How To

Five tips to lose weight for cycling sustainably

Forget fad diets, here's how to shed excess weight effectively and efficiently to improve your performance on the bike

A healthy balanced diet

Pro cyclists take body weight seriously. Very seriously. (Pic: Sirotti)
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day
Consider your long-term goals when preparing dinner
Fasted training means riding in a low carbohydrate state, normally in the morning before breakfast
Taking recovery seriously will enable you to complete your next training session to the best of your ability

A healthy balanced diet

A healthy, balanced approach to diet and nutrition is key not only to performance, but weight loss. A healthy balanced diet should mainly consist of high quality protein (e.g. chicken, salmon, eggs), low to moderate glycemic index carbohydrates (e.g. sweet potato, basmati rice, quinoa) and a range of fruit and vegetables.

The glycemic index uses a scale between zero and 100 to attribute a value to a carbohydrate-based food, which indicates the food’s effect on blood sugar (or glucose) level. A low GI food will release energy slower and more steadily than a high GI food.

Although carbohydrate sources are very important for moderate to high intensity exercise, choosing high sugar drinks and snacks can result in fast, dramatic changes in blood sugar, leaving us craving more.

Choosing snacks with a low-moderate glycemic index such as natural yogurt with real fruit or cereal bars made with real fruit are much better choices and can leave us feeling fuller for longer – so you’re not reaching into the snack cupboard again!