RoaringMad Mac

Well, I'm back ladies and gentlemen.

I lurk here all the time but do not post alot.

Here is what is going on.

I've finally realized that weights and loosing weight don't mix.

I've got to loose about or more than 100 lbs. I'm sure I'm over 400 right now.

I've been riding the past two weeks religiously on my stationary bike doing endurance 1 hour rides in the morning and interval training in the afternoon.

I only hit the gym 2 times a week now. Just to maintain. The long and the short of it is I got myself in bad out of shape and had some really bad back problems stemming from last summer. Not making any excuses but it did not stop me from eating, and was not exercising on a normal basis like now.

Now Everything I eat is in serving sizes. I don't regulate myself to typical diet foods. Just no junk (ie chips and desserts) but normal foods but eat 1 serving and not an Andre the giant serving. 1 serving. That is it. It has been going good so far. felt like I've lost some weight but still had to realize that I needed more burn to get some results.

Just wanted to get back in here wear there were other riders.

I just had to go get a comfort seat because I want to spend more time on the bike and not have my lower extremities to go numb after being on the bike for to long.

One question though. Last year I changed my tires on my bike to Larger road tires from the MTB tires that were on the bike. Recommended by the LBS..... Thing is I seem to always blowing spokes.... That is what happened last year and I got fed up and that is one of the reasons I stopped riding is I did not want to continue to paying to fix spokes. Is this just a fat ass issue on my part or do I need to get some other type of rear wheel or something.

here is a pic of my bike any suggestions are welcome. The bike is a specialized Hardrock

BigUgly

I started to break spokes on the stock wheel that came with my bike. I was 250 at the time. By the looks of your rear wheel it looks like the spokes are thin and doesn't seem to be enough of them to support you. I would suggest getting a new rear wheel. I had a new rear wheel built with thicker spokes and it has been 2 years since and haven't popped a spoke(knock on wood). My suggestion on the weight loss is to start counting calories consumed and calories burned. if you burn more then you eat than the weight will come off. Try using one of those online Myplate sites. I am currently using Livestrong MyPlate with success: https://www.livestrong.com/myplate/

It's hard work and you have to get your mind in the right place and stick to it. It's easy to fall off the wagon but if your mind is in the right place you can keep from falling off. Good luck!

Kabong30

I just started using this. It is awesome, I love that I can just put in the brand or something similar. Very easy to use.

Wogster

If your always breaking spokes, find a better shop to repair them, there are four possible reasons for a spoke to break:

1) Not enough spoke tension, spokes are wire, and if they don't have enough tension, they flex, if they flex enough times in rapid succession, they break.
2) The spoke has been mechanically damaged, usually by a rear derailleur that commits Hari-Kari into the wheel.
3) The spoke is the wrong one for that wheel.
4) The spoke is defective in manufacturing.

These are in order of occurrence, and spokes that are broken due to inadequate tension isn't only the most common, it's the reason more often then all the others combined about 3 times over. I would suggest you send the wheel off to a competent wheel builder, have the wheel rebuilt with high quality spokes set to the proper tension for a rider your size. The general rule is, break one or two spokes, replace them, break a third, and replace them all, because you will, it's just a heck of a lot more convenient all at once, rather then in dribs and drabs.

RoaringMad Mac

Thanks. I will do that with the spokes.

On the online login of foods. I am currently using a Lose it app for the Iphone and I love it.

Aahzz

Hi there! Just getting back into this myself, always good to have more folks along for the ride...

skilsaw

RoaringMadMac,
Thanks for sharing your start towards better health. Don't be shy. If you're lurking here anyway, let us know how you are doing.

I'm 250 lbs and decided to start loosing weight two weeks ago. No sugar, no bread, no processed food including snack food. The magazine article also said no coffee, but I do have my limits.

Today I'm 4 lbs lighter. I know I can undo that with a big drink of water and a good _ _ _ _ but it feels good anyway to be going in the right direction.

bautieri

Hey, welcome back!

Neil_B

Welcome back. But no "try", just "do."

RoaringMad Mac

You got that right

skilsaw

Thanks for the kind words.

To tell you guys the truth I'm going to make this my second home on the net besides my other site at illpumpyouup.com

Nothing feels as good as when I do when I get through riding. Hell even on the stationary bike which I've been doing religiously


On a down note. I do have a Dr. appointment Monday. I had been going to a chiropractor but I've soon learned she has not done anything for me. My back has really been bad lately. I know all of this started last year after a 4 wheeler wreck and loosing weight will help it but I still need to go to my regular Dr. and see if I can get an MRI or something looked at on my back. I can't even walk from the bathroom to my truck in the morning without my back starting to go numb and feel the weakness in my hamstrings and believe me I'm big on stretching. Not trying to self diagnosis myself until I hear from a professional but I believe it may be something close to a slipped or bulging disc.
Like I said no sense is self diagnosis myself so I will just wait to see what the Dr. says. Until then I'm going to ride because contrary to my chiropractors opinion on bike riding ( that is a whole other story) by back actually feels better when riding.

Neil_B

Interesting tangent.... when I went through physical therapy for my back four years ago, the people giving me PT advised me I needed to sit bolt upright on my bike. I had back pain after four miles of riding. After I had the bike shop fit me properly, the pain went away.

My guess is that the PT folks:

- didn't ride.
- don't often have clients who are physically active
- don't realize a man on a bicycle saddle isn't stationary, but constantly in motion. He's not sitting, he's riding.

and

- didn't know that Awesome writes its own rules.

exile

Like Wogsterca pointed out there are multiple reasons why your spokes break. Try going to another LBS and see if they can help.

I hope your back problems get diagnosed correctly. See what they recommend, though I don't think you should stop your lifting. Core exercises can help a lot with back pain.

Saddles are always a personal choice. Some people think more cushion is better but everyone is different. You might want to get your "sit bones" measured properly, and make sure your saddle is adjusted properly. From the looks of it your saddle is level. Try tilting the nose up and see if that helps somewhat. That would shift more weight onto your posterior. Also make sure your saddle height is correct.

Good luck.