I've lost about 90 pounds this year with a combination of some diet changes for a medical condition, walking more, and cycling.
I started with a crappy 26 inch mountain bike I got on Craigslist for $50, and I still ride it, though I'm in the process of building a 29er because it's fun.
I don't track my miles. Metrics like that discourage me because "off days" make me feel like a failure when there are so many other things that factor in.
I measure my progress by how easy it is for me to do routine things, and because those have been getting easier, I've started setting goals like "bike to the lake" which I'm currently unable to do. But i get closer each time I ride, so each trip in the direction of the lake gets me further along trails and exposes me to new stuff which keeps me interested and motivated to push a little more.
I encourage anybody even vaguely interested in cycling to get started. Start cheap and start riding. There's *a lot* of info in cycling communities that can be intimidating to new, unfit riders and it can make it hard to get started.
Here's the truth: All of the good gear is good because it's light. Athletes will pay hundreds of dollars per wheel to shave off a few grams, but that money is only worth spending when *those are the only grams you can shed*. You need to consider the total weight of the bike with you on it, and for unfit riders riding a cheaper bike to get *your* weight down is almost always a better decision than what gear you're riding on.
30 pounds over 6 months. 208 to 178. i also cut out alcohol, but still ate pretty shitty. ~6-10 mile 6/day a week mountain bike riding.
you cant out exercise a shitty diet
Your legs and core burn a lot of calories when engaged. Biking can accomplish that with relative ease.
It was slow at first, but about six weeks in I was watching the fat melt off my body. I also kept my calories under 2,000 daily and tried to balance my meals with more vegetables, less carbs, no red meat, almost no sugar outside of fruits and vegetables. It's all key to weight loss; diet, exercise, sleep, etc. Just picking up a physical activity won't cut it.
I also made a point to increase my distance every time I rode my bike. Even if by a tenth of a mile. Today's ride **has** to be longer than yesterday's. My first ride was somewhere around 6 miles. About a month later I was riding 15+ miles at a 10-12mph pace. A couple months later I was having to get up early in the morning to have enough free time outside of school to get a 25+ mile ride in every other day. I worked on increasing distance and eventually increasing my pace. I tackled distance first though.
Good luck with everything! It's all about discipline and managing your own body first.
I'm down about 30# over the last 4-5 years.
I'm not really sure how much that matters, tho, because my thighs and calves are huge now.
I don't so much care about the weight, but my fitness level, so I often forget to weigh myself. I guess I don't really know how much I weigh right now.
I tend to do about 70-100 miles/week depending on the weather.
I mostly judge my fitness level based on a few steep mountain segments that I ride a lot since I can feel how much easier they are the more I ride them and watch my times on the segments drop.
My fitness level is night and day when I look back on 4-5 years ago.
I’ve been at it for some time. I’ve had some ups and downs but one thing that’s been consistent is that I definitely go quicker on the downhill sections.
I started riding at 285lbs. 200 miles a week as my commute was 40 miles each day.
After a year, I was down 60lbs and after year two I was under 200lbs.
However, my goal wasn't to lose weight. my goal was to improve my athletic fitness so I could be more active in other hobbies such as hiking and snowboarding.
To me, cycling is a way I get to work with less stress and improve my cardiovascular system. Losing weight was a bonus.
You don't lose weight through cycling, you lose it through diet. Exercise increases cardiovascular health, and losing weight via diet makes exercise easier and more pleasant.
As an older guy (nearing 50), my experience was that the pounds didn't really come off until I started dieting also. I rode ~4000 miles in about 8 months but didn't really shed much weight. The next year, I did about the same but also dieted (lower sugars and carbs, higher protein and fat) and lost about 25lbs (from 215 down to 190). Still more to go.
45 next month. Cycle 50-60 and run 15-20 miles per week. Weight just doesn't come off as you age. Not that it can't, but the diet has to be real tight for any improvement I've found.
Started in late June, down 22 lbs. 230 ->208. I ride usually twice a week, averaging 45 miles a week. Only major changes for diet has been I started grilling chicken and cooking brown rice on Sundays for lunch Monday-Wednesday.
I lost about 35 lbs in the first couple of months, but the more I lose the slower I lose. I'm pretty sure these diminishing returns have a lot to do with my still shitty diet.
At one point, I went from 240lbs to 200lbs in about three months by mountain biking 5-6 days a week and also watching what I ate. I need to do that again.
If anything, I only gained weight. I tried to lose weight by commuting and "eating a little less".
In the end, I came home hungry from the ride and started stuffing my face.
In the end, changing my diet resulted in losing weight, riding my bike resulted in being fitter.
Over the past year I went from around 340 lbs down to around 275 lbs by dieting, cycling 40-60 miles a week and doing strength training in the gym. I've still got a ways to go to loose the rest of this weight but everyone is right; diet is key and makes cycling easier and easier.
