Weight loss and biking
#26
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MyFitnessPal will do most of that work for you. I push my calorie updates every week. This last time increased my calorie burn.
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#27
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Buy a trainer and ride everyday, that is what I am doing here in SE Kansas, always seems to rain, but spring will be here. Diet exercise, 25 pounds since 01-05-2020
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billmc40 suggests MyFitnessPal is a great app. Even the free version will give you what you want. I use this for calorie counting every day. I also log my weight every week. Its a good tool. Not sure I would use the pay version though. In the winter months I Zwift 5 days a week, keeps my fitness and cycling legs going for when spring does ever show up. I NEVER Zwift in the 7 riding months. I then turn to the treadmill for indoor workouts when its crappy out.
#29
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It took me almost 2 years to go from 215 to 165, so about a half-pound a week. A pound a week is probably a reasonable target if you're really going for it. Two pounds a week is a deficit of over a thousand calories a day. That's going to take some pretty dramatic lifestyle changes.
I've done dramatic before, like dropping from 380 to 260 in under 7 months (11 years ago) or dropping from 283 to 251 in under two months (this year). Those were both over 4 lbs/week sustained efforts, and took planning, multiple hours/day of exercise and extremely careful planning of what, how much, and when to eat. By contrast, 2 lbs/week is much more doable without having to set aside nearly everything not related to work, sleep, and weight loss.
If one is working from home and believes they don't have time to exercise every day they are fooling themselves. One could achieve meaningful results in 10-15 minutes of high-intensity training such as a kettlebell routine, pushups, etc. right in the comfort of one's own home. Or one could get up 30 minutes earlier and get in a quick 8 or 9 mile bike ride. It's not a long ride, but compared to a lifestyle where one isn't doing any exercise at all it's a huge improvement, and will generate meaningful results. Combine that with actually paying attention to what one is eating and eliminating some easy empty calories and one is golden.
#30
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I don't think that's all that dramatic. Eat 500 calories less, burn 500 calories more. Most folks would be shocked at how easily one can reduce one's intake by 500 calories, if one is paying attention. Paying attention is really the key. 500 calories burned through exercise isn't that hard to come by either, if one is actually planning some exercise into one's day, on purpose. And if one is unwilling to spend the time to burn 500 calories, then cut calories eaten by 600 and burn 400 through exercise.
I've done dramatic before, like dropping from 380 to 260 in under 7 months (11 years ago) or dropping from 283 to 251 in under two months (this year). Those were both over 4 lbs/week sustained efforts, and took planning, multiple hours/day of exercise and extremely careful planning of what, how much, and when to eat. By contrast, 2 lbs/week is much more doable without having to set aside nearly everything not related to work, sleep, and weight loss.
If one is working from home and believes they don't have time to exercise every day they are fooling themselves. One could achieve meaningful results in 10-15 minutes of high-intensity training such as a kettlebell routine, pushups, etc. right in the comfort of one's own home. Or one could get up 30 minutes earlier and get in a quick 8 or 9 mile bike ride. It's not a long ride, but compared to a lifestyle where one isn't doing any exercise at all it's a huge improvement, and will generate meaningful results. Combine that with actually paying attention to what one is eating and eliminating some easy empty calories and one is golden.
I've done dramatic before, like dropping from 380 to 260 in under 7 months (11 years ago) or dropping from 283 to 251 in under two months (this year). Those were both over 4 lbs/week sustained efforts, and took planning, multiple hours/day of exercise and extremely careful planning of what, how much, and when to eat. By contrast, 2 lbs/week is much more doable without having to set aside nearly everything not related to work, sleep, and weight loss.
If one is working from home and believes they don't have time to exercise every day they are fooling themselves. One could achieve meaningful results in 10-15 minutes of high-intensity training such as a kettlebell routine, pushups, etc. right in the comfort of one's own home. Or one could get up 30 minutes earlier and get in a quick 8 or 9 mile bike ride. It's not a long ride, but compared to a lifestyle where one isn't doing any exercise at all it's a huge improvement, and will generate meaningful results. Combine that with actually paying attention to what one is eating and eliminating some easy empty calories and one is golden.
