I have a 25km commute to work with just under 200m of climbing and I can do it on average in just over an hour. I take a bowl of soaked oats to work on the morning about two cups of oats, handful of blueberries, chia seeds and a banana in oats milk, that’s my breakfast when I get into work. I have a sweet potato lunch with sardines or tuna on average but a good mix of carbohydrates and protein and I feel content after the meal. I’ll snack during the day after that on a bagel with peanut butter or fruit. My ride home is more or less the same route, time and elevation and I don’t eat anything on the bike when riding home or too work.
So here is the issue, when I get home I am totally famished, I can’t get enough food in me till the point that I can’t go to bed on time because I’m so full.
I’m 5’9 and my weight varies between 12-12.4 stone. (168-175lbs) depending on the time of the year.
What can I do to stop being so hungry when I get home as it ruins my ability to go to bed on time and hence recover. I’m also in my early fifties.
(this image is from my instagram, here’s the full post, but it was about an article I’d written)
The meme image is my actual answer to your question.
If you’re starving at night, and you’re not consuming anything during your workout, consume intra-workout fuel, first and foremost. Hypoglycemia is what you experience during the ride, and it’s a potent hunger driver. The hunger often hits and lingers well beyond when the blood sugar has been brought back to normal.
How hard are you going on the commutes? My commute is almost the same, but I try to keep it zone 2. I’ve been bad at fueling lately, but even when I work through lunch and survive on desk snacks I’m still not famished when home (nothing a bowl of cheerios won’t fix, anyway). What are you eating at night? Are you getting enough protein and calories in total?
I’m going pretty hard, the climbs is a red climb on Garmin and traffic light tempo rides get the heart rate going. I’m eating a lot when I get home, but diet is good on the mix of fibre, carbs etc. I’ve toned down on red meat but make up for it with legumes, fish and such like.
I’ll definitely go back to having something to eat pre ride in the morning.
My commute is 40 minutes each way. I keep it endurance so it doesn’t mess up my training.
Don’t eat before I ride. No appetite (plus I have to fry all my kids crap together).
One bottle of water, one bottle of Gatorade (60g, no malto added).
I nurse the Gatorade on the way there. Eat an egg and cheese sandwich I premade before I start work at 9:30
Snack before my noon patient and I eat a meal. I cal it a snack but my coworkers make fun of me (maybe 2 eggs with noodles or rice and liquid aminos with some broccoli).
Then I set my lunch at 2 (leftovers)
Then probably a bar or apple or both at 4. Ride home at 6:15 and finish the Gatorade.
Dinner when I get home.
I probably eat more than 1:20 endurance needs but that’s because other days I’m doing intervals or doing long rides so I’m always behind on calories.
My rule. Take more food than you need at work just in case. But you need to eat every 2-3 hours. I also try to stop eating 2 hours before bed but if I have to eat something it’s peanut butter on a spoon so I’m not filling my stomach up with bulk and then laying down.
I agree with what everyone else has said. However, if you are a salty sweater it might serve you well to increase salt intake. I used to be insatiable after rides no matter how much I fueled them because I was not taking in enough salt. Once I tried lmnt tea and my appetite went back to normal. Now I just use sodium citrate in my carb mix instead of lmnt tea to save money.
After all I said I bonked on the ride home yesterday. I added mileage on both ends bc my kids are on break so I can’t ride the trainer or long and was so busy at work I couldn’t refuel. So 1.5 hours at endurance each way for two days. Second day hit me hard in the afternoon and today I am wrecked. Taking the day off completely (also have my kids spring break cold).
Something about two rides in a day just hits me harder and different than two equivalent 3 hour rides (I do stand 90% of the time in between rides at work). So eat often and ALOT
Great topic, just accepted a position at a clinic that is going to allow for a cycling commute ~20km. Have been more worried about setting up my bike to carry my lunch, laptop and what I will wear or if I will change once I get there and change back to ride again. Was thinking of maybe getting some chinos with stretch in them and wearing a short liner, if I can manage the ride without getting too sweaty or alternatively wearing kit in, hanging it up in my office to dry over the course of the day and changing (I have a separate exam room to see pts so they wouldn’t see my chamois airing out lol). As the google maps estimate of the ride is like 80mins (traffic and lights) I was planning to do some eating and drinking on the ride.
But also will need to figure out a setup to transport my change of clothes, food, laptop, back and forth as well.
On rainy or snowy days I will just drive but like the idea of getting an extra 10 hours of low intensity volume per week.
