Protein improves your post ride recovery

Prolonged and intense endurance training like cycling increases your protein requirements for two reasons. Firstly, you need more to compensate for the increased breakdown of protein during training. When muscle glycogen stores become low (around 60-90 minutes of endurance training) certain amino acids known as branched chain amino acids which make up a substantial proportion of muscle protein (see box below) can be used for energy.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly for cyclists, protein is vital for the repair and recovery of muscle tissue after a ride. It’s in this post-recovery phase that you may need to rethink what you’re eating. Not only should you be rebuilding your fuel stores immediately after a ride, but you also need to repair damaged muscle fibres as soon as possible.

Eat the wrong foods after training and you’ll end up exhausted with sore, aching legs. If you eat right then your body will get stronger, fitter and recover faster.

Protein-rich foods have additional benefits too – they are involved in producing neurotransmitters, chemical messengers in the brain keeping you alert, focused and energised. They also slow down the release rate of glucose into the bloodstream, helping stabilise blood sugar between rides, and containing energising nutrients such as B vitamins, iron and zinc.

Source: Bike Radar

How many eggs can you eat per day?

You eat 40 whole eggs per week. 5 to 6 eggs daily at breakfast. You eat them with veggies, really like them and feel full of energy at the gym each time your day starts with an omelet.

But everyone tells you you're crazy eating so many eggs. They tell you eggs are unhealthy because they're full of cholesterol. You'll clock your arteries and die if you continue. Sounds familiar? Truth or myth? Let's see.

Why People Say Eating Lots of Eggs is Unhealthy. Eggs contain high amounts of cholesterol. 1 large egg has about 200mg cholesterol and 5g of fat. Almost half of that fat is saturated fat.

The logic is that since eggs are high in cholesterol, a high egg consumption will increase your blood cholesterol. So by cutting eggs from your diet, your blood cholesterol will decrease. This, however, isn't how your body works.

Facts on Cholesterol. You can find studies showing that high cholesterol levels will make you live longer and more immune to infections & diseases than low cholesterol levels. More facts:

• Your Body Makes Cholesterol. Your liver makes 3-6x more cholesterol than you can get eating eggs and other animal products.
• Cholesterol is Vital To Your Body. You need it for the production of steroid hormones like Testosterone and to build & repair cells.
• Dietary Cholesterol Isn't Bound to Blood Cholesterol. There's no relation to cholesterol & saturated fat intake to higher cholesterol levels.

Benefits of Eating The Egg Yolk. Eating the yolk makes your life easier since you don't have to separate it from the egg white each time. Eating the yolk is also healthier for 3 reasons:

• More Vitamins. The yolk is full of vitamins A, D, E. Vitamin D is especially important since most people lack vitamin D.
• Twice The Protein. Eating whole eggs doubles the protein intake you'd get eating egg whites only: the yolk contains half the protein.
• Increased Testosterone Levels. Saturated fat and cholesterol increase testosterone production. Both are heavily present in the egg yolk.

How to Protect Yourself Against Heart Diseases. This is the real concern people have regarding cholesterol. Some things you can do.

• Lose Fat. People with high cholesterol usually have excess body fat. Read the article on fat loss and apply.
• Exercise. This will make you lose fat and improve your health. CheckStrongLifts 5x5 if you don't know where to start.
• Eat Healthy. No more junk food, sodas, artificial trans-fats and refined sugars. Apply the 8 nutrition rules.
• Get Antioxidants. Like berries and green tea. These keep your LDL particles acting normal, preventing blockage in arteries.
• Relax. Stress can negatively influence your cholesterol levels. Relax, take breaks, exercise, think positive, ...
• Avoid Drugs. Cholesterol lowering drugs are harmful to your liver in the long-term and useless if you don't eat healthier, exercise and lose fat.

If you tried the above and your cholesterol levels haven't improved, then MAYBE you're part of the minority of the population who's genetically predisposed.

Source: StrongLifts.com / photo from FueledbyEggs.com

Malaysia's favourite breakfast

Nasi Lemak is Malaysians' favourite food for breakfast.The rice which is cooked with coconut milk and pandan. Eat with fried anchovies and peanuts. Sambal (thick chili sauce), cucumber and eggs complete this famous national dish.

According to Star Online, 1 serving of Nasi Lemak is 644 calories. Add another 290 calories for a fried chicken. Meanwhile, 1 piece of Roti Canai (or Prata) + dhal gives you 360 calories. While Roti Telur is 414 calories. Teh Tarik is 83 calories and 2 half-boiled eggs & plain Roti gives you 227 calories.

