Amani576

As my post count says, I've been a regular on BF for a while now, yet I've only ever made 3 posts in the clyde forum. Probably just to keep the fact that I a clyde out of my mind. I've read things in this forum, but tend to hang out in C&V, and commuting, and occasionally the Tandem forum. I guess it's time I make my introduction, and acknowledge this to myself and this supportive commune that is BikeForums.
My name is Gene Richardson. I'm 20 years old. I live in a hilly little area of North Carolina called Zebulon. I work at Satans superstore. And I weigh about 245, up from my weight even earlier this year of 230.
I'm tired of it. I'm tired of walking around feeling self-concious of my rolls. Of feeling self-concious when riding my bike for being such a hefty guy on a "dainty" little road bike.
This past week or so I've had some revelations. I've actually started counting the calories I take in for the most part, counting my soda intake, and making observations and correlations between what I do and how I feel.
None of it was new to me, but most of it was unknown. I simply ate, drank my Dr. Pepper, and went about my day. I know I eat too much, and I know that I drink too much soda, but it just never hit me about how MUCH.
Changing the way I eat is gonna be the longest running challenge. But, tonight I realized how much sugar is in the soda I consume on a daily basis. Working at Wal-Mart is a difficult place to lose weight, especially when one works in frozen foods and is surrounded by pictures of good looking food all day. It usually doesn't bother me, and most of the time I barely pay attention to what I'm putting up. But it only adds to the difficulty of attempting to lose weight. And being having soda shoved at me every which way doesn't make matters easier. I, on an average day, consume about 80oz of Dr. Pepper (almost exclusively). That's 1000k/cal and 264g of sugar. That astounds me. I'm suprised I haven't gotten a kidney stone *knocks on wood*.
I know that's only one of many hurdles I have to do to reach my goal weight of 175. It's not too much, I know I can do it. And I want to do it by next halloween (so I can pull of a costume I want to wear).
I've been doing research into developing an excercise routine, and to get off my lazy butt over the winter (besides commuting and work) I'm finally biting the bullet and buying myself rollers next week so I can ride, train, and improve all aspects of my form over the winter, so the next road cycling season I'm in good condition to go out and ride for hours on end like I enjoy doing so much.
I'll appreciate any and all comments, compliments, tips, and even criticisms. I need the support, and I need the push.
Thanks for reading.
-Gene-

Daspydyr 

A lady once said, Don't drink your calories, I was a Pepsi, MT Dew addict for 30 years. I started drinking water, tons of it. Occasionally I have a Pepsi or Beer. It was a positive mood and weight changer. Its a simple place to start.

I eat more veggies and fruit than I ever have in my life. That helps with weight and feeling "lighter on my feet." Surprising good changes.

You have the whole rest of your life to feel better than you did yesterday. The natural stuff is a good way to go. The Nutrition Thread is also a good place to visit. You are making good decisions, smart dude, keep with it. The cover of Cycling magazine awaits you.

cohophysh

Welcome....one question....are you sure you want rollers? Those take a lot of concentration but as you mentioned you want to work on your form.

Amani576

Yeah, I'm sure I want rollers. I know I won't be able to work with intervals or anything like that until I'm confident on them, but I don't do much at all right now when I come home from work, and would rather be frustrated and exercising than mindlessly wandering the internet. I'm also a soon to be tandem pilot and I know that roller work will help with that immensely.
Thanks for the concern, though.
And thanks for the reinforcement Daspydyr
-Gene-

Peter_C

Of course welcome! Support comes very quickly here, as does a somewhat harsh light shining on shadows.

Of ocurse, the *best* first thing you can do is kill ALL the DR Pepper - so says a Pepsi freak that used to drink 12 packs daily...

If you can't quit the soda outright - perhaps you might try what I did/done/am still doing - I have it down to one 12oz can of Pepsi a day, then, if I must have soda, I drink Fresca! Before you puke or the like - look at it - no caffine, no sugar, less salt than Pepsi (most diet sodas kill you on salt). I AM drinking much, much more water every day now (that's another story about massive kidney failure).