I do think it is possible to find a way to exercise 30 to 45 minutes a day, even if you have to break it into 15 minute chunks. And if you do that consistently, it will pay off in fitness over time.
While cycling can and should be a part of it, my experience is, unless you make commuting by bike, part of your day, my experience is, even a quick ride is usually at least an hour time commitment when you factor in changing to bike clothes, checking/airing up the tires, filling water bottles, putting the bike away, and showering and changing back into my regular work clothes.
The third point is huge and actually harder than the regular exercise part. paying attention to what you eat over the long term, and not just a couple of weeks or months followed by a cheat day, or week, or month.
I say this as someone who has lost and gained weight back many times, (currently 251 lbs, down from 312 lbs last June. Cycling can be a part of losing weight, but really a small part. There are times I rode 10 hours a week, and actually gained some weight. How? Mostly it was about what I was eating. Say I go for a 2 hour ride, or about 25 miles, moderately hilly, and burn somewhere around 1,100 calories. (most calorie counters wildly overestimate the calorie burn, so I am going conservative on that, but it could be more). But, in anticipation of my ride, I eat an extra 200 calories the morning of the ride, then eat a 250 calorie energy bar during the ride, and after the ride, I eat an 800 calorie meal. Than instead of doing household chores or even just moving around the house, I sit on the couch the rest of the day and take a nap. Then get up and eat another meal later for dinner.
So while I feel virtuous burning off 1,100 calories, I ate back most of those calories and more during and after the ride. So maybe to lose weight, what i needed to do was to change what I eat, and not compensate for my ride by eating more. The way I lost 61 lbs was to change my diet over time, to the point that it was more a habit than a diet. I am not so arrogant to say I have the problem beat, but I am on my way to my eating habits becoming a lifestyle.
#31
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To the highlighted section, I would say agree, agree somewhat, and agree.
I do think it is possible to find a way to exercise 30 to 45 minutes a day, even if you have to break it into 15 minute chunks. And if you do that consistently, it will pay off in fitness over time.
While cycling can and should be a part of it, my experience is, unless you make commuting by bike, part of your day, my experience is, even a quick ride is usually at least an hour time commitment when you factor in changing to bike clothes, checking/airing up the tires, filling water bottles, putting the bike away, and showering and changing back into my regular work clothes.
I do think it is possible to find a way to exercise 30 to 45 minutes a day, even if you have to break it into 15 minute chunks. And if you do that consistently, it will pay off in fitness over time.
While cycling can and should be a part of it, my experience is, unless you make commuting by bike, part of your day, my experience is, even a quick ride is usually at least an hour time commitment when you factor in changing to bike clothes, checking/airing up the tires, filling water bottles, putting the bike away, and showering and changing back into my regular work clothes.
So while I feel virtuous burning off 1,100 calories, I ate back most of those calories and more during and after the ride. So maybe to lose weight, what i needed to do was to change what I eat, and not compensate for my ride by eating more. The way I lost 61 lbs was to change my diet over time, to the point that it was more a habit than a diet. I am not so arrogant to say I have the problem beat, but I am on my way to my eating habits becoming a lifestyle.
I came back last year from a deployment at my lowest weight in 10 years. I relaxed, kind of fell off the wagon for a few months, and put on some weight. I took that seriously around November, accelerated my efforts through December and then went full-on hard core mode through all of January and February, and took it back off, so now I'm back to the lowest weight I've been in the last ten years. I've decided this is the year I break through again and lose as much of the remaining feasible weight I think is doable. I'm low 250s right now, and my goal is 230. I'll then get the surgery to remove the excess baggy skin I still have left over from when I weighed 380 lbs, and be somewhere in the 220s. That's the weight range I was at in my young 20s when I got married, and is about as low as I think I could feasibly go without contracting some combination of cancer and AIDS. I'm 6'2" and in the 220s I looked perfectly fine. It's my frame and the way it's built. My brother is within 1/4" or so of the same height as me and he's built way differently. He's like 10 or 15 lbs lighter than me right now but looks like he's 40 lbs heavier.
