Cycling to lose weight: 6 great reasons why you WILL lose weight!
Road bike cycling is the best way of losing weight in my opinion. Here are 6 great reasons why you will lose weight cycling.
1) Cycling to lose weight is a natural and fast method! You burn most of your calories not when you exercise but in your every day life, it’s called your metabolic rate. Those calories are burnt up just keeping you alive, and that rate can change. Heavy dieting will make you feel and act sluggish, and send a signal to your body to hang onto as much fat as possible because there must be a famine on the way. Instead, signal to your body that there’s no need to hold onto fat by eating a healthy diet, and getting some exercise in. When you do that exercise you get stronger muscles, and muscles need fuel. The more muscle, the faster you burn calories. And it becomes a positive cycle (‘scuse the pun)! The bigger the muscles, the more energy is burnt, the more exercise you can do, and that means more weight is lost if you control your diet as well.
Cycling burns calories like a furnace gets through coal, builds muscles, and is FUN!
2) Cycling is very social, which will keep you accountable. Go with friends. And when you talk with your friends you can talk about new bikes, distances covered, exploring and adventuring. Half of all my friends cycle someplace! In one small group of 6 of my friends we have lost a combined total of 12 stone…that’s one extra person!
3) Cycling to lose weight is highly motivational. Beating your own personal ‘bests’ in time; over a given distance; cycling for a longer period; or travelling further. My own motivation for losing weight was so that I could get up hills faster here in Lancashire! And now I am 2 stone lighter than when I started I can really notice the difference. I am looking forward to losing the last stone and a half.
4) How often have you found yourself motivated to exercise, but the time commitment of going to the gym or even getting out the equipment is just too much hassle?. But cycling can be included in normal life. Go down the shops on your bike. Go to work on your bike. Even if you get more serious, it only takes an hour 3 times a week to benefit massively from losing weight by cycling. As you progress, you will be able to cycle harder, and that has an affect on your metabolic rate as it doesn’t just increase your rate when you exercise, but for up to 24 hours afterwards!
5) Are you put off exercise because of the cost of getting started? cycling can be one of the cheapest forms of exercise to lose weight and get fit. If you already own a bike it might mean getting the local bike shop to tweak it up for you and make sure it’s safe (about £50 / $75). You could borrow a bike, or even hire one. Buying one is also cheap. Second hand you can pick up a cheap mountain bike for under £100, and the one I’ve had for over a year with only a couple of complaints cost me only £250, about the price of a gym membership. Only I now don’t have to pay for it! You don’t need special clothing either, but you may choose to buy some as you go along. And if you become a cycling enthusiast, then you have time to save up!
6) Lastly, there is no barrier to age or when you start. You can start cycling at any point in your life!
In summary
Cycling to lose weight is naturally fast; it’s social; there are many ways to stay motivated; cycling doesn’t take lots of extra time; it’s cheap; you can start at any age.
Coming soon: a detailed step by step guide on how to lose weight cycling. Make sure you grab the RSS feed to stay in touch.
Link to this post: http://icyclelite.com/cycling-to-lose-weight/
