CraigB

That's the bottom line. It has nothing to do with them not realizing how awesome you are. It has to do with inherent cruelty, ignorance and probably stupidity to boot. That and a poor job of being raised by their parents.

goldfinch

Good plan!



While I agree with you on the long term attitude, I do think that there is enough evidence to support that it is fine for most people to keep carbohydrates low to help with hunger (because your insulin levels are more stable) and help with insulin resistance issues. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2716748/ Ketosis for non-diabetics is not so clearly bad.

When the scale does't move anymore you have to up the exercise or cut the calories. Or live with where you are at.

Jaytron

To the OP: don't starve yourself, it'll slow your metabolism.

What does your current diet look like?

tony_merlino

The real question is, what do you do when you've reached your goal. I don't know about anyone else, but that's the part I usually fall down on. It's hard to maintain motivation when I'm not moving toward a goal.

jimnolimit

if your're eating a balanced diet you don't need to do anything else, just keep doing what you have been doing. if you NEED a goal, you could always add a fitness goal.

DnvrFox

I have a goal of doing 72 pushups on my 72nd birthday. I am almost there. There is always the possibility of a goal!!

jimnolimit

that's excellent , shoot, at my current weight and strength level i couldn't do 72 pushups and i'm less than half your age.

Joemess

If you had been using headphones you would not have heard them.... (at least, I cannot hear the idiots in the cars over mine)

I teach those types of kids (by choice) at an alternative school. Ignore them. Its not worth the calories to think about what they think about you. As far as being a big guy on a bike... thats better than a lot of alternatives. I will say that riding is not enough, its diet that causes weight change.

goldfinch

This is tough. It only takes a few extra calories to start putting weight on and even heavy exercisers tend to gain a bit of weight over the years. I know someone who does a weekly weigh in. If the scale says 163 or less he has pancakes with whipped cream and berries for Sunday breakfast. If it says more he has his small, usual breakfast.

People who maintain weight loss tend to continue to keep track of what they are eating and they weigh themselves regularly. If you keep the weight off for two years the odds are now with you that you will keep it off. So, your goal is to keep the weight level for a month, two months, a year, and two years.

Blutarsky

Kids are, indeed, idiots - as stated earlier. I know, I have two of them. You're taking criticism from a group of people who: spend brain bytes dreaming up ways to misspell words on purpose, display their individuality by dressing exactly the same, live their lives with an inverted priority list and somehow think all of these things are "kewl." I wouldn't even count this part as a problem.

As far as the rut - that's for everyone. From us big guys starting out road biking to Olympic athletes, training plateaus are completely unavoidable. Challenging but attainable goals are, in my opinion, the only way to push through them - and an objective eye on yourself. For instance, I was trying to cut weight and hit the wall - still working out, slight changes to the program to keep a bit of muscle confusion but otherwise doing the same thing that melted the first 15 pounds. Suddenly, no results and some gain (depending on the day.) It was intake that was the problem. Not a calorie counter, but a quality counter because that's what works for me. I picked one thing that would make a difference and eliminated it - sugar. I didn't starve myself, didn't buy the latest fad diet book - just stopped eating sugar, and exploded through the wall I couldn't seem to budge.

All that to say, it helps me to find something easily changeable instead of drastic changes - and that's as big a secret as I have that seems to work.

That, and ignoring the opinions of adolescents. :-)

chewybrian 

This is the key to reaching your ideal weight. Following it makes weight loss relatively easy.

Don't get thrown by comments from some punk kids. Ask your friends and family for opinion, and you are bound to find support, encouragement, even admiration for what you are doing.

dougclyde

Craig nailed it here:

"That and a poor job of being raised by their parents."

Everytime kids get on my nerves while I'm on my bike I just give a little half-smile and say to myself "Yeah..enjoy your life. Hopefully the hard slap of reality will hit you someday and you'll realize you were the biggest rat..but still a rat"!

...probably not though, and that's ok with me.

twodownzero

Personally, I'd channel it into something productive. If you're 50-80 lbs overweight, that's not healthy. Cycling is already a good start, so just keep it up and as others have said, work on your diet.

FrenchFit 

I agree. Kids love to point to the ironic, get used to the idea that someone noticably overweight fighting up a hill on a bike is going to draw that reaction. Laugh at yourself a little, get over the self pity. You don't have accept this as a genuine attack on your self-esteem. Afterall, you kinda feel the same way ... or you wouldn't have posted.

Smile.

Riding to lose weight will result in a plateau. You need to mix it up, like some fast distance walks. Once your body is used to biking, throw something else at it. There is an old saying in sports and applied to biking would go like this: "Don't bike to get in shape, get in shape to bike". To get in shape, or drop the weight, you need to be more creative than single minded.

My two cents.