dregsfan

I'm 57 and due to not getting aerobic exercise (I work outdoors on my property, so I get some exercise) and undisciplined eating, I've put on a pretty substantial belly. Not as much as some guys (I don't drink beer, or anything for that matter), of course some guys isn't the problem, it's this guy.

So if I start riding (I have the bike and used to ride when I was younger) and discipline my eating, please tell me I can lose some of this gut. I have no health issues and my general build has always been relatively thin.

I know burning more calories than taking in will drop weight, but seem in denial that it will work for me. Kind of irrational.

I'm hoping age doesn't negate weight loss from exercising.

I know it doesn't, but tell me anyway.

Thanks for the input.
Happy New Year
- John

Biker395 

People gain weight differently than others. Likely you gain your weight in your belly, so if you lose weight, it will probably come from there.

And yes, if you burn more calories than you eat, you will ultimately lose weight. I know there are those who believe otherwise, but that's what happens in my case.

The good news is that this all snowballs. Once you start riding the bike, you'll probably notice that undisciplined eating doesn't make you feel as good, and the excess weight will get in the way of riding fast, particularly uphill. That motivates you to watch what you eat, and as you get into shape, you'll feel better about riding further and faster ... it becomes a vicious circle ... in the right direction.

Someone else asked a similar question recently, and I think most folks agreed that the key was to make your bike rides enjoyable. If you don't enjoy it and are doing it only to lose weight, you won't keep it up, so ride to places you want to go and with people you want to hang with.

Good luck and welcome to the 50+ party.

CrippledKonaBoy

You CAN lose it, it's just slower as you age. Metabolism slows, so everything else does, too.

I put on a good 20+ early this year, and didn't get the diagnosis of inactive throid until September. So most of it is still here. But it's slowly coming off.

Focus on making it a new lifestyle, and you'll find a good equilibrium.

Kindaslow

When I was younger, I could out exercise bad eating habits. That ended somewhere in my 40's. You need the exercise, but more importantly you need to eat with moderation and eat good healthy foods that are fuel. It just is not worth it to eat junk food, it does not provide good fuel.

By the way, I put on and lost about 65 pounds during those years. I promise the benefits far outweigh giving up certain foods. Some folks will say you do not need to give anything up, I disagree (if you eat foods that are not good for you).

10 Wheels

Hey John,

Riding will help you look and feel better than you do right now.

Losing the belly is about what you put in your mouth.

Start riding when the rain leaves and report back.

jyl

At 48 I lost 35 lb from riding my bike everyday (only about 8 miles of daily commute) and changing my eating habits. You still need to do both.

Dave Cutter

When a woman gains weight... most tend to fill up like a glass being poured full. They gain in the bottoms first and then their boobs and arms. When they loose weight it is like a glass emptying. Top first and bottom last.

Most men however tend to gain weight more like filling a balloon. Men get round... first in the waist then arms, chest, and bottom. When we lose weight we can expect a quick waist line reduction. But then we experience what appears to be muscle loss before we get the smaller waistline we want. Don't worry. You won't be losing muscle. You'll be losing the stuff heart attacks are made of.... the fat stored under the muscles.

chasm54

Yes you can lose weight by just riding a bike. You have to ride a hell of a lot, though. People tend to overestimate how many calories they burn riding - and so do most of the heart rate monitors on the market. When I got back on the bike aged 49 I rode 16 miles each way to work, daily. My weight barely shifted until I started paying attention to what I ate. On the other hand, on a long tour riding around 30 hours a week I ate what I liked and lost weight fairly steadily. Most people aren't able or willing to spend 30 hours per week on the bike. So really, the combination of riding and paying attention to what you eat is the answer.

Maelochs

This, and this again.

Weight loss is 80-90 percent diet, in my experience. The exercise makes changing the diet easier. Bad food simply are not as satisfying when you exercise regularly, so bingeing on bad food is easier to avoid. Then, when you start to see some gains, it is even easier to skip a snack, or eat a healthier, low-calorie, high-bulk snack. Persevere and pretty soon you will be slimmer and fitter .... you can't help it, is it human physiology.

Take it from one with no willpower, you Can do it. Start exercising, then start changing your diet.

