almost vegan,(and no, I don't judge whoever loves to eat animal products, everyone else in my family does) and I wonder if anyone here is or has been in a similar eating life style and how it affected your performance cycling. I ask because the groups I belong to on facebook for vegan cycling and so on, usually present a diet very high on sugar with tons of fruits and a lot of carbs. I'm sure I'll find out soon enough if I'll like it and if I'll do ok cycling on little carbs but I would like to know your experiences. Thanks for sharing!

50PlusCycling

If you are cycling just for fun, then diet changes are not likely to cause any discernible changes in your cycling. If you are cycling for fitness, or are a competitive cyclist, you would likely find the lack of sugar, carbs, and fat to reduce your performance. You may experience fatigue, reduced endurance, and you may "bonk" on longer rides.

For myself, I am now a leisure cyclist, not having enough time to put more hours in the saddle. I recently cut sugar out of my diet, but have made no other changes. I'm not a vegetarian, I live in Japan were vegetarians are scarce. However, beef, pork, and chicken cost far more here than in America, while fish is inexpensive, so now I eat a lot of fish.

Cutting the sugar from my diet reduced by weight by 10 pounds over the course of 3 months, and my weight continues to go down. I am now at my optimum weight, and maintaining it by diet rather than exercise. It is amazing how much weight sugar can add.

When I was a competitive cyclist, riding 300-500 miles week, I ate a considerable amount of food. My diet was mainly carbs, fat, and protein, and more than a little sugar. I hate to think how much weight such a diet would put on me nowadays. One of the benefits of hard cycling was that I could eat as much of anything I wanted, and not worry about putting on weight.

I don't eat as much as I used to, but though I have decreased the quantity, I have increased the quality. Tokyo (where I live) has more Michelin star restaurants than any other city in the world. Life is too short not to enjoy good things.

1500SLR

You will find that without sugar or protein in your diet you will feel incredibly fatigued when you are out riding. If you want to add protein to your diet and you don't want to get it from food you can try pea or rice based protein powder. To cycle at an elite level you will need carbs and protein.

canklecat

I can't do vegan or even vegetarian as a primary source of protein. All the stuff I've tried as a meat replacement gives me awful gas. I actually avoided most group rides for a couple of months while I experimented with reducing my meat intake and using beans, legumes, pulses, etc. Didn't work. At all. Only my cats could love me. My cats don't care. They think my dirty socks and bike shorts are perfume.

By December I was fatigued, and by January was in bed with flu most of the month. I used a diet app to track my intake and I had a deficit in calories and protein. Not good.

I tried some veggie based protein powders, but had exactly the same digestive issues. Even those dietary enzyme supplements didn't help.

My metabolism is what it is -- I'm a carnivore/omnivore. So I'm back to eating more meat -- maybe 4-8 oz a day, not a huge amount. And more eggs. My digestive system is happier. I can participate in group rides again.

I've switched to whey protein powders. No digestive issues, even though I've had some issues with lactose intolerance in the past. But I don't drink milk, eat very little ice cream, etc. My main dairy intake is yogurt with an active culture, every day with breakfast.

I've cut way back on carbs, including complex carbs like rice. Unless I'm actually riding that day to burn it up, it just turns to fat and gas. I've had a persistent 5 lbs of fat around my middle, even though I'm very close to my optimal weight, so the only thing left to control is carb intake. I'll indulge a bit just before and during a hard workout ride. Otherwise I'm trying to cut back. My weight has dropped a couple of pounds and it appears to be that belly fat, so maybe it's working. My optimal weight in my 20s was around 155. I'm 60 now, and down to 158-160. About 15 years ago I got up to over 200 lbs after a car wreck disabled me for a few years, so I'm satisfied with the gradual weight loss and fitness improvement.

Can't say how it affected my cycling. I resumed cycling in 2015 with practically zero fitness after years of limited mobility and walking with a cane. I dropped from 175 to around 160 now. I improved from struggling to ride 400 yards without wheezing and stopping to catch my breath to riding 20-40 miles at around 15 mph. The diet changes went along with that. So I'm not sure diet has affected my cycling directly. I *think* the added protein powder with creatine has helped a bit the past couple of months, but I'm also recovering from a long bout with flu and some other health issues, so it's hard to say. Maybe I'm just feeling better and giving the protein powder and creatine too much credit. I'd need a more rigorous, methodical test to be certain, and I probably won't bother with that.

