It Happened Again

I did it again, just what I worried I might do. I fell off the weight loss train. Got mangled in the tracks, my plan all torn to shreds.

However, I am not going to let that stop me this time. Sure, I've spent the last two weeks eating like a pig and doing nothing for a workout other than shoveling heavier and heavier plates of snacks into my mouth. The guilt was ENORMOUS. And the pounds packed themselves back on. On the 2nd I was 204.4 pounds. Today I'm up one more at 205.4. I was all the way down at 193! That's 12.4 pounds in 2 weeks. That's an even worse gain than the last time I fell from the train.

*sigh*

There, that's out of my system. I'm done with the failure. The guilt is gone (or going). Today, I'm back. It's going to be difficult. I mean, I was standing in my kitchen this morning staring at all the tempting snacks sitting on the counter, some I purchased just yesterday. I was asking myself: "What's the worst that could happen if it's just one more day of snacking?" I knew the answer before asking the question. The worst is what has happened the past two times I went one day, then another, and another until I was back to the overweight wreck I've all too frequently become.

Breakfast today was 180 calories (Fiber One cereal and milk with a glass of V8). I drank 2 glasses of water. I faced my shame and updated my weight and restarted my tracking on The Daily Plate. I'm back.

This time until the end.

I'm going all Spartan on the calories again for a few weeks, just until I get under 200 pounds - 5.5 pounds to lose to reach that goal. I'll then start building the calories back up to a normal person's level, shooting to consume a net of 1,800 - 2,000 calories a day while maintaining my new healthy weight of approximately 165 pounds.

The exercise will have to decrease in hours because I simply don't have the time to workout as much as I did during November and December. I want to do more (write, draw, read, start to date...yeah, I need to get on that - that's what she said - if I want to have a family anytime soon). So the weight loss will be slow going. Once under 200 pounds I'll shoot for an average of 1.5 - 2 pounds loss a week. I'm hoping to be at my 165 pounds by the end of June. Just in time for RAGBRAI and the start of training for the Walt Disney World "Goofy" (half-marathon AND full marathon, back-to-back) next January.

Onward, Pirate! You've got some work to do.

RAGBRAI XXXVII - July 19-25, 2009

The big RAGBRAI post is up over at Another Great Escape, Pirate.

Week of Working Out - July 26

Here is a list of the exercise I completed during the past week,
July 19th – July 26th.
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Sunday: RAGBRAI Biking – 68.44 miles in 5:11:36 hours on a tandem with Jeff at an average of 13.1 mph with a maximum speed of 44.4 mph.

Monday: RAGBRAI Biking – 78.59 miles in 6:42:08 hours on a tandem with Jeff at an average of 11.7 mph with a maximum speed of 37.6 mph.

Tuesday: RAGBRAI Biking – 81.19 miles in 6:34:48 hours on a tandem with Jeff at an average of 12.3 mph with a maximum speed of 38.3 mph.

Wednesday: RAGBRAI Biking – 53.86 miles in 4:23:21 hours on a tandem with Jeff at an average of 12.2 mph with a maximum speed of 39.3 mph.

Thursday: RAGBRAI Biking – 81.35 miles in 6:11:57 hours on a tandem with Jeff at an average of 13.1 mph with a maximum speed of 40.9 mph.

Friday: RAGBRAI Biking – 80.76 miles in 6:06:42 hours on a tandem with Jeff at an average of 13.2 mph with a maximum speed of 34.5 mph.

Saturday: RAGBRAI Biking – 48.68 miles in 3:28:03 hours on a tandem with Jeff at an average of 14 mph with a maximum speed of 41.1 mph.

Sunday: rest
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I would have provided more information about temperatures and specifics of the ride, but by the end of the week it all blurred into a jumble. Know this: it was VERY hilly, mostly cool with only one day of real heat and sun, and rain on the ride for half of one day. The last two days of the ride were the easiest, while the other five days were killers.

Progress Report XXX - July 26

Weight: 222.6 lbs.
Loss/Gain: - 7.4 lbs.

52.6 lbs. to Goal (170 lbs.)

Exercise Hours: 38:38:35 hours (biking: 38:38:35 hours)

Exercise Distance: 492.87 miles (biking: 492.87 miles)

RAGBRAI XXXVII

This was the one week of the year I knew I’d get some exercise. One would think that that would guarantee weight loss, but I’ve proven that assumption wrong in the past. I took the extra effort to ensure I didn’t gain weight by overeating on the ride by bringing my own healthy snacks and limiting consumption to one big meal (dinner – mostly pizza and salad buffets) a day. It worked pretty well after the first couple days (extreme dehydration and discomfort from the drastic change in exercise time and diet).

Now that I’m home, coming off a big week of exercise and weight loss, I’ve got to make sure I stay on the wagon and continue marching toward my (unreachable?) goal weight of 170 lbs. by December 31st.

Oh, and 38 hours of exercise: impressive!

Week of Working Out - July 18

Here is a list of the exercise I completed during the past week,
July 13th – July 18th.
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Monday: rest

Tuesday: rest

Wednesday: rest

Thursday: rest

Friday: rest

Saturday: Bike – 2.42 miles in 14:52 minutes, riding around the campgrounds in Council Bluffs the day before RAGBRAI on a tandem with Jeff.

Progress Report XXIX - July 18

Weight: 230 lbs.
Loss/Gain: 0 lbs.

60 lbs. to Goal (170 lbs.)

Exercise Hours: 14:52 minutes (biking: 14:52 minutes)

Exercise Distance: 2.42 miles (biking: 2.42 miles)

I was happy to not gain a huge amount of weight before leaving for RAGBRAI. I mean, I was already up to 230 lbs after being down so close to 200. When I was losing weight I imagined it would make RAGBRAI so much easier – and it probably would have helped – so I wasn’t happy leaving to ride another year with a lot of extra weight.

Also, because RAGBRAI starts on a Sunday and we need to be at the campgrounds Saturday, this week’s progress report is a day short (ended on a Saturday). Next week’s report will run from Sunday to Sunday (a day long). This should be the only glitch of the year with regards to weights, face photos, etc.