Maybe, but in my case I am clinically obese so, its not exactly an anorexia issue for me its a need to take better care of my weight issue… 
My top tip at the age of 45 and after nearly 30 years of fairly consistent training for various endurance sports is remember the old adage that “perfect (or best…) is the enemy of good”.
I’m not “fully dialled” into anything, I’m not" super clean", I don’t have the 20+ hours/week to train that would be required to “be my best”, and I’m entirely comfortable with all of that. I’ve tried food journalling, it drives me nuts and I inevitably give up after a week or less. I’ve tried being super clean, I can maybe keep it up for a few weeks if I’m super motivated for an event, but at some point I inevitably fall off the wagon and when I do I fall hard (whole tubs of Haagen Dazs and large Domino’s pizzas disappear in the blink of an eye). I’ve tried following high volume structured training plans and they gradually suck all the joy out of cycling until I start dreading workouts (and order a pizza instead…).
What I am instead is “pretty good” at most of the things needed to stay fast, fit, healthy and enjoying sport. My diet isn’t super clean, but it’s pretty varied and includes plenty of fruit, veg and other good stuff, and I’m getting better at having a “little and often” approach to eating (and drinking!) the not so good stuff. I’m not super structured with my training, but leaving plenty of room for spontaneity and unstructured training keeps me fresh and motivated and means I train most days, most of the year round, and have done for decades now. I get enough sleep. I do enough non-cycling training to maintain strength, mobility and balance.
I’m certainly not the best I could be. I’m not even the best that I could be on the training hours I do. But years of consistent “pretty good” training and diet has kept me in good enough shape to be pretty competitive. And more importantly it’s sustainable enough for me that I’m pretty sure I’ll still be out there on my bike in 10, 20, 30 maybe even 40 years time!
9 Likes
Definitely just watts for me at this point. At the end of a recovery week, with lots of fluid, i.e. full hydrated, I’ll hit 79kg, and I’ve seen as low as 74kg at the end of long ride, but typically I’ll hover around 77-78. FTP is 330W, so in the 4.2-4.3W/kg range. There’s not much fat to lose (thank you stocky German build), so I’m focusing on the W side of the equation. I eat fairly healthy, but don’t count calories. Like @cowboyjon, if you come between me and my chocolate, it’s on like Donkey Kong. Dark chocolate is a permanent item on the grocery list.
1 Like
Watts for me. I’ve gained 50w+ since my first ever ramp test back in November by focussing on the training. Gains are slow and hard fought now, but it’s flat where I live, so weight doesn’t really come into the equation.
I’ve started to check my weight a few times a week just out of interest (I’d like to hit 5w/kg), but I let my body comp take care of itself - I’m an ectomorph anyway… By training hard, and eating fairly healthily most of the time, I’ve still lost a couple of kgs. I eat pizza every week, have a few beers during the week and share a bottle of wine at the weekend because I enjoy them, and I’m not paid to ride my bike!
I’m going to start some weight training this month to see how it works out for me - I hope it’ll help the watts, but not seen evidence to say it will. With my body, I don’t expect to gain much muscle, but better strength/stability would be a bonus - if I do add a little mass, then so be it
2 Likes
Actually for the last 4 weeks both!
Every so often I go too much diet on the bike, and then get a kick in the head from a workout that gets me back on track. But starting to get the diet back on track, and hoping the schools going back will get me more consistent in my routines.
Covid has been my most consistent period of Training though.
A lack of events has meant I’ve been able to experiment with plan changes a bit - condensed week of hard/ moderate inside workouts, going with the flow group spins.
I’ve also started experimenting with the fuelling of workouts, using fruit indoors. I know it’s not optimal compared to my bottle mix, but at the same time I think it helps me actually fuel. Banana’s I’d have later in the day, now used as fuel, so fuelling but with a bit less net impact (and a bit healthier). Dates on my list for the next shop.
1 Like
I would like to think I’ve finally started to focus on both.
I started TR in April, soon after UK lockdown started, since then I have been very consistent, progressing on Med Vol 5x a week plans until SusPB kicked my ass. I’ve returned to Base and am pleased to say I am feeling better than ever.
I’ve hardly touched alcohol since April, but still managed to gain a few kilos. The first couple of months were very hard and I was definitely over fuelling.
I’ve been a yo-yo dieter for as long as I can remember. TR is a fantastic motivator, and the forum a wealth of knowledge, this is a great opportunity for me to get into shape before it’s too late. (I’m 53)
I started on MyFitnessPal 30 days ago and have lost about 5kg.
My aim is to achieve 4 w/kg, maybe it is pointless to focus on that but it’s good to have some kind of goal.
Another 51 watts gain and 10kg lost should get me there, it will be hard but hopefully not impossible. I know the weight loss will slow but 10kg shouldn’t be too hard and if the watts take a year I’ll be happy.
2 Likes
Lots of good thoughts here…one tip I have (I got from another guy here), focus on your systems/procedures instead of the goal. For me when I hit the “A race“ in September I pretty much dropped cycling for several winter months. Now, I’m a cyclist that happens to peak for certain races.
Have only been riding a a couple of years, most of it extremely sporadic without goals and very long periods off. I was intending to do the death ride this year as my goal but that was cancelled I instead set a goal which I thought to be fairly unrealistic of getting up Mt Diablo by my birthday in late July with a sub hour time.
I started training March 1st. Weighing 189lbs, with a sub 200 estimated FTP (never did an actual test), and a Diablo PR of nearly 1:30.
After 3 months of training (non-structured, just a bunch of nonsense I made up) my estimated FTP up to 230 or so on Strava and was around 170lbs. I then focused on setting PRs on all of the climbing segments (besides Diablo) around me as well as losing weight. I can be very focused on diet when I went to and this part was actually easy. Intermittent fasting, vegan, high protein diet including many fasted rides. Pounds just started dropping.
By my birthday my estimated FTP was 270 and my weight 155lbs. I completed the Diablo segment in just under 59mins with an avg power of 260w.
I then took a few weeks of needed rest for mental/physical reasons, gained some weight back by eating a bunch of ice cream and cheese and drank a bunch of beer. Went all the way back up to 178lbs one day lol. Couple weeks ago started to get back into riding and try to get back to where I was in July.
Signed up for TR yesterday to get a structured training plan and committed to no beer for September. Did a proper FTP test today and got 271 so I am right around where I should be. Will be interesting to see how high my W/kg can go. Based upon my remaining belly fat, I’d guess I. can drop my weight down to 140-145 with some additional focus, maybe even a bit lower. No idea how high my FTP can go.
I really need to figure out a goal though because just raising my FTP doesn’t seem motivating enough. The Diablo goal was great. What’s next?
2 Likes
Definitely watts, i enjoy food too much to watch what i eat. I just rely on volume to take care of the weight. I dont eat rubbish all the time, but i dont deny myself treats and cravings ever 
That said im only 3-4kgs from what id call a good race weight anyway, if i were further away i might eat a bit better.
2 Likes