Jul
24
2010
With the Tour De France underway there is a ton of inspiration to bike now. These people do over 100 miles a day as fast as they can. That makes my dinky 16 miles look like nothing. Either way I’m big into riding the road bike and that has been my only form of exercise in the past few weeks.
This past week is the first week I have done 3 rides in one week. The 19 mile bike race is just two weeks away so I want to get as much riding in as possible. I’m trying to work on my hill climbing because I know there are at least two monster hills on the course. The roads around my house are perfect for this type of training. I have now master the one monster hill on my route. I’m trying to master the second monster hill. This second hill makes the first one look like a speed bump. I finally was able to climb the second monster hill on Tuesday. It took everything I had but I did it and it felt awesome! I tried to climb the monster hill again on Thursday but I only got half way up. I have a feeling it was because I ate dinner too close to my ride. I’ll be trying again this weekend though.
Even though cycling is my only form of exercise I burn at least 500 calories every ride. I rode 3 times this week so that’s a burn of at least 1,500 calories. I’m also doing very well with my healthy eating. I’m keeping my portions small and snacking on peanuts, granola bars or fruit. I did have a small bag of popcorn this week but I think that is on the healthy side. So what did all of this do for me in terms of weight loss for this week?
Well…..again this week I am on a weight loss plateau. I did not lose any weight again this week. I did not gain any either but I have a feeling this is all due to muscle gain. As I had said I am now able to climb these two monster hills. I think the reason that I am able to do this is because my leg muscles are growing and therefore canceling out any weight loss I would have seen. I can see in the mirror that I am skinnier. I’m very happy with the results I am seeing in the mirror and in my body. I just don’t see it on the scale. After I ride in the race in August I will be able to skip the monster hills in my training and just go for distance. I am planning on signing up for a 25 mile ride in September and that course is very flat. When I start training for the September ride I should start to see the weight loss again.
It is just a guess that the non-weight loss is due to muscle gain. This is only the first week that I have ridden 3 times in one week. Maybe before that I have not been exercising enough. We’ll see this week when I ride at least 3 times again. I have also not taken my eating to the next level or in “diet” range. I may need to do that also but I am hesitant to do this before my race in August. After the race I may cut down my caloric intake and see if that helps (switch to salads only for lunch and protein only for dinner until the next 20 pounds comes off). The other factor may be Gatorade. I have started to drink Gatorade during my road rides in the past 3 weeks. The Gatorade really does help to hydrate me especially in 90 degree weather. It also gives me the boosts that I need to keep riding. I mix the Gatorade with water so it’s not so sugary but I wonder if the Gatorade is totally taking away any weight loss I would normally see. Gatorade is full of a ton of calories so this may be another factor. Either way, I think I’m going to keep things the way they are for now because my main goal for the next two weeks is preparing myself for the race in August. I’m seeing progress in my hill climbing and my overall distance so what I am currently doing is working. After the race in August I’ll start tweaking things.
So I’m still at 193 pounds this week. I should have lost 27 pounds by now but I have lost 22 pounds so far. That means I am now 5 pounds behind my goal. I still feel good though because of the gains I have made in my fitness level. Still it would be nice to see the scale start to move down again. Stay tuned next week to see if another week of 3 road rides will return my weight loss to the positive direction.
Jul
15
2010
First I want to give a big “Thank You” to the folks that are reading this blog and taking note of my progress on this weight loss journey. I had not checked my stats in a while and I assumed I was writing these posts pretty much for myself. Lo and behold I checked my stats the other night and it turns out that there are quite a few of you keeping track of my progress…..so Thank You! Feel free to post a comment! Especially if you are on your own weight loss journey. That’s how I got my start. I read a few other folks weight loss blogs and posted a few comments. Mostly words of acknowledgement to let them know that I was going through the same thing that they were. But also words of encouragement too. Anyway…..on to this week’s status update!
I felt really good going into this week. I added some more fruits and vegetables to my diet. We only ate dinner out once this week and I split that dinner into two meals. I felt skinny. I felt full of energy. I was ready to get in at least two road bike rides if not more. I thought it was going to be a great week.
It was a great week food wise. Exercise wise I was able to get two road rides in. I rode 16 miles on Sunday and I rode another 16 miles on Wednesday. I’m sure these rides burn well over 500 calories each not only because of the distance but also because of the rolling hills and monster mountains I force myself to climb. Maybe not monster mountains but definitely monster hills. So overall, exercise could have been a little better than just these two road rides but I’m also afraid of not giving my leg muscles enough rest in between rides. I want my leg muscles to grow so I can finally make it all the way up these monster hills without struggling as hard as I currently do. So what did good eating and some decent exercise do for me this week?
Well…it didn’t do for me as good as you would think. I didn’t lose any weight this week. I mean I lost some weight but not a pound’s worth. That was pretty disappointing for me. I stayed at 193 this week and I’m not sure why. One possibility is that my leg muscles are growing and replacing fat and that is why I lost only a small amount of weight (a square inch of muscle weighs less than a square inch of fat). My body might also be getting used to my new weight and this is what is now required for me to maintain this weight. So my body may have reached a plateau. I know it’s only one week and I probably shouldn’t jump to conclusions but my gut tells me that I have to now get really serious and both cut down the calorie intake a bit and increase the exercise if I want to lose more weight. So that is what I will do over this next week.
