northtexasbiker

I got up to 255 and am down to 205 now. I've been at 205 for the past few months. For me it was booze and sedentary lifestyle. My diet wasn't great but it wasn't poor either. I cut back the booze and started working out more and lost the weight over about 6 months. I've plateaued though. I need to improve my diet and up my cardio workouts. Right now I only ride on the weekends maybe 25-30 miles. During the week I lift weights on my lunch break. Can't stand treadmills.

Milton Keynes

I kind of had a setback these past 4 months. I was riding daily until October came and it started getting really cold out in the mornings. I should have switched to the trainer but instead I just took a break from riding for a bit. That, and leftover Halloween candy and all the yummy treats the holidays brought along with me having a lack of willpower meant I put on 10 lbs. over that amount of time. But I'm getting back on track and hope to get down to where I was before. I'd like to get down to around 220-225 or so which will take a bit of work.

oldspokes

I'm pretty accurate at keeping track of what I eat lately, for the past week, I've eaten two eggs, a slice boiled ham on a english muffin every morning for breakfast, plus a 12oz glass of OJ filled with ice first.
I ate lunch on Tues, and had a 1/2 lb salad from Acme, lettuce, tomato, hard boiled egg, some crab meat, and french dressing. I didn't get dinner two days but ate a ham and swiss on a Kaiser roll with mustard the other five days. To drink I usually drink a fruit juice or ice tea from home.
I gained 5 pounds. I didn't get any exercise other than walking around the supermarket and shoveling a bit of snow a couple of times. The roads have been icy and its been pretty cold outside at night so I've not been riding. Besides, the doc says I've got breathing issues and I'm supposed to lay off any strenuous activity for now.
I've been getting winded for no reason but my blood pressure and heart rate are fine. I've always been borderline Asthmatic with all sorts of allergies. I get good days and bad days breathing wise, when I'm breathing clear, I'm fine, 100%, when I have breathing issues, I'm wheezing and coughing and I get winded just going up a few steps.
Until this started all at once, (With a real bad cold, or so I thought), I was fine, I was 250lbs for 30 years or more and working 50 hours a week. Now I'm worn out just going shopping once a week.
I don't eat much because I'm not hungry, when I sit down to eat, I don't eat or have the appetite I used to but I'm told that's normal as we get older, but it started with the bad head cold and cough I got about two years ago.

fietsbob

Birthdays.. my father and I both started thin and filled out in our later years..

lear60man

A back injury 10 years ago that required surgery. That and sitting around hotel rooms. Wife wanted a new bike for her Bday, so I bought one also. She smoked me on my old heavy mountain bike. So I built a new fangled carbon road bike and next time.....I will be Lemond.

brawlo

Interesting reading

For me, it has been bad habits and a kind of blindness towards what I had been taking in.At home growing up, plentiful food and snacks and no encouragement to stop were the main culprit. Once I moved away to university, sedentary lifestyle and mostly drinking were the culprits. I hit 140kg and decided to turn things around with strength work. I had ample downtime while at uni and I found myself at the gym 6 days a week in the weights room, along with playing basketball, ultimate frisbee and cycle commuting. I became engrossed in the building of strength and I turned my 140kg of fat into a very strong, but not lean 145kg of muscle. Once I finished uni and moved into full time work I dropped 30kg over the course of a winter rugby season, but most of that was from dropping the heavy weights. At work I was transitioning from a physical labour role towards more time supervising and behind a desk. A recreational lifestyle heavily centred around drinking saw me back up to a fat 140kg in my late 20s. Then I found cycling. Through the cycling I've yo-yo-ed with my weight over the last 10 years.

More recently (late 2016) I was directed towards a HFLC diet by a friend. I was very active with cycling, racing both road and track plus the training and social rides. The friend pointed out that I just shouldn't be as big as I was for the amount of activity I do. My diet wasn't particularly bad as I was making changes along with my wife due to her health issues. So I tried low carb, but I mean really low carb, like in the order of just 20-30g/day. The weight literally dropped off me. I didn't eat any less than I had before calorie wise, I just dropped the carbs. I dropped 17kg in 10 weeks, kept increasing in strength and speed and finished the last track season with some great PBs. Post track race season I had an off season lazy time, and wasn't so strict on carbs. I also started hitting the gym looking for more leg strength. I put 10kg over winter. I hit the start of our 2017/18 race season just as fast as I had finished the last season. Then life got in the way and we've had to do a lot of work on an investment property ourselves due to finances. We also went on a cruise in Nov where too much food and alcohol gave the weight another nudge in the wrong direction. Cycling and general exercise has taken a back seat. I have been fairly good with carbs, but not super strict and my weight had at least stagnated at around 128kg. I've been back on strict carb intake again for 4 weeks now and 8kg has already gone.

