I have been loosing weight for a few months now, down to dropping of medication and cycling longer rides.

I use to be around 14.5 stone now I am down to 11 stone 11 pound and I have started to get a little conscious and aware that I am going the other way (too thin).

I understand that more exercise will loose weight, but I feel a bit underweight and sometimes weak. I have blood test to make sure nothing was going on with my body and all is ok.

I eat healthily, no processed food, all meals are made from scratch, loads of veg, not all that much fruit if I’m honest.

What sort of foods should I eat more of to increase weight and to feel a lot more stronger and healthier etc?

The answer is probably protein – lean meat and beans.

But there are many questions in what you’ve said. If you’re feeling weak and tired you might be riding too much. More detail needed. What height are you, target weight, BMI, how much riding are you doing. I’m no expert, but it won’t just be about food.

Definitely more info needed! Well done on losing 2.5 stone, but how tall are you etc? What is your ideal weight for height, body shape, etc?

As above, if you are feeling weak then maybe you’re not eating enough, are doing too much, could be a number of things. How much longer are your rides now? For example, if you’ve gone from 10 milers to 100 milers then you need to give your body a chance to adapt.

Most of us could probably do with losing a stone or two (I certainly could), and it sounds like you eat more healthily than me. Does the doctor agree you are losing too much weight or is it your perception?

Personally I’d recommend speaking to professionals rather than well meaning folks on an internet forum who don’t know you.

If you’ve as good a diet as it sounds, you’ll be getting enough protein.

Do you drink enough? As Jimmy says, mibbe just doing a bit much.

Haribo

Do you have a way of tracking the amount of calories you consume and the amount you are expending each day.

You can then find your net calories and compare them to some charts* that show what your maintenance calories are. Then you can see if you have too high of a deficit. You shouldn’t go much below 300 kcals/day less than maintenance to avoid tiredness/fatigue such as you’re showing.

Diet wise, protein is the next most important thing after net calories. You should be eating approximately 0.8 to 1 gram of protein per lb of weight.

After that, you need to make sure you get good sleep and and also drink 1.5 litre of water a day or more.

These are what I have found works to keep your body in good fettle if exercising regularly.

*However, these are quite broad brush (i.e. is lifestyle sedentary or active etc), and I find that they don’t work well for folks doing endurance exercise which is why it’s good to track exercise calorie expenditure specifically.

Are you in a mindset of trying to lose weight? I.e. doing more exercise and consciously not over eating afterwards? If you’ve hit your desired target weight then perhaps you’re just under fuelling yourself before, during and after rides.

Also, someone at a healthy BMI actually looks pretty skinny/slim/trim* delete as appropriate.

The majority of people we see around us are overweight so that impacts on perception of what is normal.

I’m 12 stone at 5’11” and do a lot of weight lifting at the gym (which adds lean mass). Body fat percentage is around 15% and most folk I speak to say I look skinny whereas I think I look about right?

Wot YGH says – I am 5’10 and 12 1/2 stone – and at least a stone overweight

To add to what the others have said here, exercise will assist you in feeling stronger, however weight is a simple calculation of calories in vs calories out – want to lose weight, eat less than you burn, want to put on weight eat more and want to maintain then eat what you burn.

If you train well and eat loads of calories you will still put on weight,

So first thing to look at is, water intake 2 litres a day in a typical day, if you are exercising for long periods then more is needed, do you add electrolytes to your water when riding?

Are you resting enough?

Also to add that eating more doesnt mean eating unhealthily – more veg, more meat, even chuck in an all in one protein shake which will have around 150-200 calories when made with milk, and will also aid in recovery.

But as others have said more info needed – maybe get in touch with a dietician/nutritionist to assist.

If you cycle regularly, you will lose weight. Those are the rules. It doesn’t really matter where you start from. Sounds like you just need to eat a bit more if you are feeling weak. I’m 5’10 and 11 stone. If I ride more I lose about half a stone. You can’t cheat thermodynamics. But equally, a small negative imbalance over a long period due to exercise will see steady weight loss.

To show this, I use the butter scale. 700 calories is 100g of butter (which is basically fat). It’s also about 90 minutes of steady (slow) riding. An hour a day of even steady riding each week will burn 3500 calories or 500g of fat. That’s your pound a week weight loss if you aren’t eating an extra 500 calories per day. Simples.

I’m 5’10”, in summer 2016 I was ~95Kg, got down to ~73Kg by August 2017 while beginning cycling for fitness and reducing carb snacking. But now I struggle to get under 83Kg after a year with several health setbacks, consequent reductions in frequency/intensity/duration of rides and not enough cutbacks in snacking (despite still typically doing ~15 hours walking as a postie and ~6.5 hours cycling per week).

If you cycle regularly, you will lose weight. Those are the rules

eerrr no.
i cycle daily. i dont lose weight.

I think it’s as simple as calories in vs calories out.

Just riding more doesn’t always mean loosing weight. I ride a fair amount and average somewhere between 10-15hrs most weeks. The more I ride the more hungry I get and therefore I eat more. My weight has pretty much stayed at 75kg for as long as I can remember now.

If I haven’t ridden for a period of time due to sickness / injury etc my appetite reduces and I still maintain my 75kg.

If I want to loose weight I need to accept that I’ll probably be hungry some of the time.

I think there’s a fine line when it comes to the ideal weight. Generally you’ll be less powerful if you’re skinny but all that power isn’t needed to get you up those hills at the same pace when compared to a heavier / more powerful person.

I guess this is where w/kg is a useful metric if you have a power meter. If you’re w/kg is increasing and you’re still healthy then you’re on track. If you’re loosing weight but your w/kg isn’t increasing or you’re feeling unhealthy then you’ve probably gone too far.

