How Did I Get Here?
 

Perhaps I should have titled this thread, How Did I Get Back Here?

I'm back to my greatest weight I've ever been: 226 pounds. That may not seem devastating to some of you, but I am also just under 5 foot 6 inches. I'm about 75- 80 pounds overweight. Just before Thanksgiving, I was 198. So I put on 28 pounds in four months. That's a problem.

I just wrote a long winded, self centered, rant about how I stopped riding and kept overeating. In an attempt to not bore you, I'll summarize this perfect storm. It started with the flu, followed by the holidays, a series of professional and personal trips, increased stressful situations, increased work load when home and excuses not to ride. During the last four months, I haven't stopped overeating for any significant amount of time. My cycling is also down to 1/4 of what I averaged in 2018. As a result, some depression has also set in for what I've done to myself.

So my weight is back to its highest I've ever been-- 226. I'm in better shape than when I first started cycling in 2014, but I'm not motivated to overcome my destructive behavior the last few months. It feels like having to climb the same hill again. I have two organized cycling events the next two weekends for my local club and for the American Diabetes Association. I'd be happy to ride half of what my original plan was months ago when registering.

I've considered motivating myself by registering now for a challenging ride in September or October. That kind of goal has helped previously.

life/weight is a rollercoaster. Keep your chin up and keep pedaling. You'll find the groove again, but you will need to cut the excuses and get back on the bike.

Sometime the hardest part of the bike ride is getting on the bike.

...Or you could just look for a local cycling group & decide to participate in their free daily rides. All bicycle clubs/advocacy groups put them on and offer rides regularly. The social aspect of cycling is not to be underestimated.

Nobody cares what your weight is. Just find a pace you enjoy. Everyone else in that group is there for the same reasons you are and have the same abilities you do.

Don't feel bad, I put on about 15-20 pounds over the winter as well. But now that we're having weather warm enough to ride in, I'm getting my health back on track. Holiday goodies are the worst for trying to keep your weight down.

Getting to your goals and maintaining them is 100% mental. It has little to do with the work out or the food your eating, It has more to do with what you decide to do. Whether that is exercise or eat right or both. An excuse comes from within, not from the bike or the food. I know, I make plenty of them. I was at 227 and at 5'6" I was not feeling good (yoyo'd back up myself). I'm down to 205 and feeling better, but I still struggle with trying to not make excuses. Once this weather turns and my new bike is built I will be hitting it really hard core. I have other goals set. My first century at the end of May isn't going to ride itself. I'm doing 3-4 days a week on the trainer right now and enjoying my keto diet.

You did it before now do it again. You've got this!

@Bassmanbob We're going to have to work on this together. I just hit 227# at 5'7". I was a Cat 2 racer in the 1980s at 145#. When I retired from racing, my weight shot up like a rocket mainly due to a stressful job. I retired from work in 2008 and had a mild weight reprieve as I dropped back to 175 from 230. Didn't last, though.

I had my first back to back 100 mile weeks and gained 3#. At first, I thought it was an anomaly but the 3# uptick has lasted several days now. Somehow, I don't think that I gained 3# of muscle in two weeks. :foo:

Anyway, Bob, we're going to get this job done and lose some weight. Right!?

Amen to that.

I agree with the comment about finding groups or setting goals - I'm so much better about getting on my bike if I committed to somebody else that I"m riding with them. :)

Definitely true. I ended up only riding 5 times in 2018. Just could not get on the bike, and fell further out of shape because of it. Weather has gotten nice enough this month to start, and I've already equaled last year's 5 rides :). To the OP, I like the idea of scheduling something challenging a bit farther out, to have that goal in mind...

True.

I am a member of my local cycling club and have been riding with them for two years now. I got up to the B+ group, but now I'm between the C and B groups. I want to solidly get back to the B+ group by the end of September, which is the beginning of event season here in southern Florida.

Thanks. Seriously, thanks.

OK. Let's do this. I did lose 6 pounds last week, so I'm now at 220. It's a good start, but I need to keep going. Please share your progress here too!

Well, I'm down -1.5# since the weekend. It's a start.

You're not the only one to have had those thoughts and feelings. I was nearly 300 lbs and managed to get down to 180 and then over the course of a year gained all of it back. I got back on track and lost it again only to gain back to 286 before losing and am now back down to 240. I'm taking it off a lot slower this time with the hopes it won't come back as fast...seems to be working. I'm sure you have heard that you can't out ride a poor diet and that it's the diet more than the exercise as the key to losing weight. I have found that I can not maintain the diet without the exercise. It's the exercise that puts me in the frame of mind to control my diet knowing how that extra portion will only hurt my cycling.
Just keep your chin up as it is so easy get get depressed after working so hard to take off weight only to gain it back but its similar to an addiction in that you will always have to work at it with the understanding that there will be times you take a step back but are able to then take the two steps forward. Good luck.

I've found much of what you've said to be true. I can't out ride a poor diet, but the exercise helps put me in the right frame of mind to eat right-- especially when I have a goal of a particular difficult ride to plan. I also believe my eating to be very addictive, so much that I plan to attend Overeaters Anonymous beginning next week. I have a scheduling conflict this Thursday night, when the local meeting is available.

Update: I had a really good first week, then a moderate second week. Last week was pretty bad. We went to my son-in-law's parents house for an extended weekend. It's a beautiful beach house, but I was out of my eating environment/routine. There were no parties, but there was plenty of party-like food. Friday, we walked on the beach for about 7-8 miles, then had a very salty dinner. My feet and legs swelled like they never have before. Even today, I had to squeeze my feet into my cycling shoes and endured the pain of tight shoes during my short ride this morning. I just don't feel right, even though I just had a cardiac clearance three weeks ago-- including a stress test and echocardiogram. I've eaten a low sodium diet today and will the next two days. If I'm still swollen by Tuesday, I'm going to my doctor. I have no chest pain, no leg pain, no exaggeration of my hypertension and no dizziness, but I'm not playing with this. I've got to get the salt out of me, and I'll wear the support stockings I usually wear when coming home from an organized endurance ride. I think I'll be fine, but I'd rather play it safe.