Right now I'm working on how to back off somewhat from the hard core mode I was in during January and February, where I averaged around 4 lbs/ week, and go down to more like 1.5-2 lbs/week. I'm tweaking how many calories I eat per day slightly upward, and the time I'm spending exercising somewhat downward. Dropping from 4 lbs/week loss to 2 lbs/week loss means shifting my calorie balance upwards by around 1000 calories/day. I just have to keep my eye on the ball and make the changes to my daily routines with control and purpose. What I'm hoping to accomplish this year is to achieve a healthy taper as I get closer to my target weight, then by the time I achieve that goal have already established a lifestyle and habits that result in just plateauing at that target weight, so by the time I get there I'm not having to really change anything. That healthy taper is what has eluded me these last ten years, and I'm determined that this is the year.
#32
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I find it nearly impossible to loose weight once the heavy summer bicycling season kicks in by May. To ride I need to eat more.
if I’m going to loose weight I need to do it in the winter primary.
if I’m going to loose weight I need to do it in the winter primary.
#33
Senior Member
If I rode at enough higher level of effort than that, then I'd have to start adding carb energy during a ride to sustain it, or if I went much further than that, I'd have to do the same, or I'd eventually find myself in energy trouble. There seemed to be a limit to the rate at which my body could generate energy by breaking down fat, and if my energy consumption rate exceeded that, or I rode long enough to exhaust my built-in carb stores such as the muscle glycogen, I'd have to supplement during a ride with carb energy, or get into energy trouble. A good example of this was group rides, where we'd ride further than this, and at such a higher level of effort that I'd plan on eating/drinking several hundred calories worth of carbs during a ride in order to sustain the effort. But for my own solo rides I'd regularly do a particular 32-mile route at 125-130 bpm effort level on just water alone, and be fine, then right after the ride eat/drink some protein and maybe 100-150 calories worth of carbs. Everyone's heart rate zones and whatnot will differ, of course, due to age, cardio fitness, etc. It also took quite a bit of riding to extend the distance I could fuel on fat alone. I'm just refocusing on cycling again and building my mileage back up, so I couldn't easily do that same 32-mile route on fat alone right now, but I'll be back at that level at some point soon as I get my legs back and my cardiovascular efficiency back up.
It's how I can create a calorie deficit by eating fewer calories than my body would normally burn in a day, then extend that calorie deficit even more through fat-powered cycling. There's a fine balance to be struck doing this, but I've done it enough over the last decade that I've got my body's requirements and capabilities more or less figured out.
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That's an interesting result. My own experience has been the opposite, ie: when I can ride a lot, I can lose a lot of weight. Over time, with some reading, some experimentation, and study, I've found it possible to train my body to be more efficient at burning fat, by eating generally low carbs (no necessarily no carbs, nor strictly a "keto" diet), and by riding in heart rate zones that represent levels of effort that my body can power mainly by breaking down fat, and then finally timing when I eat to support recovery from exercise more than fueling it. I found, for instance, that if I kept my heart rate in around a 125-130 bpm zone I could ride up to around 30-35 miles more or less on bodyfat alone. I say more or less because it obviously wasn't 100% on bodyfat, or else I'd have been able to ride forever, since I never ran out of fat.
If I rode at enough higher level of effort than that, then I'd have to start adding carb energy during a ride to sustain it, or if I went much further than that, I'd have to do the same, or I'd eventually find myself in energy trouble. There seemed to be a limit to the rate at which my body could generate energy by breaking down fat, and if my energy consumption rate exceeded that, or I rode long enough to exhaust my built-in carb stores such as the muscle glycogen, I'd have to supplement during a ride with carb energy, or get into energy trouble. A good example of this was group rides, where we'd ride further than this, and at such a higher level of effort that I'd plan on eating/drinking several hundred calories worth of carbs during a ride in order to sustain the effort. But for my own solo rides I'd regularly do a particular 32-mile route at 125-130 bpm effort level on just water alone, and be fine, then right after the ride eat/drink some protein and maybe 100-150 calories worth of carbs. Everyone's heart rate zones and whatnot will differ, of course, due to age, cardio fitness, etc. It also took quite a bit of riding to extend the distance I could fuel on fat alone. I'm just refocusing on cycling again and building my mileage back up, so I couldn't easily do that same 32-mile route on fat alone right now, but I'll be back at that level at some point soon as I get my legs back and my cardiovascular efficiency back up.
