You can lose weight and gain watts at the same time!
Everyone is at a different place in their journey, so this applies to my scenario, but maybe not everyone, particularly those that are already either very lean or already near their limits, but I think many on here are in the same boat as me since I consider myself to be average. If you have body composition opportunities, you can definitely cut the right weight and maintain enough caloric intake not to see your improvements halt while losing weight.
I’m in my second year of training with Trainerroad. First year was relatively hard gains. Started with an ramp test score of 238, but felt I was stronger than that based on other information so started with an FTP of 250. Trained last year on a low volume plan and saw okay gains and was at 265 watts and ready for another test to perhaps go higher, but ended up with a medical issue that ended the season. My weight at the time in the low 180 lbs (83kg) to roughtly 3.2 watts per. I am roughly 6’ 1" so pretty average build at the time. I’m also 40 years old, in case you were wondering.
On October 14th 2019, started a new program. Set FTP to 250 watts manually. Was gaining weight due to bad habits and holidays so started roughly the same weight, but got up to 190.8 lbs (86.5kg) in late November. On January 24th started changing my diet and increasing my volume. I ramped my volume up to about 10 hours a week (up from 7 hours) and got extremely disciplined with training, not missing a single planned day of riding during this block. I’ve lost over 20 lbs in 3.5 months and today I hit 300 watts, just a hair away from 4 w/kg! My key take aways are not too novel. First key is consistency. Second, more volume. And third is to manage your intensity so that you do enough zone 2 and don’t trash yourself in between your workouts.
Tuesday, Oct 15, 2019 250 183.5 lbs 3.00 w/kg
Friday, Nov 29, 2019 265 190.8 lbs
Tuesday, Jan 14, 2020 274 188.3 lbs
Thursday, Feb 13, 2020 282 183 lbs
Monday, Mar 16, 2020 290 178.6 lbs
Tuesday, May 5, 2020 301 168.5 lbs 3.94 w/kg
A couple of final notes. I went from 290 to 301 doing SSB I. So you don’t have to do intensity to gain. My diet has slipped lately during lockdown and I eat basically what I want, but still losing weight. We’ve been walking 5-6 miles a day to keep my 3 year old active the last month or so. Not sure if that helped my test today, but definitely has done nothing to hurt the freshness I feel on rides.