Introductions - Newbie from VA

Hello all,
I'm excited to be apart of the forum. I've been riding for a little over a year. I've definately caught the cycling bug. It has really helped me lose weight this year (down from 230 to 199 since january). I think I'm moving out of the "Clydesdale" stage. (I'm 6'5"- so to be at or under 200 is a great feeling) Cycling also help me manage stress and clear my head.

I started out with a Trek Hybrid FX 3.5 and put a bunch of miles on it. I rode a metric century at the end of July on the Hybrid. It was tough on such a heavy bike and the weather was grueling (102 with 98% humidity) but I finished strong.

My wife noticed my enthusiasm for cycling and suprised me with a new Specialized Tarmac Comp road bike a couple of weeks ago. Its a beautiful bike- fire engine red. It is so light and fast. I can't believe the difference. I'm now able to do 20 to 30 miles averaging about 17mph- 2 to 3 times a week no problem. On the weekend I try to do a little longer 30-40 miles. So- I'm just venturing into the road bike thing- but so far I can't get enough.

My goal is to do longer distances at greater speeds. Next year I would like to do a 100 mile century in under 7 hours.

I appreciate all your contributions to the forum. I have read many threads and have learned a lot. As I train for my first 100 mile century I hope to get lots of great advice!

Best,
-Chris

Hey,

I am new to Forums and relatively new to biking. I love it!

My question today is, after several weeks of commuting, I find myself more and more, and MORE hungry. I cannot seem to get rid of this incessant hunger. I exercise, a lot...well more than a lot of people my age I think. I commute 20-30 minutes on my bike each day and on top of that do about 40 other minutes of cardio and sometimes weight training for twenty minutes or a spinning class. I usually ride to work 3 times a week.

I would like to lose weight, not an immense amount of weight, but about five lbs and turn it into muscle.

Is it normal that I am hungry ALL of the time and that I am not losing weight?

Thanks!

Welcome, depending on where you are in VA there are lots of good centuriies to practice on.

Welacome aboard ccarls. I'm sure you'll enjoy your visits here!http://www.madhatter.free.fr/smileys/albert.gif

Sounds like you exercise a lot. The question you might want to consider is "What am I eating?" For me losing weight is all about intake vs. outake(exercise). Sounds like you are doing well on the outake. If you are eating lots of high calorie/high fat foods you will feel hungry all the time and not lose weight. I find eating a reasonable amount of good calories(non enriched carbs like brown rice, whole wheat, ect... stay away from the white foods) and a lot of protien keeps me from being hungry all the time. The other thing that has worked for me is to eat 6 small meals a day. That seems to get my metabolism going and keeps the hunger off. If you cycle long distances your body will require sugar- that best way to get that if through those good carbs. Keep lifting wieghts as more muscle will increase your metobolic rate. Hope this helps.