I am one of the lucky 2000 who managed to get a place on this year’s Fred Whitton. After getting over the shock I’ve started to put in the miles on the road bike. The problem is this: since mid-December I’ve been watching my food intake with the aim of dropping my weight by 6kg by May. Things started out well, I even managed to lose 1.5 kg over Christmas, but now I’ve started to ramp up the miles I’m faced with a choice – either eat well to feel strong enough to do some quality training, in which case I don’t lose any weight, or to continue the diet with a reduced training load.

Here are my stats: height 177cm, weight 69.5kg (5’10”, 10st 13lbs for the Imperial unit fans). At 65kg I turn into an uphill rocket-ship.

Family and work commitments mean I am restricted to an hour on the turbo every evening with a long ride at the weekend. Once the mornings get lighter I’ll start to ride to work and back (a 38 mile round trip) two or three time a week. My weight loss programme, if you can call it that, is simply to have three normal balanced meals a day but with no alcohol, snacks, chocolate or other dodgy food. Probably 2000kcal/day.

So, given that I still have four months to go until the Fred, what would benefit me more – to continue the diet for a month and drop another kilo or two, or just accept that my current weight is pretty good and concentrate on my fitness? More fitness or less weight?

I’d have thought keeping your diet as is & upping the training as planned would equal results in both fitness & weight in time for FW

I’d say more fitness.

your the same height as me and 1 stone lighter and i’m skinny (ish)

If i was your weight and lost another 5 – 6 kg I’d worry about my body fat levels

I don’t see why you can’t do both. If you’re using burning body fat for fuel your body will still have all the calories it needs for training even if you’re eating less than you’re expending. Just carry on eating healthily with plenty of lo-GI carbs to fuel the training (iDiet style! <runs away>)

FWIW I think losing weight makes a very noticeable difference to performance, plus it’s certainly easier than getting fitter (unless you are starting from very low fitness). Just don’t drop to a silly weight and keep the protein intake up to make sure it’s fat you’re dropping and not muscle mass.

do both by seeing eating healthily as part of your training, which it should be anyway

I’m the same height and 75kg. I’m aiming for fitness over any more weight loss (I was 85kg a year ago) – though I think I might lose a couple of kilos by virtue of the increased fitness.
Saying that I managed to increase fitness and lose weight last year.
Anyway, see you at the top of Hardknott!

As said above- both is possible. However I would think at your current weight it is extra power which will help more (you can’t have much left to loose!).

FWIW I’m your height and almost 20kg heavier. Granted I’m no rocket uphill, but my fitness is by no means poor. Fr me it would be about the weight rather than fitness I think for an event like FW.

You sound almost exactly like me, though I’ve managed to get down to 65kg by having a stomach bug that put me off eating for a week. I’m about 178cm.

I’m with everyone else here, do both. Last year I halved the amount I was eating on rides compared to the previous year, did quite a few early morning fasted rides and the weight fell off. I made sure I refuelled right after each session – milkshakes, rice pudding or Torq recovery after hard sessions.

I was training for the Haute Route Pyrenees so doing 10-12 hours of structured rides most weeks.

Family and work commitments mean I am restricted to an hour on the turbo every evening with a long ride at the weekend. Once the mornings get lighter I’ll start to ride to work and back (a 38 mile round trip) two or three time a week. My weight loss programme, if you can call it that, is simply to have three normal balanced meals a day but with no alcohol, snacks, chocolate or other dodgy food. Probably 2000kcal/day.

You are almost me (I’m 5’11/70kgs) and I claim my £5. Basically in July I started using myfitnesspal to record my calories and changed to a primarily wholemeal/organic/non processed diet, and after Christmas dropped the booze. I’ve dropped 16lbs since then, and am still going although the rate of loss has slowed.

Essentially I stick to 2000 quality cals on non Turbo/ride days and 2500 cals on a Turbo day. I look out for food with protein content post workout for recovery, and load up pre-weekend ride with either Wholemeal pasta or El Paso fajita’s with chicken* the night before.

*what can I say it works for me!

