How FoodCoach became Pavel’s soulmate
Meet Pavel, a 22 years old cyclist who want to be in optimal shape to conquer the big climbs of the French alps. “FoodCoach became my soulmate and learned me to enjoy delicious recipes to fuel my rides.”
Learning to train smart
Pavel is enjoying his weekly hours on the bike for 11 years already. “Every year the goal is to get most out of myself as a cyclist, on my level”, he says. “Throughout the years I became smarter when it comes to training and I really took it to the next level by getting a power meter in 2020.” This made Pavel learn to train in a smart way. But the awareness on what and how much to eat was lacking behind. That's when covid hits the world...
Help of the pro's
The covid period gave Pavel time to rethink his training regime and lifestyle. Team Jumbo-Visma, the team of his big sport heroes, started spreading some training and nutrition information via social media to help amateur athletes. “In 2020 I began to try out some recipes of the team, I loved it that he pro riders ate this too! From of the first moment I enjoyed trying new recipes and soon after I experiment with cooking techniques, flavouring meals and creating my own bread and on-bike snacks”.
Eating without scare
But despite the fact that Pavel really enjoyed cooking, the know-how on how much he needed to fuel his body wasn't there. “I sometimes received feedback of my body, bad recovery, hunger and the well-known bonks.” This made him think that there was room for improvement, which he found in the FoodCoach app. “The app showed me what I had to eat, what recipes were available for each meal and how much I had to consume of each ingredient.”
“The FoodCoach app helps me to achieve the best balance in losing weight and keep my muscle mass and power on the bike”
Focussing on body-weight
“The most valuable feature for me is the Weight Loss plan. I can now eat without the question of doing the right thing and focussing more on my goal, being more relaxed and enjoy riding my bike and eating my meals. This plan learned me that skipping entire meals/snacks, what I did in the past, is not the right approach. It's way easier to lower the amount of six meals a little bit, then skip two meals completely.”
Pavel is training for a big ride in the French alps in 2024's summer. This requires a correct bodyweight to make it a fun experience. “I see a great result in my weight loss plan, being already on a great weight. I also see improvements in my power, on the bike and in the gym, without losing progression. The FoodCoach app helps me to achieve the best balance in losing weight and keep muscle mass and power on the bike!”
Which shows again that aiming for the lowest body weight isn't the right approach. But focusing on your power output and health and slightly lose some weight could be.
I was shocked...
Early 2023, in preparation for my qualification race for the Ironman70.3 World Championship, I downloaded the FoodCoach app. It was mostly just out of curiosity. I filled my training sessions in the app, and when it showed me how much I needed to eat, especially on the hard days… I was shocked! I started using the app very consistently in my toughest training blocks leading into that race, and I felt so much stronger and energised than previously. Besides, I noticed that my recovery was faster and I reaped the benefits of higher quality training sessions. Also, my periods came back, despite the high training intensity and volume. In May 2023, I manage to qualify for the world championship on Mallorca, an amazing experience.
What about the carbs?
In 2021, Pavel started using FoodCoach, so as an early adopter he saw the app change overtime. “Since the introduction of the FoodCoach app, both the app and I made a great development.”
Looking at the performance side, Pavel says: “ FoodCoach helps me with fueling before, during and after my training sessions and races. I see a great improvement in gut health since 2 years. Processing carbs during training is working better and better for me. Which lead to no longer getting the hunger feeling and also during the criteriums I find it easier to fuel myself. I know what I can eat and what fit in my plan.”
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Definitions
- - Criterium: a type of cycling race in which participants do the same short lap for over and over again. Most of the time these kind of races come with premie-sprints during the race, so not only the winner takes prize money. It's seen as a very hard (full gas) but short type of racing in which tactics also play a huge role.
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