Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Need some motivation - please tell me about your exercise regimen.

I'm an infrequent cyclist because of work schedule, school, family and general laziness. I've been a clydesdale and non-clydesdale many times. Currently I'm at 215 lb. Not too long ago, I was 195 and before that I was 225. My body can't seem to make up its mind or is it my mouth and stomach? Anyway, I need some inspiration so please tell me your exercise regimen and where you get the discipline to stick with it. BTW, I'm type 2 and one would think that's enough incentive. In my case, it hasn't been. :(

Make it a routine. It takes about three months to form the habit. During that three months, find some way to put external pressure on yourself to do it, to make it an obligation. Arrange to run or ride regularly with a friend. Promise your wife, or bet a colleague, that you'll commute four days a week by bike. Hire a personal trainer, if you can afford one. Whatever. The key is to ensure that you have to deliver on your promise or let someone - someone other than yourself - down.

Once the habit is established you'll find you feel uncomfortable if for some reason you're forced to miss a session. At that point you know you're doing it because you want to, and you have the momentum to continue indefinitely.

For what it is worth, I found commuting by bike to be excellent both in imposing a discipline and in getting a lot of exercise for minimal loss of time. A 16-mile ride to work took me only 15 minutes longer than the same journey by car.

This is what i do every week, I am learning/playing badminton so the bias is towards legs\core & cardio

Saturday Rest Day
Sunday Walking
Monday Strength/Circuit
Tuesday Cardio/Abs
Wednesday Strength/Circuit
Thursday Cardio/Abs
Friday Strength/Circuit

the walk is a hike round a local park for 1:30 - 2:00 hours in whatever weather..

I play tues\thursday

hth

monday: gym and rest day from riding
tuesday: riding. try to do 15-20 miles
wed: gym and riding
thursday: riding
Friday: gym
Sat: long ride
Sun: long ride.

I don't have a "routine". Instead, I don't have a car. If I want to go to the grocery store? Bike. Library? Bike. Babysit my nephew? Bike. (or walk. or take public transit. or do some combination of the three.) At the moment, I need to have about 60-80 miles a week available in my legs for errands and general running around. I've got more like 40-60... tho the last 40 or so miles are pretty optional, and there are ways and ways around them. And well, life is a lot nicer when you've got a spare 20-40 miles over and above what you can really use, so... I'll be working for a while to get myself up to snuff. It'll be cool when I'm busting 400 miles a month most months :D.

It doesn't really matter what you pick to make a habit. It does matter that it's easy for *you* to hold yourself to it. I like to bike. I like to walk. I also like to eat, and I don't get to eat if I don't get my exercise. So I don't need external pressure, my own empty tummy will push me out the door sooner or later. Prolly sooner. And since I like biking, it doesn't have to push me very hard.

Also be realistic with yourself about how long it takes you to build a habit. For me, it takes something on the order of 6 months, maybe even more like 12 months for things that are hard for me. The 3 weeks you see in a lot of psych research is nowhere near what I need. The good news is very little of the "bad" stuff I do is a real habit... the downside is even stuff that would be a solid and well established habit in someone else is easy for me to just forget. And once I've forgotten two or three times... it tends to be like starting over from scratch. I have to be really careful to work within my limits and natural abilities, and I have to be really slow about introducing new habits. Chances are stuff will be easier for you, but the same idea holds. If you aren't fair to yourself, no one else will be either.

Body composition is not a function of exercise, but a function of diet. Yes, exercise helps a lot but you can't out-train a bad diet.

If I need motivation I look at myself in the mirror and say 'If I can do this, I will know I can take care of my family no matter what life throws at me'. Works like magic.

I ride six days a week ... no set schedule, but typically it's:
Monday - 15-20 miles
Tuesday - Intervals - 10 miles
Wednesday - 10-15 miles (recovery)
Thursday - Intervals - 10 miles
Friday - 10-15 miles (recovery)
Saturday or Sunday I try to do a long ride 20-40 miles, and take the other day off

Motivation comes in the 300 mile per month challenge here in the forum. It's not a matter of "want" to for me ... comes down to time constraints, etc.

