Well, I was at 340#s about 7 years ago. I have been loosing weight slowly. Not making any BIG changes of habit or diet. I got down to 260#s last spring. Then started cycling with my kids over the summer. Lost down to the mid 240's. Maintained over the winter. Now down to right at 220#s. Again, small steps. This weight seems to be a wall for me. I have yet to see a weight in the 2-teens area. It will come. My waist size is now down to a 36" from a 42" earlier this year. My internest has told me to not worry about weight so much anymore, but concentrate on the stomach size. (its a diabetes thing) I don't have any digital photos from my real heavy days. I'll have to see about getting one or two of them scanned so I can put together a comparitive image.

Thanks for the complement. My wife keeps telling me that I am completely different than when we married 8 years ago. I didn't really believe her until I saw the photos I posted above.

Bob
Well said. That is a lot of weight to loose and working in small jumps helps.
I had to change my habits as I consumed a lot of salt and sugar. Fast food and junk food. With hypertension I am watching my salt by holding it down to 1600 mg/day. That by itself is hard, plus watching the refined sugar and trying to hold down the total intake of cal's to 2000/day.

Crest, I was motivated by the fact that I was a heart attack waiting to happen and to be honest I want to see my 8 yr old grow up. That and the fact if I do well in the weight loss and eating I can get off the meds.

Wonkerjaw, thanks. Hurting like mad today. did 64 this weekend and flew my stunt kites for total of 6 hrs. I burn 764 in ~2 hr so that equates to 1 hr on the bike for every 2 I fly my kites. Plus all my yard work this weekend, I am just draging :( Need so sleep and an easy recovery ride tomorrow so I can build on the last 4 week. :)

Cycling isn't always fun. Sometimes people claim it is, but then they are lying. Actually, I hate training for riding better. That's why I never wanted to get a car when I didn't really have to. So, I am car-less and hence, have no other option but to get on the bike to drag my ass to places I want to be (OK, can take the bus too at times, but that's often even more time-consuming).
That's enough motivation for me..

BTW, I did love spinning lessons and could also motivate myself to do interval sessions on a home trainer. But training outside? Nah!
Cycling for social or tourist reasons is great though.. so that's what I did in the weekends.

this is written in past tense since I have a bad back problem that forced me off the bike for 6 months...

This is so true! :roflmao: I did 63 miles this past weekend and to be honest only the first 40 were fun. The last 20 were hot, windy and hilly! The problem was I had to get back to the truck so I could return home. It was worth it. :D Hope you back is doing better.

I did my first century this weekend. The first 40 miles was into a stiff headwind in mountainous terrain! I will not call that experience fun. I would call it a challenge. Miles ~80-90 were back into the headwind with the steepest climbs of the day too! Tailwind the last 10 miles.

It does not always have to be fun. To achieve one's goals is rewarding. Fun is what you make of the journey in your own mind.

And at times the challenge is 'fun' in its own way.. after all, I qualified for PBP a 1200K/750mi non-stop ride twice.. (and failed twice due to knee pain)

Wow, to qualify for PBP is impressive. Everyone defines fun in their own way. I had fun on my century ride. It was also quite challenging. Mental attitude plays more into it than many give credit.

To me those brevets weren't fun, but PBP itself is a great ride and very social too... a lot of fun. Enough fun to want to qualify again in 2007.
Even though I don't like training ;)

Bob,
Congrats on the first century! It sounds like a tough but rewarding ride. Wind will drain me every time. I hope you met fund raising goal as well.

I agree… challenging is a better word to use than "not fun". To me the feeling of accomplishment is unsurpassed by any other.

Thanks! I the wind is always blowing here. So I'm used to riding in it. You just have to gear down and hit the drops. Its more of a mind game than a physical one. I have never spent that much time in the drops before. LOL

I raised >$300.00 for my first time out. Next year's goal will be $500.00.

Bob
Congrats on the ride and the "Challange" :) I actually enjoyed today's ride, but Tuesdays are a loaf ride where I just recover from the weekend and enjoy the surroundings. ~22 miles. To me some of the challenge is to keep going and lose weight, and improve my health. Waiting for Thursday when I see the Doc, I hope to get off my BP pills and hit one of my milestones. My bud did the MS 150 this weekend, 83 saturday and 70+ Sunday. That takes a lot and I am not ready as I only have 720 miles in my legs the last 2 months. I have my goal set on the 50+ ride in Sept.

