If your plans for 2025 include a lighter, leaner you, but you’re already thinking, “Where do I start?” then you’re not alone.
But you might just need a little patience, plus a dollop of reality, when it comes to weight loss.
“It sounds simple but losing weight is all about creating an energy deficit when it comes to fat,” says Dr Adam Collins, associate professor of nutrition at the University of Surrey.
“It’s about fewer calories in and more calories out,” says Collins. Of course, we know it’s not that easy in practice, he adds, so what’s the secret behind weight loss as a cyclist?
Weight loss isn’t an exact science but, roughly, a pound of fat contains around 3,500 calories. If, as a cyclist, you know that you burn 500 calories an hour on most rides – whether that be an estimate from a smartwatch or bike computer, or your own calculations – then you might be thinking, with a side-serving of despair, ‘Oh, I’ll just pop out for seven hours on the bike…’
What’s more, this approach, beyond burying your immune system and leaving you a moody mess, doesn’t account for factors like your daily food intake, on-the-bike fuelling and the intensity of exercise.
However, there’s good fatty news when it comes to that latter point, which can often become a sea of confusion.
Let's demystify the reality of New Year weight loss...
1. Understand fat-burning intensities
At rest and at low intensities of exercise, we burn predominantly fat for fuel.
As intensity increases, the body is increasingly reliant on carbohydrates to fuel the working muscles. It’s why all of us have a ‘FatMax’ zone, which is the optimum fat-burning intensity. This is generally accepted as around 70-75 per cent of maximum heart rate for trained athletes and 60-65 per cent of max HR for less fit athletes.
“Your muscle becomes adapted to exercise because it’s under metabolic stress and running out of fuel,” says Collins. “It adapts by increasing blood supply, the number of [energy-producing] mitochondria, and improving the ability to break down fat and glucose more efficiently.”
This metabolic stress happens with low-intensity, long-endurance exercise. However, while this is likely to be a key part of your plan, it’s not the only route when it comes to losing fat through cycling.
“It can also happen through higher-intensity exercise,” says Collins. “This might not initially oxidise high levels of fat; instead, you’ll be burning through carbohydrate and creatine phosphate.
“But that energy crisis you’ve created needs to be paid back. How you do that is switching to more aerobic systems during the recovery.”
This is otherwise known as the afterburn effect or EPOC. “That stands for Excessive Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption,” says Collins. “Your oxygen uptake is higher because it facilitates fat burning. As you recover from a hard [interval] set, you continue to mobilise fats to replenish the short-term energy you burnt through.”
It’s why we have good news – that, in theory, all training sessions will burn fat, albeit you don’t want to overload with high-intensity work as you’ll end up ill or injured.
Glycogendepleted, or fasted training, is another potential session to amplify fat burning, although again it needs to be ticked off sparingly as it’s tough on your immune system. “It’s also not required by women as they’re naturally better fat burners than men,” says Collins.
2. Reduce calories slowly and consistently
So, you have a physical plan to burn through fat, but what about calorie intake?
Well, the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention says that people who lose weight gradually and steadily (around 1-2lb / 0.5-1kg a week) are not only more likely to keep the weight off, but also that the weight lost is more down to fat than water loss, compared to rapid losers.
Cutting down energy intake by even a couple of hundred calories a day could be more effective than going large.
“Say a cyclist’s basal metabolic rate [calories burnt at rest] is 2,000 calories a day and they eat just 1,000 calories a day,” says Collins. “The body responds by liberating its body fat and glycogen stores to create energy to meet that shortfall. Once you start shrinking adipocytes and removing fat, you’re becoming healthier. That’s the good.
“The problem is you have drivers of appetite regulation that are quite powerful,” adds Collins. "Immediately after an active phase of dieting, you can easily recoil back, especially if you’ve lost a lot of weight in a short timeframe, as these drivers are even more powerful. It’s hard because the Westernised world is obesogenic – we have access to food that’s highly palatable and relatively cheap.”
The key, then, is slow, steady and consistent weight loss through a healthy and sustainable energy deficit. How seriously you take calorie reduction is up to you – whether simply cutting out unhealthy snacks, reducing alcohol intake, or using an app to get into the details and count calories – but a sensible diet should go hand-in-hand with any training plan.
3. Stay motivated and be kind to yourself
As we've learned, consistency is key – and that’s where motivation comes in.
Of course, this is an individual thing. You might want to cut those last few pounds to fight for the win in a race, or you might want to lose a stone for health purposes. Either way, the maintenance of motivation comes in many forms.
Making your goal real helps. This might be sticking a note on your kitchen door or going public on social media. A daily, weekly and monthly plan provides direction and structure, and gives you milestones en route to your goal.
Any goal should be tailored to you and your life – for example, doing Zwift in your lunch hour or adding a short workout into your commute. Be realistic, and start small in creating healthy, long-standing habits.
Last but not least, banish negativity. Replace energy-sapping thoughts of, ‘It’s raining and my shoes will get muddy’, with positive affirmations, images of sunshine, or your personal mantra. Close your eyes and picture yourself as being strong and confident.
Yes, it sounds trite but, ultimately, you’re only as powerful as your mind. Stay focused but also be prepared for the odd blip, and you'll hit your goal in no time.
