Cycling for Weight Loss

One of the key things in losing over 4 stone for me has been a commitment to exercise. I’ve always played golf (although the way I’m playing now you’d think I’d started a week ago) so there was always some exercise in my lifestyle but adding the cycling has really turned out to be an enjoyable and effective way to accelerate my weight loss. Here’s my tips for anyone wanting to get into Cycling for weight loss.

1). This is IMPORTANT! Exercise on it’s own won’t do it !!– diet and exercise go together, balance them and get great results. In Slimming World groups they call the exercise component “Body Magic” see http://www.slimming-world.com/ for more info. There's bags of other info out there but SW has really worked for me (am I becoming a Slimming World evangelist d'ya recokon?) so I wholeheartedly (sincerely) recommend it - it's easy, healthy and realistic - no daft drugs, tablets just common-sense food advice and brilliant support.
2). Set yourself a realistic goal – I aim for 100 miles every week. I’d really love to do 120+ but I haven’t got the free time available to do it. That 100 miles takes me the best part of 8 hours a week I think which is managed in 40minsto an hour trips which are enough not to get too tired on.
3). Get yourself a bike computer – there’s no better way to record your stats! I’d recommend recording total weekly distance and average speed (so the cheapest Ebay speedo will do the trick!).
4). Monitor progress – it’s rewarding to see how your average speed increases as you lose weight and build up muscle tone.
5). Get a GELSEAT, particularly at the start! I'm told cycling shorts are a good idea for the same reason - posterior protection. I've only just got round to getting cycling shorts purely from an embarassment "does my bum look big in this" factor.
6). Consider changing tyres? If you’re always riding on the road (my favourite) then you don’t want nobbly mountain bike tyres (even if you’re on a mountain bike). I swapped from MTB to some slicks that I got off Ebay and it’s just much easier to get up hills, which is great cause I hate hills
5). Back to the how to fit it in - I do two runs most days - when I get up (about 6am) , pick up newspapers on the way back in and the second run is usually after kids have gone to bed so some time after 8pm. If you're serious you'll make time for it - the target of 100miles helps on Friday I'm already at 75 miles so another four runs out will do it!
6). I got an Ipod from my boss at Xmas which is great - they can help when you're getting bored with the same track but you have to be careful with the volume as it might mean you don't hear a dirty great big truck approaching from behind!


That’s it for now.