Do you want to use a bike to lose weight? Riding a bike is one of the best leisure activities and also the simplest means of commuting. Bicycling uses all of your large muscles in the body, and once those large muscles are being used, it means you are burning a lot of calories.
Cycling for weight loss can be achieved by anyone, whether you are an amateur rider or a professional rider. When you ride your hybrid bike, you can burn an average of 400-600 calories per hour depending on how well and hard you peddle as well as your size. Therefore, biking your way to weight loss can be achieved by applying a few steps.
1. Eat regularly
Think of your body as an engine to your bike which needs to be topped up with fuel regularly. You must stick to a good meal routine of three meals a day, organising your weekly meals and eating small amounts of good food every few hours. This will help maintain your body metabolism, burn calories, and keep your energy levels stable.
2. Cut down on high sugar and processed foods
You may get a lot of energy from such foods, but you must know they have meagre nutritional value. Keep in mind that if you don’t burn off excess sugar immediately, it can be stored in the form of fat by your body which you obviously want to avoid. It is also best if you avoided sports energy gels as well as bars because they come filled with a lot of sugar, and as much as they are great for cycling, remember in your case you are trying to lose weight.
Time for cycling
Scheduling and devoting appropriate time for cycling is critical if you plan to lose weight. Think of how best you can make up that time and stick to it, you can also choose to commute by bike plenty of times, for example, going to your favourite coffee shop, you will burn calories twice in a day since you go by bike and you have no choice but to return home on the same bike.
Right bike
You must have it in mind that you are a heavy person and starting out you will need the right bike and of the right size to help you ride safely and comfortably. A hybrid or a mountain bike will be a favourable option for you in this case, or if you want someone around to guide you, then the best bike will be that one you can reserve spin class.
Know your goals
Experts believe that knowing and setting goals is very crucial for one to be successful at something. Set goals that are realistic and achievable to you in a specific period of time, for example, many people tend to lose a lot of weight in the first month so you can set a goal of losing three pounds in the first month you start biking and the months that follow set to lose one pound per month.
You need to start small
You may be reading this and later go out to ride your favourite hybrid bike for hours and then find out that you are too sore the next day. Try to start slowly and try not to push yourself too far because you can also build to greatness when you start small.
Monitor your progress
Keeping track of your progress will challenge you to compete with yourself and motivate you to ride more, especially when you are getting positive results. You will always want to keep it that way. Tracking your progress is made easy nowadays by some apps you can download straight to your smartphone.
Some of these apps are Strava and Google Maps among others. You can also keep monitoring your weight loss progress with the best body composition scale like the Nokia heart health and body composition scale which is highly recommended by successful users.
Final Words
Biking for weight loss is the best way to stay healthier, fitter, and stronger and burn off those extra calories. Invest in the right equipment and bike for your body to keep you safe and comfortable as you ride, and your way to weight loss will be smooth and successful.
