moosehead

i am wanting to get into cycling as my primary and only form of exercise. i am 5'9" 270lbs and sedentary. I have read a good number of thread of people who eat quite a bit and still lose weight while cycling. i am mentally disabled, dont have a whole lot of energy, and tend to not burn weight easily. i feel having taken so much psych medication for so many years has contributed to my weight gain and low testosternone levels. when i'm asked if i eat alot, i can honestly say, i dont think i do. i tend to avoid any deserts or sweets. i do have a bad dr. pepper habit though (regular). i try to avoid eating fats and bads foods but there are some days where i can't escape it since i am not the one preparing my food. i am also a smoker which is bad. i quit for 3 days this month but i couldn't make it past that. since then i have promised myself to smoke one pack, then leave up to 24 hours of not smoking, then i allow myself another pack. this is a significant reduction of my cigarette intake, and i know its not the best (quit completely) but for now its all i can tolerate.

i am curious as to how i can gauge how much good i am doing in terms of cardio while i am riding around on a hybrid daily, for lets say 30 minutes. in other words, must i strive to peddle fast and exert alot of energy the whole 30 minutes or can i just stick to a comfortable level and maintain that ? or if anyone can articulate, how to ride, for a acceptable cardio workout for 30 minutes, i'd like to hear that.

i'm hoping getting into cycling for fitness is a good choice for me.

chrischross

It is hard to smoke cigarettes while riding

I think starting out, just ride at a comfortable pace. You'll know when you're getting stronger, and the rides will become longer, and the time it takes to get places goes down. At your stage, any hill climb is going to cause you to exert beyond anything (out of breath, high heart rate) you've felt in years. But after a while, it becomes a lot easier.

You might want to cut back on the Dr. Pepper, at least that's what I had to do when I passed a kidney stone last year. Those carbonated beverages are hard on the system, and the high fructose corn syrup isn't helping. Cutting out the soft drinks will mean you can eat more real food.

rmwun54

Well for a start riding for 30 minutes within your comfort zone will help you acclamate your body to all the demands of riding for that amount of time, but eventually you will have to increase your performance by either increasing your time on the saddle: like riding a little longer like 45 minutes, or you can add in a faster pace for a minute or so to push yourself. Of course as you progress you'll need to ride longer and push yourself a little more harder here and there to increase your level of performance, but remember, it is important that you make it fun rather than a druggery of I have to do this. Motivation to do better tends to happen easier if you can find it in yourself to make it enjoyable. Consistancy is the seed to acchieving your goal. So if you gonna do it do it whole heartedly. And importantly you need to be balance on your nutritional factor, like cutting out foods that are loaded with fats and sugar. It is a change in behavior and lifestyle that you are working towards. On the other hand you are saving your life and all the things that a not so fit life can lead you to. And lastly read, talk to others about cycling, discover the passion about riding and get heavey on yourself about inspiring you to ride and never ever falling into the pitfall of procrastination. I ride because it's fun, it's challenging, it's social, it's liberating: something like a wild stallion running free in the wind, and I ride because I can. To a lot of people here at the bike forum they are just a bunch of bike riding addicts and that is a good thing. Rolling rolling rolling keep them doggies rolling rawhide.

Jynx

Just ride. Don't make it a chore where you say you have to ride fast for 30 minutes. Just get on the bike and ride down to the park, around the streets, wherever you want. If you feel tired or like you want to go home, then go home. The important thing is just to get out and ride. Eventually you will want to go farther and faster and then you can up the intensity.

cooker

Any amount of riding improves your health whether or not you lose weight. Exercise has some antidepressant effects, improves mental alertness, may help stave off Azheimer's Disease, improves short term memory, lowers blood pressure and cholesterol, improves sleep quality etc. etc. It may not be a dramatic and immediate effect so don't be discouraged, and don't overdo it and burn yourself out. As others have said, take it slow and ride for enjoyment as much as for health.

badgermac

I was a sugar soda nut and also a smoker as well.

I moved over to Diet soda when I went on Weight Watchers. I also started to intermix the flavored waters (watch the calories on these, find ones with low to no calories) in with the Diet sodas. That helped with the weight loss A LOT.

I used Chantix to drop the smoking. Probably would have preferred to "sack up" and quit outright since the Chantix gives you some really whacked out dreams but it solved my issue so I'll take it.