I have also joined a Colorful Food program at my corporate job where I will be tracking how many servings of fruits and vegetables I eat every day. I will be working my way up to getting 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day within 20 days. This will definitely help me to cut some calories and eat better overall. I will also increase my road rides to 3 this week. That will be more than 4 hours of exercise this week and close to 50 miles ridden on the bike. This should all make for a great weigh-in next week. I’m now 4 pounds behind my goal. I should be at a 26 pound loss this week and I’m only at 22 pounds. Since I started this journey at 215 pounds and I’m now down to 193 pounds that’s still a great job but a little behind where I want to be. Stay tuned next week to see if I can step up my game and take a chunk out of this 4 pound set back!
Jul
9
2010
It was touch and go this week. I thought I was on track for a good week and then the extreme heat rolled in. It was also the 4th of July weekend so that threw a wrench into things. So how did I do overall?
I was able to keep my eating in check for the most part this week. I say for the most part because I did attend one fourth of July party where I went just a little overboard. My problem was that I was running around doing things before the party (including going on a road bike ride) and arrived to the party without having ate lunch. I ended up snacking a bunch on chips and different cheese and then filling my plate for dinner with a hamburger AND a hot dog AND potato salad AND bean & corn salad AND deviled eggs AND macaroni and cheese! I DON’T EVEN LIKE MACARONI AND CHEESE!!! I ate it anyway. I also had a big brownie for dessert which is actually pretty good for me. I tend to overdue it in the dessert category but I only took one dessert out of many delicious choices. I did keep the rest of the week in check though so I guess one bad dinner is OK if it is proceeded and followed by many healthy meals.
Exercising was not bad but also not as frequent as I would have liked. I was hoping to get at least two road rides in last weekend since the bike race is coming up the first weekend of August. I was not able to get two in due to temperatures hitting 104 degrees here but I was able to get one ride in over the weekend. I’m not sure how many miles I rode for because my bike computer fell off and a car ran it over a few weeks ago. I did ride for an hour though so I’m sure I did over 10 miles. Due to my bike computer getting wrecked and more importantly the bike I am riding being over 15 years old I splurged and bought myself a new bike this week. It’s a 2010 Cannondale CAAD9 and it’s like silk compared to what I was riding. I am really excited about this bike and it makes riding even more fun. I hope to take it out twice this weekend and tackle two of the monstrous hills near my house in preparation for the race in August. So what did all of this do for me this week?
It turned out to be a pretty good week. I guess I did save this week by eating more healthy than bad because I lost 2 pounds this week. That brings me down to 193 pounds from an original start point of 215 pounds. That’s a total loss so far of 22 pounds and well on my way to making it a 30 pound loss soon! It is 25 weeks into the start of my challenge (22 weeks that I have been blogging about it) so I am still 3 pounds behind my goal. I should have lost 25 pounds by now since my goal was 1 pound per week.
I’m really motivated to get under the 190 pound weight and I am very close. I honestly can’t remember when I was under 190 pounds. The good news is I am off to a good start this week. I already did an 11 mile road ride today and I was able to tackle a huge hill that I have been struggling with. I’m planning a 16+ mile ride on Saturday which should be a big calorie burn. I also plan on getting some good leg workouts in with the weights this week as well as getting some more road rides in during the week. I’m also going to buckle down even more regarding my healthy eating including more healthy options over the weekend. Check back next week to see if I can get under the 190 pound mark!
Tags: Bike, biking, Fitness, healthy eating, Lose Weight, Weight Loss, weight training | 
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Comments (0) Jul
1
2010
So I guess I am officially only posting about my weight-loss journey on this blog. I would like to keep up with the other topics on this blog but I have been choosing to spend my time on other projects lately. Mainly projects for my corporate job and a big project for another web site I am starting. I still want to remain accountable for my weight-loss journey though. So here is what happened over the last week.
I started out this week thinking I may have a tough road ahead. Mostly because of the bachelor party I was attending over the weekend in Atlantic City. This was an overnight trip so I knew a lot of bad food would be consumed. We also celebrated my mom’s birthday on Friday with pizza and cake. So that kick my weekend eating off to a very good start. I was right about the bachelor party. I had a burger and fries for lunch AND for dinner. I also had three small cupcakes on Monday night that were probably equal to a regular size cupcake. All bad things that do not help my cause.
Also due to the weekend long bachelor party, I didn’t go on a road bike ride. This is usually a big source of calorie burn and it was missing this weekend. So I finished the weekend having done absolutely no exercise for the week. I did hit the stationary bike on Monday and Wednesday though. That burned a total of 800 calories (400 calories each session). I also brought my eating back into check after Monday although I should incorporate more fruit.
So what did the mostly bad eating and little exercise get me this week? You guessed it! I gained a pound back. So my weight loss is back to 20 pounds total instead of 21 pounds like it was last week. I’m not too upset about this. I know what I did wrong. I ate bad and I didn’t exercise. I also know that this week will be different. I know that I’ll have time to get my road ride in. I am already on a good path by having worked out twice already. I have Monday off from work so I may even get two road rides in this week.
So to sum it up, I started the journey weighing in at 215 pounds. I’m now at 195 pounds. I should have lost 23 pounds by now to be on track to lose 50 pounds in 50 weeks (I am 23 weeks into the journey but I’ve only been blogging about it for 21 weeks). So I’m 3 pounds behind my goal. Not bad and easily overcome with some focus and determination. With two road rides this week I may be able to overcome those 3 pounds. Do you think I can do it? Check back to find out!