I Can’t Lose Weight with the Same Thinking that got Me Fat to Begin With….

This has almost become a series.  Well, if the $#!+ fits, wear it.

In the last six years I’ve ridden a bike more than 40,000 miles.  A little over, actually.  A pedal bike, not a motorcycle.

I went through a period when I was much younger, where I was almost entirely sedentary.  Video games, a desk job….  I mean sedentary, my friends.  I did play a lot of golf, but honest people don’t classify golf as exercise unless you walk the course.  I didn’t count it even though I played better when I walked.  Anyway, I went from 150 pounds to 195 and at 6′ tall.  Almost 200 pounds and it was all chubby.

To thine own self be true

I am not a dieter.  Sure, I’ll choose to forego dessert, or I’ll eat a lighter meal that tastes really good, but I won’t go all “Adkins” either.  I won’t be eating twigs, leaves and berries.  I absolutely would never, on principle alone, go vegetarian (or worse, vegan) – I’m not into having to take processed vitamin supplements needed to make up the dietary shortfalls from either one.  I prefer a more natural diet, as they say.

There’s one ugly truth that has to be mentioned here as well;  I can’t be happy as a fat or chubby person.  It’s simply impossible for me to act as if eating myself unhealthy is okay.

Something had to change

The one certainty in my life back then was that something had to give.  I had to get active again – and if I was going to get active, it was going to be in something that held my interest.  Too often I tried to do the “I’ll go to the gym” route, only to give up after a few weeks.  I needed something quickly accessible and above all fun.  Trudging my way to fitness simply didn’t work.

My changes came in the form of rollerblading, running and now cycling.  While I have the most fun on a bike or on rollerblades, running wasn’t so bad either.  Skating wasn’t all that easy because if you think cycling on the road with traffic sucks, try rollerblades.  That’s a whole new level of messed up.  The accessibility just wasn’t there – if I have to get in my car to travel to a destination, it’s simply too easy to justify days off.  Running and cycling are about tied for accessibility.  Running is probably a sliver easier because there’s less “junk”, but the “junk” is half the fun in cycling, so I’d call that a draw.  Either activity, all I have to do is suit up and head out the door.  Cycling is even easier than running in the winter though, because I can ride on a trainer in the house.  Not having to worry about frozen eyelashes in the wintertime is quite nice, actually.

So, in conclusion, cycling and running have everything I need to stay fit and trim.  The way I participate in those two sports, they both burn a fair amount of calories, they’re both easily accessible which limits excuses, and I absolutely love cycling – I can’t wait to throw my leg over the top tube of my bike every day.

In the end, something in my thinking didn’t change.  Everything did… and that’s why it worked.