einstruzende

April 7, 2008, I weighed 284.6 pounds, and couldn't keep up with the slowest group in our cycling club. I decided that day after getting dropped like 3 miles in that I would either get in shape or die trying. Made two dietary changes, and rode my bike as much and as hard as I could. One year later, I weighed 176 pounds (just shy of 110 pounds lost) and was leading the A group, and even managed a 61 minute 40k TT.

Quit cycling in 2010 to concentrate on running, ran some nice races from 2010-2012, but then went through a divorce and injury at same time, and before you know it, it's 2019 and I weigh 277.4 at my last physical.

Now I have to lose 100+ pounds again, and I'm 45 not 34 like the last time. Just a bit of griping, I know I can do it.

Kedosto

Moral of the story; don’t take up running because it will lead to divorce, injury, and weight gain. Thanks for the warning.


-Kedosto

tallbikeman

Einstruzende I'm on my second time around weight loss cycle.. Years ago I lost 30lbs or so to get down to 220lbs and kept it there for a few years. I retired and the eating got ahead of the exercise program and I ballooned up to 282lbs. This time my blood pressure became uncontrolled with my medications. I have lost almost 30lbs and my blood pressure is controlled but I now realize I've been fat most of my life. I say this because I have not always felt this way about my weight. I ran in two adult men's basketball leagues here locally until my mid 40's and considered myself fit. Again looking back I think I was carrying 20 to 30 lbs too much. I started taking blood pressure medicine in my mid 40's and still take it at 66 yrs of age. My goal is to lose weight until I can get rid of the medicine. Sometimes that is not possible but I can't know that until I try. I now believe that my end weight will be somewhere around 200lbs. I'm going to use the healthy BMI numbers and fatty liver tests to guide me. Being injured and losing a marriage can be quite depressing. Seeking counseling can help you cope with life's misery sometimes. I use Myfitnesspal food diary and find it works very well. Good luck with your diet and keep us informed on how you are doing.

Rollfast

So does restoring bicycles, ham radio and half of the other stuff guys do.

linnefaulk

You can do it.

jsigone

The key is not to take yr long breaks at anything in life. The road will be hard but you can do it

CliffordK

You've done the weight loss before... and you can do it again, hopefully keeping it off in the future.

45 isn't over the hill yet. You may have to work harder to maintain the muscle, but I'm now in my low 50's, and think I'm as strong as I was in my mid 30's, so not all is lost.

Good luck, and keep at it.

trailangel

Hang in there.

Beachgrad05

Hahahaha

Riveting

The divorce just means you have more time to ride.

daleb116

You can do it.

Digger Goreman

December 2013 - now, lost over 50 lbs to vegetarianism and a bike, some casual other rides but mostly just doing 10 miles a day...in my 50s. You WILL succeed, friend

XR2

60 years old and April 1st 340 lbs diagnosed w/prediabetes. Yesterday I was 303 and they cut one of my BP meds in half. Blood sugar is managed at this point sans medication. More to come on that front. And I haven't aired up the Bridgstone T700 yet. It's doable so step up and get to work.

Lucillle

Don't say "Be glad you're not me". I would be honored to be like someone with such a positive attitude. Sometimes we don't know what life will throw at us, but we are in charge of how we cope, and I love your can-do attitude.

ronin4740

Similar story here - won't bore you with it. Weight loss was easy in the 30's and not too hard in the 40's is getting harder and harder in the 50's... Did the Keto diet 18 months ago and lost a bunch of weight but it came right back when I stopped... Now trying to lose it "honestly" through riding hard and eating reasonably. So far about 10 lbs has come off and I'm down to 230... We'll both do it, it'll just take longer and more effort than we remember and than we'd like

nomadmax 

You did it once, you can do it again. Decide, declare and execute

einstruzende

Well there is some truth to all of that in my case! That said, running in many ways is more enjoyable for me, but cycling has appeal too.

einstruzende

I have some low hanging fruit in my diet, namely way too much bourbon and high carb dinners like pizza. I don't want to go "keto" but I will go lower carb, cutting out all high carb meals and sadly, the bourbon. My liver levels in my last physical dictate that I take action now or risk issues later in life.

