Paleo



NCooper15

NCooper15

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Jul 11, 2013
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[COLOR= rgb(75, 74, 44)]My wife and I have started a Paleo Diet, while we are not 100 % on Paleo yet we do want to get there. Any recommendation for any Paleo snacks to take with me on long rides for nutrition, on or before and after my rides. Thank you for any help.[/COLOR]
 
If you are avid cyclists and endurance athletes I would suggest reading "Paleo Diet for Athletes" by Joe Friel and Loren Cordain. This book details the premise behind the paleo diet, as I am sure you are already aware of, but also recognizes that Paleolithic man did not ride around for hours on end in his spandex at moderate to high intensities. This means there are some rules you should follow and some you should break at certain times. Immediately before, during, and upon completing a workout is when Friel and Cordain atest that it is essential for endurance athletes to deviate from the "standard" paleo diet. During this window you consume an adequate amount of simple sugars and carbohydrates to ensure your glycogen stores are topped off. These foods can be whatever works for you, gels, energy bars, drink mix, recovery drinks, etc. After this "window" you continue to follow a regular paleo diet. A word of caution about paleo snacks while riding. Paleo snacks are whole, natural foods, and as a result are slow to digest. Even the sugars in fruit, fructose, act more like complex carbohydrates and digest slowly. Protein and fats are also slow to digest and when riding at moderate to high intensities can give you severe G.I distress. Some people are more sensitive than others but the fiber in fruit, even an hour or so before a hard ride, can give you a lot of stomach distress. You will have to experiment to see what works best for you, but as advised in the Paleo Diet for Athletes, your probably better off to sticking to the simple stuff during workout time. Best of luck in following the diet.
 
Originally Posted by RidingSeed .

There are looots and lots of ideas for a Paleo diet. I've done some research and apparently one of the best snacks to have while on your bike are dried apple slices or hard boiled eggs.
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I can see being able to pull out a baggie of dried apple slices if the pace allowed, but thinking about my typical long Saturday ride if I could paint a picture.

It is the typical summer day in the southeast with temperatures approaching 100 degrees (F) and humidity at 85%, my jersey is drenched in sweat and I have about 40 miles to go on a 80 mile route pushing an intense pace. At my turning point I am thinking about those yummy hard boiled eggs that have been sitting in my rear jersey pocket between the heat of the sun and the heat of my body. No sooner than I can get my sweat drenched palm on the first hard boiled egg out of the baggies a stream of sweat runs off my brow and gives a nice coating to make the slippery egg slide on down the gullet even easier. There are a couple more eggs in the bag that are partially smashed since they are sharing room in the jersey pocket with the other necessary gear for a long haul. Those will be easy to get down as well if my anxious friends can wait for me down the next couple.

Yep, makes me want to puke just thinking about it
 
there is to much smoke and mirrors around that diet. Regardless of the shady marketing and bro science there probably isn't a single rider in the this years tour de france who's following this diet. i also wonder why 10,000 years is their magic date?

I couldn't imagine eating a hard boiled chicken period that's been in my jersey pocket for 3 hours.
 
Originally Posted by bmoberg337 .

If you are avid cyclists and endurance athletes I would suggest reading "Paleo Diet for Athletes" by Joe Friel and Loren Cordain. This book details the premise behind the paleo diet, as I am sure you are already aware of, but also recognizes that Paleolithic man did not ride around for hours on end in his spandex at moderate to high intensities. This means there are some rules you should follow and some you should break at certain times. Immediately before, during, and upon completing a workout is when Friel and Cordain atest that it is essential for endurance athletes to deviate from the "standard" paleo diet. During this window you consume an adequate amount of simple sugars and carbohydrates to ensure your glycogen stores are topped off. These foods can be whatever works for you, gels, energy bars, drink mix, recovery drinks, etc. After this "window" you continue to follow a regular paleo diet. A word of caution about paleo snacks while riding. Paleo snacks are whole, natural foods, and as a result are slow to digest. Even the sugars in fruit, fructose, act more like complex carbohydrates and digest slowly. Protein and fats are also slow to digest and when riding at moderate to high intensities can give you severe G.I distress. Some people are more sensitive than others but the fiber in fruit, even an hour or so before a hard ride, can give you a lot of stomach distress. You will have to experiment to see what works best for you, but as advised in the Paleo Diet for Athletes, your probably better off to sticking to the simple stuff during workout time. Best of luck in following the diet.
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[SIZE=10pt]I have heard of that book from several sources now, I think I am going to pick it up. Yah hard boil eggs in the hot son, no thank you. I figured I would have to stick to my usual gels and energy bars, and a nice glass chocolate milk after my ride. [/SIZE]I am a big fan of Paleo but did not know how I was going to work it into my rides. I guess moderation is the key there. There is a time to go Paleo, and a time to compromise a little. I am definitely going to have to pick that book up though.
 
