Keeping energy levels up when dieting

[Tin Pot]

Losing weight and building fitness aren’t mutually exclusive, but they do conflict.

The best approach is to do one then the other, so only train lightly while you lose weight, then ignore weight loss targets to properly eat for hard training and recovery.

At the moment, I’m doing the former. 6hrs training per week and dieting. I’ll let you know what the outcome is on the Structured Training 2018 thread in a few weeks.

GL

 

[Alan O]

I'm aiming for weight loss and cycling fitness this year, and in the few weeks so far I've been aiming at the former. I've been cutting the calories and have only done a handful of short (10-15 mile) rides together with the occasional gym visit. I find I have enough energy for these hour to hour and a half exercise sessions.

My first longer ride (~35 miles) will hopefully be this weekend, and I'm going to forget calorie restriction that day - I'll have a decent supper the evening before, then brekkie with complex carbs, and I already have the Snickers and Kendal mint cake packed for the ride.

So, essentially, I'm in different mindsets on different days. If it's an exercise/weight loss day (pretty much every weekday) I'll keep the cals down and exercise within that limit. But if I'm "going on a bike ride" I'll fuel it properly as a bike ride.

Ask me in the summer and I'll let you know if it's worked

 

[confusedcyclist]

Building more muscle, will help you fight the flab, but won't necessarily make you lighter. However, it's tradeoff most wouldn't mind.

Benefits of building more core strength make being in the saddle for longer more bearable. Bodyweight exercises won't make you huge (muscle) but will contribute to your fat loss, so they are a great place to start. https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/wiki/kb/recommended_routine