I’m a fat git, but loosing mass fairly rapidly these days, around a pound or 2 a week(255 to 247lbs since end of decemeber beginning jan). I pissed about with alot of calculations, but it’s boiled down to eating 2000 calories or under, and then adding in about 30 calories or so for every mile I cycle. Ie if it cycle 10 miles, I can eat 2300 calories max, 20 miles – 2600 etc… seems to be working well(wholegrains seem to be the trick for not feeling hungry), just need to keep it up for a year or 10 months!

completely irrelevant to you mind, but I thought I’d share!

Maybe do similar but start with a 1500 calorie base and add on 20 cals per mile?

Bung in your details on here:

http://analyticcycling.com/ForcesLessWeight_Page.html

Then you can compare how much faster you will be if you lose the weight, compared to your estimate of how much faster you will be if you gain fitness or strength.

For Hardknott Pass with 77kg as you+bike current weight compared to 72kg, it is approx one minute faster. (assuming of course I’ve entered the numbers right!)

This Much Less Weight 5 kg
Over This Distance 2600 meters
On Hill of Slope 0.12 Decimal
Faster by 61.70 s
Ahead by 162.88 m
Frontal Area 0.5 m^2
Coefficient Wind Drag 0.5 Dimensionless
Air Density 1.226 kg/m^3
Weight Rider & Bike 77 kg
Rolling Coefficient 0.004 Dimensionless
Power 250 watts

nb. I got the length of the climb and average grade from Strava so it’s probably nonsense 🙂 A different site suggested 0.15 as the average gradient, so that makes it more like 80 seconds difference.

I recall reading on the live strong website that to lose 1lb in weight you need a calorie deficit of 3500 calories.

Per week.

Shit I thought I was as low as I needed to be at 184cm and 76.5kg. My wife and family complain already that I look far too skinny!

I recall reading on the live strong website that to lose 1lb in weight you need a calorie deficit of 3500 calories.

in general the livestrong website is up there with the DM but I’ve seen similar figures elsewhere so I’ll let it slide this time.

Some rough calculations then tell me OP needs to work at a deficit of 500 cals per day, which is perfectly doable (he might even be on that already).

Probably 2000kcal/day.

Eeek, at that rate I’d be hungry just been alive 🙂

Although the diet ladies appear to be out in full force, the answer is always more fitness.

You’ll not get round the Fred by being thin.
You will get round the Fred by being fit.

b r – Member
Probably 2000kcal/day.

Eeek, at that rate I’d be hungry just been alive

Wholemeal and protien are your friend in that respect.

Crikey, you are right – I do see (imagine) my weight loss a pleasing result of my efforts to get fitter. But power to weight ration also counts in the measurable fitness stakes.

It does, but is a consequence rather than a thingy that I can’t think of right now.

😉

Train hard and eat to support it, gain power/fitness at your current weight and I expect over the next 4 months the weight will slowly drop anyway? Relatively easy to shift 4-5kg over 3-4 months as well as eating enough to support the training I think. Drop some carbs, do a fasted ride or 2 a week, etc.
fwiw I don’t think my power stays the same if my weight drops but that’s just going on gearing and cadence on known hills, nothing scientific. I accelerate quicker uphill at my lower weight range but I feel stronger overall when a few kg over that. Power to weight plus endurance is what matters I think.

Some good advice there, thanks for that gents.

My 65kg target sounds like a bit of an arbitrary figure, but I really do seem to fly up hills with little effort when I reach this weight – it’s probably more of a psycological than physiological effect but it’s a great feeling!

Is 65kg too skinny? Compared to the general population maybe the answer is yes but the aim is purely functional and I’m not concerned with aesthetics. Just look at the national hill climb champion this year, Tejvan Pettinger, who despite his 6’3” height doesn’t see the needle on his scales go above 61kg. I’ve got some way to go before I reach that level of ‘optimisation’.

Are you looking to get round as fast as possible, eg sub 7 hours? If not then I’d say stop worrying about your weight. You’re already light enough, and do remember that there are significant flat sections in this ride where being light isn’t going to offer any advantage.

Focus on your training – progressively longer weekend rides aiming for between 70 and 100 ft of ascent per mile. Aim to build up to 80 or 90 miles before May. Combine with 3 turbo sessions (intervals and threshold) and you’ll be well prepared to get round in relative comfort. Emphasis on ‘relative’, as Hardknott at 100 miles is like being hit by a train.

Good luck!