That wasn’t supposed to happen. I’ve been slacking off. I’ve been eating poorly. Now the scale is showing it.
I haven’t ridden my bike since Monday. I exceeded 3000 calories per day for several days in a row. I woke up late today, and forgot to bring my lunch. The scale read 231.6 lbs this morning.
My hybrid bike had fenders once before. However, the rear fender was destroyed due to a mechanical mishap.
I ordered new fenders last week, and they arrived Monday. Last night, instead of going to bed early, I put the fenders on the bike.
I had planned on riding it in the rain to the grocery store after getting the fenders installed, but it took longer than expected, so I just went to bed.
Today would have been a good day for a partial-commute on this bike. It wasn’t too cold and the rain was light. I overslept this morning, and just drove instead.
I have bad days. Today is one of them. Days where nothing seems to go right. Days where I feel I am failing in my weight loss attempt, and sometimes at life in general.
This blog has been a great tool for me to gain some perspective on what I have accomplished. Going back and reading what I wrote last year makes me realize how far I’ve come.
It’s nice to put it all in perspective. I’m still having a bad day today, but I know it has been better before, and will be better again.
I think I’m going to go to bed early tonight, and start fresh tomorrow.
This blog turns one year old today. Hopefully in another year it will be obsolete.
My focus in this blog has changed over the course of a year. I started out posting what my goals were, and why I had those goals. Later it was more of a public humiliation into losing weight.
As of today, I’m down 67 lbs, and have 54 more to go. I still adjust my goals as necessary, but the why is pretty ingrained in my head.
Many of my recent posts have been out bicycling. That has been one the major areas of focus for my life over the last few months. I have picked up a few readers along the way because of that, and probably lost a couple.
I no longer find posting my weight, or progress pictures humiliating. It’s just part of what I do, almost becoming part of who I am. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not.
It’s been a week since I tracked my calories, I’m back to doing that again. As of this morning I’m down to 227.2 lbs (same as yesterday). I’ve lost 69.2 lbs, and have 52.2 left to go.
I rode to work today in mid-30 degree temperatures. My feet got a bit cold, but the rest of me was plenty warm. I’m not sure how much I’ll ride this week. The weather forecast is calling for rain for the rest of the week. I’m don’t know how prepared I am for cold rain, and I don’t want to risk hypothermia.
My average weight for the week ending 11/8/2008:
229.9 lbs
Down from last week:
0.8 lbs
Down since I started on 10/31/2007:
66.5 lbs
My average loss per 30 days since 10/31/2007:
5.33 lbs
Weight until goal:
54.9 lbs
I’m back down where I was two weeks ago. October and November are harder for me. I’m riding less due to the cold. That’s alright, this is a long-term project.
Okay, this isn’t about my diet plans for the holidays. This is about my bike plans for the holidays.
I found some inexpensive battery-powered Christmas lights at Target. I grabbed a set, and decorated my recumbent.
I like the effect, but I need more lights. I’ll probably buy two more sets. One will decorate the handlebars, and the other for my upright bike.
I’m living alone now, and rather than have a Christmas tree that only I can enjoy, I’ll decorate my bike to amuse those that see me on the road.
I took the hybrid bike out for an errand run tonight. It was dark, but I had three tail lights, and two headlights. In-town riding after dark is actually rather fun.
I did get one idiot in a car who seemed to think that I needed to move over (he had a whole other lane to use), and flashed his hi-beams repeatedly to try to communicate that. I just ignored him.
I’ve been offered an exciting new opportunity to change the direction of my career. So, with some regret, I turned in my resignation at work last week.
If anyone from works reads this, and didn’t already know, sorry, they’ve been slow to get the official announcement out.
My new employer knows about this blog, but I’m going to refrain from mentioning just who my new employer is on this blog, so that anything I write about here will not affect my employer.
Anyway, how does this affect my weight loss plan? It really doesn’t. My commute is only changing by a few blocks. I have to dress nicer, so I’ll be looking into how to carry good clothes on my bike without wrinkling them.
It started Tuesday afternoon, election day. Rather than ride my bike all the way home and possibly miss the chance to vote, I called for a ride home.
Once I voted and went home, I rode my bike a short distance to buy beer. Then I ordered pizza. My ex-wife and daughter came over and brought ice cream.
We all sat around and watched the election results on TV. I ate way too much, and drank too much. I didn’t even track my calories.
