webbrr

So I wrote back on May 27th weighing in at 244. I'm happy to say that in the last three weeks I've lost 10 more pounds. I'm feeling great about it! I'm still not to a point where anyone really notices that I've lost any weight but I really feel a difference. I'm not so lethargic anymore. I have energy to get out and do things that I used to just brush off. I'll keep posting if people don't mind. Peace!

Neil_B

Why would anyone mind? Almost everyone here wants to read success stories. Keep 'em coming.

wxduff

3.3 pounds a week is good healthy progress man. And it doesn't matter if people tell you look better, it matters whether or not you feel better. It seems your increased activity and feeling great about it means everything is going well.

I notice the energy increase as well. I've been biking over a week now, and on my day off last week I felt tired, as though I was missing a morning cup of coffee or something to get awake. (By the way I used to drink two cups of coffee to wake up for work everyday, since biking I've had none, and I feel like I have more energy then when I did.

Keep up the good work, the fact that other people here have success helps me prove to myself all the hard work is worth it.

What have you been doing (besides cycling, obviously) to get down?

webbrr

The exercise has been great! I've also reduced my calorie intake and started eating from a healthy source of calories. Yup, I'm counting. I try to maintain about an 1800-2000 calorie diet. If I do that and then burn 500-700 calories in a day with exercise, I find that I'm usually at about a 500-800 calorie deficit per day. Over the course of a week, that tallies up pretty quick. I kinda miss the fast foods from a pure habit perspective but my body doesn't crave Big Macs anymore. We're on the right track!

RickD

I started right before thanksgiving 2009 at 388# i removed all processed sugar from my diet and limited my calorie intake to 800 -1200 a day, keeping my calories at 50% protien 30% fat 20% carbs (fresh fruit and vegies only), after the first week i was off of all my insulin and in 2 weeks all my diabetes meds altogether.

By March i was down 65lbs and started ridding my bike again ( single speed cruiser ) by the end of may i was down over 100lbs.

I bought a new bike ( Rock hopper ) and have been riding 10 -20 miles a night as of today i'm down 125lbs, i'm hoping to loose another 75-80 lbs.

One trick i found that works for me, i stick with the above plan for 6 days a week, but one day a week i eat a normal meal whatever i'm hungry for except i still eat no processed sugars.

Rick

minnesotamongo

This is my "Over halfway" shot - 196.1 lbs off. Adding the bike this summer has really helped me accelerate my weight loss. I started this in July of 2009.

wxduff

Great job so far man. I just got done playing the guitar and I've worked up a sweat. Is that a Gib?

nancyj

This thread is truly motivational.

I let myself go, over the past 30 years from 135/145 to 280. Had a wakeup call this fall and am down to 220 strictly from sensible diet and a lot of aerobic excercise and weight training. Goal is to get back to 145 by next summer. The old bike is upside down on my bedroom floor being re-stored.

At least it looks like my 220lb body CAN safely fit on a bike though, sorry, don't think I will be EVER wearing the wild bike clothes no matter how good I look. HAHAHA unless I dig out my old wool things which I still have with the chamois crotch and the shirt with the pocket on the back. Old size 2.

I got off the bike when we had babies because being in the rural south and on the bike always meant things like beer cans being thrown at you, guns pulled, etc. and I as honestly scared to get my kids on one. Lame excuse I know. But you can't go back and undo things. Now I am a 54 year old grandmother.

Along my journey so far I have completely ditched 2 meds for BP, have a resting BP of 110/70 and resting HR of 65.

Will also be looking for a trainer to hook up and pulling out the old Weyless Rollers (once I get really comfortable back on the road) - Eeeek - hope they still make belts for them.

MountainCruiser

This thread is awesome!!! Congratulations to everyone on their success and keep up the good work.

I was 250 lbs in February of this year, this morning I weighed 215 lbs. The heaviest that I ever was was 260 lbs. I am 5' 8" and my weight distributes well, even at 26 my waist was 38". When I hit 260 I decided something had to happen. I went on a low carb diet and dropped to 225 and stayed there for a while. I decided it was time to focus on correcting my eating habits and I managed to get my weight down to 202 lbs. and then settled in at 205- 210. I quit smoking May 1, 2008. I expected to gain a few lbs. so when I quit so I really watched my diet. I did very well for a few months and my weight started creeping back up. No matter what I did the weight just kept going slowly up. Everything was happening so gradually that I really didn't notice until things had gotten really bad. My energy was totally gone, my joints were aching all of the time and when I would get home from work I didn't feel like doing anything. When I would try to do something strenuous my muscles would cramp badly. I was just thinking that I was out of shape. Things just kept getting worse, I was having severe back pain. I finally admitted to myself that at 44 years old I should not be feeling this way and made an appointment with a Dr. to get checked out. My liver enzymes were all out of whack, after an ultrasound on my liver I found out that I had a fatty liver and my gallbladder was full of stones. I also found out that my vitamin levels were off. My vitamin D level was almost non existent and the Dr. said that I had the testosterone levels of an 80 year old. He said that I had 2 choices, I could take some medication that might possibly dissolve the gallstones or I could get scheduled for surgery. After talking with the Dr. I decided against the surgery since I had never had an actual gallbladder attack. I went home and starting educating myself about my gallbladder and decided to totally change my way of eating. I had a gallbladder attack the first weekend and decided that I was going to tough it out. I had gotten to the point that I constantly took meds for acid reflux, after reading up I found that taking too many can actually make things worse so I quit taking them as well and got a foam wedge to sleep on at night instead of laying flat. I lost 15 lbs the first week. Within a few weeks I started feeling better. My liver enzymes and my levels are back to normal now and the muscle pain and fatigue are gone. During the process of all of this my wife and I decided to buy bikes, so we picked up 2 Schwinn Hybrids. I started out riding 2 - 3 miles at a time in a subdivision near my house. My rides had gradually increased and one Sunday morning I decided to venture out for a ride to see how far I could go. I ended up riding 20 miles that day and I was hooked. I now remember why I loved riding my bike so much when I was younger. After several long rides I decided to take the plunge and buy a road bike so I picked up a great deal on a NOS Felt F65. I'm slow on the hills but I think I improve with every ride. I will be attempting my longest ride tomorrow morning, a 50 mile ride with several good hills. I think remembering this thread will be a great motivator for me.

My goal weight is 180 lbs. I hope to do MS 150 by this fall and my big goal is to do the 6 Gap Century ride in the fall of 2011.

MountainCruiser

Here I am getting ready for my first 50 miler!!! I'll have to find a before pic to post up.



I made it!!!! The ride was 54 miles with 2526 feet total climb. Seat time was 4:45 minutes with an avg. speed of 11.3 mph. Total time with stops for hydration and snacks was 5 hrs. and 39 minutes. I had a tough time on one really long climb and about 2/3 of the way up I realized that my bike was not shifting into the lowest gear, it was much better once I corrected that but I think it took a toll on me for the rest of the ride. The last 10 miles was pretty tough but it was worth it. Last year I wouldn't have even considered something like this. Thinking about the accomplishments of everyone in this thread helped to provide motivation through some of the tough time during the ride.

the hooligan

heres my before/after pic. i went from 6'4 245 to 170lbs. i came from a diet of eating whatever i wanted with no exercise at all, to a full organic diet, riding the bike almost every night, and walking/exercise whenever possible.

chevychic55

WOW! Way to go. You look great

ericsday

Update:


down 106 lb.... its been all worth it!!!

All i can say if you want to lose weight is just keep at it! GO GO GO.

You need to stay focused on your goal and just stick with it. If i can do it so can all of you!

lokerola

Dude - you look great! Very inspirational, thanks.

smilin buddha

I think the worse part for me is just getting started. The mental game defeats me before I have a chance. But I am determined to start again. First I need to quit smoking. Than adjust the diet. I hope I have some good news to post in a few weeks. I keep checking back every few days. The inspiration will help me get through those dark days.

Blackdays

This was a really nice thread to read.

You guys have more will power than I can ever imagine to have.

Andy561

Everyone here is truly inspirational. Can't wait to post some results myself!

Neil_B

I call shenanigans. Those are two different men in those photos.

CraigB

I've read through all of the posts in this thread and can't believe how inspirational it has been. Tom, if you're still out there, thanks so much for starting the thread. I don't have any pics at my disposal right now, but I'll get some posted in the next few days. My story is pretty common - I'm currently 55, soon to be 56, but I was always fat my whole life. I started riding seriously after college. I managed to get down to about 212 (at 5'-11") and did some citizens' class racing.

Then life intervened and my riding fell off dramatically. I gradually gained more and more weight, helped in my late 40s and early 50s by stress eating in reaction to a job I hated. The Big Wakeup for me was some chronic digestive issues that I was afraid were signs of a serious disease. That, and frankly, seeing that I'd gone over the 300 pound mark on the scales. Fortunately with the doctor's help and a number of tests we discovered that my digestive problems were not a symptom of any disease, but a reaction to my, shall we say, "overloading" the system constantly. I gave up that job and started to exercise portion control at meal times, and with a return to light biking (on a new Fisher - I didn't trust my old road bike to support me) I managed to drop about 50 pounds.

But again, between lax habits and the fact that the low-hanging fruit of weight loss had already been plucked from the health tree, I found myself drifting back up again, to just over 270. Then in April of this year, my wife joined Weight Watchers, and I followed her to her second meeting and decided to join myself. It seemed like a program that made a lot of sense, and provided the structure that I clearly needed. That was in early April. I'm now down to 238, 70 full pounds from my all-time high, with another 70 to go.

I promised myself that when I got under 250 I'd get back on the old road bike (a '90's era Trek 1500 aluminum), but delayed doing that until last week. After being off of it for so many years, and after 3 or 4 years riding only the Fisher, I found the Trek to be majorly uncomfortable, mainly because the top tube seems to stretch off halfway to the horizon. I may get used to it, or I may not - the frame is marginally larger than I need (my height has somehow mysteriously decreased to 5'-10"). But I know I want to continue being a roadie, and I figure in order to be really comfortable on a road bike, it needs to be something different - maybe with a compact frame design. So I've set myself a goal with a reward - when I get under 200 (a weight I haven't seen since I was a freshman in high school), I'm going to get a new bike.

In the meantime, this thread is exactly the kind of inspiration I need to keep at this. I've been doing well, but I need to focus on it to continue that, and getting back into riding is going to be a big part of it.

Thanks to everyone here who's posted their story, and for all the pics, some of which I know were difficult to show. They all mean the world to me.

Craig in Indy

seth995

I just wanted to say great job to every one here has taken the tougher route. I started my weightloss journey in May 2009, since then with a strict dedication to the nutrilite trim body system, racquetball and biking I have managed to go from about 280 at my largest to 190. Just thought I would share...keep up the good work everyone

minnesotamongo

Thanks - that's a very nice thing to say. I can't believe it's been one year - I feel sorry for that guy on the left!

Neil_B

How much does the man on the left weigh? And what is the weight of the man on the right?

minnesotamongo

THe man on the left probably weighed over 600 lbs... When I weighed in officially after dieting 6 weeks before I went to the Dr, I was a slimmed down 588.

At this point I am at 389. My goal - initial goal - is to get to 250 and talk to my Dr., Nutritionist and Personal Trainer to see where I go from there. I'm 6.3.

sancle1

you look good man keep it up

abqtj

Outstanding job so far! Keep up the great work!