Another month over...

 And just like that another month has passed by.   July wasn't exactly the best month for a variety of reasons and I'm glad it's over, but I finished ok.  No need to dwell on the bad, shit happens, and that's just the way it is.  I'm trying to stay focused on my goals and the positives.

So, how did I do in July?  As a reminder here were my goals:

• Weigh 245 or less
• Ride 400 miles
• Walk 20 miles
• Perfect Month in Apple
• Get the July exercise goal in Apple.

Weight results:

• Starting Weight:  255.4
• Ending Weight: 248.77
• Net Loss: (6.63)
• Total Loss: (76.23

Exercise info:

• Number of rides: 59 and 13 fitpass 
• Time on exercise: 1:01:48:08
• Distance on rides: 424.75
• Number of walks: 8
• Time walking: 04:12
• Distance walking: 12.2

Results:

There's a lot more of it this month so let's start with the bad and get it out of the way.   I missed my weight goal...  again.  I thought I would get it as I was only 1.5 pounds away going into the weekend, but we had a a couple nice dinners out and my weight popped up a little bit.   Nothing to be concerned about, as it's normal for weight to go up/down but it's a little frustrating.  I also managed to miss my walking goal.   I've been struggling with motiviation for evening walks, so I put a reminder into the Withings app to prompt me.   Maybe I'll start walking more after vacation as I know I'll walk plenty during the trip.   I also managed to fuck my apple watch streaks up.   I completely blew the stand goal by hanging out with some friends on a weekend and then somehow lost my move goal.   I suspect it was me deleting a phantom workout, as I thought I hit it every day the bike was broken and even took walks and fitpass classes to ensure I hit it, but it's gone.   Now my goal is to surpass 179 days and I only have 160 days to go.

There's some good:
That's a lot of bad, lets talk about some of the good things.  Despite having the bike break and missing a full week of spin I beat my monthly mileage goal.   I didn't think that would be possible, but I almost eclipsed last month's distance.   I also crushed the monthly exercise goal in Apple.  Granted it was an easier one, but so what.   I hit 400 rides which means I should be somewhere around 750 and end of year.   That means I'll get my cube next spring.

August Goals:

• Weigh 240 or less
• Ride 225 miles
• Walk 25 miles
• Perfect Month in Apple
• Get the August exercise goal in Apple.

 Let's talk about this month and why my goals are so different from previous months.   First off, we won't be doing the 5k walk in St. Pete.   You'll also notice I've lowered my weight loss and cycling goals while raising the walking distance, and you might ask why?   The simple answer is Merinda and I are going on an Alaskan cruise this month and I think my normal goals would be extremely unattainable.   While I plan on walking and staying active on the cruise, in fact my plan is to get up and do 30+ minutes of exercise in the morning, I don't think they have spin bikes on the boat, so that's out of the question.  I had a work trip this past week and used the mediocre bike at the hotel and if thats what I see on the boat I'll try to do fitpass if the Wifi works, and if not, just the treadmill.  I'll also be on vacation so I will probably eat more, although the food on the last cruise was mediocre, so we'll see.   Realistically I would like to be weight neutral when I get back so that means about a 5 pound loss for this month.  I was able to do that in January, so I'd like to do the same here.   It's a good test to see if I can maintain my 30 minutes of exercise I want to do post diet to learn to maintain my weight.

Final Thoughts:

This was a very difficult month.   Despite feeling pretty upbeat going into this month the bike broke on the 3rd and I had pretty invasive round of  dental surgery on the 7th.   No complaints about Echelon's customer service I had a new bike in a week, but it was still frustrating to break mid-ride.  I was able to do some weight and walking  workouts and walk but it threw me off my game a little bit.  The new bike feels like it rides "harder" or scores me lower, so the PB's that I was seeing on a regular basis before it broke are now out of reach.  I'm not completely goal driven but I do like competition and whether it's me holding back or the bike being different, it feels like I'm far below my old scores so it seems like its a herculean task to get those old records.   I kind of wish they could be archived and then reset so I can get closer.   On top of this Irish got sick, he started off by abruptly not eating.   Dog's won't starve themselves by choice so it's a sign of an illness.   We hoped it wasn't serious, but in a 12.5 year old dog that's unlikely and we had to put him to sleep this month since he got so weak he couldn't stand up or walk.  That put a real drain on me this month.  Last but not least, I feel a little burned out.  I hear the instructors talk about overtraining and I wonder if I've done that.  Between the dog and my father in law both Merinda and I are ready for some time away to relax and recharge.   Now, before you think it's not all doom and gloom there were good things this month.   My original weight goal was 245 and I'm only 3 pounds over that.  I also went through all my clothes and have five trash bags of clothing that doesn't fit and I'm donating.   Clothing I bought in April doesn't fit anymore and I've bought my first clothies with a 38" waist so despite the tangible metrics, as in weight loss and bike scores, slowing down I still can't dispute the results. 

Enough of my ramblings.   Have a great month and I'll check in with a post-cruise update...

Not the July I wanted

 This has been a really tough month...   I wish I could say the worst thing that happened was the bike breaking, but in hindsight I would take that anytime over losing Irish this past weekend.   He'd been sick for a while, and we knew it was getting close, but I didn't expect it this past weekend and I really wasn't ready to say goodbye.

Yes, we still have Stormy and Brody, but Stormy is really Merinda's girl, and Brody was my dad's dog.   They help, but losing Izzy and Irish in the past year has been tough.  This is the first time I haven't had a dog in a long time.   I'm sure we'll have another dog but I think it's best to wait a little while first...

Rest in peace guys.  Hopefully there are apple trees and groundhogs and dirt to roll around in.  I miss both of you...

