Biking To Maintain Weight

 I started biking at the age of 75. I don't bike every day, but I try and bike 3 times a week for 60 to 90 minutes.  It's my way to do cardio and burn calories. This is my second year. But my diet or the way I eat is the most important part of maintaining a healthy body. 

Many people who are trying to lose weight will join a health club or buy a piece of exercise equipment and after a few months they quit because they can't see any results. Losing weight or really losing body fat is all about what you eat. You can actually lose body fat without exercise but doing a little more physical activity along with changing your diet is the best way to go. 

Increasing your activity level will improve your metabolism which helps the body burn fat. The more you're sitting and the lower your activity level the more time your body spends in shut-down mode. In this mode it's much like when you're sleeping when your burn almost no calories. Add up the hours you sit and the hours you're laying down and for most people the total hours are more than 12 hours a day. 

That's the reason that your one-hour workout isn't enough activity to burn fat. Your body has to burn some fat every day. That fat is used to lubricate the moving parts like your joints. The thing is the body is only burning a few grams a day and that's only about 2 ounces a week which means that it can take 2 months to burn 1 pound of fat. So, why aren't we losing a pound every couple of months?

Most of us have a diet of convenience. In other words, we buy already prepared meals, we eat in restaurants, and we drink too many calories. We have trained our bodies to burn the fat we are eating and not our stored body fat. All prepared foods contain some fat from ingredients or cooking oil. Fats are important to manufacturers to give foods a better taste. They don't make foods that's good for you, they made food that taste good. It's the same thing in the restaurant business. If it doesn't taste good, you won't come back.

So, what is a person to do? Eating healthy is all about preparing your own food. I understand that we are all busy today, life is more complicated than ever before. I have had to change my life, re-plan my day and make time to prepare simple meals. The way I do this is to eat five small meals a day. I know it might sound crazy to eat five times a day, but this is how I avoid snacking. 

It wasn't that hard; I did a search on the internet "meals under 400 calories" you can find dozens of ideas. I might only have one hot meal a day and sometimes only two or three hot meals a week. Five meals under 400 calories are less than 2000 calories a day and if you stop drinking calories and increase your activity level by walking an extra one hour a day you can lose weight. 

Remember to make your meals with little or no fat. Something else you can do is to use good fats in your diet like avocados and olives. I substitute avocados for mayo. A ripe avocado spreads like butter. Try avocados mixed with tuna fish, celery, and sliced pickles. I also cut out dairy and cut back on gluten. I found out that I'm lactose intolerant, so I changed to coconut milk, It's better than Almond milk with less additives.

I understand that for seniors eliminating things like alcohol and sugar won't be easy, do you can cut-back and still stay under 2000 calories by reducing the calories in your meals. I have one drink in the afternoon. I buy 100 proof clear alcohol like vodka, or gin, or tequila. The calories per ounce are about the same. I have one drink, a shot of alcohol over ice with a splash of water or a zero-calorie soda. As far as sugar, I don't add sugar to anything. And I try not to buy anything with sugar on the label. Food labels will become your best friend, depend on them.

Look for my podcast by searching “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight” on the podcast app that you use. You’ll see a piece of my book cover.

If you really want to lose your body fat look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You’ll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $3.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans, or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, bn.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com and other online bookstores. Just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page.