Colin my problem is that I have a defunct Thyroid gland. I gained 6 stones in a little over a month back in 2007. I have managed to get down to 16.5 stone or there about but no matter what I do I can not shift the rest. If my medication is increased I bounce off the walls and I already eat less than the average person. I would to get back to 11 stone with a 30 inch waist and washboard stomach but it seems an impossibility
Oh - I'm sorry to hear that! My mum had the opposite problem. She had the gland zapped to cut down its activity but she still couldn't put much weight on.
It's clear where your problem lies. You'd have to generate about 50% more power than the old slim you would have needed to climb at a certain speed, and that 50% isn't easy to find!
Obviously your metabolism must be really slow at rest so that is why you eat need to eat less then the average person to avoid gaining weight.
Having said that, your body can't generate energy from nowhere so if you go for long, slow rides you will burn fat just like anybody else. You just have to make sure you don't eat and drink enough extra to replace all of that loss.
I'm about a stone lighter than you and I burn about 1 pound of fat per 100 miles of cycling. You would burn slightly more, being heavier. You already eat enough to fuel your slow metabolism so you need to make sure that you consume less than 3,500 calories (calories in 1 pound of fat) per 100 miles of cycling and you should lose something. How much less you can get away with without running out of energy on your long rides is another matter.
I'd try 2,000 calories per 100 miles and see how you feel. If you are okay with that, cut it down to 1,500 calories. At some point, you'd start feeling weak on long rides and that's a sign that you'd cut back too far.
It will be harder for you to lose weight, but not impossible.
Good luck!