My biggest issue right now on bike is how uncomfortable it is to sit on. I have my saddle issues and position worked out ok, but the pressure on my hands and arms is still pretty high and I can't do much more than an hour without hating my life. The problem is I have a "performance bike" and the fitness of a ... non-performant person!

tallbikeman

I have found that a really nice balance beam scale is so important on weight loss verification. I weigh a couple times a week at the same time in the morning. I use myfitnesspal to keep track of calories and nutrients. Your bourbon comes up on myfitnesspal so you can keep up with all your caloric intake. I'm glad to hear that you are reconsidering your decision to drink alcohol. I have found that our devious little brains will very quickly either get you started drinking again or fall into some other addictive trap. By that I mean everything from fast food to heroin can be an addictive trap. It took several years to break the alcohol addiction for me and I've not had any for over 30 yrs now. Good luck. I can't say why I allowed myself to keep eating until I was a blimp but I did. Changing this permission for overeating is as hard as quitting addictive behavior. The hard part is you don't get to quit eating altogether, you must moderate and keep a sensible outlook about what you are eating. So possibly diet/nutritional education and self realization about the consequences of what you are feeding your body is the best anecdote to overeating and destructive addictive behaviors. I hit 254lbs a couple of weeks ago and my blood pressure finally tested in the safe range. I'm keeping a tight control on calorie intake every day so as to continue losing weight. Having done this cycle once before I now realize I won't be able to stop using a calorie diary for the rest of my life, otherwise my devious little brain will figure some way to fatten me up again.

StephenH

I found the best exercise ever- hiking up mountains in Colorado. So I did that and lost a bunch of weight. Then moved to the flatlands due to job situations. And gained it all back. And a few years later, lost it all again cycling. Then gained a lot of it back. Then lost it again with cycling AND Weightwatchers. Anyway, don't give up, hang in there and take care of things. If you're like me, you'll be fighting weight the rest of your life, so it's not like you "fix it" and don't have to worry anymore.

ronin4740

Change the stem to something with a higher rise an maybe shorter for a more upright position... I swapped the 8 degree 100mm stem for a 20 degree 80mm stem and it really helped...

einstruzende

Over 2008/2009, I weighed myself every single day. Once I got rolling it was a great way to keep me in check. Bouron is proving to be a problem. I didn't start drinking alcohol until I was 40, back in 2014. It was only three or four times a month at first, but eventually got out of hand. This year alone (as in last 12 months) I went through at least 75 bottles of bourbon, and on top of the health issue, I don't drink rot-gut bourbon! Went through 8 bottles of Blantons, 20 bottles of Eagle Rare, 20 bottles of Buffalo Trace and numerous others. I would estimate $6,000 worth of bourbon in the last 12 months. I would have drank 100% Eagle Rare if it wasn't so damn hard to find. Had to go to New Orleans and buy a bunch.

All that said, I have been liquor free since July 10. Cold turkey thank you very much.

einstruzende

In my case I have to admit that vanity plays a big part. How can I put a steep stem on this? Of course I know for the sake of comfort I must do so! Funny how the mind finds any excuse to avoid responsibility in this case.

tallbikeman

This picture show one of the driving forces in my bicycling. Running the dog. This picture was taken from a levee at the Port of Sacramento. The bike is a 1980 Schwinn Sports Tourer with VO high flange hubs. 27"x1 1/4" wheels with 36 flattened(aero) spokes per wheel. It has a Shimano Deore MTB rear derailer running a 10 speed cassette. The handlebars are now much lower and I'm running a noseless seat for protection of the private parts. This is my fastest average speed bike at the moment. I can't afford too much vanity so my bikes are old steel frame survivors from the past.

XR2

I decided while in a cabin in the forest during a snowstorm on my 60th birthday I wanna see 80 years old in as good a shape as I can be in w/o extreme behavior. So cycling and hiking along with eating decent should do the trick. Doc said today continue whatever it is I'm doing it's working.