I don’t know about you, but after a few hours on a bike I can’t handle just … one … more … Clif bar.

I mean, I like them alright. They even rotate special flavors seasonally which makes me look forward to the fall and other changes. Since I am a diabetic and limited on my choices, I have them in my jersey pocket, bento box and when traveling in my backpack. That’s a whole lotta Clif.

To alter my snackage (and meals when stuck in an airport over night), I supliment with nuts, mostly almonds. Trader Joes has tidy little packets of raw almonds all made up for your next Century at $4.99 a bag.

Yesterday, Trader Joes changed my Clif bar enhanced life. There it was, sitting unassuming on the shelf. The heavens did not part, and the angels did not sing, but I knew my cycling engery snackage would never be the same again … Wasabi Wow!

Made up of almonds, peanuts, cranberries and wasabi peas, it has just the right mix of everything I need – including just a bit of salt for that sweat replacement.

Ride-Strong.com FREEBIE write up. Infinit Nutrition giveaway.

So here’s the thing… I am exhausted. I am up all night, dropping by day and reviving myself with cups of my favorite caffeinated elixir, coffee.

And the real thing is I know what the culprit is. It is the coffee. Keeping me in a glorious catch 22 of coffee high, dependency crash, and back again – each day increasing my use by one more cup. Its call worse than those dealers you hear about around the schol yard “the first one’s free..”.

I’ve been this route before. Years ago I realized that I was the only one in the office drinking the two to three pots of coffee we made made daily. I removed the evil liquid from my diet for over 3 years. Then I had just one…

We’re going to try it again, removing coffee, I mean. And I say we because my family will be along for this emotional ride and perhaps, so will my blog <insert ominous music>. It will be interesting to see how this affects my hydration, etc. I’m not so sure it will be interesting to see how it affects my mood.

I’m totally committed to not ever having to be on insulin. But my blood sugars aren’t so committed.

All those energy drinks and protein bars can keep you from fading or if you are a diabetic they can set you up for a blood sugar crash and burn. I’ve already covered my favorite energy drink in a previous post but I really haven’t spoken about the bars. Like anything else, you simply have to read the labels – a lot of those are just well marketed crap. Nothing of any value with empty calories. For me, I’ve done very well with the Clif bars. The sugar content isn’t that high and they even kept me going through airports and hurricanes when I couldn’t get any other food.

I can’t have anything that converts to sugars, no Wonder Bread for me! And lawrdy, how I miss white rice. Which is really funny, if you knew how hard that was for me to get used to. When you are married to a Phillipino, as I was many years ago, you learn that white rice is the staple of every meal and sometimes snack .

The holiday season has taken its toll on me. Every now and then I think “oh, just this one” and sneak a little Christmas goodie or two. Its amazing how a sugar plum or six can knock you on your dizzy little ass faster than you can say “On Donner, on Blitzen”. It was with great reserve that I passed on this morning’s potatoes and Christmas challah with raisens but I am sure I’ll have a better day for it. After all, I have the obligatory movies and chinese food that our people do every year at this time

Blueberries – They’re packed with antioxidants that boost brain cells and help kept memory sharp. toss a half cup onto your cereal.

Apples – They’re high fiber content means they deliver steady energy. Apples also help prevent dehydration, which is why I like them prior to a bike ride.

Fish – The Omega-3 fatty acids in oily fish such as salmon are linked to improved concentration and memory. Clear moment of irony is that I knew this, but had forgotten it until I read it this week!

Spinach – It’s brimming with iron, which helps deliver oxygen to your cells. When you are low on this mineral, you’ll feel like about to crash. Use it in pastas and salads or even with your eggs instead of a side of hash browns.

Nuts – Build energy with a daily handful of almonds, hazelnuts or cashews, all of which contain fatigue-fighting magnesium. I almost never go out with these quick engery boosters.

A week ago I started my TNT training day with a shakey start, literally. I woke up shaking and sat down for an extra 30 minutes before leaving to see if it would pass — it didn’t.

As the day went on (and the miles) it got worse and worse, to the point where I was afraid to ride. I had leaned forward to reach for my bottle while walking the bike and almost stumbled backwards into traffic.

As a type 2 diabetic, we started looking at what I had been doing – what changed. One thing was that I had just started drinking engery drinks (like a grown up cyclist) and perhaps that was it. At any reate, it was clear that I wasn’t, nor could I, carbo load.
My Coach, Ramon, did some research and my Mentor, Jayne, contacted another person from past teams that had similar issues.

Ramon found Cytomax™ Lite in his research.

Info on their site:
Low-Glycemic Indexed (LGI) to help regulate blood glucose and reduce insulin spiking to keep strength at peak levels longer so you can compete and train harder.

Cytomax™ Lite LGI helps avoid the production of too much glucose being absorbed and insulin produced. The Problem: Too much insulin escapes into systemic circulation and over time, causes a continuous fall in blood glucose (well below normal). You feel weak and tired and you’ve “hit the wall”, “bonked” or, “gone hypo”. This is no way to train or compete.

The Solution: Cytomax™ Lite LGI provides an ideal carbohydrate/lactate blend, which insures that a steady stream of glucose is released into your blood stream during your training or event. As a “fitness beverage” Cytomax™ Lite LGI helps you eliminate “bad carbs” from your diet by reducing carbohydrate/sugar cravings or without increasing insulin secretion which promotes fat synthesis and storage

This seemed perfect for me. If nothing else, we’ll know not to blame my drink on the day I “bonked”. I bought my first canister at Helen’s Cycles so I would have it for this Saturday (it’s much cheaper on ebay!) and I have to say, it really made a huge difference. You know what else made a difference? Starting this up before the ride, a some the night before and some with breakfast. We start at 8 am, so by the time you’ve had breakfast, gotten to the meeting spot, had a TNT clinics, its 3 hours since that meal. The Cytomax™ Lite really helped me through the day until the 25 miles to the SAG wagon.

One carrot a day has enough beta-carptene to lower the risk of cancer, particularly lung cancer.

Other vegatables high in beta carotene are beets, broccoli, spinach, squash, sweet potatoes and tomatoes.