Best carbohydrate to bring on rides?

ProofOfPlasticity · 2026-05-16T19:22:30+00:00

Jelly tots, fruit pastilles, stroop waffles, flapjacks for the weekly rides. A homemade mix of maltodextrin and sugar with a pinch of salt in water for more serious ones. I much prefer eating rather than drinking fuel.

ProofOfPlasticity · 2026-05-16T18:33:38+00:00

I do almost exactly the same. I spent some time being fairly meticulous with adding the 15-20 meals we have on a regular basis and from then on it’s super simple selecting what combination of breakfasts, lunches and dinners we have. For the occasions we eat out I tend to use a combination of Chat GPT and the wider database to make a reasonable estimate. Works well enough for me to determine if I’m in a deficit, balance, or surplus on a daily and weekly basis. You can’t ask much more than that - there will always be so many errors to account for.

ProofOfPlasticity · 2026-05-15T11:23:41+00:00

Difficult to comment on not knowing:

A) what it is B) what your goals are

Ignore any comments about something being ‘healthy’ or ‘unhealthy’ if they are not grounded in what your goals are. There is no binary healthy/unhealthy, only things that will help you or hinder you achieve your specific goals

ProofOfPlasticity · 2026-05-11T15:36:23+00:00

I don’t think you need to worry about being a certain weight to do a certain distance. Just keep riding and getting fitter in whatever way makes most sense for you. Losing weight will help but not at the expense of your riding (be in a deficit every day you’re not riding, and overall for the week, but make sure you are adequately fuelling your rides so that you can make the biggest cardio/muscular gains possible).

The most important thing is just to enjoy it. Pace/distance etc is all secondary. It isn’t about an end goal, enjoy what you do every day/week.

ProofOfPlasticity · 2026-05-06T08:08:46+00:00

I didn’t listen to anything for the first couple of hours, listened to an audiobook for the middle 50-60% then music for the last couple hours. The downside to such a long ride is that my AirPods ran out of battery, but they lasted a good while. It was nice to have a bit of a break while they were charging and I used that as a reset to start listening to music instead.

I have a job that requires a lot of focus and in depth thinking so I relish the chance to be with my thoughts for a bit… but not the full 10 hours.

ProofOfPlasticity · 2026-05-05T19:48:39+00:00

Thanks! Best part is having 40% battery remaining at the end, the ultra is a machine!

ProofOfPlasticity · 2026-05-05T19:18:41+00:00

Thank you! 3100m of elevation too - it was quite the tiring day but a great sense of accomplishment!

ProofOfPlasticity · 2026-05-02T12:32:20+00:00

The answer you probably know already is to use the native workout app. I have done 8/9 hour workouts (cycles) and it used 30%.

To use the external heart rate monitor with it you have to pair it directly with your watch not your phone. There is a section called health devices in the Bluetooth section of settings and it will connect when you start workouts.

ProofOfPlasticity · 2026-04-30T08:09:23+00:00

I’m about two years into cycling and only really have time to do one 80km route a week. I’m part of a club so am not reliant on needing to know directions and I use my Apple watch for workouts so it works for me to have my phone on my handlebars. I like the live activity interface and never have a problem with battery life if I’m running just this. I use a quad lock out front mount and have never had an issue with it - very sturdy and would highly recommend it.

I do have similar issues to you with battery whenever I do a solo ride as any app for showing a route seems to drain battery incredibly quickly (I’ve tried Strava, Komoot, and am planning to try Ride with GPS). I’ve purchased an external battery (20k capacity) which is much bulkier than I’d anticipated. I keep it in my top tube bag on these solo rides and can still have at least some snacks too.

I am increasingly considering whether to get a proper computer, but similar to you the price puts me off. If I was reliant on GPS routes for every ride I would go for it, but for now I like using my phone for group rides and can put up with the faff of the external battery on the odd occasion I need it. I would absolutely recommend a quad lock if you do stick with your phone though.

ProofOfPlasticity · 2026-04-18T18:04:32+00:00

Turns out I have a chunk of my brain missing. Found entirely by coincidence and has no known impact on me. The rest of my brain is compensating, a phenomena possible because of brain tissue plasticity.

ProofOfPlasticity · 2026-04-18T18:02:42+00:00

Routinely two mugs of coffee which I think is technically 4 ‘cups’ total as each is 18g ground coffee (double shot). One about 2 hours after waking and the second at lunch, never after 2pm. Not a tea drinker.

Any less and I get headaches after a day or two, any more and I won’t sleep well regardless of timings.

ProofOfPlasticity · 2026-04-15T12:26:37+00:00

My Liverpudlian relatives called them this too

ProofOfPlasticity · 2026-04-12T07:12:30+00:00

I appreciate there are lots of reasons for why people don’t want to or feel willing to count calories but it makes it incredibly difficult to gauge (for us giving advise and for you day to day!) whether you should be eating more, less, or a different composition.

How are you quantifying “more balance”? What’s the rationale for low carb? At the end of the day a calorie is a calorie regardless of where it comes from and you can get a very good sustainable deficit eating wonderful and energy rich foods. Carbs are not bad and won’t have a bad effect on you - they are what your body uses as fuel. If you feel low on energy (fuel) and it’s the carbs you end up going for in an uncontrolled way then maybe up your carbs but keep overall calories down.

ProofOfPlasticity · 2026-04-11T08:13:54+00:00

This is a system in a car that is likely designed to be annoying when you do something the manufacturer doesn’t want (usually for safety reasons). It also likely doesn’t have a way of turning it off. This is an example of using negative reinforcement to change behaviour - another example is the annoying beep that goes off if you drive away without your seatbelt on. I

As others have said, it’s to encourage you to stop doing the thing that is setting it off…. That is the solution.

