A Big THANK YOU from The Hammer
I wanted to say a huge thank you to the 165 people that have joined Elden and me in our quest to lose weight. The last few weeks have definitely been a challenge for me! Whether you have a lot of weight to lose or just a few pounds I want to thank you for making the commitment with Beeminder to publically acknowledge your weight loss goals.
Not only are we making a difference in our lives, but we are also impacting young girls in Africa! What an awesome thing: a situation where everyone can win…by losing! As a result of the $19.95 the 167 of us each donated when we began this challenge, we have raised enough money to buy 24 bikes. So, even by just starting something good for ourselves, we have essentially already changed the lives of 24 young ladies in Zambia. Talk about win-win!
This happy young lady is Emily. We met Emily when we traveled to Zambia with World Bicycle Relief. She was one of the teenage girls fortunate to receive a bike through the efforts of WBR.
Emily and her new bike can now make the six-mile round trip to and from school in a quarter of the time it takes to walk. This allows her more time to study and take care of the chores around her home. Your small sacrifice of a few dollars to join our weight loss contest will have an impact on a young girl a half a world a way. I cannot say Thank You enough!
I’m also excited about our weight loss potential as a group of Fat Cyclist Fans! Losing weight is not easy, and knowing that 165 people are suffering right along with me is a comfort! The end result of our weight loss struggle will be worth it in the end–at least that is what I keep telling myself! I’m hoping to come away a little faster for my racing endeavors this summer.
I’m curious why you decided to join Elden, Beeminder, and me in our weight loss contest. I would love to read about it in the comment section.
And If you have any good low calorie/low carb recipes I would love to have them.
You see, Elden is out of town this week and I have temporarily taken control of his blog. It’s our secret. Lets see how long I can go before he finds out.
Comment by Karen | 03.19.2014 | 9:03 pm
Ooh ooh I’m the first to comment! Neat.
I’m not any kind of cyclist, and I’d never been to the Fat Cyclist site before. But, I did use Beeminder when I was pregnant (baby was born 9-28-13) to monitor my weight gain (I was aiming for slow and modest :-)) It was very helpful, and I’d always planned to use Beeminder to track my weight loss.
But, whoops! Here I was with a nearly six month old baby and I had not shed one pound! And I didn’t really feel motivated to do so either, which was the worst part :-( But then I read about this weight loss challenge in Beeminder’s email, and I thought – Maybe this is exactly what I need. I think I had been waiting for some reason, some moment, to just DO IT and START. And here it was. The feeling of community, and accountability, a bit of friendly competition, and a teensie bit of financial incentive was just the icing on the cake.
Thanks for the inspiration!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Comment by Daniel Reeves | 03.19.2014 | 10:24 pm
@Karen: Holy cow, that’s so good to hear. Thank you! And so happy to have introduced you to Fat Cyclist. It’s pretty great! :)
Comment by Nic Grillo | 03.19.2014 | 11:12 pm
I broke my collarbone about a year ago, and while recovering, I managed to pack on a few extra lbs. It took me a while to get back on the bike, and even when I did, I just didn’t have the motivation to ride. I’m happy to say that phase has passed, and I’m back to riding a few times a week. However, I still have about 10lbs that won’t go away. When Elden announced this, I felt it would be the perfect motivation to hit it hard. I’m very glad that it is benefiting WBR as well. Good luck everyone!
Comment by khg | 03.20.2014 | 12:36 am
I’m doing the Cinghiale Tours Italian Alps/Dolomites trip this summer!!! Part of how I’m dealing with my anxious excitement (or excited anxiety?) is by losing the 7 pounds that will get me to a climbing weight of 2 lbs/inch of height. That and bike up a lot of hills between now and then…
Comment by KenKoz | 03.20.2014 | 4:09 am
Motivation for the weight loss that I never seem to accomplish, along with helping WBR, of course.
Comment by Gillian | 03.20.2014 | 6:14 am
I wanted to do this with you all, as I have just had my third and last baby and feel enormous and slow and blech. But sadly it was too soon – I am not quite clear to exercise yet! If you’d started a month later . . . :( I will watch your progress and cheer for you. The Hammer is my inspiration – I know Lisa had . . . some (3?) kids, and went through this phase I’m in right now, where this body hasn’t really been my own for six years. But you have obviously reclaimed your body, girl, you look amazing, and I love reading about yours and Fatty’s adventures!
Comment by Dave T | 03.20.2014 | 8:30 am
A chance to help raise money for WBR and lose those last few lbs it was a win-win. Beeminder has been great, just the motivation I need to lose those last few lbs. I don’t have any low carb recipes for me cutting out snacking, reducing portion size and increasing my riding seems to be working. Good luck everyone.
