DaBigRague

Ham,

I am basically training for a 10k at the moment. I am using halhigdon's 10k training program available at his website (www.halhigdon.com). Its important to note that I actually embarked on th 5k first, then made the decision to attack the 10 k program.

I have partnered that with weight training (old football workouts) and a better diet. I mixed in a little body for life strategy with an article about being a corporate athlete. The principle is 6 meals per day partnered with a stable glycemic index.

So, I will get through the end of this year doing it, but admitantly hit a plateu at 40 lbs of current weight loss. I am changing some things but keeping it similiar to what I had been doing. I will take a week off here and there before that time, but fully plan it hit hard in 2007. MY goal is lose another 50.

Actually I plan to train differently in 2007, so I will use a trainer to re-work what I have been doing, and tell them where I want to be. My goals are to bike hard, and run hard, so I can compete in a du-athlon / tri-athlon without feeling like I have been beat up in the process. To go to a trainer really pains me, but I will do what I need to. Hopefully doing that well will allow me to participate in century rides.

I pick the bike tomorrow (actually go for a fitting) so I am extremely excited...

Hambone

Apparently you know what you're doing.

One cool thing I find helps people loosing/trying to loose weight:

They did research at the Rockefeler Institute here in NYC and found that you loose weight the opposite of how you put it on. So, you plateau at the points where you "held your weight" when you were gaining. (It is more about body mass than actual weight but the difference is minor.)

So, for example, if I was 175 pounds in high school then jumped to 215 by sophomore year and stayed 215 for ten years before slowly creeping up to 250. Then I held at 250 for years until packing on more...

Then at 275 I decide to get fit.

I will stall in my weight loss at 250 and at 215. To break through those plateaus, you have to "kick it up a notch."

Panic

Thanks for the info on kicking it up a notch. I got stuck at 230, I have lost the same 8 lbs over and over again. I read this and I'm going to crank it up a couple of notches.

I weighed 230 for something like 7 years. Now to turn it on.

Thanks

bstreep

Howdy,
I'm about 230 right now. 5'10''. Just got a 2006 Schwinn Super Sport DBX this morning and rode it to work and back. I haven't ridden in about 5 years, so I had a bad case of rubber legs when I got off the bike. It was a nice ride though. My plan is to make the commute every day.
Here's to new beginnings!

Hambone

I had lost about 40 and was stuck.

Started commuting everyday (13-15 miles each way)

Now I'm down 75 pounds total. 75 more to go (Truth is I'll be happy with 50.)

Combination Weight Watchers and exercise. (Go figure... fewer calories, more activity and I loose weight.)

Biggziff

Throw in something like swimming on the off days..20 minutes in a pool will have an amazing effect.

Hambone

You always read that swimming for exercise (as opposed to just havin' fun) is the best exercise there is. You use all the big muscles and it is aerobic.

Okiedave

Hambone,

I have also been doing the Weight Watchers deal, with great success. I am down almost 50 since Feb started at 295 am at 247 now. I just went out a bought a Cannondale R800 Monday. I already had a mountain bike (Trek Liquid) but some friends of mine talked me into trying the road deal.

I had not been on my bike for the last couple of years. Really looking forward to seeing what adding riding to WW does for the weight loss. Hoping to get down near 200 by the end of the year. I would like to start riding some long events next year.

David

CalPastor

I was at 332 about 5 weeks ago. Started Weight Watchers (Lifetime Member returns) and riding and now I'm down to 299! Yeah! Did a 22 mile ride today on the Silderado Trail in Napa and it was awesome. My longest ride so far. I have a Diamond Back Response mountain bike that I put road tires on. I'm really having a tough time choosing a new road bike.

I love this thread! Keeps me motivated...

Prospero

I am 5'9" and about 210 lbs. Two years ago, I was 298 lbs. The key for me was the Atkins thing. I know a lot of people put it down, but it really worked for me. It allowed me to drop enough weight to be able to start exercising again without feeling like I was going to keel over. I started weight and cardio work and got back on the bike (1998 Trek 7000 ZX). I have since converted it to a hybrid. Now, I am looking to buy my first true road bike hoping that I'm not still too heavy to ride one without breaking things. I've posted in the Under $700 forum asking for suggestions, but does anyone here have any thoughts on which bike to look at from an over 200 lbs. perspective?

haimtoeg

Well done!

milt

I rode a Cannondale R500 for years, and now a R1000 and I'm 6'0 and 235 pounds. Also ride an REI Hybrid. No troubles at all with the weight factor. I think at 210 you can ride most any bike you want. Just be sure you have good wheels (Mavic Open Pro here...)
-Milt

Tom Stormcrowe

Great job! Keep up the good work!

Tom Stormcrowe

I'm currently riding a 531 alloy lug frame Raleigh w/out problems at 232 lbs! When I restarted riding, I was in excess of 400 pounds, by the way and was riding a cheap MTB. The Raleigh is doing me just fine!

