Can a Fat Lady Ride

[residentgeek]

I started riding at the beginning of this April. Like you, I haven't ridden since I was a kid and I'm trying to lose about 75 pounds. My oldest wanted to go out for a ride and I figured it would be easy to keep up with her. HA!

10 minutes later, I was SURE I was going to die. The kid ended up going on without me for another 15 minutes while I sat on the porch and caught my breath and tried not to pass out.

So now it's been about three weeks, and I just did a 3.5 mile 30 minute ride. I was breathing hard afterward, but I'm plenty conscious and really don't feel like I need to make funeral arrangements. So keep it up. A little at a time, 10, 15 minutes a day, build up, and you'll be fine. Push yourself, but don't completely overdo it. You'll be there in no time!

[Eagle-Eye]

You can, and you should ride! Cycling has been the only form of exercise I am consistent with. I imagine that's because it's fun.

I started out on my hybrid about 4 years ago. I have now lost about 50 pounds. Sure, it's been slow (and I still have a ways to go), but I'm going in the right direction. I now have a road bike as well. I couldn't imagine myself on a skinny tire bike back then!

I started out going 2 miles, tops, on my rides. All of a sudden that was easy and I upped it to 3, and so on. Last year, I finished a MS 150 ride (150 miles over 2 days). I am currently training for my first century! None of this seemed possible just a few years ago!

Don't let your family keep you off your bike! If it is something you love doing, keep doing it! The pounds will come off, and you will gain so much in fitness and more importantly how you feel about yourself! Just be sure to start slowly, and celebrate all the gains (even the small ones) you acheive.

[bamakathy]

Just hearing how many of you have done this gives me hope. I think of bike riders as tall, thin people in little stretchy suits. But maybe that's what I'll be after doing this for awhile! If you all can stick with this, so can I!

[Trek420]

...the fat lady can kick skinny rider butt.

like this film

http://www.virago-productions.com/wellrounded

I especially like the quote from Lisa Bennett, Rider #6066

"When I'm lifting weights with my trainer at the gym, and she leans down and whispers, 'see that thin girl over there? She can't do half of what you can,' I realize all over again that what society says about large women simply isn't true. You CAN be large and physically fit at the same time." -

[KnottedYet]

I am a tall thin chickie in a stretchy suit! I cannot tell you how much (its almost sick... almost!) I enjoy checking out my own stomach and butt in the bathroom mirror. Would you believe that I need to buy new bike shorts soon because my old ones are getting too big? Who'd've EVER thought that embarrassing skintight leave-nothing-to-the-imagination shorts could get too big and loose?!?!

I love riding a bike. I didn't even think about the fact that I would lose weight, I just loved riding. The freedom of it. Freedom is the biggest part of it for me. I cannot bear the thought of ever giving up the freedom to move myself under my own power like I do on my bike. Whatever bike I have. (my bikes are cheap, and I am fickle. i buy a new one and sell the old one every 4 or 5 years)

Please, even before you buy a new bike, get a pair of bike shorts. Even if you wear them under regular clothes. They will seriously help with the chafed inner thigh issues that come up on longer rides. I don't know how I would've made it without my lycra shorts!

You go, girl! I'm rooting for you!!

[KnottedYet]

Oh, yeah, and think about this: you doing an exercise (of any sort) is like some skinny chickie doing the same exercise with 20-40 lb weights strapped on her arms and legs, and a 40 lb backpack on.

That's some serious muscle!

[Popoki_Nui]

Not so long ago I was where you are now. I've dropped almost 50 pounds, and where I could barely ride 5km, I can do 50km in an afternoon and more.
As the song says, you'll have "good days and bad days and goin' half mad days", but probably the hardest part is done: your decision to air up the old bike and get started. Congratulations!! Take things one step at a time, and I know we will hear lots of successes from you in the coming months!
~Sherry.

[Tuckervill]

I love riding a bike. I didn't even think about the fact that I would lose weight, I just loved riding. The freedom of it. Freedom is the biggest part of it for me. I cannot bear the thought of ever giving up the freedom to move myself under my own power like I do on my bike. Whatever bike I have.

That's the attitude I started with about 2 years ago, when I bought the Buicks off of some guy. I'd had quite a few bikes in my adult years, and always craved the riding like I did when I was a teenager. (I taught myself to ride a bike for my mother's birthday present when I was 4 years old.) But those years between 13 and 42 were taken up with raising children and stuff like that.

Only now am I feeling free again. And part of that is my youngest son is just so cool to hang with, and athletic, and he likes me and we go places and do things together that I didn't have time or money to do with my older sons.

Today I did 11 miles on my mountain bike (on the road ). I wound around all the side streets in my town and a little on the highway, and then I caught up with the trail around the baseball fields and I suddenly had a flashback. I was going over a tiny little hill...tiny hill only about 30 feet long, and I remembered actually *panting* to the top of this tiny hill when I first rode the trail 2 years ago.

Wow. I rode a lot in those two years, until last August, when I got bifocals. I'd never worn glasses before in my life. I got too scared to ride. I could barely walk down stairs without getting dizzy. By the time I adjusted, it was winter, and then I had gotten out of the habit of riding. But during those 2 years while I rode, I rarely went over 2 1/2 miles. To the ballpark, around the loop, and back.

