You may think that increasing your cardio and decreasing your calorie intake is all you would need to do to lose weight right? However when it comes to cycling you need to fuel those rides to ensure that your body is only burning fat and you don’t start working away your muscle mass.

Are you struggling to lose those couple extra holiday pounds well we would recommend reading on because we have more than a few helpful tips.

Plan your meals and make the time to eat regularly. If you know what you are eating and when then you are much less likely to snack and over indulge in between or miss a meal completely. This can be a difficult habit to get off the ground but being organised really does help.

We recommend creating a weekly meal plan at the start of the week and do a large weekly shop. This way you know exactly what you want to make and when you will need to make and eat each meal. If you also know exactly what you are shopping for and only doing one large shop then you are much less likely to buy rubbish.

An extra benefit is that by doing less shopping you will have much more time to ride your bike!

Another ridiculously easy tip is to simply eat less. Now this one is definitely easier said than done but is completely true. If you are struggling to cut down your portion sizes then swap your large dinner plate for something smaller. That way you will still feel like you have a large plateful of food when in reality it’s a lot less than what you would normally wolf down. Slowing down how fast you eat your meals and spending more time chewing can also help with weight loss because it takes a couple of minutes for our stomach to feel full. Sometimes we confuse hunger with dehydration so when you feel that first hunger pang during the day try sipping on water to see if that fills the gap!

Make easy food swaps by replacing some of your usual go to’s with healthier options. If you would usually find yourself reaching for a can of fizzy pop around about lunch time swap this out for water. Our weakness in The Cycle Jersey office is chocolate so recently we have been making simple swaps where instead of bringing in chocolate for an afternoon snack we have tinned fruit and yogurt stocked in the fridge! You want to chose foods with a higher nutritional value to ensure that you are burning fat instead of muscle!

Whilst you might be sick of hearing people talk about Dry January it’s actually a pretty great idea to cut down on your alcohol consumption when trying to lose weight. Alcohol is one of the main factors that contribute to weight gain and you might not have even realised it. We are all prone to an after-bevvy snack too and, let’s be honest, it’s never a salad so avoiding the calories found in alcohol can also ensure you avoid the after drinking snack.

You should be trying to get a ride in at every opportunity so if you have the option to commute to work via your bike then take it. For a lot of people, it’s unavoidable but it’s the perfect opportunity for you to boost your daily mileage. During the Summer months you might even find yourself taking the long route home.