Mountain Biking and Weight Loss?

I started my "regiman" about a month and a half ago. I was around 230, ate junk every meal, smoked cigs and way too much pot and pounded around a 12er a day. My motivation to start came from reading "Heft on Wheels" by Mike Magnusson. Well, I ordered a Garmin 305 from Amazon, started eating really healthy, quit smoking EVERYTHING and I've probably drank 4 beers since I started. I also got my doctors approval and had EKG and pulmonary tests done to make sure I could handle it. I dropped about 10 lbs. in the first couple weeks, and have now evened out at around a pound a week. As of last Sunday I am down to 214. I've gotten much faster and have come to relish the pain of the uphills.

Oh, I had a "before" pic taken and use it as a screen saver. I won't post the pic until I'm down to at least 195 so can I show an "after" pic too. Also because I don't want gross anybody out.

I love threads like this!!!!!

 

Weight loss is most drastic in the early stages. I've lost a little more in the first month of a diet before. The key is doing everything right all the time. Count calories, consume food at the right time, exercise enough and at the right time, get your minerals and vitamins, get plenty of sleep.

 

Okay, so if:
-increase in tacos = increase in fat
-increase in riding = decrease in fat

Then what I think what happens is that when you first start riding the monstorous uptick in calories burned cannot be offset by your increased taco consumption. (You'd need to like DOUBLE your taco intake to compensate) So you lose weight.
But about 15 pounds later things get back into equilibirium and any increases/decreases in effort are offset by increases/decreases in tacos so your weight stays about the same.
I think this is your 'healthy weight'...but unfortunately I think it also means that any weight loss beyond this point is ONLY acheived by BEING HUNGRY and restricting your intake (not suffering on the hill). No matter how much you ride, to lose weight beyond your 'natuaral plateau' you have resign yourself to being hungry. Otherwise you just eat more/less to compensate for your increased/decreased effort.

 

well I started at 215 and now im 165-160 (if i just pooped) I ate right. chased the dragon, and rode as much as i could... But seriously just keep riding and eating fairly well and the weight will come off.

 

Naw, I don't think you want to get to the point where you are hungry per say, because then your body goes into starvation mode. And when it does that, besides fat, it will also start to burn muscle too, and any food intake will be stored as fat. I believe the thing to do is to eat 5-6 smaller, nutricious meals through the day. It helps to keep our metabolism going and from storing energy as fat.

Back in our caveman days (we are only a few thousand years removed), we would sometimes go days without eating a decent meal, if at all. And our bodies are programed to store energy as fat to get by. Especailly us big guys. LOL, in those days, we had an edge over our bane, the skinny guys, who burn calories like they are going out of style and must eat like horses to retain their energy stores.

 

OK, I'm not ashamed to post pics. So here goes:

Christmas / New Years 2007-2008

October 2008

My other motivation for staying in shape is my wife of 11 years who also put herself back into shape, and did a good job of it too!


I've always been a mountain biker, just this time I'm a bit more serious. I'll be 44 next month so I'm just trying to stay ahead of the aging curve.

 

Like most have said, if you eat a balanced diet and ride a few times a week, the weight will inevitably come off!

 

I got a question to the guys took off a lot of weight: Did taking off the "spare tire" leave a loose flap of skin hanging from your midsection??? I have a friend who lost a lot of weight really fast using fat burners and now has this rubber looking flap hanging. I don't want to lose weight too fast and have a rubber gut.

(God, it would be sooo nice have an actual 6 pack.)

 

I heard taking in more Omega 3's will help tighten the skin.

 

Losing weight...and keeping it off, takes time and effort. I see a lot of people go on crash diets, put in a lot of work and lose 10-15 lbs before summer only to put it right back on (and more) by the holidays. Then the next year they start all over again.

