Moving in the right direction

OK, let's not make too big a deal about it, but I've figured out an amazing thing.  If you eat less calories than you are burning, you can lose weight.  I know it's true because I have experienced it first hand.  Sure the types of calories are important too, but the basic formula works.  If calories burned > calories consumed then weight decreases.

The problem with this for most people (including myself) is that this is boring!  It takes time, persistence and diligence to actually get to a goal, but it does get you there. We are so used to things happening quickly in our lives that we look for the quick fixes to lose weight. From my experience 95% of them don't work over the long term.  They are normally missing something or are too restrictive that makes them untenable for more than a moth or two at most.

I'm happy to report that my adherence to consuming less than I am burning has led me to weight loss progress.  This morning I weighed in at 449 lbs.  That means I have lost 14 lbs. since January 21 (13 days), better than 1 lb. per day. I know my initial weight loss is accelerated and will slow, but I am so happy to have made this big of a change so fast.  I can literally feel the difference in my body with this amount of weight gone.

So moving forward I do need to get into the more active side of things and I will get on my bike.  Seems like mother nature is taunting me with some gorgeous days right now and unfortunately I have other obligations, but I will make time to get out there.

Get on your bikes and ride!

Time for an update

I realize I have been fairly quiet on here of late and I am hoping to address that with some more frequents posts, but I have a feeling I may be absent from this space for most of the month of November.  There are a couple of reasons for this and the biggest is that November is the National Novel Writing Month.  I am one again in the process of creating a novel of at least 50,000 words during the 30 days which is November.

On top of that my parents are coming to vist for 10 days at the end of the month. I haven't seen them since last year when they visited in September so that my dad and I could ride the Viva Bike Vegas ride together (Read about it here: Part 1 and Part 2). Obviously while they are here writing time is goingot be very limited.

One thing I will post about will be the wrap up for my personal challenge of riding 180 days in a row (today I am on day 178).  I will also go into a bit more detail on some of the health information I've found out from my doctor and several tests that I have undergone over the last few weeks.

One thing I do want to point out is that I've re-challeged myself to lose weight between no and the end of the year. So far, over the last 2 weeks, I have lost 6 pounds. This is a good start on what I'm hoping to be a 20 to 30 lb. loss by the time we go on the cruise in January.  It will be tough with the usual gluttounous holidays focused on food coming up, but I plan on doing it.  No more excuses.

So, thinkif this post as a preview of coming attractions for other posts soon to come.

Get on your bikes and ride!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've said it before

and I hope I don't say it again, but my track record so far says otherwise.  What, you may wonder, am I talking about? I am starting over.  I am getting back into the swing of things and tracking my calories in order to make progress in the right direction on this weight loss journey towards a healthier me. I have to come clean here, I have lost weight since the first of the year but it has not been fat.  It has been fluid.

I've been hoping for a miracle, I guess.  Hoping that some magic combination of medications from my doctor will shed a significant amount of what I need to lose.  Obviously that is not the case.  I had dropped almost 50 lbs. by increasing my diuretic to the point that my kidneys had started complaining.  We've backed off on that and I gained back almost 20 lbs. in 2 short weeks.  Since then we've changed medications again and I seem to be fairly stable in the weight department and my blood pressure is OK.

One thing that has been out of control lately is my caloric intake.  I've come to realize that I am a bit of a stress eater and the stress levels have been elevated over the last few moths.  That has not helped.  Not tracking any calories hasn't helped either.  I know what I need to do and starting today I am doing it. I've logged into My Fitness Pal for the first time in almost a month and I adjusted my daily net calories down to 1800 per day.  My goal is to stay within this number every day with my net calories. This number is significantly lower than what the guided number per day would be, but I know that their number is a bit on the high side for me.

Along with the tracking of all my calories eaten, I am also planning on increasing the calories burned on my daily bike rides.  Currently I'm averaging between 2 and 2.5 miles per day on my bike and I will be increasing that rather shortly to 5+ miles per day and then a steady increase from there.  I know I can do it, I just have to get out there and put the time in.

To help increase my mileage I am going to get at least 3 of the bikes I recently purchased in riding shape and I will have some riding partners to keep me motivated and riding. Since they won't be getting up with me in the early mornings, I may go to multiple rides per day in order to help them get ready for the ride as well as increase my fitness.

So, you will see more posts from me with more information on my fitness level as well as increased mileage and a few posts on the work to get the bikes in riding order.

and remember we all need to:

Get on your bikes an ride!!!!!!!!!!