Once weighing nearly 490 pounds, a man found a path to transformation and lost over half his body weight—all by getting on a bike.
“I traded my food addiction for a cycling addiction,” Ryan Grewell told Newsweek.
Today, the 36-year-old weighs around 212 pounds through cycling, calorie counting, and focusing on his protein intake, as opposed to living off fast food.
The dad from Ohio recently shared his success story in a Reddit post titled: “Cycling changed my life forever,” earning 4,200 upvotes.
Lifestyle Transformation
Grewell told Newsweek that he initially started walking to lose weight, but his knees were hurting from his 487-pound frame, prompting him to buy a bike.
“Riding reminded me of my childhood. I was hooked,” he said, adding that he progressively increased the distance from first getting on the saddle on May 6, 2023.
“I was very sedentary when I was at my heaviest. I had no physical activity, walked fewer than 4,500 steps per day, and ate a terrible diet. I consistently gained weight and was never able to keep it off,” he said.
Grewell consumed around 3,000 to 5,000 calories daily, and it eventually started to take its toll on his body. He started to suffer from joint pain and was advised to lose weight by a chiropractor.
“At that point, I was roughly 475 pounds,” he told Newsweek. “I gained 12 more pounds while I kept thinking I needed to change something, and then decided to start working on myself. I was 487 pounds at the end of January 2023 when I decided to make this change.”
A Shift in Focus
He did this by tracking his calories and focusing on a high-protein, low-carb diet instead of eating McDonald’s for breakfast, Taco Bell for lunch, and pizza for dinner.
“I didn’t set out to bike,” he told Newsweek. “I was walking at first. I would walk a few blocks here and there.”
Within two months, he rapidly dropped 60 pounds. But his knees couldn’t take his weight anymore, so he purchased a bike on May 6, 2023.
Cycling Through the Pain
“It was poor as a bike and wasn’t up to the task of lugging around a 400-pound guy, that’s for sure. It was barely up to the task of being a bike at all,” Grewell said.
“I started riding more and more, but I felt like I was run over by a truck. I did two miles on a cheap big box store mountain bike that I had from a past weight loss attempt.
“I felt like absolute death, and then the bike crumbled underneath me. I broke both of those bikes—the chains, the wheels, etc. They just weren’t made for my size.”
So, not only was adjusting to an active lifestyle a challenge, but finding a suitable bike was, too.
“I was pushing the limits of engineering. I was one good pothole or curb away from disaster on these bikes,” he said, adding that he invested in a better bike that allowed him to ride for hundreds of miles in his first month.”
A New Passion
Now, Grewell cycles three to seven days per week, depending on the weather, and rides can range from 10 to over 100 miles.
“Cycling has been the greatest thing I’ve done for both aspects (mental and physical),” he said.
He explained that cycling has helped him burn calories, build muscle, and improve his cardiovascular system.
“I couldn’t even bend over to tie my shoes without holding my breath and really working at it, but now I am pretty much never out of breath. I’m able to do very physical tasks with ease, and I love physical activity.
“Cycling has allowed me to become less than ‘half the man I used to be,’” Grewell said.
Mental Clarity and Personal Growth
Alongside the physical benefits, cycling has improved Grewell’s mental health and helped him focus less on distractions like social media and emails.
“I always joke and say that the bike is my freedom and peace, but really that isn’t a joke. I’m a very connected person because of my career, so disconnecting and being on the bike gives me that freedom. I truly believe that going through this journey has made me a better person, spouse, leader, and father.”
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