Bicycling is ideal for weight loss because it burns a lot of calories. Riding at a moderate speed of 12 to 14 mph will allow you to burn approximately 235 calories per half hour.
Consider cycling for weight loss in a variety of ways. Try having a scheduled daily ride of about an hour daily.
If you did this most days of the week and ate a healthy diet, you could easily expect to lose a solid one pound a week. You could even plan to ride your bike to school or to work or when you are running small errands or visiting a friend close by.
Another option is to plan family or group rides a few times a week. Make this a longer ride of a couple hours since it will probably be at a more relaxed pace.
These activities will all add up to calories burned and pounds shed. In addition, they are also just a lot of fun and offer a surprisingly easy way to fit in exercise.
When losing weight, this rate of shedding a pound a week or so is aggressive and healthy. Long term success is rarely achieved by crazy crash diets.
If you lose more than a pound per week, you are essentially starving yourself, and your body responds accordingly. It tries to save calories wherever possible, and your metabolism will slow and you risk losing muscle tissue.
The best way to lose weight and keep it off is by exercising regularly and making healthy food choices. Remember that food is fuel for your body.
To keep your body running at full speed, you need to plan your meals around whole foods with minimal processing. Things like whole grains, fruits, vegetables and lean meats and dairy.
The fruits, vegetables and grains will provide needed carbohydrates to fuel your activity, while the lean meats and low fat dairy products will encourage weight loss and provide protein for muscle development.
If you are new to healthy eating, search the Internet for healthy recipes or invest in a good cookbook. You can definitely consume more calories when you exercise, but the right eating plan will give you energy, help you feel better, fuel your body more efficiently and help you lose weight, if that is your goal.
The best eating plan for a cyclist is one that includes plenty of low fat, high carbohydrate foods to provide energy and fluids to offer hydration. Carbs are your body's preferred source of energy for cycling.
Since you are constantly burning carbs to fuel your cycling as well as daily activities, you must regularly replace them with a high carbohydrate diet. The kind of carbs that give all carbs a bad reputation are those made with simple sugars and refined flours.
These offer little nutritional value. Get your fill of carbohydrates through fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grain breads, rice and pasta.
Round out your diet with lean protein and a small amount of fat. When you eat is almost as important as what you eat.
About an hour before a ride, fuel up with a high carbohydrate snack or small meal. Some ideas might be fresh fruit and whole grain toast or a half whole wheat bagel with peanut butter.
If your ride is longer than 60 minutes, you'll need to refuel with more carbs. Researchers recommend about 30 to 40 grams of carbohydrate each 30 minutes you ride beyond the first 60 minutes.
This might be a good time to consider a sports drink or energy bar. Eating a high carb snack or meal within 60 minutes after a lengthy ride is important to replenish your body and prepare you for your next ride.
Cyclists must make a conscious effort to drink fluids before, during and after riding to stay hydrated. Becoming dehydrated is one of the worst things that can happen to you and so it is important to be proactive and push lots of fluids, even before you feel thirsty.
Author Resource:-
Jack R. Landry has been writing about the exercise and health industry for years. He recommends using spinning bikes to stay healthy and fit.
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.massagebyben.com/articles/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites 