I kind of disagree with this, I think no deficit on a rest day, and no way -500kcal, that is too harsh when you should be recovering and need to fuel for the following day. Your biggest deficits should on your easiest training days IMO.
Anyway, I would suggest trying to get 90%+ of your loss during the Base period. I even schedule a period within base for that to be the main focus, maybe 4 - 6 weeks, then 6 weeks purely base, then build etc.
It all depends very much on how close you are to max biological FTP and how close your body fat is to the minimum that you need. If the answer to both is, very far, then I would just take a straightforward approach and try both getting stronger and loosing fat at the same time.
Agreed. By way of illustration:
Let’s say on Tuesday you do a sweetspot workout and burn 1,000 calories. If your required baseline calorie intake is 2,500 calories, that means you can get your snout in the trough to the tune of 3,000 calories and still run a deficit of 500 calories.
On Wednesday you do nothing, eat 2,500 calories, and run zero deficit. The difference in calorie intake btwn your working and recovery days is just 500 calories.
On average for those two days, then, you’re running a 250 calorie per day deficit. If you ride 5 days per week, that’ll average out over the week at about 350 calories per day.
If you have the deficit on non-riding days, then you swing btwn 3,500 on working day and 2,000 calories on recovery day, which is probably harder to achieve on both days.
If you ride 5 days per week, that’s an average deficit of only about 150 calories per day. Even if you only ride 3 times a week - 285 per day.
Seen 
It was totally self-referential 
… as I walk to the kitchen to make risotto for dinner. 
I recommended aiming for a weight loss of no more than 1-2 pounds per week, as this allows your body to gradually adjust to the changes and minimize the risk of losing muscle mass along with fat.
Have you got any physical restrictions? I have, that’s why I ride a bike and play ping pong, I play it because I can’t lift too much weight. It’s my cardio training.
Also, focus on nutrition. A calorie-controlled, balanced diet that is rich in protein, healthy fats, and complex carbohydrates will help you lose weight while still providing the fuel your body needs to perform.
Stay hydrated. Drinking plenty of water can help you feel full and reduce your overall calorie intake.
Get enough sleep. Sleep plays a crucial role in weight loss, as it allows your body to recover from your workouts and regenerate.
Thought I’d share what’s been working for me. I’ve been dropping ~2kg/month with the below strategy, while building FTP back to 2022 summer heights by February 2023. For me, weight loss has been all about calorie deficit combined with consistency. All of my success has been around using MyFitnessPal. Below is how it’s helped me compared to previous weight loss cycles without it:
I have a Withing scale (another TR forum recommendation) and can track body comp as I go. I’m definitely losing fat with muscle staying pretty constant with my current plan. I have been only doing base work up till now, with build starting after this rest week. Will be interested to see how my body responds with the intensity.
Question:
What I’m not sure about is how to sustain this weight loss. Most seasons I will lose weight in the December - May time period and then put it back on with the summer time/vacation/family visiting/etc. If anyone has good strategies who can relate, I’d love to hear them. I’m oscillating about 11kgs per season on a 87-98kg range’ish. I’ve heard once you hit 10% loss in terms of body weight, so stop and focus on maintaining for 2-3 months before trying to lose more. I think I will do this. My plan is also to stick with macro tracking throughout that period.
11kg’s per season is probably a bit large of a range. I’d think half that would probably be a healthier routine. However, I think periodization plays it’s part in weight management, just like it does with fitness, you just might want to tighten up the high end a bit. It’s not a bad thing to relax a bit off your discipline and gain a few kg’s when you can to ease your mind and relieve some stress and then focus again when you need to. I personally swing between 170 and 180lbs throughout the year and feel like I am generally in decent shape all year round at those weights.
haha, I agree. It’s not like I have this as a goal range in mind and try to get up to that weight in the offseason. It’s more a result of an unhealthy relationship with food and a lack of self control during holidays/vacation.
The way that you will sustain your weight loss is to continue doing the same things that helped you lose it in the first place. Tracking macros, working out, etc. It has to become a lifestyle. Eventually you will be able to get more intuitive but it takes time. Health is a long term process - it is really about progress and not perfection.
That’s quite a lot, and losing that much weight every season takes a lot of effort. I’d probably focus on strategies to stop yo-yoing that much.
I usually gain about 3–3.5 kg around Xmas time and New Year. It takes me 2–3 months to get rid of that. I could lose weight faster, but then it’d get uncomfortable. This time I was a bit too ambitious and one week I had trouble sleeping as I was famished. Still, losing 3 kg is much easier than 4 times that.
I’m in a weight-loss focus right now, but maybe more accurately defined as a healthy eating focus, with one of the goals being weight loss.
One thing I’ve noticed with my reduced bike hours this time of the year is how easy it is to consistently eat low calorie, nutrient dense food and not eat junk. It’s just so much easier to lose weight as a consequence. This makes me question that I’m likely not fueling my workouts properly (before, during and after) during the season as my food cravings and choices are much worse when riding a lot.
Anyone else find this? Could also be easier because I just don’t need to eat as much and therefore I’m not always searching for calories, and with that, often times overcompensating. I’m at my lowest weight of the year right now without even trying! kind of annoying.
Yes, of course. It’s hard enough to eat right without adding many hours of exercise, and adding the exercise adds a whole other complication. The better the habits (and understanding) you have when starting your training, the more likely you will be to not over- or under-compensate.
I understand what I need to do, but tend to reward myself for doing well…bad habit, because I don’t have good portion control in my toolbag.
Make sure your not cutting to much calories
| understand your feelings, bro. I struggle with that too