The average of my daily weigh-ins for the month of January is 269.0 pounds. I started the year at 275.4. I’m down 6.4 pounds. Although I’d be happy to consistently lose only 4 pounds a month, I’m concerned that I’m currently not losing weight.
Back to it. I’ve got to remind myself to eat better. I need to quit going out to eat and drinking beer. Yes, I had beer again yesterday. I also had a huge serving of fish and chips.
Yes, I messed up my numbers for the year, then I skipped a weekly update.
This week, I gained a little.
My average weight for the week ending 1/30/2016:
268.3 lbs
Up from last week:
0.3 lbs
Down since I re-started on 1/1/2016:
6.5 lbs
My weight spreadsheet had an error. I haven’t lost as much weight as I thought. You can see the correct numbers on my weight page.
In addition, I haven’t weighed since Saturday. I also quite tracking food for a few days. I’ve been terribly lazy. I had four days of beer drinking.
Meh.
I’ll kick it back into gear tomorrow.
My average weight for the week ending 1/16/2016:
266.9 lbs
Down from last week:
2.6 lbs
Down since I re-started on 1/1/2016:
7.9 lbs
Even with some “cheating”, I’m losing weight. I just need to keep going.
My average weight for the week ending 1/09/2016:
269.5 lbs
Down from last week:
5.3 lbs
Down since I re-started on 1/1/2016:
5.3 lbs
As promised, the new year brought new resolve to lose weight. I gave up beer, and have been attempting to ride my bike more.
I was out for 26.6 miles this morning. I was not fast.
My average weight for the week ending 7/25/2015:
263.3 lbs
Down from last week:
1.5 lbs
Down since I re-started on 6/1/2015:
11.3 lbs
I’m back down, but still not riding enough. This morning’s weigh-in was 259.6, the first I’ve been under 260 in a while. That’s kind of scary.
My average weight for the week ending 7/18/2015:
264.7 lbs
Up from last week:
0.5 lbs
Down since I re-started on 6/1/2015:
9.9 lbs
I went too long without posting. I’ve been driving to work too often. I gained a little weight.
My average weight for the week ending 7/11/2015:
264.3 lbs
Down from last week:
0.5 lbs
Down since I re-started on 6/1/2015:
10.3 lbs
Weight until goal:
89.3 lbs
I mentioned I was going to start posting my weekly average weight posts again… well, here we are. My new start was 6/1, when I weighed 274.6 lbs.
This round of weight loss is mostly due to less beer consumption and a bit of self-control on what I eat.
Yesterday, I rode the single-speed Space Horse up to the coffee shop to meet with my daughter. We hung out a bit before I rode home. Later I met up with Tim for a single-speed ride around the parks before we stopped for a couple of beers.
When it was time to head home, I had a flat. Boo! After getting a bit dirty, the flat was changed and I rolled on… and stopped at another bar for another couple of beer. Oops.
Writing these weekly updates will hopefully keep me focused on the goal, rather than the beer.
The (mostly) no-beer June thing paid off, as did the longer commute and watching what I eat.
On 6/1/2015 my weight was 274.6. It slowly dropped from there. Weekly averages below:
| 6/6 | 274.3 |
| 6/13 | 271.3 |
| 6/20 | 269.9 |
| 6/27 | 268.7 |
| 7/4 | 265.8 |
My average weight for the month of June was 270.4.
I look forward to posting weekly updates on the weigh-in every weekend.
I still ride a bike too! As you saw in my previous post, I re-configured the rSogn to be my daily commuter. It works, but I now have two bikes that aren’t rideable. I need to fix that. I’m also planning on another bike for later in the year.
I had Friday off work, so Tim and I rode single-speed bikes around town. Unfortunately I consumed way too many liquid calories after the ride.
Five more months to lose weight before Gravel Grovel.
There’s something about nice round numbers or dates that appeals to me. So today, June 1st, 2015, is a new start.
As mentioned yesterday, I’m not drinking beer during the month of June. I’m not a fan of liquor and I rarely drink wine, so those aren’t an issue.
I weighed myself this morning. I’m 274.6 lbs. That’s pretty unacceptable to me, but not as bad as I feared. I will continue weighing, but I’m not sure about posting here, as I always fell behind that in the past.
The first time I lost weight and wrote about it here, my life was simpler. I was single. I had nothing going on besides a job.
Now, I’m married. We have a new dog (who’s destructive and high-maintenance). Although I’m working now, I’m actively seeking a new job as the current one ends next week.
I’m playing volleyball again this year, at least in the summer, outdoor in the sand. I don’t enjoy indoor as much. I played today and had a good time, even without drinking any beer.
