What methodology should you use to improve your cycling? That\’s one of the questions that can be answered: Ask 50 people, and you\’ll get 50 different answers!

One thing that my reading on the subject has taught me is: don\’t rush it. Take things at your own pace, and you\’ll do better in the long run. An all hard, all the time boot-camp approach is likely to result in exhaustion; burnout; and possibly injury.

Keep in mind that not everyone\’s body has the same response to any given training load. Some people are so-called \”fast responders\”; and others respond more slowly. It can be discouraging for those in the latter group to see the fast responders make rapid gains, while they themselves seem to be getting nowhere; but there\’s nothing wrong with being a slow responder. It does require more patience, though!

I\’m not sure which type I am. I\’ve never participated in any kind of formal cyclists\’ training program, and don\’t feel the need to do so. If I could afford a coach, it might help me to make more rapid improvements towards becoming a faster rider; but unless I decide to go for racing, there\’s not much sense in my spending the money.

Weight Loss

How about weigh loss methodology? Like cyclist training, there\’s no one-size-fits-all. Weight loss must be tailored to the individual.

How much weight needs to be lost? Are there medical conditions — for example, hypertension — involved? What are the individual\’s food preferences? There are even religious attitudes towards food to consider: for example, in some religions, pork is taboo.

Is the person physically active? What kind of activity, and how much? If exercise wasn\’t in the picture before, what can the person do; and how much is tolerable? What kind of activity does the person like? Nobody enjoys having to participate in a disliked form of exercise!

When I learned I had prediabetes in February 2020, I weighed about 128 pounds; and for me, that was borderline overweight. It was at the point where I could barely get into my cycling shorts; and I didn\’t want to have to start buying them in a larger size. (Oh, the embarrassment!) So, what did I do?

The \”Diet\”

For year or more, I had been devouring loads of candy bars and other unhealthful snacks; mostly mindless stress eating, as I was working like mad on this web site! My cycling hadn\’t been enough to keep the pounds off. I had to do something about that; but my methodology wasn\’t to \”go on a diet\”.

First, I began to write down what I was eating; and worked to cut the candy and other snacks by 50%. I started to turn to apple wedges and carrot sticks when I felt like munching on something. In a month or so I lost 5-6 pounds; and it didn\’t seem all that hard.

Fast-forward to November, 2020. By then I was down to about 105-107 pounds; but to my dismay, my A1c levels hadn\’t dropped. I realized that I needed to tighten the screws, so to speak.

That\’s when I began to work with both a nurse practitioner and a nutritionist. I then had guidelines for calorie and carb intake, and I worked to keep track of it all. My eating plan is: try to get plenty of vegetables; eat complex carbs such as legumes; and limit simple carbs such as M&Ms.

Eating plan; not diet. \”Diet\” sounds too much like a painful struggle, including being hungry all the time. We know that that does not work! An eating plan must be sustainable in the long run; and extreme diets do not fall under that heading.

Yes, It Worked!

And yes, it worked; by last month my A1c levels had fallen below the prediabetes range. Just barely, though; and I intend to keep working at the eating plan I\’ve followed for the last 14 months. Sure, some days I go totally off the rails; but that\’s only human. When it happens, don\’t beat yourself up over it; just work at bringing yourself back to heel.

Cycling is a great help in weight loss/weight maintenance. I don\’t yet ride much more than I did pre-prediabetes, but I do seem to be riding a bit more intensely; and riding at a higher intensity burns a few extra calories.

As I think I\’ve said before, I seem to lose weight quite easily once I set my mind and work on it, but what worked for me might not work for everybody; so get professional advice if possible; and chose your own methodology.