It's how I can create a calorie deficit by eating fewer calories than my body would normally burn in a day, then extend that calorie deficit even more through fat-powered cycling. There's a fine balance to be struck doing this, but I've done it enough over the last decade that I've got my body's requirements and capabilities more or less figured out.
If I rode at enough higher level of effort than that, then I'd have to start adding carb energy during a ride to sustain it, or if I went much further than that, I'd have to do the same, or I'd eventually find myself in energy trouble. There seemed to be a limit to the rate at which my body could generate energy by breaking down fat, and if my energy consumption rate exceeded that, or I rode long enough to exhaust my built-in carb stores such as the muscle glycogen, I'd have to supplement during a ride with carb energy, or get into energy trouble. A good example of this was group rides, where we'd ride further than this, and at such a higher level of effort that I'd plan on eating/drinking several hundred calories worth of carbs during a ride in order to sustain the effort. But for my own solo rides I'd regularly do a particular 32-mile route at 125-130 bpm effort level on just water alone, and be fine, then right after the ride eat/drink some protein and maybe 100-150 calories worth of carbs. Everyone's heart rate zones and whatnot will differ, of course, due to age, cardio fitness, etc. It also took quite a bit of riding to extend the distance I could fuel on fat alone. I'm just refocusing on cycling again and building my mileage back up, so I couldn't easily do that same 32-mile route on fat alone right now, but I'll be back at that level at some point soon as I get my legs back and my cardiovascular efficiency back up.
It's how I can create a calorie deficit by eating fewer calories than my body would normally burn in a day, then extend that calorie deficit even more through fat-powered cycling. There's a fine balance to be struck doing this, but I've done it enough over the last decade that I've got my body's requirements and capabilities more or less figured out.
#35
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BTW, I find it much easier to lose weight while riding longer distances at a slower rate than ride shorter distances but much faster. Basically, riding at lower speed doesn't really require any snacks for hours, it is very easy to eat pretty much normally. However, it is simply not possible to ride hard and not eat during the ride and/or get serious hunger afterwards, the end result being that your weight may actually go up as you may overcompensate by eating too much, it is not easy to find a balance (especially at first).
For me, the process basically went in two stages. As I wrote, during first 7 months I've lost about 75 pounds (went from ~240 lb to ~ 165 lb, I'm 5'11"), I became stronger, bought a new bike, joined a local bike club and started riding on group rides (which proved to be way more challenging than riding solo). Due to this for the next few months I actually didn't lost any more weight but I became MUCH thinner, especially around the waist (pants 36 -> 29) and needed to change all clothes. Became much stronger as well. I guess it was fat changing to muscles which resulted in size reduction but not weight reduction.
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#36
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I used to get into that trap, overfueling for rides that, if I am honest with myself, I only needed modestly more food for than I would normally eat.
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Sometimes I can get by on less if I can just sit down and relax after riding but kids and schedule usually has me going like a rabbit (responsibilities) so I feel the need to fuel up to keep going.
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i stopped eating so many carbs and sugar. It was tough for a few weeks, i will not lie. I did a July 4 ride in the heat and I struggled to do 20 miles, and that is sort of pathetic. But now my weight is down to 250 and still dropping and I don't constantly crave carbs. I might eat a few carbs before a ride, but not much. Maybe some fruit or a smoothie with a half a banana. Now, we will see how things go this summer. last summer I was just starting to lose weight so i didn't see much difference and in fact, I probably rode shorter rides because I was running out of energy after a couple of hours. It didn't matter. I shortened my rides because losing weight was more important than riding longer rides. But this summer, I plan to do some longer rides as I think being hopefully 70 or 80 lbs down I should have better endurance.
