Welcome all,
This thread historically has been very open and accepting. Feel free to give each other support and ask for anything 
Iāve been here a while and iām still plugging away at my goals. Happy to help and share stories along the way. Good luck this year!
Just joined! I put my weight in. I am going to not drink alcohol at all Jan, Feb, Apr or May (key race is armed forces cycling classic and I have a vacation planned in March )
I did the FasCat 4 week weight loss in December, mostly, which was really nice for maintaining where I was at. But if there is one thing I NEED to focus on this season it is sleep. I really enjoy video games and with a heavy work schedule, training, a dog, and some other personal commitments, I usually will play for 30-45 minutes at 8:30pm. Which turns into an hour because you canāt complete anything in 45 minutes. Then 1:20. Then itās 11:30 and I gotta get up at 5am. So thereās some priorities I need to readjust this year I think.
Already down 5 pounds since 1/1/2023. Why is it the first few pounds are always so easy? Itās those last few pounds when you get close to your goal which can drive you crazy. Iāve lost these 5 pounds just by eating a little healthier and cutting down on snackingā¦no crazy diet plans.
Think that itās mostly water at firstā¦
started loading creatine a few days ago to hopefully help with recovery so Iām a couple pounds up from last checkin. but when I used a body tape to check measurements, Iām clearly down in multiple spots. encouraging progress!
How much creatine do you use and how frequently?
historically just 5g per day after a workout in my lifting days.
right now, loading about 25g per day (a bit less than the 0.33g per kilo bodyweight some people recommend) for a one week period. loading period is not necessary but will saturate you faster. Iāll switch to 5g per day after a week.
a lot of people worry about the increased weight with creatine but in my experience that water weight seems to be mostly transient. Also, Iām so heavy right now that my performance is not dictated by +/- 2 pounds. I figure any benefit to recovery and potentially being able to push harder in the saddle during training will outweigh the drawback of water weight, especially while Iām trying to lose body fat and therefore stressing my body through a caloric deficit.
these are just my 2 cents!
Havent been on this thread for a while or havent updated the tracker in a while
But had a good year overall, just gotta keep going on that same track
Had a very off december, with a messed up back and then catching covid but weāre back and gonna try to lose another 5kg before the start of race season (half marathon end of april) and maybe total of 10kg by July!?
Swim 2x per week
Bike 4x per week
Run 6x per week (all easy runs, just volume)
Lift 3x per week
Until march!
Weāll see how the body responds.
I also did some body measurements from sept to december and lost a lot of cm/inches
Had to track daily my calorie count because its easy for me to undereat protein and just stuff myself on fat-filled processed foods and baked goods lol
Hi all, put my update in. Back on the grind to speak.
My last year was successful. I started dieting in earnest at the beginning of April 2022 and as of today, Iām down roughly 13.5 kg. I am about 50% of the way towards my goal of 70-65 kg. I have moved from an obese BMI to overweight and am about 8 pounds away from being in a healthy weight category. My bodyfat is down from 30.25% bodyfat to 24.5% bodyfat.
(From the ios app Happy Scale: https://happyscale.com/)
Initially I thought Iād be focused on going completely down as fast as possible. After reading a bit, I became convinced that after dropping roughly 1% of body weight, I should undertake a maintenance phase. This is where I consolidate what I have achieved and take a period off dieting whereby I focus on keeping my weight in a range before the next push., That was from Nov to Dec and corresponded to a period of time that was very stressful at work wise and lots of non-weight related health issues meant it was good to not think about weight loss for a time. New year is here and Iām in a position to do the next phase of weight loss.
As it stands, I am planning on getting down another 1% of my current bodyweight for this period. This take me down to around 72kg from my current weight of 80kg. From there I am going to decide if I want to do another maintenance phase for 2 months before my last push to 68-65 or if I will continue until my goal and start then. All of this is subject to the actual amount of bodyfat I have; Iām aiming to lose bodyfat not just hit a certain weight target. Planning on getting a dexa scan in Feb to finally hone in on what my current number is and then finalize my overall goals.
Good luck for everyone this year. Wishing you all success!
Excellent job!
Down 1 pound my first week like I wanted. Rest day my bodyās said lets put weight back on so now im up a pound. Mentally that gain is a rough hurdle, I was hoping to stay at the lower weight and then take another pound off this week.
My current fat loss journey started mid August last year. Went down from 89 kg to 82, by simply eating less, not calorie counting but making sure a little appetite remained in the evening and only eating 2 or 3 main meals per day. Except when doing 1000+ Cal workouts, then I would just eat an extra meal.
The last 2 months or so my weight has remained stable and is now sitting at 83 kg.
It feels good to be at maintenance again and I have also noticed it really takes an effort to start eating at a small deficit again. I have started going to the gym again, I go 3x per week:
Day1: Squat, Bench Press, One Arm Rows, Glute Ham Raises, Push Ups, Lat Pull Down
Day2: Deadlift, Shoulder Press, Inverted Rows, Lunge, Push Up, Seated Row
Day3: Kettlebell Swing, T Pushup, Inverted Row, Farmerās Walk, Curls, Triceps Extension.
I use https://www.strong.app/ to keep track of the weights and make sure I am progressing every week for the main lifts, either weight or reps go up.
This gives me another way of feeling good about bodyweight remaining stable if it means that weights in the gym are going up.
I was doing great May 2022 right after Athens, was racing as fast as Iāve ever been at 178. Went to a work trip for a month in June, which had pretty awful food choices. I rode a little bit but focus was elsewhere.
September, has a gnarly crash and an injury at winston Salem.
October, got married and had lots of Mai Tais. Right into a very stressful time period at work, then thanksgiving and Christmas.
Now into 2023 Iām averaging around 186lbs/84.5kg. Iām going to try and get to 178lbs / 81kg before the season really kicks off without sacrificing too much power. So thatās about 8lbs in 3 months, itās a little aggressive but I think itās possible!
And this is great too! Because you obviously are improving muscle mass. I use the strong app too, Iām doing one heavy lift day per week (full body, generally two sets of 3-8 reps in about 50 minutes) and one core/body weight I can do at home in about 20 mins.
What do you consider a maintenance phase? What is the variation that you aim for during a maintenance phase?
I like the way you structure you weight drop. The stair step approach is something that I have never attempted before.
For me it wasā¦take 3 months to justā¦learn what I am like at the new weight. Focus on things other than dieting that can make the results stick. Also just mentally to give myself a break and do other things.
I took to heart a series of videos on a diet break / maintenance phase. I know its bro-y but I found it really interesting and I ran with it.
Edit: For me, this was a successful strategy. I didnāt follow to the letter but to the spirit. But I will say that for this second round for me, I will be following it a bit more strictly since Iām getting close to my goal weight.
You need to see it as small sustainable steps that you are making to change your diet over time. Your bodyweight reacts and eventually reaches a. new equilibrium. If you can keep your weight at that level for a while that is still a gain as you are getting used to your new habits. Then make the next small change and repeat.
Well it appears im holding water or was just way off on calories in my food. Now im weighing food to get more accurate. I just had my highest tss week in 6 months and everyday I consumed less then I burned. This is why i hate trying to lose weight, emotional roller-coaster.
This is great information! Thank you for sharing