Comment by patty | 03.20.2014 | 8:45 am
Darn I missed signing up! I have been behind in my blog reading. It is so wonderful that you raised enough money for 24 bikes! Best of luck to everyone!
Comment by Lulea | 03.20.2014 | 9:00 am
Last year when Elden suggested that we find others on the blog to challenge each other to weight loss I did just that with a now friend in Colorado. We both lost weight last spring and half-heartedly tried some more later in the year. This challenge was just the thing to kick us both back in gear to lose the remainder. Thank you for the extra motivation and community support. I want lose the weigh to feel better while biking and hiking this year and for my overall health.
Comment by Lulea | 03.20.2014 | 9:01 am
Oh and thanks to the person that suggested a reliable scale. It has worked great so far.
Comment by Andrew | 03.20.2014 | 9:42 am
Here is a side for the eggs. Often at dinner we roast a kinds of veggies in the oven on a cookie sheet. Carrots and potatos sliced up thinish, olive oil, dash of salt, pepper and cumin to taste. 20 minutes or so at 425. Just soft enough to call it cooked, roasty, or crispy, take your pick. Asparagus, onion and mushroom anyone?
Comment by briebecca | 03.20.2014 | 9:53 am
I’m Lulea’s Colorado friend. We both decided on our own to join in on the Beeminder/WBR challenge. The Beeminder graph with all its bells and whistles appeals to the data geek in me. It’s encouraging to see my path along the right side of the yellow road and not go below it. Wish I had discovered it earlier! That, the money incentive (having to pay up if you derail is pretty powerful!), the friendly competition and best of all, helping out WBR made it all a no-brainer to join in the contest.
Comment by Damon Gene | 03.20.2014 | 9:54 am
I joined for a couple of reasons. First off, I love WBR and what they do…so it was a no-brainer.
I fluctuate a good twenty pounds between our winters and summers. It’s easy to do up here in North Dakota. This year was especially difficult; I went from a comfortable (for me) 185 up to 215. I started the year with the goal to shed, but with winter hanging on and so much good food still in the house, I was cheating every other day.
But if there’s one thing I dislike, it’s over-spending on anything…especially food. Realizing that, within this challenge, if I were to cheat it could wind up costing me real money, and potentially a lot of it, I knew I had found the solution to staying on-track. And by golly, so far, I have.
My initial goal was to lose 37 pounds (one for each of the 37 years I’ve been on this earth). After a good start and a retro-ratchet, it will wind up being just shy of 40 pounds, but I’m not complaining. On June 21 I will be hitting the road to Colorado Springs with the goal of checking something off my bucket list: riding Pike’s Peak. The timing couldn’t be better.
Comment by Scott | 03.20.2014 | 10:01 am
I was hit by a car in January (on my bike) and ended up gaining weight over and above my normal winter layer. The contest started about the same time I was able to ride again.
I needed to drop nearly 20 lbs as I’m hoping my 100MON this year will include about 9000′ of climbing and Beeminder will help keep me on track AND I love being able to support WBR at the same time. (run on sentence much?)
I don’t have much for recipes, I snack most of the day on nuts, fruit and veggies, various proteins and really only eat anything while riding.
Comment by Bill | 03.20.2014 | 10:42 am
Hi Hammer! Thanks for filling in! Health issues, work related stress and a rough winter all contributed to getting my weight up into the “alarming” region. This contest came along at just the right time. I was feeling pretty helpless and unable to kick it off on my own. The day after my birthday (and a weekend of excessive amounts of cake!) Fatty announced this contest and I didn’t hesitate. Now that I am in it, I realize how very helpful it is to be doing it along with 165 like minded folks. Good luck to everyone. I take inspiration from looking at the leader board and how everyone else is doing. And WBR is a great motivator as well. Icing on the cake indeed!
Comment by Rydeordie | 03.20.2014 | 11:33 am
Can we still sign up to get the kids bikes without doing the weight loss thing? I already started dropping the winter weight. Either way great job everyone on the altruistic aversion to oral avarice.
Comment by Liz M. | 03.20.2014 | 12:15 pm
Congratulations, Hammer, and thanks for inspiring us and encouraging us in comraderie. I’m just trying to lose a few extra pounds that crept on gradually. I had not heard of Beeminder but I was intrigued and decided to give it a go. A donation to WBR was icing on the . . . oops, veggies in the egg white omelette.
I don’t have any recipes in particular. For breakfast, I eat a veggie-egg white omelette or fruit and yogurt. I’m really into salads for lunch now. For example, today I had a salad with a lot of lettuce and raw kale and small portions of corn, black beans, tomatoes, fried onions, salsa and light ranch dressing.
Good luck, everyone!
