Quote Originally Posted by Crankin View Post
The body fat goal will be affected more (positively!) by the weight training than by diet.
It sounds like you are doing pretty much what I do, but on a much more stringent basis. The kickstarting your metabolism is exactly what I did by changing to a lower carb diet and changing my exercise patterns to rely less on just aerobic stuff. But, at this time of year, I mostly just ride and do a little core work. Just protein doesn't help me on rides, although I do eat those little packets of nuts and cranberries from Trader Joe's, sometimes, in place of a Luna Bar. But, on days I do really long or hard rides, my appetite is up a lot (after the ride) and I just eat. I don't eat junk, so it doesn't really affect my weight. I gain the same 1-2 lbs over the weekend and they are gone by Tuesday.
When I was in my thirties, I weighed about 92 pounds as a result of teaching 7 aerobics classes a week and eating really small breakfasts and lunches, on a diet high in complex carbs. That stopped working as I got closer to 40. By the time I was 45 I was 20 pounds overweight. I started cycling at age 47 and tweaking my diet. I've been at about the same weight for ten years, which is pretty much what I weighed in high school (106-107). Since i am almost 58, I am happy, but it takes constant vigilance to keep it in control.
I weighed about 90-95 pounds when I was in college and for a few years after but starting in the early 80s I started slowly putting on the weigh. I wish I would have started riding 10 years ago and looking at my diet then! But, it never is too late for healthy habits. I figure that constant vigilance will be the rest of my life.