Rootzilla

^Insufficient rest/recovery, bad diet or something else going wrong there for sure.

soyboy

since i ditched my car and started riding mostly everywhere in 2005 i've felt a lot happier, have a much calmer temper, way more energy and i've lost about 85 pounds. i don't have any photos to compare off hand but i was 255 and now i'm around 170.

i definetly save a lot of money as compared to riding a car or the subway.

Riding bikes is the best.

broakland

#1 Benefit that no one mentioned: Sqrls.

carleton

Good work, guys.

I made a similar transformation.

I had no clue what healthy eating was about. I figured that lettuce on a burger was enough veggies for a day. Blueberry waffles are considered a fruit, right? I used my bike for basic transportation in Baltimore for a few years, but drinking, sweets, and bad eating didn't allow for any real transformation in my body. Only when I started racing on the track did I change my diet. Basically, the desire to win made me change. Fear of training with a hangover made me stop drinking.

I lost about 50-60 lbs then added back maybe 30lbs of muscle when I started lifting 3x a week as a sprinter.

I cut back on the sugar. This was harder than cutting back on beer. Seriously.

Pro Tip: Sqrls don't like fat dudes. Sqrls like fit dudes. I'm not trying to be a snob by writing that. But, I've received way more attention from sqrls being balding and fit in my late 30s than I did being fat in my mid-20s (with hair, nice car, nice job, etc...). Even young sqrls in their early 20s.



(I've got some "before" photos that are much worse.)


(I'm about 15lbs lighter now than in this photo.)

carleton

Oh, and I never would have thought that I'd win several State and Regional medals and one from a National Championship. I even hold a track record!

broakland

But can you hillbomb like Massan?!! https://vimeo.com/5862934

Rootzilla

^^^Judging from these photos it looks like you had more fun before, though

TMonk

Hell Yeah!

Also nice weight loss guys! (Carleton, Jaytron, Dan n co). That's very impressive.

Not trying to sound snobbish, but I've never been clinically overweight, so idk what it's like to lose all that weight.
I would like to lose 5-10lbs though, and I am discovering that it will take some serious diet changes if I expect to lose any weight given the amount I am riding.
I can appreciate the dedication and hard work that it takes to lose even 5-10 lbs (in my case), let alone 50-100!

TMonk

im about 50/50.

mainly I could use just a little bit more sleep, i'm avging about 6.5 hrs/night right now which is a little low considering that I really wear myself out on the bike a couple days a week.
when I was in college one winter (2009), I came home and tried to put in a 18/20/22 weekly hours block whilst working 32hrs a week at a grocery store.

that wasn't exactly healthy.

Jaytron

This.

I figured out why I didn't get as many sqrls as I did in HS. It's pretty much because I gained a ton of weight. Now that most of it is off, the sqrls are abundant.

Also that's awesome Carleton, what track record do you hold?

carleton

Thanks!

Actually, when people are overweight due to diet and lack of exercise, the major weight loss is relatively easy. For example, I lost 10 lbs in 2-3 weeks by simply cutting out sodas. I lost another 30lbs just by training and racing beginner races at the track every week.

Losing the final 5-10lbs that you are talking about is just as hard for me.

1) Nap. Naps work. Get one or two 20 minute naps a day and you'll feel like a champ. I'm a polyphasic sleeper. I've averaged 5.5 hours of sleep a night for the last 6 months that I've been logging it. Naps once are twice a day bring it all together.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyphasic_sleep

2) Eat more protein to heal up your muscles.

carleton

Team Sprint at DLV. We broke the previous record by over 3 seconds.

Also, only one other person has done a 500M faster than me at DLV. That guy is a multiple Elite National Champ and Masters world champ. I want a crack at that record this year, but, as of now, they cut 500M from the race program for men under 50 :|

jet sanchEz

See a doctor, something is wrong.

carleton

Team Sprint at DLV. We broke the previous record by over 3 seconds.

Also, only one other person has done a 500M faster than me at DLV. That guy is a multiple Elite National Champ and Masters world champ. I want a crack at that record this year, but, as of now, they cut 500M from the race program for men under 50 :|

carleton

Sounds like an ineffective diet combined with either Overreaching or Overtraining.

