WildHockey

Hi, I'm brand new to this group. I have a question that I bet someone can shed some light on.

I've been riding since the 1st of June, everyday. I started with 5 miles for the first 3 weeks. I then increased to 8-10 miles daily. I've improved my nutrition and eating habits greatly. I'm a 40 year old guy who needs to get back in shape and loose about 20 lbs. I used to play hockey 3+ times a week but change in job/finances have haulted that. I have a Trek 7000 Hybrid and riding is great! The old days of jogging/running are over.

Here's the deal. I have not noticed any weight loss or "beltline" change at all. Am I being impatient?
Any suggestions, experience, comments, or words of encouragement are greatly appreciated. I'm guessing "drink lots of water" may be the common suggestion.

Have a great day!

samp02

Patience,Patience,patience. Your body will readjust itself. Some cross training might help. Crunches, maybe some light weights. Good Luck.

KeithA

Well, I'm not guru when it comes to things like this, but I'll tell you what works for me.

1. I split up my meals to around 6 a day, so that I'm constantly burning up the calories. I really don't eat big meals, but try to stick to an average of around 300 calories per meal. I especially avoid eating fatty foods later in the evening and include a lot of whole grain snacks and fruits during the day.

2. In addition, I've read that more muscle mass burns up more calories. So, usually I average about 8-15 miles a day on the bike. Every other day, I rotate between doing upper body weight work and doing wind sprints (those really shoot up my metabolism).

p2000

Water, water, water. And hit the hills in South St. Paul. lol See you out there!

islenska

what, exactly, do you eat on a regular basis?

also,

when u ride are you riding at different intensities, or are you typically riding at a comfortable pace?

Black Shuck

I'm also trying to get into shape. I've been riding my bike for about 35km(~22) miles every other day, sometimes less and sometimes more. I've been at it for two months and I've lost 8kg, about 16 lbs, started out at 275(lbs that is). I recently converted an old road bike into a singlespeed, and put clipless pedals on it and I'ts great. I feel like I use a lot more energy, and both my cadence and cruising speed have gone up.

I haven't really changed my eating habits, maybe a bit more sweets(i get a serious craving for cookies/candy/ice cream after every ride) and a bit less fat but nothing too drastic.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is to experiment and find out what you like. My incentive to start riding was the speedthrills my hybrid bike gave me going down hills, and thinking that a roadbike would make me go faster. Didn't happen, but I learned alot about exercise and myself and what pace was suitable. This took me about a month and a half.

Just stay on it, have fun and find the level of riding you can comfortably fit with your work and keep pushing it a little higher every now and then. I rode myself breathless on a 12km quickie today, pushing speeds up to 35-36km/h where I usually do 27-29, because I didn't have the time to do a longer trip.

UmneyDurak

Also keep in mind that you are building muscle mass, so even thought you might weight the same you do actually loose some of the fat. Loosing those extra pounds is not an easy thing to do. Good nutritien and exercise over time is a key.

twahl

Keep increasing your distances. The program I use, with my size and bike and normal ride intensity, I burn enough calories so that I lose about a pound of fat for every 100 miles. The scale seems to indicate that estimate is pretty close to reality, as I've got about 320 miles this month and have dropped about 5 pounds, but there have been some diet modifications as well.

edp773

I find that when I ride at a higher cadence, my body tends to use more energy. On the days when I pedal slower and in a higher gear my body does not require as much fuel. As islenka suggested, maybe ride at a different intensity each day. Our metabolisms slow down as we humans age. Using 400 calories a day more than you eat should remove about a pound a week, as stated by most healthy diet sources. It seems to be a well publicized secret.

Good luck getting back in shape. Sounds like you have a great start.

Portis

I ride a lot. I've logged over 14,000 miles since August 03. All of these miles except for 1800 have been on mountain bikes with fat knobby tires and mainly on rough unpaved roads. (the reason i mention this is because these are HARD miles. much harder than rode bike.) I have burned tons and tons and tons of calories.

I have eaten, tons and tons and tons of calories. Riding a lot requires one to eat alot. This morning I rode 34 miles in 20 -30 mph winds on gravel and dirt roads, with quite a few hills. I apparently burned a lot of calories because i have been eating like a horse all day and I am still hungry. I ride every day but todays ride was hard because of the wind and I tagged on some extra miles. Also had some mud to contend with.

I am 6'2" and 145 lbs, down from a pre-biking 200 plus. Here are the things I can remember that I ate today. 2 energy bars, 4 large cinnamon rolls, 2 large chicken breasts, 2 slices garlic bread, 3 helpings of grilled potatoes, pasta salad, a half box of wheat thin crackers, lots of hard candy, bowl of icecream, 3 bowls of cereal, 3 rice crispie treats, baked beans, two ears of corn, 5 large chicken fajita quesidillas, 3 diet cokes and two light beers.

And I am still hungry!

There is a point to this story. My metabolism is high. My body, knows that it needs to eat because at sun up tomorrow I will be on the bike again and churning hard. It knows this because i have done it virtually every day for 2 years, through freezing winters and hot summers.

It will take time for you to achieve weight loss through biking. The distances you mention are not going to burn much fat if you don't strictly monitor your diet. Look at everything I ate today. About everything is low in fat. That is the way I have eaten for a couple years as well. Doing something similar for yourself without any exercise will likely lose you 1 lb per week.

Ratchet up the riding and you likely can increase that. Just don't get on the bike and ride 10 miles and expect to lose weight, at least not much. The table is a much better place to do this. However, if you start riding 200 or so miles per week than you have a different story.

Metieval

I was going to mention that.

And how much time was involved in your rides? Distance is great, but if you did the entire distance at 8mph average, your not really getting as good of a work out. ???

I know nothing !! I mainly read this thread as I am 32 and haven't been athletic in the last, well since high school so wanted knowledge also. I have been riding for 2 weeks now.

I rode with a friend last night (he is on a recumbent) and 6 miles into our 25 mile ride he was a little slower than me, So I took over pulling his daughter in the buggy.

The result was my legs was sore today!!!! I wasn't used to the extra weight. So my 10 mile ride today averaging 13 mph was basically all spinning. I hit the 30 cog a few times even

I would say I burnt more calories up today with the higher cadence in 10 miles, then I did last night in the 25 miles. Maybe part of that was a half mile into todays ride I wanted to give up, but I forced myself to ride and push.

No pain no gain?? or is that a mass building statement?



And does bike riding help build abs? or is there a position that is better for ab conditioning?

Puppypaws

I dont know if this is relevant to your situation but...

Maltose, which is in beer, greatly increases belly fat.

I have a patient that lost about 20# over 9 months by just by quitting beer.

Metieval

Sounds like a good reason to drink wine...

twahl

No pain no gain works...although it should be muscle pain and tough cardio, not joint pain. Joint pain = bad.

I don't know how riding a bike is going to build abs, but burning fat will allow them to be more defined. Doing some extra ab workout can do a lot to help you on the bike, as well as some work on back muscles. Core strength often goes unmentioned with cyclists, but it helps a bunch.

Are you riding your mountain bike on dirt or mostly or mostly on pavement? If pavement, some slick tires may make your riding more pleasurable, allowing you to do longer distances.