Newbie Ride Report
 

Hey!

Time for a ride report. I have been riding for exactly 3 weeks and 1 day now. I have to say this sport is certaintly addictive. I started doing around 10 to 14 miles a day in separate trips. Now I am up to 25 miles in 1 uninterrupted ride with a few hydrating stops that last a minute or so. It is so much fun and I can really tell my phisycal condition has improved tons. My legs are a lot stronger and it doesnt feel like I am dying durring rides unlike when I rode at the beginning. I also started taking a fat burner called OxyElite Pro and drinking lean protein shakes after the ride.

I do have one concern. Maybe this is a premature question but, how long does it take to start losing weight? I feel like I am gaining weight even though I am eating pretty healthy, at least in comparison to what I used to eat. I am also riding an average of 10 to 15 miles a day at a decent pace of 15 miles per hour and 700ft of climb. By now I am into 150 +/- miles and 6,700 ft. of climb. I will keep pushing harder and eating even healthier. My goal is 100 miles and 25 pounds within the next year! :twitchy:

Good job! As always, the key to losing weight is to take in less than you burn. So while you're exercising and eating healthy, if you're taking in more calories than you burn, you'll gain weight. Be aware of the calories you're taking in and the amounts you're eating and try to end the day with a calorie deficit. Don't starve yourself though cuz that'll keep you from losing weight as your body goes into starvation mode and starts hording calories and lowering metabolism.

Try to eliminate the protein shakes after the ride? Unless you are not eating protein at other times during the day, I do not think this is really benefiting you at your current level. How many calories in the shakes?

I'd 2nd getting rid of the shake. A protien mix and water is about 130 cals per scoop, mix in the fruits and stuff you're at 600 pretty easy. I'd reserve those shakes for when your legs hurt pretty good and you need a faster recover then normal.

I think sometimes it can take a while for metabolism to kick it up, but 3 weeks is pretty long and not see a change. I'd suggest dropping another 200-300cals from your daily intake and evaluate again in 2 weeks.

Thanks for the responses. I have been calorie counting more than anything else. Fitness apps and calculators point out that I should be consuming around 2,300 calories in order to lose 2 pounds per week with moderate amounts of exercise (15 to 20 miles a day I assume). I try to keep it around 2000 calories. As for the protein shake it has 120 calories per serving and 24g of protein. I have only had it for one day so far and I was planning on taking them so my muscles would recover faster and get stronger. I guess I can cut the protein shake if it isnt really necessary or doesnt help at all. As for food I might start watching out for carbs and other nutritional facts as well along with calories. Good stuff!! thanks again!

Post ride protein recovery foods are more useful if you really put in a hard workout. If you ride 15 miles and feel fine, you probably don't need the recovery shake. If you have an HRM, use it to track your calories burned. You may be surprised you're not burning as much as you thought. Definitely be aware of how much sugars, white rice, white breads you eat and try to reduce the amounts taken in.

I use strava to measure my rides and performance. It is most likely not very accurate in anything other than distance and speed. As for calories strava might say I burnt 1,100 calories in 25.4 miles at 13mph but I am counting it as an average of what ive heard. I say 37 Calories per mile. Which means by yesterdays standards I should have burnt around 940 calories. Hope this is close to the truth but I might have to go ahead and buy meself a HRM.

I personally would ignore the calories burned while riding and target whatever your calculator says to eat in a day... if you start riding 4-6 hours in a day, you will HAVE to eat while riding and you can't avoid that but less than two hours, just ignore it.

Sounds like you are making great progress. Healthy food choices is a lifestyle change that most will need to make if the goal is to take off and keep off excess weight. Keep the carbs in check. Eat lots of veggies. Eat less ride more. Keep in mind that a pound equals 3500 calories. The natural tendency is to compensate for increased exercise, be wary of falling into this trap!

I dont think I will have time to ride 4-6 hours a day. Maybe one day out of a weekend but 4 -6 hours sounds to me like 60-70 miles and I am not ready for that yet. My goal is 100 within the next year which at the rate I am going seems fairly reasonable.

I need to start eating more vegies for sure. That is something I have trouble with since I am not really a fan. As for compensating for excersice I am going under what my calorie counter recommends. I started using the calculator yesterday even though I was throwing a guestimate everyday by looking at the nutritional info on the things I ate. My daily goal is 2,327 calories and yesterday I consumed 1,335 total. The bad thing is yesterday I only got to ride around 5 miles in 15 minutes because it was raining. So even though I probably burnt like 100 calories or so my intake was pretty minimal. Aslo, I think my strava went crazy because it indicated that my top speed during the ride was 89mph! I think I am getting so strong I'll be able to achieve warp speed in no time.:roflmao2:

I have been using an app called "myfitnesspal" on my smart phone and it also can be accessed from the computer so if you don't have a smart phone no worries. If you are honest with yourself this will help you analyze your intake and see what you are actually eating. I have my intake set at 1400 cals and monitor through the app what goes in. I have dropped 52 pounds in just over 3 months by controlling the type of calories I am eating. Anyone can eat 2400 calories or less and not loss weight even if they are working out based on what is in the calories. Foods high in fats and sugars for example process slower than what can be burned and therefore may be stored so your weight loss is slower. If you can get a good hour a day in of exercise and eat a balanced diet you will see a loss as long as what you burn exceeds your input. Hope this makes since, typing out as fast as I can while at work.

Counting the minutes til I get to ride home.

THIS!!! Now I know why things other than calories matter! Thank you for that. I thought Calorie counting was good enough but now I see I have to lookout for sugars and fats along with calories. It is so hard to lose weight sometimes. Specially when you get down to those last few pounds. I am at 210 - 15 and my ideal weight going by a dietitian is 193. around 20 pounds and I should be in good shape. I would like to be in athletic shape though. less than 10% body fat.

Have fun riding home!