Has anyone lost a lot of weight using Dr. Kyle Pfaffenbach techniques?

Nutrition
1

I just listed to the latest podcast and I’ve listed to most of the other pfaffenbach podcasts in the past. From what I gather, you take your want to be weight and calculate protein and fat.

Say you are 225 and, ideally want to be 185. You should shoot low, like 220 or 215 as a first goal weight, and then reset the targets every time you reach the new goal.

215 / 2.2 = 97.7kg

Pfaffenbach’s Protein target is 1.4 to 1.6g per kg, thus

97.7kg * 1.5 = 147g of protein per day

Pfaffenbach’s Fat target is 1 to 1.2g per kg, thus

97.7kg * 1.1 = 107g of Fat per day

Carbs were described as needed but he didn’t give targets in this latest video as you have to factor in workouts.

I guess here is where you calculate your total caloric daily need in some way and then subtract by how much you wan to lose. Say I do the calculation and come up with 2300 calories per day. Say I ride 8 hours per week and that represents approximately 4000kj/calories. That puts me at 2870 calories per day budget including working out.

So it works out in total to something like:

protein 147g x 4 cal = 588

fat 197g x 9 cal = 963

sub total = 1551 calories

2870 - 1551 = 1319 calories for carbohydrate

1319 / 4 = 330g of carbohydrate per day

Did I do the math right?

I also gather that I might eat more carbs on big workout days and less on recovery days.

3 Likes
2

Also, once you lose weight and reach the first goal weight, you readjust the protein and fat targets to your next weight goal.

I’m wondering if anyone has done this for a sustained period of time and lost a lot of weight?

1 Like
3

That math is incorrect. It’s 107.5g of fat but your math of fat per day times calories is right so I assume 237 was a typo. But just for anyone reading it.

4

I had caught that but only changed in one place and not the other.

1 Like
5

This is the route I started this year. I have lost 30# this year and dont feel deprived and my rides have never felt more fueled.

I am on a GLP1, but I have been on it for almost 2 years now and didnt see weight loss until i added the nutritional component.

1 Like
6

It was a pretty information-dense podcast, but a really interesting viewpoint that offers a more structured approach than fad diets. I n addition to the comment above about setting midway targets to get to the goal weight, what i took away from it was that we all need to eat more protein, keep our protein and fat intake consistent throughout, flex carb intake according to training demands to create the necessary caloric deficit. Protein and fat have long-term impact hence the need to keep consistent, whereas carbs is a very rapid rise and fall, so can be added as necessary when you know you’ll need more for training.

That seems to make sense doesn’t it. What would be great to hear tho is what a sample diet might look like for an amateur cyclist training for a granfondo with mostly endurance training, but occassional high intensity hill repeats.
I’ll take a looksee if there are any guides online and then start a long-term program to lose a few kg by next spring when i have a couple of bucket list challenges in mind. And I’ll adapt AJS’ numbers (thanks) for my current and target weights and see what that looks like…..

7

In my experience, coming from a bodybuilding background (huge focus on losing fat and retaining muscle), there’s minimal focus needed on eating targeted fat calories beyond what is in the normal diet. I’d consider this even more applicable to endurance athletes who really need carbs for prep, during ride, and recovery. I’d rather up that protein to closer to 1.8g-2g per kg vs having added fat.

Admittedly, I didn’t listen to the podcast, but going based on the posts and fat calculations.

As a whole, the calculations of target calories and such in the big picture all seem to make sense. There’s no one sized fits all regarding diet. It does vary a little person to person, but there’s also a lot of ways to skin a cat.

4 Likes
8

I just got done listening to this episode.

There was talk about doing things that are sustainable but how is counting macros/weighing food sustainable? At least I don’t find it to be. Unless I’m missing something

2 Likes
9

I’ve never heard them recommend to do that on an ongoing basis - only to level set and more short term.

3 Likes
10

I track daily, I’ll weigh certain staples from time to time so that I keep myself in check on what truly is a serving. i don’t go over the top but I eat a lot of the same or similar foods so that probably makes it easier.

