As the season starts winding down for many, one question keeps popping up: Should I start losing weight?
My answer is not what you might expect. It is true that many adults gradually gain weight as they age, maybe just a little each year, accumulating to ~5-10 pounds and sometimes more over time. This happens to both men and women and can be due to any number of factors, including aging, loss of muscle mass, lack of knowledge around nutrition and energy needs, inconsistent eating patterns such as over-restriction followed by overconsumption, and any number of factors related to stress, including work, life changes, and challenges such as illness or injuries.
Sometimes this small amount of weight gain can be totally acceptable, especially if you are otherwise healthy, strong, fit, and happy. Other times excess weight gain can be problematic, especially if it's contributing to other health risks. For a smaller percentage of performance-focused athletes, losing some body weight (fat) might be worth it to improve the power-to-weight ratio, as long as overall health and well-being is still maintained as top priority.
So the real question to ask yourself is, “Do I really need to lose weight for health or performance reasons? Or am I just used to the idea of thinking I should weigh less or look different?”
Scenario 1: I want to lose less than 5 pounds
Maybe you don't need to actually lose weight, but you think you would feel better, look better, and possibly perform better if you just lost a few pounds. In this scenario, I would recommend not focusing on a specific number on the scale and instead revisit dietary habits and daily activity. For example:
Are you eating the recommended amount of vegetables and other high-nutrient, high-fiber foods each day?
Can you swap out some calorie-dense food choices for nutrient-dense options?
Are you truly eating intentional meals with adequate calories and protein, or are you frequently snacking, eating mindlessly, or eating on the go?
Are you able to plan your nutrition intake, or is your life too chaotic to prioritize nutrition intake?
Are you consuming alcohol frequently or dining out more than you need to?
Are you doing regular strength training and avoiding long periods of sedentary time?
Very often in this scenario, all it takes is some refocusing on eating balanced meals with intentional snacks as needed to meet your daily energy and macronutrient needs based on your activity levels. Focus on the daily habits and process instead of stressing about the outcome. This approach can be used in the off season and almost any time throughout the year.
Scenario 2: I need to lose 10 pounds or more
If you fall into this category and are following a periodized program for training and competition, the off-season is typically a good time to focus on losing about 50% of your total goal. Assuming an average rate of fat loss of ¼ to ½ pound per week, you should set an attainable initial target, depending on how long your off-season or season transition period will be.
When spending a predetermined amount of weeks in a fat loss phase, I recommend athletes use the strategy of losing as slowly as possible by eating as much as possible. Caloric restriction to achieve negative energy balance is a form of stress on your body. While training for performance, we are already under a high amount of stress, even before factoring in additional life stress. During the off-season, we want to unload some of that stress and allow our bodies to mentally and physically rebuild and recover. Ideally, you may achieve a slight negative energy balance by doing some additional strength training, cross-training, and other daily physical activity like walking. Being active and eating a diet that is plentiful in vegetables, fruits, lean proteins, and other high-nutrient, high-fiber foods each day is the key to achieving small but meaningful energy deficits.
I would not recommend starting any type of dedicated fat loss program until you feel mentally ready to commit to establishing consistency in these new patterns of energy intake and expenditure. This takes some advance planning to make sure you have enough foods available to satisfy your daily needs for lower-calorie-density and high-nutrient-density foods, high-fiber carbohydrates, plant-based foods, higher-protein foods, and smaller daily portions of nutrient-dense fats like nuts and seeds. You'll want to pre-plan food options and portion sizes to reduce the likelihood of overeating if you get too hungry. You might also consider tracking your intake using a program like Hexis, which we use in our winter group coaching program; it provides an overview of daily energy balance in real time and helps periodize intake around daily activity.
There are two main areas I find people struggle in with off-season weight loss:
They are too aggressive with a daily energy deficit and end up overcompensating for the extreme calorie restriction.
They don't have a plan to maintain the weight loss after they attain their initial goal.
In order to maintain weight after the fat-loss phase, it's best to learn how to listen to and respond to daily hunger, appetite, and satiety cues. If you find that you eat out of boredom or stress, you'll want to have strategies to manage that in a healthier way. Build in diet breaks so you can practice just maintaining your weight for a week or two without gaining. This will give you confidence in establishing energy balance without trying to overcontrol your diet or count and measure everything.
Finally, take the sustainable route for long-term weight management. Don't try to eat in a way that you dislike or can't sustain. Lean into personal preferences rather than trying to make a popular diet or someone else's way of eating work for you. Try avoiding "food rules" and instead embrace the idea of providing your body what it needs, but without excess. And think of the big picture: This time of year is for resetting so you can come out of the off-season feeling fresh and strong with plenty of energy to begin prepping for the upcoming season.
Scenario 3: I just want to be healthy and strong
After several months of eating sports foods, traveling and dining out, and consuming more sugars and processed foods in and around training, off-season is an excellent time to revisit the nutrient density of your diet. Focus on preparing more foods at home, like seasonal soups and salads. Try new vegetables, keeping in mind it's totally fine to keep the food prep simple (for example, I often roast a sheet of veggies ahead of time and use the air fryer when I want to prepare a smaller amount quickly). Have go-to lean protein options on hand for meals and snacks daily. Choose high-fiber complex carbs (beans, lentils, veggies, whole grains) over simple carbs (sugars, candy, sodas, highly processed snacks). Avoid excess sugars, highly processed foods, and large portions of high-fat foods. Pay attention when foods help you to feel good and more energetic versus foods and eating patterns that result in feeling sluggish or over-full.
Hopefully the right answer for your off-season nutrition goal is somewhere above. It's a complicated topic to address, but remember that being healthy, fit, and powerful does not always mean you need to be losing weight in the off-season. Sometimes the best solution is to address the simple daily habits that we already know make us feel better.
At BaseCamp, we believe that every cyclist has the potential to achieve greatness, no matter where they start. Our mission is to create a community-driven training environment where cyclists and triathletes of all levels can train together, support each other, and grow stronger, faster, and more confident in their abilities. Our cycling training programs are expert driven and tailored to your needs. Whether you're a seasoned pro or just getting started, BaseCamp is where you belong.
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