I'm back

[mk10108]

I haven't posted for awhile.....cause I was in VERY bad shape ...290 lbs. quit working on the camper and started exercising.....lost 45 lbs and can say, quite honestly, I feel SO much better. It all started when I walked across the living room and started to auger into the floor. Took a quick knee, re-oriented and asked, what the hell just happened. A few test later, the verdict came back....The doctors said your carbohydrates and sugars are higher than normal and a slight elevation in your liver numbers, blood pressure was 150 over 95......translation....your a FAT bag of trash. Normally I live life with out a plan but this deserved my full attention.

I sell packaging equipment so I started looking at weight loss, products and methods, through the sales lens and can relay EVERY weight loss product....book, prepared meal, equipment, supplement or medical operations are designed to separate you from your wallet. The volumes of meaningless information along with partial truths is the common theme in the 11 billion dollar weight loss industry.

Name a weight loss program and I'll expose the truth of why it won't work. Every product sold on TV has the disclaimer "Results not typical".
So how did I lose the weight. It can all be boiled down to 1 pound of fat = 3500 calories. get your mind around that number and sustainable weight loss is achievable.

I loss 45 lbs....that equals 157,500 calories I had stored on my body. 400 years ago that would be fine because it was feast or famine. Think about this. If your body MUST have 1500-1700 calories a day just to survive, I could go 105 days without food. I wouldn't be happy about it, but with water, could hold out just long enough for the crops to come in.

So how to get this excess stored energy off the bod. You could walk and burn 300 calories an hour, running burns a bit more but the real champion, low impact calorie burner is an 100 year old invention called a....bicycle. Depending on weight, speed and distance you can burn over 1000 calories an hour.

My first ride was one hour, rode ten miles at 8.3 miles per hour. Six months later I regularly ride 25-35 miles, averaging 15-16 miles per hour. My weight loss has stopped because I now take on more food to keep the energy levels up. If I go back to the 10 -20 mile rides every day the weight will continue to drop.

Two things you MUST do achieve weight loss. First...sustained exercise every day. Make a goal of burning 1000 calories per day. Many ways to achieve this but the most efficient, least painful is riding a bike. Second and VERY important is to control calorie creep. Know the large Starbuck's frapachino is 600 plus calories. Have two a day, eat regular meals and you'll need to ride a couple of hours to burn it off.

No need to hand over your money to a prepared meal processor. Just lower the volume of food you eat, you'll be surprised how little food you need on a daily basis.

Well I jabbered a little to much...I'll get back to building.

[mandy]

Congrats Glad your back and fitter than ever.

[Cliffmeister2000]

That's cool, MK! Congratulations!

I too, ride a bike to keep my weight down, but never heard the 1,000 calories an hour claim. 500 calories per hour is the number I use in my calulations. My wife and I did a couple centuries years ago. Good endorphine rush as an added bonus!

We don't ride like we used to. try to get 20 miles in whne we do. Arizona isn't as bike friendly as California was. But we still love to ride, and the health benefits are enormous!

[Miriam C.]

Welcome back MK! Love the story! I have always heard that muscle weighs more than fat. There comes a point where you need to measure and not weigh! Now you can go up to the exercise thread and keep the rest of us motivated.

[Eunice]

great job. welcome back. very inspiring story.

[BILLYL]

Way to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm doing the same! Started out a little more in tonnage - but the bike and getting off my a$$ is doing what it is suppose to do. Luv the energy

Great - keep it up

You da man......

Bill

[mk10108]

That's cool, MK! Congratulations!

I too, ride a bike to keep my weight down, but never heard the 1,000 calories an hour claim. 500 calories per hour is the number I use in my calulations. My wife and I did a couple centuries years ago. Good endorphine rush as an added bonus!

We don't ride like we used to. try to get 20 miles in whne we do. Arizona isn't as bike friendly as California was. But we still love to ride, and the health benefits are enormous!

Its good to hear others use bikes for exercise and as you say, the benefits are enormous.

I should rephrase. The goal should be to burn 1000 calories a day. I can burn 1000 per hour but it takes GREAT effort and when your done...your spent.

Yesterday I burned 886 calories in one hour in 8 minutes. Averaging 16 miles per hour on a mixed flat land and hill on a 18.3 mile ride.

One gadget I use is a iSport by iBike. When properly calibrated it measures power output. Most power meters cost 1000 dollars or more, this was under 200. In addition it has a fit test program and develops ride profiles for fat, cardio, or strength. It makes you push a little harder each ride.

Weight reduction on a bike is best achieved riding at a moderate 10-13 miles per hour, 1 -2 hours per day...5-6 days per week. And the best part is you do not have to do all on one trip. 6 miles to the coffee shop and take a break. Skip the lattes and fraps and order coffee black. 35 calories vs. 300 -600. Or if you have to have the java chip, go small and sip verse gobble. Continue your trip and incorporate a stop at the grocery.

Its not a green thing or save the planet; I still have my SUV. But incorporating trips via bike instead of driving creeps up the exercise level and before you know it, pounds drop and you feel better.

My wife is not sure what to make of me riding. Although I'm gone when I return, the energy levels are up and I'm washing the dishes and because my riding clothes are dirty, I'm doing the laundry.