Is weightloss possible from riding alone?

[jayjay]

Just wondering who has kept their calorie intake the same and decided to pedal off the pounds. I seem to be gravitating towards this choice, as I can't seem to stay with any regimen what-so-ever when it comes to my food. I love my food ! But, I am a very fit person under this 45 pounds and I am determined to work harder at the riding. I've been gradually increasing my miles from a ridiculously easy starting point, and can ride around 20 miles now (bought a cyclometer), but mountain miles. You all know how that goes... you sit on your bike and coast for half the miles, and chug in low gears for the other half. Anyway... I'm still gaining at this point, only riding once a week , but about now I think I'm ready to boost it to 3 days per week. Middle age apreciates gradual change.

For me it's learning all over to bicycle commute for errands doing a Park~n~Ride, as well as putting in some distance training from home (everything a steep climb back) . My goal is to be able to bike commute with panniers to do lite errands, as well as ride a mountainous loop of about 65 miles. I'm giving myself a year-ish to achieve that goal while slimming down to a comfortable weight I can live with.

Who can relate?

[mimitabby]

My DH. he's lost at least 20 pounds since he became a serious rider. And that includes all the muscle he's built!

He eats ice cream and popcorn many nights a week. When he's not riding, he cannot do that and keep his figure


okay, okay, i lost 3 pounds from riding. but i don't have much to lose!!!

[jayjay]

My DH. he's lost at least 20 pounds since he became a serious rider. And that includes all the muscle he's built!

He eats ice cream and popcorn many nights a week. When he's not riding, he cannot do that and keep his figure

Mimitabby ~ your posts read 8,888 !!!! Wow! that's nuts !

but anyway, yeah, I've decided that my love affair with cooking and making delicious whole food from scratch is just something that's as integral as my need to be a lean mean riding machine. I guess I just start riding like crazy, and whatever ends up reading on the scale, ends up reading. I know I'll drop at least half this weight, if I keep to my training schedule... I have to!

I have been hiking mornings with doggo for a couple years now, most days, (have slacked off in recent months due to sore feet and hips from weight gain !) and that doesn't seem to do squat for weight loss for me. I guess I was born to ride, so ride I'll have to get serious about. Thanks

[bounceswoosh]

The hard part is eating the same amount when you're exercising more. My understanding is that women's bodies in particular are prone to demanding more calories to avoid losing fat (horrors!).

But if you're exercising, you're building muscle, which is a good thing regardless =)

[GLC1968]

I know tons of men who lose weight by just riding more. No diet alterations at all.

On the flip side... I started riding almost 3 years ago now. In that time, I've GAINED 30 lbs and almost all of it during cycling seasons. I have a very difficult time controlling my appetite when I'm riding a lot.

Ultimately, very few people can out bike what they can eat. Diet plays a HUGE role.

[jayjay]

I know tons of men who lose weight by just riding more. No diet alterations at all.

On the flip side... I started riding almost 3 years ago now. In that time, I've GAINED 30 lbs and almost all of it during cycling seasons. I have a very difficult time controlling my appetite when I'm riding a lot.

Ultimately, very few people can out bike what they can eat. Diet plays a HUGE role.

Well, that's discouraging !

I can't help but think that the calories/burn ratio is just a part of the picture. Age, and lifestyle off the bike must count for something. I'm 46 and have been riding, and hiking, and gardening for most of my adult life, off and on... mostly on. I'm a mesomorphic build , never over 20 lbs overweight till I hit 40yrs... then with perimenopause, all hell broke loose. Now I'm just having to deal.

[OakLeaf]

For a slightly different viewpoint - cycling is the most weight-loss-friendly exercise I've ever done, for the simple fact that I can maintain a moderate intensity for long periods of time. Running is just too demanding for me (and most people, I think) to do for the same amounts of time that would be considered a medium-length ride (2-4 hours). I almost always drop a pound or two when I increase my mileage significantly. (... but maybe I'm kidding myself and that pound is coming from the upper body muscle I'm losing from less time in the gym - anyway my pants fit better -)

Plus, to me, terrestrial exercise really suppresses my appetite - I have to force myself to eat after a ride to replenish my muscle glycogen. (Swimming, OTOH, always makes me ravenous. )

[jayjay]

For a slightly different viewpoint - cycling is the most weight-loss-friendly exercise I've ever done...Plus, to me, terrestrial exercise really suppresses my appetite - I have to force myself to eat after a ride to replenish my muscle glycogen. (Swimming, OTOH, always makes me ravenous. )

WEll, this one is *very* encouraging ! Come to think about it, I recall the years I was riding lots (32 to 40) I really could eat, and I kept a moderate BMI. I also agree with you that the distance riding is an appetite suppressor, it seems one can hit the threshold of longer aerobic with cycling, which must wrench the stomach.

