Ive been pretty open about being on it. I have lost about 30# so far (from 240 → 210#, 6’ 47 female, 226 ftp)
My experience with training and racing from before to now is that I have to be much more mindful about my fueling. I cant just get by on fasted workouts. I get shaky/weak/feel hypoglycemic if im not fueling well now. before I used to think nothing of a longish fasted ride.
Congrats on the weight loss. What has is your deficit now compared to before taking Tirzepatide? Any notable side effects while you’ve been on it and what has your training been since starting? Are you just doing base/endurance stuff or going through build and peak cycles too?
assuming you are asking me. I try very hard not to track to closely as ive had disordered eating my entire life and the slippery slope to not eating at all is an easy one to get on when I start tracking. I eat roughly 2000kCal/day outside of ride fueling, with an emphasis on protein and fiber, no absolute restrictions. Ive been down the restriction road before (I was keto/carni for 4 years and before that i dabbled in plant based, cico, macros ect. if there is a diet i have tried it) i train about 16ish hrs/week which is pretty consistent with what i have done for yrs. (triathlete now racing marathon mtb/gravel) biggest side effect is that I have to be very cognizant of my fueling. It was nothing before to go for a longish ride fasted. Now there is no way I can do that without feeling hypoglycemic.
Interesting thread, as a recreational cyclist who is now 5 weeks into Mounjaro.
I started at 106kg, FTP circa 180w-200watts
In 5 weeks I have lost 7kg, and around 40watts sustained power.
I can still hit peak power no issuse but energy is just not there to sustain anything, so much like the op, I am just pottering about having fun and that is getting noticeably easier as I get lighter and my body adapts to the lower calories.
My power seems to be improving, as are my energy levels compared to weeks 1-3, but not there yet.
In terms of fuelling, I will try to eat as much as possible the day before which is still a deficit as I cant seem to overeat on GLP-1, not even one day in the whole time have I exceeded my net calories.
I have a banana in the morning with a coffee before I ride, but am still doing very short easy circuits, slowly interjecting a few harder intervals as I improve over the weeks.
Today I had carbs in my bottle as a test, in a cautious close to home circuit, but that wasnt needed as they landed fine while exercising.
Like others have said, there is no way anyone could compete on GLP-1 succesfully. Any kind of over exertion, for me, results in complete exhaustion and nausea.
I’d encourage you to drink those carbs. You are already in a calorie deficit. Not fueling workouts just puts you in a deficit for the next workout. One banana is not enough.
The lack of fuel and muscle glycogen stores could be where those 40 watts went.
Congrats on the weight loss!
Fair comment and almost certainly correct that the lack of fuel is causing the drop on power.
An unfortunate trade off to shift the weight. Body will adapt both in fat burming potential and daily calorie requirments and of course getting used to mounjaro, which i am not yet. Still have the occasional side effects.
On carbs in bottle, on mounjaro its something that you have to be careful of as one sip to many is a fast lane to needing an emergency hedge stop.
Not at all fussed about the short term power loss, just turning the cranks, enjoying myself as i shed the dead weight. Once at goal weight ill focus a lot more on carbs/calorie intake before and during as i lift the intensity again and seek to regain power and strength.
Ride safe !
Why is that?
The body processes sugar differently when you are exercising.
Welcome to the club!
I can now give a “6 months later” (and 12 months overall on Mounjaro) perspective which may help.
In brief, my weight loss has slowed considerably and now just drifting down gradually and specifically only when I’m focusing on it instead of flying off without thought like those early days. This is likely because I’ve chosen to go back down to the 5mg dose - it works best for my gut and I’m no longer desperate to lose weight fast like I was. I’m very happy with how it’s going.
What that has meant for my training is that my bike fitness is the best it has ever been. I can consciously fuel my workouts fully and my power numbers have just got better and better. I’m currently sat at 297w at 89kg, anxiously awaiting my next AI FTP update. So up 17w since I started Mounjaro and down 21kg. I’m very happy with how it’s going.
Mounjaro is a GLP 1 which slows down digestion. Its then very easy to “over do it” on carbs when on Mounjaro and cause sudden nausea/diarrhea.
Not something you want on a bike when miles away from home.
Thanks for that update, as yet I have not gone past 5mg. Will see at 8 weeks how I am getting on if I do go up. No need at this point. My calories are already too low some days.
Is this something you experienced?
It doesn’t seem like drinking a liquid would be a problem for the decreased rate of gastric emptying on a glp1.
I tried ozempic for a while and never experienced any kind of nausea or diarrhea. In fact the problem was the opposite - getting too bottled up - painfully bottled up.