stringbreaker

Since March I'm down 17 lbs. I have ridden my bike to work at least 3 times each week more often than not 4 and on occasion 5. I've limited my portions of food and stopped with the candy bars and chips and pop out of the machines at work. I'm 10 lbs from my goal and this year vow to keep it off. Has anyone else dropped any weight this summer?

bengreen79

237 to 204 since Mid-may. They've been coming off slower lately. I am hoping to get below 200 by end of this month and around 190 by end of October when I'll be done biking to work. I've increased my commute distances from about 10 miles a day to 14-19 miles a day and I really find that I have to watch what I eat. I have driven to work only 3 times since May.

B. Carfree

Congratulations both of you. Keep it up (down?)!

DataJunkie

That is something worth bragging about and being proud. I was 210 5 years ago but am now in maintenance mode. I know how hard it was for me to lose weight. Keep it up

custermustache

I have lost 30 since Jan, but I don't watch what I eat, I just ride a lot.

rex_kramer

Awesome!

Once I hit about age 39, my metabolism nose-dived, so it's been a little difficult in getting back down to a size 30 waist like I DESPERATELY want to. 32's are a little loose. I can tighten my belt an extra notch now, but as far as pounds go, I'll find out when I get to the doctor in the next month. I was 192 lbs. when I first started commuting back in April. Hopefully I'll surprise myself. My target weight would be about 169-172.

I haven't completely cut out the goodies. I still love candy, ice cream and other sugar-laced items, now I just have them in moderation. I don't think I could ever cut out my favorite junk foods completely. If you've completely quit them, then that's even more amazing, lol.

The toughest part has been commuting and then trying to hit the weights or do any other "extra" exercise since I switched from running to cycling for my cardio. There are days when I get home from work where the ride knocks me out as soon as I finish cooling down.

Anyway, good job!

stringbreaker

I lost over 40 lbs about 3 years ago and I've slowly crept back up till this spring. I have 10 lbs to go to my goal. I didn't gain it all back but it was time to get under control again. winter here in the Pacific Northwest is just made for eating. Dark,dreary and rainy. I want to go into hibernation mode around Nov. 1st. I'm not gonna let that happen this year.

aley

I've been stuck at the same weight all spring and summer, which is frustrating. Last year I dropped 15 pounds, and 20 the year before that, but this year it's been harder. Partly it's job stress, and partly it's my sleep schedule (and substituting food for sleep to maintain mental alertness doesn't help), but mostly it's been my limited time to ride. I finally broke up with my time vampire of a girlfriend, though, so I banged out 80 miles this weekend, and I'm shooting for 100 next weekend - between the two, it'll be good for a couple or three pounds!

Good job on your weight loss - it goes on easily and comes off hard, but it's worth the effort!

Bachman

It didn't happen this summer, but I've dropped about 15-20 lbs over the course of about a year. Exercise certainly helps, but I would attribute most of it to cutting sugar out of my diet.

bhdavis1978

I weighed in somewhere between 235-240 back around January, and I weighed in this evening at 218. I started bike commuting to work back in late March or April (I don't remember now)- basically 5 days a week, and it's 14 miles round trip- so 70 miles per week. I recently bought a new bike (my old one wasn't up to the task), and now I'm doing another 20-40 miles of group rides per week. I'm contemplating buying yet another bike (a go fast bike, instead of my commuter/touring bike), so that I can do another one or two group rides a week, and go on faster rides. I don't know what my goal weight is, cause I didn't start doing this with the goal of losing weight. I can't imagine my weight as low as 180, but the guy at the bike store said he thought it was totally doable (I'm 6'0). So, maybe that's my goal? I'd like to get below 210 before I have to stop cycle commuting for winter, but I've got plans to buy an Kurt Kinetic indoor trainer so that I can keep riding through out the winter.

tligman

224 in Jan to 209 in early Aug... I've been riding 6 days a week (probably 45 miles/wk on avg) including my 3 mile round trip commute and trying to eat more fruit and vegetables... and I'm planning to keep up at least the commute for the winter, and maybe check out the indoor mountain bike park....

Oh, and I started this so I could get some exercise, but not really thinking about losing weight, just about building stamina, which is also improving

DataJunkie

No one can say. I used the mirror to set my final goal as I went.
I am 5'9" with a thin frame. I started at 210 and stopped around 150.
Everyone is different.

