debrent

Hey everyone,
Just thought I'd drop in and say hi. As a newcomer to this forum and to cycling (at least as a form of serious exercise) I think it's great that there is a dedicated place to discuss the benefits of cycling as a form of aerobic exercise with like minded individuals.

Like many of you I'm sure, the major motivation for me to go out and spend money on a new bicycle was to lose some unwanted pounds and work on my heart health. I can't stand working out in a gym. If that's your thing, great...I'm not dissing on those that can do it. I just don't like the way they smell and I get bored out of my mind working an elipti-glider for 30-45 minutes. So for me, it's P90 at home (haven't started that yet but hope to soon) and cycling.

My weight loss journey started about 6 weeks ago. I'm 5' 9" and was tipping the scales at about 205 lbs. For the past 6 weeks, I've been focusing exclusively on my diet. I'm someone who doesn't necessarily eat a lot of really bad foods, but I do tend to eat too much food. So I've been limiting my portions and sticking to vegetables, greens, grilled lean meat, a little bit of cheese, and nuts. I stay away from fried food, sugar and fatty stuff and try to limit my carbs to a reasonable amount. I also swapped soda for tea and water and started a vitamin regimen. So far, I'm happy with my progress. I've lost over 20 lbs and this morning weighed in at 183. My goal is to maintain between 155-160 which is what I weighed after boot camp 30 years ago.

To this point I've not been exercising much if at all. I'm a software engineer by trade, and as such, I am fairly sedentary in my lifestyle. My hobbies are reading, building models, watching old movies and lately healthy cooking. Now I will be adding cycling to that list and getting some much needed exercise in the process.

I look forward to sharing my (hopefully) continued progress with all of you, especially when I start putting some miles on my new ride. I also look forward to reading about all of you and how you're using biking as way to help reach your goals.

Good luck to everyone!
Don B.

PhotoJoe 

Hey Don - welcome to the nuthouse! You've done well and have graduated from official clyde status. (In no way saying you can't hang out here!!!!). Your progress is encouraging to those of us who have not reached our goals. Looking forward to hearing about your new cycling adventures.

Erwin8r

Don, welcome aboard! Great story! Now, how can we help you spend your money?? You need to become familiar with the concept of N+1... As you'll see, many of us may start out with bikes as tools/means to an end, but then they become so much more

kingsqueak

Welcome, start slow so you don't get discouraged.

I'm also a techie who hadn't been active for 15yrs or so and just started cycling again in July. The first 5 mile runs were not easy and I don't have a lot of time to cycle but with only once or twice a week out on the bike, I can do 13 mile routine runs and probably 40 or so as a max trip at this point. I feel a lot better for adding the activity for sure.

The variety of scenery and the general activity of cycling makes it an ideal thing for me to do.

billh

wow, 20 lbs in six weeks . . . that would be . . . calculating . . . 3.6 lbs per week. wow. it's amazing how much difference just small changes in diet will make, like the tea for soda swap. "Don't drink your calories". You are living proof. As one who has yo-yo'd the same 20 lb over the past . . . 20 years, the only caution is not to go too fast. Otherwise, you risk gaining it right back, over time, like in the next year. Just focus on the small changes that you can make permanent. Remember, the holidays are coming up so it's easy to fall into bad patterns of eating, especially when Meemaw brings out her pumpkin pie. But good going, your story is an encouragement.

ps--correction, 3.3 lbs per week, doh.

debrent

Well to be honest the first 5-8 lbs was probably just excess water weight. One thing I forgot to mention is that I'm a salt lover! I've had to cut WAY down on my sodium by using different things to spice my food like "Mrs. Dash". I also bought the regular iodized salt that has 40% less sodium. This wasn't so much about weight loss (although it helps with that) as it was about blood pressure. I was in the "Pre-Hypertension" category whenever I would check it at the drug store. Now, after six weeks of watching my sodium, I'm in the high normal range for the first time in awhile. However, once in awhile I will have soy sauce at a Chinese restaurant or salt on my popcorn at the occasional movie and then I will usually expect to see a temporary weight jump of a pound or so. Then after a couple of days it will come back down as my sodium levels drop back down and the excess water leaves.

I would say I'm losing between 1-2.5 lbs / week on average over the last 4 weeks.

When I begin to ride regularly, I won't necessarily try to lose faster, but I will be able to eat a little bit more than I am and still lose at the same rate. At least that's my hope!

billh

. . . not to get too off-track, but I've also been really interested in "water weight" fluctuations . . . and correlating them with my hydration status and what I ate the previous day. last week I saw a six pound morning weight fluctuation from Wed am, what I would call the max dehydrated, fasting state, resulting from Tue night team workout, where I have to skip dinner and go straight to the gym for intense 1.5 hr team workout . . . to Thu am, after binging on carbs all day Wed and well into Wed night, in response to the fasting and extreme exercise the day before! I've heard nutritionists refer to carbs as "big fluffy carbs that soak up water" and of course sodium make body retain water too. so the combo is a double whammy of water retention.