Fall...

I like living in Florida, I really do.   I don't mind the heat and humidity and have no issues with the summer here.   I was glad to trade snow and ice for the heat.   We have a pool and I jump in when it's hot or I can go in the air conditioned house.  That said, it's amazing here when the summer heat finally breaks and we get into the cooler weather.   It also is bringing some welcome changes for my exercise routine as I'm hoping to finally get some cross training and a little less bike time.   It's not that I'm sick of the bike, but since I'm effectively at my goal I'm trying to find the happy medium where I can maintain my weight and exercise routine.

So with all that said lets talk about September.  Here were the goals I set:

• Weigh 230 or less
• Ride 400 miles
• Walk 15 miles
• Perfect Month in Apple
• Get the September exercise goal in Apple.
• Finish the TDE

Weight results:

• Starting Weight: 237.64
• Ending Weight: 229.30
• Net Loss: (8.34)
• Total Loss: (98.70)

Exercise info:

• Number of rides: 89
• Time on exercise: 01:05:58:52
• Distance on rides: 515.57
• Number of walks: 4
• Time walking: 02:02
• Distance walking: 6.2

Results:

I like to start with what went well and I hit all my major goals.   I hit my weight goal, I crushed my bike distance goal, more on that in a minute, had a perfect month in Apple and achieved the September exercise goal.  What I didn't expect was to hit the end of the month and discover that I needed five days of 80+ minutes of exercise to hit my September challenge.   I assumed this would be no problem, do my regular workouts then go for a stroll at night and I'll get that, easy peasy.   Wrong.   Being more fit means my heart rate doesn't spike during a walk and it's not a workout.....  Needless to say I had to push myself on the bike a lot more than I planned and really burned my legs out in that last week.   Yeah I demolished my mileage goal, hell I had my first 500+ mile month, but I need some rest days, and I need them pretty badly.  By the end of last week I was feeling shattered and struggling on the bike and I hit bottom on Saturday when I was barely able to keep pace in my class.   I finished but it was a struggle and I was far below what I expected in terms of pace and output.  Let me finish by saying I also missed two goals last month.  I didn't walk enough nor did I finish the TDE.  I still have three long hills and a speed class to go and have no excuses.   That said, it ended up being a decent month and I was satisfied with the month. 

So, lets talk about October.   Getting to the "end" doesn't mean going back to the old ways and here's what I want to do this month:

October Goals:

• Weigh 225
• Ride 450 miles
• Walk 25 miles
• Perfect Month in Apple
• Get the October exercise goal in Apple.
• Finish the TDE

Yeah these should look familiar.   My monthly fitness goals are probably going to look like this going forward although some will vary but these are all tied to specific activities and challenges.    My revised weight goal has been 225 for a while.  I just want to get there and maintain it for a while.   I don't think I need to be "skinnier" although I'd be happy to lose some stubborn belly.  I know a flat stomach is out of the question, but it's demoralizing to work this hard and have handles I can grab that I know will never go away.   Not just a pinch either but a fistful of flab.  Hopefully if I keep working I'll trade some of that for muscle and can tone myself up.   Time will tell, but if it doesn't resolve itself I'll talk to the doctor about it and see what I can do.  I think the ride and exercise goals are pretty self explanatory.   Apple has a workout goal to walk two miles fourteen times this month, so I should get that for a change and it will help me with some variety and days off the bike.  Merinda is interested in getting in better shape so we're going to try to walk two miles a few days per week to get both of us moving.   I'm also hoping to get this food side hustle going and that's going to take away my weekend workout times after this coming weekend so we'll see how that impacts things.   Not sure how I'll finish the TDE this month, but I'll just slug away at it as I only have three long classes left.

Final Thoughts:

I'm heading into what's traditionally been tough times for me.   Typically, once I get rolling I can hit my weight loss goal and feel great then I start eating more and working out less and eventually end up back where I started.   I'm trying to avoid that this time.   I just don't want to throw away all the work I did this year.   Yes, I had a cheat weekend in terms of food, but I did work out all weekend and to be fair, I needed it.   As I already said I was pretty shattered by Sunday.  I skipped Dani's class because I needed some rest and I wasn't sure how I'd do physically that morning.   I did sixty minutes later while watching the red zone, but it was well needed both physically and mentally.  Other things that are exciting are I installed the challenges app last month and like it.   I've got three challenges going this month so= I hope it's going to keep Merinda and I motivated, and I joined a long distance echelon challenge which starts on the 15th (go east coast riders!).   I'll post some updates about that, but it sounds like fun and should keep my mileage up, especially since I still have a 450 mile target for the month.  I'm hoping the walking days help me with fatigue.  Still have to get the Bianchi in for a tuneup but the weather is getting nice and maybe riding outdoors will help.  TLDR?  This should be the last month of losing weight and hope these other things help me lose the last few pounds and stay on track.

I did forget to mention that 10/1/2023 was eleven years of no smoking...  I miss it sometimes but c'est la vie.  That's more than enough for a Monday morning, so have a great month...   Talk soon.