Hi, I'm a dedicated cyclist who needs help sorting out my diet. I feel I'm too heavy for climbing and want to improve by reducing my bodyfat.
I'm 5'11'' tall and weigh 70kg but I think I could loose a few more kilos. I've lowered my carbohydrate intake and am not too sure that the weight I'm loosing is actually fat.
Is there any way of getting the help I need in perfecting my diet from people who know what the optimum cycling diet should be? It's hard to find nutritionists or dieticians where I live.
Dude, I'd say that I'm pretty lean and you are taller and lighter than me. Lance Armstrong comes in at 5'10" and about 70kg at race time and is really really lean. This sort of thing can't be aproached lightly and you weight is not a static thing. It is not something that can be kept at one level for ever. It is also important that you have enough energy intake for a training programme. It is often an idea to approach training with a bit more intensity in mind. Climb the hills and make sure you aren't ever hungry. This can be dangerous. After a bit more intensity and the necessary energy intake to make it easier you will be able to burn more energy as you have trained your energy systems to utilise more of your energy.
Because individuals are all different and most competetive riders are already fairly lean compared to the average human, you cant just use some conventional diet and blindly follow this. It is often a matter of experimenting with small changes in your diet rather than drastically restricting one part of it.
Be wary of sugar. Be wary of low fat items. To make them more palateable the maufacturer often adds sugar which is more worthless to the body than a product with more fat (the fat also carrys a lot of flavour and is more satisfying). Nutritional information on the backs of products are often very educational! Ensure you have enough protein. Your muscles and to an extent your insulin levels depend on this. Take it slowly.
If you train your enrgy systems corectly with a period of higher intensity, you will develop the ability to use more energy and thus be more able to burn the fat (if indeed you have much of it!) at a later date.
Im no pro cyclist, but if your 5' 11" and 70 kilos, losing more weight would put you on the virge of being underweight, obviously a bad thing, there are numers health issues for people who are underweight.
The last post offers good nutritional tips, but if you want to climb better, try improving the quality of the muscle you have, work out the appropriate muscle groups with low weights and high reps.
