Passion burning

Inspiring tales of personal battles, joys and triumphs. The dedication of these folks is infectious. More than anything else, losing weight through exercise is vastly superior to those silly diets that are nothing more than fads perpetuated by con men to the lazy. Slim and fit are two very different categories. You may have lost 50 pounds through Jenny Craig, Expressions, or even the silly low-carb diet, but the slimmer you is just as unfit as the fatter you.

Don't just get slimmer. Get leaner and fitter.

All right, let these guys tell their own stories now.


glenzx

Well, the last few days my weight has been within a pound +/- of 165 on the scale. This is an important weight in that 4.5 years ago I weighed 100 pounds more.

I've been riding a lot this year, having moved up from sport (insane, hard, challenging, rewarding...) to expert (scary fast real athletes, longer courses, more bonking, cramping, puking and so on likely...) and gotten onto a road bike to boot. The last few years here in Santa Fe have reawakened an intense passion for cycling. It had been 13 self destructive, high stress, poor diet, no excercise crappy quality of life, years in NYC. No doubt I learned a lot, miss my friends & family, the culture, the people, the resources and so on, but my wife and I had reached our saturation of it all. We headed out in mid-2000 and haven't looked back. Prior to NYC, I had been professionally competing & performing bmx freestyle and really active. Went to college and began the long self destructive slide. Smoked 2 packs of Marlboro "reds" for 10+ years of that time, besdies the above mentioned self destructive habits. Oh, and booze? Yep, not like a drunk, but a heavy drinker no doubt.

My recent weight hadn't really sunk in until my wife started culling through our vast digital photo collection, and found a few real "dooseys"! I can't believe how little definition I had, how puffy & downright cruddy I looked.....

Picture in winter 99/2000 upstate NY, note bubba-hunting hat:
(quite a contrast, my marathon-running sister in law & me!)


There are much worse ones than that, but there's no need for that!

Anyhow, I basically kept the goals short and attainable. I remember thinking, "man, when I get down to 235, I'll feel a lot better". And I did! Then 220, 215, 200 (!) 185, 175, and now nearing a target of around 160. I have changed my diet to some extent, and when I eat I now eat healthy proteins & fats, few complex carbs, good greens & veggies, and minimal booze, caffeine, sweets and other seratonin-level changing foods & drugs. This alone helped a lot, and boosted energy. Combined with a steady amount of hard riding, and some not-so-hard riding, and the racing, I have finally combusted 350,000 calories more than I ate in the last 4 years. Simple, huh? LOL

Not looking for anything here, but hope to encourage the folks out there that are interested. Patience and patience and some care in what you eat will do worlds of good!

At Tour of Canyonlands race in Moab, frst regional Sport level race I ever won, this past April. Note: I'm down 12-14 pounds since then....






Duckman

July 8th 2002, I had an acute Pancreitus attack. ICU for 11days. Then 32 total in recovery. 1 in 4 chance of dying right up till the end, per my lab work. Was drinking myself to death, plus partying too much. Stopped all that stuff cold turkey. Not a drink since. Wasn't as heavy(180lb), but now I'm 165, and have never been as fit. NEVER ever wanna go back. I'm about to be 46yrs next month.

Heres me in late April 02. Um...I'm on the right. Shining Rock wilderness in Pisgah. Hell, I "thought" I was in shape. Shiiiiiiiit.


Me last week. I attribute me rediscoverying riding 100% to my turn around. My bloodpressure is super low again(after being on heavy meds 2yrs ago). Resting HR in the high 30s. No more Gout in my knees and feet. All from the bike.






rbart4506

I myself have lost 50lbs since my lazy couch potato days. I feel so much better and happier now. I was in my late 20's and weighed around 185lbs and was feeling like crap. My weekends and weeknights were full of TV watching and potato chip eating. I knew it was time to lose some weight when even the 36" waist jeans were uncomfortable. I stopped eating the high fat crap and started walking for 30-45 minutes a day. The weight started to melt away and after a year I had lost almost 20lbs. I then moved onto riding my old ten speed bike and that got me losing a bit more. Then I got my first mountain bike and lost a bit more. As my mountain biking experienced increased so di my level of effort and my addiction was in full bloom. Fast forward two years and I'm riding a GF Sugar and a GF HooKooEKoo and had lost 50lbs. It's been about 3 years since I hit that mark and I'm stable at 135lbs. I tend to hit close to 140lbs in the winter and then I drop down once the riding season starts. I still watch what I eat, but I'm not as deligent as before. I'm not eating all kinds of high fat crap, but I also don't stop myself from enjoying nights out and such. It's all a case of moderation for me and all the riding helps with that...

Here's me before:



And last year with my fiance:






caboverpete

In the last 13 months or so I went from 205lbs (right) to this morning weighing in at 142lbs. In the pic on the left I was about 157lbs, I still weighed less with my son on my back. It was nice taking a 25mile MTB ride yesterday and seeing the top local rider from last year pulling in a good 5 minutes behind me on the climbs.






Jinks

Here's a picture of me on New Years of 2004 at 223 lbs, and the one right next to it is in May of 2004 at 173 lbs. I'm currently around 180 and hoping to drop five more pounds in the next two weeks. I agree with other posters that I had to find what works for me. I tried the Atkins thing, but I love noodles and rice too much for that to work.


Here was my plan: Each week I set a weight loss goal of 5 pounds, and I made sure to get around 1200-1400 calories each day. On top of that I bike commuted to work 13 miles round trip each day. I also began running on a treadmill. I actually kept on track and lost 50 pounds in ten weeks! I know it was probably way too fast, and I may have caused myself some short term damage, but I'm 100% healthy today, no problems.

One of the greatest motivators to lose weight for me, was my mountain biking. I took off half a year in the beginning of 2003 from riding, and really lost it, healthwise, and when I started back up again, it was hell making it up the hills. I was always last up with all my buds having to wait for me. I figured if I lost weight fast and hard it would be so painful to lose weight that I would never want to let myself get so far out of shape again. It's worked so far! I wouldn't recommend what I did to most people. Again, it's what works for you.