I did the yo-yo thing a lot of times, got all serious about getting in shape but usually ended up flushing all my gains down the toilet a few months later. I got tired of "starting over" every year so I finally decided to get serious about getting my weight down where it needs to be (180ish) and keeping it there. This was about 5 years ago now and I weighed around 210 which for me is too heavy. After about a solid 5-6 months of riding 4-5 nights a week, writing down what I was eating to keep track of cals (easy to under guess) I had my weight down to 180...I actually went down to 172 but 180-185 seems to be my ideal, easy to maintain weight. Nowadays, just riding and eating normal maintains my weight. Obviously I don't want to eat more then I'm burning, but after awhile you figure out what works for you.

 

when i first got a bike in highschool (5 or so years ago) i was 245lbs and a 38-40" waist XL shirt. im currently 205lbs have a 32" waist and wear a L shirt. im 6'1" and my "ideal" is 185lbs, im certain that if i changed my diet id lose the rest. but yes, biking makes you lose weight. i didnt change my diet, i just ride/goto the gym. and usually the ride doesnt get easier, you ride with faster people and you get better.

 

Only caveat to the biking makes you lose weight thing:

You will be able to eat more (esp healthy stuff, you'll require more fuel) as you bike more and either maintain or lose.

BUUUT if for some reason you aren't able to bike as much (day light savings goes away, weather, injury, etc.) or just stop biking/working out as often as before, just keep in mind that if you keep eating as much as you are accustomed to (even completely healthy stuff) you will gain the wait back! #-o

Calories In, Calories Out.

 

I haven't been 150 since I was in the 7th grade :?:
Although I did once get my weight down to 160 in my junior year of high school wrestling. I was only able to stay that weight for literally 10 min.

 

Sounds familiar without the wrestling bit though

Perhaps a new thread about mountain biking and being big:beer:, no shame in the clyde size and always much more satisfying when you blow by the skinny people on the uphills, downhills, nohills etc.:lol:

 

Well from my trip this weekend I can see why I am "husky". I have been told though that I am "thick" in the right area. If you all know what I mean . Thats right I am sporting the Magnums

Check out my Sat night meal. Thats a man meal right their boys

 

Hey Dirty, you know what they say. If you need to brag about it or talk about it, then more then likely, it ain't all that, BRO. Please don't post pics. Not necessary, really! The bloody steak is enough chorizo meat to last a life time.

Neil, you can blow me up, down or on the no hills any day, butty.

 

I went from 175 to 155 training for the last CC, as well as spring 24 hour at Hurkey. This included a lot of miles on the mountain bike, road bike and eating well.

 

It's for real... I'm pretty much the same story. Started pedaling at at miserable portly 255 pounds. 2x a week, roughly 1300 to 1800 vertical feet climbed. It sucked big time in the beginning that fall. I couldn't get rid of all the heat the blubber on me was trapping inside of me on the climbs. It hurt like hell in the beginning, building up lung capacity and strength. I lost 30 pounds in 5 weeks, down to 225. Yes, I was eating, no, I didn't give up on In and Out Burgers or french fries, but I did get rid of the sugar. No soft drinks. No cookies, no chips, no ice cream, very little dairy product, nothing that was food that couldn't be measured out as a portion.

Bumping it up to 3x a week on rides, with saturdays being big days with 3000 to 4000 foot climbs in 5 or 6 months got me down to about 215 pounds.

In my experience, if you climb up vertical 2,000, 3,000, 4,000 feet on rides, you will burn up the calories, lean out the body and build muscle in the legs.

It's easy in the beginning but getting rid of the last 10 or 15 pounds was hard work for me.

Find someone to ride with regularly, as well as bonus short notice surprise rides. It's a great push /pull system to get a call and someone asks you spur of the moment to go and ride, as well as vice versa. Nothing beats the feeling of the endorphins rushing around in your head after a good climb / ride. You sleep better at night after a good hard ride, and you wake up the next day feeling more energy from the night ride before.

 

Recently getting back into riding after more than a decade off the bike. As much as I could stand to lose more than a few pounds, I'm kinda hoping I don't because replacing all my clothes would be expensive!