Your Biggest Fueling Questions, Answered With Uri Carlson

Knowing what, when, and how to eat can be incredibly confusing. We’ve all received so many competing messages over the years, and much of that advice has come from diet culture or from folks who aren’t athletes.

Even after listening to advice from sports nutritionists we can still be left confused. That’s why I asked Uri Carlon, a sports dietician I highly trust, to come back on the podcast for a THIRD time. (You can listen to her past interviews here and here).

But this time I asked YOU ALL to submit YOUR questions for her to answer. They include:

• Should we be fueling differently in the heat?
• Is eating lots of sugar on the bike healthy?
• Should I fuel differently if I’m prone to cramping?

Even if you didn’t submit a question, you’re likely to have the same ones. Listen up!

Listen To The Interview

Key Takeaways

Don’t have time to listen to the full episode. Here are the key takeaways.

Fueling in the heat requires a different strategy

• Your gut becomes more stressed as core body temperature rises, making digestion harder.
• Liquid calories are often easier to tolerate when it’s hot. Consider a lower-concentration carb mix in your bottle.
• Don’t create a double whammy: skipping carbs often means skipping electrolytes and fluids too.
• Cooling your core temperature is part of the strategy–ice socks, frozen bladders, and buffs with ice all help.

If you ride regularly, you are an athlete, and you need to fuel like one

• Standard nutrition advice targets sedentary women, not someone riding 90 minutes to 3 hours at a time.
• Eat consistently throughout the day, no more than 4 hours between meals or snacks.
• Add a pre-workout snack if it’s been more than 2 hours since your last meal.
• For rides over 90 minutes, have a recovery snack within 45 minutes of finishing (mostly carbs with a little protein).

Your carb needs change with intensity

• A simple formula: take your calories burned per hour, divide by 2, then divide by 4 to get grams of carbs per hour.
• A good starting point for most riders is 30–50 grams of carbs per hour, building from there.
• Match your fueling to the effort. A hard climb demands more than a flat zone 2 ride.

The sugar on the bike question has a simple answer

• Under-fueling because you’re scared of sugar is actually worse for your health than the sugar itself.
• The food that impacts your gut microbiome and overall health most is what you eat outside of exercise. That’s where quality matters most.
• Fuel rides adequately, then focus on whole foods and plants the rest of the time.

Altitude changes everything; don’t wait until you feel it

• Your appetite and thirst can both be suppressed at elevation, even as your body works harder and burns more.
• Don’t chug plain water. Aim for roughly half your body weight (in pounds) in ounces of fluid daily, with electrolytes included.
• On the bike, hitting your carb targets becomes even more important; it’s easier to bonk at altitude.

How to lose weight without wrecking your performance

• Many women eating more than ever find they don’t gain weight. Their bodies become more efficient at using fuel instead of storing it.
• The biggest mistake: cutting calories around workouts, which is the worst time to under-fuel.
• Start by nailing your performance nutrition first (fueling before, during, and after rides).
• Once that’s dialed in, you can make small reductions to calories from carbs and fat outside of exercise.

Connect With Uri

➡︎ Website: https://www.innerwildnutrition.com/
➡︎  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uri_carlson_nutrition/

Other Episodes You’ll Enjoy

• Are You Biking On Empty? Supplements, Macros, & Sweat Science I Kyla Channell
• Do These Things To Thrive On The Bike After 40 With Marissa Axell
• Macronutrients For Cyclists With Dara Richman

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