Cycling for Weight Loss

I ride just about every day I do 25 miles and I have lost about 20# since March first. when I was rideing 10 15 miles I did not see any loss, but that does not mean I was not burning fat and making mussel. I am 5'9" and was 249# when I started keeping track in March . My .02

 

I started seriously mtn biking in 2002. I was over weight and grossly out of shape and the gym just wasn't my thing. Mtn biking seemed like something that I would like. I love the outdoors so riding a bike on trails was a no brainer. The day I started mtn biking, within the first half mile I thought that I was going to die. My heart was about to jump out of my chest and I couldn't catch my breath. I rested often, but kept on riding. I had a good friend with me who is actually quite a bit older than me and has been riding for years. I don't know if I would have kept with it if he hadn't encouraged me and cracked the whip on my ass.

I weighed around 215 then and 175 now. It wasn't all riding though. I also changed the types of food that I eat. Less processed and fatty foods and more low fat whole foods. And then there was the alcohol....

The single biggest thing that I did to loose weight was quit drinking. I LOVE beer and the beer that I love is very high calorie. I dropped 20 lbs in one month after quitting. I am back to drinking high octane beer again, but not as much.

You will loose weight as long as calories in is not more that calories out. It seems simple and it is. If you ride your bike ten miles a day and eat the same as you are now, you will loose weight. If you finish every ride with a few beers and a double bacon cheesburger, then maybe not.

 

I went on a serious diet in 2005 when I've reached 255 pounds and a blood pressure so high that the blood almost came out of my ears. I started to ride at least 15-20 miles a day and that combined with a healthy diet, made me lose 82 pounds within the first year.
No processed food, a cut-down on fat to about 30 grams a day and a slight cut-down on carbohydrates. Exercise alone doesn't make you lose weight, you'll have to combine it with a changed diet.
Less calories in than out and you'll lose weight. It's not so strange that you haven't noticed any weight loss as such. You have lost fat but gained muscle mass and muscles weight more than fat.

Unfortunately, we can't decide where we want to lose fat; even when I lost all these pounds, I still had a small meat balcony, but a thing that helps is doing exercises for your stomach muscles. It doesn't get rid of the fat as such, but it'll strengthen your muscular corset, so to speak. I asked a doctor in the hospital where I worked why, when I've lost all that weight, I still had a pot belly. He examined same belly and said that my stomach muscles were extremely weak and gave me the exercise advice.

I've gained about 10 pounds since 2006, which I'm biking off again, but the problem is that biking makes me hungry and the fact that my favourite dish is food, doesn't make it any easier.

 

getting thin

The thing that happens, first it that you start to get more toned. Unfortunately mussel weighs more than fat so you don't lose much weight right away. After a wile your motor will get bigger and if you keep riding the pounds will come off. It happened to me in the past and I am hoping it will do it again now that I am back on my bike. I went from about 205 to about 175. I was riding over three hours a day then. Now I am hoping I can get some miles on my bike every day. I think about a hour or so will do it for me.

Now that I am an old guy I am not doing the same climes I was with the same gears I did before. I am going slower now with smaller gears. I used to do a particular hill with a 42-23 now I am doing it with a 34-32.

When I start getting a bit more fit maybe Ill be able to push a bigger gear but, I was never very fast. I am going to try my "little hill" again tomorrow and see how it goes.

 

I got serious about riding again 3 seasons ago. I am 6'-0 and was around 210-215. The first season I saw no weight loss / was riding about 3-4 times a week, 12-16 miles at an average speed of 15 mph.

2nd season - last summer - I drastically changed my diet and kept the same riding regimen. Dropped almost 40 pounds in about 6 months. The most major change I made was counting calories using an iPhone app called "LoseIt". It's amazing what you discover when you track what you eat. This app also allows me to track the calories burned in exercise fairly accurately.

On the dietary level we eat only fish or chicken and very basic fresh vegetables. We'll do either Mexican or Pizza every other week as a treat / blowout - but are pretty careful about that as well. (light on the cheese - cracker crust D'Lite Pizza from Papa Murphy etc.) I have only had red meat 4 times in the past year. Snacks are fresh fruit, nuts, yogurt & vegetables. Only whole grain pastas or breads, etc.

I was able to drop from 210 down to 170 and have been able to maintain over the inactive winter months. I've actually gained about 4 pounds riding probably from increased muscle mass as others have noted. I actually dropped down to 167 for a while but at 6'-0 looked like a scarecrow!

I've just bought a road bike and will be increasing my rides in time and length and am anxious to see what this does to my weight.

Oh - and I did not cut out alcohol although I drink moderately - say 4-5 ounces of wine per day and maybe a martini or some bourbon on the weekends.

I've tried the diet fads like South Beach and Low Carb but found them hard to maintain and not necessarily healthy. Calorie counting combined with eating healthy seems to work for me and is actually quite effortless once you get used to eating that way.

Good luck!

 

weight loss and diet and riding

There is one bit of info that I got a few years ago so I can't quote the source, but it a problem is that as you reduce your caloric intake your body gets more efficient, so when you do eat more you gain weight that much faster.

I have been also told that fat is stored in such a way so that it is easier for you body to metabolize muscle than fat. so if you eat less you bod will take the muscle first.

Back in the day when I rode for twenty miles one way over the hills to work and twenty back, I ate what I wanted and still lost weight. That was before they made light rail around here so I did not have that option . Now I am trying to duplicate that ride for the new school year and hopefully there will be less of me by the end of the year.

Mike-retired to the home for the perpetually slow-Frye

 

It might be time to see a specialist like a trainer or nutritionist. If you are fighting the age thang, I know I am, the older you get the less you should need to eat. I saw a rule of thumb that suggested normal weights for most men was about +10 lbs for each decade. Sorry, I don't have a URL or quote to track that.

There are many tricks of the trade to get your weight down, like keeping your metabolism down by exercising 10 - 15 every two to five hours, eschewing the use of elevators (leg muscles move a lot of blood), and removing most super fatty food from your diet. You don't have to be zealous about it to make progress, just smart and consistent.

 

At least 2 x a week 90 minutes with a heart rate of 65-75 %
That's fat burning
It 'll take time.
I lost about 30 lbs in 2 years (170 to 140)

 

I'm down from about 260 to about 215 right now. I try to ride at least a couple 25-35milers (on a fixed gear or a heavy hybrid bike) per week. The biggest change I made was eating better. I've all but stopped drinking and going out to eat and I lessened my portion sizers and implemented more fresh fruit and veggies. Now I find the thought of some of the stuff I used to eat isn't even appealing anymore. My goal is to be down around 190ish which seems like a good weight for my frame. This pic was taken of me this Saturday as I was setting up for a lawn care class...



I can't find a decent 'before' shot but just imagine me with a double chin and a large belly.

 

Dang Ryan, congrats man. I started gaining some of my weight back, but if I don't stay on top of my cycling, that'll happen.