More questions about obesity

I decided a couple months ago that I was going to ride a century before I turn 40 (I'm currently less than a month away from 38). I've been riding like crazy and increasing my mileage significantly but not really on any specific training plan. My longest ride so far is 26.27 miles. I've lost 35 pounds so far but am still in the category of morbidly obese. I'm torn between riding as if nothing is wrong with me and "training" for my century or riding just to get some of this weight off and focusing on things like hills, endurance and power later. Any suggestions?

Keep on! sounds like you already have a plan. Two years is a ways off. You can get there! My motto? "One day at a time!" with anything!!

I say keep on, keeping on also. :) Also, if possible get a nutritionist to help you. It's important not to cut calories so far back that your metabolism gets slowed -- you want to keep it revved up. I used one once for a fitness contest & she was $50 for the initial consultation, then $30 per visit (I went once a month). She was invaluable to me and kept me eating plenty. That part I liked!

Sounds like you're doing great so far! Keep on riding like you're doing, slowly building up your mileage. Hills and speed work can come later, and you are already working on endurance with every longer ride you take!
Make sure you hydrate and eat enough during your rides to keep your energy up. There are plenty of threads here that address those issues as well.
Good luck and keep up the good work!

I agree with the others that you should keep on doing what you are doing for the moment. The problem with being in the so called "morbidly obese" category, is the worry that if you do too much before your body is ready for it, there can be health issues to worry about. Once your fitness and weight has improved by regular and longer riding, then you can think about full-on training. If you really want good advice, you can talk to a doctor or trainer about what is best for you. After all, everyone is different.

Keep at it though. It sounds like you are doing great. :D

I used to wegh 350 pounds at one time. I'm down to a more sevelte 200 something. (wish I could get more off, but I seem to be stuck).
If you're having success, I would keep at it. I know that you would like all off tommorrow, but it never works that way. It took me about a year to get it off.

I agree with the others that say keep doing what you are doing, as you seem to be losing weight, and gaining strength and endurance on the bike. Perhaps it would help you though to set some intermediate cycling goals. Often organized centuries offer other distances, so what if you shoot first to complete a 40-50 mile group ride (you can even do this in a club, not an organized ride), and then a metric century perhaps in a year, with the full century in two. I think the most important think is to listen to your body, and gradually try to increase your distance and speed. I think that is better than a formal training program that a racer might follow, at least for now.

Well, you know me, I'm no expert so read at your own risk :)

I would say work on the riding every day (or as often as your crazy schedule allows) part first, increasing your distances as you can, and then start focusing on the century training. Those century training plans are usually designed for someone who is a reasonably strong rider already, so you might wear yourself out and get discouraged if you start on a plan too soon.

If you've got to have a plan to work with, I would sit down with some paper and draw one up. I think you're supposed to increase your mileage every week or every other week by 10% or something like that. When I was doing my walking thing, I just customized the training program I found on http://www.the3day.org (PDF) . You could always customize one of the century training plans to better fit what you're capable of riding now.

Basically, I'm giving myself this summer to get in better shape, and then I'm hoping I'll be able to do at least a metric century by the end of next summer. Our little challenge is helping quite a bit toward those goals :D

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Originally Posted by residentgeek

If you've got to have a plan to work with, I would sit down with some paper and draw one up. I think you're supposed to increase your mileage every week or every other week by 10% or something like that.

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This is a good plan. Just remember to allow yourself recovery weeks, too. You increase by 10% for three weeks and decrease by 10% the fourth week (compared to the third week). The fifth week, you start at where you were on the third week.

Very simple, 10-mile base example:
Week 1: 10 miles
Week 2: 11 miles
Week 3: 12,1 miles
Week 4: 11 miles
Week 5: 12,1 miles
Week 6: 14,3 miles
etc.

The specifics are not really important. What counts is that you allow your body some time every month to take it a bit easier and relax. If you just increase your body's work load all the time it will eventually take a break by itself, and not necessarily when you would want to take it!

Don't loose weight too fast, spin your knees in an easy gear, and remember to have fun!!

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Originally Posted by Triskeliongirl

Often organized centuries offer other distances, so what if you shoot first to complete a 40-50 mile group ride (you can even do this in a club, not an organized ride), and then a metric century perhaps in a year, with the full century in two.

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That was my initial plan was to complete a metric next year with a full century the following one. I just want to make sure that I'll actually be able to complete the metric. I wasn't sure that just riding longer and longer distances would actually get me there. I keep reading all this stuff about how you have a plan etc and I haven't really had one. I've just been riding and trying to go a little farther each time. Maybe that actually is a plan?

One word of caution, because I've done it, is to overtrain.

I wass dating someone, and I was too blind to see that his veiwpoint was that if I wasn't losing weight I wasn't exercising enough. And to top it off I would feel like if he challenged me to do something, I had to prove I could do it!

We would go hiking, and he would insist on walking, and I would be stumbling over my own feet, and he'd say another hour, before he would turn around. I wouldn't be able to get out of bed the next day, because of fatigue. At the same time I was rowing crew (which was VERY intense, but I enjoyed it.). But somehow, it just didn't transfer over well to running, which he would goad me into doing, and which I have never liked.

