tl;dr - If I train for a event I don't seem to lose weight.
In 1 week and 2 days I'll take off on my second AIDS/LifeCycle. As I look back at the last almost 6 months of training I'm wondering what the best approach is for me for weight loss.
I had gotten down to 235 at one point, my lowest. About 18 months ago. I was about 250 a year ago on ALC. I'm about 265 right now. Those 15 pounds mostly came on *after* ALC when I stopped riding completely, threw myself into buying a house, and kinda let everything else slide. In January I bought a nifty Withings scale so that I could really track my weight and what I've seen this year is similar to what I saw last year: When training for an event I don't lose weight.
I've not gained either. I've been VERY stable within a 5 lb range since January 1st.
My time and energy are limited resources. ALC takes up just about every weekend from January to June. It starts off being just Saturdays and then becomes both days. I have been doing 2x spin classes a week as well. The problem is that when my physical activity is this high my appetite goes bonkers. ALC doesn't want you to diet, as a matter of fact. "Eat before you're hungry, drink before you're thirsty." The My Fitness Pal data says I should be losing weight. But I'm not. I know I've gained muscle - my calves and quads are huge. Even with all the fat in my thighs you can see the quads. My bibs have gotten tight in the legs.
All of this is about what to do after my event - how to structure my exercise and diet for the second half of the year. I don't want to give up all my endurance, but I know I'll be giving up some. I'm going to hook up weight a trainer and amp up the weight training. I'm thinking about doing shorter rides with more hills. But I'm looking for suggestions. I know I'll want to take a brief break from riding after ALC, but I also want to keep going and try to drop the weight for next year - if for no other reason than to not lug it up hills. During the training phase for an event, though, I just don't seem to drop weight. And since I'm 50+ lbs from goal, I really want to get on that. I'm open to suggestions.