"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Weight Loss

What do you guys use as a weight loss strategy?

Harder workouts? Stricter dieting? Combination?

I am trying to drop 20lbs. And I know I can accomplish this before January easily if I focus. I have a feeling that I could get up into Cat 3 by the end of next summer if I can get down to 170-175 from where I am now at 195. I have only done 1 mass start so I am solidly a Cat 5, but am pretty sure I could get up to Cat 3 if I can lose the weight and get going early next season.

Any tips are very much appreciated.

Counted calories


I have only done 1 mass start so I am solidly a Cat 5, but am pretty sure I could get up 3

This comment makes no sense to me.

In other words, even though I have only 1 mass start, i am confident I can get to Cat 3 by the end of next summer.

In other words, even though I have only 1 mass start, i am confident I can get to Cat 3 by the end of next summer.



Good luck

Good luck

4-3: 20 points in any 12-month period; or experience in 25 qualifying races with a minimum of 10 top ten finishes, or 20 pack finishes with fields over 50. 30 points in 12 months is an automatic upgrade

He doesn't need luck, he needs time, assuming they follow the letter of the law, which they don't seem to be required to do (for good reason).

Calorie counting and lots of long slow distance. I've dropped 55+ lbs since the begining of the year. I've got 30 more to go.

I am not draconian in my methods. I ate whatever i felt like as long as i didnt exceed 2400 calores a day for the first couple of months. As the intensity of the riding increased i revised my limits to 2700-3000 a day. That's not to say i did eat whatever i felt like. I ate sensibly and just limited my portions.

I have found thru my own trials and tribulations that my weight loss slowed the most during the summer months when i added more intensity to the mix. I lost the first 35 lbs weight in March, April and May. But ive only lost 20 in June, July & August. Now that the riding season is winding down, i'll be revising me caloric intake needs and my training regime to focus on losing the last 30 lbs. Once that 30lbs is gone, then i'll start piling on the intensity to build up power and speed. My mistake this year was trying to hard to get power and speed to stay with the A group rides. I should have just rode with the B group or by myself until the weight goal was/is achieved. Basically what worked for me and what i should have stuck too is the zone 1-3 endurance paced rides.

This is what worked for me.


As for Cat 3 in less than a year. You might want to rethink it from a practical point of view. Unless your capable of winning everything in sight the path to 3 via mass starts from cat 5 is 35 races. 10 for 5 to 4 and 25 from 4 to 3 with 10 top 10 finishes. (unless the rules have changed). The 5 to 4 part is easy, but training races dont count for 4 to 3. They're usually not long enough. You should really give yourself 2-3 seasons to build yourself up and learn how to race.

Make small changes to your diet. If you eat a column of Oreos every day, just eat half a column. If you start your dinner with a salad, make the salad a little bigger so you won't eat as much main course. Use smaller plates at home. Don't do anything drastic. Just make a change, get used to it, then change the next thing.

Your training should be independent of your weight. You're trying to build strength and fitness and should stay focused on that. The weight will take care of itself. If you periodize, then you will be looking at slower fat-burning miles in the winter anyway.

Regarding getting to Cat 3 by the end of next summer, it's a completely reasonable goal. It's not an easy goal, but not crazy either. I went from my first race (Cat 5) to Cat 3 in eleven weeks, and I'm no pro. Making cat 3 takes little talent, just reasonably smart training and racing.

EDIT: it should also be noted that I completely burned out the following season because I wanted to destroy the 3s that spring and roll hard into the 2s. The burnout had me slower as a 3 than I was as a 4, and I had a tough time in those races. Don't overtrain!!!

Keep your weekends open next Spring and Summer.

Counting calories cannot be a thing overstated in weight loss. Within a 2-3 week period you'll have a great grasp of what a "portion" should be and it's not what many food retailers or packagers would tell you it is.

So you know, I was 187 lbs last October (I was 210 in Mar 05). I'm 165 on the scale this morning. It all came down to counting calories. Now it's just part of the lifestyle to count the calories.

The next step after that for good training diet is to count which portion of your diet your calories are coming from. It's easy to consume a lot of "bad calories." For example, last night for dinner I had these "ready bake" chicken breast/broccoli/cheese thingies. 2 of them cost me 720 calories. For the same/less calorie count I could have eaten a full 12" Subway Club (no sauces/cheese). The chicken/brocc stuff had 42g of fat while the Subway Club would have 12g.

