This is for future you, but keeping your weight in check in the winter/off season is one of my strategies. I've had similar swings in weight in the off season and came to realize that it's easier to maintain a good weight than it is to lose unwanted weight. I'm 43 now, and that last few years I've made a few changes. One of them that works for me is to set myself up with smaller portions for the meals that I can. For example, I do a protein shake for breakfast after my morning workout vs eating cereal where I can just keep refilling the bowl. Once the shake is gone I'm done. Same for lunch, I only bring to work what I want myself to eat for lunch and snacks. My final strategy is running more. I've almost doubled my bike volume in the past 6 months with very little effect on my weight, but as I've increased running ever-so-slightly, the weight has melted off. Good luck!

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"One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time."

How much ice cream do you eat?

The biggest difference for me to lose or maintain weight while training is the timing of eating-when it comes to longer training sessions that go with 70.3 and IM training. I have a better fueling plan after hard or long workouts today at 47 than I did at 35 (and younger). Just the simple idea of replacing half of the calories that I "burned" within an hour of my longer sessions and then 2-4 hours after that replace the other half has helped me tremendously. It was literally a "pro" tip I got from a triathlete.

My weight bounced all over the place last year. I got to a low of 145lbs (goal weight) and this offseason went close to 170lbs. It was brutal. I tried everything to get it off with no luck and stuck at 160lbs.

I'm now at 149lbs on a plant based diet. Lots of coffee (2 cups) and no limit on whole foods like oats, bananas, apples, kale, carrots, tomatoes, corn, chickpeas, black beans, edamame, lima beans, quinoa, wild rice, couscous, almond milk, peanut butter powder, etc.

I eat meat once or twice a week. It also has helped keep my blood sugar from spiking. No more cravings and binging on garbage.

You and I have very different definitions of "lots of coffee".

The day doesn't start until #4.

At age 35 I weighed 150. At age 45, I weight 210. The gain was gradual over that decade. But, at that point, I said "F*** that!".

I cut alcohol back to weekends only, cutout almost all sweets, dropped calories consumed down below total expended... And lost the 60 pounds over ~9 months.

Today at 51 years old, I weigh 145...4 lbs more than when I turned 19. Granted it took open heart surgery, two weeks in the hospital and some nasty drugs to loose those last 5 lbs.
:o). Not really the best approach.

But today, I eat a shit ton less food than when I was 19, 25, 35,or 45. My body just doesn't burn it. At 30 I was consuming 5000 cal per day. Today it's half that. So, you have to learn how much to eat.

I don't replenish after workouts much anymore... Except maybe the long ride....and occasionally the long run. As mentioned above, if I do... I replace about 1/3rd or so. Not the whole balance.

You lost all credibility with that statement.

Well, first off, I don't think aging really kicks in until around 40. At least, I did not notice anything odd until then and was as fast as ever when I was 37-39. I had a job transition where i was time-limited and at 42 or 43 I jumped back in and could not even touch my previous training levels.
Now, I don't know how people that train gain weight. Maybe it is because I never stop training and so I am always burning calories and thus never gain weight. That said, for the first time in the last twenty years, I gained about 10 pounds in December in large part because the weather was horrible (almost no cycling), I got sick (very little running) and because my daughter and I bake (and eat) goodies together every Christmas. So I ate the same amount but trained very little.
It took me three months to get back to normal and that meant I had to start doing 10-15 hours a week again upon which point my body just finds its equilibrium and I'm good.
Consistency in training and eating is the key to keeping things steady. I know exactly how much I train from my logbook, but eating is just eating. I would not even know why I gained weight last winter if it were not for the specific season where I know I eat a lot of baked sweats.

Good to know I'm not overconsuming. Lol.

Diet is everything. The sweets are what caused your gain. You were almost certainly taking in a lot more calories than normal. Regular training helps, but as they say you can't out train a bad diet.

