Bikers beware — instead of sweating off the pounds, riding your bike could be causing your spare tire to swell. A recent survey conducted by a health care center showed that 67 percent of respondents choose to dine at a nearby restaurant or eat local snacks after biking. Dieticians say that biking from Tamshui to Sanzhi will burn about 1,500 calories, but street snacks along the path contain more than 3,000 calories. This means that cyclists may consume more calories than they burn if they eat after biking.
Yang Pei-chen, director of the health care center, said the survey consisted of multiple-choice questions and that respondents could choose more than one answer. The results showed that nearly 80 percent of respondents ride bicycles out of health concerns or in the hope of losing weight. Eighty-one percent ride a bicycle more than once a week, 39 percent bike for three hours each time, and 38 percent ride around 40km at a time. An 80kg person usually burns about 1,200 calories by riding 40km.
Yang says that it may seem healthy to burn 1,200 calories by riding a bicycle. But 67 percent of cyclists choose to dine at a local joint or munch on local delicacies after biking while 24 percent grab a bite at a convenience store. Among these people, 70 percent do so for the tastiness of food while only 16 percent take low-calorie diets into consideration.
Yang says that 51 percent of respondents would choose to eat ice products while 10 percent would drink beer after biking. Some 20 percent prefer dining at a seafood or chicken restaurant while 22 percent would go for lunch boxes. Hung Yi-fen, a dietician at the health care center, explains that the syrup and additives in ice products contain high calories and that each person consumes an average of 1,200 calories when sharing a table full of dishes at a seafood or chicken restaurant.
Take for example a popular bicycle path from Tamshui to Sanzhi in northern Taiwan, which is 52km long for a round trip. Along the path, various local delicacies can been found such as A-Gei — deep fried tofu stuffed with flavored mung bean noodles and sealed with fish paste, fish ball soup, iron eggs, fish crisps, ice cream, cake and black tea. These street delicacies contain as much as 3,710 calories in total.
Cyclist Hu Chao-wei, who is 185cm tall and weighs 115kg, says he started biking four years ago. Since he always ate while cycling, he put on 12kg after a year. In order to lessen the burden on his folding bike, he decided to go on a diet by not eating snacks or sharing food with other people after his ride. After exercising and being on a diet for eight weeks, he has lost nearly 27kg.
Hung suggests that cyclists eat low-fat, low-sugar, high-fiber and high-protein food after biking. As exercise may cause muscle tissue to break, it is advised to eat soybean products such as tofu and dried bean curd, fresh milk, an egg and an adequate portion of meat after exercise so as to supplement protein and restore muscle tissue. Doing so will also increase the body’s muscle ratio and basal metabolism rate as well as help lose weight.
(LIBERTY TIMES, TRANSLATED BY THEODORE YANG)
騎自行車減重當心越騎越胖。一家健檢中心日前發表問卷調查結果，有六成七的車友在騎車後，會選擇當地餐廳或小吃進食；營養師分析，騎一趟淡水至三芝，沿線小吃熱量超過三千大卡，而騎車消耗的熱量約一千五百大卡，反而吃進更多熱量。
該健檢中心院長楊培鎮表示，此項問卷可複選，結果顯示有近八成受訪者騎車的目的是「為了健康或減重」；八成一「一週騎一次以上」；三成九「每次約騎三小時」；三成八「每次約騎四十公里」，以八十公斤體重計算，騎四十公里，約消耗一千兩百大卡。
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