I need suggestions on what to do...I've been racing all year, and now that road season is done I've started racing cyclocross. I've only got a few more pounds to lose (10-15lbs) but am having the hardest time losing it. I'm already training quite a bit, I've tried not eating as much and lowering my calories which immediately I lose some weight doing however my performance on the bike as well as my recovery time off the bike suffers dramatically. When I eat more calories and such to where I see a positive performance gain I put the few pounds back on that I lost when I wasn't eating enough and have only been sustaining my current weight instead of lowering it. I'm 5'7" and am currently 155-160lbs depending on hydration. I'm trying to get myself down to 140-145lbs (135 if I can) but am having the absolute hardest time losing these last few pounds. I was 200+lbs at the beginning of last year which seems like they came off like nothing compared to these last few. Any suggestions would be much help.

What made you pick 135? Are you sure that's both healthy and the best weight for you to race at? Do you really have 20-25 lbs of extra body fat to lose? That's a lot! It's not a contest to be the lightest. As a lightweight I can tell you that just being light doesn't make you fast. Every time I'm out in the wind I wish I had more power. Most races favor strong all-around riders who can sprint, not skinny climbers who are only fast up long hills.

200 to 160 is a lot in less than a year. If your performance goes down when you try to cut back on calories, your body is telling you that you shouldn't lose more weight. In your position I'd stop worrying about it, enjoy CX racing, and see about gaining strength and losing a little more fat next year, assuming you really have extra fat (or upper body muscle) to lose.

What made you pick 135? Are you sure that's both healthy and the best weight for you to race at? Do you really have 20-25 lbs of extra body fat to lose? That's a lot! It's not a contest to be the lightest. As a lightweight I can tell you that just being light doesn't make you fast. Every time I'm out in the wind I wish I had more power. Most races favor strong all-around riders who can sprint, not skinny climbers who are only fast up long hills.

200 to 160 is a lot in less than a year. If your performance goes down when you try to cut back on calories, your body is telling you that you shouldn't lose more weight. In your position I'd stop worrying about it, enjoy CX racing, and see about gaining strength and losing a little more fat next year, assuming you really have extra fat (or upper body muscle) to lose.
While it sounds like there is something up with the op, 40lbs is NOT allot to lose in a 12 month period, it's less than a lb a week, which is more than safe.

It's not a contest to be the lightest.

Yes it is. :)

OP, Have you had your B/F% tested via a reliable method?

While it sounds like there is something up with the op, 40lbs is NOT allot to lose in a 12 month period, it's less than a lb a week, which is more than safe.

I re-read his post. I missed the LAST year and thought he lost all that this current year. If its from last year then 40 pounds isn't so bad.

While a pound a week isn't too quick, I don't think that you can go a pound a week for 40 weeks and stop right on your perfect race weight. The lower you get the harder it is to lose weight and the harder it is to lose fat without losing muscle or just not fueling enough to support your riding. That's one reason why I suggest that he stop worrying about it and maintain over the winter, then try to lose more (if there's more to lose) next season.

I've only ridden one CX race but I'm pretty sure they never have long climbs where light weight would be an advantage.

Yeah, I know what that's about. I've did a 40 lb drop in about 5 months. I've lost maybe 5 lbs over the next 5 months after that. I find that if I've been riding hard, I tend to keep another 4 lbs or so on, and don't really loose any weight. If I stop for around 1/2 a week, I'll drop that 4 lbs, and I can continue to drop through dieting.

Although I've added plenty of muscle mass this year, I doubt it's at the rate of 2 lbs per week. I can't really say how much, but it's apparent I have been loosing body fat all season. I don't quite get how it all works. I seem to need to keep my exercise in the very low aerobic level to actually loose weight.

In the end, I don't really care. I'm in much better shape than I was before, I feel healthier and look better, too. I met my weight-loss goal around 7 lbs ago. I've got another 8 lbs to go, but I'll just take care of it through dieting when it gets a little colder and I'm riding less.

Yes it is. :)

OP, Have you had your B/F% tested via a reliable method?

Well, actually, you are both wrong, it's a contest to have the highest watts per kilogram.

I'd forget about focusing on losing weight during CX season. You're a lot more likely to lose muscle mass and performance.

start keeping a little journal of what you are eating. In fact, do it in the same journal where you log your training.

add comments as to how you feel. strong, weak, tired, energetic ect.
look for patterns emerging.

Try to minimize fatty food except after tough days on the bike. Also watch the carbs. Stick with low glycemic carbs.

Snack through the day so you don't binge at a meal. Sometimes I feel like i can eat for 4 And sometimes i do.

I re-read his post. I missed the LAST year and thought he lost all that this current year. If its from last year then 40 pounds isn't so bad.

While a pound a week isn't too quick, I don't think that you can go a pound a week for 40 weeks and stop right on your perfect race weight. The lower you get the harder it is to lose weight and the harder it is to lose fat without losing muscle or just not fueling enough to support your riding. That's one reason why I suggest that he stop worrying about it and maintain over the winter, then try to lose more (if there's more to lose) next season.

I've only ridden one CX race but I'm pretty sure they never have long climbs where light weight would be an advantage.
(Power to) weight always matters, even on flat ground, you can look at that here:http://analyticcycling.com/ForcesSpeed_Page.html if you want, just make sure to put the slope to 0, it's default is 3%.

