My 50lb weight loss in 6 months

175lbs - today

@ 6'1", I was 225, 6 months of riding and dieting later... 175lbs. (EDIT: Actually in the pic above I'm 170, I measured later in the day and couldn't believe it!)

How?  Well, 1000+ miles of bike riding in the winter helps, for sure... but my diet has been the biggest boon to getting into what I'd consider is the best shape I've been in.

Though I've been vegetarian for about a year now - I was big on cheese pizza and buffets... my 225lbs was distributed evenly so I didn't care too much... but after getting into cycling (see the first post of this blog) I realized just how out of shape I was... and thought about what I COULD do.

First the goal was 200lbs... which I easily dropped to after cutting out so much cheese pizza - I was eating alot of spaghetti at this point, it was probably 75% of my diet.  Alfredo sauce, parmesan... I was still layering it on but I was riding alot so I felt justified.  I hovered in the 200-210 area for a month or so... then I thought about getting into some racing.

I read how skinny some of the top racers were, and how this gave them an advantage.  I learned about power to weight ratio and how important this was.  I got dropped by the random roadies I would run into, over and over... and I'm not one to blame the bike - I knew it was me that just wasn't there yet.

So I set a goal of 180, and it was easy to do, I was still riding quite a bit (at least 100 miles a week, some weeks over 200)... but my diet topped it off.

I started to have Garden of Life Raw Meal for one meal of the day.  Expensive.. but still way less than even a tank of gas!  I started eating more fruit and salads and nearly cutting out spaghetti (definitely no more alfredo sauce!)... this got me down to 185 without much trouble, and from then I've lived fairly vegan.  The only meat I eat is sushi on rare occasion and I seriously avoid cheese.  I make alot of my own meals - including these energy balls I take on the road... a blend of oatmeal/dates/flax meal/almond butter/trail mix (no chocolate etc) and some fresh squeezed orange juice to make it interesting... eats kinda like a sesame ball and is curiously satisfying.

Eating more often but smaller meals helps ALOT as well, this way I'm always satisfied but never overly full.. keeps the fire burnin.

Right now I'm right around the 175 mark, with 170 being the goal.  I'm in no rush to get there, but I think simply sticking to the diet I'm on and putting in the miles will be plenty.

The best part is that I've dropped all this weight, but my legs have definitely gotten stronger in the process.  With less weight came much more endurance, and overall I just feel better.  I've done a few century rides and though I was tired at the end, I could have kept going if I had to.


I chalk it up to the near vegan diet... its more of a natural way of eating, and inherently offers a balanced nutrient rich diet that enhances mind as well as body.  I had my doubts of being vegetarian, but after just DOING it, and exploring the great variety of meals that don't include meat + feeling the difference... I have no desire to ever eat cows or pigs or birds ever again... and I feel strongly that my diet is a big big part in how I can now ride *so much* harder and longer than I could even just 2 months ago.

I wish these concerns were greater with the population in general, so many ailments can be resolved by merely paying attention to what is consumed and what the results of that consumption are... and I'm not just talking about food.