i am fat - but fit

You have to bare in mind that muscle weighs alot more than fat. So you might be looking slimer but weighing the same. I personally have gone from 11stone to 12.5 in the past year. I look exactly the same apart from being a bit more 'toned'. Also dont expect any weight to drop off over night so just stick with it mate and you'll get there 😉

chisa1234 said:

i recently started cyclying - properly - i.e. about 30-50 miles a day. i have been on anti-depressants for some time and i think they have shot my metabolism. i have yet to lose weight - actually put on a couple of pounds. i am 5',9" and weight about 185 pounds. my problem is that where i live there are lots of hills so from going about 30 kph+ on the flat i quickly drop to about 8 kphs. is there any advice about weight loss and how to improve on the hills.

p.s. i eat well - not much fat and lots of fruit and veg.

Start daily strict tracking of calories eaten versus calories burned (including your daily burn just from normal activity as well as exercise).

Invest in a heart monitor to ensure that you are training in the proper aerobic zone.

As long as you are burning more calories than you eat in a day, you will lose weight. Unless you go into starvation mode and then your body may slow it's basal metabolism in order to preserve your weight. I have heard that it's best to try to make sure that you don't burn too many more calories than you eat. I don't know, though... I am losing about three pounds a week (10,000+ calories) and my body hasn't reacted adversely. I drink a [censored]-ton of water every day, though... I know that's important.

Yea, I also am a keen cyclist but still seem to retain a lot of fat. I have to be conscious of what I eat and how much exercise; otherwise, I just balloon.

The maxim of burning more calories than you put in is also very important. The key is to attain a balance of food intake with energy output.

If you are cycling 35-50 miles a day and are not losing weight, then you must simply be eating lots of food once you get off the bike. Just be honest with yourself.

Hi, I was fat, 140kg, yes really fat. I just lost 75kg, my target BMI is 22-23, I made it.

My diet therapist would not let me on a real bike until under 70kg.

My weight loss program was walking (HR100+), cardio cycling (cadence 90, HR 120-135), rowing machine (HR 120-140) and light weights, up to 3.5 hours in total a day. It worked!

Get advice from a good dietician based on your program, it is worth it.

i honstely don't eat too much cals. and eat 3 times a day.

dannyfrankszzz said:

Yea, I also am a keen cyclist but still seem to retain a lot of fat. I have to be conscious of what I eat and how much exercise; otherwise, I just balloon.

The maxim of burning more calories than you put in is also very important. The key is to attain a balance of food intake with energy output.

If you are cycling 35-50 miles a day and are not losing weight, then you must simply be eating lots of food once you get off the bike. Just be honest with yourself.

gclark8 said:

Hi, I was fat, 140kg, yes really fat. I just lost 75kg, my target BMI is 22-23, I made it.

My diet therapist would not let me on a real bike until under 70kg.

My weight loss program was walking (HR100+), cardio cycling (cadence 90, HR 120-135), rowing machine (HR 120-140) and light weights, up to 3.5 hours in total a day. It worked!

Get advice from a good dietician based on your program, it is worth it.

Did the dietician do any blood analysis or some kind of technical measurements to figure out how you should eat? Did you get any clues how this judgment is done?

gntlmn said:

Did the dietician do any blood analysis or some kind of technical measurements to figure out how you should eat? Did you get any clues how this judgment is done?

Yes, all professionally done over 3 years by a large teaching hospital.

Congrats on the weight loss.

I'm just reading the forum here as a newbie to cycling. Always had an interest in the sport and did ride when I was young - but only for fun.

At 38, 96.5Kg and 5'7", I now find that if I don't do exercise I'm not likely to live as long as I could otherwise - and that's putting it mildly.

Thanks to all of you out there that have given me some inspiration to continue.

Don't laugh, but I can't get out to ride the roads too often, so I bought myself a Tacx I-Magic, for the Catalyst SW (have plenty of computers here!), and am doing three progressive endurance runs per week at 150 bpm (inc warm up and cool down), with fun runs on other days. The fun runs will change to some power based training when I am fitter.

I'd welcome any views out there on the value of this (recovery) training, with any improvements you think I can make

Thanks in advance
Jon

jon_stewart said:

Congrats on the weight loss.

I'm just reading the forum here as a newbie to cycling. Always had an interest in the sport and did ride when I was young - but only for fun.

At 38, 96.5Kg and 5'7", I now find that if I don't do exercise I'm not likely to live as long as I could otherwise - and that's putting it mildly.

Thanks to all of you out there that have given me some inspiration to continue.

