boozergut

Ive lost 17 pounds in 2022 by eliminating booze and riding a lot (over 1,000 miles). Ive also added 260 miles of walking. Next year Im cutting out sugar.

t2p

at what point will you need to change your BF name from 'boozergut' ?

boozergut

I have a good reserve built up, the doctor said keep doing what you are doing.

RH Clark

I gave up sugar and any high glycemic foods like white bread about 4 years. It's amazing to see how the taste of food improves after a few months off sugar. What you thought was sour will be sweet and what you thought sweet will be sickeningly so. Sugar is the most socially accepted and harmful drug the American public uses. Quitting sugar completely is like trying to quit Cocaine if every grocery and convince store was selling it for a dollar a gram.

RB1-luvr

^^^ man, I wish I could do this. I've tried and failed. Even just cutting back is difficult. My sweet tooth is like a sabre-tooth tiger fang.

RH Clark

I understand. It's incredibly difficult. I was morbidly obese though and very unhealthy, so I had to get drastic in my approach.

If anyone really wants to quit the best way is to constantly research and study how bad sugar is for you. You will likely drive everyone else crazy in the house, but new information is the only thing that creates new behavior.

cycleheimer

Reduce intake of sugar, fat and salt. Seriously reduce intake of fast food and processed food. Drink mostly water, and don't drink soda (regular or diet) and drinks with added sugar and artificial sweeteners. Ride on a regular basis. Your health should then be better than if you did the opposite.

Cdubs

I have lost over 20lbs since I started commuting on my bike in April 256lb down to 230lbs. I find it did lead to better choices in food and drink as the weight started to come down and then I started cycling more just for un with the kids. Diet is definitely the biggest factor but cycling has made me fitter and stronger. I coach youth soccer and football in the spring, summer and fall and have found my ability to keep up with the kids has gotten so much better.

brave17

I bought my first bike in 2017 but didn't cycle much that year. When I started cycling more and more in 2018 and 2019, along with cutting down my food portions (and tracking calories for a while) I started to lose weight. I went down from 170 lbs to just below 140 lbs. I was able to keep it pretty constant since then. Also, I'm 5'7" so my BMI was 26 before and it is 22 now, and my smart scale says I have around 17.5% body fat. (I guess it's pretty good considering I am not a pro athlete). I still have some of that beer belly left though.

bald1der

As much as I'd love to say that riding my bike daily has led me to lose weight, I can't. Now what I can say is that riding my bike has kept me from gaining weight. When I retired I noticed the gut was coming, I started walking the neighborhood but my knees didn't want to cooperate. Bike riding was recommended by my doctor. Leisure ride 10-20 miles 4-5 days a week keeps me in shape.

50PlusCycling

Unless you are a rabid rider who spends a lot of time in the saddle, cycling is not likely to lose you much weight. When I was riding 1000km a week as a competitive cyclist, I was stuffing myself with food and sugary drinks, yet had almost no body fat. Nowadays I ride about 250km per week, and have to watch what I eat to keep my weight under control. If I don’t eat sugar, and limit myself to one beer per day (gotta have beer), I can stay reasonably slim.

blacknbluebikes 

The calorie intake / calorie burn conversation goes pretty deep in these archives. "Simple math" argument is tough to refute, but putting in practice doesn't produce perfect results, especially at "boundary conditions" where the balance is close. If you do burn a lot more calories than you consume, you will get smaller. But when the intake/burn math is close, all bets are off. And measurement is imperfect. Most wise hands will say "you gotta do both to lose weight - control intake and control workout calorie burn," and I think that is basically saying "you need a bigger spread between intake and burn to make notable progress."

Some have mentioned intensity of effort as a factor .. Riding a twenty-mile loop at 12mph is very different than a twenty-mile look at 17mph. For someone truly committed to losing weight through exercise, a power meter should be their next purchase. How many Joules today, big boy?

SkinGriz

I wonder if running in formation is extra hard on knees.

bald1der

Either the running in formation or the 40lb rucksack. 30yrs will really wear out the joints