I’m looking for some advice and thoughts regarding training during a weight loss phase.
I’m 190cm, currently 98kg, 328w ftp and I’m hoping to drop some kg’s.
Being in a small deficit for longer periods of a time is just suffering, it affects my training and my mood sours, i feel like I’m not getting the benefits from the training and I’m not seeing the body recomposition fast enough. It’s the worst of both worlds and mentally taxing, also i love eating food.
I have approval from the missus of one month with bad mood and a bit shittier attitude as long as it’s time limited.
I do like my food and with 2 small kids having family dinners is important so I’m not going to starve my self or put limiting restrictions on my self (ending in binge eating). I will be aiming for 2500 kcal a day and about 200g protein, adjusting carbs prior to high intensity workouts.
Currently in my base phase doing 2 sweet spot and 1 threshold workouts each week. I run 2-3 times a week and strength train 3-4 times a week.
Going forward my plan was to dial down the intensive workouts to 1 or 2 times a week, as now i struggle to do anything productive on the bike or treadmill the day after.
Add in 2 long endurance rides (90+ min).
I will do some running when the schedule allows for it. I have a treadmill at home, a easy way of getting extra stimulus without to much fatigue. Will continue doing upper body strength work, keeping the sessions at 15-20 min 3-4 times a week, trying to minimize muscle loss.
The thing I’m worried about is: how much will my ftp suffer from, if any at all, going from intense workouts to just endurance rides, specially when I’m limited to 5-6 hours per week.
( I know in the back of my mind that it’s probably not an issue, as if i go down 5 kg that’s a 5% increase in w/kg even if my ftp just stays still, which is still pretty good)
I don’t really like giving advice on weight loss but this is what is working for me….
I’m 183cm tall - This time last year I was 83kg and I am currently 76kg.
I log calories and activity in my fitness pal an I set my weekly weight loss goal to 0.5kg per week. I set my activity level to “sedentary” but I wear a Garmin watch which logs my activity - even on a day with no workouts it credits me 100-200kcal for just walking about.
It gives me a goal daily calorie intake of 1850kcal but looking back though my logs it looks like my actual average daily intake has been around 3000kcal. I don’t really take much notice of the total - it’s only the deficit I look at.
While my rate of loss has only been 0.13kg a week not 0.5kg - I have felt that it has been sustainable without making me miserable or hindering my training too much so far (although I might be feeling the effects now as my last few weeks have been tough)
When i hit my target weight of 75kg I plan to continue with the calorie logging for a while in “maintain weight” mode.
As for protein I try for at least 110g and up to 150g. Suppose no harm in going higher on the protein but I find actively pushing for higher can mean I have to sacrifice other foods that I enjoy more.
If cycling performance was my absolute only consideration I think I could aim for 70kg - but 75kg hits a sweet spot for me where I don’t feel too skinny, have energy for other things and can eat relatively normally.
I’m 5’1”, female, 135 lbs but my ideal weight is more like 125. 2500 calories is basically my maintenance caloric intake! And compared to you I’m an elf. When I’m training I eat like 2500-2700 calories and my weight stays steady. It seems too low for you as a target - no wonder you get crabby!
I’d suggest very honestly tracking your food - either through writing down everything you eat in a notepad (phone or real), taking photos of everything you eat, or using a true calorie tracking app if your lifestyle is adaptable to that (I find these too cumbersome for me to use day in and day out). Then get an estimate of how many calories you’re actually eating each day.
I have actually just been using chatgpt - giving it a detailed list of what I ate each day and asking for an estimate of calories and grams of fat, protein, and carbs. While it’s not as accurate as a dedicated calorie tracking app, it’s much more sustainable and writing everything I eat down gives me more accountability.
You need to calculate your basal metabolic rate and then adjust based on your physical activity level. You could also calculate target grams of protein and fat per day using a weight that is slightly lower than your current weight and target that intake. 1.2 - 1.4g/kg of total mass for fat. 1.5-2g/kg for protein. Use slightly slower body weight, not final target weight. 150 g of carb per day plus fuel before workouts and replenishing during workout. Can cut calories and carbs after workout assuming you do not have another hard workout planned next day.
It also sounds like maybe you’re doing too many high intensity days. 1-2 days per week of higher intensity and easy or endurance on the rest of the days would be more manageable.
Also, my guess is that there’s some easy things you can cut from your diet. Whatever your vice is - soda, beer, fried food, sugary cereal, late night snacks… there’s probably something and focus first on just cutting that while maintaining your regular diet otherwise (unless your current diet is broadly unhealthy).
I would first try to eat at roughly your BMR adjusted for your activity level.. like BMR*1.4. You are probably currently exceeding that, as I tend to think most of us do.