I'm 45, LD triathlete. Use to eat a lot. Train always a lot, +16h/week year average, even during locked down. Close to 172lb (6'0) all year round. At the beginning of the locked down I started with the intermittent fasting just to stay focus on something new. Because of my family dynamic, I went for 19:5 for 6 days, then a 24h fasting the 7th (no training day). Did it for 10 weeks straight, then eased a little. Now I'm thinner than ever, and going hard on SBR.
In the 5h window I would eat twice, the first meal as much as I could put in (110% full), mostly complex carbs (mix of oat&cereal, fruit), dairy and +85% pure chocolate. The second and last with a big % of either meat, eggs, or fish, with potatoes/rice/bread, and greens (90% full). Repeat next day. It worked for me.

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I've eaten less.

After dinner (around 5 p.m.), I don't eat again until 9-10ish a.m. unless I'm doing a harder/longer ride.

Is the 19:5 thing meaning you go 19 hours without food/drink other than water and only consume calories during that 5 hour window? If so, how do you stack that around your workouts? I am interested in learning more about this method and if I am understanding it correctly.

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Ironman Lake Placid 2021| 70.3 Worlds St. George 2021

Yes, 19h with 0 calories intake. Just water/tea.
What I did: Woke up around 5:30am. First session fasted. Eat. 3-4 hours later, second session. Eat. Done training & eating till next day.
Now, with more intense workouts, I have a glass of milk before bed... technically breaking the 19h fasting. I'm not interested anymore in the beneficial effects (??) of the intermittent fasting, I rather focus in my performance. But the truth is that I am not experiencing any hunger during the fasting period. I guess having 0 anxiety/stress helps.

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Where is the line between intermittent fasting and an eating disorder? Perhaps for a week or two, but not eating for around 20 hours (especially while training) is not healthy.

hmmm intermittent fasting is pretty much the opposite of an eating disorder ...

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https://www.strava.com/...tes/zachary_mckinney

No it's not. It's the definition of one. As is any such rigidly controlled relationship with food.

I aim to eat 10 servings of fruits or vegetables daily. Portion size; the size of your palm. If you eat that much fruit and vegetables it leaves less room for more calorie dense foods.

Eat to fuel. I eat enough so that I feel good and able to train but I really, really try to limit over-eating or mindlessly consuming foods.

Don't let myself get too hungry. If I get to the point where I am famished, I tend to overeat when I do sit down to food.

Don't deny yourself foods. For me, deciding to not eat chocolate chip cookies makes it so all I do is think about chocolate chip cookies.

Lastly, don't gain weight! If you get up five pounds in weight, start making changes now. I cannot figure out how some people gain 15-30 pounds in the "off-season" and then expect to get back down to race weight. Maybe that works at 25, but it gets harder every year. Don't do it!

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Jason
None of the secrets of success will work unless you do.

Whenever I need to shake my head and roll my eyes, Ill know where to find you. What are you talking about? Just explain it to me like Im a 5 year old.

Intermittent fasting is not in itself disordered eating but it sure isn't the opposite of one. Rigid and super focussed food habits are a cornerstone of eating disorders so IF is definitely closer to that end of the spectrum than someone who eats 3 squares a day and doesn't sweat the details.

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Professional Athlete: http://jordancheyne.wordpress.com/ http://www.strava.com/athletes/145340

Coaching Services:http://www.peakformcoaching.com/

My thoughts exactly. I'd love for someone to explain how consuming zero calories for 20 straight hours every day especially while training is healthy.

There are times when I really need a boost via calorie consumption and would be in a bad way without it. I just don't see how this works.

Soo, a "flexible uncontrolled" relationship with food, is the right thing? If you want to perform at (almost) anything, you better develop a more or less rigidly controlled relationship with it. Otherwise, it is caos, chance, luck... And as I understand it, rigidly controlled means a method. But I am not selling anything. Go with your own.

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There is a difference between rigidly controlled and controlled. As he said, rigidly controlled (not flexible) = bad. Controlled (with flexibility) = good.

Every diet involves a degree of control and willpower. Rigidly controlled diets are a recipe for problems.

or find a good alternative, such as quest bar cookies. most cookies use damaged fats(vegetable oils) that cause inflammation, or excess sugar

Nice strawman and false-dichotomy arguments all rolled into one.