Very overweight - where can i start?

andyturner28

Well done Tyaxnoob, you'v taken the first steps, and i guarentee by the end of the summer you will be well and truly hooked. As i have said before, don't take any notice of what the immature stupid f****rs say, i have put up with that crap all my life, but i was stupid enough to let it get to me and i am still suffering for it now despite loosing loads of weight.

You'r doing the right thing so far by taking it easy to start with, but as the weather impruves i would advise that you try and ride feather and further each time, otherwise the weight loss will be less noticeable. I started out just riding the mile to work and back every day, which killed me at first, but then i built it up to 5, 10, 15 and 20 miles over the next 5 months or so, and i still can't beleave the amount of weight i lost in such a short space of time. As long as you have the willpower to force yourself out on the bike even when it is the last thing you feel like doing, the weight will fall off in no time. From my expearience it is THE best way of getting in shape, and once you start getting into riding off road, a whole lot of fun!

Good luck mate, and hope you keep it up,

Andy.

P.S. Hope you don't get QUITE as hooked as me, and end up spending nearly £2000 on upgrades to a secondhand £205 bike :shock:

snooks

andyturner28 wrote:

P.S. Hope you don't get QUITE as hooked as me, and end up spending nearly £2000 on upgrades to a secondhand £205 bike :shock:

Yeah, but think how much you would have spent going to the gym...or think how much you saved not going to the gym....now it's payback time :0)
.

Rykard

Glad to see this thread is still trundling on. Anyone know what happened to Dave?

I was off the bike over Christmas, but got back on last week. Damn it got hard towards the end of the week. If the weather stays suitable I will hopefully be back on it for the rest of the year now..

keep up the good work everyone..

ratty2k

Glad to see this thread still going, allbeit slower than it was
Have to report no weight loss, been stuck at 17st for a while now. But have increased the daily milage to 18 and could/ will make it 24 miles a day. Just needs to be a wee bit warmer than it is currently! So with the increase in miles hopefully the weight should come down..... mind you I need to eat a bit more sensibly as well.......
I too hope that all that have posted are still doing well, and that this thread picks up a bit more and proves to be inspiration for more people to get out on a bike.

beccalily

I used to weigh 19 stone and be a size 22.

I lost 5 stone in about 6 months when I split up with my ex.

I've lost a stone and a half since xmas aswell.

I go the the gym everyday and ride a couple of times a week and just eat sensibly. 8)

I'm a size 14 at the moment. Want to get down to a ten.

8)

SBezza

I was 18 stone at the end of October last year, decided I had enough of being obese, and decided to sort out my eating, and start exercising more.

I got to the gym most days, and ride at weekends, I would love to ride to work each day, but I have to take my little lad home each night, so bike is out of the question.

I am now currently 15 1/2 stone, and the weight will continue to come off as long as I eat sensibly and keep exercising. It is the eating sensibly that people don't do half the time, and drink lots of water, I drink about 4 to 5 litres a day during the week.

One thing that has changed is my fitness, struggled to do any sort of mileage at first, now doing 30+ miles when I go out at the weekend on the bike.

lost-time

beccalily wrote:

I used to weigh 19 stone and be a size 22.

I lost 5 stone in about 6 months when I split up with my ex.

I've lost a stone and a half since xmas aswell.

I go the the gym everyday and ride a couple of times a week and just eat sensibly. 8)

I'm a size 14 at the moment. Want to get down to a ten.

8)

Blimey...thats quite a feat. Don't go losing too much though as a few curves are just fantastic!

I've not lost much since xmas but my clothes are baggier since then so I guess I'm toning up. The way I've looked at my weight loss is: Fitness first, the weight can wait. In other words my aim is to get fitter and a by product of that is losing the excess weight.

Keep up the good work one and all.

andyturner28

lost-time wrote:

beccalily wrote:

I used to weigh 19 stone and be a size 22.

I lost 5 stone in about 6 months when I split up with my ex.