My eating habits have deteriorated in the last couple of years. I need to fix that. I’ve started that today, just by eating less. I’m not tracking calories at this point, but I probably need to do that. It certainly worked for me last time.
I’m rolling around some ideas about how to limit my beer consumption once this month is over. I don’t have anything decided on yet, but it needs to take bike miles into consideration, so I can earn beer by riding more. As much as I was drinking the last few months, I’d be riding to Indianapolis and back every few days.
My progress has been slow, but I have lost 3.4 lbs in four weeks. I have had days with too much beer. MyFitnessPal is helpful, but I have the occasional day that I blow my calorie budget.
I’ve updated the weight page. I need to write more often. Tim and and did a bike camping trip last weekend. I may get around to writing about that soon.
I’ve lost track of my resets. Some of them have been quite helpful. Others didn’t last long enough to matter.
I haven’t had a beer since Tuesday. I won’t have another one until 6/27 – so one month without beer.
I mentioned that my weight according to the doctor’s scale was 268. That’s wearing clothes and with things in my pockets. I started weighing daily again yesterday. I’ve been just under 262 both days. I’m only going to start posting my weekly and monthly averages. That’ll will make updating simpler.
I’m also back to tracking everything I eat. I only had 1390 calories yesterday, but I went to bed hungry. I should have had something more, but I didn’t have anything healthy in the house.
I’m sitting at a mere 490 calories so far today, but I’ll have a snack and dinner yet today. I just came in from mowing the lawn, so I have a large glass of water next to me.
Diane and I took the dogs for another walk last night. It was shorter than Wednesday’s excursion, but I was feeling weak (should have eaten more).
My first (partial) week of beer was okay. I had two beers on two different days, taking up my allowance of four from 1/1 to 1/4.
This week is not so good. I’m allowed seven per week. I’ve already had six. I don’t get another allotment until Sunday. Bummer.
We had some bitter cold weather on Monday and Tuesday. The forecasted snow fizzled, but the cold was real. The Monday morning bike commute was done at about 3F. Monday afternoon was about the same. Tuesday morning was a “chilly” -1F. There was a bit of a warming trend during the day, so the afternoon commute was a balmy 15F.
I had a volleyball team captain meeting to attend after work on Tuesday. I rode there, of course. It surprised the others – and they know me.
Today’s morning commute was about 15F, but the afternoon commute was above freezing. It felt like shorts and t-shirt weather!
The new volleyball season is about to begin. I’m angry at myself for gaining weight last year, but then I realize that I still ride a bike (slowly) and play volleyball (poorly). Actually, my volleyball league is full of older, fatter people. Hmmm….
The holidays are over. Work is ramping up. I stayed late today to get some projects finished. I haven’t been this busy and productive at a job in a long time. I love feeling productive again.
So, I’ve been busy and happy.
Also, this job is a contract job. It’s temporary. It was originally supposed to end by April 1st. I think that’s now been changed to May 1st. There’s also a chance of a six-month extension after that. We’ll see.
My weight has been fluctuating right around 255 since the beginning of the year. I am weighing every day again, but I’m not seeing any movement in either direction.
It’s early. I need to keep an eye on the longer-term trends. I’ll average weekly once I have more data to work with.
It pisses me off that I still need to lose 80 pounds.
My May 1st weight was down a little from April. I’m sitting at 235.8 lbs. This means I now need to lose 7.5 lbs per month to make my goal. When I started this time around, it was only 5.0 lbs per month.
Yes, I need to cook more. Tonight, I cooked a simple spaghetti meal, but I steamed fresh broccoli, and served it on the side. I have leftovers for lunch tomorrow, and one more meal after that.
I’m not currently counting calories, so I didn’t try to total them up.
I weighed myself on April 1st. I gained 3.2 lbs. I’m up to 237.8. That’s now how to do this. Hopefully the change going on now will make my May weigh-in go the right direction.
This blog may stay named “The Fat Guy” with my lack of progress. No, I’m not giving up, just feeling frustrated.
I did my monthly weigh-in on February 1st, but didn’t post it until today. I need to lose 5 lbs per month. I lost 3.4 in December. I lost one pound in January. This progress won’t get me there. I’m still 61.4 lbs from my goal.
On the bright side, seeing this has focused my attention. I was going to go out for dinner. Now I’ll stay home and cook. I have no beer in the house, so that’ll help too. Although I should go grocery shopping, I think I’ll do better if I stay home today.
I’ve mostly been at the computer today. I should do some exercise and stretching. I need to get away from the computer.