There you go people! Malaysian cyclist whether they are riding or not still favour these dishes despite high calories over some 'mat salleh' food for breakfast. No wonder, it is hard to lose weight even on bike tour!

Instant Carb

I do carry some bars & gels on bike tour FOR EMERGENCY use.

Why? because they can give instant carbs when in urgent need in a small & easy size to carry. 

Yes, they are expensive and tastes funny, so it is optional.
Usually I don't even use them in a tour.

So don't worry, you DON'T have to carry them if you don't want to.

What to eat on bike tour?

I love to eat. When people ask me what to eat for bike tour? I would say, eat more carb before start riding, eat simple carb during cycling and eat carb & protein after ride. Easy rite?

As a Malaysian, I'd eat anything local, but I'd try to skip Nasi Lemak before ride, not because it is not 'sporty' enough for cyclist but because of the sambal that might  hurt my stomach. I'd opt for Roti Canai and Teh Halia instead. And sometimes, I'd eat Bee Hoon Goreng or Mee Goreng, if they are available.

And what if you are overly conscious about your calories intake? Then skip Nasi Lemak or Roti Canai, just eat 2 half-boiled egg & plain bread. Hmmm Boring........

During ride, eat simple carbs like sweets, cakes, bread etc. I used to carry biscuits, nuts, raisins or dates for bike tour. Or simply eat bananas which is easy to digest.

After ride, I usually eat Nasi Campur because I love Rice and I need those carbs, and add up with Fish or Chicken for the Protein we need for muscle recovery. And don't forget the junk food like crackers, potato chips, chocolates too.

So, don't worry too much about what to eat. Just enjoy the tour & the food! Bicycle touring will burn out those calories when you ride slow as we usually do, so eat up!

How and When to Hydrate

Sipping fluids before and after a hot weather workout is just as important as drinking during a ride. Here we turn to the experts for the when, how and what of staying quenched.

Time it right Hydrating before pedaling helps you avoid drying out on the road. For best absorption, sip 12 to 16 ounces of water four hours before hopping onto your bike; two hours before, sip another 12 ounces. While riding, drink enough to match the intensity of the exercise, the heat of the day and your body's needs—the average recommendation is one 16-ounce bottle per hour in cool weather, up to as many as four bottles per hour in extremely hot weather, based on a 150-pound cyclist. Afterward, your goal is to replace lost fluids and electrolytes. If the ride was easy or moderate, sipping water and having a small meal within an hour of finishing should be sufficient, but if the ride was long and intense, use the weighing method below to determine your drinking regimen.

Customize People sweat at different rates, and rides vary in terrain, speed and distance, but hydration goals are the same regardless. "Your aim is to minimize fluid and electrolyte loss or gain," says Douglas Casa, Ph.D., the director of athletic training education at the University of Connecticut, at Storrs. The best way to learn your individual sweat rate: Step on the scale before and after a long or hard ride. If you weigh less afterward, you should be drinking a bit more; if you weigh more, you should cut back to avoid overhydration.

Keep it simple "On easier rides, stick with water. You'll get the mother lode of electrolytes, calories and fluids from the meals and fluids you consume prior to, and after, your ride," says Casa, who's been researching hydration and exercise issues for more than a decade. When a ride is intense, pushes past an hour, or is in hot weather, consider a sports drink. "I recommend staying away from the stuff with 9,000 ingredients," says Casa. "You just need the essentials—fluid, carbohydrates and electrolytes."

Try and try again The only way to find what drinks work for you is by testing them. "Some products may not taste good to you, while others may sit in your stomach in a bad way," says Casa. If you're the type of salty sweater who finds white streaks on your jersey after a ride, you may need a drink with more sodium. For extreme salt sweaters, Casa suggests adding 1/4 teaspoon of salt to 16 ounces of sports drink (that's 600mg of sodium). If you find that a sports drink upsets your stomach, try diluting it with water. "Just never start a big event with a new product in your bottle," says Casa. "That's a recipe for disaster."

Source: Bicycle.com

Eat your breakfast cereal

Research shows that people who start the day with cereal eat less fat throughout the day, get more vitamins and minerals and have lower cholesterol levels than those who skip it. Plus, people who live to be a 100 or more tend to eat breakfast regularly. Bicycling Magazine.

Source: Bikyle.com- Cycling Tips

Durian- King of Calories!