I've lost a stone and a half since xmas aswell.

I go the the gym everyday and ride a couple of times a week and just eat sensibly. 8)

I'm a size 14 at the moment. Want to get down to a ten.

8)

Blimey...thats quite a feat. Don't go losing too much though as a few curves are just fantastic!

I've not lost much since xmas but my clothes are baggier since then so I guess I'm toning up. The way I've looked at my weight loss is: Fitness first, the weight can wait. In other words my aim is to get fitter and a by product of that is losing the excess weight.

Keep up the good work one and all.

Same here. My weight has been the same for yonks but i have lost another 2 inches round the weist since September. 5 stone in 6 months is bloody good going though, well done! Don't concentrate too hard on the actual weight loss though. I have stopped bothering to weigh myself as it has become a bit irrelevent with the amount of muscle groath due to the cycling.

Andy.

CraigXXL

I have only just come across this thread today and enjoyed reading all your stories and motivations. Weight gain is something that creeps on all of us and a side effect of this too busy to exercise and eat right but still have more than enough time to sit in front of the TV for hours on end.

I too have just got back into MTBing and I am also very overweight. I have always been heavy at around 15 stone at 6 feet tall but I was also active, I used to run around 25 miles a week, played rugby, loved cycling as well as the usual physical training we had to do (ex-army). Weight gradually crept up as exercise did the reverse as I concentrated on my new career. Then just over 4 years ago I got Biliary Colic (Gall Stones) and a simple key hole surgery operation went badly wrong. 4 operations later all within the same week culminating in nearly bleeding to death and needing 8 pints of blood after the surgeon nicked my abdominal aorta I was in a bad state of health. My strength had gone and with it my confidence. Just as I stupidly thought my strength was returning after about 6 months I tried lifting something and felt a strange tearing sensation and realised that my stomach muscle that had been cut open from sternum to groin during surgery had ripped apart. A week later I had an incisional hernia that was slightly larger than half a football. The hernia was repaired after much arguing and legal threats as it wasn't classed as an emergency! This was all resolved nearly 2 1/2 years ago but lack of activity, self pity and pure glutney and my weight had ballooned to 22 1/2 stones.

Just before Christmas after a session of soul searching I decided to turn my life around and enjoy all the things that I used to and which all revolved around my fitness and the one thing that I enjoyed more than anything was cycling so I bought myself a GT Avalanche 1.0.

First thing that hit me was how much bikes had moved on since I had last had one as the new bike was so responsive compared to my previous bikes, so much that I nearly came off at the first junction as I thought about turning and the bike had done so already.

Second was just how unfit I had become, lungs bursting, legs burnings, stomach aching and arse killing after only doing a few miles. I realised that this isn't going to be any quick fix and needed more careful planning. Decided on proper food diet, no prepared foods - if I can't cook it from a recipe then I can't have it, no eating after 8pm and no snacking. The cycling would take of it's self as I am very competitive even with myself always having to better my last time or distance.

Since getting the bike my weight is down to 20st 9lb. My usual route along the Leeds/ Liverpool canal improving with each ride. I couldn't get up any of the ramps next to the locks to begin with and now love the challenge of each one that I meet on my route. My distance has gone from a couple of miles and now I am reaching Saltaire and back to Leeds a distance of 29 miles in around 3 1/2 hours.

My aim or challange is to complete the whole of the canal a distance of around 127 miles by the time my fitness has improved to complete this task I should hope to be back down to around 15 stones. Some of you may think I am a little ambitious but I have previously walked Whitley Bay to Gretna Green in less than 24 hours.

I wish you all luck in reaching your goals and just remember that the only person who can stop you doing it.... is you!

p.s. Anyone fancy meeting up along the Leeds/Liverpool canal drop me a PM.

lost-time

Welcome abord Craig. It's funny how so many ppl seem to have a 'break' from cycling then suddenly get back into it, myself included.

Keep it up. There's great satisfaction feeling old clothes get looser and that hill get easier.