What I've learned for me is that carbs are just bad for me. My friend told me about carb intolerance and I think that in fact I am just that. The stark difference that carbs make in me was staggering. Luckily I am just as fond of good meats and cheeses as I was of sweets

some bloke

For me, it's genes and being a greedy b*stard - I like food and drink. I'm 183cm, 107kg with a 117cm chest. (6ft, 235, 46in)I have a big frame with a bit of flab - last year I slimmed down over the summer riding 80-100 miles a week, but when I eased off over winter I pack a bit back on. Riding that much was great, I could eat whatever I wanted.

Brawlo - I went HFLC (20gm or less a day) about 3 years ago, and got down under 100kg for the first time in about 10 years. I found I could do a 3-4 hour ride without eating, but the explosive 'snap' was gone - I couldn't accelerate like I could when eating carbs. That didn't bother me too much though, I just ride for fun and fitness. I found I didn't snack as I felt full most of the time, but my weight plateaued, and I missed bread and beer - my downfall. In hindsight, I think that while my weight stayed constant, I was putting on muscle and losing fat, but felt it wasn't working any more.

Last year I cut right back on processed carbs, and clocked up a lot of miles, and think I was in and out of ketosis quite a bit - that strong pee smell in the mornings was a clue. I will ramp up the commuting when the weather here gets a bit better and get back under 100 kg pretty soon I think. I have family visiting in May and want to slim down for that.

Anyway, I wish all of you all the best in your cycling endeavours.

bbbean 

Beer + Pizza + Couch + 20 years = 325 lbs.
Low carb + limited alcohol + exercise + 2.5 years = 165 lbs

It's more complicated than that, but that's the story in a nutshell.

Harhir

The move to the US in 2001. Not kidding. The combination of huge size food portions here in Texas, the "very light" Texmex food, the totally car oriented lifestyle, the lack of infrastructure to cycle and I fell in love.......with American craft brews.
Went all the way up 315. Then started cycling again. The infrastructure got a lot better and my current office site is easy to reach by bike. Plus we have indoor bike storage and locker rooms with showers. Almost too good to be true.
Now down to 275. Still way to high. Last year progress stalled because I had to stop cycling because of back problems. I am now riding a recumbent which has solved that problem. Will be reaching the 500 miles for 2018 on the bike tonight. Only rode the car to the office once this year.
On top of that: Cutting down on food portions, changed to a healthy diet with lots of veggies and fruit. However there is still this desire for cold IPAs... Especially the ones I brew myself... But I am optimistic.
Lets make this a good and healthy year.

Homebrew01

".....However there is still this desire for cold IPAs... Especially the ones I brew myself... ...."

Can't argue with that !

Just fewer of them.

Stormsedge

Stress, inconsistent diet, inconsistent exercise, and years of "survival" eating. I keep track of my weight, but tend to be more concerned about my waist measurement. I have always been on the high side of "average" weight charts and BF trends...almost thirty years of lifting weights tends to drive my weight factor up as well.

starkmojo

I will start by saying the weight I was happiest at (230) would make me obese by BMI standards at my height (6' 6") but I have shot way past that- now at 345. Combination of a career with little time off, having a baby at 43 and then somewhere in the last few years I developed sleep apnea- baby exhaustion just never went away. It took two years to figure it out but now can finally sleep and say no to carbs ( a side effect of exhaustion is carb hunger. Like I need help with that!). I cant even imagine losing 115 lbs so I am just going for 275 now.

bassestkkm

After 6 or 7 years I've finally come to terms with my body, the fact that I will get sick if I don't change it, and that I had some pretty bad problems with depression which drove me to stress eat and comfort eat a lot. Going into my first year of college I was 205 and currently I am 245. I think the last time I was feeling really good was just before college when I was 185. I'm a grad student now and I find it hard to get myself into a gym either because I'd rather get some rest than go to the gym. I try to ride my bike to and from school every day.

For me, eating well has been the hardest part. Having time to cook and prioritizing my health is something I am working on. If I could get under 220 for starters I'd be elated. Under 190 is the goal though.

burnthesheep

190 doesn't meet the thread title, but that's where I started.

I got divorced in college (THAT was a dumb idea to begin with). Then after college lived in a town alone with having to find new friends and a stressful job. I didn't ride or do the gym back then. Nothing. I was riding that high school metabolism into the ground.

I went from 150 in college to 190ish in probably 2 years without noticing (well unless you count breaking pants buttons off into the urinal). It was mostly the not having an active hobby combined with having beer make up about 500 calories a day. Or more if it was Friday or Saturday night. I ate "okish". But BP was into the 130's before I started going to a gym after I got married and had kids.

