Time to make a change
 

Reading the thread on height, weight and age it made me think of some of the common things I have with many 50+ riders.

I got back into road biking about 6 years ago after a very long layoff of close to 19 years. Life had gotten in the way and working behind a desk took its toll on me. when I started back I was a bulky 265 and would get winded in the first 10 miles. The weight started to come off however and the fitness started to improve and slowly but surely I started to feel like I was getting close to where I was when I gave up cycling for work all those many years before. Early last year I was down to 220 and looked like I would make 200 by summer. But even with more riding, more hills, and a faster pace I hit a plateau and stayed there.

My Blood pressure is under control, my cholesterol LDL is under 100 and my heart rate is better than it has been in years. I joined a gym and rode an extra day a week and still nothing, the scale never moved. Thanksgiving through Christmas hit me and I put 12 pounds on over the holidays. That was now a new plateau. Finally this year I got a new doctor and she ran some serious tests and we have decided to get serious about weight loss. At my age it is unlikely I will be getting any stronger over the years so all I can hope for us less weight to push down the road. So I have signed up for one of the medical weight management programs and my doctor has put me in touch with a nutritionists.


We are using the Medifast program, just happens to be the one my doctor and nutritionists recommends, to get the weight off and then I will have a support group and coach to help me keep it off and learn to eat right, or at least make better choices. I am having to get used to running on fewer carbs and more protein and the first few weeks have been a learning process but like both my doctor and nutritionists tell me it is delayed gratification. Lose the weight and I will ride better. So to report that since June 21st I have lost 12 pounds and while I don't expect that type of loss to continue over the next few weeks I finally see I am once again heading for my goal.


I may never learn to love climbing, as some here have suggested happens, but at least I hope to learn the dislike climbing less.:eek:

Glad you are on a new path to improvement. I did not mention in my stats that I was once 185lbs so all I can say is that you can still get to where you want to be but making sure it is properly done is vital and it sounds like you are doing so. Congratulations on your improvements and keep us posted. :thumb:

Great work! a LOT of us have gone down that same path and can relate to the challenge of getting there. I lost 60 lbs, put back on about 15, then dropped 20 over this past Winter/Spring to get to my lowest weight since college. I too hit a plateau but was able to push beyond it by really figuring out where the extra unneeded calories were coming from and then cutting them out, along with reducing portions. Those hills are going to feel much better as you get those pounds off. Keep it up!

Yes, what made it hard, I believe, is much of the "sports" wisdom had me carb loading before a ride and my doctor just smiled and said, sure, if you were in your 20s. The program had to be modified a bit because of my activity level but still it is lower in carbs and higher in protein. Plus the calorie burn estimates I was using may have been overly generous. Eating six times a day is taking some getting used to but the doctor assures me this is the way to go. I look forward to having a better feeling about riding the climbing part of Stage two of this years AMGEN in the fall.

Hi,

They are just the masochists with a very deep competitive streak.

Trust me though that hills and headwinds become less of an issue.
You go slower and it takes longer, but they become not really a lot
different to going fast pushing on the flat, and your flat speed does
improve once you stop taking it really easy just because you can.

On my main course I know where the hills are and save energy
for them, rest of the course I go as fast as I'm feeling that day.

rgds, sreten.

Mobile, I did a similar program 1 1/2 years ago and dropped 60 pounds. I now ride 60 - 100 miles on the weekend. The support groups are the best part of the medical weight management program - they help reinforce the new behaviors. Dont be in a rush to stop going to those. As for the benefits of weight loss I give you Charles Barkley extolling one advantage of a slimmer waist line http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=vcjf4aRpnq8

Most Americans tend to overeat.
Best exercise is to push away from the table. Quit supersizing food as it leads to a supersize you!
Am 80 years old, 5'7" and still ride 100 to 125 miles per week. Weight is 135 lbs.
Been told more than once '. . . but you're so skinny!' . . . that from a dudes with belly hanging over the belt and half my age.

I intend to stay with the nutritionists and once I reach my goal follow her advice. And I will continue to receive weekly calls from as part of the support program. I have been riding 120 to 150 miles a week. But it seems as if low carb and smaller meals six times a day has kick started my metabolism and with the riding I do I am back on track.

Great to hear about your progress. Keep at this -- this is no diet, this is a lifestyle change.

My experience has been it takes about 2+ weeks for the body and mind to adjust. After that it becomes the "new normal". Sometimes you can't listen to your body so good for you for sticking with the subject matter experts. 90% of it is simply having the true motivation and having a good plan that works for you. The rest is just about executing the plan.

