fitness plans?

Ride more. Eat more good stuff. Ride to eat. Eat to ride!

"beau" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...
| My wife and I are looking for a training schedule to help with weight loss and general fitness.
| Any suggestions?

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Ride more. Eat more good stuff. Ride to eat. Eat to ride!

"beau" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...
| My wife and I are looking for a training schedule to help with weight loss and general fitness.
| Any suggestions?

Here's what I do:

1. Eat the same stuff you always do, but less of it: When you get pizza, stop at two pieces
instead of three or four; when you go to Burger King, get just the sandwich and a small soda
instead of the value meal, etc. Maybe switch to diet soda if you find yourself unable to cut
back on the volume.

2. Ride more. Even if you can only get out for half an hour, it's a lot better than sitting in
front of the tube for that half-hour. For a short ride like that, I often don't even bother
putting on the bike clothes.

WFM, but the food part takes just a bit of will power, so YMMV. For me, riding more doesn't take any
will power at all; I can't wait to get out on the road.

--
Dave Kerber Fight spam: remove the ns_ from the return address before replying!

REAL programmers write self-modifying code.

Thanks for the input. Should we ride every day or take breaks?

David Kerber ns_dkerber@ns_ids.net said:

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Ride more. Eat more good stuff. Ride to eat. Eat to ride!

"beau" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...
| My wife and I are looking for a training schedule to help with weight loss and general fitness.
| Any suggestions?

Here's what I do:

1. Eat the same stuff you always do, but less of it: When you get pizza, stop at two pieces
instead of three or four; when you go to Burger King, get just the sandwich and a small soda
instead of the value meal, etc. Maybe switch to diet soda if you find yourself unable to cut
back on the volume.

2. Ride more. Even if you can only get out for half an hour, it's a lot better than sitting in
front of the tube for that half-hour. For a short ride like that, I often don't even bother
putting on the bike clothes.

WFM, but the food part takes just a bit of will power, so YMMV. For me, riding more doesn't take
any will power at all; I can't wait to get out on the road.

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Thanks for the input. Should we ride every day or take breaks?

That really depends on how hard you're riding, and what your fitness goals are. If you're training
hard (like for a race), you will need days off occasionally to allow your body to recover; there are
lots of books out there which can go into much more detail on this. If you just ride for fun and to
see the sights, then ride as often as you feel like whether that's every day, or only a couple of
times per week.

I would not recommend _forcing_ yourself to ride, because then it becomes less like fun and more
like work, and you aren't as likely to stick with it over the long term. Personally, I find that
some weeks I ride 5 or 6 days, and others I only feel like going out 2 or 3 days, so that's what I
do. The main point is to do it in a way you enjoy, so you'll keep at it, and want to go out and get
the exercise. Even if you only go out once or twice a week, you're way ahead of 95% of the rest of
the couch potatoes in this country.

As you go along, you'll find a pattern that works for you with respect to how fast you ride, how
fast your body recovers, and how frequently you feel like riding.

Good luck, and welcome to the club! If you have any other questions about cycling-related stuff,
people here are glad to answer. Just don't ask about helmets <Grin>.

Quoted message said:

David Kerber ns_dkerber@ns_ids.net said:

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Ride more. Eat more good stuff. Ride to eat. Eat to ride!

"beau" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...
| My wife and I are looking for a training schedule to help with weight loss and general
| fitness. Any suggestions?

Here's what I do:

1. Eat the same stuff you always do, but less of it: When you get pizza, stop at two pieces
instead of three or four; when you go to Burger King, get just the sandwich and a small soda
instead of the value meal, etc. Maybe switch to diet soda if you find yourself unable to cut
back on the volume.

2. Ride more. Even if you can only get out for half an hour, it's a lot better than sitting in
front of the tube for that half-hour. For a short ride like that, I often don't even bother
putting on the bike clothes.

WFM, but the food part takes just a bit of will power, so YMMV. For me, riding more doesn't take
any will power at all; I can't wait to get out on the road.

--
Dave Kerber Fight spam: remove the ns_ from the return address before replying!

REAL programmers write self-modifying code.

beau <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

My wife and I are looking for a training schedule to help with weight loss and general fitness.
Any suggestions?

I would suggest checking out the book "8 minutes in the morning". This book is a great book for
general fitness and weight control. Essentially the book recommends light weight lifting, a common
since diet, and some type of cardiovascular exercise. The idea is weight lifting will make your
muscles leaner and thus burn more calories even when not working out. The diet is nothing radical,
just portion control more or less. And I found the cardiovascular to be the most important thing,
biking of course was my favorite but I also walk about 30 minutes daily. I lost about 90 pounds over
the past year and a half doing this.

