How long does it take.

[Kano]

I have a question. It has been years since I have ridden, but when we use to ride the highest milage I ever did was some of the organized rides we went on we always did the 25 miles. We rode 15 miles or more as often as we could which was usually 4 or 5 times a week and all the organized rides we could attend. My DH and I did that for a year and I never lost any weight. I toned up and looked better but never lost. Well, maybe a little but not nearly as much as I would have thought for a year of riding.

That's amazing! You had a mighty busy life as a wife, employee, mom, and home-maker back then, right? That adds up to a lot of stress,which also makes it harder to lose weight. At the same time, you can remember that muscle is much more dense than fat, and so we can be smaller but weigh the same -- never mind that we can much more easily measure our progress by a number on the scale, it happens anyway. You probably had a real good body fat number!

On the other hand, I can KNOW all this too, but I still am not happy when the number doesn't budge, so I understand where you're coming from!

Now this was back when I worked outside the home and had a small child and home along with it to run. Now I am 42, have an 11 year old and still haven't lost any weight in fact have gained, ecspecially since I quit smoking.

Don't you just HATE that? Every day for all these years, we want to be smaller, we set out to lose the weight, but.... This summer, I've had all sorts of trouble with the scale going UP instead of down since I've been riding -- so frustrating, and I've decided to quit looking. Felt a little better today when the pants that have been getting tighter during this "break in period" as I've decided to call it, fit some better today than they've been fitting. Three months have passed, if that's helpful at all!

I have arthritis in my hips, a problem with my ankle and I think my arches are falling. I am sure that the weight I have on me is not helping anything with my feet or ankle, and the hips although I have the arthritis, I am sure would feel much better if I can get this weight off. Riding the bike is one of the easiest things for me to do for weight loss since it is my lower extremities that are in pain and riding is the least entrusive on them.

An especially good thing about biking for you -- since you're having lower body issues is that it builds all the muscles that support those parts of your body, and that will help them as well, even without weight loss. In spite of my lack of loss so far, I know that I stand differently, and I feel different than I did before I started riding. It's not just in the legs/hips, I can feel it in my whole body!

Did I do something wrong years ago when I rode that caused me not to lose, or did I just not give it enough time, or ride enough? Do I need to be doing more exercise other than biking?

Not necessarily! You probably lost fat and built muscle, and offset the numbers....

I have been on here reading post and going through everything on the forums I can think of, and you all inspire me so much, and now I want to do more than just lose weight I want to be able to post a 50 or 100 miles ride eventually. However I think before I can ever do that, I have got to get quite a bit of this weight off.

I am finding myself continually amazed by the stories I read here -- the rides people do, the weight some have lost, etc. I'm with you -- I started out happy to ride a couple of miles, at a slow and steady pace, and now find myself looking for ways to make it easier to go faster and farther, practicing hills, and more than happy to put in the time! I'm not so sure I'm with you though on the HAVE TO get a bunch of weight off to do some of these longer rides. I've got a couple of 30+ mile rides under my shorts already, and I'm pretty certain I can do a fifty yet this summer, maybe even one of those metric century things! I think it's easier than the losing weight part!

I don't expect to be some skinny little thing, I would just like to be comfortable with my weight again. I'm 42 and not looking to try to look like I am 20 again, but would love to feel good in my skin again before I die. LOL

We all want this! We struggle with the discovery that we're not 20 anymore when our bodies won't do the things that they used to do so easily. Now throw in that peri- and menopause phase, just as we thoughth we were getting to know what to expect from our bodies again! Sometimes, I think an alien has taken over my body... We struggle with not looking like we did. Parts don't feel like they really belong to us, but we can't open the zipper and peel them off, like we do our ski clothes.... Some of it we'll learn to live with -- wrinkles don't go away without substantial financial investment, for example -- but we can work on making our bodies as healthy and functional as possible for the second halves of our lives!

Sorry this is so long, but am feeling really crappy about myself today and guess I need some suggestions and help.

No need to apologize -- you have a nasty sunburn, so you're physically miserable too! And then you're still struggling with having missed three days in a week of riding -- even though you've been doing other things! Summer vacation with the kids is horribly disruptive to our routine, but you and your kids are very lucky: you get to be home with them! I have always been glad that I was able to be with my girls, even though we were kind of in an era of the women who did that were "just a mom." Is there still that attitude? I get the impression the working moms are a bit envious of the "justamoms" these days, though I always felt like the prevailing attitude was that "justamom" wasn't good enough back then, when the equal rights for women stuff was such a big thing.

I wish it was as easy to take off as it is to put on, and once you get past about 30, it only gets harder and harder to lose.

For what it's worth: you're not alone! That's why the diet industry is so huge! I'm in your same boat, wishing that same thing every day! We all want the weight gone NOW!!!

I have the desire, but seem to lack in dedication and let my discouragement get me down. I just keep telling myself that "I refuse to give up this time" I figure if I can quit smoking which is suppose to be one of the hardest things to do, then I should be able to lose weight and look better too. Right?

Quitting smoking is an amazing thing -- I've never smoked, but I watched DH quit smoking every day for a couple of years at least before he finally quit for real. Without minimizing your accomplishment, I think weight loss is harder: we can't QUIT eating. I think we moms face an extra threat -- we are responsible for all the food for everyone. I remember feeling like it was all I thought about for many years -- what's for breakfast, then it's time to start thinking about lunch, and then I have to deal with what's for supper, throw in some snacks, cuz kids eat often!, and then it started all over again! How does one lose weight when all one thinks about is what is someone going to eat next, even if it's not food that's supposed to be going in my mouth? I have a feeling we have to be careful when we're biking and dieting -- if we don't eat enough, we're going to run into trouble on our bikes, y'know?

Well, anyway, thanks for letting me go on.

It feels good doesn't it, to be able to vent now and then?

Karen in Boise