Yes, it's that time again...Durian Season is back!! For durian lovers, here is some facts that you need to know. I have no intention to stop you from eating it but to remind you the risk that you are taking if you eat it too much.
Ok... 1 piece (ulas) of durian, you'll get:

Nutrition Facts Calories 357 (Kilojoules 1493) % DV** Total Fat 13 g 20% Sat. Fat - 0% Cholesterol 0 mg 0% Sodium 5 mg 0% Total Carbs. 65.8 g 22% Dietary Fiber 9.2 g 37% Sugars - Protein 3.6 g Calcium 14.6 mg Potassium 1059.5 mg Note: A dash indicates no data is available.

*Refuse: 68% (Shell and seeds (for raw fruit))

Fat	117 cals (30%)
Carbs.	263 cals (67%)
Protein	14 cals (4%)

EXERCISE REQUIRED
To burn the calories in this food you can do any of the following exercise. 98 mins of Walking 41 mins of Jogging 29 mins of Swimming 54 mins of Cycling

So, let say u 'accidentally' eat 2 pieces (ulas).... then just multiply it by 2 for how long that you need to exercise to burn off the calories! So, if you eat 1 fruit, does it means that you need to do an IronMan to burn the calories off??......well, you do the math ok?

Source: CalorieKing

Durian- King of Fruits

The durian (IPA: [d̪uˈɾi.ɑn]) is the fruit of trees of the genus Durio belonging to the Malvaceae, a large family which includes hibiscus, okra, cotton, mallows and linden trees. Widely known and revered in Southeast Asia as the "King of Fruits,"the fruit is distinctive for its large size, unique odour, and a formidable thorn-covered husk. Its name comes from the Malay word duri (thorn) together with Malay suffix that is -an (for building a noun in Malay), meaning "thorny fruit."

Actual, there is no 'direct' relation between Durian and Cycling but in case that you are riding your bike and accidentally found durians at the side of the road, tie the durians on the top and both sides of the rear rack with a bungee cord that will press them securely to the rack (see above picture- btw that is steve's leg)...and you are good to go!

Source: definitions by Wikipedia.

Energy Drinks & Food Bars: Power or Hype?

A typical day for Javier starts early and ends late, and he often finds his energy flagging at key times. So he relies on power drinks and energy bars to get him through school, sports practice, his job, and then homework. Although Javier is usually exhausted by the time he falls into bed, he’s also noticed lately that he’s sometimes too jittery and wired to sleep. He wonders if all those power products are giving him a little too much energy.

Energy drinks and nutrition bars often make big promises. Some say they’ll increase energy and alertness, others offer extra nutrition, and some even claim to boost your athletic performance or powers of concentration. But once you cut through the hype and look past the flashy packaging on energy products, chances are what you’re mostly getting is a stiff dose of sugar and caffeine.

So should you eat or drink these products? As with everything, they’re OK in moderation. The occasional energy drink is fine, and a protein bar in the morning is a better choice than not getting any breakfast at all. But people like Javier — who usually has about three or four energy drinks and a couple of protein bars every day — are overdoing it.

Make Smart Choices

With so much going on in our lives, lots of people feel tired and run down. And many of us find ourselves skipping a meal sometimes. So it’s not surprising that nutrition, protein, and energy drinks and food bars have flooded the market, offering us the convenience of energy on the go.

Sometimes, this can be good news — like for the person who has to skip breakfast or the athlete who needs an energy boost before practice. Food bars will never beat a well-balanced meal or snack when it comes to meeting our nutrition needs. But many of them do contain more nutrients than a candy bar or a bag of chips. Likewise, some of the sports or energy drinks on the market today contain some vitamins and minerals.

Know the Downsides

So the occasional power drink or food bar can be a good choice. But as with anything else, it’s possible to get too much of a good thing.

Here are some facts to keep in mind when it comes to food bars or energy drinks.

They contain excessive sugar and calories. Did you know that some energy bars and drinks contain hundreds of calories? That may be OK for athletes who burn lots of calories in high-intensity activities, like competitive cycling. But for many teens the extra sugar and calories just contribute to weight gain, not to mention tooth decay.

Energy drinks are often full of caffeine. Caffeine may be legal, but it is a stimulant drug. It can cause side effects like jitteriness, upset stomach, headaches, and sleep problems — all of which drag you down, not power you up! Plus, taking certain medications or supplements can make caffeine's side effects seem even worse.

