Questions from an overweight beginner

[hibiscus09]

Hi there --

I've been lifting weights & doing cardio for about 7 years and biking for about 2 months. Here's a great site that shows you exercises you can do for different body parts -- I think the fact that I've lifted legs for so long before cycling is what helps me to get up the hills sitting.

http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html

I like the fact that this site has moving pictures showing proper form.

It's also important to eat right when being active. I have always done more of a higher protein, moderate carb & fat diet until I started cycling. Now, after reading a couple of books & doing some research, have switched to a 55% carbohydrate, 25% protein and 20% fat diet. If I have a ride that is shorter or moderate in length, I still do what I've always done & switch to protein & fibrous veggies for my night time meal. Not eating tons of carbs at night will help you with the weight loss. The day before my long ride, I take the carbs up to 65 to 70% carbs and increase the calories & the fat, so I can get through the ride. I also have a high carb meal before I go to bed & have a couple of servings of oatmeal about an hour or more before I head out. I take plenty of water -- 70oz. in my hydration system, a couple of carbohydrate drinks (I like Gatorade) and an energy gel for my long rides.

Another cool site where you can keep up with your ratios of what you're eating is called:

fitday.com

It's free and has a large database of foods with caloric values, fat grams, protein grams & carbohydrate grams in each food. It also breaks it down into percentages for you and has a cute little pie chart. LOL You can custom input your own foods also.

I'm still pretty new at all of this, but so far everything is working.

Oh, and one more thing. I just went through the clipless pedal horrors. LOL

When I bought my bike I had nothing on the pedals for about 2 weeks -- just your basic pedal. Then I went back & let them put the strappy cage things put on. I had no problem with these -- kept them loose enough to get my foot out easily. I then decided after another month or so to give clipless pedals a try. I tried "Look" clipless pedals & busted my fanny about 7 times. In my opinion, those things are hard to adjust to when you're a new cyclist. Mine were very hard to get out of consistently. After that, the LBS talked me into trying Speedplays. It was like night and day. They are much, much easier to unclip. The first few times trying to go around my cul de sac, I had to adjust to clipping in -- it was a little different from the Look pedals-- but by the time I finished my first ride, I could do it easily. It's just my opinion, but I'd try the Speedplays before the Look clipless pedals.

I do think you should just get really comfortable on your bike before you try a clipless system. It does make a world of difference in pedaling efficiency, though.