Comments on: Loving the BITE: How to Achieve Healthy Eating Success this Year

By: Kelli Jennings

Kelli Jennings — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 00:14:00 +0000

Hi Riann,
The one recommendation I would make now is to add any source of protein you can to breakfast, and cut the portion of cereal/oats in half. 1-2 hard-boiled eggs, 2 Tbsp peanut butter, etc will work. It’s not just a calorie thing, but a balance of more protein and slightly less carbs can positively influence the hormones that affect fat storage. And, a combo of carbs and protein will give you better recovery and energy throughout the morning/day. And yes, I’m all for losing fat with daily nutrition and giving yourself adequate training nutrition to improve on the bike – a sense of giving yourself the right fuel when you need it. You’re doing a good job! Keep it up and enjoy the ride!

By: Riaan Coetzee

Riaan Coetzee — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 08:04:00 +0000

Wow, thanks for the amazing feedback As for my current ‘eating plan’, I have a glass of water, and sometimes a coffee, before riding to work. There I make sure I shower etc before eating, trying to eat only 20 minutes after riding. It’s normally something like oats or Pronutro cereal (whole grain). Lunch varies, but almost always (due to habit I guess) contains bread. Dinner varies a lot, we like our red meat and starch here, so that’s almost always on the plate.

Great advice on the longer / training rides and nutrition – I often feel that ‘NOW’S my chance to really burn some calories” but that is silly, come to think of it.

Another great tip is about not eating everything cooked for the family – I’m so gonna use that

By: Kelli Jennings

Kelli Jennings — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 14:12:00 +0000

Also, I’ll do my best in the future to make it more clear when these “special” ingredients are optional, or what can be used as a simpler substitute…thanks for this feedback!

By: Kelli Jennings

Kelli Jennings — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 14:09:00 +0000

Hi Roger, Thanks for the comment! I’m glad it’s helpful to you, and I’m glad to provide any needed kicks in the pants:). You can acheive your goals!!! Go get ‘em!

By: Kelli Jennings

Kelli Jennings — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 14:07:00 +0000

Hi Riaan, Thanks for the comment! Great job with the commuting during the week and serious rides during the weekend. Also, awesome job dropping the 15 kg’s so far. My recommendations for fueling this training plan would be to stick to small breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, mid-morning snack, light dinner (veg and protein), and optional portion-controlled dessert during the week – no added training nutrition unless the commute one-way is over an hour. If possible, eat your breakfast after your commute to work (hard-boiled eggs and an apple or other travel-ready meal) and dinner after getting home. If not possible, eat your mid-morning snack after commuting to work and then settle in until lunch. By giving yourself a “recovery” that’s one of your regular foods, you can curb an increased appetite throughout the day and still maintain good energy levels without adding extra training foods while trying to lose weight. Make sure to hydrate well throughout the day. Then, on the weekend, absolutely give yourself the training nutrition you need for those long rides (before, during, after). This is not the time to skimp even when trying to lose weight. As for your concerns; 1) the ingredients/supplements like organic coconut oil are great, but in no way mandatory. I usually lay out the optimal foods I recommend, but often work with clients to make subs when necessary (cooking/eating is a flexible endeavor!). I do work with clients all over the world and usually find that the foundation of the meal plan, whole foods, are available in most places. If you can find protein sources such as eggs, beans, and meats, fruits and vegetables, and healthy fats like nuts, avocados, and healthy oils, you can stay on plan. Many times, the extra “healthy” foods just get in the way, anyway.:). I’m in the same boat with kids (well, almost) with 3 kiddos 5 years and under, so I am very familiar with meal time challenges. My recommendation is the make the same dinner for everyone, but on your plate, skip the grain/carb at night. The kids can have protein, rice, and a small amount of veggies (and any seasonings they like) for example, and you can have a large amount of vegetables and protein…it’s mostly a matter of varying portions. I hope this helps…it’s a bit difficult to lay out nutrition recommendations to fit everyone, so gleen what works for you and please let me know if you’d like to work one-on-one. Take care!

By: Riaan Coetzee

Riaan Coetzee — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 13:37:00 +0000

As always, an interesting read. I’ve got a ‘funny’ schedule though – I commute to work and back on my bicycle (as everyone should) and have gone onto making that part (actually most) of my training. I ride more than an hour, twice daily – sometimes hard, sometimes easy, there’s no real ‘plan’ to it (yet, I’m working on one right now) and end up doing ‘serious’ rides over weekends (3 – 5 hours plus) I’ve recently started racing as well (mountain bike) but am not a pro by any stretch of the imagination.

Another potential problem I have with ‘eating right’ is the fact that I’ve got half a busload of kids (actually just 4) between baby and 7 years old, and would like to only make one meal, not two or three (ie not cook for myself, and cook for the kids) – they eat just about anything, they’re not fussy at all.

Lastly ingredients … it’s easy to throw out things like ‘organic coconut oil’ but I dare you to try and find that in sunny South Africa ingredients needs to be much, much simpler

And verily lastly, I’m (still) overweight (I’ve dropped ~15kg’s in the last year, down from ~97kg’s and needing to get down to around 76Kg as ‘ideal’ weight) – so I guess this will also need to be taken into account

By: Roger

Roger — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 12:14:00 +0000

This is the kick in the pants I was needing. Thanks for the excellent information.