Question for overweight or obese people

[Riverman]

Would you cycle to a similar level if you weren't overweight or obese?

Infact, would you cycle much at all?

I'm near the obese category by the way.

 

[andygates]

I'd ride more. It's more fun when I'm thinner. I don't ride to get thin, because as every egg-shaped audaxer will tell you, that doesn't always work

 

[Sittingduck]

No - I would cycle more / further probably - as I would be faster and find it more pleasurable to climb hills.

 

[MacB]

I've been wondering this about myself recently, as my weight is coming down and the gains are getting smaller. I find it very hard to seperate what improvements are due to getting more cycle fit and what are weight loss. I know it's a combination but I do now meet stronger/faster cyclists that are more overweight than I am. I've also passed the point where I see every commute as a potential personal best. I just couldn't keep up that level of intensity.

Now that I'm bike commuting full time I find myself less inclined towards extra rides at weekends etc. But then my full weeks commute is 200 miles and I think I need about 3 months of that before I get back higher weekend energy levels. I reckon I'll average 18-20 commutes a month, after allowing for holidays and homeworking days. I'd like this to be year round so that will give me a base of 700-800 miles a month. I reckon I need to keep the commuting miles at an average of 14+mph.

Re the OP I'd say a desire to lose a bit of weight, get fitter and save some money, led me into cycling. I didn't expect to get bitten by the cycling bug and so the weightloss, and miles, have ramped up a lot faster than original plan. Once bitten by the bug saving money becomes a laughable prospect, I'm just trying to stop the spend getting away from me too much.

I'd hate to think I'd reach my weight/fitness targets and stop cycling. I really can't imagine not getting around by bike right now.

 

[dan_bo]

I enjoy being able to ridie as hard as I can. Does that answer your question?

 

[Bodhbh]

Well ex-fatty here. Yes, and I do. It helps keep it off and means I can eat and drink well. Once you've lost it you still have to keep a tab on things - I can easily put on a stone or more a month if I don't. You end up enjoying it in itself anyhow, a new interest.

 

[Stig-OT-Dump]

My BMI is good. My hip to waist ratio is good. I run and I cycle. A few years back when I was in my late 30s I started to put on a bit of beef (OK, it wasn't beef - it was fat and extra inches). The turning point was when I went to get a kilt and the gentleman's outfitter told me I'd be more comfortable in a larger size than I was accustomed to wearing.

At that point I increased the amount of exercise that I was doing because there was no way I wanted to eat less. I found that I enjoyed doing the longer runs and rides . When teh weight came off it was easier to do & I now do significantly more than when I was using exercise for weight control.

 

[Banjo]

I didnt really think about losing weight when I bought a bike about 5 months ago.After a few weeks someone said to me "you look like you have lost a bit of weight"

Started weighing once a week and since then two stone of lard has gone. Ideally need to lose another 2 stone but Im not stressed over it .Dont care how long it takes.

When/If I reach my ideal; weight I will still want to ride the bike both for the pure pleasure of it and also I now do half the car miles I used to do. Its easy for me to be smug now,dont know if I will be so committed in winter.

 

[kevin_cambs_uk]

I started cycling, well I have always been a cyclist but for the last 3 years I had given up, (long story), and the bike was on the garage wall gathering dust.

Start of the year I reached 17 st 5 lbs. Not my heaviest but getting close. I started to get white ish dots under my eyes, and the wife said thats high cholesterol, rubbish I said.

Any way off to the doctors, she was right I was wrong and he said I was mega high risk, and said in 2 years I would be on statins for the rest of my life .........

So come 1st of Jan, diet and started at the gym.

Gym great for 2 - 3 weeks then gets boring as hell. Kept thinking why don't i cycle to work ....

Then I got an email from trek about the bike to work week, and its explained how to eliminate all the excuses I kept thinking up.

I started and now can't imagine how I would not cycle to work.

In answer to your question, once you have the bug you can't stop, but as I get thinner, the cycling gets better cause you get faster and fitter.

So I am now 15 st 9 lb, aim to be under 15 by xmas, and the savings on petrol and cancelled the gym, means I am saving a load of cash.

Its been win win win all the way so far, plus where I live they are building a special guide bus way with its own cycle path, so when its done 90% of my commute (17 miles each way) will be traffic free. So its a no brainer to go by bike, plus an excuse to get a MTB so match my road bike !!

