All Things Bikes and Tacos! (...and every vehicle imaginable)

What's your shoulder issue? I did PT after a fall on the MTB last year and not gonna lie my shoulder was stronger than it was before I got hurt. I think the diagnosis was an AC joint sprain and Arthritis in the rotator cuff, which probably came from previous injuries. The wild thing was that the orthopedic surgeon was like just take it easy, we can try a steroid shot but probably shouldn't since you aren't even 30 yet. He didn't even consider PT until I mentioned it...

 

I ride indoor a ton all year round.

When we built our house I even added a dedicated trainer area. I have a Wahoo Kickr with a bike that is permanently on it, speakers, fans with wireless control, and two monitors. I've got towels, food, bottles, clothes all organized down there too.

I mainly use Trainerroad with a bit of Zwift. Even if I can only swing 30 minutes on a given day that's more than nothing. I can come in the door, and be on the bike spinning the legs in 5 minutes. Super efficient if I can't get out for a ride.

I also hate doing structured rides outside. Outside is where I have fun instead of worrying about intervals and power zones. Inside is where I can make the most fitness gains in the least amount of time though. I'm about 50/50 inside vs outside in the summer. Winter here is brutal so it's nearly 100% inside. I've made it so there is the minimum amount of hurdles to get on the bike and that there's the maximum amount of comfort and entertainment to keep me there.

 

I have had a torn labrum for 20 years or so, but had another good dislocation last week. I have gone long spurts between issues. As I get older the temptation for surgery is more tempting.

 

Caring so much about something so little is silly but nevertheless sometimes I need a good reminder. It's true about what they say making a hobby a career

30 min drive to the trails? Yeah I don't blame you

 

20 without traffic but where they’re located there is always traffic. I wanna move to Knoxville lol.

I have that XC course 5min from me now but it’s quite boring.

 

What worked for me was just simple calorie counting with the Samsung health app. I figured out my basal metabolic rate with some online tools and a little experimentation. For me, it turned out to be 1900 calories on a lazy day and 2200 on an active day. I entered everything I ate as accurately as possible and was strict about not going over my calories for the day as much as possible. I did not worry too much about what I ate as long as I was within my calorie allotment. Eventually I got a bit more advanced and started tracking my macros, which has allowed me to optimize energy for high output days while still maintaining a calorie deficit.

 

Step one is just counting calories. It can be shocking what certain foods can add up to. Be honest about each and every thing you eat. Don't be super militant about it either at first. Just start being careful about portions and extras through the day. Get some good habits and then start prioritizing better foods.

Simple things beyond your regular exercise can help to. Always take the stairs. Walk or ride to the store/work/school/brewery. If you do drive just park far away.

Like a lot of little foods can add up to a lot of calories, a lot of little activities can add up to calories burned.

 

ahh man that's rough! I don't know anyone that has had a surgery on shoulder but hopefully it's a decent option

 

30 mins to ride I feel for you dudes.

I couldn't imagine, super lucky to be able to roll down my driveway and be in dirt in 30 seconds... The number of trail systems within a 10 min drive see trail forks screenshot...

 

I've tried using MyFitnessPal but I just don't find it helpful for some reason...I have been tempted to put most of the foods I eat in an excel file and print it and keep an actual journal...normally I stay away from paper but this might need to happen haha.

I think part of the issue now is that I work from home so rarely "need" to walk anywhere. Back when I was commuting I lost like 40 pounds in about a year once I stopped eating out all the time. I also walked about 5 miles a day on average before I even did a workout for the day.

 

WFH can be trouble. The fridge is right there all day. Ha. I found that I had to schedule when I ate as well when working at home or I'd just snack all day. This is when I first started counting calories and making myself accountable.

I also make it a habit to start with excercise every day. First thing I do when I get up is a quick cup of coffee and a banana and then an hour walk with the dogs. Get the day started right.

Right now I've been down with covid. While I've felt like shit the past three weeks I still have an appetite and definitely eating more than I should. I've also not been riding at all. I've tried a few times to even just spin the legs but between a pounding headache and difficulty breathing I've chosen rest.

I've definitely gained some weight in the last three weeks even.

 

Man, hope you get better quickly! I had a friend that kind of forced himself to go on walks (he's normally in the gym about 20 hours a week). I think that helped a lot to get some sun and very mild exercise. It took him about 2 weeks to get mostly over it. Even just sitting out in the sun would help a little bit I'm sure.

