Carbs, fat and protein

slowmart

So during the winter my target intake for calories was 2600 with a split of 55% carbs, 15% protein and 30% fat which was based on 8 hours a week with the majority of rides being in zone 2 and 5 rides a week.

I'm currently riding a couple of chain gangs Tuesday and Thursday which are z4 or z5 for the majority of the hour and a half with a recovery ride on the Wednesday and a 70 -100 plus on a Sunday. It's a pain trying to get a decent meal at lunch and something not too heavy before the evening ride which means I have a beer and chunky cheese sandwich post ride.

The structure of a training plan during the summer and at my level doesn't appeal as the current mix is bringing gains in terms of strength and climbing ability and I've reduced the calorie intake to 2200/day but he point is the weight doesn't seem to be shifting. I'm currently around 15% body fat and I'd like to get down to 10-12% before the end of the summer


Any suggestions on the breakdown of my calorie intake, amount or or pointers in getting the weight down?

Thanks in advance

kawaspresso

In my experience, if you want to loose weight, eat a lot of carbs and the minimum of protein and fat. Don't cut the calories, or you will be hungry, and you will probably want to eat junk food or fat.
High carb low fat vegan diet is my way to loose weight, but this diet require to be educated about nutrition.

singleton

It's a complex subject and what works for one doesn't always work for someone else.
I can recommend "Racing Weight" by Matt Fitzgerald as a great way to understand and plan a way to get to your optimum weight.

twotyred

In my experience, if you want to loose weight, eat a lot of carbs and the minimum of protein and fat. Don't cut the calories, or you will be hungry, and you will probably want to eat junk food or fat.
High carb low fat vegan diet is my way to loose weight, but this diet require to be educated about nutrition.

Hi carb low fat is regarded as a bit passé these days. Your body needs fat and protein to survive, it doesn't require carbs. Current thinking is shifting to low carb high fat and protein especially for older athletes.

http://www.joefrielsblog.com/2013/08/aging-my-race-weight.html

Diamant49

Basically, a more moderated approach to weight loss is better than simply low fat high carb - or low carb high fat. Your body does need some carbohydrate - it will convert excess protein to carbohydrate and in extremis it will convert muscle to carbohydrate. Muscle is expensive to maintain from an energy point of view, so carbohydrate intake helps to maintain muscle - the body only requirements a modest amount of protein, the rest is metabolised to carbohydrate - body builders maintain a high muscle mass not because of high protein intake, but because of high calorie intake.

High carbohydrate and low everything else can spin out of control very quickly and lead to a higher calorie intake (being vegan excludes so many foods that its this which leads to calorie restriction).

As you want to maintain your training schedule you should just eat a balanced diet and cut down your total calories by a small amount - 3-500 calorie reduction sounds about right to me. i'd probably ditch the beer and chunky cheese sandwiches for a starter - its probably more about planning meals ahead and tracking intake than anything else. I have used MyfitnesPal for tracking in the past and it works well, if you stick to it - its easy to under-estimate calorie intake by quite a significant amount.

The only other consideration is health - 10% body fat is getting a bit on the low side, if my memory is correct below 12% problems with compromised immune systems can start kicking in. Personally, i wouldn't mind being 12% body fat - but wouldn't want to be lower - but that is of course a personal choice!

At the end of the day its what works best for you - but whatever you do, taking it slowly is the best bet!

mrfpb

I think I read that Bradley Wiggins went down to 10% or lower body fat for big Tours, but he had a big team around him to keep him healthy and on the bike (smacks of performance enhancement similar to blood doping to me - artificially maintained body state), he went back to a more normal body fat % for the rest of the year. So I'd be careful about trying for the Pro look from a health point of view.

twotyred

Your body does need some carbohydrate - it will convert excess protein to carbohydrate and in extremis it will convert muscle to carbohydrate.

And in doing so burns more calories than if you had fed it straight carbohydrate.

I couldn't stand a keto or paleo diet but I'm currently cutting down (not eliminating) carbs. Its early days but I'm seeing good results.

singleton

Depends on your goals.
If your goal is to lose weight then just find a way to reduce your calorie intake that suits you - in reality most diets are just variable ways to achieve this.

Improving your performance by hitting your "ideal racing weight" is an altogether different issue.

sloppyschleckonds

Raisins

Dave_P1

Carbs give you the energy your body needs, if you cut them out then you won't be riding very far.

bigcgilmour

Just eat a balanced diet ffs, no need to cut anything out other than alcohol which won't help with fat loss!

charlie_potatoes

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Raisins

craigus89

There is far too much conflicting information around these days when it comes to diet, even in this short thread there is a load of tosh being written.