SalminSam

Try this site for information about heart rate and the respective zones. It helped understand that I one does not need to kill themselves to burn fat.

https://thebikehubonline.com/page.cfm?pageID=159

I also had a bad DP habit, but I started drinking water and have not looked back, I have no miracle for that. I just convinced myself that DP did not satisfy my thirst, in fact it left me more thirsty after I drank one.

As far as the biking goes, just start and before you know it, your wanting more and more.......Its the best exercise I have found. It the only exercise that I have found that actually look forward to doing. Good luck and keep checking in this forum, there is a weatlh of knowledge and support here that can not be beat.

StephenH

Maybe not the answer to your question, but my observation is that the hardest part, that people have the most trouble with, is just getting out and doing stuff every day. Get a nice pretty day and everyone's out exercising. Get a day that's too hot or too cold or too windy or wet or whatever, and nobody's out. Here in Dallas, "too hot" counts for half the year. So it's really easy to say "I"m gonna bike and lose weight" and then be forever afterward finding reasons why you just don't get out and do anything. You just gotta do it anyway.

piette

Maybe consider getting yourself a heart rate monitor. I bought one when i started riding and for me it has helped considerably just in the motivation department. I bought the Polar F5 which if you keep it up to date with your info, will track calorie burn while you are out riding. Seeing several hundred calories burned off each time helped keep me excited to go again. Soon enough people were noticing the weight loss. Also the monitor will help you work in the target zones. 65% max heart rate is great for fat burning, 70% or so is great for cardio, and 80% and above is performance conditioning (or something like that). You can target a specific thing to work on each day and keep it interesting.

Also don't worry about the smoking just yet. It is nearly impossible to concentrate on two involved tasks at once. Get yourself out on the bike and start seeing some headway with that, and when it becomes just another thing you do with your day, then start your quit smoking campaign.

Good luck, get yourself a comfortable bike, and go out and get addicted like the rest of us.

Jeff

mjohn

I see a lot of good advice posted. I lost over 60lbs in about a year when I picked up cycling, but the cycling was only part of it. 1st off get a Heart Rate Monitor. Most of your fat will be burned when working just under your Aerobic Threshold. Everyones AT is different and will increase as you get in better shape. I am 45 and my AT is 165 HR. so I burn most of my fat between 135 to 150 HR.

You can ride every day, but if you do not have the right diet you will see little results. I take a couple months off in the winter and I will pick up 10 lbs or so, but I can drop that in about 90 days. I will eat 3000 calories a day ( 6 meals) and still manage to drop about 6 lbs of fat while keeping my current muscle mass every 60 days. I know this by having my body fat checked every 60 days. Once I hit my target weight, I kick it back up to 3500 or so and allow my self to have a couple cheat meals during the week. A average meal for me is 8 oz of Chicken or Fish, 2/3 cup brown Rice, or small yam and 2 cups salad or veggies. When I am on the go, I have a protein shake and a apple or banana. Cut out the processed foods, stick with lean meats and whole grains. I ride or do spin class 3 days a week and lift weights for 3 days taking one day off. The riding is great for cardio, but nothing burns fat like lifting weights. My brother who rides a average of 200+ miles a week can’t drop any weight because he admittedly won’t eat right or hit the gym. It doesn’t take much, I can do my lifting routine in 30 to 45 min, but it makes all the difference. The other thing I do is drink at least a gallon of water every day.

I got started by going to my local gym and paying a trainer $80.00 to put together plan. They worked up a diet, put to together a weight and cardio program explained how to find my AT and how to train around that. The better HRMs will show you how many calories you burn during a exercise. For the riding, get hooked up with a local club. Riders are a very helpful group and a local bike shop can point you in the right direction. I stared out just trying to make 10 miles. Now 50 to 80 miles is my standard Saturday ride and 30 to 40 is my after work loop.

Maybee only riding work for some people, I wish I could say its all I do, but the fact is it took a lifestyle change, I now cant imagine my life without riding, it have met a lot of wonderful people and hope that when I am 80 I am still riding like one of the guys in the club.

Like the one guy said, you can’t do it all at once. Get on the bike and enjoy your self..... it’s a start.

Good luck !

