Training & Nutrition - Loosing weight, not strength

Hello everyone. I would like to loose a bit of weight, approx 15 lbs. to bring me back to 160 lbs. I enjoy keeping my riding at a high peformance, and thus my rides are hard so I eat to suit following. I found an amount to eat that leaves me feeling ready to go for the next ride. I found this amount by when eating less I would feel weaker - eating too much more and I felt sluggish - so the medium, in-between leaves me feeling energetic and ready to go. The amount I consume maintains my current weight so I am not gaining any lbs.. I normally ride 4 days a week, and each ride approx. 1.5 to 2 hours. I would like to loose the 15 lbs. mentioned, but I do not want to loose the performance that I have built up. Is there a way to loose fat (namely the pesky belly fat) and not muscle? I am to understand that weight loss is burning more calories than are consumed, but I fear that my performance will drop as well. Given my ride schedule and performance, what is the best way for me to loose these 15 lbs.? Thanks.

(I'm sure I did not include enough information, so please just ask for more needed)

I think you have answered your own questions to some extent. You will probably see a temporary reduction in performance from dieting. The question is will you see a permanent reduction in performance. Do you know what your body fat percentage is? Do you do any strength training?

Eat a little bit less than you burn, not more than a 500 calories/day deficit. That's 1 lb of fat per week. You won't lose strength when you're losing weight at a low rate.

My advice is to not try and lose weight during prime riding season.

Thanks for the replies, all. I don't know what my body fat percentage is. I just know that there is extra around the middle than I want. I don't do any strength training or the like. Pretty much my family/work schedule only allows me to fit my riding in. Perhaps I'll just wait for the off season to do my main dieting... Thanks again!

You should be able to drop weight without losing performance but it's difficult to improve performance and lose weight simultaneously. The problem that you've identified is when ride with more intensity it tends to increase your hunger so losing weight can be painful.

Are you racing? Why do you care if your performance drops a little?

If you're not racing then you could try lengthening your rides and dialing back the intensity. Instead of 2 hrs go out for 3-4 hrs at an endurance pace. You will lose very little, if any, fitness but it should be easier to drop weight.

You should hit the gym and try a 5x5 routine. This is what i did to keep up my strength while losing weight. Basically 5 sets of 5 reps. This means heavy weight. You should be about failing at the 5th rep. Also the 5x5 program works best with compound exercises. Obviously, the more pertinent ones to cycling are squats and deadlifts. Also, as aforementioned, do not do a calorie deficit of more than 500kcal/day.

Also, it is impossible to spot train. You can't lose fat in one body part while retaining it in another. Fat comes off in reverse order. If you got it in your arms last, and your stomach first, the fat will shred off your arms first and your stomach last. Just stay consistent =D