Once I broke up with him, I quit doing EVERYTHING. I just didn't enjoy any of it anymore, because of him. Except the crew, but I couldn't get to practice at the right time from my house. I was too far from my carpool.

I am convinced that the asthma I developed during this time was due to over-exertion. Funny that all the years I was smoking, I never had a problem. I never lost any weight during this period, in fact I gained weight, probably muscle, but never lost weight and I was at 230, so I had plenty of fat to burn.

I don't know what your condition is, but if you are worried about training too hard for your health, just listen to your body. Take it slow at first, talk to your doctor, perhaps a stress test is warranted. But if you start to lose your enthusiasm for cycling, you are not being lazy, but probably overtraining.

I find it so easy to feel guilty and beat myself up for being fat (I am now 260). I am embarassed by it, and tend to blame any other problem I have with performance on my obesity. But skinny people can be just as unfit and unhealthy. Fitness is just not as obvious as fatness.

Please don't make the century your most important goal. Keep it secondary to enjoying cycling.

I am still making a lot of false starts at regular exercise after quitting five years ago. You would be cheating yourself if you completed your century, and then quit cycling. It is not the goal of a century I am concerned about, it is the arbitrary date of "before I'm forty", that concerns me. The idea of intermediate goals is excellent. Perhaps pick a shorter ride in the near future as a motivator.

I hope that I am reading too much of myself into this. But I tend to go overboard in my goals, and then give up. I will start studying one language, and wind up buying materials for seven languages. Get frustrated at how much I need to learn, get rid of everything and then start the cycle all over again.

Good luck

Mary

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Originally Posted by free2b7429

That was my initial plan was to complete a metric next year with a full century the following one. I just want to make sure that I'll actually be able to complete the metric. I wasn't sure that just riding longer and longer distances would actually get me there. I keep reading all this stuff about how you have a plan etc and I haven't really had one. I've just been riding and trying to go a little farther each time. Maybe that actually is a plan?

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I don't think you have to have a specific plan for a metric. I just did my first metric century last weekend without a "plan". All I did was increase the number of days I was riding to 3 times a week and I started riding hills for strength. I also made sure to get a ride or two in over 40 miles and one over 50 miles. That way I felt I should be able to do 62 (100K). I was pretty beat at the end of the ride so I would imagine doing a full century would require a bit more training and planning. I'm about 25-30 pounds overweight so it's not like I'm super fit. So if I can do it you can too. Good luck to you! You can do it.

good job! Keep moving!

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Originally Posted by free2b7429

That was my initial plan was to complete a metric next year with a full century the following one. I just want to make sure that I'll actually be able to complete the metric. I wasn't sure that just riding longer and longer distances would actually get me there. I keep reading all this stuff about how you have a plan etc and I haven't really had one. I've just been riding and trying to go a little farther each time. Maybe that actually is a plan?

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If you've got two years, and you're already up to 26.27 miles, I think you'll definitely be able to do a century by the time you're 40. I agree with everyone who said 'just listen to your body', and esp. 'don't overtrain'.

As someone said they were doing above, this summer could just be about increasing your base fitness. Don't get too competitive with yourself (as in always trying to go further than last time) but as you feel ready, increase your mileage. I usually have one day a week that I go for a longer ride, but most of the rest of the week I'm usually just riding whatever distance I can currently do in an hour or 90 mins. (depending on how late for work I want to be.)

I've also been working on losing some weight, and have found www.sparkpeople.com helpful - mostly I use the food/nutrient and exercise trackers - it's a free site and stresses a healthy approach to weight management (good nutrition, good exercise and drinking lots of water.)

Good luck!

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Originally Posted by Grog

Very simple, 10-mile base example:
Week 1: 10 miles
Week 2: 11 miles
Week 3: 12,1 miles
Week 4: 11 miles
Week 5: 12,1 miles
Week 6: 14,3 miles
etc.

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Oh, thank you for this. I dove into cycling pretty quickly and while I did a lot of different kinds of reading, I still know very little about most things! This simple kind of plan is beautiful, and something I can handle! Right now I'm kind of increasing daily, as I experiment and figure out what I am actually capable of. But I'll keep this plan in mind when I'm ready to be more structured.

Right now I'm doing short rides two or three times a day. Is there anything wrong with that, rather than pushing on and doing more at one time?

Pooks

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Originally Posted by pooks

Right now I'm doing short rides two or three times a day. Is there anything wrong with that, rather than pushing on and doing more at one time?

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I don't think there's anything wrong with that, but there are definitely benefits to riding longer rides: you have some time to warm-up (and to turn your body into fat-burning endurance mode, if that's something you need), you get your body parts (including those you sit on) used to staying longer in the saddle, and you build mental endurance.

But if you like that and it fits your schedule, why not?

Thanks, Grog -- I definitely need to get into fat-burning mode. Thanks for pointing that out.

Fortunately tonight my husband led the way and took us on a fairly flat ride (2.1 miles). I could have kept going but it was getting dark (plus he had just mowed the lawn in 95 degree heat and I barely convinced him to ride at all). But now that I see that particular route, I think I can double it next week w/o too much prob.

Also, I'll be able to ride farther when I have an odometer, I'm pretty sure. Just seeing how far I've gone and getting into that "just a little further" mode will motivate me.