Dan.

bo said:

Thanks for the input. Should we ride every day or take breaks?

Ride as often as you like. At first it might only be one or two days a week. Later you could be
doing four or five days a week. Just make sure you have at least one rest day a week. Since
bicycling is easy on the joints and muscles for the most part, the results of overdoing it are more
likely to be exhaustion and increased naps/sleeping rather than anything more dramatic.

Of course, now three days in a row without cycling is more prone to cause problems. It's an
addiction!

😉

--
Dane Jackson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g "Ride a bike, ride a bike, ride a bike."
- Fausto Coppi

In article said:

My wife and I are looking for a training schedule to help with weight loss and general fitness. Any
suggestions?

Ride as frequently as possible, preferably 3-4 days a week when you're starting out. Go easy and
do short workouts at low intensity while you acclimate to your equipment and the exercise.
Increase riding time in small increments from week to week. Riding 2 days a week is still
worthwhile, but 1 day a week is generally not enough to gain fitness or make a dent in your
caloric intake. In the first few months you will gain a lot of fitness, after that you will need
to learn more to get faster.

Learning to use a heart rate monitor can help you keep your intensity low enough. A basic heart rate
monitor is sufficient, fancy ones are usually a waste. Talk to your doctor about a target heart rate
for exercise. The HRM will show you when you have achieved it.

I also recommend Joe Friel's book "Cycling Past 50" as a good guide for recreational cyclists of any
age who are more interested in fitness than racing or testing the limits of sacrifice. It is a good
simplified version of his Training Bible book.

amazon.com102 1784878Open ↗
4389762?v=glance&s=books

If you are actually over 50 then I would also suggest doing some work with weights as necessary to
good cycling performance. Younger people can often get away with skimping on weights, most older
beginning riders I have known who are not fit benefit a lot from some strength training in addition
to time on the bike especially for riding hills.

And if you find cycling painful or uncomfortable, get some assistance with bike fit. Ask a local
bike club or coach where you can find a person with fitting experience. Pay them to help you get
comfortable on the bike.

--Paul

I am 64 yo, and have used the "Body for Life" program by Bill Phillips successfully.

The fitness test at my local gym shows my "fitness age" as 40 yo.

In the past I have biked about 3,500 miles per year, but I am aiming for 5,000 miles this year
(already have 480 miles this year), and do a fair amount of weight lifting/resistance training,
which is ABSOLUTELY VITAL as you age, especially if you bike a lot, because biking is favorable to
the development of osteoporosis, and muscles atrophy with age.

The eating plan is simple and makes sense to me. No radical diets, just high quality whole
grains, low-fat meats and other protein, and smaller portions more times per day. I have
gradually lost 30 pounds.

My wife and I both follow this. She is 66 and is in excellent shape, and rides with me a lot. She
also does resistance training.

Good luck.

Ride to ENJOY or you will eventually stop. Use the KISS approach (Keep it Simple Stupid). Good luck!

members.aol.comfoxcondorsrvtnsOpen ↗ (Colorado rental condo)

members.aol.comdnvrfoxOpen ↗ (Family Web Page)

On 5 Feb 2004 18:34:10 -0600, beau <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

My wife and I are looking for a training schedule to help with weight loss and general fitness. Any
suggestions?

Thanks to everyone for the great tips. Gotta go ride! Beau

Body for Life is a good program. doesn't make extreme promises, and no gimmicks. A good combination
of cardio/diet and weight training a few times a week.

I lift weights a few times a week, but I started biking last fall because I have no interest in gym
type cardio. exercise bikes and treamills bore me, so biking fills that need, and is practical too.

Body for Life also makes a good point: no matter how much you work out - your muscles won't be seen
if there's a layer of fat over them - so there are several good diet plans in the book too.

Also the post about "eating less" is right on the money. Portions everywhere are HUGE. Especially
places like Applebees and casual dining places.

If i get a sandwhich and fries eating out with friends I always ask for a to-go box up front, and
split it in half before eating, then put in under your seat. (don't forget it). Not only will you be
less tired and lethargic, but you'll save money and have a meal later.

a $7 dollar big burger in fries becomes 2 meals for $3.00.

Being a diabetic too I know how much biking just a few miles works me out - My blood sugers are
lower and that carries over to next day.

Even a few miles a day, or just biking for errands has a great effect

good luck...