adrien

Like many here, I'm a big guy. 6'3 and change, and before cycling I was around 240, with borderline hypertension. As a child, I was very asthmatic and I couldn't even run a block until I was into my 30s.

When I started riding seriously, my weight came down to the high 220s, BP dropped and I felt great. I was not then -- nor am I now -- obsessed with my weight, and I felt great boosts in stamnina.

After several thousand miles, I've settled in the low 230s. My waist is 3 inches less than it was before, and there's more definition in my chest, I have huge thighs and my face is much more defined. I took my resting bp three times about 40 minutes after a ride last night: average was 110 / 68. I think nothing of holding my HR at 150 for 5 hours straight, and the bike is great for me mentally.

So here's the question. I'm still technically overweight. Should I try to shed pounds? would I be healthier at 215?

Wogster

The real key is how healthy are you? Get your doctor to do a HA1C blood test, this looks at your average blood sugar going back over the last 3 months, if it's within normal range, your triglycerides and cholesterol are within normal range and your blood pressure is good, and you feel good, then a few pounds one way or the other are only going to affect hill climbing ability. You can also get a body fat test done, too see if your body fat is high, if it's high but not way high for example if normal is 10-15% and your 15.2%, it's not a big deal, on the other hand if it's 25% then have your doctor refer you to a nutritionist who specializes in sports medicine, to work on the old intake.

At 6'3 215lbs should be pretty close to normal, but and this is a huge but, if you have more muscle mass then average, then you can weigh more then average while still being fit. The only time weight is an issue is while hill climbing, even then, heavier riders often can keep up a full head of steam longer then their smaller companions, plus you gain it back on the downhill

Bill Kapaun

Some times "paper" weight and reality seem to diverge.
When I was in my late 20's, I was working in a shipyard doing hard, physical work on a daily basis. I had no problem carrying 230 on my 6' frame. If I got down to 220, I started to lose endurance. There's no way that I thought 230 was too heavy FOR THE CONDITIONS at that time.
I got an office type job and all those rules were out the window!
My friends 16 year old son is 6-3 to 4 and weighs 200. Absolutely no fat (lifts weights and plays varsity football) and he almost looks like a very strong skeleton! He tries to keep his weight down so he's "quick" for basketball.

The main thing is to FEEL healthy and have the Doc concur.

Bikeforumuser0022

IMO health is more important. If you're fit, weight isn't important at all.

Standing 183cm, this year I'd ballooned up to 110Kg from beer and enjoying eating.

By eating less, cycling, using heavier kettlebells, and bodyweight exercises, I dropped 7Kg in three weeks (for those of you still using measuring systems from the last century, that's about 5 pounds a week).

And there my weight loss stopped. Now the last of the fat is going away, clothes fit better, and those who haven't seen me in a while ask, "Have you lost weight?" I have to say "No", because every time I step on the scale it seems broken at 100Kg.

I'll always be a clyde. Which is okay with me.

As for what others think, I only care about Management. She says I'm more muscular than I've been in my entire life, and she likes it. That's very okay with me.

fuish

It's sad but true that some of us were stuck being taught the old way of measuring, when the whole world except for america, learns and uses metric.

Bikeforumuser0022

I was taught the old ways. In my early teens, the press told us to vote for a notorious central planner with grand plans for socially engineering the country in his own image. He forced metric upon us. I fought learning it, as did many others. Eventually a science teacher sold me on the superiority of metric.

Tho I must say if one is grasping at every chance to lose weight, changes measured in pounds show up quicker... and bigger. Kinda like experimental aircraft builders who measure speed in MPH instead of Knots, the international standard.

MAK

Quite frankly I stopped weighing myself years ago. The only time I get on a scale is at the Drs. office. I can judge things by how my cloths fit and the hole I buckle my belt into. I'm far from excellent health but I can feel when I;m doing well and when I'm not.

