FatguyRacer

Thank you! I've been saying this for years. You cant have your cake and eat it too. No pun intended.

Lose weight first, then work on the fast.

ZXiMan

The more I ride, the faster I lose weight. Volume seems to work better for me than higher intensity. If I ride too hard, I seem to use up my glycogen stores instead of burning fat. LSD (Long steady distance) seems to work best for me (4-6 hours in the saddle at a time, at least twice a week... even better if I can do that 3 times a week which I can do when I'm not doing the higher intensity or racing).

ridethecliche

I don't think I'll be able to lose any more weight till the spring. I might be able to control my diet really well over break and lose a few pounds.

I'm a lot stronger right now than I was in the spring, even in season and I actually have a sprint now. I was 140-144 in the spring, and I was better at climbing then.

I'm not sure if the additional 5 lbs I'm carrying now is muscle that's making me stronger. I'm a little worried that losing weight is going to hurt my performance. I'll probably see what happens over winter and stop trying to lose weight if I see it starting to hurt me.

jonestr

The paleo diet is recommended by Friel so you might look into that. Lots of stuff about eating based on glycemic index. Might help you shed some weight. I tried, but I am already skinny and I lost enough weight where I was constantly catching colds, so i went back to my eat a lot diet.

Snuffleupagus

Don't eat anything with ingredients you don't recognize, don't eat too much, don't eat late at night. You'll get hungry for the first week or so, but soon it'll just kind of fade into the dull day to day pang of weight loss, and before you know it you'll be in racing trim.

The first week is always the roughest for me, but I'm back under 86-87kg for the first time in a long time, and leaner than ever. The caloric restriction is easy, it's making sure that I'm only eating veggies, whole grains, fruits and a bit of lean meat that takes focus. I just remind myself that lighter = faster, more aero, and lets face it, chics dig ab veins.

ridethecliche

You also don't have home made indian food tempting you after a semester of college slop.

Snuffleupagus

This is true. There are a couple de-freakin'-licious Indian places in Chapel Hill, de-freakin-liciousness aside though I can't imagine that a lot of the puri and paneer is good for weight loss Were I presented with that day to day it'd be harder.

ridethecliche

It's healthier if it's home cooked. Nowhere near as much grease and stuff.

Rice, veggies, and pulses aren't all that fatty. We don't cook the other stuff as often. Though my Dad makes AWESOME chicken and lamb, and that has a bunch of butter and oil in it.

I'm sure I can lose 5lbs over the 4 weeks of break. And if I don't, then I'll consider this to be my new weight till next years base building. I've only gained about 6-10 lbs and I'm much stronger now in every way. If losing weight means getting weaker, then I'd rather not.

I can see my abs and all at this weight too

ottsville

FYP
Seriously...there's a few good posters over there, but there's so much other noise in there that is misleading or often flat out wrong. You'll get just as good or better info in here.

does not compute

Snuffleupagus

Think he must mean nutrients not energy.

JoesInBoston

Hmmm, after reading the earlier posts of this thread, I am rethinking what weight I'd like to get down to. I am currently 5'6" and have been consistently at 136 pounds. I was hoping to get down to 130 but I thinking now that might be too much weight loss.

captnfantastic

If i were to eat:

a small pre ride meal
gels/ energy bars on rides
eat in the three/four hours post-ride

starve myself the rest of the time (I don't mean literally, just a drastic reduction in caloric intake)

would i be able to increase performance AND lose weight?

I keep hearing you can't do both but I find that hard to believe. It seems with careful planning and execution it can be done. Everything has to do with timing.

post ride carbs will fill up most of your glycogen stores for next day, pre ride meal will top them off, on-ride snacks will keep you going, then the cycle begins again.

find the flaws.

Basil Moss

I just eat as much as I can. More food means more fuel, so I can go faster for longer. However much I eat, I seem to burn it all.

ottsville

You're right to some extent. It depends on what "increase performance" means to you and what you are starting with. For a sedentary tub of goo, you could easily get faster, more endurance, and stronger while losing weight. However, the more fit you are the harder it's going to be. You should still be able to increase endurance while losing weight for the most part. Adding strength where muscle mass is an issue while losing weight is where things get tricky, which is why body builders do bulking and cutting phases.

I think that adding strength in general is hard to do while losing weight, but that's my experience. I do see some weight loss(minimal) when I up my intensity, but I'm also not quantifying exactly the gains I'm making.

Almost "everything does have to do with timing," provided you have the experience and background to understand metabolic needs all throughout the day, how your body reacts to macronutrient blends, how to optimiize not inhibit the body's growth hormone release, etc, etc