[jayjay]

(horrors!)...But if you're exercising, you're building muscle, which is a good thing regardless =)

Monique, aint it true ! I've always had a lot of muscle, dont' think I can get much more! There's quite a muscular woman beneath my stack of spare tires. Thanks!

ps. just curious... what does 'bouceswhoosh' and 'oooh shiny' really mean ? Sounds quite interesting....

[bounceswoosh]

Monique, aint it true ! I've always had a lot of muscle, dont' think I can get much more! There's quite a muscular woman beneath my stack of spare tires. Thanks!

ps. just curious... what does 'bouceswhoosh' and 'oooh shiny' really mean ? Sounds quite interesting....

LOL

Bounceswoosh -- very geeky origin -- Back in the day, my Everquest character used to do the following when fighting:

Weylin bounces!
Weylin swooshes!
Weylin (says) Pa Pa Pa POW!

... so then some of my in-game friends started calling me bounceswoosh, and it kinda went from there.

"oooh shiny" is ... hrm ... just me trying to capture my adoration for bike parts and, well, frankly, all things material. But especially bikes; I see a bike and I'm fascinated like a crow finding a shiny object.

[jayjay]

LOL

Bounceswoosh -- very geeky origin -- Back in the day, my Everquest character used to do the following when fighting:

Weylin bounces!
Weylin swooshes!
Weylin (says) Pa Pa Pa POW!

... so then some of my in-game friends started calling me bounceswoosh, and it kinda went from there.

"oooh shiny" is ... hrm ... just me trying to capture my adoration for bike parts and, well, frankly, all things material. But especially bikes; I see a bike and I'm fascinated like a crow finding a shiny object.

I see, wow, very interesting. Crows and raccoons ! Raccoons are known to grab something shiny and not let go... sounds like some of us cyclists.

[F8th637]

I've lost some weight from riding without really making significant adjustments to my diet but the scale hasn't budged in a while HOWEVER I am back to wearing older, smaller clothes so that has to account for something, right? Food and I have a torrid love affair. If I could find a jersey that said, "I ride to eat!" I'd be ALL OVER that one.

[Melalvai]

Who can relate?

I really like commuting by bike because it lets me get 40 minutes of exercise every single day for an expenditure of 10 minutes. Ten minutes is how much longer it takes me to ride than it would to drive, park and walk (round trip). Since I started bike commuting 2 1/2 years ago, I've made other more subtle lifestyle changes: I take the stairs out of habit. It no longer even occurs to me to use the elevator. I walk instead of ride whenever possible. I look for pretty routes instead of short cuts. I run errands around the building and campus as they come up, instead of saving them up to take care of all at once.

Does it take more time to run 3 errands when I could have done it in 1? Sure, but it takes less time than making some special effort to exercise.

I also added in nightly situps and pushups. I started with 1 (as soon as I was able after a hysterectomy) and worked my way up to 100 by adding about 5 a week. It took a few months. I don't do 100 every night, it varies around 40-60 depending on how regularly I've been doing them. (I can bike through stress, illness, and busy but I can't stick to nightly situps through any of those.)

Anyway, your real question was about weight loss, and I did lose a fair bit of weight, from 160 pounds to 135 now, most of it during the first year, who knows what that is in body fat because I know I gained a lot of muscle. I did not diet on purpose. I hate counting calories so I don't know if my intake was the same or less--I guess less because if I'm busy biking I don't have so much time to crave brownies and ice cream. (In fact today I did NOT have a bike ride, and we drove to Andy's for the buy-one-get-one-free...)

My guess is that regular daily riding increases muscle and metabolism and could allow you to lose weight without reducing calories, if you aren't too impatient and are willing to let it take months or years.