I have not been on a bike since I was 15 years old!
But I went to Wal~Mart today and bought a bike! And a lock, and a padded seat cushion (of course!). It never occurred to me until a couple days ago (seriously) that I could actually do something like this. I mean, why not? There are bike trails all over the place up here and there's no reason on earth I can't ride a bike if I want to.
What kind of prompted this was, last week, it occurred to me, there's this wonderful pool at work that NOBODY uses, so why couldn't I start getting up early and swimming in it? All my bathing suits were either too large (5XL) or too small (14/16) so I went and bought the world's ugliest granny suit (solid black, with a little skirt - but that's all Target had in a 1 piece) and I started getting up at 5 AM, going into work, swimming for an hour, then taking a shower there and I'm at my desk before 7. It's AWESOME!!
The first couple days were ****. Everything hurt except my hair. Chest, back, shoulders, waist, and I could barely move my arms to type. But, I took some ibuprofen and powered through it, and now it feels great! It's peaceful and it's a great workout which doesn't hurt my feet, ankles or knees.
I made myself go to the gym 2008-2009 when I first started losing weight and honestly I hated it, and would use any excuse to get out of it. So I'd do it a while then stop. But I LOVE swimming! I didn't go Saturday morning because I stayed with a friend overnight out of town and I felt blah all day because I hadn't swum at dawn. Folks, I think this is something I can do every day for the rest of my life!
But, the swimming isn't doing much for my legs and lower body, so I decided, hey, why not buy an exercise bike? Then, after 5 minutes, I was like, hey, why not buy a REAL BIKE?! Then I don't have to deal with trying to get a heavy exercise bike upstairs so I can ignore it and hang clothes on it, because it's boring...I think riding a real bike might be fun! I know I loved doing it when I was a teenager, but stopped when I got my driver license, and really gained a lot of weight. Duh.
This all has really opened my eyes. Before, my real goal was just to be less fat. To be small enough to look OK in clothes and not really worry about being fit or thin. If I got to 199, I'd be perfectly happy. Well, I think I was selling myself short. There's no reason on earth I can't be THIN if I really want to. I think swimming, biking and my 2-day-a-week heavy weightlifting sessions may just do that!!
That's awesome! I can't wait until I'm able to find a nearby job so I can buy my own bike too! I miss biking SO much...and rollerblading too!
I bought a stationary bike a couple months ago and since I got serious about it I've really noticed how it's helped to improve my stamina. So go you!
Edit - By the way, cycling is like...HUGE here. I think yesterday was world naked bike day or something... I dunno all these people get naked and ride their bikes through Portland. lol!
I LOVE biking. I bike to work every time I go. I bike to get my groceries (with a back pack), I bike to friends houses, I bike to the park to shoot hoops with friends, I just BIKE.
A few things to remember. The first time, will hurt (especially if there is an uphill part). The second time, your butt will REALLY hurt and legs will scream.
This continues for about a week (sometimes two), after that, biking seems like a breeze. Just do it every day and you can power through all that pain.
yay for you - ps the pool sounds WICKED!!! good for you!
ONE suggestion - RELEARN the rules of the road!!! It's a dangerous business out there if you're going to be around cars, so be sure to know all the rules
Otherwise, have a blast !
oh and in winter, put that bike up on a trainer and ride all winter woot! i have these fun dvds that show a track in front of me, or paris! ha! or a wooded area, quite fun!
Well, relearning how to ride is not as easy as I thought...I couldn't keep it on the sidewalk or even in the street since steering is hard, so I walked her down one block to our local elementary school and relearned how to ride in the parking lot. (There was a dad and a 3-year-old out there doing the same thing as I was, d'oh!) It's going to take a few more tries before I'm road-ready but I'll get there. And this was after 6 straight hours of heavy yard work. I know I'm going to be hurting tomorrow but it's so worth it.
I'm very proud of you! What a great attitude you have! I'd love to be able to swim in a pool at work every day! My daughter left her bike when she moved out of state and I've been thinking I might get it looked over at a bike shop and see if you really do never forget how to ride. It's been over 30 years since I rode a bike, but my gym is only about 3 miles from my house and I was thinking I might start riding to the gym on weekends. You'll be my inspiration.
DC, that is so cool! It's what I'm planning to do as well, as my reward for losing the next 50 lbs. I have my eye on a pretty little coaster bike. There are no hills in my town, but lots of bike lanes and trails around the lake.
I'm glad you shared about having to go to relearn how to ride the bike, because I suspect I'll be doing the very same thing!
My sense of balance has always been terrible so it's probably harder for me than the average person, but I'll get there. I'm disappointed today, it's raining here so no swimming or biking. But I went on and got up early and lifted weights instead! And I was 5 lbs down on the scale from last week this morning! There's no stopping me now!!!!
Well, relearning how to ride is not as easy as I thought...I couldn't keep it on the sidewalk or even in the street since steering is hard, so I walked her down one block to our local elementary school and relearned how to ride in the parking lot. (There was a dad and a 3-year-old out there doing the same thing as I was, d'oh!) It's going to take a few more tries before I'm road-ready but I'll get there. And this was after 6 straight hours of heavy yard work. I know I'm going to be hurting tomorrow but it's so worth it.
lolol about you and the 3 year old!
hope you aren't too sore today. Congrats on the great loss!
I bought a bike today!