Don't laugh, but I can't get out to ride the roads too often, so I bought myself a Tacx I-Magic, for the Catalyst SW (have plenty of computers here!), and am doing three progressive endurance runs per week at 150 bpm (inc warm up and cool down), with fun runs on other days. The fun runs will change to some power based training when I am fitter.

I'd welcome any views out there on the value of this (recovery) training, with any improvements you think I can make

Thanks in advance
Jon

thats great that you have decided to start excercising, i started this thread because i have decided to lose weight myself - or at least get fitter - and i think cycling - especially in summer - is one of the best ways to do it. i have a pdf file about training properly if anyone wants a copy send me a private message with your email and i'll send it to you. my friend who cycles every day told me that it takes about 6 weeks to 3 months for you body to adjust to a certain type of excercise. i have been at it two weeks and coming back from a very hilly ride i thought i had a puncture as i just had no strenght left! anyone know anything about this?

I would certainly agree with the 6 weeks 3 months thing.

What I find funny is that I have no strength left 3/4 way along the run, but an hour after the runs over, I feel like doing it again!

However, I'm trying to be disciplined about this, which is where I've failed before!
Jon

I'm 5'9", 188 lbs but I never considered myself truly fat. Overweight and needing a change, certainly.

Back when I rode every day years ago, I was 155 with a slight pot belly that I could never shake.

Weight loss is a simple concept....burn more calories than you consume. :-)

Back in the day, 20 miles was a warmup. Getting started again after a 6year layoff...8 miles almost killed me yesterday, and I've had to work up to that from once around the block.

DallasBikr

chisa1234 said:

i recently started cyclying - properly - i.e. about 30-50 miles a day. i have been on anti-depressants for some time and i think they have shot my metabolism. i have yet to lose weight - actually put on a couple of pounds. i am 5',9" and weight about 185 pounds. my problem is that where i live there are lots of hills so from going about 30 kph+ on the flat i quickly drop to about 8 kphs. is there any advice about weight loss and how to improve on the hills.

p.s. i eat well - not much fat and lots of fruit and veg.

I would also recommend a good heart monitor. I, too, live in an area where there are lots of gnarly little hills that keep me from any sustained level riding. With the heart monitor, I can adjust my cadence to keep my heart levels in the proper range regardless of the hills I encounter.

Exercise is a terrific way to combat depression but it can take time. The reason exercise is effective is various anti-stress chemicals are released into the brain when you train and these act as mild stimulants. Medication for depression is effective in the short term but not a good idea in the long term. If you can substitute exercise for prescription drugs you'll be on the right track but, again, this takes time.
I don't personally diet but that's just my preference. What I try to do is eat the right sort of foods and avoid junk where possible. I don't think you should worry too much about the weight but try and be selective in what you eat. The main thing is to get the miles in on the bike and keep pushing fitness levels up. The weight will take care of itself over the months - slow weight loss is best. Myself I eat stuff like tinned fish, fruit, wholemeal bread, chicken, cottage cheese, yoghurt and I also have vitamin drinks, honey, raw garlic and cider vinegar.
Try drinking a little diluted cider vinegar every day as this is good for losing weight. However, don't take too much as large doses act as a diuretic. Some say that a cycle ride as soon as you get up will kickstart weight-loss, especially if you only take a fruit-juice and ride on your resources.

chisa1234 said:

i recently started cyclying - properly - i.e. about 30-50 miles a day. i have been on anti-depressants for some time and i think they have shot my metabolism. i have yet to lose weight - actually put on a couple of pounds. i am 5',9" and weight about 185 pounds. my problem is that where i live there are lots of hills so from going about 30 kph+ on the flat i quickly drop to about 8 kphs. is there any advice about weight loss and how to improve on the hills.

p.s. i eat well - not much fat and lots of fruit and veg.

My 2 cents worth about improving on the hills, which goes along with what other people have posted is:
1) get a heart rate monitor and shoot for the lower zones, fat burning and aerobic, not the higher zones -- lactate threshold and anaerobic,
2) watch your cadence, shoot for 90-100 rpm on the flat and 60+ rpm on the hills,
3) speed on the hills is not important, it is your cadence and heart rate, if your heart rate is maxing out and your cadence is nil on the lowest gear, you need a bike that gears down further so you can crawl up while turning at a decent rpm and heart rate (will get high, but avoid anaerobic).
If you are not losing weight, and you want to, you are going to have to count and limit calories. 30-50 miles per day is a lot of riding and doesn't allow much recovery; at 30 miles you probably don't exhaust your glycogen stores, but at 50 miles you probably do and then 'have no strength left'. 30 miles is roughly the 'bonk point' if you don't eat while riding.