Yup. The exercise fuels the other changes, so you have to Want to exercise and you have to want to eat less junk food. Who wants to get all sweaty and tired, and then eat fruit?

I don't want to exercise ... but I Love to ride my bike. I go riding when I feel like trying to go fast, or when I feel like going slow, or whenever I want to do something I know will make me happy for pretty much the entire time I do it, even if I get a flat or something.

Exercise is for kids who want to compete for mates. Bike-riding is for people who have worked long enough to have the cash for a toy (about $500 in my case) and some leisure time. I have Earned the right and ability to go for bike rides ... forget exercising. Too much work.

The only downside is the whole "fat-guy" wardrobe I amassed over the past decade is now way too big on me.

a77impala

I have averages 6000 miles a year for the last nine years. The only year I actually lost weight I did 8400 miles.
This last year my cholesterol level dropped 50 points but I did nothing out of my normal routine. I just
ride and don't worry about weight or cholesterol.
I ride for my mental health more than the physical benefit!

nobodyhere

You may become discouraged at no weight loss or even a gain of weight as you start your "program." That is because you will likely put on a bit of muscle while hopefully losing some fat, and, heck, muscle weighs more than fat. So, keep an eye on the measurements - things like how tight the belt feels, being able to cinch it another notch, etc.

Good luck, and as Biker395 said - you MUST enjoy your activities or you will stop. Every New Year at the rec center where i swim and sometimes do spinning classes, there are a bunch of "New Year's Resolution Types" who have made that resolution, come to the rec center, work their tails off at something they don't enjoy (elliptical comes to mind) and last about 3 weeks, when the rec center gets a bit less crowded.

So, it doesn't have to be bicycling. Hiking/walking, swimming, basketball or maybe you ARE one of those types who enjoys an elliptical?? Just find something active that you like. For me it is bicycling, hiking/walking, swimming, stretching and resistance exercises (which become more and more important as one ages - I am 76yo).

Mostly, have fun.

tarwheel 

Exercise will definitely help you lose weight, but most of the loss comes from eating right. You absolutely have to start eat better foods and controlling portions to lose weight, and it's very difficult to burn up excess calories through exercise. Trust me, I learned this the hard way. I started cycling again in my mid-40s after my weight had ballooned up to about 200 lbs. I managed to drop my weight down to about 190 through rigorous exercise, primarily cycling, but found it hard maintaining that weight. I didn't succeed at consistently losing weight until I started tracking my calories (food as well as exercise), but was able to lose 30 lbs in about 10 months once I started doing that. I have since regained some of that weight, primarily because I haven't been as careful about what I eat, and I'm exercising as much as ever.

Phil_gretz

John,
You didn't mention your diet or other lifestyle factors. These are important to overall body health. Do you drink enough water daily? Do you understand what you are eating and nutritional choices? Exercise, sleep and diet all factor into whether you'll be able to trim off excess body weight.

So, I'd echo what others have already said. Find a way to get aerobic exercise at least 4 days a week. On the other days, work in some resistance training - even push ups, pull ups, squats, lunges, plank exercises, and light stretching will help to activate your muscles. Next, look into your refrigerator and your meal purchases, and try to identify and eliminate refined or added sugars. Be relentless. Find whole, natural substitute foods - fruits, vegetables, legumes/beans, etc. Finally, examine your portion sizes. Reduce meal sizes by 25-33% while eating balanced foods.

Be certain to allow for enough sleep, too, so that your body can recover from these changes. Good luck. Phil