cantdrv55

I was 290lbs in Aug 2009; I am 182.2 as of 9/5/11. This was done by 1) changing how I eat --- I stop eating a lot of snacks after work and before supper and 2) I walked when I use to snack. As others of said one must make it a habit or as I say "A lifestyle" That lifestyle is both eating correctly (read eat to keep your Bg undercontrol) and exercise/moving other than walking to the frig and food storeage places. I have found that my Bg is lower know that I cycle daily (ok at least 5 out of 7 days a week) I take metforman 1000mg daily. You do not give your height so do not know if 195-200 is a good weight or not. I am looking at 175-180 as a ending/maintiainance range. The thing I realized two years ago is that I could not go on another diet and keep the weight off; if I was to keep the weight off I was/had to change the way I look and thought about food. The research that I have found has said that those who lose 100 lbs or more and keep the weight off for more than a year (read do not regain the weight) did a couple of things 1) tracked their weight (stepped on the scale daily; put on a certain pair of pants daily to check the fit) in other words they knew of the had gained a pound or not each day. 2) tracked their food intake; yep measured and weight the food; this insures that one only eats a single portion not two, three or five. 3) they got up and move at least 30 mins a day three days a week. Yep; staying healthy is work but then again don't we own it to ourselves to be healthy? PM me if you want to hear more!

Thanks all for your responses.

I am 5'8" and my MD says I should weigh around 160. I haven't been that light since I was a soldier 25 years ago! I felt at my best when I was around 185 - 190.

Thanks all for your responses.

I am 5'8" and my MD says I should weigh around 160. I haven't been that light since I was a soldier 25 years ago! I felt at my best when I was around 185 - 190.

You felt better at 185 than you did as a 160lb soldier 25 years ago? Seems surprising.

At 160, I was 22, too skinny and still a kid. When I finally stopped growing and filled out, I weighed 185 at age 27 and became a dad.

At 160, I was 22, too skinny and still a kid. When I finally stopped growing and filled out, I weighed 185 at age 27 and became a dad.

OK, you know your own body best. I was surprised because 185 is the weight at which I felt best, and I am 6'3".

If you are lucky enough to be able to make it work, commuting is a great way to stay committed. I have a base of 125-150 miles a week from getting to work and back, even if I decide not to ride at all on the weekend.

If you have other goals, then you do have to remind yourself that every day's commute is a training ride. Sometimes you might be doing climbing work, intervals, or time trials on the way to work. Again, if you are really lucky, as I am, you have a route, schedule, employer that allows all that to work for you.

Bonus--In addition to forcing me to get enough miles, this routine also saves time and money. The gas savings alone can pay for your bikes and gear.

I can't bike commute to work. I drive 35000 miles per year to cover my sales territory. That's part of the weight gain (McD's every five miles).

My motivation is cabin fever. Compared to a lot of the people in this forum, I'm pretty lucky. If I sit on my butt all day, I start to go crazy, and need to get out. Moreover, I need to move around - not so much exercise although that's important to me - but I have a strong need to go see what it's like over there. I go kayaking, too, but one of the reasons I prefer cycling is that I can go faster and farther. From my house I can see what's going on in Gas Works Park, or Ravenna, or ... If I ignore this stuff I get anxious and unhappy.

good insight here : http://www.bicycling.com/training-nutrition/training-fitness/official-non-training-guide?cm_mmc=Facebook-_-Bicycling-_-Content-Story-_-non-train

Lessee...there was this last weekend...
Saturday- ride 220 miles.
Sunday- ride 200 miles.
Monday- ride 217 miles.
There you go1

I'm an infrequent cyclist because of work schedule, school, family and general laziness. I've been a clydesdale and non-clydesdale many times. Currently I'm at 215 lb. Not too long ago, I was 195 and before that I was 225. My body can't seem to make up its mind or is it my mouth and stomach? Anyway, I need some inspiration so please tell me your exercise regimen and where you get the discipline to stick with it. BTW, I'm type 2 and one would think that's enough incentive. In my case, it hasn't been. :(

Being a type 2 should be enough incentive to scare you into being very attentive to your bodies condtions.

Since you are not then you don't know enough about type 2 yet to fully understand what this disease can do to the human body over time. You need to learn how type 2 will kill you slowly but surely if ignored as you are doing.

Not managing your type 2 is the same as playing Russian Roulette with a fully loaded gun since you are committing suicide the way you're going at it now. :rolleyes:

Lifting weights every other day and riding the bike alternating days. Evening walk w/ the dog everyday.

