I’m no longer young or as light as I once was….Since covid I’ve been trying to get back to my racing weight but have lost and gained the same 20lbs the last 3 years. I’m on this journey for a 4th time and making progress, down ~17lbs over the last few months which is pretty great over the holidays. I’ve been hitting all of my scheduled workouts and enjoying the FTP increasings (and soon predicted increases).
This community is so great I thought I’d create a thread to share more current progress and cheer each other on.
45 m 6’6” 260 to 243lbs and dropping (with FTP increasing)
I’m on a similar journey. I’ve got to get off the weight loss and weight gain cycle. My #1 goal this year is to lose weight slowly and keep it off.
57 m 5’6” 200 to 183 since November, and FTP slowly going up.
The main psychological modification is changing my outlook from a “light switch” perspective (either on or off), to a “dimmer switch” perspective (dialed up or dialed down).
In the past I’ve either been totally committed to my diet and workouts without room for any sort of flexibility, or I’ve fallen off the wagon and re-gained weight and lost fitness. If I deviated from my plan at all, I fell off the wagon and months would go by with a poor diet and little to no workouts (i.e. light switch went from on to off).
This year I’m working hard to be more moderate and have a “vigilance without obsession” attitude, allowing myself flexibility with food not on my diet plan and allowing myself to modify or skip workouts if I need rest/recovery, BUT to also get back on the wagon ASAP without letting more than a few days go by (i.e. dimmer switch dialed down, then back up - but NEVER off).
Anyway….I’m rambling - but kudos to all of us on the journey!
This sure is relatable. I had many of those start/stops last year. Last year was my worst on and off the bike in a decade+. As of 1/1/26 I was 231 lbs which is around 50 lbs above where I want to be on the bike. This morning I’m at 217, so I’m making some progress. I’m sure a lot of that is water, but at this point I don’t care. I’ve strung 21 days in a row and I’ve tried to be less rigid than I have in the past.
For some moronic reason, I’ve signed up for the Birkie race this February, so I’ve got that to at least keep me on track for the next few weeks. Then it’ll be back to the bike and hopefully I can bring myself to follow a plan again.
I feel you man. I just keep repeating to myself “dimmer switch, dimmer switch”. It’s not about sticking to a plan, it’s about continuing the plan ASAP after a few unplanned beers or a spontaneous dinner out with friends. It’s getting on the bike when I feel crappy and facing the scale when I know it will go up.
Hovered last season in the 185ish range. Low was 181lbs and high was 189lb (post collarbone break). Felt incredibly unfit at my A race at that weight…feel like my optimal race weight is probably closer to 165lbs.
Started really focusing on nutrition since November. Down from 184 to a low of 174 in Mid December before the Holiday break from work completely wrecked my momentum. Popped back up to 181 on New Years and now I’ve been steadily dropping again…last weigh in was 178. Hoping to at least hit 170 by my first race in April.
In theory that should put me in the 4w/Kg ballpark which is the overarching goal for 2026.
Last july my partner wanted to try fasting and asked me to do it with her. This coincided with being more mindful of my food to make sure I was getting enough in during the 4-6 hour window I was allowing myself. That of course also meant deficit and I was getting back on the bike/training after some time off due to busy family life. So not saying fasting worked but the weight was dropping fast with that combination.
Starting weight mid july was 237, and by mid october I was down to 211. But I lost way more muscle than I wanted to and the fasting was definitely not working well with my training since my window was like 6-12 in the morning making it a good 18 hours since my last meal before I got on the trainer again. I started lifting again and stopped the fasting, weight was going back up but I was visibly leaning out so all good. Remained on second to last belt notch I had gotten down to at 211 this whole time (was maybe a hair snug this morning).
Sick, hurt, sick, holidays sick yet again (waves fist at preschool), it mostly all went out the window starting around thanksgiving. Still kind of fighting some colds but have been trying to get back.
227 as of this morning after 2 days of being mindful of my food again but haven’t done a workout in about a week. Goal was 200 by my 46th (end of feb) but obviously that isn’t in the cards.
Right now my schedule is 3 days of lifting, 3 riding and some laps when we go to the pool as a family on sundays. But not sticking to anything too hard. Picked up a concept 2 finally over the weekend so will add in some rowing on lifting days.
Lifting is a variation of the do squats and gomad (gallon of milk a day) but I can’t afford a gallon of milk a day nor want that many calories. So it is 3 days a week of basically same routine but sometimes I skip deads or abs depending on time or my mood.
I was looking for the older weight loss accountability buddy thread, so this is kind of good timing.
