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The Men Who Made Us Fat
That winter I installed the 144 kit and waited anxiously for spring. Best thing I ever did! As a 6'7 315lb very out of shape guy I could do anything on this bike that I could ever do 10 years ago when I was in race shape riding 250s. The bike may not have been happy about it but it never complained!
I've since dropped another 40lbs and have another 50 to meet my target weight. I attribute much of it to buying a 125 and using it as motivation. This morning I clocked in at 278lbs, down 100lbs from my heaviest 3.5yrs ago and I never thought I'd feel this good again. When it finally sunk in how far I'd let myself go it was really scary, I knew I had hit rock bottom and had to decide what I wanted the rest of my life to be like.
The Shop
If you have ever read those little charts that will say for instance " to burn off one slice of cheese pizza you must jog at 60% of your max heartrate for an hour" what you will realize, is that even if you are unemployed w/ no children and have all day to exercise, that you have no chance of burning off say a single fast food meal thru exercise.
If you drink a soda per day, maybe a pastry, or say a cheeseburger that is just not something the average human being can burn off every day.
So what I'm telling you for an absolute fact is that being slender is like 80% diet and 20% exercise. Now exercise has many other healthy benefits but if you have an excess of calories and can't maintain your weight it can only offer assistance, not cure this condition.
I am proof of this. Until about 2 months ago, besides MXing every other week or so (decent speed but oh so out of shape) I had not worked out in a solid 2 years. I use to be an animal before and was ripped but then I broke my back, my wife had a baby, and work got really busy again. But you know what, I didn't gain but 2-3 pounds because I never stopped eating healthy.
2 months ago I bought a mountain bike and I can not recommend this enough for overall physical conditioning, entertainment, and MX skill building.
the stationary bike makes my life easier as i dont have to go out and find time to go to the gym, i just get what i need done when i get home from work, hop on the bike for 45-60 mins, shower up and continue with what i need to do.
so to answer your question, yes, i owe being a little bit healthier to MX, not because of actual ride time, but because i bought the stationary bike with the whole purpose on being to improve my cardio to be able to progress on the track.
i noticed that doing 3 laps at a time doesnt let you progress. right when youre starting to get into a groove, youre winded. when you can ride for 30 mins at a time at your "race" pace, you can actually concentrate on making improvements on the track vs just trying to hang on to the damn thing
The First Picture is me in January, The second is last week at FPT motocross in Columbus, NC
I wouldn't look at an MTB under $1K. Maybe $1.5K with full suspension.
Strava rocks. You can search my real name on there to find me.
I get in better shape during the off-season. Driving through the summer (and getting bored and snacking while driving around the country) doesn't help.
I mostly road ride (usually at lunch), but try to supplement that with MTB rides, and also time in the gym.
This season I'm also trying a couple other things. Carbs are the devil for me. I'm trying to minimize them. Also, I'm about a week in on a salad-per-day meal replacement program. The third item is to try and ditch Diet Coke from my diet.
Currently at 225, and seeing how low I can go.
Look up "Walden Farms" they make salad dressings that are 0 cal 0 fat quite tasty good coverage and lots of flavors.
As for the Diet coke what got myself off of them was ending up in the ER due to the pain of passing kidney stones.
Water and flavored waters are my choice now.
I would recommend incorporating this into your routine 3 times a week. You can jump rope between sets, for half an hr straight, or just as a warm up. It will help you with balance, help shed weight and strengthen your core.
I started jumping rope between sets lifting earlier this summer. It definitely builds up the cardio, and it's a good way to keep up a certain intensity instead of just sitting there.
Also weights and mtb. Eat smaller portions.
35, 6' 2, 177lbs. When I started riding last fall after a 10 year break, I was 205lbs. My only vise in my fitness is beer!
Great post, I love seeing people stop the bullshit and get busy living and not being a lazy fatty. Congrats on all the stories, good stuff.
I'd suggest staying away from anything fully suspended in the price range he is looking. The Cannondale Trail 5 29er's MSRP is $780 and you can probably find them cheaper in a shop. The SL series is where the Cannondale Trail starts getting better. The 4's MSRP is $1,000. GuyB's price range is a little more in the ball park. However, the more you pay generally speaking, you're getting your money's worth. Most of the bike manufacturers have comparable components in each price range. So it's mainly about finding a bike that you're comfortable on.
I rode yesterday for the first time in a few months and holy cow was it brutal! 3 or 4 laps and the 30 min. break.....not to mention it was hot as hell~
Here are a few pics of me riding Elsinore during my annual riding trip to socal in Feb. to ride and catch the San Diego SX.
This is a great thread with lots of good advice and stories, very inspirational.
Still a "fattie" according to someone like Doctor Oz (that's why I hate him lol). 250, but it's not all fat.
Was in incredible shape at one time of my life from playing hockey. Sick of playing, got into officiating so I possibly don't have the big one lifting my 525 out of a mudhole. So dirtbiking helped, I get my exercise and make a few bikes for boat gas money.
