As the holidays approach, many people begin to think about two seemingly disparate concerns: gaining weight and charitable giving.

Cycle House, an indoor cycling studio in West Hollywood, offers a solution to both: burn calories and give them to someone who needs them.

For every $26 session a person buys at Cycle House, the studio donates 26 cents to a charity that uses it to buy two meals.

The studio has been making the donations since it opened a year ago. With 44 stationary bikes in a single room, owner Lara Gillman said the meals add up quickly.

“We usually get to about 1,400 to 1,500 meals per week,” she said.

Gillman donates through Chicago non-profit Feeding America, which can provide eight meals for the homeless in programs across the United States for each dollar donated. That means each meal costs roughly 13 cents.

“Helping feed the homeless has always been a passion of mine,” Gillman said. “I did it in high school and when I was working in New York, and I’m happy to continue doing it here.”

Gillman moved to Los Angeles from New York with her husband, Adam, in May 2011. She opened the cycling studio five months later.

“Our instructors will remind people while they’re riding that with 44 people in class, that’s 80-plus meals being donated,” she said. “We always get really warm feedback about it. Everyone wants to help, but not everyone has the time or knows how. This is a way for people to better themselves and help other people.”

– Bethany Firnhaber