Comment by The Hammer/Lisa | 03.20.2014 | 12:22 pm
@all the Fatty’s trying to lose weight! You guys are truely inspirational! Thanks for your comments and advice. Keep up the good work!
@Rydeordie (btw…like your name:0)Anyone is welcome to donate and help me raise money for WBR, just click on the link in my post above and it will redirect you to my WBR donation page.
Comment by Quien | 03.20.2014 | 1:27 pm
For all of you who are following Clara’s Big Ride, she’s biking another 109 km on her charity bike ride, making her way to Kitchener today. You can learn more about the planned events for the evening and amazing things to do in the city here https://livingalpha.com/journal/why-will-the-city-of-kitchener-add-some-fun-to-clara-hughes-big-ride
Comment by Patrick | 03.20.2014 | 2:22 pm
Hi Hammer & Fatty, I’m losing weight because I am doing a few events in June and I know I’ll suffer on the hills if I don’t shift a few pounds. My long term goal is to cycle the iconic climbs of the TdF and have been carrying extra weight for too long!
My method for weight loss is to eat large breakfast and lunch and a smaller supper, it’s had varying degrees of success, but I’m also getting a few rides in at the moment which is helping too.
Comment by Johnny knows best | 03.20.2014 | 2:39 pm
Hello Hammer. I am a longtime fat cyclist reader who watched Fatty’s weight loss last spring and said, “I should do that” Well know I am. I’m also training for the High Cascades 100 in Bend, OR this July. Even if I hit my weight loss goals, I still may be the heaviest guy in the field (I won’t be the weakest though!)
Misery loves company
Comment by Damian | 03.20.2014 | 5:28 pm
Hammer, you should take over more often. While Fatty is a worldwide loved blogger, we all need a break now and then. I couldn’t join the contest this time as I travel to often to check in daily. Roasted sweet potatoes are simply awesome. Toss with olive oil, garlic, put into a 400 oven for 30 mins. put in bowl, add black beans, chopped tomatoes, goat cheese, salt and pepper to taste. Add a few beers and it’s a great night. Oh wait, not a good weight loss night, but a great night
Comment by ClydeinKS | 03.20.2014 | 7:41 pm
After utilizing a more rapid loss technique in winning a pair of smelly used shoes (that someone scribbled on the insole)in the previous weight loss challenge, I had my scale away and knew my weight was drifting back on as I reintroduced myself to the drive through breakfast and again increased portion sizes to unhealthy American standard. I have started and manage a cycling group through work and don’t want to always ride sweep. I knew this would be another great opportunity to benefit a fabulous cause and the method seemed to be one that may encourage a more long-lasting result. When I got the scale back out I was pleased to see I hadn’t fully returned back to the previous starting weight! I shooting for approximately 25# in loss and will gladly look for more if I can and begin looking at dropping below 200! It’ll be the most comfortable I’ve been in my aero bars! Good luck to all!
Comment by Cheryl | 03.20.2014 | 10:08 pm
I missed it… but can we still sign up? I do have a recipe for 4 servings of what I call egg stuff. In a big skillet mine is an electric square one I saute 1 large sweet onion,about a quarter pound of lox, one16 ounce bag of pre washed and chopped mixed greens. I get the southern blend from Trader Joes. I add half a jar of chipotle sauce also from Trader Joes. once this is all cooked down, I add 8 scrambled eggs and cook until everything is solid. Then divided into four pieces my husband and I sharefor breakfast over 2 days. the good thing about it is that it will refrigerate really well and is good cold or nuked in the microwave. before I went out of town to visit my mother for her surgery I made this for my husband and he had almost a week worth for the breakfast. I guess you could leave the egg yolks out!!
Comment by lynne | 03.20.2014 | 10:51 pm
Boy, “they” aren’t kidding when they say menopause messes with your hormones and makes weight gain an almost inevitable occurrence and weight loss an equally difficult endeavor. The idea of a contest is always a fun impetus for getting on the right track (or yellow brick road). The point, of course, is to learn to eat properly and nutritionally and incorporate enough physical activity into ones life for a proper balance. Don’t we all know this really. Crash dieting is a short term answer. As many readers can attest it eventually leads right back to weight gain and unhealthy choices. I find that by taking a few minutes to track my food intake and physical activity each day has helped immensely. The internet has so many wonderful tools available in addition to delicious recipe ideas and food alternatives for all lifestyles. It, like anything else, takes a little extra time and effort, but it is a commitment that has so many rewards. Being fit and healthy is so intoxicating. And, of course, the rewards of being a small part of your WBR efforts is icing on the cake. Hammer, your unselfish contributions in your busy world is commendable.
Comment by Private SEO | 05.12.2014 | 8:04 pm
It’s amazing in favor of me to have a site, which is useful
in favor of my experience. thanks admin