flip18436572

Just wanted to post and say great job everyone. Keep up the good work and keep enjoying it. If things start getting routine and boring, change it up and do something else. Put the bike down for a little bit and do something else, then get back on the bike. Talk to others at work/school/where ever and get them to go to your favorite LBS to look at bikes for them. Get someone else to ride with once a week or once a month. Get others motivated to improve as you improve. Enjoy the outdoors, on a bicycle with friends and family.

I rode my bicycle to a Thanksgiving dinner the Sunday before Thanksgiving. When I was leaving, my wife was giving me a ride to the other house where I left my bicycle and riding gear. I decided to ride by the house we ate dinner at, and they were all thinking it was amazing, as they had thought I was on my motorcycle, not a bicycle. One person told my wife that three years ago, he would have never imagined that I would ride a bicycle from my town to his town (13+ miles) for a dinner and then back again. Actually he said it a little bit different than that, but this was the politically correct version, if you know what I mean.

I then flew to Georgia for my mother's 70th birthday on Thanksgiving day, and Saturday morning I took her to her LBS and I talked with the owner about getting her a bicycle. He didn't have the bike that he thought she would be comfortable with in stock, so I didn't get to buy it for her, but we had a great conversation, and I think I will have her back on a bicycle before the end of the year.

Have a great riding experience.

cohophysh

No, thank you, you really look great! I checked out your website, it looks like you have some great vegan/vegetarian foods.

mgmoore7

I have been inspired to take some pictures or find some

I was at a high of 245 (5' 11"). I started biking/running in July 07 at 237# in preparation for a duathlon on Sept 29th. I am now 219.

My goal is 200# and I will reevaluate at that time.

Maelstrom 

Sounds like we are in a similar boat structure wise. At 6'5, I hit 300 about 2 months ago. A year of no cycling, too much drinking and just poorly taking care of myself. I decide to get back into shape. As an adult, in my best shape I was never below 220 and doubt I could get that small. My END goal is 240, my xmas goal is 270 and my march goal is 250. I amlucky I carry weight really well and I have a lot of muscle mass to create a natural size. Even at 270 I don't look that big (according to everyone who shockingly says "you weight THAT much, I would never have put you over 240) give or take haha.

Anyways, no pics, I am an anti pic guy (maybe I think it steals my soul, maybe I just hate pics)...Now that Ihave stopped drinking and started eating properly my body will get back into shape. While I am not focussing on powerlifting like in the past, I am definitely not aiming for skinny, I was born a clyde and plan to stay that way (fyi, 27in and 12.5 pounds, I was a tall big baby haha) I just don't wanna be a fat drunk clyde anymore haha Already dropped 22 pounds and lots of inches...can't wait.

cheers

Spartan112

201.5...ooooo so close, damn you starbucks brownie!

StokerPoker

I know it's hard sometimes, especially since brownies are so good but try having half and saving the rest for later or the next day. I'm struggling with this myself lately due to stress, anxiety and crap in my life right now. I'm actually on my way back to being a clyde. I'm up to 183 from 173. Sure beats the 250 I used to be, but I'm still getting worried

Spartan112

Actually I did only have half and I can't really complain as I am down a couple pounds from my last weigh in it's just that I'm closing in on the goal and the rate of loss had been slowing down quite a bit. Alot of it had to do with increased fitness level I think. I was doing the same workouts and not getting results I was getting early on.

redden

Those Rectus Femoris and Vastus Lateralis muscles must account for half of that 158. Damn how many tons do u squat?

Velomancer

SAVE HALF 'TIL TOMORROW!!!!! What kind of masochist are you**********

If I had the will power to save half a sweet, I wouldn't have bought it the first place.

StokerPoker

one who actually doesn't like sweets too often. Put pasta in front of me and that's a different story... oddly enough I just finished off the Lasagna....

aliensporebomb

A pic was taken recently that shows my loss better than some other pics I have:


Before


After - on the far left after dropping just about 64 pounds...

Spartan112

200.00 this AM...ohhhhhh so close to that magic barrier.

StephenH

No comparison photos...but I was in the mall shopping, and they had scales in the bathroom. It said 259.7. That means I've lost about 25 lbs over the last year or so.

jontn_swift

Bought my first serious...well kind of serious, roadie in July and am seriously riding for the first time in my life. Down to 255 from an estimated 280 to 285 in 5 months and the waist has gone from 42 to 36. I'll try to get a current picture before posting the gosh awful before pic. I'm aiming for 230 - 235 by spring and hoping to enter the crit circuit in New England. I'm trying not to focus as much on the actual pounds as on physical condition since I know I'm gaining muscle mass as well as burning off fat, but I also know that taking off pounds will help on the hills.

I've been asked for my weight loss secret a couple times....I tell them it's a secret that marketing companies do NOT want us to have...Eat less, exercise more.


2007 Trek 1500
1993 Giant Yukon with road tires (30 lbs of fat burning steel, and something I don't mind riding on sanded Maine roads in the winter).

jontn_swift

For some reason the before is on the right and after (during really) on the left.....approximately 285 down to 255 from July to December.

