New member here, but I'd like to chime in as well.
I was a consistent ~215 pounds the past two years, and I thought I was in pretty good shape. I ride religiously and enjoy lifting weights at the gym. Over the winter the benchpress goes up to 300lb (comes down a bit over the summer since I ride a lot more), but I've always been focused on being a well-rounded athlete rather than specializing in any one thing. I've been riding for 12 years now, and I'm only 24 (started riding while I lived in Germany).
Around May I decided to take it up a notch and really start watching what I eat. I signed up on FitDay and started using that. It was an eye-opener. A lot of times I would think, "hey, I've eaten well all day, I can have a treat," only to log everything into FitDay later and find out it ended up being a 4-5K calorie day. Since then, I still eat what I want, though sweets are more in moderation. I've been extremely good about keeping daily calories to 2600 and under and eating healthy foods. I haven't had soda in the past few years (can't stand the stuff anymore, used to love it, tastes nasty now), but I
love chocolate.
I started to do more road biking, although I use my Trek hardtail with 1.25" slicks for that (still looking for a roadbike). Bought a Cannondale Prophet to replace the tired SuperV, so a lot more trail riding now, too. I also try to commute to work when I can, too (26 mile round trip), a few days out of the week usually.
Fast forward to September. I'd have people who I haven't seen for a while at the gym comment on my weight loss, friends comment. Weight-wise I'm down to 185 now, and not a single person believes me when I tell them I lost 30 pounds (they ask "where?!?"). I thought I had a decent physique at the beginning of the year, but I leaned out a bit. I'll include a picture just for *****s and giggles.
The downside? I can't race clydesdale anymore.
I took 3rd in the clydesdale class in my last race (still weighed 210 back in early july) and 4th in sport in the hillclimb race the next day(a clyde that can climb is rare, but exists).
I'm extremely impressed by some of the people I've read about in this thread, and I want to give out a big kudos to everyone who has come closer pound-by-pound to achieving their goal.
Dwayne
