does cycling really make you lose weight?

Running_Horse

tomstickland wrote: »

Forgetting what you might look like, you will end up a lot fitter.

Since starting cycling to work I have been scoring as someone half my age on the lung function test. Haven't lost an ounce in weight though.

Hintza

I thought this said:-

Running_Horse wrote: »

Since starting cycling to work I have been scoring WITH someone half my age ......

I was nearly very impressed...........:rotfl::rotfl:

geri1965_2

I cycle to work in summer, walk in winter. It doesn't make any difference to my weight but it does maintain my fitness levels. I am pretty healthy really, less time off sick than most people in my office who don't do any exercise.

custardy

Doozergirl wrote: »

You have to imagine what those people would look like if they didn't cycle to work every day.

Also, as one of those people who for almost all of my existance has been able to eat whatever I want without putting on weight, that doesn't make me healthy. I can sit smugly eating chocolate and not doing as much exercise as I should and still be slimmer than most,

i hate you

cyclonebri1

alocacoc wrote: »

hi

Im going to cycle to work and the outcome of this question wont change that

but it got me thinking when they say walking and cycling will burn off loads of energy! and the pounds will fall off......

I know two people who have cycled to work for years quite far there and back aswell
but theyve never looked any different physique wise. infact if you were to see them with just shorts on you wouldnt think they did what they did..

I cant imagine they eat loads one guy has sarnies for dinner

I also know this girl who walks miles each week and you wouldnt think it


I know a couple of people who dont excersise, eat, drink what they want smoke what they want and when they have there good health test done by the doctor its spot on!!

your thoughts

"Does cycling make you loose weight?"

Well it did me, put me in hospital for a fortnight, marvelous how much hospital food you can resist:rotfl:

thor

The problem is that we humans are quite efficient at extracting the energy from the foods we consume. Both walking and running use about 100 calories per mile for an average person so considering that a pound of fat equals 3500 calories, you would have to walk 35 miles to burn off that fat. Cycling would burn even less energy so you would have to go even further to get rid of that pound. People have an overoptimistic expectaton that a walk round the block or a bit of gardening will help them lose the pounds fast and are disappointed when they find it doesn't.
Despite all this I would always recommend exercise as you will be getting fitter and it will help weight loss if combined with a sensible diet.

alocacoc

funny how a few people have replied saying it doesnt/hasnt

I understand its made them internally fitter thats fair enough

custardy

also bear in mind what you term as cycling to work
to me its pushing hard(ish) all the way as fast as i can.i dont really see anyone on the way to work but going home i see folks tootling along
obvoiusly if their heart rate isnt up then they are not burning the cals

Rallydriver

custardy wrote: »

also bear in mind what you term as cycling to work
to me its pushing hard(ish) all the way as fast as i can.i dont really see anyone on the way to work but going home i see folks tootling along
obvoiusly if their heart rate isnt up then they are not burning the cals

I saw an article in a cycling magazine recently that said there was a 'fat burning zone' when you are excersizing more gently, then as you start pushing yourself you start to burn carbs as they are easier to extract energy from. Don't know how true it is.

AdrianHi

Well in February this year I weighed 12st 13lbs and today I weigh 10st 2lbs.
I learned how to make it easy to do, but that's another long story.

I can tell you exactly what makes you loose fat and then also weight (important distinction).
Some one has already pointed out that extra muscle means increase in weight as muscle is more dense that fat, a fact which often puts people off weight loss efforts when they don't realise this is what is happening when their weight does not go down early on.
Some one else has also pointed out that burning more calories (energy) than you take in means you will loose fat - that's exactly it, no mystery, one of the laws of physics, energy cannot be created or destroyed but can be converted from one form to another.... such as food (chemical) energy to fat (another chemical energy) or heat or kinetic energy (movement).

People who increase exercise and don't loose fat are taking in more calories at the same time, even if they don't realise or measure it. It's a certainty. Your body may play a few metabolic tricks (varying body heat) to hang onto the fat for a while, but within a month or two (usually a lot less) the fat will go - and not necessarily at a consistent rate occasionally "plateauing" for periods of a few weeks. It's not a quick process.

There are a few medical conditions which make it a great deal harder to loose weight, most of these affect women and not men.