Cyclists are obsessed with weight. Among the cycling community, you will frequently hear people talking about how lightweight their bikes are and how much they spend on the lightest components. The truth is it doesn't matter how light your bike is if you still have an extra 10 or more pounds of weight on yourself.
The best ever diet for fat loss and cycling is one that will help you lose weight and improve your fitness at the same time.
Considerations
There are some great reasons to lose fat if you want to be a better cyclist. First, going up hills will be easier the less you weigh. Second, your power-to-weight ratio will go up, meaning you can put out more force per pound of body weight and be much more efficient in your energy expenditure. In order to gain these benefits of a diet for fat loss, however, you must take your nutrition into account. A diet that doesn't meet your nutrition needs as an athlete may cause you to lose lean muscle mass instead of fat.
Misconceptions
Many cyclists make the mistake of avoiding fat while trying to lose weight. The best ever diet for fat loss and cycling does not follow this approach, as fat is necessary for health and sports performance. Some fats, like Omega-3 fats found in salmon and other fatty fish, help control inflammation, which can be of great benefit to athletes. (Reference 2). Instead, a balanced approach should be taken with carbs, protein, and fat being used in appropriate proportions.
Types
The best ever diet for fat loss and cycling combines a sensible approach to carbs, protein, and fat, which will improve metabolic efficiency. Metabolic efficiency refers to how well your body can burn fat as fuel instead of relying on carbohydrate from foods eaten while exercising. A diet that maximizes your body's ability to burn fat will be the best diet for fat loss and for cycling performance.
Practice
A diet for fat loss and cycling requires an understanding of how much protein, fat, and carbs you eat every day. If you are trying to lose weight and you eat more than 60 percent of your daily calories from carbohydrate, first get that number down to 50 percent to 60 percent while increasing your fats from avocado, meat, nuts, and fish to 25 percent to 30 percent of your diet and your high quality proteins from meat, fish, poultry and eggs to 25 percent to 30 percent of your diet. It may take one to two weeks for your body to adjust to relying more on your fat stores for fuel, so don't be alarmed if you feel sluggish. This should only last a brief time, after which you will feel back to normal, according to triathlon coach Andrew Dollar.
Effects
Stepping on a scale and seeing a drop in weight will be your best indicator that your diet is working. You may also notice some other positive effects. You will not need to eat as much during longer workouts, as your body no longer needs a constant supply of dietary carbohydrate to fuel exercise. You may also find that you no longer have stomach trouble during intense training sessions or races, which is a common side effect of eating too much food during workouts.
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