As I stated at the beginning of December, I need to lose 5 lbs per month for 13 months to hit my goal weight by the end of 2013. I’m one month in and I’ve lost only 3.4 lbs. I need to work harder on that. I’ve updated the weight page.
I rode my bikes 313.8 miles in December, for a total of 3,595.9 miles for 2012. That’s down about 1,900 miles from 2011. I intend to rectify that this year and ride 6000 miles for the year. That’s an average of 500 miles per month, or 16.4 miles per day.
I’m buying no new bikes this year. I’ll spend money to properly outfit and repair the five I have.
I need to do two types of training: distance and speed. Distance just requires long rides. Speed may involve intervals. I’m far from being fast, and basically just want to keep a 15+ MPH pace of a reasonable length road ride.
I also need to get back into upper-body workouts. I’m not prepared to start a YMCA membership again, so I’ll work with body-weight exercises and the dumbbells I have.
I rode to work and then back home in warm weather. The afternoon sky smelled of rain, but I never felt a drop. The 7.7 mile round-trip was my normal route.
After I got home and took care of the dogs I rode out to Baxter Jack’s to watch Robin play volleyball. It started raining on the way. Once I locked up and got to the covered deck the skies opened up. It was really raining.
Once the storm passed, the volleyball games began. I watched her team lose (ouch). She had things to do, so we went our separate ways. I didn’t want to come straight home. It was raining, but not the torrential downpour we had earlier. I was still dressed for work, business casual, not the ideal wet weather gear, but I didn’t care.
I continued to Cumberland where I stopped for a beer and burger. I took the long way home from there, adding another 7.8 miles for the day, and completing my 30 Days of Biking project.
My mileage total for the month was 300.3. That’s not a great month for me, but considering how poorly this year has gone with my neck issues, it is an improvement. Here are the miles numbers for the year so far:
| Month | Miles |
|---|---|
| January | 160.6 |
| February | 164.0 |
| March | 240.3 |
| April | 300.3 |
I forced myself to ride every day of the month, even if it were a very short ride, to get back in the habit of riding everywhere. Earlier in the year I took a bus, cab, or hitched a ride too often. I think I’m back on the bike for good now. I won’t be posting about every day’s ride, and I may not ride if I’m not going anywhere.
236.2
That’s what the scale said today. It’s a little lower than expected considering my eating habits.
I’m currently at Boom Bozz with Robin. I need to control my consumption.
Getting to work and back home requires two trips. For 2012 I’ve started tracking how I do each of those trips.
In January I had 21 work days, meaning 42 trips. Only 28 of those trips were by bicycle. There were three car-pool trips, four where I got a ride from someone else besides a co-worker, three trips on the bus, two in a cab, and two walking trips.
February is off to a better start. I’ve ridden my single-speed to work and back every day. My neck has improved enough that this isn’t too painful.
I don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions. When it’s time for a change, you should work at it immediately. I do, however, believe in looking back at things. I’m looking back at 2011.
Bike Miles
I rode 5502.9 miles in 2011. That’s more than 400 miles over 2010’s 5087.2. By comparison, 2009 was only 3860 miles. November 2011 was a new personal record month. I had 697.7 miles. December is my best December yet, but nothing exceptional at 444.9 miles.
I hope to surpass 6000 miles in 2012, and have a one-month best of 750 miles.
Car-Free
I sold my truck and became car-free on November 4th. I’m still adjusting to living without a car, but it’s not a difficult adjustment after living most of the year as if I were already car-free.
Bikes
I bought the Big Dummy as my car truck replacement once I knew I actually would sell the truck. I still have some fit issues to get dialed in, but the bike has been great at hauling things (and people!).
I’ve spent a lot of money on bikes this year. In addition to buying the Big Dummy, I bought a SON dynohub and lighting system for the LHT in April. I later moved the wheel and lights to the single-speed.
In March, I bought a used kid-trailer as an affordable cargo hauler. I haven’t used it since buying the Big Dummy, but it could be useful to tow it with the Big Dummy if I really need to haul a lot.
In December I bought new wheels (including Shimano dynohub) for the LHT. I also bought new brakes. Now, January 1st, the bike is still partially assembled in my kitchen.
Health
2011 has been a challenging year due to health issues.
In June I had a horrible neck pain problem. It kept me off the bike briefly. It made me miss some longer pleasure rides that I wanted to do. With some treatment and strength training it was resolved to the point that I can function normally, but it never went away.
In September I was hospitalized due to a bowel obstruction. Luckily it resolved without surgery, but it was scary. I only missed one important ride, and had no lasting effects.