#39
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MRT2 IMHO these are two completely different issues. One thing is that if you are regularly riding hard (near your max. possible effort), which for me, as for Toadmeister also happens to be during warm time of the year, then it becomes very, very tricky to introduce a calorie deficit required to lose weight because it tends to immediately reflect on the performance. It is still possible to lose weight but very slowly, try to reduce it just a bit too fast and you'll immediately feel that you can't push as hard as you were able just a few days before. And completely different thing is "overfueling" which actually leads to a weight gain and can easily happen during any season and any level of effort. And it is usually just either because people eat too much in general for their level of activity or, if they try to lose weight, they try to eat less (=not enough) during rides and then for next couple of days feel terrible hunger and overeat as a result.
#40
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I've read every post. Sigh. Never fails. After all the thrashing is done what has the o.p. learned? I'm not sure I learned anything here. Luckily I don't need the information. I won't add to the confusion by introducing yet another opinion but I will say this: all this hair splitting? It's pointless. The Laws of Thermodynamics are absolute and inflexible. A calorie is a calorie is a calorie. A pound of avoirdupus (fat) is 3500 calories. Period. Whether or not a 1 hour ride is 400 or 500 or even 600 calories ... ... irrelevant. Oops I may be showing a bias for the opinion that exercise doesn't matter as much as portion control ... <they're right> anyway, the population of American adults tends to overweight. Like 70% overweight. In spite of all the 'knowledge' out there about how to control weight. How about some of us 'listen' harder to proven success. Is that really so difficult?
#41
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I've read every post. Sigh. Never fails. After all the thrashing is done what has the o.p. learned? I'm not sure I learned anything here. Luckily I don't need the information. I won't add to the confusion by introducing yet another opinion but I will say this: all this hair splitting? It's pointless. The Laws of Thermodynamics are absolute and inflexible. A calorie is a calorie is a calorie. A pound of avoirdupus (fat) is 3500 calories. Period. Whether or not a 1 hour ride is 400 or 500 or even 600 calories ... ... irrelevant. Oops I may be showing a bias for the opinion that exercise doesn't matter as much as portion control ... <they're right> anyway, the population of American adults tends to overweight. Like 70% overweight. In spite of all the 'knowledge' out there about how to control weight. How about some of us 'listen' harder to proven success. Is that really so difficult?
#42
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I don't know what the OP learned but I am 59 and running cycling all my life. i ran once in the early 90's a 90 mile week at about 8 min per mile pace. I gained 2 pounds at the end of week. Just the last two weeks I have focus on riding and have been riding 50 miles a day getting about 300 per week. I weigh the same as I did a month ago. Sure I eat more but not sure it is great amount of food that those numbers might suggest. I don't ride slow either for an old guy 17-20mph.
While we are at it I do find that the indoor trainer I believe burns up calories much faster. I am in a huge sweaty pool and HR is usually a little higher than outside. I can go for 30-35 miles inside seems like I do as much as a 50 mile outside ride.
While we are at it I do find that the indoor trainer I believe burns up calories much faster. I am in a huge sweaty pool and HR is usually a little higher than outside. I can go for 30-35 miles inside seems like I do as much as a 50 mile outside ride.
#43
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Do that first thing in the morning and Peptide YY production can mean being less hungry than if you didn't ride.
#44
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this is the key. Sugar mostly and carbs too. I too cut WAY back on sugar and what a world of difference it made for me. I found losing weight was a bit easier and I just felt better. My body felt way better and sleep got a lot better for me too. Carbs I cut back but not as drastic as the sugar. Been doing well with it. Your correct the first little while is HE(( dumping sugar but its so much better. Health stats improve too I found.
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#45
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I lost a lot of weight just by portion control and what I ate. Cut out all the bad good things like beer and excessively fatty foods, sugary stuff, cook all my own meals without adding fats and switch to a more vegetarian diet. Didn't do any cycling and small amount of walking.
But, a year off the bike was still a year off the bike. I was thin, but I wasn't fit and it took a several months for my leg muscles to build up to a point where I can ride 100km in a day and pretty much ride that again the next day, but that's just time on the bike.