donheff

The bottom line is if calories in are less than calories out you will lose weight. I have always been skeptical of the idea that we can count calories and somehow get that balance precisely right - i.e. just enough to slowly lose weight but not be hungry all the time. Heck, a cookie or two would easily throw that balance off and foil your efforts. Like you, for many years I was undisciplined in my eating and slowly gained weight until I found myself constantly sucking in my belly when the cameras came out. When I retired at 56 I took up biking (for fun, not weight loss) and did not lose an ounce. Eventually the belly really started to bother me so I gave a low carb diet a shot (used The New Atkins as a guide) and dumped 35 pounds in a few months returning my belly to college size. I was never hungry and paid no attention to calories -- just what I ate, not how much I ate. The what was unlimited in meats, fish, vegetables, nuts, cheeses, etc. I logged all my meals and carefully counted grams of carbs minus grams of dietary fiber to stay within bounds of my target. After dropping the pounds I started experimenting with what carbs I could add back in without problems and am back eating moderate amounts of rice, potatoes, and bread, and occasional pasta. I can safely splurge on candy and desserts (my former addiction) on holidays but will quickly start gaining if I keep that up. Basically sugar and added sugar in processed foods is verboten. So far I have stayed skinny for four years with this approach and my lab numbers are much improved. From what I have read, this approach works for a lot of people (more men than women) but not all. It helps if you naturally like a lot of protein and fat heavy foods as I do. When I was logging grams of carbs in the early days, I also logged how many calories I estimated were in the food. I didn't "count" calories in the sense of restricting my diet I just ate whatever amount I felt like and logged the results. Interestingly, the calories that I consumed were much lower than I would have guessed from the large amounts of full fat I was eating (e.g. bacon and eggs five times a week for breakfast). The relatively high proportion of protein and fat turned out to be sating for me and my hunger would abate naturally.

This approach works miracles for some and utterly fails for others. Also, if effective, it is useless to approach as a short term diet but needs to become am ingrained way of eating. For me I believe the critical factor was learning how to read the carb section on packaged food nutrition panels and to use online databases to estimated the grams of digestible carbs in whole foods. I targeted 50 grams/day for the early months (on food panels you take total carbs and then subtract the sub-amounts of dietary fiber and sugar alcohols). When you start looking at food panels you will be shocked at how much sugar is in stuff you wouldn't expect to find it in. For example, I love chicken wings and frequently heat up a bunch from a bag of frozen wings (how is that for an unhealthy meal?). For a typical selection of frozen wings in a supermarket, one brand will have 1 or 2 grams of carbs for a serving and another that looks similar might have as many as 25g per serving - probably due to some sugar flavored coating. Just as surprising are the items that work well for maintaining weight loss. For example, now that I am back up at 100-150 g a day, I frequently eat bacon cheeseburgers with fries for lunch midway on a ride. (I habitually tear off about half the bun on my burgers to limit the blast of glucose). Just to satisfy the purists I also frequently eat a big salad loaded with salmon or chicken.

Bottom line in response to your question the answer is yes you can -- or probably more accurately, maybe you can.

Retro Grouch 

I lost almost 50 pounds a year or so ago. I know the answer, but it's boreing. The kinds of food that your wife thinks that you should eat - only eat that and don't over-do it.

RonH

There are many, many wight loss stories on Bike Forums.
Riding definitely helps with weight loss. I weighed ~245# when I started in April 1999. By October 2000 when I rode my first metric century I weighed ~185#. Over the years I've managed to keep it off.
Good luck.

qcpmsame 

Its no total guarantee that you will be successful with simply riding, and a little nutrition improvement, it takes some commitment to changing your lifestyle and habits. I went up to 287 lbs by 2012, and I found out I was in Stage 3B renal failure in July 2012, I was riding some, and attempting to get my weight under control. When the doctor told me what was most likely going to happen to me if I didn't get my weight and lab numbers back in the safe ranges, I was scarred into doing some permanent changes to me eating habits, and to my entire life. I started by looking at what I was consuming, and the amounts/portions of food and liquids. I did a lot of research on nutrition, and worked with my physician closely to make a complete nutrition plan, and I began riding daily, with a Cyclist Diary to track everything. Now, I am maintaining my weight at 170lbs +/-, and have been for over a year.

To shortening the time line, I managed to ride pretty much every day, and my mileage was safely increased up my current 25 miles a day, 5-6 days of each week. Some shorter, or longer rides get thrown in, for variety. I became a vegetarian, save a small amount of white turkey meat, and some fish portions (broiled,) but the most important thing was the type of food I ate, and the portions that I eat. Mainly its fresh vegetables and fruits, whole grains, no-fat diary, some eggs, and no fast, or junk food at all. No snacking just because I felt like it, a strict plan that I track in my diary. I have lost just over 100lbs, and my lab numbers are in the optimal category for every test being done, for me. I seem pretty well stabilized in the weight, and riding is a part of my life, a very big part.