With the summer heat I usually ride in the morning but I should definitely go on a walk when I don't workout in the morning. I'm also usually good for breakfast and lunch but then by mid afternoon I get so hungry, especially days when I have done a ride. I should try scheduling an actual healthy snack so I'm not destroying random stuff I find in the pantry as I cook dinner haha. Weekends are the killer for me, I need to be way better about eating healthy on the weekends.

 

I have zero experience with a true indoor trainer, but we’ve owned a peleton for prolly 2yrs now. Pretty sure I’ve used it less than 50 times, whereas the wife is on it daily.

I do use their app though for strength/yoga/stretching daily. I’ve been wanting to try out some of the fit4racimg programming, just haven’t yet.

On the food/counting bit, the wife recently starting counting her macros. She’s an all in kinda person so we’re talking full on weighing and tracking everything…like everything. By default I’ve trimmed down some as she handles the majority of our meal planning

 

Walking is about all I'm doing these days. I take the dogs out a couple of days but even that I come home pretty winded.

Had to cancel a ton of racing. Was supposed to go do the Intelligentsia Cup series in Chicago this last week and a gravel and mountain bike race in Crowsnest Pass, Alberta this weekend. Total bummer.

 

I would use an app. I found the Samsung one quite good but try a few. They make it easier to know the calories you've consumed and it's easy to see where you're at throughout the day and stay on track. Obviously this requires a bit of self-control as well, but at least you have the information readily available.

I also forgot that I set a 10,000 steps a day requirement for myself and held to that regardless of what else I did that day. This part was really tough to maintain but I'm sure it helped a lot.

Last thing that I found useful was weigh-ins and progress pictures. I try not to put too much emphasis on these things normally, but it really does help keep the motivation up. The first month or two is tough cause you don't see a ton of progress but it's a lot easier to tell that it's working by looking at a scale or pictures.

Edit: Oh! Lots of water! I counted my water as well and made sure I was hitting at least "8x 16oz a day"

Edit 2: And sleep! I tried to get 8 hours or more. I'm a terrible sleeper and can get by with 4-6 hours without much ill effect (I actually have a genetic variant that is thought to support this).

 

that is so tough, I can only imagine how much that sucks

I'll have to look for other apps. I think I tried another one, I forget what it's called. It usually came down to having to enter the food every day that got kind of annoying. I need to force myself to do it though.

I usually drink a lot of water haha. I keep my yeti with me like 24/7 and try to drink at least 3 bottles (about 100 ounces).

I actually think I heard andrew huberman talking about that genetic variant in one of his podcasts recently haha. I'm usually in bed for 8 hours a night which ends up at bout 7 hours 45 minutes of sleep according to my whoop haha. Another dilemma is not having enough time to sleep 8 hours if I want to get a walk in every morning haha.

 

I would just make a point doing it before I ate, every time. No putting food in my mouth until I type it in. It does get annoying at times, but this also is not easy...

 

A good app to use is Carb manager to track your food...I'd recommend cutting out carbs and all sugar.
I've been doing a low carb / High fat "keto" diet last 4 years with intermittent fasting.... 250----> 200 and held it off with ease for the most part... other than Mtbing a few times a week and playing ice hockey one day a week... no working out ( I should be though)...last few years I haven't tracked any food. Just kinda on autopilot, no cheat days. Mostly eat meat, eggs, nuts, salads, veggies...


My energy level it's better than ever, sleep better, and obviously the weight has stayed off, just overall feel better.
As far as on the bike able to do consistently doing 15-20 mile rides (even few 30 milers mixed in) without bonking


Do your research on it whatever diet... most importantly do something that works for you and is sustainable.

Most of the food out there is hot garbage that they feed us.... the main reason most of the US is overweight and sick.. That's a conversation for the tin foil hat thread...

 

For the dudes talking about tracking calories, I recommend MacroFactor. Best one I've tried, makes it easy to enter food, and does a great job of smoothing out your weight to give you a better idea of what your actual weight is, regardless of daily fluctuations. Uses the weight data and calories to do a really good job of estimating TDEE, and giving you a daily calorie goal to match your goal of weight loss, gain, or maintenance.

There's no free option, outside of the free trial, but its worth it over the other options out there.

 

It’s definitely not easy!

I’ll try that app out. My go to is meat, veggies, and fruit with rice and various potatoes on occasion. I’ve been trying to race a bit so I try not to cut out carbs completely. I mostly good about no processed stuff though so that’s good haha

I’ll check that one out too!