RiPHRaPH

ok. they always tell you to weigh yourself after a ride so you can be sure that you are not dehyrated. but if you ride nearly everyday, and you should be weighing in the same both before and after a ride....when would you ever lose weight and NOT be dehydrated?!

thbirks

More like a paradox actually. If you're losing more than a pound or two in weight during your ride you're either riding 24hr rides, have your metabolism raised to the limit, or are dehydrated. Why? You have to burn 3500 calories to lose a pound of body weight. This isn't easy to do on an average ride. It is however easy to lose pounds during your ride due to dehydration.

I have weighed myself before and after a ride and have seen up to 4lbs in weight loss. I then weighed myself before going to bed after rehydrating and was back up to my before ride weight.

Yes riding will help you lose weight but you will usually do it ounces and grams at a time, not pounds at a time.

cycletourist

And don't forget, you can't metabolize (burn) fat without water.

JaredMcDonley

well I'm just going to put my $.02 in. The reason that you ride to lose weight is not to lose it on the ride but to make it so your body utilizes the blood better and burn calories faster when not riding. you will burn off a lot while ridding but after a while you will get a point that your body will burn more calories then before. When riding, you will build muscle and also make new paths for blood to go through. This makes your metabolism rise. So in other words when you word out you do it not for the immediate lose but to make it so your body will burn off more calories while doing nothing but walking.

hehehe think thats right (this is from last years health class!)

Jared

LittleBigMan

I think you are a genius. Let me add, as your capacity for hard riding increases, you use more calories because you can go harder, faster and longer as well.

I've also noticed a decrease in appetite that seems to go along with my increased energy levels. Paradox #2: the longer I'm sedentary, the more I crave food!

nathank

wow, this is not so for me... after a long ride i crave food sooo bad. then the next day i will be soo hungry every 1-2 hours eating again.

if i don't do any major activity for 2 days or more (rare) then i have less energy and i have virtually no appetite...

to me this makes sense, b/c right after the ride and for the days following, my body needs extra energy to rebuild. then when i'm less active, there is no need for the high levels of calories i usually eat (my body is super-INefficient and i have high metabolism and have to eat a lot to power my body for long rides - i usually eat twice what people my size (6'1"/165lbs or 185cm/73kg) will eat during and after a ride and then less than the average when i'm inactive)

roadbuzz

Me too, up to a point. If I'm inactive, I develop a constant, nagging case of the munchies. If I'm active, i.e. get out and jog, for 1/2 an hour, bike commute, or whatever every day or two, appetite drops. If I add several intense rides a week, I become ravenous.

Richard D

I just generally crave food

Richard