4 weeks on the road!! Crikey, it doesn’t feel like it.. until I think back to all of the hills I’ve climbed over these past 28 days. To celebrate this milestone I thought I’ll discuss my idiosyncratic, largely unvarying, diet.
You see, the average cyclist (going at a fairly uptempo 12mph) burns 500 calories an hour. Most days I’m in the saddle for 6-7 hours. Now, if you’re good at maths you’ll be able to work out I need at least 3000 calories on these days I’m cranking the pedals, and I’m hardly nearing 2000.
“How do you attempt to combat the impending fatigue and doom that descends upon yourself young Joseph?”, I hear you ask. Well, it’s interesting that you ask such a question because that’s what this blog is all about!
I eat a fucking LOT of Snickers™️ and ham sandwiches.
Now, I obviously eat other foods but these are my daily staples. “Shall I buy this €0.88 intermarché sandwich avec jambon?” is a question I ask myself often (and one that rarely receives a negative answer). Snickers need no explanation as they are the snack from the heavens and deserve infinitely more praise than they receive.
I’d like to introduce you all to an unsung hero of the French culinary world. It is the Yoplait Yop Chocolat drink. One of these bad boys and you’ve successfully secured yourself 700 calories!!! But you’ve also secured impending type 2 diabetes as you’ve just consumed 95.7g of sugar. Pro’s and con’s… pro’s and con’s.
As I drink my 3rd Yoplait Yop Chocolat drink of the week I think about the words of wisdom that my grandfather, Eustice Eddy, once told me… “remember Joseph, everything in moderation”. I am reassured by this because I have eaten a banana this afternoon.
Eating whilst cycling is something that I’m becoming accustomed to also. Nothing is worse than getting your legs into a rhythm and then stopping when the stomach begins screaming for food. That’s why I like to keep a Babybel™️ within reaching distance of my position on the saddle, usually in my bike bag which contains my puncture repair kit. And yes, it is possible to eat a babybel one handed, and yes without the wax.
But the food choice that is truly keeping my body alive are Sodebo™️ salads (other variants are available). These are the core to my diet, and the sole reason I haven’t been diagnosed with pulmonary heart disease in this one month that I’ve been on the road. For less than €5 they provide a daily, very much needed, boost of health for what would be an otherwise gangreened, scurvied, sickly Joseph.
And to ‘wrap’ (food pun) it all up, when it comes to food and calories, listen to your body. Eat what you want, when you want and how you want! It’s your body and you decide what you want to power it with. I know after reading this blog you might be surprised and wonder “what on earth was his diet like at home?!” but I am eating a lot healthier than I was before this trip (I actually voluntarily bought fruit the other day!)
Thank you for reading my rambling food thoughts and stay tuned for the next blog!❤️
Cycling On Me Own 