I was at one time 21 stone, last year I went down to 14 stone I have NO pain at all.

 

Bloody hell you've done well. I lost another 4lbs last week - I now weigh less than I did aged 25. Unfortunately, I don't feel 25. Feeling 25 will lead to divorce.

Edited April 21, 20242 yr by guerney

A throttle is good though if you're starting off on a steep hill.It can take the initial pressure off dodgy knees.Once moving you can get peddling and let the assistance take over

A throttle is going to do nothing for fitness, or help drop body weight, and while the OP has knee problems, a bit of exercise will do more towards getting a bit of weight off, than a bicycle shaped moped will ever do.

Less body weight is less strain on the knees(+hips, ankles etc)

 

I wish the OP well in his enjoyment of biking and attempts at weight loss. That said while exercise is always good for you, it is not the way to lose weight except when extraordinary amounts of exercise is concerned. Even an unpowered bike with an average weight rider oedalled at about twelve miles an hour consumes approximately 35 calories a mile . That approximates to about a pound of flesh lost in a hundred mile ride as long as the rider does not eat any more than a normal amount of food. The ONLY way to lose weight for most of us who can't ride a hundred miles a day is to eat much less than normal. A pound of fat burned requires that you don't eat 3500 calories your body needed. It's hard, but it does work. One of my sons is a big lad in every meaning of the term big. Probably 23 stone. He has several times reduced his weight by 6 stone by eating about 1200 calories day - then he goes back to his bad ways and over time it comes back.

 

This is not meant to discourage our new friend Fatterbike. I hope he will get a lot out of biking . It is one of the very best ways to start feeling cheerful on a down day and always puts a smile on the face as well as being very good for the heart and vascular system. It won't hurt his bad knee on the hills either I hope.

A throttle is good though if you're starting off on a steep hill.It can take the initial pressure off dodgy knees.Once moving you can get peddling and let the assistance take over

 

I've adjusted to cope without a throttle. Provided I start on a low gear, on my bike assistance starts quickly, and acceleration is fast with a mid-motor driving 20" wheels. Unanticipated and unprepared for stops can be a problem though - the other night I had to re-start on my highest gear when I heard this police car approaching at some mad speed, and I'd pulled over for safety - had to stand on the pedals to get moving again. The motor assistance had no problem starting on my highest gear.

 

 

I've adjusted to cope without a throttle. Provided I start on a low gear, on my bike assistance starts quickly, and acceleration is fast with a mid-motor driving 20" wheels. Unanticipated and unprepared for stops can be a problem though - the other night I had to re-start on my highest gear when I heard this police car approaching at some mad speed, and I'd pulled over for safety - had to stand on the pedals to get moving again. The motor assistance had no problem starting on my highest gear.

 

 

[ATTACH type=full" alt="57345]57345[/ATTACH]

That is the great beauty of hub gears like the Sturmey Archer. They change while stopped - though they might not like the torque of your crank motor. The answer of course while stopped in too high a gear, is to move your derailleur arm into a lower gear position, lift up the back wheel and operate the pedal with the wheel off the ground. Pain in the wot not, but it will get you away again in that situation.

That is the great beauty of hub gears like the Sturmey Archer. They change while stopped - though they might not like the torque of your crank motor.

 

Yep, I doubt it'd last very long on my bike, especially now with the controller at 18A... probably 20A soon.

 

 

The answer of course while stopped in too high a gear, is to move your derailleur arm into a lower gear position, lift up the back wheel and operate the pedal with the wheel off the ground. Pain in the wot not, but it will get you away again in that situation.

 

...and that's why I always wear at least one glove. I wash the grease off every so often.

Yep, I doubt it'd last very long on my bike, especially now with the controller at 18A... probably 20A soon.

 

 

I'd be quite interested in doing an experiment on that idea to see what the SA hub can handle. They are quite cheap. In fact I have at least three of them knocking about in storage. Two have done some service, but one is in a small 16 inch wheel which I got as an unused spare from a guy who was converting a Merc fake Brompton into a fixie and didn't want the hub gears. It has never been run.

 

I bet it might take the strain of the 250 watt motor and if not, the cost is not that much. Could be wrong, but it would be a laugh to try it.

I'd be quite interested in doing an experiment on that idea to see what the SA hub can handle. They are quite cheap. In fact I have at least three of them knocking about in storage. Two have done some service, but one is in a small 16 inch wheel which I got as an unused spare from a guy who was converting a Merc fake Brompton into a fixie and didn't want the hub gears. It has never been run.

