In an ideal world, we would all eat when we want and ride when we want but the small matter of working life can often disrupt your best-laid plans.
Failing to plan ahead is a common pitfall, according to Mitchell, but he believes the new year can be a great time to change your ways.
“You need to really plan what you’re doing food-wise in the day,” he advises. “People get up, they might grab a quick slice of toast and then they’re not really thinking about what they’re going to do lunch-wise and you end up playing catch-up.
“If you’re working eight hours then it’s really important to prevent those big swings in blood sugar. Again, we’ve all been there in the afternoon and our blood sugars have dropped.
“What I always say is, if you can, be organised. Take your lunches in with you, even simply taking leftovers from the night before. So when you’re doing the meal, if it’s a pasta meal or rice or whatever, just do a little bit extra and take it to work the next day.”
A big part of many people’s training will also involve the commute to work – Mitchell included – and managing nutrition there is also important.
“I myself am fond of doing that and I can’t stomach anything to eat before getting on the bike and riding in,” Mitchell admits. “So take something in with you.
“I find the instant porridge pots are really good for that. You just get to work, boil some hot water and pour it in and I think you’ve got a really good breakfast there.”
Planning can also help those not tied to an office and often on the road – especially when it comes to steering clear of overly-priced and often not particularly healthy food at service stations.
“What I always do is put a few emergency bars in my bag – seed bars, Naked bars, flapjack bars from CNP.
“I’ll just have them in as a snack so I’m not relying on what I can find at a service station. I’m shortly off to the team’s training camp too, in Mallorca, and what I’ll do there is take some yoghurt, muesli and seeds so I can have some breakfast at the airport.
“Just being that little bit organised is a big thing.”