I was 220 at 24, 185 at 25 (crash diet, worked well) 248 at 32, 218 today (34). I can't spell exercise and the only thing that has changed is my eating habits. Getting older, I can't drop weight as easily. I'm still working my way to 200.
When you diet and you lose a lot of weight, the calories you can tolerate is seriously compromised , you have to reverse diet, slowly start adding calories back in
Let your metabolism adapt over time to the increase in calories
Congrats to all on the weight loss
I'm 265-270 and race off-road, mostly enduro, and have been winning my class Vet B all year. The last race I overalled the B class against guys that weigh 100 pounds less than me. I'm working on dropping weight but have always been a big guy. Six years ago I was down to 215 after having my jaw wired shut for 12 weeks. I feel much better around 230 it with two kids under the age of two its been tough to ride a lot, bicycle or KTM.
Keep up the good fight guys, I'm doing my best on my end!
Pit Row
I am little over 6' and 270. I was 195 when I was 24. I would like to get back to about 215.
Mountain bike + Strava = motivation and visual results tracking.
I also road bike. It's a good way to rack up miles. Just learn how to minimize risk. Avoid busy highways, ride early on weekends when not many cars are on the roads, etc. Road biking is good because it's less wear and tear and less maintenance on your mountain bike (moving parts don't like dirt) and you can always leave right from the house.. no loading up to drive somewhere to ride which gives you one less reason to make an excuse not to ride.
Dr Layne Norton teaches people how to lose fat for a living
You can find more of his knowledge on biolayne.com
Cut the bread, sodas, dairy. Your body doesn't need it, your metabolism will kick into another gear in a hurry if you try this.
You could get into excellent shape but without diet changes the weight loss will be extremely slow.
Since you have a bike, just ride it as much as you can and enjoy it!
Two comments:
1. I agree with others who've said exercise plays a VERY small role in weight loss. You need to stop putting stuff in your mouth. As previously stated by someone else the amount of exercise needed to burn calories offers little return. I'm NOT saying exercise is bad but it's not the key. I didn't change my activity level at all.
2. I lost it by eating a max of 800 calories a day. I didn't cheat for the duration of the time with even a piece of popcorn or a piece of candy. My diet consisted of a banana for breakfast, a prepared frozen Healthy Choice brand meal sold at all grocery stores with less than 350 each and for dinner a lettuce/tomato, cucumber/onion salad with low calorie yogurt dressing. I drank NOTHING with calories. Just black coffee, diet soda and lots of water.
A good number of people who hadn't seen me during the weight loss initiative have stated they didn't recognize me in my gear with helmet on. Only when I took my helmet off did they realize it was me. They thought I had sold my bike with #60 plates on it to someone else.
I feel great and my riding has improved significantly. Able to stand where I should be standing and save potential crashes that would have occurred at the higher weight.
Now the challenge is to keep it off. I posted a calender above my scale and weigh myself and record the weight daily. I've set a threshold of 5 pounds at which point I will initiate efforts to lose it. I am also going to change my eating habits going forward to greatly reduce what was my typical, daily caloric intake. Below are a couple of pics after the wight loss. Don't have any prior as I didn't like pictures of myself......
Rick
Just avoid processed shit, like the someone above said, only things that grow from the ground or had a face. Get a juicer and juice yourself veggies and fruits a few times a day. You'll have crazy energy and get good nutrients that way. Cook fish, veggies, tofu, beans, there's endless healthy shit you can make for yourself. Counting calories but getting grocery store food is a bad combo.
A friend had some recent success with Herbalife products. Raved about how much better he felt, slept better, and lost weight. I checked it out online, seemed that the products were overall rated well (a bit pricey) but the big "knock" seemed to be that it was a MLM based marketing program.
The wife and I both gave it a shot a little over 2 months ago, got set-up with the protein shakes, snack bars, and vitamins. First thing I found was the shakes actually were tasty, and you could mix up flavors with other fruits to make dozens of different combos. They are loaded with protein and vitamins, but only about 200 calories. They snack bars are ok, but I really like the "cool-aid" beverage mix, really tastes like cool-aid but again low calories and high protein.
Basically just a shake morning and afternoon, with a healthy snacks every few hours in between (protein bars, cool-aid, almonds) but my favorite has become the "light and fit" brand greek yogurt. Shit is delicious and only 80 calories loaded with protein. No red meat, and eat a healthy dinner (chicken or fish).
Since your body is loaded with protein, I did not get hungry and it was pretty easy to stay with the program.
Lost 7 pounds the first week, now down about 25 pounds in 2 months (190 to 165). Not spamming for Herbalife, there are similar other diet programs that are protein based shakes.
After a while, your thinking towards eating healthier just becomes natural and I find it pretty easy to avoid the junk food. Even at restaurants they almost always have some low calorie options on the menu. Like others have said, just changing your mindset towards what you eat and being smarter about what you shove in your face. Your body and your dirt bike will thank you.
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