bike effects
as noted, since August 1 i have not had a car for commuting to work, and though i got lazy last week and rode the bus a few days, i try to ride my bike as much as possible during this season of Light and Dryness and relative Warmth. once autumn darkness and rains come, i think the bus will be ridden most of the time.
i’ve got my commute path down and it’s nice and easy, but i’m trying not to become too
complacent or overconfident riding the bike. i have a tendency to space out, and do things like write draft blog posts in my head. not recommended. currently, there is construction around one block of my usual route, and yesterday morning, taking the detour i almost bit it on some non-functional-but-still-embedded-in-the-cement train tracks. i mean, i came really close to wiping out, and THANK SOMEONE i didn’t, because there was a taco truck right behind me and a semi coming the other way. yeesh. i know – hit the tracks at 90 degrees. but when they just randomly appear from out of the pavement right in front of you, you don’t have a choice about the angle. you just have to quickly recalibrate to not wipe out.
anyway, onto the taboo blogging subject: weight! since i started biking, at least 8 miles a day if i just go to work and back, sometimes 10-12 if i have appts/errands, i’ve gained 10 lbs. i am not making this up or exaggerating. i stepped on the scale this morning – it does not lie, and neither do the pants i brought to wear at work that are now so tight through the thighs they are uncomfortable. i’d like to think it’s all muscle, but i know it’s not, because i am not getting SMALLER/leaner, i am getting bigger. and i got a belly. and a concerning number of my clothes are not fitting well or looking good. and since people are always insisting that women don’t “bulk up” from traditional exercise, i can only assume that my increased dimensions are not muscle. it’s fat.
i’m not looking for advice here, i know what the problem is and how to fix it. first, biking makes me hungrier than i usually am, and then i eat more calories than i burn because by the end of the day i am STARVING. so i need to eat more regularly and front load so i don’t eat such huge dinners. second, going to the gym is now way out of the way via bike, and i am no longer doing all the strength training and seriously sweaty cardio sessions i was before, and i just need to suck it up and get back to the gym again. i also know i’m not alone and this is a common problem with people trying to manage their weight. in fact, this problem was just discussed again in the paper yesterday: Experts: For losing weight, diet beats exercise.
before y’all start kvetching about how i’m “thin enough already”, i was not necessarily *trying* to lose weight with the bike commuting, although i might have been hoping to, but i was CERTAINLY not expecting to gain it either. it’s just sort of weird and counter-intuitive to think that once i became carless and started riding my bike all over the place, i gained weight. and no matter what anyone else thinks about my body-image, that i do not like. i am definitely not going to stop riding my bike (or eating when i’m hungry), but riding my bike AND going to the gym is just….kind of a pain in the ass. and time. and right now (until after labor day anyway), my calendar is BOOKED. so for now, until i find a way to make this all work, the biking and eating and the gym and the commuting and the time, i’m just trying to adjust to and accept my slightly bigger self (and adjust my wardrobe as well). i’m not-so-secretly hoping that this is just a short period of physical adjustment – that my increased appetite v. metabolism will eventually level out and if i get back to the gym 2-3 days a week for extra weight/cardio, by the time we go to europe (21 days!!) i’ll be able to fit back into my pants again.
Filed in food, health & vegetarianism, me myself and i | Tagged with bicycling | Comments (6)6 Responses to “bike effects”
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but i’m trying not to become too complacent or overconfident riding the bike. i have a tendency to space out, and do things like write draft blog posts in my head.
Ditto. That is one of the reasons why I don’t ride in my area. I wouldn’t enjoy it if I couldn’t let my mind relax, but in my area riding a bike without Zen-like vigilance will put you in the hospital.
i’m not looking for advice here,
LOL! Good luck with that request on the WWW
first, biking makes me hungrier than i usually am, and then i eat more calories than i burn because by the end of the day i am STARVING.
I had the same problem with swimming. I would do it so hard that I would get a voracious appetite and eat more than I actually burned off swimming.
I’m glad you wandered into the taboo area of discussion and can identify with a lot of what you’re saying. The reality of the situation for me is that weight problems run in my family. It’s just the way it is. I’m 30, currently have a healthy BMI. But I have to work at maintaining a healthy body. I catch a lot of beef for trying to maintain my weight. Maybe I appear to be incredibly vain or whatever but it’s not the case. If I gain 5-10 lbs. of extra weight I focus on losing it–not because I need to look skinny but because unhealthy weight gain happens slowly. If I just let 10 extra lbs. slide because they don’t make me outright fat, who’s to say I won’t let the next 10 slide? I just don’t have the luxury of not worrying about it to an extent. I’m actively attempting to break a unhealthy cycle prominent in my family. History may be working against me but I do everything I can to stave off diabetes, weight-related joint problems, etc. If other people have a distorted view of what I’m doing , Oh Well!! lol Not to mention I FEEL better if I eat a healthy diet and exercise.
Oh yeah. I just wanted to clarify that my comment was meant in a “I know what you mean, here’s my situation” kind of way and not in a “You need to lose those 10 lbs. right now” kind of way.
@Wonton. Ditto on all of your sentiments.
I think there is a distinct difference between wanting to keep in shape for whatever reason (even vanity,) versus having an eating disorder or being superficial.
i am actually still pretty fine with the way my body looks, it’s just annoying that some of my clothes literally don’t fit comfortably enough to wear them anymore.
and i’m totally with you on the slippery slope factor, which is why i start to get a little worried when i gain ~10 pounds. they just creep up, and boy are they hard to lose.
thx for the comments, all.
I actually do ride my bike to stay in shape and lose weight. But, as you already know, it isn’t exercise, its diet, that makes you put it on or take it off. Since I’ve become more conscious of what I’m eating and have cut out high fructose corn syrup while my wife’s cut out gluten, I’ve actually been seeing my weight slowly slide back down towards where I feel it naturally should be. It took a few years of mostly sedentary jobs to put the weight on so I’m not overly rushed to get it off.
I know you didn’t ask for advice but here’s some anyway (because really, when I do ever follow directions). Eat more meals during the day. Not more food, more meals. Give your body more of an opportunity to digest the calories you are giving it and you may find that you don’t need to eat quite so much.
I wish I could commute on my bike or get to ride every single day. But it just isn’t feasible right now. Maybe when we move back up to Aptos or Santa Cruz.