Training schedule

[ibcycling]

Have you tried eating South Beach? It's great and has done wonders for me. Lotsa learning about sugar and insulin levels and which foods affect them. Most of that I knew anyhow as my mother has Type I Diabetes but I've found lots of info and great recipes. Between eating on the "Beach" and cycling I've lost 13lbs and have about 30 more to go. There are a couple great online sites that can help. Let me know if you're interested.

As far as riding goes are there any group rides or events coming up? I do better when I have a goal in mind and an actual training schedule. The basics (from what I've seen and read) is you should try to increase your mileage by approx. 10% per week and ride at least 4 days a week. So look at where you are now and go from there.

Good luck!

Lora

[short cut sally]

DDH, first I want to say congrats on quitting smoking. That is hard enough in itself and people usually experience weight gain after quitting. Biking is a great way to lose weight. I lost 40#'s initally by portion control and strict food intake (I ate 1 piece of pizza vs. 3, put cottage cheese on salads instead of dressings, if I had desserts, they were 1"X1", (honestly), ate small snacks between meals, usually fruits or vegies. I walked alot (briskly) and did some 1/2 hour to 1 hour cardio also (usually whoever happened to be on Fit TV at the time when I turned it on) and I did the 3-10 miles on my bike. Once I was prepared to show the world my body in spandex after weight loss I expanded my cycling miles to 30-40. Cycling took over, I became very toned and somewheres along the way I've gained back 10#'s and i've maintained that for 2 years now. I am however not as strict on my food intake as I was and that could have something to do with that also and I haven't done a good cardio workout in months ..I am finishing with my vacation tomorrow..i've made a promise to myself that I have to do more than just cycling alone to get rid of those 10#'s so walking and Fit TV will be back into my schedule. I prefer morning workouts, kinda gets me going for the day and it's done with. If I work out/ride in the afternoon, I am more apt to postpone or not do it at all because I just have no motivation. Not sure if it was any help to you but good luck and keep going on the right track..

[DDH]

Do you girls eat before you ride or after in the mornings? I am always thinking I need to eat first and I don't get going soon enough before it gets so hot.
At least the rain has stopped here now, so I can ride without worrying about getting caught in storms.

I eat 3 pieces of pizza when we have it. of course that is a rareity, but still I was thinking that wasn't so bad. I guess I really need to wrap my mind around serving sizes and cutting them back more.
I am always thinking I am not eating that much, but maybe I am eating more than I should.

[SouthernBelle]

DDH,

1 piece of Little Ceasar's pepperoni pizza is 247 calories. Multiply that times 3. That's a significant portion of your calorie allotment for a day on a weight loss diet.

As to eating before a morning ride, I do. I have cereal & milk with fruit.

[DDH]

EWW I knew it was high in calories but didn't think about that much. Thank goodness I don't eat pizza very often. We may get a pizza once every other month or so.
Normally we have grilled or baked chicken, or grilled deer steak, or I fix something in the crock pot. I do not fry things except on rare occasions. We don't have bread with every meal or anything.
Usually it's cereal, or just a banana, for breaskfast, a lean cuisine or something light for lunch, and then dinner is something baked or grilled and a vegetable and like wild rice or maybe red potatoes, but usually some starch.
I don't snack usually at all unless it is close to that time of the month and then I have to watch myself. I ride my bike 3 to 4 times a week 15 miles and then try to do a longer ride on the weekends.
We have a charity ride coming up this weekend and we are riding the 26 miles route with some killer hills on it.
I use a heart rate monitor so I can be sure to get my heart rate up while exercising and believe me it gets up there.
Anyway, thanks for the tips girls.
I think I need to find a log somewhere that I can log my food and exercise together and see how things go.
It sounds like I am really going to just have to buckle down and start counting calories instead of just trying to watch what I eat.
It just always seemed like so much work and I thought I could just cut back and eat healthier but thats not working so on to step 2.

I'm determined that eventually I will get this right, one way or the other.

[SouthernBelle]

If you want to try calorie counting (I didn't):

http://www.fitday.com/WebFit/Index.html

[Torrilin]

I have a scale. I'm trying to get into the habit of weighing what I eat to get a feel for what *my* idea of a portion is. I need to start writing it down so I have a food diary and I can track what I'm eating. Not fun, but I need to do it so I can see if there's a pattern to how I'm eating.

I find it's better to eat breakfast before I do anything. I'm a morning person, I'm prone to really terrible judgment if I bike while hungry, and I have a longstanding habit of "wake up, make breakfast". If you don't have your brain fall out your ears when hungry, biking before breakfast can be good.

[Bad JuJu]

Do you girls eat before you ride or after in the mornings? I am always thinking I need to eat first and I don't get going soon enough before it gets so hot.

A year or so ago, I read an article (in Bicycling mag maybe?) that said that if you're going to ride for 90 minutes or less, you can increase fat loss by riding first thing in the morning before eating. The writer also suggested that you might want to have a cup of coffee or two before riding--maybe the caffeine gives you a little more energy. And if you're going more than 90 minutes, you have to eat.

I don't remember the reasoning behind these ideas, and I sure don't know the science, but it's worth a try.

[RoadRaven]

Do you girls eat before you ride or after in the mornings? I am always thinking I need to eat first and I don't get going soon enough before it gets so hot.

I usually eat, but not much.
A little bit of food, pref high fibre food helps to get your metabolism going which assists in weight loss. Then you ride, and start using fat - energy - but because high fibre food is mostly energy and no fat and not yet digested, your body gets to work on your stored enrgy reserves (I keep my stored energy around my belly )
When I get to work, or get back home, I eat a sandwich, or some rice... but again, not too much - enough to replace some energy, but not enough to start storing it again!

I eat 3 pieces of pizza when we have it.

Sounds yummy but i couldn't eat that much pizza at once now, my tastes have changed and that much cheese in a sitting would be too rich for me.