I look at this picture and see work yet to do, but I would never have been seen in all that skin tight lycra 5 months ago.

Tom Stormcrowe

Great job, Jonathan!

ZXiMan

The first pic is me at 233 pounds... September 2005.

The second pic is me at 176 pounds... just 365 days later! September 2006

The third pic is me off the bike (circa Febuary 2007)...

Don't have any of my "fat" pics off the bike, sorry.

I didn't much change my diet except that I ate mainly high GI carbs. All I did was ride slightly over 13,000 miles in that first year.

I have 9 more pounds to go to meet my goal. I got sick last year around this time and had to spend 2-1/2 months off the bike so I had a bit of a set back but now I'm right at 175 again.

Athanasius

You guys are awesome and a total inspiration. Thanks for posting all these.

Tom Stormcrowe

bump

StokerPoker

sorry...in my case no news is bad news. I'm back up to 190. I'll be a clyde again in about 3 weeks at the rate I'm going

neospazzy

At 5'10, I was considered to be overweight at 207lbs being my all time high. The following picture was taken about one year ago this month. I wasn't even into cycling (or even exercising) so I can't even classify myself as a "Clydesdale". My belly got so big, it popped the bottom button of the shirt I was wearing.



On December of 2006, I had a pain in my left toe that felt like I broke something. I was diagnosed with Gout due to my diet. I had to cut down on red meat and other purine rich food, though that didn't last too long. It was the first diet-related health scare I experienced.

Fast forward to June of 2007, I saw on the TLC Channel called "I Eat 33,000 Calories a Day". Basically it is a story about these really obese people and how this show tallies up their daily calorie count. This one woman finished off a bowl of M&Ms and I thought to myself, "Hey, I can finish that too!" ... only to find out that the calories of that bowl of candy was at 3000! I almost barfed. Here I am, munching on chips as I am watching this show late that night and that just got me thinking about my own diet.

The very next day, I went grocery shopping with my two girls. When I let my then 2 year old out of the car, she started darting away into the crowded parking lot. As I tried chasing after her, I began to lose my breath and my little 2-year old girl was beginning to outrun me! Nonetheless, it was a scary experience and I knew I had to do something.

Thus began my journey into health and fitness. I learned about eating smaller portions of food and the type of food I should be eating. I was forced to give up on late-night snacking, fried foods, sugared sodas, candy, and all the foods I loved that made me happy. I learned about resistance training, circuit training, and high intensity interval training (aka HIIT). It took discipline and some tears, but after two weeks, it became a habit. Soon I began to see the pounds shed off.

On August 2007, I was introduced to biking from a good friend of mine. The last time I rode a bike was in junior year of high school and that was a cheap BMX bike in 1990. I bought my first hybrid, a Trek 7.2FX from an LBS. I fell in love with my newfound sport. A month later, I sold the 7.2FX and bought a 7.6FX. Two months after that, I purchased my first full on road bike from eBay, the Bottecchia Sprint CF78 Team. I did some upgrades after that to the bike I have now. I bike on the weekends. I started doing 5 miles and increasing by 5 miles every week. My all time high was 46 miles prior to the "main event".

On February 9th, 2008, just six months after starting my newfound love of biking, I rode and completed my first century at the Tour De Palm Springs 2008. I completed the ride with an average of 16.5mph with a moving time of 6.5 hours (total time was about 8 hours). Here is a picture of me during the ride at one of the automated photo stands.



Here is the picture we took at the finish line.



Now I am at 177lbs and still a work in progress. My waist size went from 38in to 33in. The point of my story is that if I can do all this ... anyone can. It is all about setting goals and sticking to achieve them. I wish everyone here the best of luck! Hang in there!

Spartan112

Just checking in, I've been sitting at 196 for a few weeks, but with the added weight training my body fat% is down to about 15%. I have a feeling I'll drop that last 12 pounds I want to lose once cycling season hits again.

SHOwned

i've gotta say, congrats to everyone who posted in this thread. there is a lot to be said with sticking with it.

i'm at about 240~250 right now and 5'10", i'm in surprisingly decent shape and have an acceptable BF%, though i'd like it to be lower. i lift every morning, and do cardio as well, then i hit the gym in the afternoon for a second round of heavier cardio. I bought a bike to start riding to do something else that is less boring then running on a treadmill... but i haven't been able to ride more then 10 miles since i got it because i destroyed my front chain ring. the new one is in the mail, which gives me time to look for a nice 3 or 4 mile morning loop on my way back from the gym searching google maps and all.

I've never much cared about being below 200lbs, because with my frame, i wouldnt look very healthy. at 200lbs i could be down to ~6.5% BF with my current build. which would be insane. so i'll be sure to let everyone know as my progress continues. which probably will be slow.

veloellen

Neo****zy - you look great. Awesome picture from the tour!

neospazzy

Thanks! I am getting ready for the Solvang century in two weeks. Hope to see some of you there!