The Blue Collar Diet
June 15th, 2005 by CarlOk, so I lied. It’s not really a “diet” per se… more of an explanation. Before I got into mountain biking in the fall of 2003, I was a fat freaking monkey. Not to mention the fact that I smoked, drank lots and lots of soda and made MANY midnight White Castle runs.
I mean…. take a look below! Yup! I’m on the far right, grinning proudly at 225 lbs….
Yup, that was me. People that I’ve known 2 years or less don’t believe their eyes… I mean seriously…. All I did before was eat. Then, mountain biking came into the picture. I quit smoking, ran to target to buy my “top of the line” $200 bike, and hit the trails with good ol’ Tim.
That was the first day Tim and I went out. No helmet, a bandana because I was “cool”… and no water bottle. Yea, I was an idiot and I had no idea what I was getting into. By that point I’d dropped about 20 lbs already, as a result of 3 simple things:
1) A slim fast bar for breakfast (seriously, they taste good!)
2) A lean cuisine for lunch (these are good too, but man… not very filling)
3) A big freakin salad and chicken sandwhich for dinner (Wendy’s!)
Yea, there was a bit of variety. Sometimes I’d go binge over at El Burrito Loco (translated: the crazy burrito… and yes they were) before jumping back on the bandwagon. But after I got into biking, the weight pretty much stayed off for good.
The bottom line: eat less+bike lots= lose LOTS
Now I can eat pretty much whatever I want… just no more late night binges or soda. How about all of you? Anyone go from fat to in shape because of our great sport?
Here’s me now… 170 pounds and goofy as always…. thanks Trek!
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I dropped about 22lbs because I was training for a race. 12 of that was thanks to bicycle commuting.
way to go carl! keep biking !~
Good job Carl!
This is encouraging, I’ve just started mountain biking last month and I already feel much better.
My job is at a desk all day so I was always feeling kind of tired. I think I’ve dropped a pound or two also.
I don’t like jogging so I don’t stick with it. I’m loving mtbing, and upon thinking about it, I love it for the same reasons I did when I was 10. We just didn’t call it mountian biking back then…
Ugh… I don’t blame you for not liking jogging. It took me a LONG TIME to actually get into it, and some days I wonder why I even bother. Riding is much more fun anyways… Thanks for the comment Mike!
Carl, way to go. I love to see the fatter become less.
The excessive use of sugar can lead full an organism, therefore it is necessary to choose aside substitutes of sugar if there is a greater need in sweet. WBR LeoP
Great story. I’m still a fatcat, my bike team calls me Clyde, as in Clydesdale…I’m working hard to drop the weight and I have a lot to drop. Last year, 2007, a friend talked me into going out mountain biking with him. I instantly fell in love with the sport, but at 334 pounds, my bike cried and I was sweating soda and grease…It was miserable, here I found somthing I was in love with but to fat to enjoy it.
That had to change! Its a year later and I’m down to 294 (as of last friday) I’ve decide that I need to step it up even more, so my goal is 250 by December. I’m exercising every day and am eating less 1500-2300 calories a day, every day. I found a website called “sparkspeople” that is truly helping me track and loose the weight. I bought a road bike (ug) and am commuting to work every day its not raining. Thats 15 miles round trip every day I can ride, and also trying to ride 40 miles minimum each weekend.
Your story is great and I hope I can one day look as great as you do!