 

I bet it might take the strain of the 250 watt motor and if not, the cost is not that much. Could be wrong, but it would be a laugh to try it.

 

Yes that would be interesting with the 36V controller at 20A = 720W and "Keep current" at 100% in firmware. Go for it on your fako Brompton, you shouldn't need to fold it completely.

Edited April 21, 20242 yr by guerney

Yes that would be interesting with the 36V controller at 20A = 720W. Go for it on your fako Brompton, you shouldn't need to fold it.

The fako Brompton has not been ridden for ten years at least. Thinking about it, I am not sure you could fit a BBS01 on one of those wee folders. One of the worst features of the fake B as against my proper one is that the brakes were awful on it. Very different to the proper B. Don't fancy the bad brakes + motor combo really. I also have a great original rod brake Raleigh Superb in near mint condition. It would be a crime to mess with that machine, but the chrome rims and stirrup brake operated by levers and rods is more than exciting already on a wet day. It would be criminal butchery to mess with that machine.

 

Bloody hell you've done well. I lost another 4lbs last week - I now weigh less than I did aged 25. Unfortunately, I don't feel 25. Feeling 25 will lead to divorce.

only 4. i lost 20 pounds last week. i think it was near the bus station in Telford. If anybody finds it, I need it to feed the dog. That's all he eats.

only 4. i lost 20 pounds last week. i think it was near the bus station in Telford. If anybody finds it, I need it to feed the dog. That's all he eats.

 

Would your dog eat my arm? The NHS BMI calculator says I should lose yet another 7lbs, at least. And that's after having lost 3 stones 10lbs over the past two years.

 

https://www.nhs.uk/health-assessment-tools/calculate-your-body-mass-index/

 

Edited April 22, 20242 yr by guerney

I think I slightly disagree, an electric bike is almost unique in that it allows you to keep your heart rate in the fat burning zone for a long period of time without you getting bored and if you combine that with a sensible diet it will aid losing weight

I think I slightly disagree, an electric bike is almost unique in that it allows you to keep your heart rate in the fat burning zone for a long period of time without you getting bored and if you combine that with a sensible diet it will aid losing weight

 

Metabolism in exercise is a matter of how much oxygen you burn and use in your muscles. This can easily be measured accurately in a lab on an exercise bike, calibrated to allow for wind resistance. The rider is put on the bike with a mask and his Oxygen consumption is measured. Itis a FACT that the energy consumption of an average weight rider on a bicycle is 35 to 50 calories per mile.

 

One pound of flesh / fat lost requires that the individual does without 3500 calories of food intake or burns an extra 3500 calories of energy (measured by oxygen consumption). That equates to 70 to 100 miles of cycling at 12 miles an hour or missing out on about two days worth of food.

 

Fat burning mode is nonsense. We burn fat when we are hungry and the body starts consuming its stores. That only happens when we deprive ourselves of food. There is a lot of nonsense talked and written about this subject.

No - Zone 2 training is elevating your heart rate to a level where you are burning fat (which takes quite a lot of oxygen to metabolise) - at higher heart rates you start burning glycogen (which is then replenished)

 

https://www.gq.com/story/why-easy-zone-2-workouts-became-the-biggest-thing-in-fitness

Fat burning mode is nonsense. We burn fat when we are hungry and the body starts consuming its stores. That only happens when we deprive ourselves of food. There is a lot of nonsense talked and written about this subject.

 

I agree. The reason why I managed to lose 4lbs last week instead of my usual 2lbs by intermittent fasting, were two 36 hour fasting periods instead of my usual 24 hours over 5 days. Losing weight through exercise later in life is for macho fat ill fantasists on medication, who will remain fat ill deluded and pill happy, until they die an early unpleasant death having lived an overly short unsatisfactory increasingly painful life, having cost the rest of us dear via the NHS.

 

At least 7lbs to go, it aint easy.

Edited April 22, 20242 yr by guerney

Your body burns a lot more calories to keep itself warm while riding ebikes compared to heat produced by the muscle effort.

No - Zone 2 training is elevating your heart rate to a level where you are burning fat (which takes quite a lot of oxygen to metabolise) - at higher heart rates you start burning glycogen (which is then replenished)

 

https://www.gq.com/story/why-easy-zone-2-workouts-became-the-biggest-thing-in-fitness

 

Of course more work output uses more energy. This is not in dispute and is obvious. Nevertheless, my statement that the only way to lose weight is to use more calories than you take in stands.

