Question Getting back to racing shape for summer criterium/diet

[TheLoneCyclist]

(Moderators I didn't know where this fit in so please move it to the appropriate category if this isn't it)

Hi everybody,

I'm trying to lose 35 pounds so I can seriously compete in a criterium this summer and I haven't had any soda for about 10 days, and I haven't lost any weight yet. I'm gonna cut out all the sweets, eat more protein, go to the gym 3 times a week and do some bicep curls, chest fly's and leg extensions.

I don't know, is this a terrible plan? I really don't want to count my calories because I never had to when I was younger(27) but now I'm in my early 30's and I'm thinking the weight loss won't be as easy as it once was.

I guess I'm really resistant to doing what I need to do(count calories) can anyone recommend a good app/calorie counting tool to help me out? After 10 days in the gym I feel much better and I feel like my fitness is up but my weight is just so annoying.

Ok. Thanks for reading!

 

[King Boonen]

I don't know anything about your diet, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and say you already eat enough protein and could probably cut what you eat by a fair amount overall, most people can. I've always found the best way for me to lose weight is to cut out any snacks I eat during the day, only drink water (and tea and coffee without milk, sugar etc. ), reduce my portion size at meals by 25-50% and up my training load. If you're trying to compete at a crit, that probably means you're not massively well-trained so any increase in load will give you benefits. Keep in mind that your body takes time to adapt if you intend to lose a reasonable amount of weight ad keep it off. I went from 85+kg to 72-74kg and it took me about 3 years before I was comfortable dropping my weight below 70kg. Before that if I dropped my weight below 72kg I could hardly turn a pedal.

In terms of training, personally I'd drop the upper body work (and weights in general) and focus on the bike. If you have a turbo then try something along the lines of:

Rest day
1-2 hours hard turbo session
1 hour moderate turbo
1 hour very hard turbo
Rest day
2-3 hour ride with handling drills
4-6 hour ride

If you don't have a turbo, use a bike at the gym.