Genec,

Every type of exercise and diet require discipline, period, not just cycling.

Wow I really am a big fat guy. Seems like most the people in this thread are around 6', and think they are heavy at 200lbs. I got my bike without any intention to commute, but just a few weeks after, I started. Starting weight was 240, and I'm as tall as Yao Ming... wait a minute... oops got the numbers backwards, no I'm only 5'7". I'm down to 215, and would like to hit 170/180. I'm still addicted to fast food, although thanks to being poor, I can't afford to eat out as much, maybe a couple times a month. I still LOVE sugar, and controlling my diet is the biggest ordeal. I have noticed I get mad at myself when I eat poorly now, so maybe my mindset is changing.

Well, I made it. 163.4 this morning. That's 41 pounds in about 5.5 months! All thanks to my bicycle and eating healthier. I don't really eat any less than I used to, I just eat better foods. If I'm hungry between meals, I try and have fruit instead of candy. Things like that.

So I'm the skinniest I've been in my entire life and I feel great. My Tanita scale claims about 16% body fat. I'd like to get this down to 8-10% so I'm going to hit the gym and really work my abs, back, and legs this winter. I'll continue to commute when it's safe and comfortable to do so, but I'll be working out with an eye towards making myself a better cyclist for next season... and maybe even ready to do some racing. Heh. Me. Racing. Wow.

Sounds like why I started about 10 years ago.

There are a lot of reasons I continue to ride to work, mostly because I enjoy it, but it saves me money, makes me feel more independent (especially of auto repair bills,) it keeps me very fit, makes me feel great, adds flavor to life, etc. But one thing's for sure: if I don't ride, I put on the pounds. At 47 years old, I can't remember having a 32-inch waistline since high school, until I became a regular bicycle commuter.

LOL... and after some 30 years of cycling, you'll find you have to do 50 miles a day just remain "normal."

At least that is what happened to me.

Beyond the cycling, changing the diet is the best approach.

I found in the long run that it took more then exercise... exercise was good for the heart and lungs, and kept the body in shape, but losing weight and keeping it off means changing how and what you eat.

It is very easy to fall into the trap of "well now I am riding, so an extra cookie shouldn't matter... "

Wrong wrong wrong. Change the diet AND exercise and you will find a happy medium that you can maintain.

That's right, and the same lack of discipline that allowed one to reach for that extra slice of pie in the first place is the same lack of discipline that can win in the end.

One has to commit to both the exercise and the change in diet and then maintain it.

One can lose weight, but cannot expect to go back to the old lifestyle and maintain that weight loss. You must change altogether and then maintain that new lifestyle.

WTG DerekU2!!! And Dalmore too!!!

I stepped on the scale yesterday and was right at 100 lbs lighter then at New Year's Day 2005! 10 months ago!

I started WeightWatchers on 01/07/2005 @ 325 lbs... I am now at 224.6 lbs!
Like Dalmore, I too am now a Lifetime Member of WW.

I lost about 50 lbs on June 22, 2005 (Bike To Work Day), Then I rode every single day, even my days off without driving a single vehicle! (even my Harley!)
I have riden about 1400 miles mostly in commuter miles (20 miles round trip), although the days off I average about 15 miles per day. The days I was off work and I didn't ride, I made up for by going on extra long rides.

WeightWatchers was a great plan for me, I had tried just about everything before that.
It is all about watching what you eat.

Keep up the Great work all!!!

A few years later...how's it going now?
 

Since this is such an old thread I don't know if anyone will reply, but I'd be interested to hear how things are going now, a few yeard down the road. Are you still commuting? Still eating healthy? Keeping the weight off? Did you end up doing any racing, etc, etc?

I didn't participate in the thread till now, but since about May of this year, i'm around 25lbs lighter without changing my eating habits. It'd probably be more, but I drink a lot of beer...

DerekU2 - Biking was a useful tool for me last spring and summer and should be helpful to you too.

i've lost about 20lbs since i stated commuting in may

I generally am in better shape when I commute. It takes me 6 months-1 year to generate the muscle mass and start getting big results. I also tend to plataeu at certain points. I try to keep my focus off the weight, and I don't even own a scale. (I just check my weight every month or so on someone else's scale or wait for the annual physical.)

What I do notice is how my clothes fit. That part is highly gratifying. Most of my stuff is falling off me these days. :)

I take the opposite tack: I weigh myself every day.

I want to know what yesterday did to me. I lost 70 lb. 4 years ago on the South Beach Diet. By July of this year I had gained most of it back. I lost 25 lb. since then (although I put a few on over the holidays, but not nearly as many as I would have though considering what I've been eating). I plan on (re)starting South Beach Diet Phase I with the New Year and expect to be at my target weight in about a month.

I do find that the two-pronged approach of controlling what I eat and exercising regularly makes it easier to manage my weight. I think part of the reason I regained much of I had lost is that I wasn't really exercising at all; I was just dieting. I started riding somewhat in February when my job site changed and I started commuting occasionally. I got a new bike at the end of August though and since then I've been moving toward a car lite lifestyle. Since then, I feel more in control of my weight, even if I slip off the diet once in a while.

Hey Derek, join the club ;) My initial reason to start commuting was weight loss as well. It only took me a little while to notice my body NOT responding to any excercise what so ever. So I stopped doing it for weight loss. But I kept going. Reasons to do it became several, it saves me €150 a month, making €1800 a year. Of course costs for my bike upgrades and maintenance, clothing and such, haven't been subtracted yet. It doesn't save me any time, when using bus/train/whatever (don't have a car) it takes me a little over an hour to get to work, but when I go by bike it's the same. It's a great way of relaxing, knowing you'll be perfectly on time for the job and you don't have to worry about traffic jams.

It took me quite a while to realise that my weight, when it comes to fat, actually did reduce. It were the leg muscles that became so heavy. Quite proud of the legs now and the wife loves it ;)

Still, it saves money, it's healthy, you can relax, you see lots of stuff you don't see when you're in your car.
Besides... There's all sorts of stuff laying around the road that could be of some value :)

FreddyV... any pictures of your Marathon? Does it look anything like this?

(By the way, do you know you're responding to someone who posted over three years ago?)