Happy Bastille Day!

 So the replacement bike arrived on Tuesday which was a little earlier than I expected.   I've been back to riding and it's been a little harder than I remember...   Maybe this bike is calibrated differently, but I've actually hit HRZ 5, which I never did before, and I'm definitely feeling it when I try to get the resistance up.   It's all good, even if I can't get close to a PB. 

I am most likely going to miss my goal for the month, which is disappointing even though understandable.   What I did get out of not having the bike for a month is more fitpass classes, and quite a bit of walking, so I think I'll be doing a wider range of exercises going forward.   I'm also making slow and steady progress on weight and eating a bit better again.   We'll see in 2 weeks :)

Happy Bastille day, and a very happy birthday to my Mother in Law.   Have a good weekend all.

Wow it just keeps getting better...

Not what I was looking for this month.  Happened about two thirds of the way through my ride today.   The bike started making a lot of noise and I thought the magnets were loose or something like that.  Next thing I knew the pedal sheared off.   Fortunately it was during a light jog so I didn't get hurt, and I was going to miss a few days of riding for my upcoming dental surgery, but it's still annoying.   Apparently this has been an issue with their bikes for a while.  Save your receipts folks.   I was lucky that Costco could provide a copy.

And just like that...

 I stopped paying attention to my stand goal....   Great start to the 2nd half of 2023 😠😠😠

Half the year is gone

I feel like I say this every month, but I can't believe it's already July.   Where is the time going?   I believe that time "accelerates" as we get older because our perspective on it changes.   A month at 55 is a much smaller percentage of our life, than a month at 25.  Despite this turning into my fitness blog, it is titled just some random shit afterall...

I had another mixed month and up until the end thought it was going to be a disaster.   Although my overall fitness seems to be improving rapidly, as evidenced by my first podium finish, and more PB's in rides, my weight loss has substantially slowed down, which is very frustrating   I'd be ok with that if I was only 10 pounds from my target, but after talking with my doctor I adjusted it down a bit and still have about 30 pounds to go.  On top of that I've been dealing with some hip and knee soreness which is hindering my exercise routine.   I do have some good news, I'm off one of my meds, and my BP medication was reduced.    Enough of that, let's talk about how I did.  These were my May goals:

• Weigh 250 or less
• Ride 400 miles
• Walk 20 miles
• Perfect Month in apple

How did I do:

• Starting Weight: 262.12
• Ending Weight: 255.10
• Net Loss: (7.02)
• Total Loss: (69.9)

Exercise info:

• Number of rides: 72
• Time on rides: 23:52:37
• Distance on rides: 429.5
• Number of walks: 1
• Time walking: 8:25
• Distance walking: .39
  

Results:

I always like to start with the good.   I beat my mileage goal again.  Despite moving it up and being away for a week I easily passed it and all while doing 11 fewer rides than last month.  Thanks to my sister in law, who also has an exercise bike, I was able to keep up with riding.   I did have to adjust my stand goal for a few travel days, because there was no way I'd be able to stand 12 hours and drive for 14.   It's just not possible, but I kept my move and exercise goals constant and hit those, so I was able to have a perfect month in apple.   I would have liked to get that monthly move goal, but I just couldn't get there.  July's goal seems much more attainable...  

Now for the bad:

I missed my weight loss mark again, and until I went to VA thought I'd have a flat month, which would have been very discouraging.   I don't feel like I'm overeating, or eating poorly, so I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.  I did pop up a touch when I got home, but hopefully I'll have a few weeks of salads to help get me back on track.  I also didn't walk again.  Not sure what's going on overall, but the sore hip/knee kept me from doing that when I got home.   I think we're going to do the walk in St. Pete this month so I'm planning on walking more, hell I'm planning on exercising more overall.

July Goals:

• Weigh 245 or less
• Ride 400 miles
• Walk 20 miles
• Perfect Month in Apple
• Get the July exercise goal in Apple.

These should look familiar.   Other than lowering my weight target they're probably going to remain consistent for a few months.   I am going in for some dental work in a week so this could have two effects.   One is I won't be able to ride for a few days, this is ok because I need rest days and I'll probably go for a walk.   This will also help the weight loss because I won't be able to chew food for probably two weeks.  I have protein powder.   It will force me to push harder when I get back to riding, and probably go for some longer distance.   I'll definitely be doing that this week as it leads up to the surgery.

Final thoughts:

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed.   I shouldn't be, but I am.  Maybe it's me, maybe it's normal, but it's frustrating to work hard, and I do work hard, and not see the numbers on the scale.   Yeah I know it's normal, and I still get up and do my workouts, but I'd like to see better results.   I should take the victory in the tremendous improvement in my overall health, but it just feels like a hollow victory.   Clothing I bought 3 months ago is loose and needs replaced.   I'm setting new bests on the bike frequently.   My blood pressure is way down, and my medication was lowered.   My blood sugars are *normal* and I don't need any meds for that anymore and finally, my resting heart rate is routinely 55-65 which is remarkable compared to where it was six months ago.  I can do light workouts and not even spike my heart rate.  Don't get me wrong, I'm pleased.   Hell, I'm more than pleased.  FFS my Doctor was very pleased and commented on my results.  I look better and more importantly feel better, but the self doubts and decades of being embarassed by my weight are hard to escape and lets not even discuss that I see myself in the mirror every day and how that makes me feel.  What I have to remember is that while I have a weight loss goal the actual goal are lifestyle changes that will be permanent.

Enough self pity.   I have a workout to do so happy Independence day to my US friends, happy Canada day to my Canadian friends and have a great month all.   Talk soon!