It took a while but I feel so much better about myself.

wink

I dropped from 222 to 195 over the summer riding around 125 to 150 miles a week.I have not change my eating that much maybe just eating a little more healthier.My BP is down 15 to 20 points from what it was and my Doctor said in October for my yearly that she wished a lot of her thirty year old men had as good of health. I am 63 and my stats and blood work checked out for a much younger man.Every time some one says something about what I spend on my bikes and trikkes I ask and how much was that Norta Track or what ever sitting in the garage on the porch or what ever gathering dust.I have not felt as good in along time as I do now plus it is good for the mind and is fun.
Wink

Neil_B

Your weight is as important as you want it to be. If you are happy at 230, and there are no health problems connected to your weight, there's no reason to change. If you want to change it, and there are no health problems that will result from doing so, do it.

I'm a big believer in making changes to your life if there's something wrong. In my case, I was miserable at 385 pounds. I was basically waiting for death to come. I had a false alarm, spent the night in a cardiac ward having blood drawn every two hours, and decided I'd never be in such a helpless condition again. So I lost 111 pounds in a year, and dropped another 30 after getting a bike.

Me at 360, after losing 25 pounds.


And me at 248 this summer. No, that's not my bike in the photo.

ChunkyB

If you're fit, and your BP is normal, I would say to not worry about weight. If you're worried about the way you look, you might "feel" better if you lose weight, but it sounds like you're in good shape, and I'd say don't worry about it. You could probably school plenty of 150 pounders on the bike I'm sure.

Just keep riding and stay in shape. I've found it makes exercising harder when I obsess about my weight. If I exercise for fitness, and for training for races and stuff, I find it more enjoyable, and I still lose weight.

BTW, "The Historian", those pictures are amazing. I think the most telling thing in the pictures is the fact that you look so much happier when you're active and stuff. Good on ya. I love to see pics like that. I think it's amazing what people are capable of when they set their minds to things. Congrats again.

Neil_B

Here's me at 360, February 2006. I'd lost 25 pounds by then.



And August, about 245 or so:

keiron curtis

I'd like to raise the same issue,I've been cycling now for 18/19 months,my weight when I started was 245lbs,but my height only 5' 8",I was feeling it too,blood pressure high,no stamina,could barely run.Now I feel great,cycle commute 8miles each way to work each day,blood pressure is normal,my waistline is 1" smaller,my legs and backside have all muscled up,but I've only lost 7 lbs in weight?My appetite is enormous and I repeat I feel great,yet I am clinically obese?

If I feel so well,do I have anything to worry about?

DnvrFox

Be careful about body fat percentage/BMI.

If you have a lot of muscle mass, the BMI will be inaccurate. Also scales measuring bodyfat percentage will be inaccurate. They even make scales with special settings for an "athlete" to measure body fat percentage.

I am 68 years old, but lift lots of weights, including maxing out the machines at the gym at 315 pounds, for example, for the pec machine, 300 lbs for the back machine, etc. I do 155 pounds for the bicep, etc.

The BMI doesn't work for me (but, yes, I could lose 15 pounds)

But today I started this morning with a four mile walk at an average 3.3 mph and this afternoon I did a 20 mile bike ride. I don't know too many other 68 year old guys who can do that without even breathing hard.


So, while I am technically overweight by the BMI, I feel and am quite fit.

And my blood pressure is 120/77, cholesterol below 200.

Tabor

You are overweight, but not obese. Unless have two of the following risk factors, you shouldn't be concerned. Risk factors: high blood pressure, high LDL-cholesterol, low HDL-cholesterol, high triglycerides, high blood glucose, family history of premature heart disease, physical inactivity (lol), cigarette smoking.

However, I know from experience that certain physical activities are much easier with less weight. Do you *feel* fat? That is what really matters.

Markedoc

I think you'd be healthier at 215. Less work for the ticker at 215. Personally, I don't dismiss the BMI index as quickly as some others do. Yes, I realize that different people have different bone structure and muscle mass, but the BMI gives you a pretty broad range for "normal" and I think most people would be best off staying within that range somewhere.

Just my 2¢.