You'll still need to do weights or some kind of resistance training or just cycling will mean you won't have much arm strength (as for road cycling it's not needed and as you cycle you don't lift heavy objects) and if you want definition in your stomach you're going to need to situps or another exorcise that strengthens those muscles. Mountain biking is better for the arms because you gotta use em a lot more.
ANY form of cardio is good for you. Cycling, at least road cycling for the most part gets you out of your living space which is good as it can improve your mood / give you time in a different location. Cycling helps focus the mind. You're pedaling, constantly working with and against the elements, gravity and your own fitness to try and keep the bike at a pace you want it to be at.
Cycling is low impact so apart from damaging your knees if your bike is the wrong size, or tearing a muscle because you pushed too hard it's a fairly safe activity for your body.
You could achieve similar results by going hiking especially if your doing a lot of hills where you really work your cardio system.
You can even lose weight by having a lot of sex if you really get into it at least
Tip - Cycle because you want to and you enjoy it. Don't cycle because you think it's going to be a magic pill to transform you. If you enjoy doing something you're more likely to keep doing it.
But, a year off the bike was still a year off the bike. I was thin, but I wasn't fit and it took a several months for my leg muscles to build up to a point where I can ride 100km in a day and pretty much ride that again the next day, but that's just time on the bike.
You'll still need to do weights or some kind of resistance training or just cycling will mean you won't have much arm strength (as for road cycling it's not needed and as you cycle you don't lift heavy objects) and if you want definition in your stomach you're going to need to situps or another exorcise that strengthens those muscles. Mountain biking is better for the arms because you gotta use em a lot more.
ANY form of cardio is good for you. Cycling, at least road cycling for the most part gets you out of your living space which is good as it can improve your mood / give you time in a different location. Cycling helps focus the mind. You're pedaling, constantly working with and against the elements, gravity and your own fitness to try and keep the bike at a pace you want it to be at.
Cycling is low impact so apart from damaging your knees if your bike is the wrong size, or tearing a muscle because you pushed too hard it's a fairly safe activity for your body.
You could achieve similar results by going hiking especially if your doing a lot of hills where you really work your cardio system.
You can even lose weight by having a lot of sex if you really get into it at least
Tip - Cycle because you want to and you enjoy it. Don't cycle because you think it's going to be a magic pill to transform you. If you enjoy doing something you're more likely to keep doing it.
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No matter the levels of exercise or what food you eat the battle is won at the table. I've heard people say they have a metabolic problem that puts pounds on no matter what. Stop eating and see how many pounds you put on. Our bodies do need exercise and good wholesome food to thrive but losing weight is about the calories you don't eat. Like many in these posts I calorie count and use Myfitnesspal. Properly and honestly reporting your calories every day, weighing yourself every day, will lead to weight loss. Myfitnesspal is a food diary that keeps track of your calories consumed and expended through exercise. Good luck with your weight loss journey.
#48
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I’m a believer that weight loss is done in the kitchen and not on the trail. I’m 6’4”..... 6 months ago I weighed 310 lbs. I started keeping my carb intake to less than 35 gms per day. I’m at 255 lbs at the moment and I’m still losing. I’ve lost enough now that riding my bike is way more enjoyable and comfortable. Which is why I’m now on these forums. Bought a new Trek Verve 3, and now I’m hooked.
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I’m a believer that weight loss is done in the kitchen and not on the trail. I’m 6’4”..... 6 months ago I weighed 310 lbs. I started keeping my carb intake to less than 35 gms per day. I’m at 255 lbs at the moment and I’m still losing. I’ve lost enough now that riding my bike is way more enjoyable and comfortable. Which is why I’m now on these forums. Bought a new Trek Verve 3, and now I’m hooked.
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#50
Junior Member
I’m in Mid-Mo. I live on the Katy Trail. I have bad knees and bad back, but I usually ride 6-10 miles each day that I have off work. I did 20 miles one day last week, and I’ll never do that again. My knees were pretty sore for 3 days. im sure enjoying the riding though.