This week I did very well sticking to a healthy diet. I have now replaced most snacks throughout the day with fruit. I usually have 2 cups of breakfast cereal or granola in the morning at seven. Then I eat a cup or two of fruit at 10am. Then I eat a small portioned lunch at 12. And then I eat a yogurt or peanuts at 3. Then I eat a salad and a good portioned dinner around 6:30. I don’t feel hungry at all during the day because I eat before I feel hungry. If you feel hungry then you have left your “tank” empty for too long. Your body then starts to store fat because it thinks that you are starving. By eating small portions throughout the day your body does not go into emergency mode storing fat and your insulin doesn’t spike and dip. I feel really good about my eating habits this past week.

I have also been planning out my meals in advance which has helped me a lot. I plan out my meals either Sunday night or Monday morning and I’m set for the week. When I don’t plan out my meals I don’t think about what I’m going to have until I’m starving and then I grab whatever is around which is very bad for my weight loss. I’m going to plan my meals out again this week so that I am prepared.

This week was just OK for exercise. I didn’t start my exercise until Monday where I ran 1.5 miles. I then did 12 miles on the bike on a road ride Tuesday. I took Wednesday off to rest my legs. I was going to lift weights on Wednesday but that never happened. Plus I gain muscle very easily so I really don’t want to gain too much muscle until I lose the weight that I want to lose (I also gain fat very easily when my eating slips so there is a downside to this too). So how did I do weight loss wise with only two days of exercise?

Well I am happy to say that I am back to going in the forward direction with this weight loss. I lost 1 pound this week which is not bad for only having exercised two times. I need to be losing more than 1 pound per week if I am going to hit my goal of losing 50 pounds in 50 weeks so I really do need to step up the exercise. I am still happy that I did lose this pound but I’m way behind my 29 week goal so far. I’m now down to 192 pounds and since I started at 215 pounds that is obviously a 23 pound loss. I should be at a 31 pound loss so I have some catching up to do to say the least.

This week I am looking forward to planning out my meals again and sticking to a low carb portion controlled lower calorie diet. I’m also looking forward to exercising more than twice. I think I can get myself down to the 190 pound mark this next week. Do you think I can do it? Check in next week!

The week took a turn right off the bat when my mother-in-law made a huge dish of her lasagna on Monday. I can not resist my mother-in-law’s lasagna so I didn’t think my low carb plan would work this week. That same day I did a huge grocery shopping trip and bought a bunch of healthy food for my lunch and my family’s dinner for the rest of the week. So I had a huge piece of lasagna for dinner on Monday night, a large piece for lunch the next day and another large piece for dinner Tuesday night. Wednesday I was back on track and ate much lower carbs including 100% whole wheat bread for any sandwiches and yogurt, peanuts or fruit for snacks. I even made an eggplant, spinach and tomato whole wheat sandwich for dinner Wednesday night. So my healthy eating may not have started off as planned but I was able to turn it around.

I did integrate running back in this week with a 1.5 mile run on Monday night. My goal is to run a 5K in 30 or 35 minutes. I also got on the bike for a road ride on Wednesday. I got a late start after cooking dinner so I only got in 10 miles but I was trying to increase my average speed on the bike. I would like to do the 20 mile race next year in about an hour so I’ll need to increase my average speed from 13 miles per hour (currently) to 20 miles per hour. This time out I was able to increase my average speed to 15 miles an hour so I’m on a good trend upward. I only worked out twice so far this week and only turned my eating around half way through the week. So what did this do for me as far as my weight?

Well…….I am happy to say that I see the improvement already. I lost two pounds this week so I am now back down to 193 pounds. I had achieved this weight before I had my bike race but I had put some pounds back on in the last few weeks. I am glad I am back to my lowest weight during this 50 pound challenge but now I have a bunch of catching up to do. So….I am back to having lost 22 pounds total (started at 215 pounds and now down to 193 pounds) but I should have lost 31 pounds by now. I have 19 weeks left to lose 28 more pounds. That means I have to lose at least about a pound and a half each week. Can I do this? I know I can. Tune in next week to find out!

