 So why is it that many cyclists out there struggle to lose weight with cycling as their predominant physical activity? We'll be answering that question in this video and a lot more with expert sports dietitian Steph Cronin, I'll link to her details below, as we get into the 17th edition of the RCA Training Tip Show. Why do a lot of cyclists not really lose much weight when they start cycling? Could be a million and one different things. I'll rattle off a couple of examples. So generally when people start exercising they get hungry. So typically what you'll find is someone starts exercising they'll start cycling but they'll actually increase their energy intake as well. So there's a social aspect of cycling obviously so they go out for a long Saturday morning or a Sunday morning ride stop and have a coffee with that coffee might come a muffin it might be a sausage roll whatever it might be. So all of a sudden the extra calories that are being burnt cycling you know it's just human nature to say well I've burnt all this energy therefore I kind of deserve to go and eat and this happens kind of subconsciously is people aren't actively going out saying I'm going to eat more because I'm cycling it just kind of happens you get hungry you're in a social aspect you typically will eat more after that training session so your energy intake is usually increased when you start doing extra training as well. Yes. So that's one side of it. The other side is that if depending on the intensity so lower intensity cycling even though you might be going for a number of hours doesn't actually use a large amount of energy. So it can do but for most people it's not an extra couple of thousand kilojoules or anything like that a day so all calories a day. Okay so isn't lower intensity though the optimal fat burning zone that everyone talks about? But the key you know the key thing to know about weight loss is you need to be in a calorie deficit. Okay. So even though we talk about fat burning zones and zones of training which are going to use more carbohydrates and more fat and things like that it's totally separate to weight loss. Okay. So we talk that's what this what your body's being fueled at during that zone however for overall weight loss we are just looking for a calorie deficit which will then could mean that you're losing muscle mass as well as body fat but to lose weight well you've got to plan it out very very strategically. Okay. So it's important to be in a calorie deficit number one how you're getting that calorie deficit depends on you know 70% of what you're eating. Okay. So your 30% exercise so if you're jumping on the bike that's going to be 30% of your weight loss journey as such if you're not looking at nutrition at the same time you know you're not even halfway there. Right. So is that a common mistake people make when they start cycling they think that by cycling they're going to lose weight and that's only 30% of the pie 70% is the nutrition so they're not actually focusing on what they eat off the bike so should they be calorie counting then is that what they should be doing. It's a slippery slope so that can work well what's important to understand about calorie counting is that there's a million and one different apps out there they're still an estimation. Okay. So it's still based on averages of food so you know you put in an apple it's still based on an average calorie of that apple. Okay. So you know the data suggests that tracking via calorie apps can be up to 30 to 50% out of what you're actually eating. Wow okay. So that also needs to take into consideration if someone's doing it accurately so when you calorie counting for it to be accurate you've got to include absolutely every single thing that you're eating all the oils that you might cook with the sauces any other fluids other than water so it does get very very draining and I think going down that road you've got to be very committed but you've also got to be mindful that it takes out the fun side of eating as well sometimes. So it is a slippery slope I don't encourage it all the time there are certain clients that I'll specifically ask to do that and there's other people that I will get to basically just keep a record of what they're eating so a written record what they've been eating when they're training how they're feeling and if you start writing that on paper and having a look at that each day or each week that's going to give you a really good idea of what you're doing you know when you're over consuming on sugar when you're over consuming on alcohol or you know different things like that I would always encourage someone to seek a professional to seek advice from a professional particularly a sports dietitian if they're going to be doing a lot of exercise because at least then they can look through the nitty gritty okay because there's another you know they might be eating too little and training too much and that can actually lead to the body essentially being resistant to body fat changes yes okay interesting the other side of that is how people are judging if they're losing weight as well so if they're relying purely on the scales it's not a very accurate representation of body fat as such if people are doing cycling they're doing a lot of resistance training with that as well so if they're doing a lot of heels and things like that they're probably you know building a little bit of lean muscle at the same time which if they're increasing lean muscle but losing body fat the scales might be staying exactly the same yes and that's going to be you know leading to them thinking that they're not losing weight when actually they are losing body fat it's just not scale weight as such okay interesting so what's some steps that people can make let's just say they're not prepared to go see an expert yet but they want to lose some weight yep what are the top three five things they can do with say protein and carbohydrate intake and all those things so number one definitely protein okay so essential for maintaining lean muscle as well because i guess when most people are trying to lose weight they're probably referring to body fat as opposed to weight as such okay not many people come in saying i need to lose muscle okay particularly for cyclists who who still want to keep that sort of power aspect of cycling so when you're trying to lose body fat super super important that you're having enough protein throughout the day so we've got a protein target but we also need to look at the type of protein you're eating how it's distributed over the day how often you're eating as well i can't have the massage bar cookie and cream 50 grand protein in one hit wouldn't be my first choice look with supplements again as i say protein most people straight away jump to i need a protein supplement whether it be a bar or a powder yes they're convenient but it's not essential so ideally we're trying to still use whole foods because there's going to be other you know amino acids there's going to be other nutrients and minerals that are going to come with those whole