Hey, first welcome to the club! Second, if you are getting your bike from a good shop, they should be able to answer most of these questions. They should be able to tell you about beginner/instructional groups rides. Those are pretty common wherever you go now, and they are a great way to learn the ropes. A bike is a great tool for purposes of general fitness and weight loss. And you will find plenty of folks doing the same thing that you are interested in doing.
In terms of weight loss, the key is to burn more calories than you are taking in. And the good news is that if you ride at a moderate pace, you can end up burning more fat than not. Just start to understand how many calories you are taking in each day. Limit the garbage calories where you can, or be prepared to be disappointed in your results. Your indicated diet looks pretty good, which will really help.
I was in about the same situation as you about 6 months ago. The best thing that I ever did was to get The Lance Armstrong's Performance Program - Seven Weeks To The Perfect Ride. I'll bet that your bike shop even has it. This book has a lot of really good information for the beginner rider. Even better, it has suggested 6-day per week training programs that cover 7 week periods. There is a beginner program, intermediate program and an advanced program. I started off riding the beginner program, and did that a couple of times. Then I tested my progress, and finding that I had mad some really good improvement, I moved up to the intermediate program. I did that as my primary fitness workout ever since. Lately I have been mixing in a bit of the advanced elements and am still finding that my fitness and abilities are improving.
As for clothes, you can ask your bike shop what they would recommend. The smartest thing that I ever did was to get some bikes shorts. That little bit of padding makes a huge difference, especially when you are first starting out. I wore the combination bike shorts that come with a padded inner layer and baggy shorts on the outside. I also got some good basic riding jerseys. They help to manage sweat really well and I could see after the first ride why guys use them.
As far as what to expect, a lot of that depends on what kind of shape you are in and how many of your riding muscles you are currently using. I rode really easy for about the first month, even before attempting to begin the Performance Program beginner plan. When I first started, I couldn't make it a couple of miles before my legs gave out. I was sore for most of those early days too. Just the process of getting used to sitting on your bike is going to do that. The smartest thing that I ever did was just to give my body that chance to get used to being on the bike, and all while doing easy paced rides. Did I get tired, hell yeah. Were there times when my muscles burned, you bet. I remember having to skip this one mondo hill in my neighborhood all together at the start. It just was more than I could do. A couple of weeks later, I decided to give it a go and to my surprise found out one day that I could climb it. The next week, I climbed it up and back 4 times in a row just to show it who was boss. Did my muscles hurt the next day, you bet. But it was the most satisfying hurt that I could have possibly felt. I wouldn't have traded it for anything.
Once I got my fitness level up, and had learned how to be safe and competent on a bike again, I was ready to test/benchmark my fitness as the book suggests and start their beginner training program. In the six months since, I have gone from not being able to complete the 2.5 mile loop around my neighborhood, to having just completed my first 75-mile ride. When I started I was a good 25 pounds over-weight. Today I have lost all of that and am having no trouble keeping it off.
You are definitely on the right track, and you are smart to be asking these questions. Good luck with it! Hope this helps. 😉
