Losing weight sometimes has a downside

Back in January I hit my highest record weight: 94 kilos. Belgian food can kill you, let me tell you. I decided I had to do something about it, I needed to get back in shape. I needed to start going to the gym, rather than simply paying the gym's fee...

And so I did. At the moment I am 83 kilos and counting (hopefully). I was able to build back muscles and lose a lot of fat. I still need to lose around 5-7 kilos, but I feel great.

But if you are a biker with a lot of protective (and expensive) gear, losing weight has a phenomenal downside: all your gear is far too big. I had bought a leather protective jacket (my first motorbike leather jaket!!!) back in November, and I was waiting for April-May to start using it. Well, now it is far too big. It still has the label on it, I never never used it once. It is useless. 350 Euros thrown down the toilet.

Same thing for my summer mesh Clover Air Tek trousers, which I bought last year...and for the Dainese winter jacket. But at least I used those for one season...

The problem is that this gear now fits so loose that the protections at the elbows, the knees and the shoulders move around, and do not provide any guarantee of protection in case of a crash. The only item which I can safely wear is a Spidi Spring-Summer jacket which I bought back in March, when I had started already my diet and my exercise. I had bought it two sizes too small...as an incentive for me to get thiner...it worked, so now it is the only thing which I can use.

Now I am facing a dilemma. I am one of those bikers that use protective gear all the time, even in very hot weathers. I always wear a back protector and an harmoured jacket at the very minimum. Depending on the lenght of the journey I add harmored trousers and boots.

But what shall I do now? Should I buy new stuff? Should I contact the manufacturers of the products I own (some of them really only one year old) and see whether these products can be adjusted? Or should I just sit and wait until I am sure I can keep my weight? And what should I do in the meantime?

Don't get me wrong. I am extremely happy of my new shape. I think a man decides in his mid-thirties how fit he will be for the rest of his life. So it was important for me to go back to practicing sports and eating healthy as I had done before coming to Belgium.

But on the other hand, what a waste of money!!!! Even the boots are now too large!!!