foods plus they taste a lot nicer than always relying on a bar or a powder those are convenient so they can definitely be included it's just it you know that kind of the the last step that we're looking at is using the supplements okay but as an 80 kilogram rider myself yeah like how much protein should i have a day so again it really depends on on a number of different things but as a guide i would say 1.5 to 2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight okay so that's up to 160 grams of protein and spread sort of evenly throughout the day so your body can only absorb so much at once we know that that number's about 30 grams of protein right depends on the size of the athlete as well right so you want to drip feed that really consistently over the day it's going to help maintain lean muscle but it's also going to help you feel full over the day as well yeah okay so what about carbs in so i would say the next important thing prior to looking at carbohydrate is making sure we've got vegetables and salad in there so that would be the second so first priority is making sure we've got enough protein in the diet second priority is making sure we've got enough fiber from fruit and vegetables and salad predominantly veggies and salads that's going to help with the total health i mean system all that sort of stuff as well but it's going to fill you up so people underestimate how much vegetables and salad do fill you up if you eat enough protein and vegetables then we add the carbohydrates in and the carbohydrates are very strategically planned out and it's not that carbs are bad it's not that you have to cut carbs to lose weight or anything like that it's just that it's the easiest macro nutrient that we can target to reduce or at least be quite strategic how we eat them when we eat them the types we eat of types of carbohydrates so we eat as well so we look at the typical sort of westernized diet it's very high in refined carbs so we can definitely get rid of most of those sorts of things when you're trying to lose weight yes complex carbohydrates good quality carbohydrates so we're talking certain vegetables we're talking fruits we're talking whole grains leg lewens lentils those sorts of things good quality bread good quality rice um good quality pasta even those are the sorts of things that can be included but we're being quite strategic where they are and what i mean by that is um if you're a morning trainer we want to give you most of your carbohydrates in the morning and then we would slowly back off those carbs as the day goes on if you're not training in the afternoon right so we're concentrating the carbohydrate intake surrounding the training session yep so carbohydrate periodization it's called so um wherever your hard sessions are particularly so if you've got an easy session we can be a little bit lighter on the carbs as i said it's not about eliminating them all together because it's important to understand that um you know carbohydrates are still really important for cognitive function still important for your immune system um and there's still you know loads of different minerals and vitamins that are going to come with those not to mention they're super tasty and they you know are still to be included okay and what about fats and things like that so that makes up the rest of it so very important um that you still include fats and we're looking at good quality um unsaturated fats not mickey d's not mickey d's so the other side of that is that um those unhealthy type fats basically will contribute to um inflammation so if you've done a really hard session um you drive through mackey d's on the way home you get a thick shake and a quarter pound of meal with some chips there's a lot of saturated fat a lot of um you know highly refined oils in there what that does is you know your body's already in a state of inflammation after you've trained and you're adding extra inflammation to that by eating those types of fats okay so on the other side of that we you know we really want to encourage eating things like good quality oily fish so salmon mackerel sardines tuna that sort of stuff um you know using nuts and seeds using pesto using avocado using extra virgin olive oil for cooking and things like that um and making sure that those sort of fats are included in the diet yes they're going to be higher in calories but again it's it's it's small amounts throughout the diet percentage wise of the diet again it really depends on the individual there's no you know 10 percent 20 percent 30 percent goal for every single person um it really depends on the individual okay those sort of things those fats will help reduce inflammation and they're going to help you recover quicker so you can get back to your next training session quicker so if you implement those three aspects that you talk about without calorie counting and without really training the way changing the way you train you should be going a long way to improving your body fat don't get me wrong you have to be in a calorie deficit so calorie counting is still important it's just not essential so it depends on the individual if you love numbers it's definitely something that's um good to know great education but it's not something that I'd encourage you to do 365 days of the year because it's quite draining but what calorie target you need um is you know there's a different sort of equations out there there's different um you know blogs and things like that that will tell you to hit these different calorie targets um and there's no exact number for that we can use equations but we've still got to keep in mind um how much you're burning throughout a training session as well so um and how much calories are you using for everyday activities so you know washing the dishes making the bed um just doing everyday sort of activities it still requires energy um so we do need to make sure that we're looking after your your metabolic or your resting metabolic rate which is the number of calories it takes for you to stay alive at rest to keep your bodily functions working so you know your heart pumping well your brain working well your liver functioning etc okay that's the minimum number that number you know often we'll hear about these 1200 and 1500 calorie diets that's generally where most people's resting metabolic rates sit okay so if you're only eating at that you're not giving yourself the energy to then do your everyday activities and then you're not leaving um giving yourself the energy to train well as well yep that can have some really long-term serious um effects so that could compromise bone density could compromise um heart function mental function for women um you know immune system so you might be getting sick you could be getting injuries and those sorts of things as well so it's not less calories is better it's just you know that's why I would always encourage someone to seek a professional um if they're not ready to to see a professional that's okay it's worthwhile just you know um being very mindful that less calories is not always better okay