Beer & cake. Seems to work for me as I cycle regularly and can’t seem to shift the lockdown flab – could do with losing at least a stone. New trainer arrived the other week so that should help through the winter.

Tracking your calories works both ways – you can make sure you’re under to lose weight and over to gain it. I’d say to do that if you think you’re losing too much, after that it’s up to you whether you want to add calories in the form of protein or chocolate, the protein would probably do more for your recovery times though.

Hi OP, last year i lost a similar amount of weight to you, i went from 14st 12lb to at my lowest 11st 12lb, i did this by a combination of diet and exercise, diet wise i just cut out a lot of snacks added more veg and salad at main meals, the exercise was a mix of riding, running and lifting weights with yoga and stretching as well.

Once i had got that low i stopped restricting my diet quite so much, as frankly it was gettin a little tiresome having no fun foods at all, and my weight crept up a little to 12st 2lb, where it has stayed for the last year, for reference i am 6 foot exactly.

So try increasing your calorie intake a bit, and if i were you try adding some resistance exercises into your training. Just do basic compound exercises, press ups, chin ups, squats and deadlifts etc.

It is very likely that with the weight you have lost you have lost a bit off muscle mass which could contribute to you feeling weaker, along with being under fuelled all the time. We naturally loose muscle mass as we age so doing some resistance work is a good way to keep lean as well.

When i lost my weight quite a few friends and family told me i was getting too thin, and having bony bits to sit on was a strange sensation for me, however now i’ve adapted to my new shape it all feels normal now and the too skinny comments have stopped as well.

If you cycle regularly, you will lose weight. Those are the rules

Have to say I’ve gone from doing virtually no cycling for 10 years to riding 12,000 km a year on the road for the last couple of years and my weight hasn’t changed much at all.

If you cycle regularly, you will lose weight. Those are the rules

Simply not true in any way shape or form.
Weight loss is all about calories in vs calories out.

Ever heard the phrase you cant out train a bad diet.

Feeling tired is either not enough water, fuel or rest. drink a bit more, eat a bit more and take an extra rest day and see how you feel.

Personally I use cycling as a way of cheating my way into junk food or booze.

i.e. know that I’m getting a pizza or going to the pub tonight? Out for a bike ride during the day so the calories (kind of) even out.

But in general, cardio isn’t a great way to lose weight as it makes you hungry so you eat more. Does get you fitter though!

Cardio plus calorie monitoring/balancing is a good way to lose weight though. As is weight lifting (change body composition to increase maintenance calories for the same body weight).

I think it’s as simple as calories in vs calories out

A massive light has just shone in the sky above Molgrips house.

If you cycle regularly, you will lose weight. Those are the rules

Simply not true in any way shape or form.

If only the person who made that first statement had some sort of sciencey qualifications or background Or had ever ridden a bike at a decent level. It’s like he doesn’t know what he’s talking about…. 😀

eerrr no.
i cycle daily. i dont lose weight.

OK, I should have added the obvious caveat: all else being equal. If you cycle regularly and do not change your diet, then you WILL lose weight until you hit your new thermodynamic equilibrium. How’s that? Try stopping cycling an carry on eating or drinking the same. Everyone consumes enough caloric content to weigh what they do. Where people differ is how much they need to eat (per kilo of lean mass) to feel satiated (Prader Willi being the worst extreme). Age has a surprisingly small effect on basal metabolism. That was proven only recently.

FWIW, with almost no cycling this year, my weight has remained stable. I eat less of course and have replaced some leg muscle with fat, but weight is about the same 72kg. Race weight at my leanest was still 69kg.

Butter thermodynamics is a thing. Mrs TiRed calorie counted to lose two stone, and we plotted the loss and scored in tubs of butter. That’s where I came up with the validation. 500 calorie deficit per day is not a bad diet.

Lucky things. I cycle, gym and swim most days with long rides at the weekend and don’t lose a gram.

Lots to read through…

I am 48 years old, 5ft 11ins. I have gone from cycling approx 20 miles rides, twice a week to approx 35 to 40 miles twice a week, sometimes a little more depending on time.

My job is very physical, prior to lockdown I was in an office, so not much movement.

I do feel and think I should be eating more calories, but I understand that there are lots of other factors to consider.

I think of cycling as a great way to burn calories. On a 100 mile bike ride I usually burn through about 3500kcalories. Your body can only store about 2000kcalories of glycogen. So you will be burning fat. It’s a great way to burn off the flab. However if you fill your face with beer and pizza afterwards your body will lay down some fat to replace what you just burned off so you will be back to square one. It’s not rocket science.

Agree with the comments above about what society sees as a normal body weight. The average U.K. adult is obese so people with a normal BMI are considered skinny.

I’d suggest the OP isn’t underweight unless he is 6’7”. Possibly something else is affecting energy levels/strength. Go to your GP get them to check out your iron levels etc.

I’d suggest the OP isn’t underweight unless he is 6’7”. Possibly something else is affecting energy levels/strength. Go to your GP get them to check out your iron levels etc.

The very first thing was a trip to the GP for blood tests, results were all ok.

OK, I should have added the obvious caveat: all else being equal. If you cycle regularly and do not change your diet, then you WILL lose weight until you hit your new thermodynamic equilibrium.

Does anyone here not already know that? I would like to hope they did.
Difficulty is the all else being equal though unless a person is measuring every other input and output and maintaining them they won’t necessarily see weight loss and not understand why.

Does anyone here not already know that?

When I was properly training, I was acutely aware that I needed to eat 10 days of food a week. When just commuting, then I found it easier to not really compensate for the extra caloric need. If you are just a little more active, then you will lose weight. Unless you like a yeast-based recovery drink after a couple of miles. To the OP – more protein and most likely more carbs. I run on scones and buns 🙂