fatty needs some help

[legrandefromage]

stoicism - keep going up the hills in what ever feels comfortable. Do it often.
I tried this, it works for me:
Eat a whole green chillie about 20 mins before hand and this'll open up your lungs and pores to help you breath better (but you'll get indigestion!)

I've persevered and slowly going below 14st and getting fitter.

Cut out the choccie, soft drinks but eat well.

I've been asthmatic all my life but cycling helped me not to be unfit & fat

 

[trickle]

forget cycling , try running for a while .

Sick bastard!! but you are spot on.

I was able to drop close to 7kg in aroun 2 months by incorporating running into my usual training. I ran 2.4km twice a day 3 times a week, slow to medium pace.

As has been suggested, build some solid "base" miles for around 6-8 weeks and slowly build on that, extending your rides by around 10% each week or so.

Benchmark yourself over a favourite loop and re test yourself after say 6 weeks. I use my GPS for plotting training rides and work alot off average speed and HR this has proven very valuable in my training.

Oh and on the diet side of things, nothing white (say no to pasta, bread, potato etc) after 1600 works for me.

Good luck with it.

 

[juiceboxx]

getting fat

i would agree that changing your diet has to be done. you can lose weight by changing that with little exercise. unfortunately maybe an enema to get rid of some un-wanted "leftovers" hanging around. don't drink booze. don't eat bleached fake food. once this is accomplished, riding will be much easier as will loosing weight itself. then once you are on a roll, your body will get addicted to exercise and endorphins. sugar will kill you. stay very far away. if your blood is full of toxins, it makes it harder to get quality exercise and you will feel tired when you shouldn't. so keep it clean, and quality not quantity. works for me and others i know, but everyone is different. respect yourself. be careful what you put in to you. cheers

 

[FSR-Si]

Dont worry about fitness just spend as much time in the saddle as you can, Vary your routes so it doesn't get mundane and most important of all have fun, The fitness will then come back automatically. I find listening to music helps when riding as i tend to forget what's happening around me and just pedal to the tunes.
Also as someone above said try a spot of running it will work wonders for your cardio, Myself i was the wrong shape for public running so instead i bought a used treadmill off fleabay and put it in the garage where i cant be seen. I do 3x30 minute sessions per week and i feel fitter now than 20 years ago when i was a squaddie.

I lost 3 stone doing the above in six months, most important thing is to keep a smile on your face and have fun.

I love riding nowadays as i never plan where i'm going, I just ride out the gate and go wherever i want. Infact i love it so much i sulk when i cant ride.

 

[neilll]

Anything with lots of cardio is good, rowing machine is among one of the best, a Turbo Trainer is also great for those days when you don't have time/it's dark/ weather is shit etc.

Cut out all the crap, I love my food but have axed chocolate, soft drinks, biscuits, cake, crisps etc and have switched to very low fat breakfast cereal (Weetabix), not much beer at all (I still drink wine), I drink mainly mineral water...boring as hell but it's good for you. Pick a local ride with a mixture of hills, flat and keep doing it, making a note each time (or buy a computer, use a GPS on your phone), then each week push it a bit more, don't go mad cos you will tear muscles/knacker yourself. After about 6 weeks you will see the difference.

 

[orange71]

forget cycling , try running for a while .

that's what worked for me, along with cutting back on portions - not giving up sweeties etc, just having less of them. I didn't enjoy it, but it worked. I lost 2 1/2 stone in 6 months (15st->12.5st). THEN I started cycling. I would run 2 hours a week and was losing weight. I now have to cycle at least 4 hours a week just to maintain the weight loss. Cycling's crap for losing weight unless you really put the miles in. For me at least.

 

[neilll]

Cycling's crap for losing weight unless you really put the miles in. For me at least.

Ditto :!: :!:

 

[RallyMarshal]

basically i am overweight and not very fit. i am more bothered about fitness than fatness at the minute. i have never been particularly fast uphill, even when i was younger and fitter but my performance uphills now is embarassing to the point where i dont want to ride with others because i'm so slow.

Im in the same position as you (as youd have seen at the Sherwood Pines meet...). Started back last October after a 12 year layoff of virtually all exercise. Weight is coming off slowly but much more importantly to me, my fitness is going up. Back in March, riding to SP, doing the red route and back home literally killed me and put me out of action for the rest of the day. Now I can do it, quicker than then and although the last few miles are a killer, I can recover much more quickly and do other things.

Ive suggested to the other guys that having a slower group for the next Sherwood Pines meet would be a good idea - I will happily guide it if Im quick enough to stay at the front of the slow group!

Paul..

 

[cchris2lou]

forget cycling , try running for a while .

that's what worked for me, along with cutting back on portions - not giving up sweeties etc, just having less of them. I didn't enjoy it, but it worked. I lost 2 1/2 stone in 6 months (15st->12.5st). THEN I started cycling. I would run 2 hours a week and was losing weight. I now have to cycle at least 4 hours a week just to maintain the weight loss. Cycling's crap for losing weight unless you really put the miles in. For me at least.

it is the same for everybody .

a running session of one hour is worth a 3/4 hour ride . with familly i cant go out for that long so running it is at the moment .

and it is a good cardio exercise . I feel a lot fitter on the bike .

 

[Surfr]

I'm in the same boat. I was just over 15 stone (and only about 5'8") after Christmas and had not ridden a bike for basically 12 years+.

Since then I've been getting back on the bikes. I've a turbo trainer which I used in the conservatory at first during the colder darker months. 30 min sessions or 50 if I could really push myself. I used a training DVD to keep me going but there are some free videos here which I'm going to start trying:

http://www.thesufferfest.com/

Then I got out for a few solo mtb rides. I didn't feel that I could ride in a group as I would hold them up dieing at the back or being left behind on every single stretch. I'm lucky enough to live on a trail centre (Nant-yr-Arian). Well it's a couple of miles ride to join onto the Syfydrin (Conti) trail. I did 1 3 hour ride once a week for a few weeks. I felt my hill speed increasing nicely from week ot week. A hill which I would have to stop halfway up in the granny gear I could now clear in a higher gear in one go. These little increases make it all worth it. April came around and I decided to put the road bike to some use. I started timetrialing with the local road club. 10 mile only for now. I've done about 4 this year and I'm getting a PB every time I go out. My aim is to go under 30 minutes this season. Ive joined the local night-ride a couple of times. The first was a beasting over some really rough terrain with borrowed lights and the flood died halfway around. It also took in a slog of a climb 400M unbroken. I had to stop a few times and the group waited for me but I felt guilty for holding them up.
The second time I went it was lighter, I had better lights and the pace was a lot slower. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Now last weekend I testged myself to the max by competing in the Dyfi Enduro. I made it around and I wasn't the slowest rider there but I was right at the back. Me and a mate went around together in 6:15 and took it easy. This was a huge encouragement as it showed me that I can at least compete in these events. Now I just need to get faster.

Plan from here is to start commuting by bike again (8 miles each way with a hill) as soon as the new showers are completed (any day). I did commute for a few weeks but then they shut the showers to upgrade them and this has been ongoing for 2 months.

Basically what works for me is having challenges, milestones and understanding riding mates. I still like solo training rides though when I just want to go at my pace.

I'm now 14 stone 6 lb but my leg muscles are much better. I'm not seeing much weight loss and the fat is just starting to come off around the face.