Riding to Lose Weight

[Mr. Bloom]

Welcome! I'm down 40 pounds in 18 months and feel great! This group encourage me to set disciplines and goals. Make sure they're

Specific (example, calories or miles)
Measurable (calorie count)
Action Oriented (involve you doing, writing, measuring)
Realistic, & (don't set yourself up to fail)
Time Sensitive (give yourself deadlines to adhere to)

This group has been very helpful to me despite my gender!

[Zen]

Or just ride and fill up on good food instead of bad stuff.

[kermit]

It's all a balancing act. Frequent small meals of simple food, a protein, small carb, and greens. Eat carbs early. Ride as often as you can, small gear and high cadence, 85-95 rpm. Doing this the speed will come and you will burn fat. Lots of water.

[Tabby]

The several threads here and everyone's success stories have been great at keeping me excited to achieve a healthier body. I think the Jul/Aug challenge will be great and it boils down to calories in/ calories out. That seems to be the most common factor I've seen in these threads. It worked for me, January 2007 (177-180) June 2008 (132-135).

PJ

[Triskeliongirl]

I lost 35 pounds about a year ago, and for me its a combination of biking and the right diet. Not just calorie restriction, but I found out that I have impaired glucose tolerance so even with caloric restriction and tons of riding I couldn't lose. I also had to get my thyroid meds optimized.

For me what is key is that I eat a very low carb / high protein diet which lets me keep my blood sugar in a good range, which in turn lets me burn body fat for energy on the bike. So, be sure to get your doc invovled to find out if there are reasons you aren't losing weight if you think you are doing everything else right.

I also think a lot of cyclists, even with normal glucose tolerance, over eat carbs on the bike which inhibits fat burning. When carbs are high, the ratio of insulin to glucagon is high, which while good for letting the glucose get out of your blood and into your cells, inhibits fat burning. Instead I drink protein shakes on the bike, so I fuel my rides on a mixture of stored fat, and carbon skeletons from the amino acids (which are also slowly converted to glucose by gluconeogenesis). This isn't conventional advice, but it worked for me, and I have maintained my weight loss easily.

[Mighty Mo]

There is lots of good advice on this thread so far. Thanks.

I started my new eating plan on Sunday. I am going with Weight Watchers until I can figure it out on my own. I rode for an hour and a half on Sunday, and an hour last night. I peeked at the scale this morning and I am down 2 pounds. I know it's probably water weight, but it feels great.

I have been staying on mainly flat roads, with some rolling hills and trying to keep my cadence up at 85-95. My gear is usually really low. I'm thinking I should stick with this for a couple of weeks until I am at least consistent with getting out there.

Mr Mo and I have a long ride planned for the 4th. So long as there are not too many hills, I should survive.

[sundial]

90 minutes of cycling is the magic number for me. When I do the 30-40 mile rides x 4 a week, my weight drops. If it's under 20 miles, it seems to level off.

I also cut the fat in my diet and upped the carbs while still eating clean. I enjoy steamed rice and veggies, salmon, tuna, grainy breads and pastas. I also quit eating Sonic Blasts which helped (although I split it 4 ways with the puppers ) I noticed that as I become more fit, I start desiring nutrient dense foods over processed foods.

WW is a good start in learning portions and nutrition. You may need to increase the carbs though as you become proficient on the bike and you cycle longer distances. You see, when you're exercising regularly, all your neato engines in the body starts revving up and become more efficient. The engines also need more calories to work efficiently as you lose your weight. Skimping on carbs at that point is not a good thing.

We have many TE'ers who have lost significant amounts of weight and each one figured out what was best for his or her body through trial and error. I figured out mine this season, despite putting in many, many miles last year. For me it was simply cutting out alot of fat from the diet. I quit eating natural peanut butter.

Good luck and hope you become a member of the weight loss hall of fame.

[sundial]

Or just ride and fill up on good food instead of bad stuff.

Zen, you crack me up.

[tulip]

What everyone else said, plus

cut out the Starbucks and cakes (my former triple latte and "low fat" cinnamon swirl coffee cake was about 1000 calories--all before my day had even started)
eat an apple a day
slow down and think about how and what you are eating
stay away from processed foods (stick to the perimeter of the grocery store)
go with whole grains: bread, rice, pasta, cereal
reduce sweet treats to half portions
start pilates with a good, certified teacher

Worked for me (and still does).

EDIT: also, I found that learning to cook with fresh foods from the farmers market really made me appreciate food more, not just stuffing it in my mouth, but slowing me down and really thinking about and creating what I was eating

[sundial]

stay away from processed foods (stick to the perimeter of the grocery store)

Tulip, that advice has really made an impression on me. I did just that the other day at the store. Thanks for the great tip!

[Jiffer]

I'd also like to point out that the more you work your muscles, the bigger they will get, which means muscle weight. So, don't beat yourself up if the scale doesn't say what you think it should say if you are feeling good and your clothes are fitting better. Muscle weighs more than fat.

One of my favorite tips is to never deprive yourself of the foods you love. You can have ice cream, just not three scoops. It's amazing how a half a cup of ice cream can satisfy when you know it's legal to eat and still lose weight. I'd rather have half a cup of my favorite "all the fat in it" ice cream than a rice cake! (Or a bigger quantity of a low fat, low sugar, low taste ice cream.)

[Tuckervill]

Life is too short to eat bad food. That's why I eat REAL ice cream! No Sonic for me. I just don't eat much of it!

Karen

[tulip]

You can have ice cream, just not three scoops.

That's the reason that, when I want ice cream, I go out to the best ice cream shop I can find and have a cone (or a small malt if I'm in the mood).

If I buy a half-gallon of Breyers mint chocolate chip, or worse, a pint of Haagen Dazs chocolate chocolate chip, I know I have no will power and it will be GONE in a day or two (less for the pint...)

So I ride my bike to the ice cream shop and get a scoop!

[Tabby]

I'd also like to point out that the more you work your muscles, the bigger they will get, which means muscle weight. So, don't beat yourself up if the scale doesn't say what you think it should say if you are feeling good and your clothes are fitting better. Muscle weighs more than fat.

One of my favorite tips is to never deprive yourself of the foods you love. You can have ice cream, just not three scoops. It's amazing how a half a cup of ice cream can satisfy when you know it's legal to eat and still lose weight. I'd rather have half a cup of my favorite "all the fat in it" ice cream than a rice cake! (Or a bigger quantity of a low fat, low sugar, low taste ice cream.)

I'm like that too, if I'm gonna have my ice cream, I want the GOOD STUFF! I quit buying the half gallons to encourage myself to have less, so I bought pints. That back fired, I ate the whole pint (duh!). So recently I found the single serving size of B&J and I will eat one of those ... 250 calories, but that's better than 1000 calories for the whole pint. It helps when I want a bit of ice cream, oh, and I've never have had a rice cake! lol (maybe should) LOL

[tulip]

Tulip, that advice has really made an impression on me. I did just that the other day at the store. Thanks for the great tip!

I'm glad you tried it. It's interesting. I can't take credit for it--it's from Michael Pollan. Speaking of whom, if you want to lose weight and become a healthy eater, read his books!