Hey diet aside, what plan / rides would you recommend for weight loss
2 Likes
Hi. Any of the plans will help (assuming the diet aside thing means youāve sorted that).
Diet is a higher contributor (IMO from research and experience) to weight loss than the riding.
So if you grab any plan that you fancy from the list, itāll have a mix of HIIT (good for keeping the āsystemā moving well after your workout) and longer Z2 ish rides which can burn energy during the ride well - thatāll help you no end. IMO neither HIIT or Z2 type rides are ābetterā than the other ā¦ they all burn calories ultimately. Balance is key for fun and to keep you engaged.
Usual caveat - Iām not a coach etc.
4 Likes
This is really tough, and it will be different for everyone. I always have to remind myself that it is diet and exercise, not just exercise! But you canāt restrict your diet so much that it effects your ability to exercise effectively either. Balance is easier for some than others, and for me itās always been really difficult.
On the exercise side of the equation, I really like the Fitness Kickstarter plan. It will put you through a range of effort intensities without over-doing it, and is a fun tour through Sufferlandria. I have found that picking a plan that seems a little easy and sticking to it is much more effective than picking an overly ambitious plan and breaking halfway through.
You can do it!
5 Likes
90% if not more of weight loss or the ability to lose weight is what you put in your mouth 
.
Thereās a nice app (not that I am associated with them but my wife uses it). Itās called āfat secretā.
Counting the number of calories you take in goes a long way to manage your weight and youāll also be able to make it a part of your life.
2 Likes
I used an app called Mynetdiary, just the free version, and use it to count calories. It has the facility to give you a daily calorie target based on your weight loss target. You can log your exercise too as credit calories, and adjust what you eat accordingly.
I think the key is not to lose too much too fast and starve yourself. Go for a small loss bit with the aim to increase your power figures following a suf plan. This way you can avoid burning out. Its all a balance but if carefully managed you will see a great return.
Iām not a coach either, but since the start of the year Iāve adopted this approach and managed to lose 7kg in 8 months, and increase ftp along the way. 
Give it a go! 
4 Likes
Previous posts are correct about watching what you eat.
3 years ago I lost just under 4 stone to get to a respectable 10st 10 by following a strict low carb diet. At the same time I got my old Mountain bike out of the garage and started spinning round the block, and believe me at the start it was only round the block. Once I had lost all the weight I now just cut out the bad carbs, pasta, white bread etc and obviously the the real enemy, sugar!!
What I have found very good for the weight loss is the zone 2 rides done while fasted, following low carb this tends to burn enough fat to keep at a nice steady weight. Now the intervals in the workouts are adding to the maintenance and helping to tone too.
Good luck.
3 Likes
I agree on all accounts here, simply put for weight loss itās calories in vs calories out. If you take in less than you burn, your weight will lower but make sure the differences between these 2 are not overly drastic as if you donāt provide your body with enough calories, it will eat away at your muscles to get the energy it needs to recover.
On the exercise side, the Fitness starter plan is a great recommendation from @Sir_Clayton as it covers everything. You want to do what you donāt usually do as that will have a better impact on your body and recruit more muscle fibres meaning your body has to work harder and by doing so will burn more calories. EG if you enjoy and do a lot of endurance, try and do a few more sprints and vice versa.
5 Likes
Iām counting calories for the better part of 3-4 years. Itās an on-again-off-again relationship. As soon as you get to know your body and your maintenance level, it works perfectly. I love this scientific approach to nutrition.
I always get best results with aiming for no more than a 500 calorie deficit per day, which translates to roughly half a kilo lost bodyweight a week (fat and muscles in a hopefully decent ratio).
@Rupert.H, do you recommend āeating backā most of the calories from exercise in order to support recovery on the active days or do you believe a weekly approach to overall calories is best?
I found that eating back my active calories on the specific day leads me to a binge eating disorder. Right now, I am trying to estimate my weekly expenditure in advance and always eat accordingly. This, of course, means that my body gets more calories even on a rest day - when he doesnāt need it.
2 Likes
It depends on the goal really, the example here is weight loss and recommended calorie intakes vary between 2500-3000. I would recommend a difference of 300calories, over a week that will be 2100calories and close to a dayās worth less you have consumed and works as a manageable sustainable approach.
3 Likes
Thank you @Coach.Rupert.H. Maybe I didnāt express myself properly in the first post, so Iāll try to give a better example. 
The goal is weight loss, yes. Deficit: 300/day.
Letās say my maintenance calories are 2500/day.
I exercise only two times a week and burn 1500 each (big effort).
Should I aim for a steady calorie intake of roughly 2630 each day of the week (2500x7 - 300x7 + 2x1500) or
2200 on the 5 rest days and 3700 on the training days.
I hope this rather extreme example gives you a better idea of my question.
2 Likes
Okay Iām with you
I would aim for the 2200/day with slightly more on the days you are exercising with the extra snack coming post workout.
It can take a little trial and error with the number of calories you are reducing by based on your starting point. Like you said you donāt want to be binge eating and undoing all that hard work.
3 Likes
So how does weight actually physically leave the body? It would seem that excess water is discharged as urine, but excess fat/carbs is āburnedā off, converted into CO2 (and H2O) and expelled as breath. So you have to breath and pee out your weight. Is that right?
1 Like
3 Likes