My brother is bout 8" taller than me, and bout 100+ LBS on me - yet *I* am the one with all the health issues - go figure.

Lots and lots of 'secret' ways to lose weight in this world, but losing the soda, gaining water - least 64oz daily (seriously, don't care if spread out, or all at once, 64oz every day of water - just plain helps too many things to count!).

I wish you luck, I pray you will stick around, it's not fast, it's not easy, but - they say you'll feel better for it (not me - I plain feel worse).

You didn't mention smoking - I quit that bout 4 weeks back too - so, it's REAL fun right about now...

Amani576

I'm not a smoker, but a two members of my family are. So... Yeah...
-Gene-

GlennO

In my younger years I used to be a soda addict. I switched to diet and hated it at first, but also cutting out high sugar foods helped me get used to the sugar-free soda. I was more than just a Clydesdales, at 540lbs I was a whole team. Hang in there, I know it is tough, but feeling the wind in your face on a bike is so worth it! I'm 54 now and it is my second time loosing enough weight to ride again and I am loving it.

txvintage

Hey Gene, welcome to the herd! Good to have another C&V'er here.

There's no real secret, just burn more calories than you take in. Ditching the soda is a great start to getting rid of empty calories and start replacing them with healthier calories.

You have plenty of hills to attack, so that helps!

bretgross

Welcome to the Big Boy Board!

Yes, kicking the soda habit will be a HUGE step in the right direction. Not just for weight loss, but general health.

Here's another general suggestion, something that you can begin to take note of and work towards: begin moving away from 'processed' foods.
You'll get better nutrition, spend less $$ on food, and have more energy.
For example, many folks have 'cereal' for breakfast. It's expensive, loaded with 'refined' ingredients, and tends to spike your blood sugar -- which then drops later and you're 'hungry' again.
Switch to something simple, like Old Fashioned Quaker Oats (skip the sugar) & plain yogurt. Not only will it be FAR cheaper, it'll be a real blessing to your digestive system!

Looking forward to hearing of your progress!

russgross

Welcome!

You've already gotten good advice in the previous responses, particularly eliminating soda. And you've already taken a good first step by tracking your calories. My advice is more mental. Make sure you let people know your progress. Keep us updated on Bike Forums. Post progress reports to your facebook page. Talk to friends or get a weight loss buddy. You'll be amazed at how much encouragement you get, and from people you never expected or maybe don't even know! That's been the best part of my weight loss journey.

I just want to let you know that you CAN do it! And you can reach your goal by next Halloween!

cyclist2000

The other positive thing that you have done is to keep a diary of your daily food intake, keep that up, otherwise it is easy to have a lot of unaccounted intakes.

bbeck

welcome

Peter_C

OFF TOPIC!!

I really do not wish to hi-jack this thread, feel free to start a new thread if you like, or PM your reply (but others may want to see the reply too).

The "Surly Long Haul Trucker" is sorta my dream/goal Bike! Right now the body could not even ride such a machine (Giant Suede DX to start), but in 80-100LBS and some, err... LOTS of miles down the road - the LHT is my focus. Was kind of hoping you would write about it? You bought it new? SPEC or off the rack, made all the changes one at a time, or all at once, any change(S) you regret? On and on. best guess of the weight of the bike as it is pictured now? Longest ride taken with it to date? Who added the kick-stand?

Just a few questions...

Neil_B

Welcome!

alfonsol

Tea!

If you don't already have one, cultivate a taste for plain tea. I didn't like it at first but I slowly started to gain a taste for tea. If you take it plain (which you SHOULD, unless you are sick and then you can put some honey in it) and it becomes your regular beverage you will start to find sugary drinks a little disgusting. Occasionally you'll finish a ride or something and have super low-blood sugar, which will make you guzzle soda if it's available.

But for the most part, your taste will slowly begin to reject soda.

And tea is super good for you.

Tea!

