Slimming World and LONG Bike rides

[hatwell]

Hello,

I've rejoined SW after a couple of years off. During that period, I've got heavily into cycling and am going out with my new cycling club tomorrow. We'll probably do at least 40 miles at decent speed.

If anyone else on here is into cycling in a big way, you'll know on these long rides it's usually fairly essential to have an energy bar / flapjack / other high sugar snack to keep energy levels topped up or you will run into serious difficulty.

If I eat this, should I syn it? It seems pretty mad that I'll use all my syns for one day eating half a flapjack that will be burned off immediately - usually rides like these involve burning something in the region of 1200-1500 calories.

Does anyone else on here cycle long distances regularly and if so how do you handle reconciling this with the plan?

 

[BeaBeas]

Hi Hatwell. Sorry I do not know the answer but I am following with interest as I've just got my first road bike and I'm considering swapping to SW from low carbing (not enough energy on LC for cycling, my legs don't seem to work!). Hope someone comes along with an answer soon.

 

[NotsofattyPatty]

Let me say straight out that I have no experience of this situation but in the run up to the Tour de France last summer I did see a TV programme that followed some amateur cyclists and it highlighted the number of calories needed to cope with the energy demands. I understand that jelly babies are good for this!

You could Flexi-Syn on days when you do these long rides ie use previous experience to estimate your requirements, work out the number of Syns you need and then stick to them. However, given that you want to lose weight which means you need to ensure you create a calorie deficit, an alternative possibility, and not strictly SW but it works for some people, is to set yourself a weekly Syn allowance and keep a substantial number for your bike rides. Based on the maximum daily allowance of 15 Syns, this would give you 105 a week and using (say) 10 a day for 6 days would still leave you 45 for the 7th day - giving you the equivalent of 900 calories to play with. You may need to experiment to see what works for you.

 

[hatwell]

Hi Hatwell. Sorry I do not know the answer but I am following with interest as I've just got my first road bike and I'm considering swapping to SW from low carbing (not enough energy on LC for cycling, my legs don't seem to work!). Hope someone comes along with an answer soon.

Thanks - good luck with your bike, getting mine is probably the best thing I've done in my adult life, it makes me so happy.

Thanks very much NotsofattyPatty as well - that seems like one sensible thing I can try. It's annoying tho cos if there was a low-syn alternative I'd have it, but the point is I literally need to take in a certain amount of calories to be able to do the ride. There comes a point when you run out of energy and unfortunately you can't just depend on fat stores. I've been there and it's not pretty at all!

 

[bilsat]

Cant you take Hi-Fi bars? 3 or 6 syns or a Heb!
Bananas give a boost.

 

[liquoricet]

Personally I'd just eat them. I took up running a year and a half ago and because I'm so slow I've needed to have a glucose snack if I do a 10k. I also have proper roast potatoes after my long run and I still lose weight.

If you're desperate to lose weight quickly, ignore me. Also I suggest you notice what happens weight wise (but you may retain water after a run, my weight increases 2 days after) so track over a little while. You can change strategies if you need to. This is a life change and life happens.

 

[hatwell]

Thanks, that's really helpful. While I am partly cycling to help with weight loss, I am mostly doing it for other health benefits and because I absolutely love it and it makes me happy. It's more important to me that I make sure I do my bike rides in a way that is both enjoyable and safe, than that I maximize speedy weight loss. Plus, I will be cycling at least 100 miles this weekend and I've been completely on plan otherwise all week, so I'm happy that I should show at least a small loss come Tuesday night.

 

[hollystar100]

If you stick to plan 100 % then you should syn the energy bars, as unlike alternative diets you don't get extra Syns for exercising.
I'd start off by not synning them, and if you stick to plan for the rest of the week and still lose, then keep it up. If however you start maintaining or gaining then you may need a rethink
I love cycling but don't do anywhere near the mileage you do! I take a rucksack with a couple of bananas in and sometimes my h e b x x


Sent from my iPad using MiniMins.com

 

[hatwell]

did 45 miles yesterday and about 60 today. have definitely gone over syns today by quite a bit. will just have to see what happens on the scales. bananas are a great idea though, not sure why i didnt think of them, thanks everyone.

 

[Neonic]

I don't do the mileage you do but I'm hoping to build up to it. I'm doing cycle Africa in October which is 350km in 5 days, so I need to put some serious training in. Alpen light bars, hifi bars (use HEB) and bananas are good then a few jelly babies to top up energy levels too.

 

[Shygirl84]

Well done on the cycling. It may not be strictly to plan, but how about eating what you need for the bike rides and seeing how your weight loss goes? If it slows down/stops then you would need to re assess, but if it works for you then personally I'd go for it, especially as I'd feel I was losing out by not having syns for what I want them for afterwards.

 

[Claire m colkin]

Hello,

I've rejoined SW after a couple of years off. During that period, I've got heavily into cycling and am going out with my new cycling club tomorrow. We'll probably do at least 40 miles at decent speed.

If anyone else on here is into cycling in a big way, you'll know on these long rides it's usually fairly essential to have an energy bar / flapjack / other high sugar snack to keep energy levels topped up or you will run into serious difficulty.

If I eat this, should I syn it? It seems pretty mad that I'll use all my syns for one day eating half a flapjack that will be burned off immediately - usually rides like these involve burning something in the region of 1200-1500 calories.

Does anyone else on here cycle long distances regularly and if so how do you handle reconciling this with the plan?

How is the plan and cycling going I have just started slimming world and have a 174 mile bike ride in August just wondered if you had any advice

 

[hatwell]

How is the plan and cycling going I have just started slimming world and have a 174 mile bike ride in August just wondered if you had any advice

hey! i just came on this site for the first time in a couple of years and was very surprised to see this thread on the front page! i haven't been on SW for a while but want to pick it up again - injuries have prevented me from cycling for a couple of months but when i start again i'd go for flexi-syns and keep bananas/nak'd type raw energy bars in my pockets on the ride. how did your 174 miles go?