I am a very similar case to you. I am 5'9" and was 180lbs 4 months ago, now, I am 155 lbs as of the last 2 weeks. (I have been on SSRI for about 4 years. I was 155 lbs give or take 5 when I went on medication. The last 3 years I have been +175 lbs.) I have been eating 1750 calories a day and riding about 100-125 miles per week, 4-5 rides, 15-30 miles per ride, one day hills, rest of days flat. Hills here are about 1 mile long and pitched where I can coast down at about 30-35 mph. The first two weeks of 1750 calories was hell, but I got used to it. I eat plenty of fresh salads and fresh and frozen vegetables. And, I get plenty of sleep (8-9 hours). I also carefully watch my caffeine intake. 2 cups coffee in the morning and no other caffeine works best for me and I consider it to be the proper buffer for my medication. The riding is also great for my mental health and I just love to get out there!

As I mentioned, my diet tricks include:
Nice big salads
Add half a bag of frozen vegetables to a Lean Cuisine Meal
Drink flavored carbonated water (no caffeine or sugar)
Regularly Eat baked potatoes (with salsa instead of sour cream or butter)
Avoid Fast Food

Best of Luck!!

I'm curious what you all think of cycling vs. other forms of exercise to lose weight and get fit. I currently run a bit (used to run a lot) and play soccer (football). But I have had to cut back on my training runs b/c i'm often so sore from my football matches. My knees have also been bothering me recently, partly b/c i'm carrying a bunch of extra weight. So basically i'm thinking of taking up cycling for exercise and transportation. Anyone have an opinion on the best way to make this transition? Opinions on cycling vs. running? i plan to keep up on runs, just hopefully take a bit of impact strain off my body by switching to some extent.

Cycling is easier on the knees than running, I think, but you have to be careful of technique. Using too high a gear can lead to injury and it takes some time to learn how to use gears in a way that helps take stress off the knee. Physio books also stress that when you climb, it's best to stand up so the knee suffers less.
The best way to lose weight is to simply eat sensibly. Always eat good food and reduce carbs in the evening.
Cycling has helped me lose weight although I confess I sometimes think there ain't no justice. I know people who sit in front of TV all day, eat what they want and sleep more than I do, yet they only have 4 inches more waistline than I have. Myself, I watch what I eat and do a lot of cycling but my waist is still 35 inches and far from perfect.

KMKS said:

I'm curious what you all think of cycling vs. other forms of exercise to lose weight and get fit. I currently run a bit (used to run a lot) and play soccer (football). But I have had to cut back on my training runs b/c i'm often so sore from my football matches. My knees have also been bothering me recently, partly b/c i'm carrying a bunch of extra weight. So basically i'm thinking of taking up cycling for exercise and transportation. Anyone have an opinion on the best way to make this transition? Opinions on cycling vs. running? i plan to keep up on runs, just hopefully take a bit of impact strain off my body by switching to some extent.

I used to jog but my right knee started bothering me. The orthopaedist I saw suggested I jog only minimally (2 miles a couple of times a week) but bike as much as I wanted. If I jog for 30 minutes I am bored to death. I can bike 2 hours and enjoy it the whole time. I am automatically motivated to ride since it is fun for me and my goal is exercise (weight control) and recreation. No point in biking if you hate it. Pick something you like such as walking, swimming, canoeing, whatever... and make an effort to do it a least twice a week. You don't have to devote your life to it, and exercising twice a week is better than nothing.

Chisa, my sister does the same thing. She's says she doesn't eat much, but whenever we see her, her hand is in a bag of chips or grabbing a cookie. I believe that's it's a subconscious kind of behavior. Consequently, she's obese and diabetic. We can confidently predict that she will die years earlier than otherwise. She used to be fit. She used to row on a college crew team. She used to run five, ten miles. 🙁

Don't go where she's gone. Get a disinterested 3rd party to watch what you eat. A friend who cares about you and is honest enough to tell you the hard truth.

chisa1234 said:

i honstely don't eat too much cals. and eat 3 times a day.

Thanks for the advice guys! I'm generally pretty good about watching what i eat, especially when i'm exercising more. When you get back from a 5 mile run eating a bag of chips just doesn't even seem appealing. As I said, running was increasingly getting hard on my body and it also was starting to bore me. I'm honestly doing less than 5 miles a week now whereas i used to do close to 30. This has obviously caused me to gain a bit of weight as well, which is a secondary concern to just being active.