F**K Me I'm Out Of Shape!

drewfromrisca

I just saw a picture of myself, I can't believe how bad I look. The pounds have crept on and I just look grim in the face!

I know I've had 18 months of injury but christ I've let myself slide.

This has actually given me a kick up the backside to do something and quick.

Anyone else been letting it slide lately? I think I need to set myself a goal/challenge to try kickstart this comeback.

Fastlad

Chuck out all your mirrors and your scales. seriously! Aim to do something aerobic everyday for at least 40 minutes, walk, cycle, swim or light jogging. Just watch those pounds melt away away over 6-8 weeks!! good luck.

OffTheBackAdam

Lately?
Nope, just crept up on me over the past 16 years!

CHRISNOIR

drewfromrisca wrote:

I just saw a picture of myself, I can't believe how bad I look. The pounds have crept on and I just look grim in the face!

I know I've had 18 months of injury but christ I've let myself slide.

This has actually given me a kick up the backside to do something and quick.

Anyone else been letting it slide lately? I think I need to set myself a goal/challenge to try kickstart this comeback.

At least injury is a perfectly valid reason for letting it slide. I went out last night for the first time in around three weeks (due to bad weather and a weeks holiday). I could not believe how bad I felt! It's only a quick 25 mile jaunt but i'm really feeling it this morning.

The idea of a goal or challenge sounds like a good one and I've been thinking along the same lines - at the moment it seems like I'm just pootling around in the vague hope of 'getting better'. Reading the Etape 2009 thread in Sportive is pretty inspiring stuff! Good luck with getting back into it!

TheDrunkMonk

I've always been a little more than I should be (understated) but I saw photos of me struggling up little climbs of the Tour of Exmoor, and I'm officially a "gert fat porker" as we say in these here parts. I reckon 3 stone off should see me right.....

I'll start next week.

bobtbuilder

I've actcually lost 5kg in the last 2 months

I've probably got another 5-7kg to go though

I always seem to pack on the lard over the Winter, so this year I aim to avoid this problem and try and stay at my desired weight.

Crapaud

drewfromrisca wrote:

... I know I've had 18 months of injury but christ I've let myself slide. ...

I've had the best part of 2 1/2 years off of the bike. Long hours at work, and now the credit crunch, put paid to my cycling and cycling plans.

When I did haul my carcass out, I always found it a struggle and never managed to complete the planned route. The local Sunday pootlers were showing me up and pensioners were stronger cyclists than me, FFS! Iknew that I was putting on weight, but only realised how much when I caught my refection in a shop window: I've developed a pot belly!

The turning point was, when posting on the Edinbugh - St Andrews thread, I realised that the newbies had overtaken me in capability. It was time to take some of my own advice.

6 weeks ago I set myself a 30 mile target and my legs blew at 20 miles. I ressurected my old commute as a training route and did the 30 miler once a week. Las week I knocked 25 mins off of the 30 mile time and felt great, This week I finished a 50 miler an hour faster that I expected and still had something left in the tank. The weight's starting to go down.

I'm now contemplating a 160 km out of Dalmeny in mid September.

TL;DR: Get back out on the bike, your fitness'll come back faster than you think.

Shezzer

I recently had the opposite experience. I saw a photo of myself and I look too bloody thin!! I've lost a stone this year but didn't really have much to lose in the first place. Not been dieting but just upped the bike mileage. Been building the mileage to do my first century (miles) ... which I did two weeks ago. Off for a knee op soon so will take the opportunity to gorge on pie while I'm recuperating.

The missus had been telling me for ages I was too thin but you know what married life is like ... "Yes luv"

sloboy

Yeah there's a viscious circle. The worse you feel the less likely you are to go out.

I've entered a 100 mile event in Sept and a few weeks ago was basically going "phut" at about 60 miles. Horrible.

Through it now though by getting out there and an 80-miler tomorrow should be good.

bagpusscp

$hi£ happens.It did to me as well.Lard :oops:

N0bodyOfTheGoat

I was aware that I was developing my "spare tyre" in advance of the winter months, after my daily commute ceased at the end of last month (company liquidation). The scales showed I have gained ~5Kg in just under 4 weeks.

But the thing that really shocked me last night was a resting heart rate of ~90, when it is normally ~60!!! :shock:

This kick-started me into a ~4 mile figure-8 pootle today on the Pylon8, where my heart rate reached 208 on the two seperate ~10% climbs of no more than 150 metres. :?

At 35, I think I might have been slightly out of any training zone at 208bpm, possibly verging on a heart failure... Yet I bizarrely never felt at death's door up the hills, just a bit out of puff...

Crapaud

sloboy wrote:

Yeah there's a viscious circle. The worse you feel the less likely you are to go out. ...

I agree with that.

Everything I planned was based on past glories rather than the reality. I set myself unrealistic goals that I couldn't attain and therefore felt that it was pointless going out just to fail again.

It didn't help that I like to do long rides of 3-4 hours; going out for an hour didn't seem to warrant the hassle of putting my kit on.

It's good to be back!

mercsport

The pounds have crept up on me for ten years or more now to the extent that I must be three stones overweight now . Correspondingly , as the years increase with the weight my average speeds have dipped to an all time low of around 12 to 14 mph on my occasional forays up and down the hills around here ( the Pennines ) . Some of which ,I've noticed , I'm wheezing up them at 5 mph !

Strangely , ( on a whim ) last year I got it into my head to have a bash at LEJOG and managed to maintain an average of over 100 miles a day fully panniered . The fact that my spirit gave up in the horizontal rain and gale force wind just short of Shap had little to do with my fleshy excess I think . I was just not enjoying it .

bob1965

Been there still there, I had my toe nail taken off bout 9wks ago and was recomended to keep my foot up to rest and not to wear traiers which I did. 2 days ago I went out for first time this year last 3 miles was hell, Got a goal now of going out 2-3 times a week got turbo and will use it now, Diet very important, Remember just like my toe it all takes TIME