One can recover from Overreaching with a few days of rest. Overtraining requires weeks of recovery or more depending on severity.

I would say to TMonk: Eat lots and rest/nap lots and if you don't feel like riding, don't force yourself.

Here's an article discussing overreaching vs overtraining: https://www.active.com/triathlon/Arti...r-Training.htm

hank0604

I feel like my whole world changed. Saved money. Lost 40 pounds. Started making healthier decisions. Started paying real attention to environmental issues. But mainly, I had been showing some symptoms of the bipolar disorder that runs in my family; all that ended almost immediately when I started on the bike.

TMonk

a nap here and there sounds great! ill try to work that in.

TMonk

While I realize your post is in jest, don't take my original post too seriously.

My original post was meant to simply illustrate a counter example based upon my own past experiences. I have learned through trial and error what the borderline for me is in terms of sleep/nutrition/over training. I don't feel that way atm, except maybe the less money part

When you extrapolate out to the extreme (think grand tour UCI pro rider) I would argue that the sport is unhealthy. Especially if you need drugs ala EPO and testosterone to even maintain your training load.

At the moment I would prefer to keep the 5-10lbs of fat that I have and the beers that I drink with friends thank you very much.

IthaDan 

I was never that heavy until I got hurt on the job. I was the production manager at the local brewery (you figure it out) when I put my right thumb through a beer bottle and just about cut it off, 4 surgeries and 10 months of doing as little as possible packs on the pounds something fierce. I smoked a pack a day, drank WAY too much and didn't to anything to take care of myself before the injury, but that was the tipping point- I got depressed and ballooned up. I've since gotten back into cornell, sobered up and have lost the weight you see in the pictures. In a weird way, that was the best thing that could have happened to me.

I'm better now, after a 5th surgery to regain some movement in the thumb. I can't overextend it (i have hitchhiker thumbs) but the mobility I do have doesn't hinder my ability to do much at all. Got some b!tching scars too, there's a huge one on the top of my foot where they got the new tendon from.

GMJ

I ****ing feel you man. No matter how terrible I had felt or how backwards my day had been going, riding my bike for more than 30 minutes takes it all away. My mind quiets and I start to focus on the intricacies of my surroundings.

My hips pop, my knees always hurt, and my lower back is starting to form a constant ache, but all of this is more than worth the emotional wellbeing that cycling has brought me. That, and I look much better naked.

RayfromTX

I lost 60 lbs with diet prior to getting on the bike 13 months ago. The weight loss got me off of the blood pressure medicine and the anti-inflammatory drugs and the acid reflux medicine and the high cholesterol and blood sugar issues and the snoring, blah blah blah.

Since I got on the bike I added a strong cardiovascular system(VO2max of 61) and no more colds or illnesses and my skin looks much younger. I think this is all due to the effect of hours of flushing out toxins by pushing hard on the bike. In the last 30 days I've put 1,209 miles on the bike. Never expected that to happen. My stamina is huge which is cool in the bedroom. I can also eat lots of good healthy tasty food without putting on weight. I do of course still have to match my intake to my output. The only downside is less time for projects and the cost of a new hobby.

TMonk

Nice man. Glad to hear your healthy and feelin' good.

carleton

Racing is relative. Those that do take drugs do so to beat the other guys who are taking drugs (this was told to me by an ex pro). Basically, if everyone was clean then the racing would still be just as exciting.

Drugs in the NFL and MLB are old guys trying to keep their jobs. Basically, they need the drugs to keep from getting cut from the team as the new recruits are stronger and faster. It's a no-brainer for them. Risk the small percentage chance of getting caught doping (with a slap on the wrist as punishment) or be guaranteed to lose your position on the team to a young buck. Easy decision, unfortunately.

Keep it fun! Ain't nobody paying us to do this!

TMonk

Amen.

For most of us (myself included), that will never be the case.

caloso

I just turned 45. I'm 7 pounds heavier than when I graduated from HS, but it's muscle (and mostly in my butt). When I had my last physical, my doc said my "good" cholesterol was off the chart and the highest he'd ever seen, and gave me a cardiac risk of very low. He would have given me a zero but for the fact that heart disease is rampant in my family.