A Cyclist’s No-Fuss Guide To Building Balanced Meals
Proper nutrition is crucial for cyclists, whether you're a casual rider or a competitive athlete. This guide will help you build balanced meals tailored to your cycling needs, covering rest days, endurance days, and training or race days.
A Hand Portion Guide To Help You Build Balanced Meals
Using your hand as a portion guide is a practical method for cyclists to ensure balanced meals without the need for measuring tools. Here's how:
Protein: Use your palm size as a guide for protein portions. This typically equates to about 20-30 grams of protein, which is ideal for muscle repair and growth. For ex. a palm-sized piece of chicken, fish, tempeh, or legumes.
Complex Carbohydrates: Your cupped hand represents a serving of carbohydrates. This could be pasta, rice, quinoa, fruit, or potatoes. For cyclists, especially on training days, you might need 2 cupped hand portions per meal.
Vegetables: Aim for a fist-sized portion of vegetables in each meal. This ensures you're getting essential vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Mix different colored vegetables for a variety of nutrients.
Fats: Use your thumb as a guide for fats like oils, nuts, seeds, or avocado. While essential, fats should be consumed in moderation. Consume 1-2 thumb-sized portions per meal, depending on your goals and activity levels.
This no-fuss guide to building balanced meals comes from the Bakin’ Biker ‘26 Cookbook.
A Simple Formula For Building Balanced Meals
Follow this simple formula to build balanced meals tailored to a cyclist's nutritional needs:
1. Select Your Protein (1-2 Palm-Sized servings) 🫴
Options: Chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, tofu, legumes (beans, lentils), tempeh
Portion: About the size of your palm or 3-4 ounces.
Why: Keeps you full, helps slow down carbohydrate digestion, and is essential for muscle recovery
2. Choose Your Complex Carbohydrates (1-2 Cupped Hand servings) 🤲
Options: Brown rice, quinoa, whole grain pasta, sweet potatoes, rolled oats, most fruits, or whole grain bread.
Serving Size: About the size of your cupped hand or 1 cup (cooked).
Why: Provides long-lasting energy, helps fuel endurance workouts, and contains more protein and fiber than simple carbohydrates
3. Add Colorful Vegetables (1-2 Fist-Sized servings) ✊
Options: Spinach, kale, bell peppers, carrots, broccoli, zucchini, mixed greens.
Serving Size: At least 1-2 fists worth.
Why: Plants provide essential nutrients like antioxidants, fiber, and complex carbohydrates that support endurance, recovery, and overall health.
5. Incorporate Healthy Fats (1-2 Thumb-Sized servings) 👍
Options: Avocado, nuts, seeds, olive oil, or nut butter.
Serving Size: About a thumb-sized amount or a small handful of nuts.
Why: Helps absorb fat-soluble vitamins, which are crucial for brain and muscle function and overall endurance. Fat also helps make your food taste good.
6. Add Flavor (1-2 Thumb-Tip servings) 🤏
Options: Cilantro, parsley, ginger, lemon juice, lime juice, pinch of sea salt, cinnamon, cumin, coriander, oregano, garlic
Serving Size: ¼ tsp ground or 1-2 Tbsp chopped fresh (A pinch to thumb-tip size)
Why: The best and most concentrated food sources of polyphenols, a group of plant nutrients with powerful health benefits, are herbs and spices. Herbs and spices, along with citrus, can enhance flavor without adding sugars or excessive calories to your meals.
Note: Using your hands is a simple, practical way to build balanced meals and adjust portions without measuring. Hand-based portions automatically scale to body size, while actual portion needs will vary based on activity level, training load, and timing of meals. For example, on high-intensity or long training days, you may need 2 cupped hands of complex carbohydrates to support performance and recovery, while on rest or low-intensity days, 1 cupped hand may be sufficient. Protein, fats, and vegetables can be adjusted the same way—more on harder days, less on easier days—helping you fuel appropriately across different training phases.
Example Meals Using the Formula
Below are a few examples of meals created using the formula for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Note that not every meal needs to meet every single criterion in the formula. For example, breakfast can typically focus more on carbohydrates and protein to fuel your mid-morning training. Dinner can incorporate a larger portion of vegetables to help with recovery. It's important to keep meals balanced but feel free to adjust as needed.
Breakfast
Protein: 1 palm-sized portion of Greek yogurt or 1 cup of soy milk
Carbohydrates: 1 cupped hand of rolled oats + 1 cupped hand of mixed berries + a drizzle of maple syrup, honey, or date syrup
Vegetables: N/A
Healthy Fats: 1 thumb-sized portion almond butter + 1 thumb-sized portion flaxseed meal or walnuts
Flavor: Sprinkle of cinnamon + a squeeze of fresh lemon or orange juice
Lunch
Protein: 1 palm-sized portion of cooked black beans or chickpeas
Carbohydrates: 1 cupped hand of cooked quinoa
Vegetables: 1 cupped hand of roasted sweet potatoes + 1 fist of kale
Healthy Fats: 2 thumb-sized portions of Green Goddess dressing
Flavor: Green Goddess Dressing
Dinner
Protein: 1 palm-sized portion of grilled salmon or tempeh
Carbohydrates: 1 cupped hand of cooked brown rice
Vegetables: 1 fist of steamed asparagus and 1 fist of mixed greens salad
Healthy Fats: 2 thumb-sized portions of avocado + a sprinkle of sesame seeds
Flavor: Drizzle with lemon juice and a pinch of salt and pepper
Ready to put this into practice?
The Bakin’ Biker ’26 Cookbook is your no-fuss, real-food guide to fueling life and training.
With 110+ simple, practical recipes, plus a step-by-step guide to building balanced meals, performance nutrition tips, and an easy grocery shopping checklist, it takes the guesswork out of eating to support recovery and meet your energy needs—on and off the bike.
Grab your copy and start fueling with confidence.
