How to Lose Weight and Still Ride Strong

Quality rides and high-intensity training sessions will help you lose weight, so you don’t want to sacrifice your performance during those.

“Fuel your workouts and be restrictive during the rest of the day,” says John Verheul of JBV Coaching, who provides elite-level coaching for cyclocross, time trialing, triathlon, and more.

That means topping off your tank with a 150- to 200-calorie snack that will provide sustained energy, such as an apple with peanut butter, some Greek yogurt, or a date-based bar. If you’re going to be out for more than 90 minutes, take food with you and take in about 150 to 180 calories an hour after that point.

Afterwards, have ride-appropriate recovery food (use these guidelines when deciding what to eat after a hard ride). If it wasn’t very hard, you can simply go about your day. Follow up longer and/or harder rides with food and hydration, including about 25 grams of protein, which will speed muscle recovery. When possible, time your rides so you finish around mealtime. That way, you can just eat as you normally would when you’re done. Also consider the 50/50 meal split, where you eat half your meal as your pre-ride fuel and half as your post ride fuel.

Gradual weight loss will be less disruptive to your training and ultimately less draining than trying to lose a lot quickly. If you’re aiming for substantial weight loss, you have to be okay with the occasional failed workout, says Verheul.

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“There’ll be times when you don’t have the fuel to finish or you crack halfway through,” he says. “Just be sure to distinguish between training and racing. You can ‘cut it close’ with your workouts and be a little under fueled. But if a race or event is important, then give yourself a full tank of gas for it.”

If you’re riding lots—maybe racing—and trying to drop weight, you need maximum nutrition with minimal filler. That means cleaning up your diet to avoid empty calories.

Cut back on the beer. Skip the chips. It’s stuff you already know, but it makes a measurable difference when you do it. In fact, in many cases, you can keep your calorie intake the same, but still lose weight by making better food choices.

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“You want lots of high quality, real food—fruits, vegetables, whatever carbohydrates you work well with, high quality protein, and healthy fats as they come in whole foods,” says Verheul. 

Eat protein at every single meal. “Weight loss puts you in a catabolic state,” says Pickels. “Protein is essential to protect from muscle loss.”

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Research shows that people who eat diets that are rich in protein maintain their lean muscle mass—which you need to push those pedals—while they lose weight, as opposed to losing both fat and muscle. 

Carbs have been widely vilified, but if you want to put the power down, you need to keep your carbs up, says Pickels.

“You want to maintain your glycogen stores to maintain your workout schedule," he says. That means maintaining your carbohydrate intake as if you were not trying to lose weight.

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Choose carb sources like sweet potatoes, root vegetables, whole grains, and beans and legumes that are rich in fiber, aiming for about 30 grams of fiber a day—twice what the average American currently consumes. Fiber not only helps you feel full on less food, but also is a potent weight-loss tool in and of itself. In one study where people were told to either follow a calorie-restricted diet or to eat 30 grams of fiber a day, both groups lost just as much weight and equally improved their blood pressure, blood sugar, and inflammation markers.

If you're looking to maintain fitness while losing weight, go to bed just a little bit hungry, advises Pickels. It’s an easy way to lose about a sustainable pound a week.

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Shortchanging sleep puts your body in a constant state of stress, which increases stress hormones like cortisol that promote fat storage and make it that much harder to drop stubborn pounds. This effect can be even more pronounced if you don’t get enough sleep while also trying to lose weight, says Verheul.

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“Cutting calories has already put extra stress [on top of training] on your body. Don’t add another if you can help it, or you risk overtraining symptoms and a lowered immune system,” says Verheul, who personally uses a sleep-tracking app on his phone to keep himself mindful about maintaining quality sleep and sleeping conditions.