The workout is 40-45 minute routine, just for basic strength. If I ride my road bike during the week, I have time for 15-20 miles before dark. If I ride my singlespeed, 10-15 miles is all I care to do. My walk is a 1.5 mile route which takes me 25 minutes due to my dog always stopping.

Exercise is important, but don't neglect diet with your diabetes.

Mine's pretty simple:

If the weather is nice, I go cycling.
If it's overcast or raining lightly, I go cycling.
If my body is aching, I go cycling.
If my body is REALLY aching in pain, I might not go cycling, if only to be cautious and prevent a potential injury which would jeopardize the prospect of cycling in the near future.


I've never needed to work up motivation to go cycling. Cycling is motivation in and of itself.

I do stuff that's fun. I bike all year, any day that the roads aren't icy. I kayak and swim in the summer, and skate and ski in the winter. I love all of this stuff, so it's not hard to do it regularly. I hit the gym four or five days a week (more often if the weather drives me indoors), and I even enjoy that -- it's a friendly, low-key kind of club. I love to eat, but I now try to eat the way I should have all along. It really helps to have lots of fruit and veggies on hand (preferably purchased at a distant store or farmstand reached by bicycle).

I'm currently trying to get ready for a 5K at the end of this month. So training goes like this, again right now:

Sun - Bike ride, 15-25 miles
Mon - Jog 25-35 minutes
Tue - Jog 25-30 minutes
Wed - rest
Thur - Jog 45+ minutes
Fri - Jog 25-30 minutes
Sat - Bike ride 30+ miles

My motivation is my wife and some of my co-workers, who bike to work. My wife helps me a lot with diet, and she compliments me a lot on how my stamina and look have improved and it's great. My co-workers and I have small competitions and track who rides more miles in and who rides more frequently. My ride is just 18 miles RT. I add a few miles by escorting my kids on bike to school. That adds 4 more miles/day. I'm lucky I live in the south bay/silicon valley part of CA, and weather is fantastic and ideal for riding pretty much year round. But it really has helped maintain weight and fitness. And for a guy who has two pins in the left ankle, who's now limping partially with rupture ligament in right knee, cycling during my commute is just some of the best 40 minutes I enjoy twice a day.

mith: you crack me up!!!!

No routine for me - I try to make mine fun adventures. I have all sorts of activities to choose from - cycling, running, bodyweight calesthenics, swimming, outrigger canoeing, kettlebells, boxing, wrestling, etc. Sometimes I'll get on a kick with one or two things - like the last three days - 60 miles of biking and 20 miles of outrigger canoeing. Try to turn exercising into something fun and you'll enjoy it more - I do (and try to include your spouse - if you have one).

What works for me is to almost always have an event I am looking forward too. A century or a double century.
Bought and paid for. Motel reservation too. Seem Like an investment that I don't want to waste.

So I train hard for the event, I do not want to DNF and feel like I wasted the time, and the money.
If I do not have a date circled on my calendar I will start to back slide.

My wife and friends have all heard me say "I need to get a date circled on my calendar again soon" and they all know what that means. Oldstrong is getting off the sidelines.

Heaviest: 238 pounds on my 43rd birthday.
Today 48 1/2 and 175 pounds. (I am 6 ft)

You can do it too. Make the most of the great fall riding weather.

I've found that riding my bikes for transportation, commuting, utility and touring is the only way I can maintain any kind of consistency. I'm too busy to set aside time to just go out and ride for pleasure on any more than an irregular basis.
The same is true of weights. I have some at home, and work one body part a day while watching the news because I don't have the time to spend going, coming, dressing, etc. etc.
I have to work it into my daily routine or it won't get done at all.

Marc

If I haven't done any exercise by dinner time, I put a podcast on my MP3 player and go for an hour-long walk. I can always walk, regardless of temperature, how I feel, condition of my bikes (crankset bit it yesterday :P), etc. This ensures I get some calorie burning in every day.

I try to keep a proper schedule, but often flex a bit.

The reality is, when I have the time

M,T,W,F - 22 mile ride to the gym, 1 hr crossfit, 6 mile ride home.

S - 6 miles to the gym, Crossfit, ride until tired, then turn for home.

Th, Su - catchup days if one of the others becomes inactive, otherwise rest days.

When I get busy, 6 miles to/from gym. When I get incredibly busy, just gym or ride.