This morning’s weigh-in was 221.2 lbs. That means I’ve lost 75.2 lbs. I know that because I have a spreadsheet to track it all.
I drove to work today because we are under a winter storm warning. I’ve been thinking about my bikes all day. I know how often I have to ride to work to make my mileage goal for next year.
I can list off anything I’ve eaten in recent history, again because of my spreadsheet.
I’ve probably changed my perception of myself from “fat guy” to “weirdo on a bike who is OCD about tracking things in a spreadsheet”. How far is too far? More importantly, what comes next?
I will reach my goal weight sometime in 2009. I know I have to maintain, but it won’t require as much work. I will continue to ride a bike as much as possible (I want 5000 miles for next year).
What will be my next big goal? I need to find something to achieve, or I will feel lost. Maintaining the goal weight isn’t enough. It’s got to be something different.
I have some other goals in mind.
- Learn to ride a unicycle (next year)
- Be car-free (three years away)
- Either fix-up my house, or move (three years away)
- Meet a woman crazy enough to like my lifestyle (never?)
- Ride a several hundred mile multi-day tour (next year?)
Those are neat ideas, but it doesn’t solve what to focus on.
Mostly, I feel a little lost. I think people that know me are tired of hearing about my weight loss or bike rides (blog readers don’t count… they just leave when they tire of it). I really don’t have other things to talk about now. My life has been consumed with these matters recently.
Life gets consumed with goals. Try to not worry about the next compulsion–it will make itself known to you in time. (:-) <<Helmeted rider grinning smiley
After something like fifteen years of being borderline-obsessed with recumbent bikes, riding bikes, and working on bikes, I’ve expanded my horizons a bit. I sometimes get frustrated that I don’t go on as many century rides as some folks I know, but I realize I don’t have to prove anything to myself or anyone else by doing those rides. I am not as ready to ride the bike at the proverbial drop of a hat any more–I have other parts of life that have taken some priority.
You’ll figure it out, eventually. We always do, somehow.
I would like to do better than Tom, but I can’t. Rest Easy. Stay steady and let the next day come to you. You’ve done amazing things so far and will continue to do so.
Tom,
I actually have an old document somewhere on this computer with my “life goals”. It constantly gets updated. I never remove the old ones, I just bump them down. Sometimes I think the old ones are silly. I hope riding a bike never gets bumped too far down.
Tim,
I can’t do better than Tom either, but he has a lot more miles under his belt. Maybe eventually…
I am happy with my weight loss, this post was much more general.
Do better than me at what?
The sense I got from Tim’s post was that he wanted to encourage you, but was unable to be more eloquent than my comments. I am not but so well-spoken, and take that as a compliment. I hope my point–expressed in my first paragraph above–was clear, but if not, I’m afraid that was the best I could do. It is based on my own experience as one who has jumped from near-obsession to near-obsession over the course of the last few decades.
David, I never learned to keep a “life goals” list. I’ve never been able to sit down and say, “In five years I want to be doing x, and in ten years I want to be doing y.” At some levels, I envy those who could, even knowing that such goals often get altered as life introduces changes for which one cannot prepare.
As far as you doing better than I, David, I’m not sure what you mean. We are all capable. Some more so of task x, some more so of task z.
Tom,
I guess I misunderstood Tim. I thought he was talking about riding.
I’ve been keeping the goals list for a number of years now. Most of the old entries were career or money oriented. The newer entries are more about satisfaction with my life.
There are many goals on that list that I never achieve, because life does change. I’m okay with that.