Originally Posted by NCooper15 .

[SIZE=10pt]I have heard of that book from several sources now, I think I am going to pick it up. Yah hard boil eggs in the hot son, no thank you. I figured I would have to stick to my usual gels and energy bars, and a nice glass chocolate milk after my ride. [/SIZE]I am a big fan of Paleo but did not know how I was going to work it into my rides. I guess moderation is the key there. There is a time to go Paleo, and a time to compromise a little. I am definitely going to have to pick that book up though.
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Chocolate milk isn't paleo, dairy full stop isn't allowed on the paleo diet. My issue with it, is the rules have been altered so much over the last 10 years that it's become the eat all the fatty **** you want diet. It's theory of unrefined whole foods, no grains, dairy, beans legumes and refined sugar is a pretty damn good one, the problem is the fatties who it's marketed to couldn't stick with only eating unrefined whole foods.

In summary the paleo diet is probably to **** to even be able to race well at a club level on.
 
You hit the nail on the head. Moderation, along with understanding what works for your body is key. Everybody is different in how they respond to food, i.e gluten allergies, lactose intolerance etc. You may find that your body works fine on whole grains such as steel cut oats and quinoa, foods that are restricted by the paleo diet.

In terms of optimizing your performance as an athlete, sufficient evidence does not exist to prove that the paleo diet, or any diet for that matter, is the best diet to follow. More importantly is your macronutrient breakdown and what foods you choose to eat to meet this breakdown. This is where a little bit of common sense goes a long way. If your primary source of CHO is from refined grains, or even whole grains, then your diet is likely to be nutritionally weak. Specifically, you lose the benefit of all the vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals that fruits and vegetables have to offer. The good thing about the paleo diet is that it forces you to eat more of these foods. You don't have a choice.

My hunch is that the athletes who had success with this diet were the ones that previously had nutritionally weak diets, or have serve allergies to gluten or dairy. I followed this diet strictly for three months and saw absolutely no difference in performance, for better or worse. However my diet prior to paleo was one the was nutritionally sound. Fruits and vegetable made up the bulk of my plate with smaller sides of proteins and grains. So this leads to me to my first statement, that moderation and finding what works for you is key.

On a side note, one of the best things about living in this age is that we have access to a variety of different foods. I think this is something that should be taken advantage of, in moderation of course :).
 
Originally Posted by bmoberg337 .

My hunch is that the athletes who had success with this diet were the ones that previously had nutritionally weak diets, or have serve allergies to gluten or dairy.
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Agreed, that basically applied to any diet. Cut the processed rubbish and you'll feel and function a lot better. I still don't think the so called paleo diet is doable for an athlete, but they've changed the rules so much hardly anyone does the paleo diet these days anyway. You only have to visit youtube and search it to hear pseudo experts muttering terms like 'paleo coffee' or 'paleo protein shake' WTF????. Most of my mates who try to do paleo are that jacked up on caffeine and pre-workout supps it's not funny.
 
Originally Posted by Felt_Rider . Yep, makes me want to puke just thinking about it
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didn't make me feel any better reading it
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Originally Posted by NCooper15 .

[COLOR= rgb(75, 74, 44)]My wife and I have started a Paleo Diet, while we are not 100 % on Paleo yet we do want to get there. Any recommendation for any Paleo snacks to take with me on long rides for nutrition, on or before and after my rides. Thank you for any help.[/COLOR]
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What is your reasoning for doing Paleo? I mean besides the mainstream fad-like nature of the diet. Historically, we are not designed to ride around for miles on a bike, so I'm not sure how this diet would play out for you.

If you cycle a lot, I would suggest a modified TKD diet, where you utilize a form of carb-cycling, instead of a complete overhaul and move to Paleo.
 
I tried it for three months and lost 22lbs, eating well and it helped my hill work due to less weight. Now been off the Paleo for 2 1/2 months as I am on a work assignment in Germany and it is too difficult to follow the diet here. I am riding a lot more now, but have just about regained the 22lbs.

So, when I am back in the US I will get back on Paleo to loose weight, as it works well for this purpose.
 
Truth is, no diet is good if you stop keeping it. Your body gets used to that kind of food and when you don't give your organism the same things it starts getting messed up, and you end up gaining weight again.
 
I think apple slices will be more efficient for you. It will not even be the cause of weight gain.
 
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