To keep full throughout the day and have the right energy to train, I find my calories come from a mix of 65-70% carbs, 15-20% fats, and 15% protein.

Anyway, that's my strategy in my weight maintenance now that I'm down to my current weight.

Not to buck the "counting calories" trend, but I kept a VERY rough idea of what I took in during a day (and even then, wasn't highly scientific about it), and ate good foods over the winter, and put in the base miles. I dropped 15 pound or so within a few months, and then sorta stayed in the 145-150 range for a few months, up until summer. Then I rode erratically, ate erratically, and the pounds just melted off to where I'm at now (140 pounds or so)....my body didn't have a chance to get into a rythym. The weird part about me is, I can eat really really well and train for weeks, and then hit a plateau. Then I eat like ****, train sporadically, and gets in gear.

I dunno....your mileage may vary. Works for me though. And yes, the pounds do stay off (in my case). I don't exactly "crash diet" - it's taken me 2 years to lose 40 pounds :).

I also like food too much to be completely anal about denying myself stuff - I like to splurge from time to time. Like the giant hot fudge sundae I had before my 50 miler yesterday. I guess if I were in the Pro Tour though, that would be another story....but I'm not, so I don't see the point in being a food Nazi.

When I had my spleen out, I wasn't allowed to eat or drink for about 3 days. I dropped pounds fast.

At least I think I did. I wasn't able to get out of bed to get on a scale and check.

A local guy went from 5 to 1 in 1 1/2 seasons and won a Pro/1/2 crit here not long ago.

I don't count calories, I just went to a lower fat diet. Skip the salisbury steak TV dinner with 22 grams of fat and get the 5g pasta meals instead.

My weight loss strategy: stop eating crap.

What do you guys use as a weight loss strategy?

Ride lots.

it also helps getting mono. ;)

Yeah...that really kick-started things :D

Actually, I only lost 5 or so pounds while I had mono...mostly muscle.

A local guy went from 5 to 1 in 1 1/2 seasons and won a Pro/1/2 crit here not long ago.

We had a guy like that in our club a while back. Started racing at 30-something or so. Got 1st or 2nd at the World Championships in his age group a few years later. I can't remember if it was 1st or 2nd because he and a team-mate finished 1-2 !!

I didn't count calories, or do anything special or drastic. Lost 20 lbs over the last year.

1 brownie instead of 2.
Drink more water - I like a dash of lemon juice.
Get used to feeling a bit hungry - means you're losing weight.
Tighten your belt - makes you think twice about pigging out.
Brush your teeth right after dinner - dissuades you from eating more

I didn't count calories, or do anything special or drastic. Lost 20 lbs over the last year.

1 brownie instead of 2.
Drink more water - I like a dash of lemon juice.
Get used to feeling a bit hungry - means you're losing weight.
Tighten your belt - makes you think twice about pigging out.
Brush your teeth right after dinner - dissuades you from eating more

I don't think thats a good way to go. I like to eat often, keeps hunger at bay and I eat less.

You guys made me put my biscuits away... :(

;)

What do you guys use as a weight loss strategy?

Harder workouts? Stricter dieting? Combination?

I am trying to drop 20lbs. And I know I can accomplish this before January easily if I focus. I have a feeling that I could get up into Cat 3 by the end of next summer if I can get down to 170-175 from where I am now at 195. I have only done 1 mass start so I am solidly a Cat 5, but am pretty sure I could get up to Cat 3 if I can lose the weight and get going early next season.

Any tips are very much appreciated.

Good luck around Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

I don't think thats a good way to go. I like to eat often, keeps hunger at bay and I eat less.

Yeah, the key for me is to not fill up. If your hunger scale starts at 1, where you couldn't eat another bite, and 10 is bonking, I want to eat until I get down to a 4 or maybe a 3. Ten minutes later, I won't be hungry at all, and have not overeaten. This works for any appetite -- the scale just covers more food volume :)

I have been eating less than I used to. And I always drink a crap ton of water. More than 64ozs a day. And I eat throughout the day instead of 3 defined meals.

I guess I just need to watch portions mainly, and make sure I am not going over the calorie intake. Thanks

A local guy went from 5 to 1 in 1 1/2 seasons and won a Pro/1/2 crit here not long ago.

Who?