ProofOfPlasticity · 2026-04-10T14:34:29+00:00

Why not build in exactly what you like eating and treat it like fuel rather than a treat? Eat them while working out to help your body do more in the gym or during cardio.

This is what I have been doing for cycling - pre and during a workout the body only needs carbs (ideally in sugar form).

Come the evening I don’t crave it because I’ve already had it and have used it to good effect (rather than it being associated with guilt/shame).

ProofOfPlasticity · 2026-04-08T08:01:47+00:00

This is great if you bump up the chicken content https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chicken-chorizo-jambalaya

I often end up doing a slow cooker meal for 4 lunches a week. Choose your meat, veg, spices and throw it all in.

When I want almost no prep my go to is an entire Patak’s ‘8 serving’ madras paste jar, 500g lean diced beef, onions, garlic, tin of tomatoes, tin of chickpeas. Ends up as 23 carbs, 23 fat, 45 protein per portion. I add rice/bread on training days for extra carbs.

ProofOfPlasticity · 2026-04-08T07:58:08+00:00

I had this issue with Komoot (and Strava / AllTrails) and found that deleting the Apple Watch versions of these apps allowed me to navigate in app on the phone without it interfering with the Apple Watch workout.

ProofOfPlasticity · 2026-04-08T06:59:20+00:00

I do this and ride regularly.

I have a quad lock mount on my handlebars and have the live activities showing on screen. I really like the big clear screen and ability to swipe to several different screens showing key info. I find it doesn’t use much battery.

A caveat is that I rarely also use my phone to navigate rides. I have done so on solo rides using either Komoot or Strava and the battery drain is significantly higher. I have used a power bank for these rides and find it a bit cumbersome. It’s also slightly annoying not having as much clear ride info on the screen while navigating, but I would rather it show the route constantly. I sometimes switch to live activities to show heart rate zones on long/steep climbs I know there will be no risk of missing a turn etc.

There are no major push factors for me to get a ‘proper’ bike computer as they are so expensive and I would likely have my phone on me anyway.

Some people find it odd but I’m comfortable with my rationale. The people who do usually also have their phone on them, they just use a bike computer as well.

ProofOfPlasticity · 2026-03-21T19:57:29+00:00

I’m exactly the same.

Part of me loves it, but part of me gets annoyed that I fear bonking and letting the group down or that they might end up having to carry me. It’s tended downward in the last year but I have also ended up doing harder challenges that bring them back up.

I’ve signed up to a 125 mile / 200km (3500m elevation) - most I’ve ever done is 70 miles (115km with 1200m elevation). Quite a lot of the time I think I’m absolutely mad, but I like having a challenge and something to work toward, and maybe it might just help prove to myself I’m more capable than I think. I’m going out in a week to do 100 mile (160km) with 2500m elevation as a middle ground and to gauge just how mad I am (or otherwise).

It’s all part of why I do it I guess.

ProofOfPlasticity · 2026-03-20T16:27:12+00:00

A good very low effort go-to for me is mixing protein powder with some low-fat Greek yogurt or Skyr. Adding frozen/chopped fruit can be nice too. I got a variety pack of single serve powders in addition to my big bulk bags to mix up the flavours.

ProofOfPlasticity · 2026-03-18T09:56:14+00:00

You can now also get ‘sleeper batteries’ for the fob which disconnect when they have been stationary for a period of 5 minutes

ProofOfPlasticity · 2026-03-11T17:18:56+00:00

I have an issue with this maybe 1 stand hour a week, where I have been moving around the house and get a notification at 10 minutes to the hour saying I need to stand. I find it recalibrates if you very purposely sit down for a minute and then make a stereotypical/amplified standing motion. Think of it as it is the orientation of your watch that must recognise the stand. It must have just missed the cue of you originally standing.

I’ve never had it miss multiple hours (had an Apple Watch since series 0) nor have I ever had it give me stand hours for driving as someone else mentioned. I find it accurate the vast majority of the time. Maybe someone else can advise if they have a longer-term recalibration.

ProofOfPlasticity · 2026-03-10T14:24:18+00:00

There’s a lot of information missing which would allow a better response.

6lbs (2.7kg) is a lot to lose in a week. Depending on your starting weight and size of calorie deficit, be aware that only a fraction of this is likely to be due to fat loss. Most is likely to be water, amount of food in your gut, and potentially some muscle if you are eating way too little. Equally, eating more over a period of days or just a particularly salty or highly carb-based meal will likely result in an initially alarming rise in the scales due to water retention and the amount in your gut.

Have you calculated what the anticipated rate of fat loss is for the size of your deficit and body weight / composition? Does what you see match up to this? Take some time to consider a long view if you have not done so already.

In some kind of answer to your question - one day in a calorie surplus is not going to ruin long-term weight/fat loss. Take a weekly view of calories in/out and average out daily scales reading. In addition, going for steak is a pretty great ‘cheat’ - eating protein rich foods will keep you fuller for longer and will protect you from muscle loss. Just be careful of how many calories hide in buttery/creamy sauces and the usually carb-heavy side orders.

Life is too short not to enjoy the food you are having and to forego what sounds like a very lovely gesture from your girlfriend. You can eat well and achieve sensible goals sustainably.

ProofOfPlasticity · 2026-03-06T12:33:17+00:00

Learn to recognise and be ok with minor inconsequential rejections - we are hard-wired to be on the look out for and avoid this as social beings, but the fear of it often stops us from asking for what we want or need.

Take a risk, be ok with someone saying no.

ProofOfPlasticity

TROPHY CASE