Best of luck, it takes some drive and determination, but it is doable. Find a good primary care physician, work with them to get a workable plan in place (a doctor that is pro-cycling.) Get a complete physical, if you haven't done so, and ride as much as you can, or will. If you have any questions, about my experience, feel free to send me either an email, or a personal message, when you have enough posts to do so.

Bill

avidone1

+1
I find that there is absolutely no correlation between my exercise level and my weight. Perhaps it's due to the fact that I eat more when exercising but I have observed this phenomena over many years.
HOWEVER..............by exercising you will tone up your muscles, you will feel better, you will kick start your metabolism and overcome the inertia that is keeping you glued to the couch.
In short. Cycling can start you on a new way of life that is healthier. It will create in you a fitness consciousness. Moderating what and how much you eat, becomes part of a lifestyle of health and vitality.
You will be healthier, feel stronger, look younger, and be the chick magnet you knew you always could be.
All this can, and does happen for millions of 'older' folks around the world.
And it can happen to you.
All it takes is a few hundred bucks to change your life.
Is it worth it?

dregsfan

Wow, You guys are just unreal. I can't thank you enough for your replies. I'm blown away.

I'll write again. Short on time and my computer is screwing up. You guys broke it with your generosity.

treebound 

Small, continuous, consistent changes, eat healthier a little at a time, weed out the junk food a little at a time, replace the junk with healthier options and allow yourself mentally and physically to adapt to the changes and make it a lifestyle habit that will feel "normal" in relatively little time.



I'm still hovering in the 210-220Lb valley (blame it on the holidays and other stuff, but ultimately only myself), but if things go as they have gone I'm about to jump to the 212-190Lb valley. The body seems to adapt and the weight seems to randomly go up or down during the adaptations (water retention, water loss, muscle gain, fat loss, temporary gastric issues and associated weight variations) but then one week you will all of a sudden feel like you jumped to a new plateau.

I'm not an expert, just figuring out what works for me. Find what works for you in your life and give it the necessary time to work.

edit:
And note that the picture is titled for 2013, so even though I haven't dropped a lot of weight since the picture I have not gained it back either. I'm healthier and that is the main thing, and have managed to make the habit a lifestyle change. This upcoming 12 months I am working on working out and am trying to structure stuff accordingly. In 2015 I only had time to bicycle a little at lunch at work in the early summer, and did not get to play one round of golf or go fishing (stuff going on around the house), but this upcoming year I'm planning to make health and strength a priority.

osco53

I did it,,got me a flat belly and got to carry a can~o~mase now~a~dayz to fight off the wimin folk

You cannot ever get rid of fat cells,, you can only shrink them, BUT they are like a sponge waiting to fill up as soon as you walk Into a Micky D's or KFC or stuff any bad junk food down your pie hole...

It's so simple to slim down, Your getting older, so eat less, but more to the point stop eating crap.
Ready to start counting calories are we ? I bet you forget to count what you drink.
Eat as much raw food as you can, stay out of the middle of the grocery store and remember If It comes In a box It will give you cancer,,ok ok so I exaggerate a little...
It's so simple, You are what you eat !


Mountain biking Is addictive btw ,,

dregsfan

Thanks again for all the great info.

Some I already knew, and much I didn't.

Very inspiring. Ya'll are the real stuff!

capejohn

Too many carbs and too much sugar get converted into insulin. The excess insulin is stored in our bellies. To get rid of the gut fast, find an eating plan that cuts down both of those belly fat foods. One that works really well is Food Addicts Anonymous. If you can stand all the religious and higher power stuff, it works well. The food is a plant based program and the weight loss is crazy fast and easy. Like all other plans that are successful, you have to change your eating permanently.

jon c. 

I'm your age and starting riding again about 3 years ago. I wasn't looking to lose weight, but lost about 20 pounds within the first few months. Hadn't been down that low since I was 20.

ltxi

Diet/eating discipline and a good, substantial exercise routine, bike or other. With that firmly fixed in my head I maintain just fine. 72 and drink prolly more beer than most.