Originally Posted by
Paul L.
201 and 6'1"
Here is me and my ride. Was down below 190 for awhile there until I took a month off to nurse my back and the weight shot above 200 again and hasn't come back down yet.
Originally Posted by
fullergarrett
I've been on the Bike Forums but for a little while, but I'm new to the Clydesdale forum. My name, obviously, is Garrett.
In short, I'm 320-330 pounds (I don't currently own a scale, but I've been staying within that range for a while now.) I am 5'11" and 19 years old. Heart problems run in my family (both on my paternal and maternal sides) and family members/close friends have been trying to get me to exercise more.
I've been riding a bike for most of my life, although there was a time where I quit after I got my drivers license. Before then, I rode either my 1987 Free Spirit Pinnacle 12-speed or Huffy Superia around town to get out or go visit a friend, etc. Since I lived in a town that the Katy Trail ran right through, I often would get on it and ride for a few hours. There was a time where I was riding a bike every day for at least a couple hours, depending on the weather.
One of the biggest issues I have is - and I hate publicly saying this out of fear of humiliating myself - but I don't eat vegetables or fruits. Like a stubborn little kid, I hate them - I'm a very picky eater. I never eat them, which has made my goal of loosing weight somewhat more difficult.
Recently, I'm hoping to get back into shape and "hop back onto the bike." I recently purchased a 2016 Giant Sedona and have been trying to ride even in the winter (I've been posting somewhat frequently on a topic I started in the winter biking forums here.) Unfortunately, it's been so nasty and icy lately here that I have rarely had a chance to hop on the bike for a spin lately.
My goal is to get from 320 pounds to 250 pounds or below.
Originally Posted by
fullergarrett
Probably the biggest thing that I have a problem with is... soda. This last fall I was able to cut almost all of my soda consumption (went from six or so cans down to one or two a day) but unfortunately that didn't stick. I'm back to where I started. :-( I noticed during that period I was losing some weight, especially since I was riding my bike on a daily basis at the same time. The temptation was too great to drink soda - it's addictive like a drug.
I was drinking water with Crystal Light packs, mostly the basic lemonade but there were some times where I'd change it up or get the caffeinated packs.
As for the rest of what I eat, it depends. I eat out quite often because I try to avoid the dining hall food and all I have right now is a microwave. A friend who does cook in her room suggested investing in a CrockPot or slow cooker to cook my own meals. Our dorm building also has a (just one) kitchenette, but I've never used it as it seems dirty and always smells like the person who previously used it caught something on fire and walked away.
From a financial standpoint, I've been trying to cut back on eating out less to save money - but my options are limited unless I go to the dining hall. I'm trying to get into an on-campus apartment next year where I can actually cook my own meals from my own kitchenette. Until then, I may invest in a slow cooker to cook my own meals like Hamburger Helper, spaghetti, etc.
Any suggestions would be appreciated as to how I can get into better shape. Should I break this out into its own thread?
Vegetables aren't a huge deal (I will say this and leave it alone- I feel like people that say things like that about a whole class of food are just fussing before trying and/or have never had them done right, but that probably doesn't help here). Vegetables aren't going to make or break a diet, though they are something that you can mostly eat without really worrying about it. OTOH, vegetarians that like eating/food often have problems keeping from getting fat. Your biggest concern is to control carbohydrate intake, mostly in the form of sugar. There are strong arguments against artificial sweeteners (the only one that I don't feel has negative overall stevia, but since it's a natural herb it's hard to find stuff made with it, there isn't the profit margin in herbs/natural), but if your choice is to backslide on the sodas or have one with artificial sweeteners I'd go with the diet (you need to learn to get them out of your diet. I know it's hard, I try to limit diet soda to 1 a day and as a mixer if I'm going to have a drink.
I think you need to learn some about nutrition (and not what the government tells us which is totally wrong)- your crockpot idea will likely fail for 2 reasons: 1- the kinds of things you're talking about making (hamburger helper, spaghetti...) are loaded in carbs and not enough protein, 2- they and most crockpot recipes are a large number of servings. If you don't have a kitchen you likely don't have the refrigerator space to make a week's worth of meals in advance and store them. If you do have storage space what you could make in a crock pot that would work is things like whole chicken...
The George Forman Grill is a great idea but might be a problem with your roommates: a crock pot might fill your dorm with tasty food smells, a GFG will fill it will grilling/burning smell that will linger longer.
Why are you trying to stay away from dininghall food?
FWIW, this is coming from someone that lost >100# 14 years ago and has kept the bodyfat off (not quite the weight, but that was on purpose, I'll explain in my coming introduction). If you want to start a dedicated thread feel free to send me a link and I'll try to help. Feel free to PM me questions also, but a thread will get input from more people.