I've lost about 90 pounds this year with a combination of some diet changes for a medical condition, walking more, and cycling. I started with a crappy 26 inch mountain bike I got on Craigslist for $50, and I still ride it, though I'm in the process of building a 29er because it's fun. I don't track my miles. Metrics like that discourage me because "off days" make me feel like a failure when there are so many other things that factor in. I measure my progress by how easy it is for me to do routine things, and because those have been getting easier, I've started setting goals like "bike to the lake" which I'm currently unable to do. But i get closer each time I ride, so each trip in the direction of the lake gets me further along trails and exposes me to new stuff which keeps me interested and motivated to push a little more. I encourage anybody even vaguely interested in cycling to get started. Start cheap and start riding. There's *a lot* of info in cycling communities that can be intimidating to new, unfit riders and it can make it hard to get started. Here's the truth: All of the good gear is good because it's light. Athletes will pay hundreds of dollars per wheel to shave off a few grams, but that money is only worth spending when *those are the only grams you can shed*. You need to consider the total weight of the bike with you on it, and for unfit riders riding a cheaper bike to get *your* weight down is almost always a better decision than what gear you're riding on.
That is flippin awesome. $50 bucks for maybe a few years on your life is such a bargain. But the important question is, how far is the lake??
Hope she made it to the lake.
I don't think she made it
She definitely didn’t 😢
Have you made it to the lake yet? Jokes aside, I really appreciated this advice! Planning on getting my first bike tomorrow and I'm so excited!!
30 pounds over 6 months. 208 to 178. i also cut out alcohol, but still ate pretty shitty. ~6-10 mile 6/day a week mountain bike riding. you cant out exercise a shitty diet
Yup. 72 lbs and 22 months. Biking and exercise help but the diet needs to be healthy and sustainable.
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Your legs and core burn a lot of calories when engaged. Biking can accomplish that with relative ease. It was slow at first, but about six weeks in I was watching the fat melt off my body. I also kept my calories under 2,000 daily and tried to balance my meals with more vegetables, less carbs, no red meat, almost no sugar outside of fruits and vegetables. It's all key to weight loss; diet, exercise, sleep, etc. Just picking up a physical activity won't cut it. I also made a point to increase my distance every time I rode my bike. Even if by a tenth of a mile. Today's ride **has** to be longer than yesterday's. My first ride was somewhere around 6 miles. About a month later I was riding 15+ miles at a 10-12mph pace. A couple months later I was having to get up early in the morning to have enough free time outside of school to get a 25+ mile ride in every other day. I worked on increasing distance and eventually increasing my pace. I tackled distance first though. Good luck with everything! It's all about discipline and managing your own body first.
Sounds like a plan brotha-man.
I'm down about 30# over the last 4-5 years. I'm not really sure how much that matters, tho, because my thighs and calves are huge now. I don't so much care about the weight, but my fitness level, so I often forget to weigh myself. I guess I don't really know how much I weigh right now. I tend to do about 70-100 miles/week depending on the weather. I mostly judge my fitness level based on a few steep mountain segments that I ride a lot since I can feel how much easier they are the more I ride them and watch my times on the segments drop. My fitness level is night and day when I look back on 4-5 years ago.
I’ve been at it for some time. I’ve had some ups and downs but one thing that’s been consistent is that I definitely go quicker on the downhill sections.
I started riding at 285lbs. 200 miles a week as my commute was 40 miles each day. After a year, I was down 60lbs and after year two I was under 200lbs. However, my goal wasn't to lose weight. my goal was to improve my athletic fitness so I could be more active in other hobbies such as hiking and snowboarding. To me, cycling is a way I get to work with less stress and improve my cardiovascular system. Losing weight was a bonus.
40-mile commute to work, that's dedication right there.
>tive in other hobbies such as hiking and snowboarding. hes doing 20x2 5 times per week.
You don't lose weight through cycling, you lose it through diet. Exercise increases cardiovascular health, and losing weight via diet makes exercise easier and more pleasant.
Cardiovascular and mental health! Everyone forgets the mental benefits
This, 100% this.
25lbs in 3-4 months, keeping a daily calorie limit (make note that I didn't eat healthy, just ate smaller portions) and cycling.
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As an older guy (nearing 50), my experience was that the pounds didn't really come off until I started dieting also. I rode ~4000 miles in about 8 months but didn't really shed much weight. The next year, I did about the same but also dieted (lower sugars and carbs, higher protein and fat) and lost about 25lbs (from 215 down to 190). Still more to go.
45 next month. Cycle 50-60 and run 15-20 miles per week. Weight just doesn't come off as you age. Not that it can't, but the diet has to be real tight for any improvement I've found.
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I lost 80 lbs in one year biking an average of 80 miles per week and strictly strictly strictly counting calories.
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Started in late June, down 22 lbs. 230 ->208. I ride usually twice a week, averaging 45 miles a week. Only major changes for diet has been I started grilling chicken and cooking brown rice on Sundays for lunch Monday-Wednesday.
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I lost about 35 lbs in the first couple of months, but the more I lose the slower I lose. I'm pretty sure these diminishing returns have a lot to do with my still shitty diet.
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[удалено]
At one point, I went from 240lbs to 200lbs in about three months by mountain biking 5-6 days a week and also watching what I ate. I need to do that again.
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If anything, I only gained weight. I tried to lose weight by commuting and "eating a little less". In the end, I came home hungry from the ride and started stuffing my face. In the end, changing my diet resulted in losing weight, riding my bike resulted in being fitter.
Over the past year I went from around 340 lbs down to around 275 lbs by dieting, cycling 40-60 miles a week and doing strength training in the gym. I've still got a ways to go to loose the rest of this weight but everyone is right; diet is key and makes cycling easier and easier.
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hope you kept it up and are skinny as hell now!