cycled in the first place was to improve my fitness levels, but the reason I keep on cycling is because I like it and I know it's doing me good. It's only one small study, but the HAES (Health At Every Size) study showed that focussing on health and enjoyment of physical activity conferred longer term benefits than focussing on weight loss. I pop on my bike to and from work - the feeling of arriving fresh and alert makes it almost addictive. That's about 40 mins of the 60. But my God the number of times I struggle against traffic, fumes, car doors swinging at me like golfers... and think "perhaps it'd be better to scrap the wheels and get the bus". In my humble, urban Britain just isn't a place that makes an active lifestyle an attractive choice. I've lost nearly five stones in weight due to diet,exercise and illness (I wouldn't recommend this way),with bleeding toes,fallen toenails,and leg injuries along the way.Advice to give is that it's very tough the first few months,but just stick at it and you'll get there. It's true up to a point. When I was 5 stone above my normal weight, I started cycling. Initially I found 3 miles was my limit. Months later I could do 50+ miles with ease; but I had only lost 4 lbs. I must have been reasonably fit by then, but now that I've lost the excess I look back in amazement that i went around