I eat to ride, I ride to eat. At the best of moments, I can achieve a perfect balance, consuming just the right amount of calories as I fill up at bakeries, restaurants, or ice cream parlors. On the road I can get about twelve miles to the quart of milk and a piece of baker's tart."
´ - Daniel Behrman, in “The Man Who Loved Bicycles”
If you’re thinking about losing a few pounds, but you’re not sure how to get started, here’s a suggestion. How about dusting off that bike in the garage and taking it out for a spin? Bicycling is ideal for weight loss because it burns a lot of calories. Riding at a moderate speed will burn over 200 calories in a half hour. Here are some options:
· A scheduled daily ride of about an hour – or even for half an hour...
· Ride your bike to and from work or school? If you did this most days of the week and ate a healthy diet, you could probably lose a pound a week.
· Plan family or group rides. Make these a longer ride of a couple hours. Putting this together with a healthy diet this should result in some weight loss...
· Throughout your week try to fit in a bike ride, running errands or visiting a friend.
These activities will all add up to calories burned and pounds shed. Plus, they are also just a lot of fun and a surprisingly easy way to get your exercise. Bicycling is a great way to see the outdoors, take in the fresh air, or simply get around town. It’s also an efficient way to burn excess calories, shed body fat and improves cardiovascular health. You may want to use a stationary bike for when you are unable to ride outside. If you want to lose weight on a bike, you need to ride a lot. If the weather is bad, you can pedal for 30 minutes to an hour on a stationary bike.
One side note about lifestyle changes: they are best made one at a time. If daily physical activity is a new part of your life, deny the urge to make too many other changes until the daily activity is established. So many times we try to reform ourselves in dramatic and unrealistic ways and the outcome is doomed for failure. (Consider some of your past New Year’s resolutions.) In other words, it is probably not a good idea to start exercising, give up sugar, caffeine and cigarettes all at the same time.
And even for those of us not looking to lose a great amount of weight, cycling is a great way to maintain weight at your preferred level.
For whatever reason, let’s get more people on bikes!