Great job, by the way!

Hambone

David, dude give yourself a fighting chance.

You lost about 50 pounds in seven months. Which is awesome! Now you are giving yourself three months to loose the next fifty? It gets harder not easier as you approach your goal!

I'm betting it took you more than a year to put on the c-note you are trying to drop. I'm not saying your goal is unreasonable, just your timeframe seems like one which is going to be really hard to meet.

That is almost 3.8 pounds per week.

My mantra is I am not doing anythign along the say which I couldn't/wouldn't do for the rest of my life. I don't want a quick fix, I want a permanent fix.

Now, if somebody would hold my coffee while I get off my soapbox...

Hambone

I've said it here before. I think big guys need to worry about a few parts on their bikes and (unless manufacturer says differently like some of the CF bikes) not worry about the frame.

Buy the bike that 1. fits you the best and 2. you think is sexy. Buy the bike that when you see it in the store it just tugs at your guts and makes you want to ride. When I saw the frame of my road bike (a GT Edge Aero) I had a reaction to it. I still look at that bike and want to ride... fast.

On the parts thing, again:

• wheels (upgrade before you get your bike. If the shop won't work with you find another shop.)
• tires (gotta take high max psi)
• seat post (especially on compact frames)
• pedals (if you ride light (another of my diatribes) your pedals take serious abuse -- splurge for good ones.)

Saddle and shorts and the rest of it is no different than anyone else. Find what is comfy.

(EDIT: I should be clear, I "want to ride fast" but gravity and inertia seem to hamper this.)

DavisClydesdale

+1

The more overweight you are, the faster it can come off purely because of the crazy amount of calories you need to consume to maintain that kind of weight (unless you have a medical condition). As you get closer to your goal weight, it becomes harder and harder to lose weight fast. My experience from a past trial is that when you get within 25-30 pounds of your goal weight, it is hard to lose more than about a pound a week (provided you are on a healthy diet).

I also would give a +100 to Hambone's repeated posts about bike fit. Most bikes will work for us, just concentrate on the wheels, seat post, etc. Comfort is key.

On a side note, I have to toot my own horn this morning. When I weighed in, I was under 270 for the first time in a long time! 268.2. I started somewhere around 295. I was too afraid to get on a scale. After riding for a couple of months, I got on the scale and it said 282.5, so that is where I started keeping track. I'm looking for a new bike myself. Possibly a Trek Pilot or a Giant OCR. The relaxed position seems to be a good idea, but I won't know until I test ride. This damn Pinarello keeps calling my name, but I keep telling myself that I would be paying twice as much for some bling.

Hambone

That post with the pictures of the Pinnys' is as close to porn as I can get at work...

I have a buddy who rides an Aegis. That is a beautiful bike, too.

DavisClydesdale

Something tells me that 270 pounds packed into lycra and placed on top of this beauty will spoil the image...

CalPastor

I'm taking prinside and atenenol along with a cholesterol med. Anyone else taking meds? How long before you can get rid of them with the added exercise of biking? How do you make sure your blood pressure doesn't get too low?

Okiedave

Hambone and Davis,

Thanks for the input..... I do realize it comes off more slowly the closer one gets to the goal. I have lost most of my weight in the last couple of months. My activity level is WAY up. Biking, weight lifting, and I also play on two indoor soccer teams and just joined an outdoor soccer team. That said I do want to lose at a reasonable rate..... I never want to go back to even where I am now.

If you noticed I said my goal was to be "near" 200 by years end, not at 200. I have set an appointment with my Doc to set my "goal" weight, which will most likely be around 205-210.

The scale is not really all that important to me as is the lifestyle and the way I feel. I am doing more and feeling better than I have in 8-9 years. To me that is what it is all about..... being able to do the things I want to do. Goals for next year..... 12 miles of hell mountain bike race.... ride my first road century....hotter than hell one hundred.... maybe take a cross state tour.....you see where I am going.

This is a great forum and I find you guys to be very inspirational..... I am proud to be a Clydesdale!!!!!

Thank you both for keeping my goals in check,

David

Panic

I have to admit, my goal is to not be a Clydesdale sometime in 2007

There, I said it.

It felt good


====

I am trying to get my wife to agree that if I get to 180 I can get this:

Scorer75

Hi there.

I'm 6' 3" 230lb. and like being a clydesdale.

I'd like to get down between 215-220 but I'm coming from 250-260 so I'm doing well.

I love riding and got into it about three years ago when after using the excercise bike at the gym I aksed myself if it wouldn't be mre fun to ride out in the real world. It also keeps me in great shape for hockey season which in NY is October through March.

I ride a 2004 Cannondale Cyclocross Disc which was certainly not my first choice but at the price I got it ($600 with 500 miles on it) I couldn't turn down.

DavisClydesdale

Sweet. That is really what it is all about. The weight is just one metric, but less important than many other factors. Your cardio health has to be rockin!

Hambone

Are you doing the NYC Century?