YAWL: Continued Weight loss and Build Plan

Training
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YAWL = Yet Another Weightloss thread

Hello all,
So, I am continuing to lose weight slowly but steadily. I am about to go into my build phase in a couple of weeks. I want to keep the weight loss going as my priority is to lose weight over building fitness.

To paraphrase, I have come across a couple of threads where they say that losing weight during a build plan is not possible/advisable.

Have any of you lost weight whilst on a Build plan?

So, should I:

  1. Instead of the Mid Vol Sustained build, do Low Vol Sustained build with Z2 workouts on non-ride days?
  2. Redo SSB Mid/Low?
  3. Go ahead with build Mid vol as planned?
  4. Something else: Pls elaborate

Thank you.

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Because adaptation to generate power for some performance related goal such as a PR for a 40k ITT, or trying to podium a high priority race/event, while cutting calories building/peaking is tricky/hard/not advisable.

However, as you stated, weight loss is your only goal. So for you any of the above is plans are fine IMO. The hard part is what happens before and after the ride. Follow the PTFD* diet for 100% results 100% of the time for 100% of people who try it.

I’m sort of kidding but, not really. Put the fork down* does sum up what needs to happen. It’s hard to ride hard in a large deficit which is why folks lose weight during base/low intensity rides. That’s where I would focus.

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As with much else on this topic – the above comment falls into the “it depends” category.

For instance – 3 years ago, I was 40lbs/18kg heavier than I am now. I was a weekend rider, and not a very good or fast one at that. I was more or less “off the couch” – I decided to get serious about training because I wanted to try my hand at a race or two. And as such, the pounds came flying off…no matter what I ate.

Now, at a very fit 79kg / 175lbs – I probably only have 5-7 more pounds to lose to hit what I would deem an ideal race weight … but at my fitness level, losing weight during a build is pretty hard, if not impossible. I’m trying to be smart, and make great choices on every calorie I consume, but it’s slow going. Once the weather warms up, the incidental activity that we all get outside will probably put me over the edge.

So, my point is – you can lose weight during a build, but it really depends on where you are in terms of fitness, and how close you are to an “ideal” weight – the closer you are, the harder in would be.

My 2c.

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@batwood14 I am about 20-25 lbs from my ideal weight. I will look to lose weight through July most likely. Fitness will slowly improve over time. So weight loss is my highest priority so I can redeem the FTP gains through TR.

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We’ve just discussed a very similar question

Bottom line, you can continue to loose weight in the build! However, it is better not to focus on it by calory cutting, but rather to take it as a by-product of consistent training and good supporting habits that include sleep, recovery and nutrition.

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If your goal is to lose weight then you can keep running an aggressive calorie deficit. Just understand that a lot of the workouts in the build phase will be really hard to complete if you’re coming in under-fueled. You might not get the FTP gains that you otherwise would reap during the build phase.

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@bherbers Yes, I plan to fuel prior to the ride properly and after eat less and maintain a 500-700 calorie deficit. Thanks for the input.

Just wondering if there are others who have managed to lose weight consistently during the Build period.