Ultimately, eat a balanced diet, cut out or cut down on the crap (we all know what crap is, let's not pretend we don't know what is bad for us) and reduce portion sizes, and you will lose weight. It's really not that complicated. If you want to go keto or whatever fine. But whatever you do it should be sustainable, or the weight will come back.

Your body will tell you when you're riding if you haven't eaten enough that day to sustain whatever you are doing intensity/training wise, listen to it and adjust next time.

Again for emphasis It's really not complicated!

DeVlaeminck

Agree that eating less is the simplest way to do it but there is all the debate over fat vs carbs and sugar now. I mean my mum still buys low fat yoghurts and probably feels they are healthy - a lot of people would now say that is crap. Is a commercial granola crap ? butter ? cheese ? cream ? red wine ?

keef66

Low fat high carbs is definitely falling out of favour, and animal / dairy fats are no longer on the naughty step. Unfortunately the retailers and their suppliers have invested so heavily in reduced fat / low calories foods that it's going to take a while to turn around. Trying to find a full fat yoghurt in Tesco is like looking for Lord Lucan.
And official / government dietary advice along with the traffic light labelling of foods will surely need to be amended in future. Anything with a bit of fat in it has a red traffic light, but now we're told that fat's not the villain it was once thought to be...

Commercial granola can be laced with hidden sugar. Butter ? cheese ? cream ? red wine ? - I'm still eating / drinking all of these, just in sensible amounts.

In the face of the constant barrage of often conflicting food / diet / health advice my wife and I take the view that we should just eat as varied a diet as possible, and include as many freshly prepared ingredients as is practical. I still need to fast 2 days a week to stay at what I consider to be a healthy weight, because I'm a bit of a pig on the other 5. And we try to keep fit by doing a reasonable amount of exercise

craigus89

^^ Exactly. Key phrases are: Balanced diet, fresh ingredients, reasonable exercise. If everyone did that there would be barely any fat people about.

There does need to be a bit of re-education when it comes to the promoted idea of fat being bad and sugar content not really meaning much, but that is slowly happening I think.

slowmart

Thanks all, Maybe I'll throw in a zone 2 between my two chain gang rides on a Tuesday and Thursday with a recovery ride on Friday or reduce the calorie intake on days when I'm not riding as currently I treat non riding days the same as riding days in terms of calories.

PTestTeam

Track your calorie intake alongside your training. On your hard days eat more, on rest days cut back, especially on the carbs.

But as people say – if you eat as natural food as possible, with your carbs coming from vegetables like sweet potatoes you can't go wrong

zoomer42

If you do 2 chain gangs a week give the 5:2 diet a go to shift the last bit. I used to have a similar week to you. Try this for a few weeks

Eat around 600-700 cals on the Monday

Chain gang on the Tuesday

700 ish cals on Wed

Chain gang on Thursday.

Friday recover

That will work. On the days your eating sod all I'd do some easy miles and then make sure you eat carbs early on your chain gang days, otherwise you'll ride like a bag of sh*t.

jgsi

From what I can gather, you are getting fat over winter with lsd crap.. and then taking all summer to lose the ballast.. then guess what, it happens all over again.

Dave_P1

If you eat too little the day before a hard ride you may suffer, so don't go too extreme when getting back, it's trial and error.

philbar72

Prune juice. that'll sort you out.

ALS8

I agree that what works for one person doesn't always work for another. I've always done well with reducing carbs and focusing on that only. When I do good bouts of reduced carbs, I have so much more energy and don't feel as heavy and tired.

milemuncher1

For different reasons, I found myself needing a similar riding / eating regime as you seem to have ( minus the z4 / z5 chain gang bit), last year. I found that as I got fitter, my body seemed to be using any stored fuel more efficiently, which led to a plateauing effect, in terms of weight and composition. Through trial and error, I found what worked for me. If I was doing one of my 150+ mile z2 limited rides, I'd only need to eat something light and easy, and with a lot of magnesium, and some carbs, and a small sugar boost (which ended up being a banana on whole grain toast, with honey on it). I'd have a light lunch at the halfway point ( or there abouts) I found that a ploughman's salad ( or similar) worked brilliantly. Then, at the end of the ride, I found that a 14 oz Rump steak, with new potatoes, and a green salad, gave me the right balance, of Fat, Protein, and carbs, to keep me nourished, feeling full, and getting my body composition right, my calorie intake with this intensity of activity, seemingly needed to be about 2500. I knocked off all booze, except the odd small glass of Merlot. The rest of the time, when I was doing my day to day stuff, and riding sub 50 miles ( say during a normal working week) I limited my calories to 1700 a day