Starting out on the road not the gym

[VeloVT]

Lisa, while I totally support your sentiment I'm going to gently disagree with your rather categorical statement that "120 lbs is too thin for someone 5'5" to be."

I'm 5'6" and currently 125. (FWIW I'm 27). Last summer I was 120 & looked and felt better, and I'm trying to get back down. Between biking, running, swimming and **weight training**, I'm pretty strong and I have some seriously big thighs (my bf and I have a running joke that I beat him up hills b/c my "thigh to weight ratio" is bigger than his, because my thighs are in fact an inch bigger than his. I'm alternately proud and a little mortified by this). I also have decidedly curvy hips/butt and that's where the extra five pounds is right now, and it's not muscle . When I was lighter I felt better not because my rear looked a little less jiggly in a bathing suit, but because I felt faster, stronger and more energetic.

I say this only to illustrate that we all have different frames and body types and depending on these factors, women of the same height can be healthy at a very wide range of weights. But I certainly don't mean by sharing this anecdote to encourage a sort of race to the bottom where thinner is always better.

My suggestion to the poster (I'm sorry, I've forgotten your name, promise I'll check after posting and remember next time) is to keep eating healthily (don't "diet"), and to add miles. Cycling burns **around** 40 cals per mile (varies greatly due to speed, wind, bike weight etc), running burns about 100 cals per mile. So if you can work in some longer rides or some runs regularly on weekends or after work, I think you'll start to see some weight loss, along with some gorgeous muscles !

Good luck. I think we've all been there (or are there).