Food bars don’t make good meal replacements. You never really see someone eat an energy bar for dinner and then sit back with a satisfied grin. Nothing beats a real meal for both that well-fed feeling and the nutritional satisfaction your body needs.

Although lots of energy drinks and nutrition bars have some vitamins and minerals added, they can’t give you all the different nutrients your body needs to grow, develop, play sports, and handle all the other stuff on your schedule. The only way to get that is through eating a balanced diet and not skipping meals.

They may contain mysterious ingredients. In addition to caffeine and sugar, some brands of energy drinks and food bars can have ingredients whose safety or effectiveness hasn’t been tested — things like guarana (a source of caffeine) and taurine (an amino acid thought to enhance caffeine’s effect). Some contain herbal supplements that are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), such as ginseng.

These kinds of ingredients may cause problems for people who are taking certain medications or have a health condition. So play it safe. Always check the label carefully before you eat or drink any kind of energy supplement.

They’re expensive. Though energy bars and drinks are everywhere these days, they don’t come cheap. At about $3 a pop, you can get a better (and cheaper) energy boost by eating a whole-wheat bagel with cream cheese. And you can get better hydration by drinking 8 ounces of tap water. Other on-the-go foods that provide plenty of nutritional bang for the buck include trail mix, fresh or dried fruits, and whole-wheat breads and cereals.

Cutting Through the Hype

There’s some clever marketing behind energy bars and drinks, and you've got to be a pretty savvy consumer to see through it. So be critical when reading labels. As with everything, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

If energy bars and drinks are becoming their own food group in your diet, remember — “all things in moderation.” These products aren’t harmful if you have them occasionally, but they’re not the healthy choices the advertising hype makes them out to be either.

The truth is, the best energy boost comes from healthy living. People who eat well, drink water, and get enough physical activity and rest will have plenty of energy — the natural way.

Source: KidsHealth-Teens-Food & Fitness-Nutritions Basics: Mary L. Gavin, M.D., March 2006.

Myth - White bread is worthless; it has no nutritional value.

FALSE!

Although the refined white flour used to make bread may have been stripped of fiber, magnesium, zinc, and several other nutrients, at least five nutrients have been added back by enriching the flour with B vitamins (thiamin, niacin, riboflavin, folic acid) and iron.

Some white breads offer more of these vitamins than do whole wheat breads. But not all the lost nutrients are replaced, so the optimal sports diet includes primarily whole grain breads. When reading the label on the bread wrapper, be forewarned that wheat flour is synonymous with refined white flour. Only bread labeled as "100% whole wheat" are indeed made from all whole wheat flour. Most breads are white flour based, with a dash of whole wheat flour (or other grain) added. The fiber content offers a tip-off: look for breads with at least two grams of fiber per slice. And if the rural syores offer only white bread, relax.... you can have whole grains at other meals.

Eating white bread will not hurt your health unless your entire diet focuses on refined white flour products (i.e. too many white bagels and pasta meals etc.). You'd be wise to eat a variety of grain food and consume a variety of nutrients. Hence, if you eat a bagel made from white flour at breakfast, choose rye bread at lunch and (baked) corn chips for a snacks. Or, if you prefer white bread for a sandwich, enjoy whole grain Wheaties for breakfast and corn for dinner. The key to an optimal diet is to balance out the highly processed food with more wholesome products throughout the day. No one food- not even white bread- can be classified as bad. It can be integrated into an overall good diet.

Source: "Loafing Around; Bread & Cyclist" by Nancy Clark, MS, RD, Adventure Cyclist, Sept/ Oct 2006./ photo courtesy of dianasbakery.com

Eating While Riding

When riding one-handed because you are reaching for food or water, grip the handlebar top next to the stem. This helps you sit up, and your movements won’t be as likely to make the bike swerve.

Practice eating while on training rides. Clear your nasal passages just before eating because you have to breathe through your nose while chewing.

Eat something every 30 minutes on long rides to keep energy levels high. Preserve your glycogen (muscle fuel) by always accelerating smoothly, avoiding hard efforts on hills, and resisting all other activities that make your body switch to anaerobic metabolism to meet extra energy demands. Hard riding uses glycogen much less efficiently than evenly paced, aerobic metabolism.

From Bicycling 250 Best Cycling Tips/ photo courtesy of mikesbike.com

Are cyclists at risk for osteoporosis?

Cycling is a great cardiovascular exercise that can spare joints from stress, but it still puts riders at risk for osteoporosis, says Mountain Bike columnist Selene Yeager, so she recommends adding cross training and calcium supplements to exercise regimens.

