Oatmeal for Energy

I’d be wary of splenda. It has been shown to alter your gut bacteria.

1 Like

Can one do overnight oats with Steel Cut Oats and Oat Groats? Each one is less processed than the other.

Less time, hassle and mess in the morning than hot porridge, although I love both.

For me and one of my daughters, I put 100g dry oats plus 300g plain yogurt (full or low fat not fat free which has much more sugar in it!!) plus a spoon of honey then a big handful of frozen berry mix. Add enough milk to make it easy to stir it all up, then leave overnight.

Stir up again in the morning, add a bit more milk if it’s too gloopy to stir. Fantastic breakfast!

2 Likes

This shows that the thicker oat flakes have a lower GI when compared to the finer oats.

I’ve also found that cooking the porridge for longer, kept me full for longer. One bowl (40g raw, 120ml milk) for me takes 5 mins in the microwave. I’m good until lunch. A friend who also has porridge for breaky, same amount, cooks his for 2 mins and complains he’s hungry a few hours later.
I did read that somewhere too but cannot find it now.

Something I’m working to cut out! Particularly in a time when I’m experiencing some rough stomach troubles at the moment. It’s a difficult balance of getting the satisfaction of some sweetness versus not wanting all the extra calories when I’m cutting weight!

I just can’t convince myself that unsweetened oatmeal and coffee taste good yet :sweat_smile:

1 Like

I know this makes me sound like a child (“adulting” is hard), but here is what I do: 1/2 cup of 1-minute oats, 1 cup of water, and 1/4 tsp of salt in the microwave in the morning. When it comes out, mix in 1 1/2 tbsp of unsweetened cocoa, 1/4 tsp of vanilla extract, and a sliced banana. I admit it, half the fun in being an endurance athlete is that before/during workouts I eat like a child. After the morning workout, it’s lots of protein and slow carbs. :slight_smile:

2 Likes

Yes! The more carbs you eat up to around 10-12 grams per kilo per day lower RPE and improve performance.

More than that has shown that it doesn’t help.

2 Likes

@Nate_Pearson For me that would be roughly 3000 calories of just carbs a day (at the moment). That is a lot especially when cutting weight. Any recommendations of carbs when trying to lose weight?

Steel Cut Oats yes. I’ve tried it.

Oat Groats i haven’t tried so i don’t know.

1 Like

If you workout less just eat less total calories.

I like how Matt Fitzgerald puts it in the endurance diet. Eat carb centric and eat until your full. Eat healthy things and occasionally indulge (especially to reward yourself for a food race or excellent training day).

If you’re a cyclist I think it’s easier to lose weight by remaining carb focused but reducing total calorie intake. That way your workouts don’t suck, you can do more of them and the whole thing is more maintainable.

I haven’t worked my self up to this yet, but I’d like to train about 2.5 hours a day on the trainer and eat 10g per kg of body weight a day in carbs. I think at that point my body weight would maintain itself and I’d get in a TON of training.

8 Likes

I’m going to go this route. The added benefit of the cocoa for recovery is a perk that shouldn’t be overlooked!

And there’s nothing wrong with eating like a kid now and then :man_shrugging: I never intend to grow up!

@Nate_Pearson do you shoot for a specific g/kg or bodyweight every day the same, or vary it depending on whether it is an easy or hard workout day?

also now you use this approach do you largely ignore your other macros?

BTW your advice on really increasing g/kg has trasnformed my workouts in last few weeks …

i have found shooting for 1.2-2g/kg of carbs per kg of BW pre session has been a game changer.

Probably not a common recipe but I used to cook my oats with an egg.

Put milk and cracked egg in a pan, whisk, add oats,bring to simmer and keep whisking otherwise you’ll get scrambled eggs.

They have a very rich, almost custard consistency.

1 Like

I’ve come across this, and like my tip above about adding nuts or nut butter, it’s probably a great way to make it more filling and add some good proteins and fats.

But I just can’t face the idea!

As long as I’m training I just try to do as much as I can. I don’t weight my food anymore so I’m not sure how much I’m getting.

1 Like

I think it’s just worth remembering that some people don’t train as much, and many train at lower wattages so will burn far fewer calories.

Which makes me a bit uncomfortable about throwing around these “10g per kilo of bodyweight” kind of rules without any clear context and caveats.

Curious: Do you still follow TR training plans? What does 2.5h translate to? MV + Lots of Baxter? :slight_smile:

I didn’t say that everyone should do 10g per kilo of body weight; I just said that’s the upper limit for performance improvements.

Please don’t eat 2000 calories over your TDEE.

I advocate for having a carb-centric diet, not a high-calorie diet (relative to TDEE).

1 Like

I’m on MV, but you can see I usually pick the higher version of the workout (so 90 minutes vs 1:15), and then recently I’ve been taking on aerobic work at the end.

I’ve done a few 2 hour workouts with this method and I’d like to extend them out to 2.5 if I can. It’s hard to have enough free time though with family duties.

3 Likes

I wonder if there’s a better way of framing it; another rule of thumb. Maybe just a percentage of daily calorie intake (then divided by 4 to get the grams you’re after).

Just that the g per kilo one is so easy to misinterpret, or miss the nuances. I know you said “up to…” but I can easily imagine people just taking away “10g per kilo” from these discussions.