Why Cutting Too Many Calories Slows Your Cycling Weight Loss
Sep 26, 2025 7:31 am
Hey
I want to start this week’s newsletter with a little story from one of my Cycle Lean Project riders.
In his first week, he smashed it — dropped 2 kilos straight away. He was buzzing. But here’s the twist… by the time the weekend rolled around, most (if not all) of that weight was back on.
Why? Because he’d gone in way too aggressively with his calorie cut during the week.
And this is something I see all the time.
When you’re fired up and ready to lose weight, it feels logical to slash calories hard and chase a big early win. But the reality? It backfires.
Here’s what happened with him:
- He restricted hard Mon–Fri.
- By midweek, his long ride felt awful. His legs had no energy, and he couldn’t ride anywhere near his usual strength.
- He got hungrier and hungrier as the week went on.
- Come the weekend, he was so depleted that his body craved a refill — and he ate back everything (and more).
And that’s the perfect example of how fat-loss myths can trip up even the most committed cyclists.
So let’s bust a few of the big ones 👇
Have a great weekend
Neil
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