Caribou2001

Quickie, as I ought to be in bed right now...

Broke my hip 3.5 years ago (Feb.05), at 170 lbs. In Feb.08 began doing the gym again, mostly weights, typically 3 days a week. I watched my weight see-saw, up to 217 or higher, never under 210 this year.

Began spinning once a week 3-4 months ago. Then a month later got a bike, and have been ratcheting up my rides (helpful to have some free time this summer - in the past 3 weeks I've ridden 15 days averaging 35 km per day). I'm now under 200 lbs. and am aiming for 180'ish or better.

Unfortunately, tomorrow I go back to school fulltime. I'm going to try riding there, which is a 30 km round-trip, since I won't have any other opportunities during the week to ride. I will also try to keep doing the school gym at least 2x/week for upper-body work.

Hopefully I can keep on-track now that I found a formula to get me droppin'. (Post hip recover I don't think I've ever been under 205 until this summer. Yay!)

JohnKScott

Haven't updated since end of May. Here's the latest...

4/30/07 - 220 lbs
5/31/07 - 220 lbs
6/30/07 - 215 lbs
7/31/07 - 210 lbs
8/31/07 - 208 lbs
9/30/07 - 205 lbs
10/31/07 - 204 lbs
11/30/07 - 200 lbs
12/31/07 - 197
1/31/08 - 194
2/29/08 - 189
3/31/08 - 186
4/30/08 - 182
5/31//08 - 178
6/30/08 - 178
7/31/08 - 176
8/31/08 - 174

4 more pounds to my goal/re-evaluation weight. Seem to be dropping about a pound every two weeks now. Riding a good bit and getting in better shape, faster & stronger all of the time.

BikEthan

Down to 205 from 245 in November when I started working out. I think if I get down to 195 that'll be about right (I'm 6' 2").

Anthony, I had almost no loss for a few months initially and then it started just going. That and sometimes you plateau I held at 210 for a month or so but lost 5 pounds in the last 3 weeks or so. Good luck!

Turt99

I've lost over 60 pounds from my heaviest in just over a years time. One thing that I would suggest if your having troubles loosing weight is to do simple exercises like walking (at lunch), and also push-ups, sit-ups and squats during the commercials while watching TV. This will help you gain some muscle mass which in turn will burn more calories.

Also I found that an easy way to reduce calorie intake was to cut out all drinks except water, this way the only calories you get are coming from solid food which makes it easier to track and make it so that all calories will also help fill you up making you feel less hungry

I've slowed down my weight loss now by eating what I want in moderation and keeping my exercise levels up (I commute to work 14km each way 3 - 4 times a week)

Dice

I've been taking cycling seriously for 4 months, and have gone from 215 to 165, I'm not even sure if that's a good thing. However I eat properly so and feel much better so I'm not complaining.

talleymonster

I would say losing 50lbs is a good thing. It's a great thing. Unless you you were 215 pounds of solid muscle.

Anthony8858

FWIW....I increased my rides to an hour. I also bought a heavybag, which added a light cardio / stress reduction routine for upper body.
I give it three or four 3 minute rounds, with light punching and simulated boxing.
The workout feels great.

I saw my first real weight loss. Dropped 3 lbs since last week.

I need to continue.

Thanks for the support, it really helps.

tntyz

Last November I couldn't believe it when the scale read 213! I thought I was "fat but fit", but heavy breathing after walking a flight of stairs told me otherwise.

It turned out to be a great xx-ski season here in WI and I put many miles on for the first time in years (decades?). That turned right into regular biking as soon as the roads were clear. I "weigh in" every Wed and last week I was at 178 - no longer technically overweight!

I fear the fall, though, when it'll get to crummy to ride.

imcrushingyerhd

So I set this goal back in January to lose 5 lbs per month for the entire year to put my 5'8" frame down to 170 lbs. I all but threw in the towel last June or July when I had lost a whopping 5 lbs total since the beginning of the year, and I lost THAT pretty quick on in the year.

I was stepping on the scale at the same day of every month, logging my weight. I had set up a spreadsheet that would be an easy visual for me to sit in my chair and look at the number of pounds I lost cumulatively in sheer joy. Well, that was the plan at least. But every month my weight was the same. I even cheat-weighed myself sometimes mid-month to see how much work I needed to do to just maintain my damn weight for the nest weigh-in.

I felt terrible. In my mind I was undesirable to my wife and had been working my ass off to get this weight off and it wasn't going anywhere. Then I started REALLY thinking about it one night, when I had my hand in a bag of chips. I was NOT working my ass off at this. I was STRESSING my ass off at this but the little voice in my head was really saying I was working hard with no payout.

So I stopped everything. I NEVER get on a scale. I didn't even as much as delete that spreadsheet because I really did throw the whole system I had in the trashcan. Instead of looking at my mountain bike, hanging with almost a sad look on it in my garage and dreaming of riding again when legs and lungs didn't give out after 15 minutes, I stopped looking at it and stopped thinking about riding.

