Endurance Athletes and Nutrition

I am very new to this site and forum and as mentioned in a previous post else where on the forum, am over-whelmed by the quality of information and and knowledge on this site.

I am 24yrs old and a cyclist, seeking to race pro-continental. I live in South Africa and try and go the "Natural" route as I believe that you are what you eat and good training, eating and rest will help achieve this.

I am ending my race season in the nxt 2 weeks and going into base for the next season. What should I be focussing on diet wise??? Carb-protein or Protein- lipid diets and when should I be eating the right GI's during the day????

With regard to training, do people use power meters and maintain a constant output for a whole ride in base (watts/kg(lbs))???

I obvioulsy use suplements for recovery and maintenance ie a recovery drink with a 20% protein inclusion and short chain carbs and vits and minerals and on the bike I use a barb drink of short chain carbs.

I am 1m73cm and weigh 67-68kg but aiming to drop to 64-65 kg in the next 2 months. Any ideas how I could do this without losing power and my current BF% is 6.8%

I obviously get rather hungry throughout the day and constantly looking for cheap, healthy snacks, as my budget constraint only allows me to eat cheap. any further ideas of good meals that are quick and easy to prepare.

Thanks for an awesome forum.

Wilderness