ChuckD6421 

Hey Moose,
I think the best advice given here is to just go out and have a nice ride. It's addicting, in a good way. No pressure to monitor your HR, or put in the time/miles. Take the bike out for a test ride to see how it fits and works. I bet a months pay you'll stay out longer than you anticipated.

Also consider another opinion on those meds. My cuz is also taking meds, in fact you sound like you could be him except for the smoking. He's stopped and says he's never felt better, and he seems a lot better. Of course you want to do this under some professional guidance, and it's hard to find a doctor who isn't under the pharma's spell. But look and ask around (health food stores might be a good place to start) for an honest doc to help you get off them.

Ride!

Chuck

badmother

Hello.
I`we got a disease that gives me low energy and body pains If I use my body, but biking and bikes is my main hobby. Exersise "cost too much" in my world, but riding a bike is fun. Look for places you like to ride. I am lucky and have a car, so I take my bike (and my dog) to where I like to ride. Could you ride with others? Could you (if needed) take your bike oh a bus or train to find some different places to ride?

I just got an old (approx 40 yrs) folder for free. Yesterday I put a 7speed nexus hub on it. This one is easyer to "take places".

The softdrinks is not good, sugar is a greater enemy (drug) than fat. Sugarfree is also bad, lots of chemicals cheating the bodys hormons, cancer risk and so on.

What about getting a "bike calendar" and decide on 5 min extra riding time every (or every second) week?

You could make some rules for yourself, write them on the calendar: No softdrinks or smoking during the bikeriding for a start. Then maybe also 1/2 hour before starting and after ending the trip. Use water for drink and a fruit if you need the sweet taste.Buy a fancy waterbottle for your water if that makes you happy.

After som time the time you ride and the time you stay off the "no no`s" is getting longer.

Try to look for books, maps, internet pages or guided tours that can tell you about the past or present history of the area you live in. It is mor fun to ride if you know what is ynder the grass, or what arkitect designed that house. If there is a dogshow and you do not like dogs, ride to the place and look at the nutscases who keep dogs. If you like them go looking at all the nice dogs. It is always possible to find a reason to ride. You could make a blog or just post at "flickr".

After doing more riding I see alot of things and I am more and more thinking about taking pictures. What about one week take a picture of the first 10 bikes you see. Nice houses, older than 20 yrs bikes or just flowers, insects or whatewer you like. That means you are out "hunting", and that could maybe make you ride more without thinking about getting tired. You can not make me run, but you can make me run after a ball or play with my dog. Also I like kites. Making them and flying them. Can be a wery cheap hobby, just plasticbags, tape and some bamboo from a bamboo curtain. Keep them in a pizzabox and ride to a place to fly them. To me wind is "good weather". I ride the bike on days it is easy to stay innside, and I go to places the wind is good. You also move when flying, a lot more than you think.

Also I want to tell you that my friends son was diagnosed with skitzofreni. Both him and his mother was not satisfyed with the diagnose, but what can they do? He had a lot of problems, especially angsiety. The mother
made him try a diet with no milk and no gluten (like in wheat ), and he is much better. He used to call his mother for help all the time, now she hardly hears from him for long periods, he is much too buisy with his life and hobbys. To try something like this is not so easy for you, he made his own food, but maybe you could ask a doctor for help. This should be a good thing to try out, maybe less drugs? Guess you would need a letter from him to the kitchen wher eyou live that you need special diet. If it does not work there is no harm done.

Hope you manae to make a progress, keep reading and posting in the bikeforum to get energy to keep riding, especially if you are "the only one around" in your area. Plse forgive my spelling, English is not my mother language.

lil brown bat

Hey Moosehead,

Lots of good advice here -- what I'd add to that is, take it one step at a time. Tackle one issue at a time, get it to where it's manageable, then take on something else -- don't try to attack all the issues at once, because that makes failure more likely, and failure is discouraging. For exercise, to begin with, just do some easy riding -- don't try to climb Mount Everest. After a couple of weeks of easy riding, ask yourself how you feel, if you feel you want to do more distance, more frequency, add some hills, whatever. Make a few little tweaks and continue.

Once you've got your riding habit established, it will become a source of strength to you in the rest of your life. That's the point where you can consider taking on some other challenge, like maybe your smoking or your Dr. Pepper habit. But take it a bit at a time. Life, as the band says, is a long song.