As many of you have heard I am a huge proponent of individuality, especially when discussing diet. Each and every one of us has unique needs; some requiring more fats and proteins and carbohydrates and others requiring less. I listen often to podcasts and read consistently updates in the functional health approach. Often, even before I recommend to my clients a new lifestyle choice that can favorably impact their health; I’ll try that choice on myself.

The Century Ride, one of my bucket-list items presented itself as an opportunity to experiment with how best to fuel my body for a long day of riding in the elements. For other endurance sports that I’ve participated in I would purchase the GUs, the bars, trail mix, electrolytes etcetera because that was what was sold to me in the checkout lines, at sporting goods stores, etc.

Understanding blood sugar imbalances and how they are greatly affected by sugar/carbohydrate intake and reduced by proteins and fats I dove into more research. I personally trend toward requiring fewer grains and much more protein and fats. Knowing how much more can be the tricky part.

In my research, what I discovered was that despite the hype and the compelling research on the power of GUs and sugary drink mixes (conducted by the manufacturing companies, thus largely biased) protein and fats could offer an athlete more sustenance and stable blood sugar levels throughout the duration of a long event than solely or majorly relying on sugars and carbohydrates. More protein and fats in my daily diet had improved my daily performance and energy levels so I thought what the heck: I’ll try out the same process for the century ride.

On the morning of the ride, I mixed in 2 tablespoons of coconut oil into oats with bananas and blueberries, cinnamon. I also had an egg sautéed in butter. I filled up my drink with water and a stevia sweetened electrolyte balance. At station 2 I had nuts with a few raisins and some melon. At station 3 I had a hardboiled egg with salt, half of a potato with salt (complex carbohydrate), a handful of simple potato chips (potato, oil, salt= complex carb, fat, sodium) and a spoonful of peanut butter. At station 4 nothing. At station 5 I had a third of a banana with peanut butter on it and a handful of nuts, a few oranges and a small piece of melon, added a scoop of Cytomax to new water (it would have required 3 scoops for my 2 L bag but one I thought would help me deal with the intense sunlight). At station 6 I had a few sips of a 7up (YUK!) and another small banana with peanut butter on it.

No bars, no shot block, no GUs, no cake, no Little Debbie Brownies, and energy wise I felt great! (Yes I suffered from minor road rash from a fall on mile 5 and didn’t train enough (do I ever? I always have training remorse on the days of the event…). Yet I never once bonked or hit the wall.

I’m convinced with road biking that I fueled properly. I may have to be creative in what I carry for an endurance run but I’m confident that primarily fats, proteins and a few complex NON-sugary carbs would serve me great.

What about you? Have you bonked? I’d love to hear your story.