All the best.

beccalily

Ive lost another 5lbs in the last two weeks. 8)

CraigXXL

Lost Time - Thanks for the welcome

Beccalily - Great weight loss, nice curves and I love your tats.

beccalily

CraigXXL wrote:

Lost Time - Thanks for the welcome

Beccalily - Great weight loss, nice curves and I love your tats.

Thank you.

lost-time

beccalily wrote:

Ive lost another 5lbs in the last two weeks. 8)

Strewth girl! Don't be disheartened when you plateau due to you gaining more muscle as you ride more and loose some of the fat.

Just watch you clothes become baggier and your figure more toned.

Great tats by the way. Addictive though aren't they.

beccalily

Yeah they are addictive! Haha... I fancy another one but I dont know what so I'm going to wait till I do know what!

I did 40km on the bike at the gym tonight!

Yeah I've nearly lost 6 dress sizes! Size 10 jeans here I come! 8)

TheBoyBilly

Hello Dave, I have been reading this post as it is so similar to the position I am in. I am in the same job as you (actually you know my other half, Dawn, from dealings with the union) and, as you know our job isn't very good for keeping in shape, and I too have decided, as well as joining a gym, to include cycling in my lifestyle. It's been a couple of months now and, with a much better diet (and laying off the ale) I feel much better for it. I joined a gym a couple of years ago (packed in the fags 3 years ago) to get the weight down for my 30th Birthday medical but once I'd passed that I lost a bit of interest and put the pounds back on. This time though there'll be no silly targets. I haven't even weighed myself, hoping to get a feel for how I'm doing by how many holes on my belt I no longer need when dressing and how easier I find it just doing ordinary things like walking about. You haven't posted for a while mate, I hope everything is okay and you are well on the way to being "skinny".
All the best,

Bill

muddymart

hi all im back again, after a year , been in hospital, and want to start a fresh year with lots of biking involved !!! well i have to get fit ....
just bought a nice claud-butler, well it will do for me, and if anyone fancies a nice steady ride on the tpt,leeds-wakefield now and again,drop me a message...

martin.

andyonwight

I am a newcomer who fits this thread quite well. (6ft and 19st even though most people think I am lighter)

Want to lose a bit of weight and increase general fitness. I live about 1.5 miles from work and I started last week cycling to work by going a slightly longer route to make the distance 3 miles in the morning and 4.5miles in the evening. Doing it 4 or 5 times a week and hoping by the end of the month to be able to cycle up all the hills without stopping.

Just going to take things slowly and hope that during the summer to do some longer routes around the countryside on the Isle of Wight where I live.

Going to be checking out the local bike shops and get their advice on a more suitable bike for the rougher terrain of the local bridleways etc.

CraigXXL

Hello Andy, like the rest of us in this thread you've recognised the problem and now trying to fix it. As you know it won't happen overnight but stick with and give yourself incentives for each stage reached and enjoy the cycling for what it is.

Good luck.

andyonwight

Craig,

The route to work has an steady incline which is about halfway to work, the object is to get up it without getting off at the moment. So far I can get about halfway up, then get off and walk the rest which gives me time to recover a bit then carry on to work. There are 10 lampposts on it and I am trying to reach number 6 (getting off between 5 and 6).

I do not each much rubbish as I make up soups/stews/curries for work (chinese takeaway containers ideal size for 1) but its the sitting down for 8hrs at a desk that have done me.

So I have a few goals to reach.
1, Get fitter in general, ready for badminton winter season
2, Cycle at least 10-15miles daily by summer.
3, Lose at least 4st (aiming 2lbs a week) for Christmas.

CraigXXL

Steady progress is what it is all about. I know what you mean about the desk job not great for fitness.

tyax

Hi Andy,

I know what you mean, both about hills and about desk jobs - I have a desk job and suck at hills

I've found a daily half hour walk at work is making a huge difference, if you can manage it I'd recommend it. It's even worth walking thru your lunchbreak and having a "working lunch" if your employer is sympathetic. And this way for me, the cycling at the weekend become something to enjoy, as it's not more boring walking!

