Hey yall - I’m sitting here at 5’8 190lbs the heaviest I’ve ever been in my life, and I’m just wondering like … why do YOU lose weight?
I feel like I want to lose 10->20lbs so I can fit in my old clothes again, and so I like the way I look more, and because my doctor says I need to lose weight. But I also feel like I could just … buy other clothes, and attempt to feel more confident in my own body (I have always struggled with body insecurities, even at 140lbs).
I am by no means unfit - I can lift, run, do pull ups, jump.
Anyways asking all this just to figure out some good mindsets as my diet gets harder.
I read an interesting book called ‘Atomic Habits.’ I would recommend it as it talks about how to make these sort of changes and how to make them stick. One thing that resonated with me was reframing the goal from loose weight, to ‘be a healthy fit person into my old age,’ as by focusing on what you want to be, not what you don’t want to be, you’ll make choices that fit your view of the person you want to be. Then you’ll be more inclined to stick at it because you aren’t reliant on loosing a certain amount of weight by a given date to feel successful, success is sticking to healthy habits, like good diet and regular exercise, then the weight loss will sort its self out, and even if it doesn’t for a while, you’ll have still done yourself a favour and improved your health. My ultimate motivation to be healthy though is to still be active when I’m older I and take my future grandkids out mountain biking.
I read this two years ago. It’s a fantastic book. Makes changing habits so much more mindful and easier to implement.
I usually stay in pretty good shape. But I can tell the difference between 170-175 and 180-185. And not just what clothes I fit into. That weight (especially when it’s fat) presses on the organs and spine which for me causes some restless leg symptoms and raises my cholesterol and BP among other things. Those go away when I drop weight and/or replace that fat with muscle.
So it’s not just fitting into your clothes. It’s also how much muscle or fat you are holding in your body and where it sits and how it affects your body in various ways you don’t necessarily feel.
Edit: And all that leads to my overall general health. I want to be healthy and live long AND healthy for my family. And be active and a good role model for my kids, especially. Show them that being active can be FUN and enjoayable.
I’m very lucky with my metabolism and, without too much effort (obviously I cycle a lot and was raised to eat well), am generally around 155 of your American pounds at just under 5’10". That said, I do probably (definitely) drink too much beer and also have a sweet tooth… Now I’ve turned 40 I am trying to rein these things in as I know it’s going to be harder to shake excess weight in the future.
I’m hoping that I will manage to shed a bit over the course of this winter (maybe 10lbs) as it is very hilly where I live (you’re basically constantly riding up or down a hill) and I want to get my FTP to 4W/kg (yes I know it’s not the be all and end all, but it’s frustrating being stuck around 3.7!).
At 67 years, 5’ 7” and 145#, I’d be laughing all the way to the top of my local HC climb if my FTP were 3.7W/kg!! ‘Fraid those days are gone!
As for the WHY lose weight question, I stay pretty close to my normal and always have, with fluctuations of about 2-4 #s on occasion, but pretty much short-term changes. If I gain 5#s, I’m already working to cut the intake and boost the work load because like @RichieS I’m either going uphill or downhill almost always on rides, so I only want weight gain to come from more strength, and preferably in my core muscle groups.
As I age, I realize especially in the last 2-4 years how hard it can be to maintain strength. Prior to that, I took for granted that I would stay the same strength as long as I stayed active doing the same things. That has begun to change, and I now have to start doing MORE to avoid being LESS, at least where strength is concerned.
I now do some light workouts with weights, which some of you might remember I just did not do at all ever, (not since a few weeks of toying with it a bit in college; after that, zilch.) And I DO see the gains coming already from that work and I expect and plan to continue working with small weights from now until I’m not living in this body any longer. If I end up gaining weight from that, I’m totally fine with it!
I feel all of this! Was right there with you a few years ago, @Kayshawn_Leith: hit 50, job and life had taken a lot out of me. Maxing out at 5’8, 198# and I realized I was in big trouble if I didn’t turn it around. Like Sir @emacdoug I was definitely feeling the effects of carrying all of that around, even though I was “fit” (military/law enforcement background).
I got back on the bike and (re)found Sufferfest - among other things - and clawed my way back to my current 165 - 170#. Initially I was really into re-discovering competition and racing, but like @sir_james.p I found myself reframing to the “healthy fit person into my old age”. Now approaching 60, having retired a couple years ago, and having abused my body pretty hard over the years, I’m finding I’m having to really focus on fitness (riding, body weight strength, conditioning & flexibility) to keep everything from breaking down on me.
My goal is to keep everything going well into old age! My spirit animal is this 80yo guy who races on the New England CX circuit. Comes out every week, still takes it to the youths on occasion.
Like others have said it is much more about general health and avoiding issues like high blood pressure so I can keep doing the athletic sports I love for as long as possible. I also want to perform better as an athlete which maintaining a health weight supports. I found the book Racing Weight by Matt Fitzgerald very helpful. Sensible non faddish advice on strategies and on finding the ideal weight. I think the secret is making long term permanent changes that you can sustain for life eg simple thinks like swapping white race for whole grain rise.