1500SLR

Everybody has slightly different metabolic needs, if you're having problem with your diet I'd recommend a trip to a qualified dietician and failing to resolve the problem there, speak to a gastroenterologist. I have diet issues myself with IBS. It is worth sitting down with a professional if you want good advice.

Kapusta

I do the very low sugar/grain carb thing occassionally, and feel great when I do it.

I do eat animal products, though. I have gone stretches eating very little meat (just some fish), but ate plenty of eggs and cheese.

What I find when I have the discipline to stick to a very low carb diet for a while is that I actually bonk less.

mcours2006

Low carbohydrate and vegan...hmm, I'm curious where your energy source is coming from. Lots of fats and some protein from foods like beans and lentils, though these are also high in carbs.

In any case, if you're not training for any sort of intense event and just going out to ride with friends there shouldn't be a problem. If, however, you do faster rides of even 3+ hours, that might be issue with refueling. I'm not saying you can't do it. I've done four-hour rides in a fasted state with perhaps a banana halfway, but my body is used to training in a fasted state, and so it's probably efficient at using fat as a energy source. YMMV.

JohnDThompson 

I've been a vegetarian for over 40 years and can't really compare pre- and post-vegetarian experiences, but I don't think my diet has hurt me any.

FWIW, the Vegetarian Cycling and Athletics Club was started in 1888, making it one of the oldest cycling clubs on the planet, so it's nothing new.

indyfabz

As someone who rides for transportation, sport and travel, I agree 100%. When I am out on tour riding 60+ miles/day, often up and down mountains with full camping and cooking equipment I am eating everything, including a lot of carbs. I have tried it another way and it doesn't work for me.


With that said, I think many cyclists overeat. I have been on many 45 mile club rides at a moderate pace where people stop at the half way point for things like pizza a hoagies. Not surprising that many of those same people are wearing club cut jerseys that are still tight around the gut.

Slightspeed

I rode seriously for nearly 20 years, and never lost any weight until I joined a Nutritional Balance class at Kaiser Hospital. By (trying to) keep to 2000 calories a day and balancing carbs, fat and protein, and using Myfitnesspal.com program to track everything, I have been able to lose 45 lbs and keep it off for over a year. I feel better on the bike, despite finding a "minor" heart issue that I need to watch. I do "carb up" a little on serious ride days, and keep an eye on fluid intake, too when riding. The worst part was that Thursday was weigh-in and group lecture night, also a ride day with my club. After 4 water bottles during the ride, the weigh in wasn't always correct, but averaging about 1 lb. a week worked for me. Losing 40+ lbs is like not carrying two extra bikes along on the ride. We stopped the class about a month ago, but I lost an additional 5lbs, since then using skills learned in class. Losing the weight also helped my gimpy knee feel better. I couldn't do it by just riding the bike. I'm 68, 6 ft. tall and weigh 195 right now, and needed to buy smaller bike clothes. I try to do 100 miles a week at moderate paced 14-17 mph average.

veganbikes

Just FYI Veganism is not a diet. Those who do not eat animals or their products are pure vegetarians however those who adopt a lifestyle to not exploit any animals for any reason would be vegan. However eating right is important, carbs are not bad and not something you should attempt to avoid. Simple carbs are not always so great for you but eating more complex carbs are helpful as carbs give your body energy. For cycling a lot of people might recommend simple carbs because they are easily broken down into quick energy which can be helpful to keep from bonking.
Here is a little bit more info on carbs from PCRM which is an excellent resource for vegetarian diets and also info about animal testing:
Carbohydrates: Complex Carbs vs Simple Carbs | The Physicians Committee

My diet really hasn't effected my cycling. I do not eat a low carb diet and I certainly don't monitor things as maybe I should but I do it not for any perceived health benefits but because animal exploitation is wrong and I do not wish to be a part of it. Plenty of cyclists don't eat animals or their products and do quite well for themselves. You can find a ton of info on them online. Molly Cameron actually runs a vegan bike shop and is a CX racer and is one of my favorite people on the scene.