 

Riding an ordinary bicycle at 12 miles an hour without assistance burns 35 - 50 kcals a mile if the individual is or ordinary weight. It is a fact, carefully measured and indisputable. It is also a fact that that extra weight I carry (BMI 26) amounts to 3500 kcals per pound. If I want to lose it by cycling, I have to do a lot of miles (establishable by a simple calculation. If I do those miles on an electric bike, at least half the effort is being done by an electric motor NOT ME. This makes the required work output equate to a very large distance covered since my input is less than on an ordinary bike at the same speed and distance.

 

I don't see what is controversial.

 

Another problem is that heart rate per se is not the only issue. People's cardio vascular efficiency differs. Bradley Wiggins heart rate at the same work output will be a LOT less than mine. In time with a great deal of cardio work, even my cardio efficiency wan be improved.

 

These matters are much more complex than most personal trainers and gym people know or even dream of.

I agree. The reason why I managed to lose 4lbs last week instead of my usual 2lbs by intermittent fasting, were two 36 hour fasting periods instead of my usual 24 hours over 5 days. Losing weight through exercise later in life is for macho fat ill fantasists on medication, who will remain fat ill deluded and pill happy, until they die an early unpleasant death having lived an overly short unsatisfactory increasingly painful life, having cost the rest of us dear via the NHS.

 

At least 7lbs to go, it aint easy.

Yes Guerney. Everything you said there is the truth.

 

Congratulations for having the determination and self control to manage to do what you said there. It ain't easy to go hungry for more than an hour or so in this world of massive food availability and large amounts of food designed to draw us in. We evolved as hunter gatherers, catching usually small animals, insects and fish and eating plants and roots we had to dig up. Our body systems prepared us for long gaps in our food finding, by storing energy as fat when our food gathering went well and we ate a lot, and using it up when we could not find what we needed. Yesterday I went to Sainsburies..... Packed with killer food and very available.

 

Most of us don't do what you are doing - control ourselves and going hungry for a couple of days a week. That is why the UK population is mostly well over weight.

 

How many calories are you consuming on your fasting days? What kind of food do you eat on those days?

Would your dog eat my arm? The NHS BMI calculator says I should lose yet another 7lbs, at least. And that's after having lost 3 stones 10lbs over the past two years.

 

https://www.nhs.uk/health-assessment-tools/calculate-your-body-mass-index/

 

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My code of ethics says, " First do no arm", but if you'd like to donate a kidney or two, I think he'd be very happy, or your liver will lose you around 4 pounds. Win, win.

Of course more work output uses more energy. This is not in dispute and is obvious. Nevertheless, my statement that the only way to lose weight is to use more calories than you take in stands.

 

Riding an ordinary bicycle at 12 miles an hour without assistance burns 35 - 50 kcals a mile if the individual is or ordinary weight. It is a fact, carefully measured and indisputable. It is also a fact that that extra weight I carry (BMI 26) amounts to 3500 kcals per pound. If I want to lose it by cycling, I have to do a lot of miles (establishable by a simple calculation. If I do those miles on an electric bike, at least half the effort is being done by an electric motor NOT ME. This makes the required work output equate to a very large distance covered since my input is less than on an ordinary bike at the same speed and distance.

 

I don't see what is controversial.

 

Another problem is that heart rate per se is not the only issue. People's cardio vascular efficiency differs. Bradley Wiggins heart rate at the same work output will be a LOT less than mine. In time with a great deal of cardio work, even my cardio efficiency wan be improved.

 

These matters are much more complex than most personal trainers and gym people know or even dream of.

So the rule of thumb is one hour of zone 2 training burns 500-600 calories, so if you manage to do an hour each day (which I think is fun on an electric bike - the big problem with zone 2 training is boredom) and consume the same amount of calories you would lose 0.5 kg per week (which I think is the NHS optimum weight loss rate). If you can cut the amount of calories you consume, then you would increase this.

 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17021003/

 

"Men burned 630 calories per hour and women 428 calories per hour while riding to work "

 

edited to add - my lunchtime ride round North Yorkshire lanes and byways

 

Edited April 22, 20242 yr by Peter.Bridge

Yes Guerney. Everything you said there is the truth.

 

Congratulations for having the determination and self control to manage to do what you said there. It ain't easy to go hungry for more than an hour or so in this world of massive food availability and large amounts of food designed to draw us in. We evolved as hunter gatherers, catching usually small animals, insects and fish and eating plants and roots we had to dig up. Our body systems prepared us for long gaps in our food finding, by storing energy as fat when our food gathering went well and we ate a lot, and using it up when we could not find what we needed. Yesterday I went to Sainsburies..... Packed with killer food and very available.

 

Most of us don't do what you are doing - control ourselves and going hungry for a couple of days a week. That is why the UK population is mostly well over weight.