Wednesday morning I was feeling dehydrated from drinking. I didn’t feel up to riding all the way to work, so I threw my bike on my car, and only rode a short distance. I ate reasonably well, but didn’t track calories.
Wednesday after work, I went shopping for clothes, including some more base layers for cold weather riding. By the time I got home it was late, and I was up too late, and drank more beer.
This morning, I woke up two hours later than expected. I made it to work on time (barely), but drove the entire distance.
My daily weigh-in has been above 230 for two days in a row. I need to focus more.
I won’t normally talk about politics here, but tonight’s election was different. Today, election turnout was huge. No matter what side of the political fence people are on, this was an important election.
My personal beliefs are mostly conservative, with a bit of libertarian. That said, I voted libertarian. I really didn’t see a good choice. I’m very much a fiscal conservative, and Obama doesn’t talk to that part of me.
I fully expected Obama to win. I’m not bitter about it. It could be a good thing. I won’t be a democrat, but I will give Obama a chance.
I’m listening to John McCain give his speech right now, and, if anything, I now have more respect for him.
I’ll be turning the TV off before Palin has a chance to speak.
Goodnight all!
I had considered not voting today. I didn’t go before work. While at work, I changed my mind. This way I got to leave work early. 🙂
However, I was pressed for time to get to the polls on time. I had ridden my bike all the way, and it would be cutting it very close.
I called my ex-wife for a ride, and met her part of the way home. There was no line to vote in my small Indiana town. I was done in a few minutes.
Now I’m having a small party here at home with pizza and beer (not great for the weight loss) while watching results come in on TV.
Since I’ve started this weight loss project, I usually weigh myself in the afternoon or evening. I’ve been told that morning is better, but I was horrible at getting up on time.
These days, I get up on time most of the time, so as of a few days ago, I started weighing in the morning. It’ll be interesting to see if this eliminates some of the daily fluctuation in my weight.
Also, this morning’s weigh-in was 228.4 lbs, a new low for me.
My ride home yesterday was very nice. It was dark, but traffic was sane. My lights work well, and I was easy to see, and I could see the road.
However, once I got out onto the divided highway (riding on the shoulder), I was pulled over by a Jeffersonville city police officer. He was very polite, and basically wanted to know what kind of lights I run, because cars we merging into the left lane hundreds of yards away to avoid “whatever that blinking thing is” on the shoulder. The city police department has several bikes, and is looking to upgrade the lighting.
It was fun. That’s why I have those lights.
This morning, I almost couldn’t get myself out the door. The hardest part of riding to work, is to get on the damn bike. I almost called in, and said I’d work from home. In the end, I hopped on the bike and rode into work.
While crossing the Second Street Bridge, I saw another bicycle commuter on a recumbent going the opposite direction. We both waved. I believe I know who he is, but have never met him in person.
I knew I was going to ride into work today, so I ate a bowl of cereal with milk, a glass of orange juice, a banana, and one cup of yogurt. That comes out to about 645 calories, but I burned almost that riding the 16.5 miles into work.
With daylight saving time here, the morning ride actually occurred with some (gasp) daylight. It will be dark on the ride home though.
It was a good ride in. It was warmer than last week. The skies were clear, and the drivers were mostly sane. I love arriving at work with the endorphin rush.
I love to ride my bike, but it’s usually a solitary thing, and I can’t take my dogs.
Today, my daughter and I went for a hike in the woods, and brought the dogs along. We just got back from hiking the easiest trail at Charlestown State Park. Maybe next time I can get my daughter on one of the longer trails.
I only rode to work one day last week. I did ride about five miles today to run some errands. My daughter is over for the weekend, and we rode to the grocery store together.
We had a Halloween party at work yesterday, with a “bake off”. I had to sample everything. 🙂 I did eat too much yesterday, but I’m doing much better today. I’ll have to watch my serving size for dinner tonight though. My daughter is making chicken and broccoli pasta dish. It already smells delicious.
My average weight for the week ending 11/1/2008:
230.7 lbs
Up from last week:
0.8 lbs
Down since I started on 10/31/2007:
65.7 lbs
My average loss per 30 days since 10/31/2007:
5.36 lbs
Weight until goal:
55.7 lbs
Although I gained a little for the week, I’m still down for the month of October. Here’s a new monthly chart:
