At my fastest (Cat 2)–I ranged from about 80 to 83 kilos at almost exactly 183 cm tall. My abilities always felt curtailed when I weighed under 80 kg but I’m now way above 100 kg as I haven’t really trained very hard for the last couple of decades. I have to be honest that I’ve also turned into an emotional eater, and have had a lot of trouble with stress eating because of my job. Talk about curtailed performance!
I do know that to be a successful masters racer, I need to be back, at the very least, near 85 kg. Anyone else figured out a way to stave off emotional eating in a mid-career phase of a busy life, when one still doesn’t have more than 10 hours to train? I don’t drink alcohol, which I do know helps me somewhat in not putting on extra weight. Meditation, yoga, walks? The occasional smoke? (half kidding).
I’ve found that I had to remove any trigger foods from my home. I can’t eat chips (crisps) or pretzels in moderation - a bag is a single serving, no matter the size. Same with ice cream, I need a minimum of a pint to feel like I’ve had enough to satisfy me. So, if it’s not in the pantry, I can’t eat it.
I make sure to have plenty of low calorie substitutes - fruit, carrot sticks, pickles, popcorn. I mix Greek yogurt with protein powder and freeze it in popsicle molds to help satisfy my ice cream fix. I do allow myself to have ice cream once a week, pizza occasionally, and plenty of other things I like, but I buy them the same day I intend to eat them.
This is partly how I’ve lost 28 pounds since February.
I plan and track my calories. I may occasionally have an extra couple unplanned fig cookies, but then I’ll eat a bit less pasta for dinner. Without a number to track and hit, I could easily eat the entire package of fig cookies in one sitting out of boredom/procrastination.
For a few months now, I’ve lost weight and continued to raise my FTP, so we’ll see how long that continues.
I am also a emotional eater. I was able to loose 45 KG (almost 100 lbs) over a year and I kept it off for over 12 years now. Some things I learned:
Eat mostly food that is not calorie dense (vegetables, whole grains legumes) and lots of low fat protein (chicken, tofu, legumes…). This will make you feel satiated without eating too many calories.
Don’t buy processed food. If you are busy, do some meal prep.
Don’t buy food “trigger food”. If you don’t have chocolate, chips, ice cream etc. at you house, you can’t eat it.
Periodize your diet. Eat enough carbs before and during training. This will help you perform better and you will not eat as much afterwards. Eat less carbs on low volume or recovery days. Apps like Hexis can help with that.
Don’t smoke but the idea is good. Find something you can do instead of eating. Like good coffee or tea (without sugar). Keep snacks around that are low calorie like cucumbers or carrots.
Wow, that’s awesome! That’s easily how much I need to lose by the spring to even be halfway successful, especially in crits. I’m also playing some USTA tennis next year, which means I’ve absolutely got to be lean when a few of those tournaments hit. (I realize bike racing + tennis is a weird combo, but I lose my mind just competing in one sport anymore, lol).