NOW I am losing weight. I'm not sure why. I'm not doing any of the things I thought I needed to do to keep on track. I have come to realize I am an addict. It used to be pot and cigarettes, and I quit all that and it went to food. Trying to get high off food. I stopped going out to lunch and started bringing left over dinner. I started eating oatmeal every morning instead of 5 cups of coffee then running out and finding something to stuff myself on because I had been starving. When I get home from work I eat a fistful of fruit so I am not thrashing for the meat on the dinner table when its dinner time. And the only thing that seems like it takes any "real" discipline is not eating anything between dinner and bedtime.

I don't know how much weight I have lost in the last two months. I haven't been on a scale. I know I've lost weight because two coworkers have told me they see it. Some of the shirts I wouldn't wear because they fit too tight around my gut are now back in rotation. It is taking some discipline not getting on a scale but I don't want any negative press for that idiot voice up in my head looking for an all out victory right here and now, ready to punish if it doesn't get what it wants. I'm going to take my small amount of success and maintain my present work, and throw in some morning jogs as soon as my balls recover from my vasectomy, maybe in a week.

Thanks for reading.

Wally27

Hi Im new to the forums. I have been an avid bike rider for years..In fact i have never owned a car and recently in the last year bought a motorbike for my main transport.

Before then i used to commute everywhere on bike and public transport. Sometimes doing over 30-40klm a day.
I would eat fairly crappy but as i would ride so much my weight would stay reasonable. Since i bought the motorbike i have barely touched a bike in over a year. And my weight has balloned..and i have lost most of my bike fitness. I went for my first ride tonight and struggled with even a few klm's. Im in total shock..its the first time in my life i have not had bike fitness and the first time i have struggled with sucha small ride!!!. So im hitting this hard now and getting into riding every single night...starting small and building up. My goal is to lose around 30-50ish klg in 4 months which equates to 60-100 lbs i think?

The last time i lost weight riding it was because of 30+ klm a night and a diet of vegetables water and rice cakes...Im wondering if there are any food s i can eat to speed up metabolism and help me lose weight as quick as possible?

Anthony8858

Just thought I'd share an update since my last post.

On August 21st, I complained that I had lost only 1 pound after being on a diet and moderate exercise for a few weeks.
After making some adjustments, I'm happy to say that I'm down to 211 , from 226lbs 4 weeks ago! A total of 15 pounds!!

I'm able to ride only 3 nights a week for about 45minutes to an hour, but the real key is the new boxing heavybag I bought a few weeks ago.

I jump around the bag like a raving madman, and beat the crap out of it, and work up a real sweat. Great for stress reduction, and anger management :-)
Upper body starting to feel great too.

Flatballer

I played Ultimate last fall for college, and then started working full time Spring and Summer. I was about 175 last fall, got up to about 195 over the Summer through inactivity and working a desk job. Before I came back to school I got down to about 180 or so. Now I'm working on getting down to 165 in time for the collegiate racing season to start in the Spring. I'm planning on losing 1.5 lbs/week until I reach 165.

The website that I used to lose the first 15, and the one I'm using to lose the second 15 is TheDailyPlate. It's a really easy to use calorie and exercise tracking website, and it definitely helps me keep track of calories and stay on my diet. It helps to see the numbers instead of just having them in my head.

rgtft

12/31/2007: 281.4 lbs
01/31/2008: 269.4 lbs
02/29/2008: 257.2 lbs
03/31/2008: 246.6 lbs
04/30/2008: 236.0 lbs
05/31/2008: 225.4 lbs
06/30/2008: 214.2 lbs
07/31/2008: 210.6 lbs
08/31/2008: 211.0 lbs
today: 209.2 lbs

Caribou2001

Update (first post linked above). I've made it down to 190, and am plateaued or even losing ground. Gotta maintain that willpower when it comes to foods and when/how much/what type I'm eating. I've been commuting whenever possible, and have put in about 1000 km in the last 30 days, plus a few trips to the gym for weights or other aerobics.

I also ran a 5k today (well, okay, I ran about 3k then had to walk/run the rest of the way) which is probably the furthest I've run since I was 12 (that's about 30 years ago, FTR) in order to raise money for Muscular Dystrophy Canada. I finished in 34 minutes, and placed near the top 25% of my age/sex group, so I consider that pretty good since I'm not a runner.

Anyway -- with luck I can still get to (and stay near) my goal of 180 -- I'm feeling good, but it'd be nice to lose the kidney and tummy pads, as well as the man-breasts....

So that's what's up with me!!!