5 Likes
11

It is also the approach that (former) pros like Alex Dowsett and Phil Gaimon have popularized on their Youtube channels. It seems pretty solid, easy to understand and agnostic as to whether you are omnivorous, vegetarian or vegan.

12

Thank you AJS to put it together. I wanted to have a deeper look at it and you made the job easier.

This is then the baseline for fat and proteins. So how do you modulate the carb intake based on the workouts?

13

I basically do the same. I take the same number of string cheeses to work. I don’t need to weigh a hardboiled egg. I don’t get picky about butter on some toast or the toast. I’ve just got basic stuff that fits the bill close enough. If I change a work snack, like right now I bring some mixed nuts and dried apricots. I weigh them a few days to eyeball and then I’m good. I make my lunches on Sunday, right now some rice and grilled chicken. I just portion it all out and weigh as I put it in. I can now basically copy snacks and lunches for 5 days in the tracker app. Add in my workout carbs and breakfast which for my smoothie I just have a saved recipe I can select. Other than the rice and chicken distribution I’m not weighing anything.

1 Like
14

Yep, that’s the way. Try to get it close, but overestimate, if anything, for small stuff like condiments, fats, etc.

I know my baseline for carbs, which is what’s left in my baseline daily total after figuring protein and fat, and I’m usually high on fat because I eat eggs for breakfast and butter on veggies and eat beef and pork, too, so end up lower than some people would want to be on their carbs. Then, for the carbs for training, I do what they say… I ballpark the carbs I‘ll need for the next ride, and if it’s going to be intense and/or long enough that I won’t be able to fuel it on the bike, then I add some carbs to a meal or two beforehand. The calorie counting app auto deducts 500 cal/day (for 1lb loss per week), and I cheat too much, so I figured out I need to deduct another 500 cals when I enter my exercise calories burned for each ride (almost all my rides are 800-1500+ calories), and really that’s probably about the right number for the fat calories I’ve burned for any ride, and I don’t have any desire to restock the fat I burned. At the end of the week, if I don’t cheat/overeat too much on my higher intensity days, I typically can end up at a 1 lb loss pretty easily.

(Note: I’ve been tracking calories/macros for a few years, and I clearly have some food issues with binge eating and rewarding eating and carb addiction, so at this point I’m having to build in the 2nd 500 cal/day deduction to “trick” myself. That’s my number, that’s my thing…I know I’m going to go over on my high intensity days because I mentally am trying to hit the number, but I binge. Good news is that I’m down 18 lbs over the last year and 28lb over the last 2 years, but it’s 2 steps forward, one step back typically. This isn’t a recommendation that anyone else uses my trickery, just wanting to show that you may need to adapt the process for yourself to keep moving forward, and you can do it. Taking in thousands of extra calories every week, to offset the burning of thousands of extra calories that you’re burning can be really tricky.)

4 Likes
15

I’ve tracked my macros every day since about mid December '24. I have 0 OCD tendencies and I am not a very meticulous person. Just find a good app and it’s very easy.

4 Likes
16

They say that you eat extra carbs before and after key workouts which obviously means cutting back on carbs on easy days and recovery days.

You are going to have to come up with a weekly base calorie allocation that allows you to lose weight and then modulate the carbs all week.

I think it’s going to be threading a fine line.

For me it would take a lot of tracking. I’ve always found training and calorie restriction difficult. Maybe others will simply start eating the protein and lose weight because they weren’t eating enough protein in the first place?

1 Like
17

I’ve been tracking with LoseIt and the data quality drives me crazy. I previously tried MyFitnessPal and got a fire hose of spam from them. What are you using that you like?

18

Not necessarily, AFAIK you can also try to font-load carbs for the next workout rather than replenish the carbs. In the first approach, it is not just relevant what kind of workout you did on that day, but also what kind of workout you will do tomorrow.

So on a rest day before a hard workout, you may want to increase carb intake.

19

I said before and after key workouts.

At some point you have to eat less carbs. If protein and fat grams/calories are set then you only have carb calories to play with to achieve your overall calorie deficit.

2 Likes
20

I use Macrofactor. It’s not super cheap but it’s worth it to me. Simple to use - figures out macros for me - easy to add my own recipes for repeat meals or whatever and have them saved in there.

7 Likes