• If the only time you move your body is when it's clipped into a pair of SPDs, you could be raising your risk for this bone-thinning disease.
• Cycling is a non-weight-bearing activity, which means your bones don't have to support your own (or any outside) weight to do it.
• That's good news for your joints, because they're spared the stress, but it can be bad news for your bones because they need stress to build.
• Without it, the body keeps taking the calcium it needs from your skeleton without putting any fresh bone back, and you lose bone density.
• The best thing for your bones--and the rest of your body--is to throw in some cross-training.
• Weight training is particularly good for building bones.
• Doing a full-body strength-training routine three days a week strengthens your skeleton as well as your muscles.
• Adding running into your routine a couple times a week (or more in the off season) can strengthen bones as well.
• As for calcium supplements: They're great added protection.
• The National Osteoporosis Foundation recommends getting 1,000-1,300 milligrams of calcium a day.
• That's about three glasses of calcium-fortified milk a day.
• If you don't eat much dairy, definitely supplement.
• KEEP YOUR SKELETON STRONG DON'T SMOKE: Human chimneys lose bone twice as quickly as nonsmokers.
• DITCH THE COLA: Carbonated drinks, especially colas, are high in phosphorous, which blocks calcium absorptions.
• Plus they're a big zero in the nutritional category.
• MODERATE BOOZE: Too much alcohol inhibits calcium absorption and bone formation.
• Stick to no more than a drink or two a day.

Source: MountainBike/ photo courtesy of A2Z of Health, Beauty and Fitness

Why we should all go bananas

The lowly banana is the Eddy Merckx of energy food. Today the hype goes to trendier, micro-engineered energy bars and gels, but if you bring this stalwart yellow delicacy out of retirement, you'll rediscover a classic piece of cycling perfection. The banana has loads of carbs, potassium (an important electrolyte), and ride-enhancing vitamins--it's almost as if it were designed just for us.

Bananas weren't an energy food for the first cyclists, who usually fueled their efforts with bread and cheese, washed down liberally with wine. It became a tradition for European racers to disdain the banana as difficult to digest. Andy Hampsten, the only American ever to win the Tour of Italy, says his teammates during his early years as a European pro would tease him about eating bananas.

"They'd say I was going to fall asleep mid-race because they thought the bananas would just sit in my stomach," Hampsten says. But he knew that a ripe banana is actually pretty easy to digest and makes a great, portable on-ride food because it readily converts to energy. The glycemic index ranks foods on a scale of 0-100, based on how quickly they're converted to usable energy (with 100 representing pure glucose). A banana has a glycemic index rating of 55--a quicker energy boost than other common fruits. For example, an apple has a rating of 38 and an orange is 44. The banana beats the peanuts out of a Snickers bar, which is ranked at 41, and is close to a chocolate PowerBar Performance bar at 58.

Bananas are famous for containing potassium, an essential electrolyte that helps regulate blood chemistry (particularly Ph) and improves carbohydrate metabolism by helping the muscles act efficiently. Without potassium (and sodium), your muscles stop firing correctly. Severe loss of sodium can produce really nasty complications all the way up to shock and death. (Of course, you'd stop riding before then.) Potassium also prevents the blood's Ph from _becoming too acidic. With enough potassium in your system, blood glucose is more easily transported through cell walls and used in ATP production. Translation: more energy, more quickly.

Bananas are also rich in vitamin B6, which helps metabolize more than 60 proteins and assists in red blood cell production that transports oxygen to muscles. And folate in bananas helps concentration and memory. If you get lost a lot, try eating a banana.

This magic fruit also gives you 17% of your Daily Value of vitamin C, an antioxidant that neutralizes free radicals (harmful waste products) in your body and helps produce collagen, the building block of the connective tissues such as tendons and cartilage that keep your knees strong. And the banana's magnesium (yep, the same stuff they make fork lowers out of) plays _a role in energy transport and your body's ability to keep pushing those cranks around. It's also involved in the synthesis _of protein, which helps recovery.

And, finally, the ultimate benefit: Unlike a gel container, bar wrapper, or a plastic bag holding a bunch of cookies, the banana's "container" is biodegradable: Toss it to the side of the road and it breaks down in one to two weeks.

Like Eddy (and Elvis, whose favorite food was fried peanut butter-and-banana sandwiches), the banana is king.

by Joe Lidsley, Bicycling Magazine

Source: Bicycling Magazine/ photo courtesy of MicrobeWiki