 

[Panter]

No - I would cycle more / further probably - as I would be faster and find it more pleasurable to climb hills.

+1

 

[peanut]

Like Kevin my weight has yo yoed around 17st -17st 5lbs .
Then last Christmas it went up to 17st 10lbs and I had to get a complete fresh wardrobe. None of my work clothes would fit. I had to leave the top button of my trousers undone under my jacket .
The final straw was when I got a umbilical hernia and blood tests showed my liver wasn't functioning properly. My quack said how much do you drink a week and when I said nothing I've been T total all my life he said right you've got to lose weight and sent me off to the hospital for liver scans.

I started back on the bike last Sept, just 6-8 miles, once a week very hilly route. I figured a half hours really hard exercise would be better than an hour's easy pootling.

I now try to get out twice to 3x a week but find it hard to ride over 20 miles a time. My back and neck ache my hands go numb and the slightest of hills reduce my legs to water.

I have lost a total of 12lbs and converted lots of fat to muscle. legs like tree trunks now. The most noticable thing though is how quick my recovery time is now. Just 20-30 seconds as apposed to 15 minutes when I started.

My problem now is motivation or lack of it. I go as fast as I can when I go out so its always hard and such intense effort is a bit off putting. Now I have to immediately go and change the instant I think of going out or I spend the following 5 minutes talking myself out of it. then I don't ride for 4-5 days and feel guilty. I also put on a couple of pounds.

I'd say its good exercise to get fit and strong but weight loss needs a completely fresh look at your diet. Not just cutting out alll the nice stuff but cutting portion sizes way down to half the usual amounts . It has to be something you will maintain as a new lifestyle or it will all pile back on again.

 

[Old Walrus]

I had my scare in January with the scales tipping 17st 3lb (at 5'11" that was obese) and dire warnings from the G.P about blood pressure and cholesterol.....

I was already commuting on some days by bike (total 18 miles) so extended that to every day and started recording what I was eating, cals, fat, saturated fat on a spreadsheet. This morning the scales said 13st 12lb (12 lbs more to get down to a BMI of 25).



In terms of speed the commute is down from 45 mins to 40 mins

 

[MacB]

Peanut, stick with it mate, if you can get it to 5 days out of 7 the exercise becomes quite addictive and, for me, my appetite reduces. Don't forget we'll be watching your sig line

Old Walrus, that's awesome, hat off to you sir

 

[peanut]

Peanut, stick with it mate, if you can get it to 5 days out of 7 the exercise becomes quite addictive and, for me, my appetite reduces. Don't forget we'll be watching your sig line

Old Walrus, that's awesome, hat off to you sir

thanks Mac it was your sig line and weight loss that prompted me to work harder at my weight loss. problem is i'm lazy and lack motivation. I have spent a lifetime developing procrastination and avoiding action.

Thanks for the support and encouragement. I am going to force myself to cut out the extra bowls of cereal and go on a ride every week day even if its 10 miles around the village. Wish i could find a cycling partner.

Well done to you and Old Walrus. You are proof it can be done if you knuckle down to it

 

[MacB]

thanks Mac it was your sig line and weight loss that prompted me to work harder at my weight loss. problem is i'm lazy and lack motivation. I have spent a lifetime developing procrastination and avoiding action.

Thanks for the support and encouragement. I am going to force myself to cut out the extra bowls of cereal and go on a ride every week day even if its 10 miles around the village. Wish i could find a cycling partner.

Well done to you and Old Walrus. You are proof it can be done if you knuckle down to it

yep, motivation is a bugger, mine's easier coz of the long commute. If I'm not doing that, or a social ride, my ride motivation is low. I always have something to do around the house and the effort of getting the lycra on can seem too much.

One idea is getting maps of your area and then marking out an area, with your home at the centre, and deciding to explore everything within that volume. Set the first perimeter not too far and then expand out when completed. I'm trying to do this around me, started with a 10 mile perimeter, and have already found roads and routes I was totally oblivious to, and I've probalby only covered 10% so far. Keeps the interest up when you're riding on your own. I may end up knowing this locality like I did the one where I grew up. Have already amazed the kids with some nifty shortcuts