I just don't get it

[GLC1968]

And I'd also like to suggest that since you went from virtually no exercise to riding 6-10 miles daily - your body is adjusting. Are you sore at all? (I would be!). If so, then it's very, very likely that while your muscles adjust to new activity, they are retaining water.

You have not put on muscle in just 10 days. Even the most gifted weight lifters can't do that! And you've also barely given it enough time for any created calorie deficit to kick in. I think it's water weight.

Keep it up, enjoy riding for the FUN of it...and you will see results. It's too early to get frustrated!

[Tuckervill]

You are doing FABULOUS if you are riding every day, 6-10 miles, and you just started. I am a big believer in making tiny little changes, one at a time. The first one I advise to anyone is to get moving, just starting with a 10 minute walk if that's all you can do. You're already moving for about an hour a day, and that's just wonderful.

Make that daily exercise a habit, and eventually it will become a need. Aim for consistent exercise (even if it is not cycling every day, do something, anything, like take a walk or weed the garden or rake leaves).

The other thing I tell people is, "Consistency is your greatest asset." I don't know if I read that somewhere or it's someone else's quote, but I say it all the time so I'm going to claim it. But it's like this for me: I already know how to be consistent. I know how to do the same things over and over and over and never stray from the routine. The problem is that things I'm consistent with are not always good for me. If I can apply that great ability to be consistent to something that is good for me, I'm golden!

So, pick one thing that you can be consistent with. In this case, you've already picked exercise. Once that becomes a habit, make another tiny little change for you to practice your consistency. The next change could be about identifying any habit, circumstance, or situation that makes getting out to exercise a little more difficult (not having enough cycling clothes so you have to wash every night, and you really hate going in the basement to run the washer, for instance). You could decide to give up cheeseburgers (like my husband did).

One more thing, and this is related to intensity of the exercise. No matter what anyone says, how much they make fun of me or think I'm slacking or putting on, I'm not out there just for today, but for the health of the rest of my life. Therefore, I'm never going to do anything that will stand in the way of me being back out there the next day.

Change your thinking, change your life!

Karen

[redrhodie]

Could it be you're eating extra because of the rides, and that's causing the weight gain? I know when I first started riding, I'd be famished after a ride, and want to eat everything in sight.

[sundial]

Heifzilla, I know your pain.

I too am riding daily and for awhile the scale was going UP. Then I whipped out the measuring tape and noticed that I'm losing inches. My legs are really tones, my waist is shrinking, and I just feel great.

Several years ago when I was taking aerobics as an elective in college, our instructor said that weight gain during exercise could be attributed to the manufacturing of more red blood cells to keep up with the body's need for more oxygen being transported to the tissues. I noticed the day after aerobics I weighed more. A day or more after that my weight dropped.

Please don't get discouraged. (((Heifzilla))) Our bodies are amazing machines that know how to build and repair for the demands we place on it.