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Originally Posted by rakesh_r i am thinking of buying a bicycle, mostly for exercise purpose. I weigh around 120+ kg and in the process of weight reduction. I am a total noob and have zero knowledge on bicycles. Any recommendations are welcome. |
Its good that you are inclined to start cycling to bring your weight under control, but if that is the main purpose, then any basic cycle would do, whether geared or gearless. However I would strongly recommend that for your weight control program, you will have to work on multiple fronts and not just rely on cycling.
At the risk of getting a beating from the moderators and some curses from the cycle lovers on this thread I am taking the risk of sharing my personal experience,
"Mission - 70 Kilos"
Just some background. In the year (2019) for the first 8 months I was in Germany on a project assignment, staying alone away from my family. This meant I had to cook my own food, no consistent meal timings and lack of exercise due to work pressure and harsh climatic conditions. This took a toll on my health and I put on almost 10 kilos (went from 76kg to 86kg in a span of just 8 months). When I returned back to India, I was shocked and ashamed of myself to see the weighing scale tipping at 86kg. I then made up my mind to get back in shape in the next 10 months (at least by my birthday in June-2020). My target was to reach at least 70 kg by end of June 2020, this is what I call
"Mission - 70 Kilos".
Initially I focused on a three pronged strategy
Eat in right quantity
Eat at the right time
Eat only what you can digest, so if you want to eat more be ready to sweat more.
Eating Part:
First thing I did was to stop eating wheat roti, started eating bajra roti/bhakri instead
Stuck to 3 meals a day, breakfast at 9am (fruits, poha, upama etc), lunch at 12pm, salads, vegetable, rice, half bhakri etc & dinner at 7pm, usually soups, daal-khichadi, bhakri etc
It is recommended to stop eating white food, e.g. sugar, maida, rice, salt etc. I did not follow this very strictly & here I have much more scope to improve.
Exercising Part:
Initially I just started with walking 3-4kms & occasional cycling. Then came the Corona & Lockdown in Mid March-2020. My June-2020 target was at risk. Because exercising outdoors was prohibited. But there is always a blessing in disguise. India TV started the daily show, "Corona se jung, Swami Ramdev ke sang" & I was hooked to it. For those 40 minutes of this program I started doing Yogasanas, Pranayam & Suryanamaskars. This helped me maintain a good balance of diet & exercise. In the first 6 months from Sep-2019 to Feb-2020, I could shed 10 kilos & came from 86 to 76. After that the pace really became slow. In the next 4 months, till end of June-2020, I could manage to shed 4 more and reached 72 kilos. I felt short of my target by 2 kilos, but didn't loose hope. After June-July once the lockdown was lifted, I started venturing out for jogging & cycling, but the rains had set in & I couldn't venture out consistently. As the rains subsided and the climate became good, I made it a point to do jogging 5 days a week (5-6kms or 45 mins) and cycling/trekking on weekends with friends. This 45 minutes running followed by 45 mins of Yogasanas/Pranayams while watching Swami Ramdev on India TV became my daily ritual. Then came the Navaratri & I fasted for 9 days. Voila I could cross the 70 kilos barrier and came down to 69 kilos (this makes my BMI perfect at 22, my height is 5'10"). In the festive season of Diwali I was feasting (you heard it right, feasting & not fasting on the Diwali faral), but then also ensuring that I burn those extra calories not just in the morning but throughout the day. I have reduced the dependence on two or four wheeler. I usually walk down or cycle to the grocery shop or any other errands. On any odd day if I am not able to venture out then I climb up & down the stair cases in my house, this is also a very good cardio exercise. Any kind of physical movement is good for your body.
Now my greatest challenge is to maintain this weight & physique for the coming months & years. At least for the last 3 months (Nov to Jan), my weight is constant at 68 kilos. Don't intend to reduce it any further. However there is still a lot of scope to reduce belly fat. I am hopeful on my daily leg raises and crunches. Currently doing only 10 a day, but planning to slowly increase to 25 a day.
Lesson learnt for me is that if you can bring in some discipline in your diet & exercise you can do wonders to your body and your body will payback to you by staying fit & healthy. Proof of the pudding below.
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