Curios to know how your weight, performance, calorie intake, and fueling strategy have been since this post.
I am trying to navigate similar waters with weight loss and training.
Morning - Last year I worked with a cycling nutritionist. Basics of what she said is this.
- For longer rides ~ 2 hours or more eat some carbs prior to the ride
- Fuel with around 250-300 cals of carbohydrate for each hour of exercise
- Take 20-30grams of protein after the workout
- Rest of day and evening for main meals it is eating for the body weight you want to be at
The over arching principle was to eat more right before, during, and after exercise and then the rest of the day eat less. I had the tendency to try to eat “catchup” calories throughout the day and evening to “make up” for the training I was doing. Her take is to eat lean for your main meals and then fuel the work (like TR says), but fueling the work means right in the window you’re exercising…not 7 hours earlier by having a huge breakfast. Or by doing a ride from 9am - 1pm and then eating a 1,500 calorie dinner at 8pm. Definitely a focus on total calories but it should always be done in that window of exercise.
I had some other issues related to COVID shut downs that derailed my plan but what I listed above is my plan going forward for this year.
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Thanks for the detailed reply. I really appreciate the insight!
My stats are:
Male
30
5’ 7" - athletic build - 3 days/week full body weight training prior to COVID.
Usually around 165lbs
I have always struggled with balancing the calorie intake required for fat loss and weight maintenance with the calorie intake required to complete high output rides and/or long duration and training sessions.
For some context, 3 years ago I lost 72lbs and have kept most of it off (230lbs down to 158lbs). I have fluctuated up/down within a 10lb window over the past 3 years (158lbs - 168lbs). Mostly hanging around the 165lb mark.
I lost 72lbs over a 10-month period. At that time, I was riding MTB a few days each week. Under 2hr sessions at high intensity. Plenty of time spent at Zone 4 and Zone 5 heart rates. I always ended the sessions absolutely obliterated. Shot for the entire day.
I was eating around 1300-1600 calories each day and not eating anything additional to fuel these rides. I would have 1 “cheat” day each week to eat around 3500 calories. So, lets call it 1800/day gross calorie intake – whatever those MTB sessions burned (600 calories on the low end for each x 2 sessions?) 1600 net average calorie intake is what I come up with.
TLDR; I felt awful, it took incredible discipline, and I was getting incredible weight loss results. My cycling fitness had plateaued.
Fast forward to the beginning of 2021…I went from riding a few hundred miles each year (average MTB ride of 10-15mi) to putting down 1500 miles this past season (including some big days: many 25-30mi MTB, a 50mi MTB ride, and a 100mi gravel ride). Food intake went up to around 2000 calories on the average day, but still eating at surplus 2-3 days each week. Unchecked weekend free-for-alls. 3000-5000 calories a day Friday – Sunday in many cases. Weight stayed below 165lbs until November 2021.
This still felt sub-optimal, but it worked. Fitness cycling improved dramatically, and my weight stayed in check.
Right now, the holidays left me around 170lbs and I am looking to get back to 158lbs. At the same time, I am looking to build fitness indoors for a strong 2022 season.
My gut says to drop calories way back down, but I know that is going to kill my ability to perform difficult sessions. This is also my first winter with a power meter-based training platform (Wahoo Kickr). Last season I just trained with a friction spin bike and HR monitor to gauge effort.
I guess I am left with 2 questions:
- Have you had any luck with substantially increasing fitness while losing fat?
- When exercising with a power meter-based trainer, do you trust the calorie burn and use it when calculating calories in/out?
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So a couple of things. One I’m not a nutritionist, but it’s always easier to comment on other’s training than your own. I’ve tried what you are referring to with “cheat” meals a number of years ago. It kind of “worked” but is not a healthy way to handle weight loss. By doing a cheat day like this you’re teaching your body to pack away those calories as fat because it doesn’t know when it is going to get the next day when you’re not under eating. It also creates a reward mechanism of if you do your training you get a reward to eat huge amounts of food. That is not a good cycle to get in to.
So I would stop doing that cheat day type of cycle.
To answer the other questions: Yes I’ve increased my fitness while losing weight. It takes fueling at the appropriate time of day for the training you’re doing and NOT eating extra on other days or times of the day to make up calories. I utilize the kJ’s burned calculated by the power meter data to add to my BMR plus a basic level of activity for the type of office work I do. For me if I don’t exercise that is around 2,000 calories per day. If I ride that is usually another 750-1000 calories during the week and can be a lot more on the weekends during nice weather when I’ll ride 3-5 hours each day.
Bottom line is eat healthy all of the meals of the day and fuel with 250-300 calories per hour when riding. When you do this you’ll get off the bike not feeling like you need to eat an entire pizza. Then if you’re wanting to lose weight get about a 400 calorie deficit per day but don’t get that deficit by reducing the amount you eat surrounding exercise. Do it by reducing from breakfast, lunch, or dinner. And then don’t do the cheat meals. That is what I would do in your case. The amount of performance improvement by fueling correctly immediately before, during, and after training sessions is huge.
Just my two cents as someone who isn’t naturally a tremendously skinny person. More of an athletic build like a basketball player rather than a cyclist.
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Are you my twin? haha I did the same exact thing and but lost 42-45lbs and I am back up to 170-175 and I am 5-8. My issues has been junk food and snacking. I can’t seem to get my balance right, some days I eat to much, others to little then I am hungry, it sucks. If I don’t eat enough on a training day I am super hungry the next day. I can’t handle huge calorie deficits anymore, I get super hungry and with a full time job and 2 boys, it is mentally challenging as well. Tracking calories is also something that has become stressful for me as it is so numbers focused, Right now I am trying to just focus on eating whole foods and fueling more on the bike so I am not as hungry when I get off the bike. I want to try to run a small deficit for fat loss and I am just going to try and reduce my portion sizes at meals vs trying to count calories.