NUTRITION FOR CYCLISTS: Lunching for the Afternoon Commute

Eating well and healthy is important for cyclists and one of those important meals is lunch … don’t I know :). For commuters this can be even more important as fuel for that ride home maybe quite critical, e.g., riding south here in Perth in the summer into a howling Fremantle Doctor for example.  Renee McGregor at BikeRadar.com has put together some suggestions for lunch options. A quick summary follows.

Soup (good one for winter for sure):  Renee suggests that soup is a good source of nutrients and vitamins that variates containing root vegatables such as sweet potato and butternut squash are the best options. Oh, a multi-grain roll is allowed to 🙂

 

Sushi: Renee suggests that sushi being naturally low in fat, and high in carbohydrates is a good choice.  Going for the salmon or tuna varieties adds a boost of omega 3 essential fatty acids. She does warn about takeaway salad and sandwich choices. Some good points I hadn’t considered in the past.  My sports nutritionist, Bethanie Allanson at The Nutrition Specialists suggests sushi and and a low fat yoghurt (not a high sugar one) as being a good lunchtime choice.

 

Pasta: Renee suggests that whilst pasta is a good carbohydrate-rich meal, there are other options such as rice, potatoes and sweet potato.  Just keep the pasta serving size down to 50 grams of dry weight.

 

Home made Wrap: Renee suggests the following for a tasty home-made wrap …

 

Bake half a small sweet potato (chopped) in the oven with 1tsp of olive oil and red chilli for about 15-20 minutes until cooked – keeping the skin on for extra fibre and vitamin C.

 

Take a wholemeal tortilla and add the sweet potato mix, some low-fat feta cheese and spring onions. This tasty wrap comes in at about 400Kcal, with 13g fat and 1.3g salt so you still have space for a little something sweet.

 

Sweet Treat: Make your pudding a power treat, not a sinful treat. Suggestions include banana and mixed berries topped with some fat-free yoghurt and honey or chocolate but with at least 50% cocoa.

 

To fill in the details and get more information, click thorugh to Renee’s article at BikeRadar.com.