Nice progress, especially with the FTP going up at the same time. That’s the hardest part.
What finally worked for me after constantly losing and gaining the same weight was just forcing myself into a strict routine. I bought a monthly plan from Shake That Weight last year mainly because it took all the decision-making away. Having everything pre-planned stopped me from overeating or winging it after heavy training sessions.
I’m around 153 now. My lowest I can remember being was around 148 with a 280 ish watt ftp, but damn that was a lifetime ago. Baby steps.
well I havent checked in for awhile. I have cut a bit of fat out(egg whites for whole eggs. low fat cottage cheese/yogurt. very little meat these days and a lot more soy/beans/plant protein), per RD suggestions. I’ve also switched some of my carbs to fruit.
result for the first time in my adult life I am under 200#. Im down to 198.
Since January, I’ve had some pretty good progress and I’ve remained very consistent with my approach. This is the first time I’ve lost fat from winter and kept if off into June (and still losing).
What has worked for me:
I’ve gone from 150 to 137-140 (depending on the day). This is only 1.5 pounds per month, so quite sustainable. I never restrict eating when I feel hungry as long as I’m eating as explained above.
I’m 51 and am sitting around 4.75 w/kg (real FTP not TRAI). This week I was able to do 6.1w/kg for 5min, which is pretty darn good considering I’ve been losing watts since my best watts 10 years ago.
Weighed myself last week after a longish ride and the scale said 149.8. I’d say it’s probably 150-ish. Which is right at where I wanted to be for Breck Epic. I think I could squeeze a few more pounds as we all know that, that layer around the hips is really hard to get rid of. But, it’s also why I’m lifting twice a week and trying to stay on top of my protein.
My method is similar to yours. Mostly fueling pre, during, and after. Cut out most of anything fun outside of fueling.
Garmin also bumped my ftp and is now about 30 watts more than TR. that’s another thing.
I just finished a block w an average of about 750 tss a week. Rest week complete. Started my last block that’ll probably be similar or more which means I have to eat more. I need to use the TR calculator to get a better idea. I’m also in the gym 2 days a week to work on body comp and sauna sessions.
So far:
End of CX season (Nov 2025) - 175’ish
This week: 150. Pretty content with this weight. Just need to get a bit more tone instead of ‘skinny fat’.
That’s some great progress coming from 175!
I just looked at my last 6 weeks, and I’m running a 870 tss average. Seems kind of high, so I wonder if my FTP is set too low, but feels right to me. I probably need to do my easy rides a little easier also.
I’ve let my diet drift a bit lately, and have noticed the weight slowly creep up. I’ve been quite discipline since January, so it was good to let loose a bit lol! As of this week, I’m back to eating the same way I was in the months prior. I’m going to attempt a push down to 135, and see what that feels like and determine how sustainable that will be.
How do you feel the app does without scheduled training? These days i’m very much not following a plan but know i’ll do somewhere around 10hrs/wk of riding. 80% in z2. Does the app do a good job fueling that type of riding or do you feel it needs you to have a plan in place?
I had similar thoughts bout my high TSS and my ftp being low. I wasn’t wrecked by any means after that block, but the rest week was much needed.
For the weight. It might have been closer to 170, but I do have an entry of mid 170s sometime in November on my scale. Regardless, it’s been a journey to get here. All I know is I tried on a pair of pants last week for work I haven’t been able to wear for years and they fit damn near perfect.
Few things to say here. So using hexis and TR in an "automatic"way is cumbersome. I’m using Dropbox as a bridge to intervals.icu, then intervals is syncing everything with hexis. If you follow a training plan, or you want to plan a ride outside even without structure, you need to manually enter the session name, duration, time of the day and estimated tss in intervals.icu (I copy what TR is estimating for structured training). Once this is done, hexis will change your “allowance” for the meals pre and after and give you a recommended fueling quantity during the ride.
If you have a day without planed activity, the daily carbs intake is low. But as soon as you do even 1h in Z2 the carbs intake increases quite a lot. For me it allows much better recovery and easier workouts because your body has what it needs.
Overall, hexis is doing quite a good job for macro estimation. Its very adaptative and, at least for me, gives me good guidance for nutrition.
That said, I’m taking a break from training and macro management for a couple of weeks while im traveling.
Winning!
Thanks, you’ve outlined more ‘work’ than i’m willing to do for macro tracking and i’ll stick with my existing approach. down ~7lb and hoping to go another 7.
Generally achieved by counting cals and just sitting at a deficit. I eat more on days I feel my riding suffer as i’m also increasing volume which makes it tricky to balance.
This is a great thread. Love reading about all the progress. I’ll be happy when I get my FTP higher than my weight. Getting back to at least 2.0 w/kg is near term goal. Easier said than done for an old guy at 60. 
I had to add some more calories(fat) back in. I was feeling tired and run down, not sleeping well. I dont know if the food was the cause, but i dont want to sacrifice power for weight
If you like stories here is mine.
Near the end of summer last year I was having a foot problem. I eventually went to my orthopedic doctor and was told it was plantar fasciitis. That took a few months to get over . Very little training. Now that it was better ( had a good strong 200 mile week) I did a 70 mile event. Halfway into it my foot started killing me again. Tried to rehab it thinking it was plantar again. Wrong. Doctor said I now fractured a bone in my foot. 6 weeks in a boot. Hard to train in a boot I found out. Over the course of months I ended up 37lbs heavier. What do you do when you can’t train. Eat eat eat. I tried the cut 500 calories a day while continuing to train. The weight was not coming off the way I wanted it to. I’m mid 70’s I don’t have time to waste. So …, cut the calories down to 1000 a day and starve it off. So in 2 months I lost the 37 lbs . I also lost some watts . Maybe 10 watts if you add in the watts TR said I should gain . Lack of food = lack of energy to do all the work outs. Good news my w/kg went up. Woo hoo.
So next week starts the new plan and I get to eat like a person training should.
As Frank Sinatra and Sid Vicious said; I Did It My Way
Placebo is real - read with caution.
I’ve found during my slight deficit I sleep way better when I take a dose of magnesium before bed. Is it something i’ll take forever for the rest of my life? no. But I started taking it thinking i’d need to be more intentional with recovery if i’m stressing my body (more training, less fuel) more than normal.
I got a deal from the feed a few months back on the pillar stuff - i’m sure its all the same and you dont need the ‘fancy’ sports nutrition branded version.
If adding fat back in worked for you - a scoop of peanut butter is surely cheaper(and easier) than this in the grand scheme of things.
That’s quite the journey! Plantar fasciitis is no joke. Good luck with the new plan!
Used chat gpt to make this chart although i probably could have made it quicker and got it right first time instead of 10th time lol. its made from the data i collect on my ride and weight tracking spreadsheet. It shows my weight which i record daily, my ftp changes over time and the corresponding w/kg. makes for a pretty neat visual representation of progress