Well, speaking without a license here, I think my problems in the past have been that while I was willing to try most anything my efforts were disjointed. I tried to do it on my own and of course as soon as I started to achieve any success things stopped working for me. My doctor said that some of the problems could be because many of the advertised programs are designed for sedentary people. They don't suffer from energy loss on a 40 mile ride. But that is a digression. I am turning to people that study these things for a living and one of my nutritionists is a cyclist. They will be modifying my pre ride meals till we have the right balance for me. Ahh but now I have moved into specifics and that more than likely is just boring to those that are already at their riding weight. :lol:

I do intend to make a lifestyle change and part of it comes from my love of cycling and part comes from just making up my mind to live a healthier life. :D

Way to go Bob...I follow you on Strava and you are one consistent dedicated rider. Glad this is working out for you.

Best Mike

Thanks, I keep plugging away.

+1 . Too many people just can not say no to food .

Tomorrow will be the second full week with the nutritionists. The weight has come down and I have dropped 11 pounds since my last doctors visit and 6 pounds since I first talked to my coach. I have noticed a few things:

With lower carbohydrate intake at breakfast I have less explosive energy right now. Al least it feels like I have less. I just finished a half Century Monday and I felt good by the time I got home but I found drinking electrolyte replacement has become way more important than it used to be. I can spin my legs fine but I am getting into smaller gears a lot sooner because I just don't feel I have the power to mash a big gear as much as I did before. However keeping a spin going on a hill seems a bit easier. My coach says my body is learning to transition to fat burning and by using zones I should do fine. But I am not ready to enter and city limit sprints right now.

Exercise is only one element of the equation and is seldom successful by itself in getting weight off. You really have to change the way you view life and food in particular. At the core the human body is just an incredibly efficient machine. It can survive off very low calorie intake for weeks at a time. Useful if there's a famine - not so much if you are trying to lose weight in a world of over-abundance. It still all comes down to calories in vs. calories burned - while still getting proper nutrition for essential bodily function. I am sure it is a hard road. Good luck and stick with your plan.

Calories in, Calories out, weight control is just that simple,,,,,,,,,,,,,, But GOOD FOOD is so Irresistable !!! 6ft tall, 175 pounds now, and I plan to stay that way.
I was 202 pounds, rolled over on my side one night in the bed, I felt my belly hanging off me, I rolled to the other side, my belly followed,, That was the last straw.
I have a flat stomach now XD

Anyone ever buy a whole chicken, take it home and pull gobs of nasty yellow fat off the bird ?

I musta had 20 pounds of that gross stuff on my belly, dangerously close to my heart, makin me look like I had a hand crafted 'Body By Budweiser"
Just close your eyes and picture that nasty yellow chicken fat, handfuls of it,,, now look down,,, do you actually need any more motivation **********

Ride on bro. I went from 235 to 160 just by eating healthy and riding about 100 miles per week. Go get 'em.

Agree with this completely. In my late 30's to mid-40's I was riding 150+ miles a week, was able to keep up with most (not all) 20-30 year old riders, and my weight was a steady 205 (6' 3" tall). I stopped riding and kept eating and my weight shot up to 250. About 6-7 years ago I changed my eating habits "permanently" by reducing my calories through eliminating all sweets, breads, and most fats. I eat mostly salads and fish for dinner, and yogurt, oats, and fresh fruit for breakfast. My weight went back to 200-205, but I wasn't riding, and was not in good shape (although my cholesterol, blood pressure, etc. were all great). A couple of months ago I got my old road bike fixed up, and bought a mountain bike. I am riding about 20 miles per day on the mountain bike during the week (11 in the morning and 11 after work), and I do one 20+ mile ride on weekends, and one shorter ride. I've dropped to 195 lbs. and feel much much better. I anticipate losing another 10-15 pounds, but I am not concerned about it. I'll never be able to ride like I did 20-25 years ago, but I can still enjoy cycling without being over competitive. I made the decision years ago to change my view of food, and I will stick with it for life. I have watched my Mother, and some other older folks, become so sedentary that they are virtually "self-confined" to a wheel chair. We all have choices in life, and I am choosing mobility over excessive food. Biking is not an excuse for eating more, but my motivation for eating better.

What makes it difficult I believe is much of the information we read if for cyclists in their 20s and 30s with a metabolism like a blast furnace. By the time I got to my age the blast furnace is more like a toaster oven. I am surprised by how few calories we need to survive. No bread, nor processed sugar, low salt and low carbs is a lot different than what I see my cat 3 riding friends eat. But then I am not a 25 year old cat 3 rider.

This. If you are anything like me, as you get stronger you will be able to ride farther and faster and not have to be quite as concerned about your in-ride hydration and nutrition.

And this. And, way to go old man! I say that with the utmost respect. Keep riding!

