Overweight Cyclists?

[Shaula]

Hi guys! I am sure this subject has been addressed before but I am an overweight cyclist. I am about 85 pounds overweight but love to cycle and obviously, LOVE to eat! I have recently started a plan to lose the weight to make my cycling even better than it is now!!!! However, I have had people comment "If I rode my bike as much as you, I would be a rail" or "You ride your bike?????" My question is: Is there anyone out there that is significantly overweight and have had to deal with rude comments about your weight relating to cycling?

[lo123]

"If I rode my bike as much as you, I would be a rail" or "You ride your bike?????"

Ugh. People suck.
How about:
"If I ran my mouth as much as you, I'd look like a dumb @$$."

[Tri Girl]

I like that comeback, lo! I'm SO going to remember that one and keep it in my pocketbook of smart a*# comments.

I'm overweight and I'm one of the biggest of my cycling/triathlon friends. I feel like a cow among them sometimes, but I was once 40 lbs thinner and the starvation/extreme exercise I had to do to maintain that "healthy weight for my height" was killing me.
I, too, LOVE food. Always have, always will, and I figure that what I'm doing now is keeping me from being 100 lbs heavier so I'm ok with it. You keep on doing what you need to do for YOU- not for anyone else. I struggle with trying not to care what others think, but the older I get- the more I don't give a hoot. For those that make snide comments- just get some good one-liners and pop off at them.

I'm glad you love cycling. Keep riding!!!

[staceysue]

I'm not majorly overweight. I'm 30 lbs over my "ideal weight" - but whenever anybody's their "ideal weight" according to the old charts, nowadays everybody accuses them of being anorexic! I comfort myself with the fact that, if I lost 4 lbs, I'd be thin enough to join the military. Since Americans have got so much heavier over the past several years, I'm actually about average now.

It has come as somewhat of a surprise to me that I haven't lost weight cycling. I always assumed that all very active people were thin. Not the case. In fact, I think I've gained weight since I started cycling. My appetite increased a lot when my metabolism went up and then, when I got sick for a couple of weeks and had to take some time off cycling, my body continued to demand more food.

As far as rude comments - the only thing that kind of struck me funny was when the LBS guy assumed I only cycle once a week.

[Cataboo]

I'm not sure I"ve lost more than 10 lbs or so cycling over the last year and should probably get rid of a few more of those. But as the bf said last week before he got kicked "Hey, wow... you have a waist now"

[Trek420]

How about:
"If I ran my mouth as much as you, I'd look like a dumb @$$."

I love it.

I could stand to lose 40 lbs or so. BC (before cycling) I was wearing size 20-22 jeans, relaxed fit with the elastic. A few years into cycling I'm wearing 12's. I weigh about the same, things have just toned up

I'd like to lose more weight but mostly from the point of having arthritis. Toning up has helped my joints sooooo much. I'll always have the arth so the lighter and stronger I am the less pain I have.

But I'd rather be strong and fit than any particular weight. I bet that regardless of your rude (and I mean rude) "friend's" weight that you are stronger and fitter than they are!

Has this ever happened to you? You pull up to work or maybe you are leaving and someone makes a snarky comment about bike riding ..... from the smoking area the required 25 feet outside the door.

So my response would be:
you
me
outside!
any bike
any hill
any time
let's take this outside!

[buddha_bellies]

I like the last comment. Reminds of my Russell Crowe dueling out with that journalist a few weeks back...

[tprevost]

Ugh. People suck.
How about:
"If I ran my mouth as much as you, I'd look like a dumb @$$."

This makes me laugh! Well said!

[Shara]

But I'd rather be strong and fit than any particular weight.

This is where I'm at. I need to lose fat. But I'm more interested in gaining stamina and fitness. Which I also need to do. I'd be at the upper end of 'normal' if I lost 50 lbs and I'd be happy with that.

[Trek420]

How about:
"If I ran my mouth as much as you, I'd look like a dumb @$$."

How about "if I ran as much as you run your mouth I'd be doing marathons too"

[malkin]

Love the all the comments.

I've always wanted to try something like John Cleese in Fierce Creatures, where he catches criticism for walking around with the lemur in a cage...

He's ever so polite and cheerful, as if he really hadn't thought of the most obvious thing, and says, "Thanks for the tip; I'll remember that next time."

I've never been that polite.

[OakLeaf]

People are unbelievable.

It's a lot easier to talk about than actually do... but in my imagination where I'm a confident wise@ss I'd take a more direct approach. I'd look them in the eye and say, "Why would you say something like that?" Or "Did saying that make you feel better?"

[kermit]

Some of those comments are probably from people too lazy to get on a bike and ride. Jealousy of you getting out and about. I have a house in south Georgia, and don't want to stereotype but my MIL, a southern woman will not get out of her car and sweat. She wants to loose weight but riding a bike in the HEAT is not an option. I get lots of looks from farmers and their families in the little town we built our house. Riding a bike is just not as normal as in some other towns. Invite them on a ride and smoke 'em I say!

[Bike Chick]

Well I certainly feel as though I'm among friends I need to loose 20 pounds to be my "ideal" weight. It would also help me on the bike and running but it's a battle everyday. I think that those of us who enjoy riding bikes also embrace life and the flavorful, enjoyable experiences it offers. Eating is one of those. I could weigh 20 pounds less if I didn't eat that piece of chocolate at 3:00 in the afternoon or have a couple beers and pizza with friends on Friday night but life is too short for that.

I'm 25 pounds heavier than I was at 30 (I'm 51) but I'm a heck of a lot healthier. Twenty years ago I smoked 2 packs of cigarettes a day and drank coffee til dinner. I couldn't have ran 1 block much less a 5 k. But I looked good in a size 5 dress. Big deal! I started riding bikes 5 years ago when I quit smoking. I did my first century the following year, my first triathlon last year and I'm training for a half-marathon. Yeah I felt pretty self-conscience wearing spandex to the first organized ride but when I got there I saw all shapes and sizes of folks in spandex and no one cared what you looked like in your shorts or what size you were. Cycling has given me the self-confidence to feel good in the body I'm in--no matter what size it is!

The downside to carrying the extra weight is that it is harder to climb hills on the bike, it's hard on my knees and feet when I run, and I have to rip the elastic out of the bottom of most of my jerseys. It's also hard to be taken seriously as a cyclist - even in the LBS. That's the part I hate.

[Trek420]

The downside to carrying the extra weight is that it is harder to climb hills on the bike

The up side is we smoke 'em on the downhill.