Thats some solid progress. Congrats to that!
Whatās worked for me is always focus on hitting the 1000 calorie daily deficit with diet as much as possible. Relying on exercise to make up the difference is a high risk proposition as youāll likely overwork yourself and/or if you get injured things derail quickly.
Looking back at my logs, I can do a rough 750 calorie deficit through diet alone. A bit more gets to be harder and thats where activity usually makes up the gap for me. For rest weeks, it is harder for me to hit 1000 consistently because I just donāt have enough other activity calories.
This is different for non rest weeks. As I do POL training, most of my cycling is Z1 (in a 3 zone model) for about 1-2 hours at a time. Thats roughly 500-1000 calories. If over 2 hours, this gives me roughly 300-500 extra calories to play with (because I make sure to fuel the 2 hour rides at 500). Combine this with an hour walk, and thats enough calories to make your diet a bit higher in calories.
But Iām doing a very aggressive diet target. If I were to focus on only a 500 daily deficit, I think that I wouldnāt need to be so disciplined. That said, I want to get away from 25%+ BF as quick as possible for my health and so when I hit my weight loss target, I can shift into targeting performance without obsessing about my current fat levels.
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Out of interest, what is your calculated BMR? Also current weight
Cheers. I really want to get to 3.5w/kg before I go to climb Mont Ventoux 3 times in a day. I have 9 weeks which means I need to drop the same 6kg again and gain 33w on my FTP 
or drop 10kg and gain 19w.
It is a tough ask but Iām on it.
I use the Mifflin St Jeor equation so right now at 84.1 kg with 26% BF its 1760. TDEE is usually assumed to be 300 which is slightly below what a āsedentary individualā is estimated at when you use a calculator.
I then roughly estimate 400-500 calories being activity calories coming from walking around, and doing things. This coupled with my low-balled TDEE means Iām assuming that I get 200ish extra burned calories from activities outside the norm. On rest weeks, it is hard to meet this target. On non-rest weeks, my 1 hour cycling gets me to hit it comfortably. Over 1 hour, Iām fueling and focusing on performance so I just enjoy having an extra 500 calories which are more carby/food I want to eat but cant when Iām restricting
My diet is pretty restricted looking at it but Iāve got everything dialed in so its just automatic at this point. My one luxury is my lattes which I can have roughly 5 of them whenever I want which keeps me sane. By 7pm, I usually have had only 800-1000 calories. This leaves me with usually 2 final meals in the day which are lower calorie but they work well. Slow digesting protein powder is a godsend as are salads with balsamic vinegar spray.
But Iāve been on a diet for 7 weeks now. Iāve had to do a lot of intial playing around to see what works and what doesnāt. Iām losing roughly .85kg to .95kg on average a week on my current strategy so Iām pleased. I could be more aggressive but things have been working and I havenāt had to do anything extreme so Iām just going to keep on as is.
I think the biggest thing is to do an initial setup of an āideal dietā, be patient and look at trends before you change anything (I usually reserve 2 weeks before any minor changes, 4 for major ones), and adjust to what works for you and what doesnāt (both psychologically and physically).
Edit: Also, for all of you, a great BMR and TDEE calculator is found here: SailRabbit: BMR, TDEE and BMI Calculator
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Thanks for the replies - lots to think about! According to my whoop data below this month Iāve average 2,459 kcal TDEE. My rest days are consistently around 1,700 kcal (including an hour dog walking) so will be pretty difficult to make much of a deficit there. So I think I will try and stick to consuming 2,000 kcal a day (maybe increase up to 2,500 kcal for days I burn over 3,000) for the next fortnight and see if I can get the scales to start moving in the right direction!
My biggest concern is not having enough energy to complete workouts (doing short power build at the moment) so hopefully I can find a good balance with some trial and error.
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Interesting calculator! When I put in my stats and select an activity level that closely matches my rest day it gives a TDEE really close to what my whoop measures using my heart rate so that gives me some more faith that itās an accurate measurement to go by
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Err on the side of the data you have on hand from your own monitors. The BMR equations are best guesses based on average data. The best thing about activity monitors is that it can give you averages over time of your calories and then you can set from there. More individualized which is good.
Good luck on your goals.
joining in late to the game 
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Hello
Late joiner as well. Though I donāt have a lot of weight to loose, those last couple kgās can be tough. I am 58 yrs old, 183cm currently at 77kgs and would like to settle at under 75kgs. My reasonIng is a bit strange but normal is a setting on the dryer. I use both TR and Zwift together, with my current power at under 75kgs i either regularity see 3.0 or 4.0 w/kg as i ride along and that makes me feel good.
I counted calories last year and the results were ok, felt hungry a lot and then would break and totally binge. I did learn what foods have high calories though. Recently I have been focused on low calorie dense foods that are plant based.
I use a Garmin scale and with Garmin connect my goal is to see fewer peaks and valleys for a 12 month window.
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Awesome man. Iām afraid to ramp test for what I might find out. Maybe next week Iāll do it.
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What are people using for snacks, when you know you are burning lots of calories doing workouts? Iām trying to go for bananas or rice cakes with peanut butter.
At the moment Iām having fruit (bananas, raisins, peaches, dried mango), breakfast bars (150cals, some are much higher!), yogurts, rice cakes, a boiled egg or a homemade smoothie if I want something more filling in between meals.
I always have a big glass of water with these and that helps me to feel fuller.
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Tbh, whatever I want so long as it fits my calories and I maintain a deficit. I also use it as a way to ārewardā myself for being on the bike. Extra incentives
For me personally? Clif bars. So good. Sometimes I canāt wait to work out to get a blueberry crisp or Alpine Muesli one. I used to eat candy on the bike but Iām noticing that highly sugary foods arenāt as appealing anymore as lose more weight. I am starting to consider making sandwiches or other types of foods Feedzone Cookbook style since I find solid food is way better than liquid calories on the bike.
Iām currently getting through 4-5 litres of water a day to stay away from the cookie jar. Iām having electrolyte tablets too to balance the increase in water.
Iām not feeling hungry at the moment at all. I want food but it is mental, not physical!
Having increased my calorie intake, i was afraid to see that my weight bumped up.
Just a bump on the road, we are back on track, and iām back to 81kg. 3 kg to go to my target
Iāve also introduced a stretch goal, well, more of a shrink goal ā 75 kg!
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Friday morning weigh in for me. Had a very good week, trained every day (run & bike 5hr 30min around 300TSS) and been very strict with my calorie deficit, more sleep and zero alcohol.
92.5kg. I need to make sure the weekend doesnāt spike as 92.5kg would be a 1.5kg loss for the week
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Thanks for sharing the link
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Anybody notice when in a deficit, itās tough to stay warm? Iām in a 70 degree house & Iām absolutely freezing!
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I experienced the same thing, I wasnāt sure if it was the deficit or lower body fat. I stopped tracking calories and the deficit back in February when we went to Hawaii, got warm there.
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