I might as well talk about this here. I doubt my facebook friends want to hear about cycling, fitness and weight loss, and neither do people on Instagram. Pictures of food, travel and bourbon are far more interesting than sweaty selfies. Regardless, I feel like sharing and no better place than into this echo chamber, so here goes.
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!
