I am a pretty avid athlete, cycling an average of 10 hours a week and complementing it with around four hours of strength training. Over the past few years, I've been exploring how nutrition can enhance my performance. I wanted to lose weight, build muscle, and become the fittest version of myself. But how? In a series of four blogs, I'm excited to share my journey and findings. Today, I present the first part.

Guilt

For years, I've struggled with my weight and self-perception, always searching for the perfect balance of nutrition and exercise. Each time I stepped on the scale, I would promise myself to make a change, only to find myself heavier at the next check. This cycle left me feeling lifeless, dissatisfied with my body, and deriving no joy from exercise. My routine was punctuated by binge eating and snacking, desperately exercising in a bid to 'burn off' my caloric intake. I knew I needed a change, but I was unsure where to start.

Search

My quest to achieve my fitness goals revealed an overwhelming amount of information on nutrition and exercise. Deciphering what constitutes healthy eating and the optimal way to integrate nutrition with fitness proved challenging amidst the conflicting advice. Questions arose like, "Should I focus on carbs, and if so, when? How much protein should I consume daily? What’s the ideal frequency for my workouts, and what should I eat before and after?"

When I started cycling, I found myself ravenously hungry, often consuming triple my usual intake. Was this normal? Why did I feel so lifeless during the day, why did I keep feeling hungry, and most importantly, why did I keep gaining weight instead of losing it? I tried everything, but nothing seemed to work. Now, where was that quick fix?

My process

In the meantime, we are two years down the road and I feel that my current diet and sports routine fit well with who I am as a person. I also find that my diet fits well with my athletic goals. I have my dream body, I am happy with my weight, I can eat what I feel like I want and am still improving in my sporting goals.

But make no mistake. For me, this was a process of at least two years. Two years in which I was (and sometimes still am) searching for what works and especially what doesn't work. Searching for how nutrition can help me achieve my (athletic) goals and become the fittest version of myself. Terr years of falling, failing and getting up and celebrating success. And two years of having a lot of patience.

Patience

Patience is everything, because remember that when you have a lifestyle that will (eventually) help you achieve your goals, by doing so you have not yet achieved those goals. That takes time, a lot of time!!! Because with good nutrition you won't have your dream body overnight, you won't lose pounds or ride your bike faster overnight. And this makes it extremely difficult to maintain those new habits. On top of that, a change in your diet and/or exercise routine requires a change in your daily patterns. And nothing is as persistent and difficult to change as human patterns. So how do you know you're doing well if you haven't had any successes yet?

Collaboration sports dietitian Patrick van der Duin

I'm going to share my personal experiences with you. In addition, I have found sports dietitian Patrick van der Duin willing to supplement my blog with background information and provide critical notes that provide the necessary nuance. Because there is so much to tell about nutrition and sports, there will be multiple blogs in which we will highlight different topics together.

Should you have additional questions in the meantime, feel free to respond in the comments. We will do our best to address these questions in a future blog.