newbie needs advice

[Zen]

I gotta say this coz' this is something that really bugs me.
Fat does not weigh more than muscle, a pound is a pound. Here's the thing -
Lets say you have two-6 inch square boxes.
One pound of muscle cells will fit in a box but one pound of fat cells won't.
The fat cells take up more space!

When you go grocery shopping, stay away from the middle aisles of the store.
Thats where the bad stuff is. Stay away from processed foods (step AWAY from the white bread, please) When you buy bread, the first two words on the ingredient list should be whole wheat.

Pears, apples and bananas are your friends (mine too). When you come back from a ride, eat an apple and have a glass of water you can bet you'll be full.

I found Nestle's Quick pre mixed lowfat chocolate milk today! I know it's still got sugar in it but you can't deprive yourself of everything.

And most importantly, 9 -10 mph is quite good! Keep it up!

[RoadRaven]

I hear ya, Zen... a pound is a pound, a kilo is a kilo...

In my first year of cycling I lost no weight at all... but I did drop two dress sizes!!!

BC2... keep it up, before long the cycling becomes more important than the body/health changes.

However, you do ask about food. Always remember that food is fuel, and if you don't top up, just like a car without petrol, you will stop.

Just be sensible... reduce fats and sugars (pastry, cookies, sweet spreads, cakes etc)

Still enjoy icecream (often icecream has only a marginally higher content of fat and sugar than milk!), replace colby cheese and soft cheeses with something like Edam and eat dark chocolate instead of dairy/light brown.

Eat a good variety of foods and just watch the types of sauces you add to pasta or toppings to potato... instead of cream and butter, use yoghurt...

The most significant thing for me in managing fuel for my body is to only eat when I am hungry - easy to say/write... actually quite difficult to do.