I until recently had an 8 mile round trip that has a few slopes (I can't call them hills!) and for the first few tries I was always getting off to push. Now I've got a little strength in my legs I find these far easier, and today I extended my ride out to 15 miles and didn't push once, apart from when I got lost and ended up in a muddy field! My thighs are slightly sore this evening, but I hope this will fade as I get used to the longer runs I even happened to be in the Glentress area of the Borders today (without bike), took a run into the carpark and spotted a few guys my size, so maybe the offroad stuff isn't as far away as I'd imagined 8)

Anyway, please keep us up to date with your progress, this thread's what got me started and I sincerely hope it isn't allowed to die!

milkywhite

Where's Dave gone then? Haven't seen him post in ages.

Beccalily - Great weight loss, nice curves and I love your tats.

Did anybody else misread that the first time? No? Just me?

I'll get my coat.

woodywmb

Yes, WHERE is Dave Piggott? Could it be that he's lost a load of weight and moved on? Or given up? Hope not. C'mon Dave, we know you're there somewhere.

mtb_addict

I posted a little while ago here, having just got into mountain biking. Had quite a bit of success, and lost over a stone in weight....then had a busy period at work (work in finance so can be quite pressured) and Christmas came and went and I hadn't been out on the bike for a couple of months...the result I put on half the weight I'd lost!

I then had a few health issues and generally had a pretty crap first few months this year.

But I dusted myself off and, motivated by the posts here and a renewed desire to get fit and make the most of my life, I've once again started riding, this time with increased motivation.

I've been training hard in the gym (most nights of the week) and getting some rides in during the nice evenings (few and far between recently) and weekends.

I've now lost half a stone and I'm feeling much fitter and generally better about myself. I also did a 30 mile loop on the weekend and surprisingly was still able to walk the next day!

I'm determined to keep this going and summer is just around the corner, so I'm looking forward to more long rides

Rob

tyax

Glad to see this is still going, but wish Dave would reappear! Does anyone know how to get in touch with him? :?:

I managed 30 miles this weekend which I'm very chuffed with, 1x10 mile ride and 1x20 mile ride, plus I've bought myself a lock so I've no excuse not to cycle to the shops! Thighs are a wee bit sore today but not so much that I couldn't go for a 1.5 mile walk at lunchtime.

Still not weighed myself since Xmas but all my clothes are now too big for me bought jeans 2 inches smaller and they're still slightly too big 8)

Now looking at doing a 50 mile charity ride later in the year, and myu confidence is starting to grow that I can manage it, so here's hoping

CraigXXL

Good on yer and keep it up. Unfortunately my progress has been going the other way but was out today with the wife and done 21 miles which we really enjoyed although I ache now but will still try and get out again this weekend. Gluten for punishment!

babated

newbie alert.....

If I have posted in the wrong place, can someone move me to the right place lol.

I'm thinking of getting a bike via work with the Cycle to Work Scheme.

Can anyone recommend a bike to a 22 stone woman? :shock:

CraigXXL

Are you wanting a mountain bike or a commuting style bike. The latter has bigger wheels so little easier to get speed up on but you can fit slick type tyres on a MTB. The commuting style of bike will also be more of an upright position.

Commuting style bike

http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=86887

or MTB

http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=86053

I would suggest going to you LBS (local bike shop) to try some out every manufacturer makes their bikes slightly different so one make will be more comfortable than others. It is worth spending the extra for the bike you want as it will cost you more to change in the future. If you find a bike that is almost right for you but don't like the saddle don't afraid to ask them to change it for one that you do like.

At 22st you shouldn't have a problem with the frame strength on the popular brands, I was well over 20st when I got my bike and the only thing that is wearing faster is the drive chain which is common to all bikes.

Good luck and stick with it

Rykard

Where do you live? People may be able to recommend specific shops in that area.