On the day after Christmas my neck issue returned. I’m still struggling with it, and I see myself riding the recumbent more often now. I wasn’t car-free last time, so my options are a bit more limited now.
The various doctor visits may have actually added to my overall mileage for the year. I had doctor visits in New Albany and east of Lyndon that took me a bit farther for transportation cycling than I normally go.
Weight
Ah, the elephant in the room. First let’s look at my monthly average weight since I started tracking it in 10/2007. Up until July 2009, things look great, then a bit of a bump, lost again, then steady increase since March 2010.
Now let’s look at the same values beginning January 2009. You’ll notice that most of it is between 200 and 220lbs. That changes when it goes above 230 in July 2011. It stays above 230 until the last two month of the year.
It’s a little bit depressing, but not all that surprising. I’ve been treating myself to good food and beer as if I don’t have a weight problem. I not going to give these things up, but I need to make better decisions on how much and how often to consume these things.
2011 was not a good year for weight loss. I ended the year 13lbs heavier than I started it. Ugh. As Tim would say, I have an “intake valve problem”.
Exercise
Other than cycling I’ve done little exercising. I had my push-up plan back in 2008 that I abandoned after suffer shoulder pain. I’m supposed to be using some dumbbells to strengthen my upper body to help with the neck and shoulder issues, but I’ve not been using them as much as I should.
I was training for a triathlon early in the year, but ditched that after suffering problems in the swim portion of the training. I did not enjoy the running, but I was capable of performing what was needed.
I did race my first bicycle race in November, the Gravel Grovel. I met my goal of less that 6.5 hrs (just over 6 hours).
My biggest problem right now, is that my most common exercise other than cycling is the 12 ounce lift (lifting the beer to my lips).
Relationships
Okay, where to begin?
When I started this blog in November of 2007, my 13-year marriage was ending. I didn’t talk about it publicly for months, but it was happening.
I married Kristy in 2009. It was a much different marriage than the first, but didn’t work out for much different reasons. We are now officially divorced.
Interesting tidbit. I met an interesting woman, Robin, a few days ago. My desires in a relationship are a bit different now. I’m not ready to rush in to living together or marriage (eek! I said the M word!), but she lives nearby (walking distance, no bike even needed!) and we have some common interests. We rang in the new year together. I’m not going to talk much more about her for the time being.
2012
Most goals stay the same. Goal weight of 175lbs. Stay sane. Be happy.
Some goals have changed. Ride 6000 miles for the year. Ride 750 miles or more in at least one month. Save more money.
All of this is for nothing if the Mayans were right.
Happy New Year everyone!
Monday
I had the recumbent ready on Sunday night for the Monday commute. I rode it to work with no issues. I had an appointment after work to ride to, and I had a few shifting issues. I’ll have to look into that later.
Tuesday
I had an appointment with a lawyer before work. I rode the Big Dummy to work, then walked to the appointment. I’m glad I did. Traffic was a mess in the area due to an underground electrical box fire. Even riding a bike through the area would have been problematic.
I had ridden the Big Dummy to pick up pet supplies at Feeder’s Supply after work. I normally go to the Downtown location, but I wanted to check out a new route to St Matthews, so I rode my new route through the Richlawn and Beechwood Village neighborhoods to get to another location.
I then hauled 70lbs of pet supplies toward home, stopping at Four Pegs for beer and food. I may have eaten what I shouldn’t have, but I did get over 20 miles in for the day, nearly half of that while hauling pet supplies.
Wednesday
Today I had a doctor appointment in New Albany before work. My LHT was still in pieces, so I rode the single-speed. By the time I got home, I had 26 miles.
Several of us are getting together this weekend for a gravel ride. My LHT is the bike of choice here, so it was time to put it back together.
I cleaned the bike the best I could and reinstalled the fenders and wheels. I cleaned and lubed the drivetrain. I noticed a few issues.
I don’t have the money to fix all of this right away. I did have some different pedals in the closet that I put on it. I’ll be stopping by the bike shop for help with the rear hub and front derailleur. The hub because I don’t own any cone wrenches. The derailleur, because I don’t know what’s wrong with it. It could just need replacing.
The bike has seen nearly 6600 very hard miles. This is the go-to bike for gravel, rain, winter, mud, and heavy loads (before the Big Dummy). It looks like I’ll be spending a fair amount over the next few months fixing it up.
Food
I’ve quit tracking my food intake again. I’m going to start again tomorrow. I’ve been busy and it takes time. Yesterday’s fun at Four Pegs is what happens when I don’t hold myself accountable.