Erwin8r

Hi folks! By way of introduction, I'm a 38 year old male, 5'11", weighing in at 244.5 lbs (I just checked at the gym last night). I have mostly been away from bicycling for the past 10 years or so, my last road bike being a beautiful DeRosa steel-framed beauty... I've had a few mountain bikes here and there since then, but never rode any of them seriously and they mostly just gathered dust. However, at 245 lbs, I am at the heaviest, and most unhealthy, I've ever been. My "normal" weight hovers around the 190-200 range, and that is where I feel the most athletic/comfortable. At 245, I pant after just a couple of stair cases, and any sort of brisk walking for more than a block leaves me catching my breath a bit. I gained this weight over the past four or five years, and it has slowly crept up on me (typical pants fitting tighter, etc.). So now its time to do something about it. I renewed my gym membership a couple weeks ago, and am determined to make it there at least 3 times a week. And I bought a road bike. At first I was going to skimp with a less expensive bike, then "reward" myself as I lost the weight, but instead, I went in whole-hog. I bought a nice, albeit used, Litespeed Ultimate. I have absolutely no excuse not to hit the tarmac now, and it would be shame to see that bike sitting in the garage unused. My plan is to go for hour-long rides every morning, with no real structure other than the determination to keep my heart rate above 135. I'm also determined to eat much better--and I'm not going to kid myself. No more tortillas, no more sweet bread in the morning or evening, lots of chicken breast, fish, and veggies (I love 'em anyway!). No more white rice (gonna' be hard....), and will instead substitute brown rice,etc...

It's really going to be difficult for me--I love to eat! But I'm setting aside the Sushi, Enchiladas, Korean BBQ, etc., until I hit my goal of 200. There really is no other way for me.

Thank you guys (gals) for the inspirational posts--it feels great to be on the right path again! If you all don't mind, I'll keep you posted with pics and progress.

Thanks!

JohnKScott

Updated for the last two months....

4/30/07 - 220 lbs
5/31/07 - 220 lbs
6/30/07 - 215 lbs
7/31/07 - 210 lbs
8/31/07 - 208 lbs
9/30/07 - 205 lbs
10/31/07 - 204 lbs
11/30/07 - 200 lbs
12/31/07 - 197
1/31/08 - 194
2/29/08 - 189
3/31/08 - 186
4/30/08 - 182
5/31//08 - 178
6/30/08 - 178
7/31/08 - 176
8/31/08 - 174
9/30/208 - 173
10/31/08 - 170 (calling it early)

170 was my intitial goal for re-evaluation. GOAL ATTAINED!

I have re-evaluated (looked at what I have left hanging on my mid section) and determined that I can probably shed another 10. Will start slowly working that off.

JohnKScott

Good job on your progress. Stay strong!

JohnKScott

Welcome & go get'em!

jaxgtr

I lost 80 lbs from June 06 to June 07, since that point, I have floated back and forth and could never break the 80 lb barrier. Looking to lose another 100. I put on about 15 lbs over the last 10 months and decided I needed to find out what I was doing wrong.

I started counting calories which I just hate to do, but, since I started, I discovered I was not consuming enough calories to get to my base basal rate and conservatively, I was short 500 to 800 calories per day. I started counting on Oct 15th, not changing anything in my diet other than consuming enough to get to my base basal. My exercise program is also the same, cycling, elliptical and weights in some fashion at least 5x a week.

Since I started counting and ensuring I hit the base basal, I have lost 8 lbs in 10 days. I am still a little shocked that just a shortage of 500-800 calories a day could put my body in the starvation mode. While it might not be the reason, at this point, it seems to be a positive shift and hopefully I am back on track to lose the next 100.

martytardy

Years ago I started biking, lost 30lbs in 6mos but kept getting thinner. The past few years I haven't been able to ride as often as I would prefer. Finally got tired of getting fatter and fatter and fat. . . well, you know. I was riding 2-3 times per week and was managing to maintain my weight at 238 roughly. (that's bad for someone that's only 5' 8 or 5' 9".) Finally, at the end of July I started logging my miles, for tracking purposes and in August decided I'd had enough of gaining weight. (Between roughly Aug 2002 and Aug 2008 I went from 205 to 238. Had dropped some of eat between the two time periods, but gained it all back when I had to get a second job.) Now down around 15lbs in about 2mos approximately. we'll see where this goes from here.

Surftex363

I have lost 80 pounds (265-185) from last February to August of this year.

I ran alot and completely changed my diet.

I feel amazing.

Ricardo

I've heard that maintaining your weight loss is actually harder than shedding pounds off. Well, guess what? I've maintained my weight for ONE YEAR NOW!

It can be done guys. Keep up the good work and dont lose hope.

RON8O

ˇtrabajo agradable Ricardo!

Ricardo

Thanks! Now I am trying to build some muscle starting with some weights.

jays35

New to the forum.

I have lost 73 lbs since Jan1. Have used size and portion control! But most of all I ride about 100 - 125 miles per week.

Dave