Tips for Newbies Looking to Bike for Weight Loss
September 8, 2008 by Mark Chesner
Filed under Uncategorized
This year, I decided to take my weight situation into my own hands and finally focus on losing some pounds. With a job where I sit at a desk all day, I needed to take up a hobby which got me up and about. And with a medical history that included back surgery, I needed one which would be low-impact, at least to start. After asking around, I decided that biking could be what I was looking for. As of today, I am down 35 pounds and still going strong. I have learned a lot about weight loss and biking along the way and thought perhaps others could learn from my experiences.
Start small, work your way up
If you are like me, you are starting off your bicycling journey with low expectations. You see the bike as a low-impact way to go from out-of-shape and overweight to healthy. Be careful as you research biking online, as there are a lot of hardcore bikers who talk in terms of miles, often tens of miles, as “a light workout.” Keep in mind that these bikers are usually veterans of the sport, who enjoy tough trails and races. You are not one of these, or at least not yet. Look for a nice, relatively flat area to start your biking and don’t focus on distance but on time. Start small – perhaps a 15 minute bike ride several times a week – and work your way up. Eventually, you may be able to spend a day biking a hundred miles. But for now, focus on what you can do.
Get the right bike
Growing up as a kid, the kinds of bikes out there were limited. 1-speed, 3-speed, or 10-speed. Nowadays, there are as many different kinds of bikes as there are different kinds of cars. The key is what kind of biking you plan to do. Do you live in a flat area and plan to stick to paved surfaces? You can make due with a cruiser (1 speed, fixed gear). Do you like in a hilly area? You need something with at least 20 gears. Do you plan to do a lot of off-roading? Go for a mountain bike. Do you plan to split your time between roads and trails? Go for a hybrid bike. Personally, I live in New England where hills are the norm, they sand the roads, and most bike trails are unpaved. So, I got a 24 speed hybrid bike.
Trust the bike shop pro
There are two kinds of salesmen in the world. The “used-car salesman” and the “comic-book store salesman”. The used-car salesman has one goal “Sell something, anything, today.” They are less worried about the long-term satisfaction of the customer, and more worried about weather they can get a commission and pay the mortgage this month. The comic-book store salesman on the the other hand is the guy who is selling something s/he loves, and wants to ensure the customer enjoys the product as much as they do. (Of course, I am dealing in stereotypes, I am sure there are used-car salesman in the world working because they love cars, too, and comic book guys just looking for a quick buck.) In general, the guy who owns the bike shop around the corner is the latter. He bought a bike shop because he loves bikes – selling them, riding them, working on them – and has no prayer of getting rich off of it. If you have questions about biking – hardware or technique – stop in and ask the pro. Oftentimes, they will even offer free demos – for example on how to change a tire – if you just ask.
Trail difficulty is relative
As you begin to explore the various places around you to bike, you will discover a number of existing trails. This is great for newbies like us, because we can trust someone has been on this path before, and probably marked a way to avoid any real danger. But it is important to be aware that trail rating is a relative thing. My first year of biking, I checked out a trail near my home which was rated as “easy biking.” When I got there, I found a trail crisscrossed by root systems and stumps, with unstable rocks and sand lining the way, and constant up-and-down of hills which exhausted me quickly. Thing is, for an experienced mountain biker, it WAS “easy biking.” But for a newbie, it was way too much. The best trails for newbies are often rail-trails – biking or equestrian trails built up by towns on the site of former railroad thoroughfares. These trails try to be “family-friendly” – they provide a relatively flat grade and are often even paved. And they are beautiful as they wind thru natural and historic areas of towns. Otherwise, if you are exploring a new trail, treat it with a skeptical eye and always have a backup plan on a place to ride.
Some accessories are important, most are not
If you are like me, shopping for a new hobby is fun. And biking has a wonderful array of accessories to choose from: jerseys, lights, helmets, tools, bags, etc. However, not all of these accessories are needed for day 1. The only critical accessory for every biker is a helmet. The day you get the bike, get a helmet along with it. No exceptions, unless you like the idea of brain injury. Some municipalities even require it. Everything else depends on your actual usage. Personally, the other essential bits for me were lights and a GPS. Lights, because one of the big things I do is to ride to a local restaurant once a week for a “guys night” with friends, and most nights I am riding home in the dark. GPS because I have no sense of direction, and get lost very easily. Your own needs will vary. But avoid the temptation to load up on accessories, until you actually know what you need and will use.
Bike jerseys are sized small
This is one of those embarrassing ones to discuss for we overweight folks, but better be a little embarrassed now than a lot embarrassed later. There are a lot of really neat biking jerseys out there, and they do a great job of wicking away sweat on hot rides. But, biking jerseys are meant for people who tend to be a lot thinner than anyone who calls themselves “overweight.” I currently wear a 2X (or XXL) in t-shirt or sweatshirt. They fit me very well and don’t accentuate my belly. But when I buy a biking jersey, most of the time they are too short and make me look even fatter than I am. It appears in general the average person probably needs one size up. If you are in the early stages of your weight-loss, probably best to stick to more generic jerseys and sports wear. Of course, your mileage may vary, depending on your body shape.
For weight-loss, exercise must be regular
There are those who manage to lose weight by doing nothing more than a change in diet. But such people are rare. Most of us need to both decrease input of food and increase our output of energy to really see the pounds start to fall away. Likewise, the difference between a thin person and a fat person is not what they eat. I think of my 5 foot tall coworker who is thin as a rail but who eats birthday cake for breakfast, greasy pizza for lunch, and ice cream for dinner. It is their metabolism. A fat person’s body takes excess energy and stores it as adipose tissue. A thin person’s body takes excess energy and turns it into activity. To go from one metabolism to the other, it is important to work up a regular habit of exercise. For me, it has to be every day. Biking is a great option, because you probably can do it every day. When dry and warm, trails and roads allow short or long rides. When wet or cold, you can use a stationary bike to work out indoors. But make sure you are exercising as regularly as you can.
An hour of riding does not justify a splurge
It is funny – especially among my thin friends – how often you hear “Well, I exercised for an hour, so I think I can have that hot fudge sundae.” Real, lasting weight loss requires changes to both your diet and your exercise regimen. Don’t use exercise as an excuse to indulge. Instead, look to instill discipline in your eating habits – both what you eat and how much you eat – so that if you do splurge, it is at a planned time and for a limited time. And always have a plan for getting back on the wagon when life interferes with your plans, because it most assuredly will.
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Mark Chesner - who has written 2 posts on Mountain bike product reviews, bike builds, trail reviews, forum, and tips – MTOBikes.com.
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[...] Original post by Mark Chesner [...]
I think weight loss is all about three things – attitude, diet and exercise. From my experience, reducing carb intake and doing aerobic exercises are keys to successful weight loss.
I think the list of necessities should include a water bottle and holder, or at least a pack to hold a bottle in. I started mountain biking at the end of June, and was amazed at how parched I would feel, and how quickly.
I’ve lost 11 pounds in basically 2 months, and haven’t really changed my diet, aside from the fact that I usually don’t feel the need for an evening meal if I’ve been riding several hours that day.
I ride for 1-4 hours, nearly every day.
I’d been hiking for up to 4 hours every day previous to buying the bike, and would never see a change in my weight at all. Jogging was out of the question because after a day or two, my knees would ache too badly to continue. I knew by looking at all of the guys in tight pants riding bikes that it was likely an excellent form of exercise-and it turned out to be.