Regular exercise on an electric bike pays dividends

[Eagle]

I recently attended a talk on dementia given by leading researcher Dr David Llewellyn of Exeter University.
Dementia costs Britain £23bn a year, that is more than cancer and heart disease combined, but it receives a fraction of the funding.

Britain ignoring its dementia crisis, Oxford study finds | Society | guardian.co.uk

Dr Llewellyn's 3 main recommendations for keeping our brains in good condition are:
1) A healthy Mediterranean diet.
2) At least half an hour's regular exercise which gets you out of breath but not on the point of collapse.
3) A daily 1000iu (international unit) of vitamin D(3) such as this one;
Super Strength Vitamin D3 - 25mcg (1,000iu) | Vitamins & Supplements from Healthspan

I have been following this routine myself for the last 4 weeks and so far I have lost 13lbs/6kgs. I no longer feel lethargic and my waistline is shrinking.

As Dr Llewellyn pointed out, the major difficulty is finding the right sort of low-impact exercise which is both interesting and sustainable. This ruled out gyms (boring), running (high-impact) and swimming (non-swimmer).

To make matters worse, the only exit roads out of my village are up steep hills.
I then happened to watch the BBC Countryfile programme featuring Matt Baker on an electric bike. I have now found the perfect type of exercise (interesting and sustainable) using a FreeGo Eagle or a Tonaro Bighit.

I do a regular 7 mile circuit and the first 2 miles is uphill followed by 4.5 miles fairly flat (often against a headwind), finishing with a rapid 0.5 mile descent. This takes me about 1/2 an hour and it gets me out of breath but without killing me! I will extend the distance once I am fitter and lighter.

Thank goodness for electric bikes!

 

[Eaglerider]

Indeed, the benefits are many and varied.

Of course, on the Freego Eagle, additional health benefits are derived from the Magic Rays that emanate from the on board phase inducers!

Great to see you're getting some e-action in Eagle. You'll be doing 50 milers in no time. I've lost 12 Kgs since I started e biking. I'm sure I will acquire some special powers before too long, perhaps teleportation or Kinesis!

 

[Eagle]

50 milers are a bit out of my league at the moment but thanks for the encouragement and your original reports on the FreeGo Eagle. I found these invaluable.

Happy Eagling!

 

[Eagle]

50 milers are out of my league at the minute but thanks for the encouragement.

Happy Eagling!

(Double post!)

 

[tillson]

and if you can't manage all of that, there are some positives to dementia:

1) There are no repeats on television.
2) You make new friends every day.

 

[Eagle]

What was that you were saying?

Who are you anyway?

 

[Scimitar]

It's not just weight loss, the e-bike benefits me by making it easier to get my blood sugar level down, too.
E-bikes are the greatest invention ever (maybe apart from the lightbulb) and cycling was in danger of becoming just a memory when I found out about motor kits. My knees, although still knackered, don't protest when called upon to do mild exertions on the electric pedals

 

[iwchris]

Now there are so many benefits it seems to having an electric bike.
1 I have lost over half a stone in seven weeks, and I wouldn't really have considered myself grossly overweight, so that must be good.

2 My Electric bike gives me a sense of terrific freedom, something that is now sadly gone with the motor car, without the parking problems and not being ripped off by the local council to park.

3 I seem to see and chat to more people that I know when on a bike, as complete strangers seem to want to chat when you stop, as at the moment the electric bike is still something of a novelty to a few people.

 

[iwchris]

I should have said in my last post that my car fuel bill has dropped by one third in the time that I have had an electric bike, as with the carrying capacity of my panniers, I generally use my bike for trips to the supermarket if only wanting moderate amounts.

 

[the_killjoy]

I generally use my bike for trips to the supermarket if only wanting moderate amounts.

You obviously need to add a trailer and then you can get all your shopping.

 

[hannibal]

Yes, the exercise dimension is one reason I bought an e-bike, using it for commuting and selling an old car. My wife then wanted one to go out for biking day trips - which are now fun rather than hard work. The result is that we have been using them regularly for the last several years.

By the way, we have not yet reached the limit on what can be carried back from the supermarket - yesterday I carried 12 pints of milk home. When the panniers are full you can dangle shopping bags from the handlebars.

 

[jackhandy]

[
By the way, we have not yet reached the limit on what can be carried back from the supermarket - yesterday I carried 12 pints of milk home. When the panniers are full you can dangle shopping bags from the handlebars.[/QUOTE]

Ssshhh...
Don't tell 'Er indoors that!

 

[Hero Eco]

Great to hear electric bikes are helping users loose weight! Is anyone available to do a case study for BEBA? If so, please email me: markl@beba-online.co.uk

I look forward to hearing from you!
Thanks
Mark

 

[Eagle]

At my flu jab clinic yesterday there was a British Heart Foundation stand. I had a chat with the chap on the stand and told him that I had lost 22 lbs (10 kgs) in 8 weeks, thanks to healthy eating plus exercise on my electric bike.
I picked up a very useful BHF booklet called “So You Want To lose Weight..... For Good”.
This booklet may help to motivate others to lose weight by adopting a healthier diet and taking regular exercise (on an electric bike, of course!).
The booklet is available as a free download from here:
British Heart Foundation - View Publication