ItsJustMe

Nah, my weight is pretty much pegged at 180. I have to do absolutely nothing and eat a ton of junk for months to get up to 195 (I did it once, not by choice, during a heavy period at work, took about a year). That's when I started riding. That year I dropped readily back to 180 but that's it.

stringbreaker

I will occasionally have a Snickers bar but I don't have one everyday or a bag of cheetos with lunch either. I love chocolate so thats tough to slow down on but I have. Cheese and crackers YUMMY thats really my biggie. I can sit down with a block of cheddar the size of a car battery with a box of ritz crackers and have a party. Just mosly moderation and I have cut most breads out too. Its amazing how just cutting out most (not all) of the junk stuff can help in losing the weight, plus I have been riding a lot more this year and thats really helped too. Just have to keep motivated. I have one pair of pants that I use as my gauge on whether I've made it and I haven't tried them on for while. Guess its about time to see if they will fit.

groovestew

Congratulations everyone! I went from 175 to 150 pounds last year averaging 80 high-intensity commute miles per week, crept up 5 pounds over the winter, and quickly lost it again this spring. My wife doesn't like seeing my ribs. Neither do I, for that matter, but I'm not motivated enough to work on my upper body.

Now my doctor says my LDL cholesterol numbers are way too high, so I need to lower my cholesterol without losing weight.

pharasz

Just don't expect kudos from your doctor if he looks at a BMI chart. My weekly workouts are: 130 miles cycling, 10 miles running, 7,500 yards swimming, 60 minutes weight lifting. Altogether it adds up to a little over 10 hours per week of exercise. I weigh 190 LBS, but at six feet in height I am borderline obese. My doctor told me I needed to lose weight. When I tell my friends that they are dumbfounded. The response I typically hear is "Lose weight WHERE?"

K'Tesh

320lbs back in Feb...
303lbs at the end of July
292lbs today

and I'm 5'10" Goal is 185lbs (my fighting weight)
Running 5-6miles/day (takes 30 minutes) occasionally 10-12
really cut back on the Diet Coke, cutting back on the high fat diet

groovestew

Your BMI is 25.8; "overweight" starts at 25.0. Obese is anything over 30. You're not borderline obese. At your height, you'd have to gain 30 pounds to approach obese.

philski

Went from 205 in January to 175 in June; mix of diet, exercise and weightlifting... now I'm gaining about a pound a week, bulking, maximizing the "newbie gains" to be had from weightlifting.

Kojak

You need a new doctor. I'm running 205 right now, trying to get to 195-200 by the end of August, and 195 solid, by the end of September. The fittest I've ever been was in 2005 heading into racing season, and I was 185. Like you, based on BMI I was designated as "overweight" and not that far from the obese benchmark, which is ridiculous. I had cut out most sugar, had two beers on the weekend, and was very portion conscious. I was trying to get down to 180, but I didn't have that much more to lose. Any doctor that would have examined me couldn't have possibly concluded that I was "overweight".

BTW, great job stringbreaker and others.

stringbreaker

My doc wanted to put me on statins last spring cause my good cholesterol was 2 pts below where the good reading starts. 38 instead of 40. My bad cholesterol was under 200 I think it was somewhere around 150 or 160 yeah it could be lower but it was in the range. I told him I'd been sitting around eating cheese and crackers all winter and I'd rather try to change it with diet and excercise. I'll find out next month when I go in for a blood test if I was sucessful or not. I'm bettin yes.

john423

If you're even a little more muscular than the average human, BMI is worthless. Pay it no mind. Ever had your bodyfat percentage checked? That's the good stuff there.

I've lost more than 100 pounds two different times (lost it, gained it back, lost it again), but I've spent the last few years taking several steps forward and several steps back. Now I'm going forward - have lost seven pounds in six days. It's water weight, though, right now - once you figure out how your body responds to things, it's easy to gauge how much weight you're gonna gain or lose in a particular day.

Anyone who's read any sort of weight-loss tips probably knows this, but one little tip for anyone looking to lose weight: With the possible exception of milk, do not drink calories. Sugared sodas? A waste. Juice? A waste. Eat fruit. More filling, more fiber. Gatorade? Really? Eat food. It's more filling. And look for stuff with lots of fiber. If you can manage to eat plain broccoli (I can't stand the taste of it), you're halfway there.

wunderkind

When I first started bike commuting last year, I dropped 12lbs to 167lbs at the end of the cycling season. However this year, I have not shed any at all. I am cycling just as much if not more.
What happened? Are those water weight? I have to admit, my diet remains as normal. Meaning no rabbit food.

CptjohnC

Nov of 2009 I weighed 212. I began trying to watch what I ate (mostly cutting out potato chips, candy and other treats, esp. at work), and dropped to 202 by April, but then stalled. Began cycle commuting in may, and just this week I saw 189 on the scale for the first time in who knows how long. But the weight does NOT tell the whole story; my waist has dropped almost 2 inches since may, and I feel much better. I do about 60-80 miles a week, split between short days (5-6 miles) and long days (16-18 miles). My goal is to be below 175, so I still have a long way to go.

Trick fall

All your stories are very encouraging. I've cut back on what I eat while at work. Oatmeal for breakfast and soup for lunch and I've tried to cut out the snacks. So far I think I've only lost three or four pounds so I've started riding to the train which is about 4.5miles round trip. I'm hoping between diet and exercise I'll be able to lose fifteen pounds. I'm 5'10" and currently 180 pounds. I feel that 160 to 165 would be my ideal.