Off-Season Cycling Tips for Weight Loss

Stay Lean and Fast

Don't let off-season pounds slow you down when you get back on the bike this spring. Here's your plan
By Selene Yeager bicycling
 

Watch Your Weight This Winter

Stay Lean and Fast // Off-season tips for cyclists to maintain weight © Thinkstock

Image: Thinkstock

From April to November, you can get away with hoovering a postride smorgasbord. During the wintry months, though, it's a different story. Between dwindling daylight, chilly temps, and holiday obligations, those extra calories become harder to jettison. Not only does more weight put a damper on your performance (five extra pounds will make you 30 seconds slower on a 5k climb), it also leads to physiological changes that can affect your cycling long-term. A series of studies published in the International Journal of Obesity reported that when you put on pounds, even as few as 11, you change the composition of your fat cells, slow your metabolism, and have a harder time losing weight. Worse, repeatedly gaining and losing pounds year after year can make you more susceptible to packing on weight in the future. Over time those pounds add up, says Leslie Bonci, MPH, RD, of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Try these changes to sidestep the larding effects of winter without feeling deprived. (Cyclists click here for more tips on keeping weight off this winter).

FitTracker: Log meals, track activity and transform your body in 2012 with our free online tool.

Plus: Get fit this winter with these cold-weather workouts you can do indoors.

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