Wonker, the wind here was bad last weekend too, and the temps were actually cool. I was cold at least 1/2 the ride. I made the bend at turnaround point on the water and right into a cold 18 mph head wind.:( The last leg I did have a tail wind as I was cooked. Managed 32 mi, longest on my own in 3 yrs. Did that both Sat and Sun. I feel I accomplished a setpoint of riding on my own that I have not done since 01.

Solid at 220#s for the last 2 weeks. I guess I'm gonna have to turn the riding up a notch to move past this weight. Hope everyone else is riding and doing well.

To lose weight you have to burn fat. If you eat enough food to supply your body’s energy needs purely from your caloric intake, then you don’t lose weight. Several years ago, I was riding about 60 miles per week but was not losing weight. I was carb-loading for big rides and not cutting back on my eating. Health problems have kept me off a bike for a few years, but I am back on a recumbent now. I am eating low carb, losing weight, and working my way back into shape.

Low carb is working for me and hasn’t slowed me down as I work my way back up to 60 miles a week. You need to find the best plan for you, but you have to eat less then you burn.

Now that I have dropped 21 lbs, I am slowing on the losing end. I started weight lifting at the gym during lunch this week. I get 40 min on the weights and 20 min on the life-cycle. I am still holding 2000 cal a day and watching my sodium. I have increased the carbs slightly to better carbs as I was getting tired on the bike. I use a HRM and watch the cal's burned and use this as a reference. Try knocking ~ 200 cal's off your intake and moving your big meal to lunch. I find that I eat more throughout the day now and drink a lot of water.
Ex. shredded wheat and decaf coffee for breakfast, banana for snack, sandwich and strawberries for lunch, pineapple or cantaloupe for afternoon snack. broiled chicken(3 oz) for dinner with potato (no salt or butter) veggies, maybe a slice of home made no salt bread.

Weight loss and maintenance can be frustrating. I have trained for and rode a century this past month and currently ride about 250-300 miles per week. Would you believe I have gained 8 pounds over the past several months? It has a lot to do with carbo loading on a regular basis. I actually weigh less off season when I don't carbo load all the time! Go figure - the body has a mind of its own!

Buying first home, planning a family and career decisions have started to weigh me down.… It's been really difficult to stay away from comfort food. I'm back on the bike today... which has helped in more ways than one. I don't even want to jump on the scales to see what kind of damage has been done. Hope everyone is doing well.

While I am not buying a home, I think I can relate Wonker: I work full-time, go to school full-time, my wife is pregnant with our second child due in February, I handle our family's bills & finances too. I am feeling stressed out. I couldn't ride for a couple of days because my BB is shot, so I finally borrowed a bike because the exercise relieves some of the stress. Hang in there, it is just a season in life and will probably pass.

Wonker, wishing you well on this crossroad! Ben there done that, it does get better. I am 49, just change jobs in Dec, married with a daughter and house. Even bought a new car in March as I was rear ended and had to :( It does get better. My wife and family give me time to ride and still take care of home responsibilities and work. :)

Here's a question... but first some background. I was at 175lbs when I used to swim 10 hours a week (before that I did 20 hours). I pretty much stopped exercise for 4 months, was at 181, and after cycling for 4 weeks, jumped to 190. I've cycled for 4 more weeks. Since my legs used to be VERY weak, are those 9 lbs now leg muscles?

Thanks for the kind words. I'm determined to not let this be my point of falling down. I've lost 40 lbs. so far and I have another 40 lbs. to go. Everything is going well… All this new responsibility has got me a little wigged. Less than two years I was single and my biggest expense was beer and toilet paper. Now I'm purchasing refrigerators, lawn equipment, garage doors along with a list of a million other things that seen to be growing every day. Thanks for the support guys. Y'all hang in there!
Wonker

Ah I remember those days. Hang in there dude, you will make it.

Panoramic, I am by no means an expert, but I would venture as guess as yes.

I agree the exercise does help with stress. There is rain forecasted for the rest of the week. I hope to ride Saturday… Good luck with school (I worked nights to finish my degree.)and the new el niño or la niña :)

9 lbs of leg muscles?... I would think it would be a combination of muscle and water. People tend to be more dehydrated when they are not active. They don't feel the need to drink. I would also think you would have good muscle tone being a swimmer. There is no way to tell unless you have been test your body fat percentage with a method as accurate as a hydrostatic water tank test. My guess and I'm certainly no expert.

WoooooooHoooooo! 215lbs ! My doctor is going to be so happy with me next week when I see him! Hah! Take that Diabetes and cram it in your...:D

Great news Bob!

How are you doing with the new tandem?


Dale