Riding to Lose Weight

[Mighty Mo]

Hi, this is my first post. I've been reading for a while and have decided to jump in.

I have about 40 pounds to lose, and would love some suggestions on what sort of training plan will help me shift the weight. I bought a bike about 3 months ago, but have yet to become consistent with my riding. Longest ride so far has been about 40 miles. I can't seem to find any plans on line.

I really struggle uphills I guess because I have all this extra weight. I ride with my husband sometimes but he is much faster than me. I average about 13mph, while he is a 19-20mph kind of guy.

I guess I am looking for advice on weight loss, and getting faster!

Thanks,

MM

[Tuckervill]

Just keep riding.

So far I've lost 42 lbs, and it wasn't all from riding. It also took me 17 months. Everyone I know who has lost weight and kept it off has started with exercise, but didn't overdo it. Just a little bit at a time.

I'm slow on hills, too, but I'm getting faster! Last weekend I conquered my nemesis hill (so-called Church Hill). I was still going 8 mph when I got to the top! YAY ME! I was with a bunch of racers taking a day off, and they were SO encouraging and congratulatory when they found out that was my nemesis hill. Of course, they neglected to tell me it was on our route until we were at the bottom and I didn't recognize that road until I got there! yikes. I might have backed out had I known ahead of time, so that's good.

I've decided that I'm going to exercise in some way for the rest of my life (indeed, that's the only thing I have to do to keep my weight down). So, it doesn't matter what I do, as long as I'm doing something. If I were riding for weight loss alone, it would take some of the fun out of it for me. I focus on the fun, instead, and weight loss is a pleasant side effect.

I'll caution--I didn't lose like I thought I shoulda when I started riding. Don't put all your eggs in that basket. Be prepared to make other changes in your life, too.

Karen

[Zen]

13 mph and 40 mile rides will do it.
As long as you don't sabotage all that riding with huge portions and overindulgence in baked goods, buckets of chicken,frozen custard or whatever your weakness.

[GLC1968]

Ditto Zen - don't let your cycling be an excuse to overeat. You cannot out ride what you can eat!

I started cycling 3 years ago with 10 lbs left to lose to get to my goal weight. I'm now 25 lbs heavier. Granted, I have some other issues...but I'm living proof that it takes more than just riding to lose weight if you are a natural 'weight fighter'.

That said, I don't think there is an exercise out there as much fun as biking! I've always loved to exercise, so for me to say that biking is the best, means a lot. I saw that you are going to join our July/Aug weight loss check in. That's a start! Schedule your bike rides so that you don't miss them, and start building up those miles. You'll get there!!

[Jiffer]

I lost 50lbs from eating less food and not exercising at all. I don't recommend not exercising. Its good for your health and makes you look and feel better whether you ride your bike or not, you have to listen to your bodies' hunger/fullness signals. When you ride your bike, you will be hungrier than when you do nothing and this your bodies' way of telling you how much "fuel" you need. I'd start by cutting your portions in half. Learn to stop before your plate is empty. Only eat when you are really truly hungry.

I could go on and on because my life was changed forever when I really "got" this. Let me know if you want more tips on eating less. I'd be happy to share.

[mamaof5]

I'm backwards here. I expect to gain about 10 pounds now that I am riding again. When I'm not riding I just don't need a lot of calories and only eat 1200-1400 cals per day. But when I'm riding I get SOOO much more hungry; I consume a lot more calories- more like 1800 per day.
I don't mind the ten pounds- but I do have to be careful it's not more. After a long, hard ride I feel ravenous. I feel like I could eat a whole pizza and an entire box of Swiss cake rolls. I just need to be careful to take in enough healthy carbs and protein to recover from the ride and then STOP eating.

[Yen]

I lost 50 pounds in 4 years by reducing my intake and increasing my output (exercise). I also changed to an overall healthier way of eating using a basic 1600 calorie/day diabetic-type food exchange plan. I'm not diabetic but I'm prone to low blood sugar. I'm still eating that way but I allow myself some extra goodies on days of high output (30+ mile rides). Like others said, just keep riding, consistency is the key, and don't let a long ride fool you into thinking you can eat a lot of whatever you want. Instead of thinking "I ride to burn calories", think "I eat to fuel my body for exercise". The more active you are, the more calories (fuel) your body requires..... not exactly the same as saying you can just simply eat more. It's a common mistake to think a high activity day means we can eat whatever we want.