There is a simple thing to remember:

Food is not your friend, it's not your comfort it's not your companion.
Food is simply fuel for the biological machine your mind is housed in.
If you want a friend, comfort and companion, get a dog.

Once you get over this, hurdle, you can view food in a whole new light, if your looking at weight loss, you look at the octane (the nutritional payload per calorie), because you want to minimize calories while still getting all the nutrients you need.

There are probably very few of us here, that need to eat a cycling specific diet, other then when riding longer distances to stave off the bonk.

That to a degree has been the biggest problem. Not to believe I needed more food but to balance the intake with the activity. Three days after stopping traditional carb loading before a ride I had a group ride with three nice little climbs. I did the first once fine, average 5 percent with two kicks close to 10 percent. It was only a mile. Then participated in a town sign sprint and a short pace line cruise to the second climb. It was another mile but it was more of a bowl. It ramped up steeper and steeper till just before the top where it flattened like a spout. About halfway up at maybe the 8 percent point it felt like someone had pulled the plug on a vacuum. I had passed my second meal time by 30 minutes and simply ran out of juice. Once stopped at the summit I wolfed down the food replacement bar my nutritionists has recommended and tried to push on. I had to break off before the last climb, the easiest of the three and head for the coffee shop to wait till the group returned.

I guess the thing I am learning after having my morning intake changed by the nutritionists is that very few programs are one size fits all. :eek: Well I suppose I knew that but didn't think about it before I started it myself. Like my doctor said, we aren't talking about a diet, if that is all I wanted I didn't need a nutritionist. It is a change of lifestyle in eating that should stay with me till they put me in a box.:D
The weight is still coming off and I was able to finish a half century the other day still pulling the B group home.

I found it easier to drop the first 50 lbs than anything else. A complete lifestyle changed worked for me, but I still hit a few plateaus along the way. The other indicator is waistline compared to weight. If you plateau or even gain a few lbs over a a few months with no change in waist/butt - it could be muscle build up (especially glutes & quads, which cyclists tend to develop easily),

I would put it like this: those guys in the 20s can indeed eat a lot of carbs without gaining weight, but by doing so, they are probably (depending on their genetics) setting the groundwork for weight problems when they get older.

When I am in weight loss mode, I don't have much energy and zip. I ride slow and try to stay in a fairly easy pace which supposedly helps burn fat. With a low carb intake any kind of exercise is sluggish for me. But I am willing to be slow and sluggish if the weight is coming off. Once the weight is gone then carbs can be added back to maintain the desired weight.

You are not the first to talk about this. One of my good friends has a power meter on his bike, something I would love to get my doctor to prescribe for me so I didn't have to pay for it but that's not going to happen, and he went on the Paleo diet before last race season to get into better climbing weight. He said that during the weight loss period he simply felt down on power. His Power meter comparisons on his Garmin site seemed to prove his point. I am discovering the same thing. I have dropped 17 pounds since June 21 and the coach has adjusted my carbs on the days I ride and pushed them up compared to my off days when I walk. She has also but me in zone training and doesn't want be out of zone 2.5 if at all possible. For me that is 151-157. As long as I am in fat burning mode I can ride a long way. I just can't ramp it up into anaerobic for any period of time.

I am looking forward to reaching goal and starting the rebuilding part of this lifestyle change. I have received some encouragement about this realizing one of my coaches was a long distance cycling tourist in Europe and just might understand my needs as a cyclist. Meeting a group of them at the Furnace Creek 508 in 2011 has shown me that as a whole they can teach me a lot about a lifestyle change.

An update and the first lifestyle challenge. As of today I am down 20 pounds in 38 days. I am still in a low power mode in that by the end of the ride my tank is empty. The first challenge comes in two days as we travel to join in a family reunion in another state. At least we will be taking the RV and can bring all of our own food but there are two potlucks during the first weekend. Can we resist the temptation? I hope so and I will be taking a bike just to work off any food we do eat.

Very impressive, keep at it.

With regard to the low-carb, low-energy point, there is a discussion on the paleo diet going on at present in the training and nutrition forum which has morphed into a debate on the merits of low-carb for cyclists. The scientific reviews that have been posted there tend to bear out your experience, and mine - namely that low-carb is great for weight loss, and fine for pure endurance work, but that one's performance tends to decline at higher intensities. When I experimented with low-carb I couldn't compete, because I couldn't cope with interval training or race-pace efforts. Of course, that is only important if making those high-intensity efforts is important to you; and there is probably a "sweet spot" at which one can maintain the lower weight while building back into one's diet the carbs necessary to fuel them.

The literature also reinforces your point about one size not fitting all. There seem to be marked differences between individuals with respect to how well they do on low-carb diets. Some thrive, but some emphatically do not, and need much higher levels of carbs to maintain their performance.