I’ve been yearning for my late 30/early 40 days of hovering around 4w/kg, 148 pounds (at 10K’), and instead of thinking, ‘I’ll just ride the weight off’, I’m actually doing something about it. Instead of just lifting and training, I’m being more disciplined with my diet. Part of this journey has been to do a light version of the 75 Hard Cult, I mean, program. I’m walking way more, lifting, and drinking more water. Since I started this early in January, I’ve dropped a few pounds. I had to make sure my partner’s scale was accurate because I was like, no way, I haven’t seen that number in over a year. It said 162!
Sure enough, accurate. So right now, I think I’m around 3.4 w/kg at 10K’. I’m doing the Masters program; three workouts a week, but I’m walking about 16-18 miles a week, lifting three days a week, and either xc skiing, resort laps, or splitboarding a few days a week as well. Every day on my TR calendar is either red or yellow though, ha.
If I can hit 155 by mid-April, I’d be pretty excited. Most of this is stemmed for wanting to be in better shape in general and get rid of the spare tire I’ve been dragging around. I can’t believe I used to wear XS skin suits and kits in general. Insane.
good one to note. I had a migraine a few weeks ago despite likely not being dehydrated (my main trigger) and overdid it on water for a few days and not only did I feel great but scale was down a little for a few days.
I own an auto shop and it’s currently cold so I basically drink nothing between leaving my house and coming home unless I grab a coffee. On workout days between bottles, smoothie and coffee I definitely get enough but on days I don’t absolutely not.
I’ll still forget to walk over to the cooler after hitting reply..
I travel a couple of hours each way when I commute and I’m always mindful about there being toilet facilities. When it’s cold I’m even more likely to avoid drinking.
I’ve been plagued with the same neck injury every few years for my entire adult life. My last bout of PT was the most helpful and an outcome from that experience was to do ‘chin tucks’ throughout the day. I put a recurring reminder on my phone + apple watch that was hourly from 8am to 8pm called chin tuck. I’d get a tiny single buzz on my wrist and if I was in a situation where I could do a few tucks, I would.
Seems like a majority of you would do well with an hourly ‘water’ nudge.
Ironically, after getting a new phone and cleaning things up digitally, I removed that reminder and my neck has been pissing me off this week.
47 m 6’ 1” went from 184 lbs to 171 lbs over the last few months. I got bit by the bike racing bug early last year and, although it’s not going to make a difference in my Cat 5 case, counting calories gives me another outlet for the obsession.
I’m able to weigh almost all of my food and track my calories, which has helped me in the past when I wanted to lose weight for cosmetic reasons. I added in macro tracking this time so I could hit daily 2g/kg protein and ~0.8g/kg fat targets. Did a 500 net calorie deficit for a few months, then reduced it to a ~200 net cal deficit to make training easier.
I just switched to a ~200 cal surplus since race season is getting close and I want to make the most of my training.
51 f, FTP at 151, have cracked 200 once in the past, 70 kg (~2.2 ww/kg), 1.73m, and going through perimenopause
I’ve liked how I felt at 67kg, but also have only weighed that before 1) I got serious about strength training 2) starting hrt, which has been a Iifesaver in other ways
Truly can’t tell whether it’s possible/beneficial to weigh myself anymore, but would I like to offload those 3 kg? Yep, and the “dimmer switch” is a useful way to think about it
Due to some life stuff (injuries mostly) my weight went up about 18-20 pounds and my power and endurance went off a cliff. I have spent the last 2-3 months rebuilding slowly and within about 10-12 pounds of my race weight and fitness is recovering quickly. Around 4.6 w/kg at the moment, but I think I can get to 5 w/kg again by summer. My training load is about half of what I normally race at, so I think 10% gain is doable. On single digit weekly hours I’m shocked I’m this close to where I want to be. Diet wise it’s simple. Avoiding all the junk and desserts, fueling hard on the bike, and eating clean but not starving myself off the bike. Haven’t started counting calories yet, but right now my body feels good and I’m making progress, so no sense in doing that yet!
I did the full 75 Hard starting April 17, 2023 it was crazy hard, especially with a work trip to Europe in the middle I made it though. I only remember the date since that was the last time I had a single sip of alcohol didn’t intend to quit permanently, but I have. I’m doing a modified version now.
As they say in mindfulness meditation, and as I tell my 4 year old. We can always begin again. Best to try and prevent a cheat meal from turning into a cheat day/week/month. A momentary lapse of judgment won’t knock you back to hard. A week can pretty quick.
Good on you! I think it’s def helping. I’m doing everything, except a really strict diet (trying to not eat after 8 and eliminating as much processed food as possible), and reading every day. The two workouts, cutting alcohol, and water have gone well and mostly smooth. I quit alcohol two years ago, so I had that box checked. I may keep doing it after my 75 days are up.
. Male 48. 65kg to 67kg. 250w to 246w.