Weight
I’m still slowly losing. Go figure. I guess it’s a combination of better eating (even with mishaps) and more miles on the bike.
On November 21st I began anew at the weight loss effort. I spelled out my goals and rules. I’ve been revisiting that post every day since then.
Progress? I’ve not been perfect about the rules. I even bought beer at the grocery store, and had a few last night. I have been better.
Results? My weight on 11/21 was 230.2lbs. Today is 224.2lbs. In the time between, it’s been 220s the whole time. I’m seeing small consistent drops.
Weaknesses? On Wednesday, I went out on an allowed outing for Car-Free Happy Hour. I was fine with my food consumption, but had a bit more beer than necessary. On Thursday, I was going to go out to eat, but the restaurant I went to went out of business. I went home and cooked. Friday I went out for pizza. I ate entirely too much, but was better about the beer consumption.
I went grocery shopping last night on the Big Dummy. I hauled a lot of groceries home. I’m planning on making large amounts of soup. I can freeze the extra. I can easily bring it to work for lunch. It should be a big help.
My daughter came to visit yesterday. We made a chicken breast and rice dish. I ate a bit too much and had beer.
I have no big bicycle plans this month. I’m just coasting by. We have one gravel ride planned in a week or two… I don’t know which weekend. Other that that it’s just riding to work, running errands, or the occasional in-town ride.
I dropped off my rear wheel for the ‘bent on Friday. That meant riding out to Lyndon after work. I’m riding back out there today to pick it up, probably just in time for the rain to get here.
I’ve been pretty good about my eating. I was trying for 700 bike miles for the month. I’m fairly happy with my recent weight loss.
Today was Car-Free Happy Hour at Clifton Pizza. I was unsure I even wanted to go, but I did go.
I’m glad I did. Tom was there with his wife. They had ridden a tandem recumbent. I ate two pieces of pizza and had some beer.
I followed Tom to his house in Lyndon, then headed home. I wasn’t sure exactly how many miles I needed to get 700 for the month. I came up short. I got a total of 697.7 miles for November. It’ll do. It’s still a new personal record. I’m going to ease up a bit in December. I need a break.
I mentioned last week that I wanted to break my old record of 671 miles in a month. I want to completely break it and get 700 miles this month.
I only needed 53 miles to do it, and I had the day off work today, so I planned a 55-mile ride for today. I hadn’t ridden the recumbent in a while, so that was to be my bike of choice.
The recumbent had a flat tire that I didn’t get around to fixing last night. I pulled the wheel off this morning and found the valve stem was damaged. I grabbed the spare tube and found that it had gotten punctured in storage. I patched the spare and got the tire mounted and aired up. With the wheel back on the bike, I gave it a spin. The wheel was quite out of true.
I assumed I just needed to tighten a spoke or two. This was frustrating, but within my ability. After closer inspection I found a broken spoke. Okay, not riding the recumbent today.
I decided the single-speed would be a better choice anyway with the generator lighting. It’s dreary and rainy outside. It took very little to get the bike ready to go.
The hard part about dressing for the weather is that it’s in the 40s and raining. The easy part is that the temperature isn’t supposed to change much all day. A mixture of wool and synthetics was called for. I dressed a little light so that I wouldn’t overheat. I wore my rain cape to prevent my upper body from getting soaked.
I was out the door and heading west down Hill St. I made my way to the west end and turned north toward Shawnee Park. That’s when I noticed the wind was from the north. The rain cape became a sail.
After riding through Shawnee Park and Portland I was eastbound toward downtown. I felt better here until I got in between tall buildings that were funneling the wind in odd directions. Again, the rain cape was a liability, but with heavy rain, wind, and no jacket I wasn’t going to take it off.
I stopped at my workplace to say hello, use the restroom, and warm up. I then went across the street for coffee.
I continued east on River Rd. I knew at this point I wasn’t going to finish the planned ride. I was too cold.
I turned on Frankfort Ave and came across some flooding. I carefully rode through watching the depth. I didn’t want to get my feet wet or submerge my dynohub. I succeeded in not submerging the hub. My feet got soaked. Even with wool socks my feet got very cold.
I continued out Frankfort Ave to Bike Couriers Bike Shop. I stopped in and look around. They had a Radish in stock. Neat! I also noticed they had a decent selection of useful fenders and other utility cycling stuff in stock.
After that I headed nearly directly home. I was cold and wet. I also needed to use a restroom again.
My mileage for the month is 667.3. That’s less than four miles short of a new personal best and not far from 700. I still have two more days to hit the 700. I should be able to do that by taking the long way to work or back.