Willbird

One good thing about losing the weight, the type 2 is being beaten back, my H1Ac was 5.5 this time . Found a test from May 2014, it was 5.9 then, but that was taking 1 gram of cinnamon a day then, none of that for quite some time now.

OrionXavier

Oh yeah, biking does help with insulin resistance. There was a time of 2 years where I was up 2AM biking 1 hour into work, even through Winter. Then, I lifted 50-130 lbs. pretty much nonstop for 3-4 hours. And rode another hour back home. I was getting massive amounts of aerobic and anaerobic exercise. I could eat pints of ice cream for days and have little effect (up to a point).

Also if you're looking at lowering insulin resistance, try chromium polynicotinate and alpha lipoic acid. It worked better than cinnamon for me (and I was taking 4 grams a day).

Another thing I came across that really helps with leg flexibility and joints, is MethylSulfonylMethane aka "MSM". It's very cheap. It's used by the body to repair or strengthen cartilage, hair, nails. I hardly have to stretch out anymore after biking. You'll also find that your hair (particularly facial) and nails grow twice as fast. I take 4.5g/day but 3g/day may be sufficient. It almost completely eliminates my knee pain too.

Willbird

Today is -100. Thanks to Myfitnesspal (204 day streak, from day 1), Trek bicycles, Fuji bicycles, Target C9 active wear, and lots more probably.

Start was 304, today is 203.6
Should be about another 50 to go, weighed in at 203.6 today,still hoping for a -200 weigh in by Dec 1, that one might be a close call :-).
Goals set a long time ago were sub 200 by January 1 2015, and 160 by April 2015....those goals should still hold :-).

Totally off any prescription meds, just had an H1AC and it was 5.5 without taking any cinnamon for ages...probably the whole 90 days for the H1AC probably. It was 5.8 last time it was checked and that was WITH 4 grams of cinnamon a day.

americanrecluse

Holy moly that's wonderful. Congratulations to you!

Willbird

it will not show in MFP quite yet, I use a 7 day rolling average for what I post there, so I have a few more days til it hits the -100 number there :-).

BigRedClydesdal

204 day streak on MFP? Nice!

I really have to get back in the habit of using MFP. Such a great way to complement exercise.

Willbird

I can say honestly I have not went "over" in those 204 days, but at first I thought a "streak" meant not going over (it does not actually mean that) so that misunderstanding was a real incentive to stay on plan.

I started into the Ultimate Accountability Challenge on MFP pretty early on, and I owe part of my success to that. Wanting to add another month is a great incentive to exercise 20 minutes or more a day, log everything, and meet the goal every day. Now and then I wish they would throw in a "cheat day" but obviously I have survived without it.

I have eaten back nearly all my exercise calories a time or two after epic rides, a metric once and a 75 miler.

Bill

Slowhead

Bill,
Congratulations on dropping 100.
I admire your level of commitment and determination.
Good luck reaching your birthday goal.

JakiChan

Congrats! 100 miles is such a big feeling. And congrats on the A1C as well. I got mine from 5.8 to 5.2. My doctor was thrilled.

Willbird

Had to get new lic plates today, got a new Drivers License while I was at it.

Out with the old

In with the new

americanrecluse

Fantastic! Great work!

bransom

Bill, congratulations! What you've done is incredible and inspiring.

Mark Stone

Excellent!!! Congratulations, you must feel great.

gjhsu

Congratulations! You're an inspiration and proof that this isn't just a hobby, but something that can really change lives for the better. Well done, sir!

Willbird

I'm dead certain I could not have done as well as I have without this place and all the great guys and gals who hang here :-)

since197three

Awesome weight loss Bill. An over the top motivational thread is an understatement. Congrats

Flatbroke

Great job!! Between jakichan and you I have realized the benefit and in my case need to track my effort with respect to general health and weight loss.
As a result of this thread I just joined up and now have a my fitness pal. And jackichan got me hooked on garmin and strava plus heart rate monitor.
I didn't realize coffee had calories, small amount but calories none the less.
I stepped on the scale to fill in the required weight stat and to my surprise I have lost 12 pounds since I started riding a month to a month or 2 ago. I don't know for sure because I didn't keep any records of mileage and my cheapo bike computer stopped working a few weeks back, the garmin edge 510 fixed that.

Great job and thank you very much for sharing.

Willbird

Myself I like to weigh every day, then I use an excel spreadsheet to calculate a 7 day average, then I use that average to post on MFP when I drop 1 or more lbs. The 7 day average number is a lot more consistent than the daily weight.

Good work on the 12 lbs :-).

Bill

gjhsu

How are you liking (or disliking?) the Garmin 510? I've been so on the fence on getting one. Wondering if it's an appreciable advantage over the Strava app running on my Android phone.

Flatbroke

I like it. My phone freezes so the app wouldn't work. I rode yesterday with a friend yesterday who had his I phone in a case on the stem that was running the strava app and his data was within feet of mine except his showed about 25 more feet of climbing. He said the app works really good. The screen was a bit small when I had 6 items showing. Perfect with 4. I liked having the heart rate monitor and seeing my heart rate when I rode. I learned a lot from the first outing, between cadence and heart rate showing. If your phone works good and you don't need the heart rate or have others means of seeing storing the data save your money.
i didn't so it works for me and I would buy it again if needed

gjhsu

Oh neat. The HRM and Cadence were what really piqued my interest. May need to pick one up next time I'm in need of some retail therapy.

DoubleTap

I find this thread very inspirational. Beginning in 2008, I was making good progress and then in 2012/2013 I thought I'd found the magic bullet, losing an additional 60 pounds or so in just less than a year. Total weight loss from the beginning was about 120 pounds. My cycling was better than ever, and I began working with a coach and racing (pack fodder) at about 250 pounds. Then, I reached burnout and historical stress levels due to a divorce, move, job change, etc. Today, I'm at 303 and trying to regain my momentum and discipline. I still ride regularly, but my structured training has suffered and my nutrition is abysmal.

Now I'm staring at several rarely used bicycles and a closet full of team racing kits that no longer fit. Thanks for all the inspiration. I'm going to set some new goals and try to come back to this thread regularly to check in. Bill, I'm also going to steal your 7 day average weight idea. I just created a spreadsheet for it. I think I'll like that better than seeing the daily fluctuations.

vesteroid

Well suppose I will chime in. I was a former member here that dropped from 270 down to 210 over the course of about 18 months and rode with a few of the members here on centuries. I got in good enough shape to run a few half marathons and a dozen or so 10/5K.

Then 18 months ago, I fell off the wagon and put back on 50 lbs. My bike sure does look pretty sitting on its stand.

So, over thanksgiving break I mapped out a training and eating plan to get back in shape and do a sprint tri in april or may.

I even joined a gym as I want to do some work on my upper body and not just cycle and run this time (in addition I need swim practice in the worst way.)

So I will be hanging around again, as I shed the pounds for the second time.

Fun, Fun.

Sullalto

me too, and omg, me too for the 2nd.

Willbird

Still hanging in there, did not miss goals over TG but the missing 16 hours of work exertion stalled me a bit it seems, committed to 1 hour a day min on the resistance rollers each weekday...6 hours 10 minutes so far this week :-), fueling and pacing for a 2 hour roller burn is a new adventure, I usually hop off for 5 minutes every 30, flip a load of laundry and drink a glass of water. Today I started out at 130 watts which is theoretical FTP and that was too aggressive and I was not well fueled enough, fizzled out at 100 minutes . Will try fueling with 100g of oats tmw and running at 115 watts to start for another go round Friday (tmw)