Metieval

no sugar, high fat, good hydration, maintaining electrolyte balance.
avocado for breakfast, Himalayan pink sea salt throughout the day is good for longer rides in one day, more miles than most people ride in a week combined.


We are not fuel tanks, we are refineries.

We don't need to eat sugar, We need fuel that allows our bodies to refine fuel for the production of ATP. ATP is the primary form of energy used for all cellular processes

Happy Feet

Similar diet, except not vegan, and no problem with energy. When I ride longer distances I eat carbs like breads or muffins as I am actively burning them but then return to my discipline after recovery.

Nachoman

I'm a vegetarian that eats fish and eggs, whatever that's called.
No adverse cycling effects to my knowledge.
I'm approximately at 60% carbohydrate, 25% fat and 15% protein.

caloso

Pretty sure that's called not a vegetarian since fish are animals and eggs are animal products.

fietsbob

May like hanging out here https://www.bikeforums.net/training-nutrition/

Happy Feet

Just for clarity.

A vegetarian eats no meat but will eat animal products like milk and honey.

A vegan eats neither meat or products.

Confusion reigns as some people (and the Catholic church) do not consider fish - meat. Doesn't make sense to me but its a thing.

People make these choices for various ethical, spiritual and/or health reasons so the lines can be hard and fast or flexible depending.

wolfchild

Cutting out or limiting sugar is good and healthy but cutting out carbs and going low carb is not healthy in the long run. Yes your cycling performance will go down and your energy levels will go down on a low carb diet. Low carbs dieting is not sustainable for very long and eventually most people give up and go back to eating carbs. Carbs are not the enemy. The problem with low carb dieting is that, if you ever stop ( which I guarantee you will at some point).. you will gain a lot of weight after going from low-carb diet to higher-carb diet. It's not worth it, my recommendation is to just follow a normal balanced diet and stay away from " fad diets".

exmechanic89

Imo there are no absolute definitions for vegetarians or vegans.

To answer your question OP, I (and my wife) are very careful about what we eat and we both ride, with me logging more miles. We're primarily vegetarians, but do eat dairy products and some seafood. I do all our cooking and I keep us on a pretty strict caloric limit, and also try limit our intake of simple carbs, fats (both saturated and otherwise), sugar, and salt. It hasnt affected our cycling in any negative way as far as I can tell. I ride 50+ miles at least a couple times a week, and often much more. Try to ride daily in fact. I will say this, if I were to suddenly embrace racing or doing 150 mile training rides, I would modify my diet quite a bit. I'd definitely boost my daily calories and carbs. Sugar is important too, in moderation.

Happy Feet

Not to nit pick but yes there is. I described each pretty well. Some people just like to say they are something while not actually being it so they try to remake the descriptor.

exmechanic89

Whatever you say.

MikeyMK

When i was a kid, i used to eat sweets and chocolate, and cycle like mad everywhere i went.
I didn't put much thought into it. It was a pretty simple science.

Our job is to consume energy, burn energy, and fertiliser the soil. By eating plantations and controlling animal populations, we as walking composters make the planet more fertile.

If you get the balance wrong between consumption and burning, you get unhealthy.
You'd be amazed how many people don't seem to get this.

You can't drink water and eat kale, do 100 miles a day, and expect to be healthy - any more than you can expect to eat pies and burgers and do nothing but sit in a car or office.

Just eat what you like, and burn it, enjoy, and you'll be happy and healthy.

hillyman

A vegetarian is someone who doesn't eat meat. A vegan is someone that is annoying to everyone else about it.

OBoile

This was my first thought as well. Seems like your food choices would be very limited.

Korina

I think someone who eats fish is called a pescitarian.

Regarding very low carb diets, I'm curious; your teensy little brain uses 20% of your calories, and runs solely on glucose. So how would a super low carb diet affect your brain function, especially when your body is using all the available energy for pedaling? I think that's what bonking is; your body runs out of glucose, and your brain just stops working.