 

How many calories are you consuming on your fasting days? What kind of food do you eat on those days?

 

If you're diabetic/pre-diabetic, have heart problems or blood pressure issues, intermittent fasting can lead to a heart attack or stroke, if you eat one massive meal a day. It isn't safe to eat a huge meal after 24 hours of eating nothing at all, so that's what I did lol, despite being told by my doc my blood pressure was very high and I should take statins. I was also pre-diabetic, but less so now. It took about 6 months after losing two stones for blood pressure to reduce. I refused stains and said "I'll lose weight". He was amazed that I did, because hardly anyone does.

 

It's safer to eat a short series of smaller meals over two or so hours, to reduce the potentially deadly blood sugar spike. The blood pressure spike could kill you.

 

Hunger only lasts an hour or two, sometimes several. The key is patience and being kind to oneself, maintaining a quiet determination. You don't psyche up, you psyche down and relax into it - it's just hunger, nothing to be afraid of, can't kill you for weeks. I did 5 days on, and took weekends off to eat anything I liked whenever. To start with, consuming a glass of orange juice every few hours, or cups of sugary tea, made time between meals more bearable. Now I don't need it. After about 14 hours of not eating, your body consumes itself.

 

A year before I started doing this intermittent fasting stuff, my very elderly neighbour reduced his weight through calorie reduction. He said the key to success is "Boredom".

 

I have a very varied diet, and my one meal a day is the most delicious possible. In another life, for a short time I was a chef in a restaurant... I know how to make delicious happen. There's nothing worse than looking forward to your one massive meal (it's huge), and it being a bland unenjoyable experience. I go all out flavourwise.

 

I always lapse over Christmas and put on weight - haven't been in a great hurry or stuck to my fasting regime too rigidly, because losing weight too quickly is also hazardous to one's health... and let's face it, this is an unpleasant process.

 

Once I'm at my target weight, I'll regain muscle mass - I was built like brick shit house in my 20s and 30s, and will be again. For me it's easy, I know how that process works, and even now, my body remembers what I expect from it. Larger muscles burn more calories, and big strong muscles are always useful.

Edited April 23, 20242 yr by guerney

Bloody hell you've done well. I lost another 4lbs last week - I now weigh less than I did aged 25. Unfortunately, I don't feel 25. Feeling 25 will lead to divorce.

 

 

Single father of three autistic sons who's mother walked out on them when they were 7,6 and 4, we were both 35 she unknown to me was pregnant with an 18 year olds child.

 

I am the only family they have so I have to live as long as I can for them

 

THIS is what I used, 1000 a day, started off at 100 a day, after a month 1000 a day in the garden

 

Take off the silly hand things, used a bike stand with a 4' pole attached to hold and worked on that, standing holding on the stand and working out

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00FE402I2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

So the rule of thumb is one hour of zone 2 training burns 500-600 calories, so if you manage to do an hour each day (which I think is fun on an electric bike - the big problem with zone 2 training is boredom) and consume the same amount of calories you would lose 0.5 kg per week (which I think is the NHS optimum weight loss rate). If you can cut the amount of calories you consume, then you would increase this.

 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17021003/

 

"Men burned 630 calories per hour and women 428 calories per hour while riding to work "

 

edited to add - my lunchtime ride round North Yorkshire lanes and byways

 

[ATTACH type=full" alt="Screenshot_20240422-132022.png]57358[/ATTACH][ATTACH alt=Screenshot_20240422-132022.png]57358[/ATTACH]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-28/the-science-behind-zone-2-training-for-athletes/103749442

When I got an ebike, I put on 2 stones because I'd stopped walking and jogging, and ate loads more. It's also easy to stay in constant and bearable fat burning mode for hours slow jogging, immediately adjustable too.

 

 

 

 

Also, many years ago John Cleese invented a way of walking which you can see here:

 

 

 

 

It looks silly, but you only need to do the low level walk, just not as low as John. High kicking is optional. When it becomes strenuous, you can switch back to ambling along, or increase your walking height. Low level balance walking mostly utilises your thigh muscles to attain very fast walking speed, far faster than walking non silly - it's almost as fast as jogging, and much faster than slow jogging, which is so slow I'm frequently overtaken by old or ill people walking their tiny dogs. They look upon me with contempt, as I disappear into the distance sweating and comically slow jogging about. So embarrassing.

 

I have no idea how silly Low Level Balance Walking™ ® ©℠ looks to others. There's less side to side movement, because your walk has a smaller base width. Try it. It's fast. You'll sweat.