Fast Forward to March. I crave new bike. Take a few spins on the trusty Buick. Really crave new bike. Hubby gets his bonus. Buy new bike, while suffering from the cold-from-hell-that-never ends. Take it to the woods the next day. Ride one mile before the lungs give out. Put bike away until the cold finally does end. Ride every day for one week, first the 2-1/2 miles, then three, then 4. Then 25K charity ride. A few rides in between. Today I did 11 miles, just because I needed that happy feeling of being on the bike--a real stress reliever.

I went from nothing to 11 miles easy in less than 4 weeks. I'm just incredulous writing it all out like that!

And I am FAT. I weigh 198, but no for long.

Karen

[oldbikah]

Yeah, you go girl! last summer I rode about 1000 miles. About 10 years ago, I too was really out of shape and could ride only about a couple miles without huffing and puffing. Even tho I ski all winter, that isn't much work or very aerobic. I also developed high blood pressure. Now the bp is down, I lost 30 pounds last summer and feel SO much better both physically and emotionally. I ride alone mostly (can't get fat DH to do much) but I love it and have actually acquired 3 bikes (road, mt, cyclocross) and use them all. (I am 63 by the way). My son is proud of me and gives great encouragement. Family may make remarks at the beginning but they WILL be proud later!

[Duck on Wheels]

I too am trying to lose weight and get in better shape. The weight loss has been slower than I'd hoped, but I'm down about 4kg since Fall and recently I've noticed that my clothes are getting loose. So today I tried the next size smaller. Yep. They fit. A bit snug still, kinda like the size I'm in felt 6 months ago. I'll wait another kilo or two before down-sizing my wardrobe, but if it hadn't been that the cheapest pair of pants and the best colour was in my "old" size, I might have got a smaller pair already today. And ... I no longer feel like I'll pass out at spin class, I did 43 miles into the wind a few weeks back, and I climbed about half of Ben Nevis (got stopped not by my lungs, heart, or legs, but by my fear of heights). So yes, definitely, biking is a good way to get back in shape!

[makbike]

You most certainly can ride. The nice thing about a bike is it does not care what you look like or how much you weight. Climb abroad and enjoy yourself. Start slow - none of us started out riding 100 miles in a day. Listen to your body for it will tell you without hestitation if you are pushing it too hard or not pushing it enough. Keep a log so you can see the progress your are making (my boyfriend thinks I'm anal because I record data from every ride but it helps me see how I'm progressing). Only listen to those who will offer words of encouragement and turn a deaf ear to those who tell you it can't be done or laugh at you. Have fun, enjoy your bike and take care of yourself.

[latelatebloomer]

Oh, Honey, have you come to the right place! The answer, as you can see, is yes! yes! yes!

I was above your weight range and about 43 when I had major realizations about how my health, self-esteem, and marriage were all being threatened by my obesity and lack of self-confidence. I joined a gym and was so self-conscious that I wore baggy pants and a turtleneck, so all that was visible was my head and hands. My doctor gave me some great advice when I talked to her about making changes - "Don't focus about how you look, focus on how you feel. If you focus only on the changes in your appearance, you'll get frustrated and quit."

2 years later, I decided I deserved a gym with better facilities and there ran into a trainer who's also a master class cyclist. He got me into spin classes for the winter, and that spring, I tried a bike. I struggled to ride 3 miles, and if anyone had heard me struggling for breath, they would have called an ambulance. I am not exaggerating in the slightest.

Now, I may even be under 200 lbs (don't know, don't really care) lift major weight at the gym, use heart-rate goals for someone half my age, and am starting to do "club" rides 0f 25/30 miles, with a goal of riding a century (100 miles in 1 day) by my 47th birthday, 10/10/06.

You are doing the hardest part right now. Come here often for all the encouragement you need. I felt like I was facing so many internal demons when I got that bike out. Some of them still show up from time to time. Just keep at it.

You might enjoy a book called "The Slow Fat Triathlete" by Jayne Williams (pretty sure that's right.) It's about becoming an athlete in the body you have. Even though I am not interested in doing a tri, I learned a lot from her attitude.

Keep in touch. This forum has made all the difference for me! -
Latelatebloomer (who really does need to change her name to Relentless. She's not a late bloomer any more!)

[free2b7429]

An emphatic "YES" - you can ride! I rode a lot when I was younger but then got waaay out of shape. I started riding again for this year in March. I managed to go about 2 miles and I thought I was going to have to go to the hospital with an asthma attack. It took me almost 20 minutes to recover! Two months later, in May, I did a 25+ mile ride and actually dropped some thinner, more in-shape looking people! For the record, I'm 5'2" and currently 252 pounds. So, again, yes it can be done. Just keep it up and don't listen to the nay-sayers.

[betagirl]

Of course you can. I have an overweight male friend who I got started on cycling. He just does what he can, though I do push him a little when we ride together If you can find a riding buddy that'll help you with motivation, which we all can suffer from a lack of!

[Andi]

Way to go. Just take it slow and easy. Like others have said you will find you can go farther each time out. I started riding again last year and have built up the miles. I don't even panic any longer when I see a hill HA. Keep it up and keep us posted on your progress.