Can a Fat Lady Ride

[bamakathy]

I am turning fifty next month and I have let myself go until I am so fat now (247 lbs.) I need desperately to get in hsape. I have an old single speed bike with a coaster brake, and I got it out today and aired it up. I loved bike riding as a young girl and starting out I loved the feeling of the wind in my face. However, after a ten min ride I was panting, sweating, heart pounding like a sledge hammer and my thighs felt like they were on fire. My doctor says there is no reason I can't exercise as long as I start out slow What is slow in cycling? Can a fat lady ride?

[Nanci]

Of course you can ride! Just start out slowly, with a comfortable heart rate. Make sure you drink enough, and maybe even eat a snack if you plan on being out an hour or so. For sure, don't start on an empty stomach- you won't have the energy to ride. You'll be able to burn off a 100-200 calorie snack easily.

Go as many days a week as possible! If you are counting calories in general, just don't add back in the hundreds you burn. Even 45 minutes to an hour a day is effective!!

Nanci

[tulip]

OF COURSE!!! Welcome! Start slow and be consistent. Keep a diary or record, and pretty soon you'll see improvements. I bet within a year, if you keep up the good work that you have already BRAVELY started, you will be eyeing a new bike, too.

I'm sure there will be lots of encouragement and advice to follow. There are some inspiring stories by some inspiring women on these forums.

Please keep us posted!

[uforgot]

Pretty soon that 10 minute ride is going to be 20, then half hour. I just bet that every day you get a little stronger and fitter. One step at a time. Keep it up! We are rooting for you!

[bamakathy]

You have no idea how much your encouragement means. My family thought me riding a bike was hilarious.

[fatbottomedgurl]

I read this today and I think it is perfect for you, and everyone who is brave enough to start what seems impossible.

Taken from a speech by President Theodore Roosevelt April 23, 1910; delivered at the Sorbonne in Paris.

" It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worse, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."

[laughlaugh18]

You have no idea how much your encouragement means. My family thought me riding a bike was hilarious.

Silly family! Don't let them deter you.

I still think of myself as a beginning rider, and I know how daunting it can seem when you're talking about riding 10 minutes and others are talking about riding 100 miles! Don't worry about that. When your 10 minutes turn into 20 and then 30 and then maybe a hill or two, you'll feel great. Everyone around here applauds people reaching for their own goals.

You might want to consider getting a bike with gears sooner rather than later (even if it's an inexpensive one for starters). Gears make life sooooo much easier for those of us who are, um, excercise-challenged and you'll find you can keep going for much longer than you thought possible.

Cathy

[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." -

[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.

[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.