Originally Posted by
gnappi
At 67 and being retired going on three years (already?) not long ago I went to my doctor for a checkup and to my horror my weight was (to me) on the way to becoming an old fat guy. OK, time to get going on the bike again!
I'm not sedentary by any stretch, and do all of my own home / yard maintenance and walk a lot, several miles a day fishing but it's been ~6 years since I rode my bikes.
After my doc's office surprise, I started bicycle riding / fishing (I fished most days on foot anyway) finding out of the way honey holes (term for seldom fished spots) on an aluminum mountain bike and I'm having a blast with it. Aside from the bike fishing, I'm riding about 10-12 miles a day so far, and I lost 11 pounds (my target is 25 pounds total) which will bring me to where I was when I stopped riding 6 years ago, and not far from where I was in my 30's :-)
I'm not hip to more current training methods, but at the start, my resting heart rate was ~77 and it's currently in the mid to low 60's. I've ordered another cycle computer so I don't have to scavenge one from my other bikes to keep track of my daily riding efforts.
I'd like some advice from others here (note competition and group rides are out of the equation) who have recent and similar experiences and goals and how their "get in better shape" plans worked out.
You sound a lot like me.
I retired about 3 years ago. I was 218lbs when I retired. A year and a half later I was 254lbs. Doctor said you have to work on losing some weight. I started riding more. A Few pounds came off. One thing that has helped be is after a ride, I substitute my normal next meal with a Slim Fast Shake. I realize I can`t drink Slim Fast forever, but substituting a meal a day , maybe 5 days a week, has really helped. And I don`t feel like I`m dieting, or starving myself. Slim Fast Shakes actually taste very good.
My son-in-law has a friend that is a triathlete . (Unbelievable Great Shape).
He said he uses Slim Fast Shakes after all his workouts instead of a meal.