Moderation in all things, not a bad approach
Essentially I tackle these heavy calorie days with a few key components in mind:
- Eat early and eat often
- Distribute your protein timing
- Timed carb intake
First up, eat early and eat often. On a weekday when I want to target approximately 4,000 calories I start with a decent sized breakfast of 500-600 calories and then make sure to eat another 300 or so as a snack before lunch. I then have another 500-600 for my lunch which I follow up with at least 400-500 as snacks before an early evening ride time. I then consume about 600 more during the two hours on the bike (sometimes if I’m doing something like English +5 I’ll include a sweet potato during the endurance portion at the end when I know the intensity is low enough that my stomach can take it). This leaves me with around 1000-1500 to eat after the ride, which I try to spread out before bed
Distributing protein is important for me since if I over-eat protein and focus it only during the three ‘meals’ I feel ravenous the rest of the day - it helps keep me feeling full and keeps the engine moving all day long. This means those snacks I mention above all include some amount of protein.
Timing the carbs was also an important lesson for me to learn because I’m doing relatively low carbs right now (40% fat really cuts into your carb intake) but I just can’t get through the harder workouts if I don’t hit the sweeter carbs a few hours before the ride. I was able to get away with being lazier on this when I was in base, but I really suffer in build if I don’t fuel the ride with carbs.
Before I get into the specific foods I eat - a few caveats. I have a relatively strong stomach and find the timing of the food is the main item that messes me up (if I eat heavily right before bed I won’t sleep well and get acid reflux) but otherwise I’m relatively lucky in that I can eat a lot and feel good. I also know what I like, am a capable cook, and am pretty happy to eat the same things over and over again - if you require variety then you’ll have to do more substitutions than I do.
I try to stick to whole foods whenever possible, and most everything is homemade (with a few exceptions) but you can (for some extra money) buy all of these things in the prepared foods section of a grocery store
Breakfast foods
- Whole milk plain greek yogurt (good source of both fat and protein)
- Cereal - I either have homemade granola or a store bought higher sugar cereal mixed with cheerios
Lunch foods
- Pork tenderloin or white meat poultry (either chicken or turkey)
- Roasted beets
- Kale or collard greens
Dinner foods
- Salads (whatever lettuce you prefer) with olive oil and balsamic vinegar as dressing. Some cashews for crunch and extra calories
- Tuna or other fish (can do canned or cook fresh)
- Enlightened ice cream (my brand of choice - has roughly the same caloric breakdown as a recovery shake) - this is one of my ‘treat’ foods since I have a sweet tooth
Snack foods
- Avocados - these have been key for me lately - ~200 calories each, filling, delicious
- Hard cooked eggs - another good source of protein and fat that helps fill me up between meals
- Nuts 'n more high protein nut butters - another treat food - these are very calorie dense and I’ll grab a spoonful of these whenever I’m feeling a bit empty to top up…this is the only thing on the list I have to be careful with as I can actually go over my calorie totals if I go hard on them
- Sweet potatoes
Bike foods
- SiS Gels - only on high intensity workouts, never use them for anything else
- Clif Bars - for longer duration intervals where I haven’t gotten carbs in ahead of time
- Sweet potatoes - for low intensity workouts where I want the carbs
I think the key for me is that my meals add up to around my non-riding calorie goals for the day and then the snacks and treats can supplement me up another 1000-2000 pretty easily. This lets me have the same basic meals on non-ride, or lower volume, days. I can simply up my serving size of breakfast, double up on my dinner salad, and add in my snack foods and ride foods at the appropriate levels.
The other thing I’d mention is that during base I would often go hungry to maintain my calorie goals, but as soon as I progress into build that becomes impossible. I track my food and try to maintain discipline between eating because I’m bored and eating because I’m hungry - but if I’m feeling empty at the end of the day I’ll have some of those nut butters even if I’m over my calorie target. At some point you have to listen to your body and not your calorie counts