The idea of actually losing weight biking was one that was VERY overwhelming to me at first.

I remember knowing that I needed a plan, but having no idea where to begin.

In the past I had always gone straight to some kind of calorie counting, a weekly weigh in, a bunch of exercise as the answer.

Motivating to do ALL of that? It’s not even just that it was hard. It was pretty much not possible. At least not for me.

If you are anything like me you have been here. You have tried all of the things to lose weight. None of them worked. You gave up…until the next diet or exercise program came along or until you got motivated again. 

Then you GET EXCITED! You go all in! It lasts for a week, a month, maybe even several months, but then life happens.

You get busy. You get hungry. You get tired. You don’t feel like riding your bike.

You are so sick of tracking all of your food in a stupid app and that app telling you that you are all out of calories for the day even though you are freaking STARVING.

Or, you are doing great with tracking all of the things and you aren’t starving, BUT you are sick of putting all the things into the dumb app!

I am here to tell you that you can absolutely still lose weight. You can do this even if you can’t ride that much right now.

In this article I talk about the role that movement and biking plays in weight loss, and what you CAN do even if you can’t ride your bike at the moment. 

Pick ONE Thing to Start With     

When you are just starting out, pick ONE thing. In other words, I suggest putting all of your focus into EITHER your food, OR riding your bike.

If those things seem too overwhelming, then go with something you know you CAN do, like getting enough water or getting enough sleep.

Whenever I coach my clients, I ask them what is the MOST important thing to them RIGHT NOW. Is it riding your bike harder, stronger, and faster? OR, is it losing weight?

Both of these things can (and absolutely do) go hand in hand, but it is WAY too overwhelming to work on both of them right out the gate with the same level of attention to detail and enthusiasm.

I was recently coaching a member of our program on building up mileage for a fundraiser. I told her to focus on the bike, not the weight loss.

After the event if she wanted to switch gears, that would be great! But in the leadup it was her performance on the bike that was the most important. This is to her and what she wanted coaching on.

It is so helpful to really narrow your focus on where you want results FIRST.

This way, when you feel like you have too much going on and something has to give, you have a plan for what you are going to put on the back burner for now.. 

Get Some Momentum Going    

Once you have your one thing, it’s time to get some momentum going!

For example, if you are focusing on food, start with planning your meals each day. Sit down for five minutes, first thing in the morning, and decide what you are going to eat.

You don’t need an app, you don’t need to count calories, you just need a plan.

Plan all of the things you would normally eat that day.

Then stick to the plan. That’s it. There is no need to make this complicated at first.

Don’t restrict, don’t worry about being healthy, just plan all of the things you normally eat and just eat those things.

The idea here is to build up some trust in yourself to eat according to plan.

Once you have this going solid for a week or two then you can start thinking about little changes you can make to your plan. For now, the idea is just to get in the habit of planning your food in advance and being successful with eating what’s on the plan.

This will help you build momentum and help you start to realize you CAN do this. That you absolutely can get results.  

Expect that You Aren’t Going to Feel Motivated All the Time 

I think one of the big misconceptions out there is that motivation is supposed to feel awesome and exciting all the time. 

We feel like we are failing if we aren’t naturally motivated to do things. We start to wonder why all of the people around us can stick with diets and get results while we find ourselves just giving up.

The reality is that motivation CAN feel awesome…especially when you first start a new plan or a new program.

You might be excited, hyped, and all in, and that’s great!

But when that wears off (and since you are human it probably will) motivation starts to feel a little bit less like motivation and a little more like willpower.

This is where we need to coach ourselves to keep going. Remind yourself that it’s totally ok to NOT want to do something. Everyone feels that way at times!

I don’t always want to get on my bike. I don’t always want to eat according to my plan, either.

In these situations I remind myself that every single time I get on my bike, and every single time I follow my plan, I am that much closer to achieving my goals.

In other words…

When You’re Not Motivated? Do it Anyway  

When you aren’t feeling particularly motivated, it’s time to have a little talk with yourself.

Say, “I know you don’t feel like planning your meals today, and that’s OK. You don’t have to want to, but you are going to do it anyway.”

Our brains tend to like the path of least resistance, and they like to repeat what we have done in the past because it’s easier than doing something new.

Therefore, it’s a whole lot easier to say “eff it” and eat some cake at work that wasn’t part of your plan than it is to say “The cake isn’t on your plan. You don’t need it. You can always plan for it another time.”

Unless, of course, the cake is something you planned…then go ahead and eat it. And enjoy it.

There’s nothing worse than shoveling in a piece of cake that you don’t even enjoy just because you think that you royally screwed up and “cheated.” 

Move Onto the Next Doable Thing 

Finally, after you have built momentum and had success with the first thing that you are working on, move right along to the next doable thing.

Maybe you have planning your meals on lock, and now you want to start planning your rides.

This is great! The idea here though is that there is no rush, and there is no need to do things in any set order.

It is truly all up to you. In our 12-week program we go through a number of doable things to implement in your life, but they are to be implemented in your own time.

This is all your plan, on your schedule.

The idea is to make changes in a timeframe that works for you. Changes that are reasonable and doable. Once one change becomes a habit, becomes easy, then you are ready to start adding in others.

A Final Note…  

I was listening to a podcast by Brooke Castillo of the Life Coach School recently, and she mentioned that you can’t make temporary changes and expect permanent results.

This is SO true. Permanent results, like losing weight and keeping it off, come from permanent, doable changes.

When you start with just ONE doable thing, like planning your meals each day, and you work on that ONE thing like a boss?

You start to really believe in yourself. Believe that YOU can do this. That your goals and your dreams really, truly are possible.

I used to think that being fit and losing weight was for other people. That it wasn’t for me.

I was so wrong. It wasn’t that my goals were unattainable, it was that I didn’t have a plan and was looking to some crappy diet to help me.
I realized that I didn’t need anything outside of me to teach me how to lose weight, that I have had all of the tools all along.

I just needed a doable, actionable plan that worked for me.

Once I figured this out, and implemented it, I realized that I could teach other women how to do it too.

This is exactly what the Lose Weight Biking program does. It helps women lose weight biking for the last time.

Not quite ready for a full program? Check out my free guide below on how to get started on losing weight biking today.

Ride on!
xoxo
Stacy