Denise,
Thanks you SO much for sharing your wonderful and amazing story. You truly are an inspiration!

I love when you say: "If losing fat, gaining muscle & feeling awesome about yourself is a side effect of bicycling, then I AM A MILLION PERCENT IN LOVE WITH IT!!"
SO TRUE....it's NOT about losing weight, it's about getting fit and feeling great!
That means both in mind and body- together they create a whole sense of well-being. It's not about deprivation- it's about rejoicing.

I feel just the way you do about biking not feeling like exercise at all. Losing weight and getting fit while biking feels sort of like being paid to be an ice cream taster?...(sorry, only example I can think of!)