Keep the Quality
You will note that BOTH LISTS are super nourishing foods! I find this off-season time of year is a great time for lots of big green salads that you may have had to skip during heavy duty stage races as well as lots of broccoli, melons, sweet potato and leek or squash soups, berries and oats, and one of my favorites spaghetti squash. An entire squash (which if you haven't tried they are amazing and it comes out basically in spaghetti strands) has the same amount of calories as one cup of pasta and is 5 times as filling.
1 cup of traditional pasta has approximately 220 calories whereas one cup of spaghetti squash has 46 calories. So you can have twice the volume, 2 cups of spaghetti squash, with MORE NUTRIENTS than pasta and still be less than half the caloric intake. That's a win win!
Another win is broccoli. What a nourishing and filling carbohydrate! 1 cup is a high source with vitamins and minerals such as vitamin C, K, beta carotene, folate, potassium and B vitamins, while containing only 25 calories. Load on a couple of cups or blend it into a broccoli soup with potato blended in for a hearty fall meal with a side of local whole grain bread or a slice of flat bread. It's best to steam your broccoli and not overcook it for the best palatability.
More: What Does 8,000 Calories Look Like?
Make the Nutrients Count
Remember, when it comes to athletes and performance, we need to look at grams per kg for carbohydrates and proteins. When the season tapers down we can lower the grams per kg of carbohydrates, but it's still important that you do have the carbohydrate stores you need for the training you doing. It's quite likely your protein can stay the same with weights entering the picture. The focus is mainly, how can we lower the grams, while not feeling like we are starving all of a sudden, compared to how we felt in season? The solution is choosing filling, lower calorie carbohydrates, while still staying focused to get enough grams of carbohydrates to support optimal performance.
Hopefully some of the substitutions above will give you some ideas for the fall, just keep in mind, this is not about no more carbs, rather reducing only to the extent that you can still sustain a quality training routine, just at a lower intensity and with less volume.
Putting on a few pounds in the off-season is the norm. However, if that few pounds creeps up to 10 or 15, you have yourself a battle late this winter trying to get that off, especially if you live in a cold climate that doesn't allow for longer rides and if you struggle with weight loss in the first place.
Save yourself the trouble and make some simple changes headed into fall season. Have fun, change things up and enjoy the changing seasons.
More: 5 Cycling Food Tips for Maximum Fuel and Flavor
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