As I posted earlier, we got an Echelon spin bike before Christmas. Merinda suggested it, much to my surprise, and even more surprising is how much I enjoy it. I took some motivation from my sister in law who works out ~30 minutes per day, lost some weight, so I decided to follow her lead. Since I had some dental surgery in December I was already eating less, not by choice but by circumstance, and that shrank my appetite and I had lost a little weight. I was pretty upset over my weight, I had peaked up to 330 pounds and was having some issues as a result of it. We have some plans for this year and I didn't want to be the fat guy who can't do anything. We had a cruise booked over New Years, and I'd decided to be mindful of what I ate, but to not be obsessing over food and fitness until after I got home. I'd been riding the bike a little in december but the plan was to really start when we got home.
Long story short, I started on the Echelon on 12/12/2022 and missed 2 weeks for vacation and the flu (no it wasn't covid the doctor tested me and I was flu-b positive).
Goals:
- My starting weight was about 325 lbs. I didn't do a "weigh-in" but I'd weighed at 330 at the doctors office last year.
- My goal is 240 lbs but this might change. Merinda is worried I'll get too thin.
- The current exercise plan is have 30 minutes of exercise per day.
- I usually ride five or six days a week and walk the other two days.
- I want to be riding outdoors this fall. It's too hot in Florida to ride in the summer.
- Note: I don't have monthly stats for January because echelon doesn't aggregate data like that, I started using Stava which aggregates the data nicely but didn't start until the end of January.
February statistics:
- Starting weight: 301.4
- Ending weight: 287.0
- Net loss: (14.4)
- Total loss: (38.0)
Exercise info:
- Number of rides: 55
- Time on rides: 14:10
- Distance ridden: 245.7 miles
- Number of walks: 7
- Time walking: 4:40
- Distance walking: 13.7 miles
How do I feel? Overall I feel much better and a lot more energetic. I get up earlier in the morning, and seem to go to bed a little earlier, but that's to be expected. I don't have the back and leg pain I had when I was heavier. My clothing fits better, and some of it is already too big. Yes, it pains me that I bought a suit for a wedding that I will wear once, well maybe I'll try it on when I hit the year anniversary, but that is additional motivation and I have clothes that didn't fit before that I can wear again. I guess being a bit of a pack rat has some advantages. On the bike, and walking, I am noticably stronger and faster. I had my first top 10 finish in a class, I'm taking 20 and 30 minute classes and can almost always do all the out of seat parts.
My goals for March:
- Weigh 275 or less
- Ride 300 miles
- Complete a 45 minute spin class. Ideally I'd like to complete a 60 minute class but we'll see how that goes.
- Do 100% of all standing activities in classes for the month
- Walk 15 miles
- Add swimming in for some cross training. Our pool is still too cold, and the aquatic center is closed, but I might see about swimming in Clearwater
Final thoughts:
This was a bit longer than I planned, but I had a bit to say and I rambled on a bit. I'll provide better and more concise updates as the month goes, and if I hit goals I will update them. If you use strava or echelon feel free to add me. Also, my aria scale is acting up and sometimes doesn't sync to the Internet unless I restart it. I suspect it's because Fitbit/Google want us to buy a new one. I probably won't buy an Aria because it doesn't have the best Apple integration so I'm looking for a good, reasonably priced, smart scale that integrates well with Apple health. Yes, I have an Apple watch and I prefer it to the fitbit.
Talk soon... Cheers!