Actually, 13 mph isn't bad! After a year, I'm still at about 11 mph on a really light, fast bike, and I'm not overweight now. Stay at it, keep riding. Even short rides as many days as possible add up and build muscle fiber to build your strength.

Don't be in a hurry. Consistency and persistence are key. My weight loss wasn't noticeable until I'd lost 30 pounds, and sometimes I didn't lose anything in a month. That took a LOT of patience to stick with it, so I just concentrated on continuing to eat healthy and doing some sort of exercise most days of the week and let things take care of themselves. I should add, however, that the weight loss was much easier after we started cycling last year -- the fat and pounds seemed to melt as I continued to eat as I already was and increase the mileage each week.

Don't give up!

[Mr. Bloom]

Welcome! I'm down 40 pounds in 18 months and feel great! This group encourage me to set disciplines and goals. Make sure they're

Specific (example, calories or miles)
Measurable (calorie count)
Action Oriented (involve you doing, writing, measuring)
Realistic, & (don't set yourself up to fail)
Time Sensitive (give yourself deadlines to adhere to)

This group has been very helpful to me despite my gender!

[Zen]

Or just ride and fill up on good food instead of bad stuff.

[kermit]

It's all a balancing act. Frequent small meals of simple food, a protein, small carb, and greens. Eat carbs early. Ride as often as you can, small gear and high cadence, 85-95 rpm. Doing this the speed will come and you will burn fat. Lots of water.

[Tabby]

The several threads here and everyone's success stories have been great at keeping me excited to achieve a healthier body. I think the Jul/Aug challenge will be great and it boils down to calories in/ calories out. That seems to be the most common factor I've seen in these threads. It worked for me, January 2007 (177-180) June 2008 (132-135).

PJ

[Triskeliongirl]

I lost 35 pounds about a year ago, and for me its a combination of biking and the right diet. Not just calorie restriction, but I found out that I have impaired glucose tolerance so even with caloric restriction and tons of riding I couldn't lose. I also had to get my thyroid meds optimized.

For me what is key is that I eat a very low carb / high protein diet which lets me keep my blood sugar in a good range, which in turn lets me burn body fat for energy on the bike. So, be sure to get your doc invovled to find out if there are reasons you aren't losing weight if you think you are doing everything else right.

I also think a lot of cyclists, even with normal glucose tolerance, over eat carbs on the bike which inhibits fat burning. When carbs are high, the ratio of insulin to glucagon is high, which while good for letting the glucose get out of your blood and into your cells, inhibits fat burning. Instead I drink protein shakes on the bike, so I fuel my rides on a mixture of stored fat, and carbon skeletons from the amino acids (which are also slowly converted to glucose by gluconeogenesis). This isn't conventional advice, but it worked for me, and I have maintained my weight loss easily.

[Mighty Mo]

There is lots of good advice on this thread so far. Thanks.

I started my new eating plan on Sunday. I am going with Weight Watchers until I can figure it out on my own. I rode for an hour and a half on Sunday, and an hour last night. I peeked at the scale this morning and I am down 2 pounds. I know it's probably water weight, but it feels great.

I have been staying on mainly flat roads, with some rolling hills and trying to keep my cadence up at 85-95. My gear is usually really low. I'm thinking I should stick with this for a couple of weeks until I am at least consistent with getting out there.

Mr Mo and I have a long ride planned for the 4th. So long as there are not too many hills, I should survive.

[sundial]

90 minutes of cycling is the magic number for me. When I do the 30-40 mile rides x 4 a week, my weight drops. If it's under 20 miles, it seems to level off.

I also cut the fat in my diet and upped the carbs while still eating clean. I enjoy steamed rice and veggies, salmon, tuna, grainy breads and pastas. I also quit eating Sonic Blasts which helped (although I split it 4 ways with the puppers ) I noticed that as I become more fit, I start desiring nutrient dense foods over processed foods.

WW is a good start in learning portions and nutrition. You may need to increase the carbs though as you become proficient on the bike and you cycle longer distances. You see, when you're exercising regularly, all your neato engines in the body starts revving up and become more efficient. The engines also need more calories to work efficiently as you lose your weight. Skimping on carbs at that point is not a good thing.

We have many TE'ers who have lost significant amounts of weight and each one figured out what was best for his or her body through trial and error. I figured out mine this season, despite putting in many, many miles last year. For me it was simply cutting out alot of fat from the diet. I quit eating natural peanut butter.

Good luck and hope you become a member of the weight loss hall of fame.

[sundial]

Or just ride and fill up on good food instead of bad stuff.

Zen, you crack me up.