I got down to 180 from going to the gym a year and a half. Weights. Weights weren't doing it though for the BP. I had a friend invite me on a very small group ride on a borrowed bike and got my rear end handed to me. Dropped on multiple hills.

Now, I'm back to 155 after not quite 2 years of riding the bike.

To answer the question.......beer. It was like an avg of 4 per day, everyday. Now, I'm getting myself down to having more and more "skip the alcohol" days. Then days I do, I'm not having 4. I'm having 2. I might have 4 if it's a birthday party or something special.

If you're someone on a time budget, the really had work sucks, but I've had great success with HIIT in terms of when the weight started to fall off.

If you find yourself in a situation of not necessarily being alcoholic, but downing like 4 a day, analyze things like if your job is causing it. I changed jobs around the time I dropped from 4 a day and was less stressed.

Jason9142002

Stress was what made me gain weight again. I have always been big and heavy but I was thinner. Working and going to college as an adult was tough for me. Being tired but having all the readings and assignments due was stressful. Money was tight.
I always read that excerise and good nutrition combat stress. But I never was able to make those decisions when I was in school. I would be tired and I would eat to be able to study and get work done. Before I noticed other people would say stuff. Then I would see myself in pictures. That’s when it hit me that I was fat and out of shape. The look is bad enough but the health problems associated with high body fat are motivation enough for me to make some changes. I’ve been losing weight and riding seems like the only activity I like for fat burning. I also lift weights but that adds body weight in my experience. I feel that my whole life and outlook are better when I put my health first. Avoiding stress and living a healthy lifestyle is a skill that I try to work on. It’s been years and I still have a lot to learn. I also love to eat. Big portions and unhealthy food choices are my downfall.

WonderMonkey

*I* made me so big. For those that say "heredity," I find that's usually not the case. Such a minute part of the world has an actual medical condition that it's almost negligible. If parents and grandparents are heavy, chances are they made the same poor health choices as we have, and DNA isn't modified that quickly.

So ... I made me so big. I allowed choices I made in my time to make it easy for me to take the easy route in my nutrition. I then layered onto that a lack of activity, which only compounded the situation.

I did it. I am responsible. Not my overweight father and grandfather.

indyfabz

I am curious: How many of you regularly cook dinner for yourselves? And I mean cook "from scratch", not heat up prepared foods.

RubeRad

Most of my family meals are cooked from scratch (as long as 'from scratch' extends to, say, boiling dried pasta instead of making fresh pasta from flour&egg). Wife cooks the majority, but I love to cook, so on days off I'll often make dinner. Not infrequently it involves prepared sauces; jar/can of sauce on spaghetti, jar of trader joe's curry sauce with veg and a little meat on rice, etc. Once in a while something like hamburger helper, but that still involves mixing and stirring and cooking, we almost never just heat&eat. We'll restaurant maybe a couple times a month, and that is usually Taco Bell because it's the cheapest option and we love it (we also love Mexican food).

kc0yef 

I am 6'5" 260 in the winter 240 in the summer this year I am up another 20 but it will go away as it always does

MikeGS

One little trap I've found is that all your efforts to eat a small, healthy, portion can be sabotaged by comparatively small amounts of pre-made sauces, dressings and 'just add and stir' ingredients - many of them contain ludicrous amounts of sugar, in one form or another.

I've managed to drop 33kg since 01/01/17, and expect to have worked off the xmas 'surplus' by the end of this week - but I have to watch the little things as much as the more obvious foods for weight gain

RubeRad

I believe it. Definitely something to keep an eye out for!

raria

Rice can also be a huge calorie sink.
Anything premafe is going to be heavy in sugar/salt/fat.

megaclyde

Oh my God you and I were on the same bulking plan! I added in a bunch of wings too which helped me get all the way to 342. I just started heading the right direction on March 3rd. CW 317 with a goal of 225. Congrats on your weight loss those numbers are incredible.

bbbean 

Good job on those first 30! If you've gotten that far, just staying on track is the biggest challenge. Keep up the great work.

olivieri_velo

I had always been a big kid, not particularly "fat" just big, broad shoulders, big quads and calves.. Ten years ago I managed to drop down to 173 pounds from 268 pounds (I'm 5'11) and I looked so skinny that my proportions seemed off, but I felt good about how I looked.. I even dropped a whole shoe size .. I was what some people might call skinny fat.. I didnt have much muscle mass, except for my legs, my arms were very skinny, and my torso skin wasnt "tight".. Anyhow.. I got a job.. I injured my back and began stressing out about life, overeating, and constantly eating to help me cope with the stress... got married, had a kid.. now I'm sitting at around 294 pounds and cant muster the strength to exercise more than once a week.. and eat less. I'm depressed about it, but I try to not give it much thought and enjoy my Sunday morning rides.