Weight loss and loss of power

I will say that losing weight and maintaining performance is hard to do, but not impossible. I did it a few years ago. Lost about 15lbs while doing a lot of Z3/4 work. What I found was that the proper amount of carbohydrates and the proper timing of them was essential. Like all the literature says, you should make sure you eat within 15 minutes of getting off the bike. For me it is a chocolate soy milk and a bagel or a cup of pasta/rice. That seems to work for me. Then, about an hour afterwards I eat a regular meal, which for me usually coincides with lunch or dinner. I have read that the human body can only process about 300 calories/hr so your directly-after ride meal should be kept to around that amount. I am no nutritionist however. On longer rides 2+ hours, I also found that to be able to repeat a good performance I needed to make sure I ate or consumed a sports-drink on the bike. Again, since you can't process more that 300 calories/hr, there is no need to exceed that. Many people on this forum are much more experienced than me, so I may need to be corrected.

For me, I also became aware of how much snacking I did and it took discipline to eat only at meal times or directly after rides. It took about 3 weeks to get used to not snacking all the time. I also became aware of portion size and eating good food rather than crap. Your body needs calories but pay attention to the calorie counter on your powermeter and the time at which you consume those calories.

I'll tell you what, staying with the strong riders on the climbs feels a whole lot better than that food ever did!

Hope this helps.

I'm no expert but you may want to check out the free webinar from Training Peaks "5 Stages To Achieving Optimum Body Composition".   

fantastic book

http://www.amazon.com/Racing-Weight-Lean-Peak-Performance/dp/1934030511/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323435737&sr=8-1

A question I would have for you is if you are eating while on the bike.  I've personally experienced that this is the most key item.  I used to think that I needed to be restrictive on the bike and the exact opposite is true.  Eat on the bike, and get in the best workout possible.  Restrict when off the bike.  I'm even using a sports drink or my one hour trainer rides (SST/LT intervals).

What I've found is that eating on the bike leaves me feeling great through my workout and actually decreases my hunger throughout the rest of the day.  Not eating on the bike leaves me tired during my workout and puts me in a hole where I'm hungry through the rest of the day and messes up my recovery.

Since October I've lost 12 pounds (I'm 6'2" and went from 193 to 181) and have only seen my performance go up.

Your story is familar to me.  500 kcal/day deficit has been widely quoted, but not sure it really has a scientific basis.  At any rate, if you've lost 10 lbs in 6 weeks, you've likely exceeded that.  Consider that  if 3600 kcals deficit "equals" one lb lost, your 10 lb loss in 6 weeks represents 6000 kcals/week, or 850 kcals/day.  With that kind of restriction, no surprise your running low on energy.  

If you want to continue hard training, suggest you try adding a 250 kcal serving of quality carbs at least 90 minutes before your ride.  Oatmeal, whole grain cereals, bread, pasta should be the ticket.  Then, while you're training, take another 100 kcals of sport drink or bike snacks with water. 

But it's OK if your training suffers a bit now.  If you succeed with the rapid weight loss during off season, you'll have plenty of time to resume hard training and be flying uphills in the spring.      

I find that it's not lots of exercise of being skimpy on the food intake that determines the most whether I shed weight and keep fairly fresh - it's getting more sleep.

If you up the cals out (stress) and reduce the cals in (stress) you need to offset with more sleep.

My trainer says that the excessive calories of my body becomes the abs and wings and the fat finally comes to the wings and abs.Is this true ?

 One thing you may try is a visit to the doctor for some blood work.  I had just about the same thing happen to my as you did (loosing strength) and could not figure the reason.  I went to the doctor on another issue and mentioned my lack of cycling power to him and he ordered some blood work.  It turns out that my thyroid got lazy on me and all kinds of things happen after that.  It's just a thought but your issue could be unrelated the the workouts like mine was.   Good luck.

If it took 15 yrs to get your body into it's current state, it may take 5 or 10 to get it out. 

If you try to change your body too fast, and/ or, through artificial means, it will negatively effect your physical fitness. 

If your body composition continues to be an issue even as you're following your scientific training plan, you may have issues other than diet and exercise. 

What the hell is that photo of a pile of gadgets doing next to this topic?  It should be someone standing in front of a mirror staring at theirself. 

I am by no means an expert, but I am share my personal experience.

In a little over a year, I dropped 60 pounds riding a zone 3 regimen - from 250 pounds, to 190 - in about a year and a half.

Obviously, a lot of the guys on this board are in a different situation - competitive riders who ride several hours a day.

But in my opinion, a regimen for me  which was intended to shed fat and just stay in decent shape, versus someone already in great shape, who wants to compete better, will be greatly different.

In my case, I decided to cut carbs, and increase lean protein and green leafy veg. Sure, carbs give you short bursts of energy, which is great for a competitive cyclist, but protein was better for someone in my position who just needed a good source of energy to get through the day, and also needed to change my eating habits. My regimen consisted of 1 - 1.5 hour rides every morning. I made sure to keep well-hydrated during rides, and throughout the day to quell hunger. For the first few weeks, It was hard to keep motivated, because I felt sapped of energy, but it wasn't long until I felt more energetic throughout the day, and that my cycling routine was necessary to get my going in the mornings.

...and of course, there is a psychological factor - if you go about it every day thinking that it is a chore and/or burden,, then you'll never escape the psychological rut

You definitely need some supplements to boost up your energy

Quote:

Originally Posted by alienator 


Based on what?

... information given to him by the guy at GNC that sold him a $54 bottle of vitamins.