Today I woke up early and jumped on the bike. Sometimes I go for speed and try and set a personal best (usually targeting a distance of 15km). Other times I go a bit slower, but a bit farther, and go for endurance. Today, I decided my exercise needed taking up a notch, and went for both. Not only did I set a PB for the first 15km, but I hung with it for a while longer until I was sure my legs would fall off (or at least refuse to hold me when I stood). I'm happy to report that my legs decided not to fall off after all, and I felt good about my effort.
I received a nice comment from "Mark M", who wondered (quite rightly) how come I never seem to gain any weight during this ordeal. As many of you have experienced, your weight often bounces up and down like the stock market, hopefully with at least a slight trend in the desired direction. I'm really no different, however I make a special effort to attempt to get consistency with my weigh-ins. I always weigh myself at the same point in the day, with the same attire, and as many other similarities as I can think of (I don't have to say it do I?.....Okay, I'm talking about toilet stuff. You figure it out).
There is no magic in how much you weigh, or how much it changes from day to day. It's all very scientific. If you burned off more calories than you took in since the last weigh-in, AND you are not carrying a different amount of water or undigested food, your weight is pretty predictable. I once weighed myself after a workout, and found I'd lost an additional 2 pounds. Similarly, if I weigh myself after a meal, I could be a few pounds heavier. If my weight goes down, it's usually a good reflection of my recent diet and exercise.
My exercise routine is not designed to build muscle (although I will likely do this a bit), it's designed to burn calories. I would love to say that any weight gain is due to my enormous guns and that benching 500 pounds tends to put on a bit more muscle, and everyone knows that muscle weighs more than fat, so...... However, in my case, it's simply not true. I do my best to burn the weight off, and figure my guns will just have to impress the ladies as they are.
The other thing that makes my weight loss look more consistent is the fact that I don't weigh myself every day, and I certainly don't get the chance to blog about it every day either. Taking a few days between postings has the tendency to flatten out the peaks and valleys a bit and give a smoother trend line. Maybe that's a good strategy. Avoid weighing yourself too frequently, and you'll avoid a bit of the stress that goes along with it.
Day 58
Current Weight: 186
Weight Lost To Date: 20
Yay, I finally hit the 20 pound mark! It's been a bit slow lately, but I knew it would get harder down the stretch. My BMR (the calories I burn just hauling my fat butt around this world all day long) is getting less as I get lighter, so I'm having to compensate with less calories or more exercise to keep up the pace. As a result, the pace is slowing a bit, but I'm still confident I can keep going strong enough.
Today I bought my sons an ice cream as a treat. One of them had "Raspberry Cranberry Duet". The other had "NY Cherry Cheesecake". Of course they both asked me if I wanted some, and of course I politely declined. However, I remembered that I'm off to NY myself tomorrow....and they do make some wicked cheesecake.... We'll see if I can resist!
Don