Of course you don't want to lose weight to the point where you lose power, which for most people is supposedly around 6% bodyfat. I don't think the OP is near there, at 5 7 and 160 his bmi is 25, which is on the upper end of healthy, the very upper end, he could probably lose a few lbs.

My advice, being very accustomed to weight loss, what I would do is go online and do a ROUGH estimate of your body fat, with one of the many body fat calculators out there, the lose like HALF of what it takes to get down to 6%, and if you still want to lose weight, then go get tested for BF%, and lose right down to 6%.

How to lose the weight, again go online, there is a calculator that calcuates what you use for resting, the calories your body burns basiclly just to survive, and then take that number, take the number of Kilojules you use, then convert that to kilo calories, then take that number, and shave off 300 calories, eat that number of calories a day, and you'll lose weight. It's complicated and not for the unobsessive though.

That said, lose weight in your offseason, meaning if you think CX is the most important, lose weight during the spring/summer, or whatever, don't try to lose weight during the season you are focusing on.

That's my advice take it for what it is worth, which is probably not much.

I'm 5'7" and am currently 155-160lbs depending on hydration. I'm trying to get myself down to 140-145lbs (135 if I can) but am having the absolute hardest time losing these last few pounds. I was 200+lbs at the beginning of last year which seems like they came off like nothing compared to these last few. Any suggestions would be much help.
Maybe your body won't let you lose much more. Maybe your ideal weight while exercising and competing is near 160lbs. As mentioned before, getting your body fat measured would help, along with your bone structure size.

I'm 5'8" myself, but have a fairly large bone structure for my height. I ranged between 162-167lbs during the past year, this after dropping from 217lbs in early May 2005 to 165lbs the end of October 2005 (52lbs in 25 weeks).

thanks for all the responses, I definitely appreciate it. I'm kind of just guessing at my ideal weight, I could be totally off. I've definitely put on some major muscle, specifically in my legs obviously. The remainder of my fat is around my gut(not that much but enough for me to care bout it), everything else seems to be going pretty well. The last time I got checked for BF% was at a weight building workout shake type place last month that measured me at 12% BF but I'm not sure how accurate that was. I was going to race CX until Dec. 15 (Nationals), take the rest of December off the bike and try to maintain and gain some muscle in the gym, and then start with the base mileage in January so I can peak for late June (Fitchburg).

I have the same build as you. I'm 19, and right between 5'7" and 5'8". Up until 3 weeks ago, and for the past year and a half, I weighed 153-158. Luckily, I've been able to drop to 149-152 pending on hydration. The trick?

I count calories, don't drink ANY pop, don't eat ANY fast food, and don't eat that unhealthy. I haven't had candy in ages. I would still like to drop another 10lbs, like you, but I am finally pushing into the "no gut" zone - although my legs and gut can still afford another 10lbs of fat.

My other trick was to stop drinking sports drink on any rides that aren't a competition. I only drink water - and will eat (usually tortellini alfredo, exactly 4:1 carb:protein ratio) right after working out, with a glass of chocolate milk right after the ride. I factor in all of those calories, and make sure I am at a 100cal/day defecit (minimum calorie intake is 2100 w/o exercise). That's about 10lbs in 8 or so months, and I'm already down 5, so by spring I will be ideal (ideally). I recommend you do the same. If you aren't committed to getting the last out of yourself, don't bother.

Oh yeah, and I ride at least 3x/wk - it used to be 4.

Losing weight is something you cant rush if you still want to be strong in CX. Heres my situation, im not a racer but I ride between 8-15 hrs a week (some lsd rides, some high paced, intervals) depending on the weather and things like that. Im 5'9 and a half and weight between 153-158 depending on water weight. Ive done expiramenting with my diet throughout the year, ive dropped some pounds while still having alot of energy for riding and here is what ive found. Dont eat fast food, avoid high sugar foods(unless its post ride or bike food), avoid fatty foods, you dont need alot of meat so cut down1-2 servings a day is good enough. A big no-no is taking sports drinks on rides less than an hour. Let your body burn the calories and fat your carrying instead. For the majority of your diet stick to breads, cereals, potatoes, pasta, rice, grains, skim milk, beans, fruit and vegtables. If you keep your fat intake at around 40-50 grams perday you wont feel hungry all the time.

Long adventurous 6 plus hour rides in the countryside along with going out for an hour before breakfast will probably lose you a pound every week or 2 if you eat a balanced diet.

Lot of good information.
My recommendations -

Have a protein shake at night before you go to bed, 1 scoop whey protein in a glass of skim milk. Have this after you have had a hard day of riding or exercise. Your muscles need protein to rebuild and they rebuild at night when your body is at rest.

Eat little, Eat often. Most people when they are trying to lose weight don't eat enough and their body recognizes this. Your body thinks it's starving and goes into a survival mode and starts storing the food as fat rather than using it to run the body.

Include weight training, barbells, dumbbells, work the legs, work the core - stomach - lower, mid, upper; back - lower and upper; and your lats. Use low weight and high reps such as 20-25 reps. One day a week work 2 different muscle parts to failure by continually lowering the rate. You want to shoot for 50-100 reps. Muscle burns fat at rest, while yhou are sleeping. For every 10 lbs of muscle you put on (meaning replace 10 lbs of fat with 10 lbs of muscle) you will burn 150 calories while you are sleeping.