EasyEd

Hello and welcome. It sounds like you are on the right track. I don't have much to add to the good advice allready given you here, except +1 to the increase in water and decrease of processed food. That will feel strange at first, your body is probably used to being fed garbage. After a while, you won't even miss it.

Pinyon

Hiya, Gene. I'm originally from the Charlotte, NC area, and went to college down the road from you at NCSU. I had some friends that were in graduate school that lived in Zebulon, and it seemed like a nice town when we went for visits (used to go see Mudcats baseball games with them too). Welcome to BF clydes!

The big things that I think that you have to watch out for in your area include:

• Breakfast foods at local fast-food places. Especially those meaty, greasy biscuits that are so popular in that area
• Fish camp style fried seafood with hushpuppies
• Fried food in general. They have it down to a gormet science in that area, and it tastes great, but it is not good to eat more than once per week if you want to lose the pounds
• Pork BBQ and related foods
• Portion sizes in general in that area. They give you AT LEAST twice as much as you should eat at local restaurants in that area. Usually much more than that, really...
• Sweetened beverages. My mother's sweet tea is probably 300-400 calories a glass
• I seem to remember lots and lots of restaurants having buffets (especially pizza and "country cooking" places), all-you-can-eat specials, etc. You can eat 3-days worth of calories in less than an hour at some of those places.

Other things to do include making sure to eat breakfast, and not go more than 5 hours without eating anything. Lots of people get into trouble by skipping breakfast, or trying to skip meals to make up for "yesterday". About 9 PM, that usually goes to hell, and they end up eating everything that is not nailed down in the kitchen.

Oh, and ride, and ride some more. Take care!

jtodd71

Hey Gene I live in Winston Salem NC So Im not all that far from you. I quit drinking soft drinks about 4-5 weeks ago and I lost 20 poounds in three weeks . I switched to Sweet tea and I am slowly putting less sugar in my tea and Im down to 1/2 cup of sugar in a gallon of tea and Im ok with it. I bought an Ice tea maker than makes it easy and quick to keep tea around so Im not tempted to get back to soda.


I started eating raisin Bran and Oatmeal last Sunday I put berries in my oatmeal or maybe just a little brown sugar and this week I have lost 6 pounds.
I just wanted to agree that the processed foods are really bad news. good luck with it all. keep us updated

exile

There was a thread a while ago on this forum about the addiction of soda. It basically came down to a few things like addiction to the fizz, the caffine, the sugar, the taste, or a combination of them. It was an interesting read with a lot of good suggestions. If I find it i'll post the link. It seems like a substitution for what you are craving like others mention is a good idea.

Another thing to consider is not stocking up on soda and snacks. If it is not in the house, you are highly unlikely to leave your cozy place in the cold of winter to go get it. I'm not saying you can't have it, just don't buy so much of it that it is always handy. You will find alternatives. The same thing goes with food as well. You might want to bring or make your own food as that will deter you from going out or going for something not to healthy.

Sometimes it's just small choices that can make a big difference.

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...soda-addiction

Mucci000

If you like to read books for inspiration as I do, try Heft on Wheels by Mike Magnuson. Its a very good book.

AndrewP

Good idea to change from Dr P to Fresca or tea. If you take tea, dont put sugar or milk in it, just a few drops of lemon juice. Eat baby carrots for snacks. Cycling will exercise the legs, but you should do something to work the stomach muscles and shoulders to keep a balance to your fitness. When you get into tandem riding, share the piloting and stoking, it helps for mutual understanding

Amani576

Sorry for the delay. Haven't had much time on the computer.
I've made the final decision to go cold turkey on soda and sweet tea (good lord) tomorrow.
I've been putting a lot of thought into idea for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I'm strongly considering cutting beef and pork out of my diet. Replacing ground beef with ground turkey, grilling enough chicken breasts for a week or so. I KNOW I need to eat more fruits and vegetables. I guess my main problem is finding the motivation to make myself lunch for the following day, which is something I simply need to get over and just do.
It's gonna be interesting. And I'm sure to have questions for all of you.
Thanks for the support and ideas everyone.
-Gene-