Race day came quickly and believe it or not, I wan’t that nervous. I knew I had trained well and there was nothing I could do but enjoy the ride at this point. So that’s how I started out. The first five miles were pretty tough. It was a slight uphill grade all the way and I felt like I couldn’t calm myself down for some reason. I passed a few other bikers so that felt pretty good. After the first five miles I hit my first downhill and I was then able to calm myself down. I also drafted off of a few fellow bikers instead of passing them because I knew I had to conserve my energy for “the three bears” that were in the last 5 miles of the course. There was a pretty powerful wind blowing right at us so the drafting actually did help me to conserve some energy. I soon passed a handful of other bikers and I was feeling really good. Then the sun came out from behind the clouds as I was climbing one of the smaller hills and I felt like I was drained. I talked myself out of the feeling and was soon coasting down the hill I had just climbed. I was able to regain my strength and I was soon flying. I felt great. It’s amazing how much of any physical event is mental. From that point on I just told myself that I have trained adequatley for this event, I have already passed a number of people and I was doing great. That self talk gave me super powers! I felt fantastic from that point on. I was going faster than I ever have on a bike before. At one point on a downhill I hit 40 miles per hour. That may not sound like a lot but 40 miles per hour on a bike that is powered only by your legs feels like 100 miles per hour in a car.

I hit “the three bears” really quick and with a ton of energy. I kept my head down and put my bike into it’s lowest gear and just got into a rythem peddling. Before I knew it I was at the top of the first of “the three bears” and going so fast that I was launched half way up the second of “the three bears” without even trying. I tackled all three of “the three bears” without any problem at all. I was amazed at how much I worried about these three monster hills compared to how easy it was to tackle them. I then hit the last turn and the home stretch which was another slight uphill (just what you want after going all out for 19 miles). I gave it my all and passed these two other bikers that I had been trying to pass all race.

In all of my trainings I had only been able to complete 19.5 miles in an hour and twenty-three minutes. I never completed my training rides under that time and I didn’t really try to. I just wanted to complete them. I did this 19.5 mile race in an hour and fifteen minutes. It’s amazing what a little competition will do.

Overall I am very happy with my results. I’m kind of sad that it is over. I’m also worried that I will stop exercising now since the race is over. I have not yet signed up for another one but I do plan on doing that. There is a twenty-five mile ride in September that I want to do. I’m still not at my goal weight so I still have that motivation. To get into my weight results for this week, even though I did well on the bike course, I did not do so well in the healthy eating arena.

The race this weekend was not only the race but my family and I treated it as a mini-vacation. Therefore, all healthy eating went out the window starting on Friday and continuing through to today. Massive amounts of beer was consumed. A few hamburgers. Some Little Ceasers pizza. Magiano’s. Deli subs. Chips. Ice cream. Cookies. I probably left some things out too. And I only exercised on race day (Sunday). That’s it. So….that is what contributed to me gaining back 3 pounds this week. Yes. I am now back at 195. So I went from 215 to 195 in 27 (actually 29) weeks. That is a 20 pound loss in 29 weeks so I am 9 pounds behind schedule. Not good. And that is why I am turning up the heat next week.

Now that the race is over I feel better about losing more weight and I am not so concerned about my leg muscles since I no longer have to get up crazy hills. It is now more about putting on more miles and burning more calories. I’m going to do 25 mile road rides now and I’m also going to incorporate running again. I may even incorporate weight curcuit training. I’m also going to get back to my healthy eating and cut down on calories while increasing the number of small meals. My breakfast portions are out of control so that is one area I can improve.

Tune in next week to see if I am back on the road to losing weight!

But at least that weekend was the race. The race that I have been training for months for. The race that helped so much to motivate me to lose weight. I feelt like I was ready.

I was wondering how this week would go since I have been on this plateau and a little nervous to try anything different in my routine due to my bike race coming up. I have been biking three times per week at about 20 miles per road ride. I did the same this week and I was able to tackle both monstrous hills pretty easily. I felt very good after each ride so I know my leg muscles grew and I’m ready for the bike race portion of the team Triathlon in Auburn, N.Y.

I have also kept up with my healthy eating keeping my portions under control and snacking on fruit instead of chips. I still have not cut back on carbs or anything drastic like that yet since up to a few weeks ago I really didn’t need to. The one thing I have done is I cut out running and I do drink Gatorade during my bike rides. I think the Gatorade may be putting calories back into my body and therefor I’m not seeing the huge calorie burns I used to see without the Gatorade. Cutting back on running also does not help to burn more calories obviously.

So…..I have obviously set this post up to tell you that I remain for another week at 193 pounds. I guess my body has found it’s middle ground and I will now have to change things up in order to continue to lose the weight. That will be fine but I’m not going to change anything until after the race next Sunday. After the race I will then begin to cut out some carbs (including Gatorade) and begin to run again between road rides. I will also reduce calories a bit and see what that does for weight loss. I refuse to make myself go hungry because I know that does more harm than good but I will reduce my portions even more and eat more meals that are smaller and either vegetable or fruit based.

So for this week I’m taking a break since it’s the week before the race. I may ride for 30 minutes or so once or twice to stay loose but that’s it. The race is on Sunday and then I’ll start tweaking my eating and exercise. Stay tuned to see how I do in Sunday’s race!