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!

Plateau's and why they suck.

 It's early in the month for an update, but I'm stuck in a plateau and wanted to vent a little bit.  Yes, I'm eating a little more than I mean to, but we have company, he's a remarkable chef, and despite that I'm staying pretty close to my diet plan.  I'm also working harder on the Echelon than ever before and despite this my weight doesn't want to budge below 260.   Shit, I weigh more than I did at the end of May.   Yes, I'm getting more fit.  I see that in the results on the bike.   I've been hitting PB's or close to PB's in most classes lately and I am consistently getting higher on the leaderboard.   Yeah yeah yeah, I know muscle weighs more than fat, and finally, I know it's not easy to undo years of being a lazy slug, but it's frustrating to work hard and not see the results you expect.   I know it gets harder the leaner you go, but I still have 25-30 pounds to go, so it's not like I'm upset over 5 pounds....

That's all....   Just wanted to complain a bit.  I'll check back in later and hopefully have better results then.

June Already.

 Happy June!   It's hard to believe June is here, this year seems to be flying by.   May was another month of mixed results, but I'm satisfied with the month and keeping a positive outlook.   The weight loss seems to be slowing down, which is frustrating, but my performance on the Echelon is definitely improving, my waist seems to be shrinking, I look better in the mirror, and my blood pressure has come down substantially.   Merinda was away for almost the entire month and that makes it a little harder to stay on top of everything.   With that said, here were my May goals:

• Weigh 255 or less
• Ride 300 miles
• Walk 20 miles
• Perfect Month in apple
• 4 75 minute Sunday fusion classes

How did I do:

• Starting Weight: 271.98
• Ending Weight: 261.22
• Net Loss: (10.76)
• Total Loss: (63.78)

Exercise info:

• Number of rides: 83
• Time on rides: 1:02:20:55
• Distance on rides: 455.53
• Number of walks: 1
• Time walking: 54m
• Distance walking: 2.77

Results:

Let's start with the good.   I crushed my cycling goal.  I joined a challenge on Strava to ride 600km and blew it away, in fact I beat every cycling challenge on Strava I joined for the month.   I had a perfect month in Apple and I should have had 4 sunday fusion classes.   I couldn't join one Sunday because of the Internet so I subbed some other classes in and had somethign "equivalent".   I'll take a C on that goal.

Now for the bad:   

I missed my weight goal.  I can't make any excuses for that.  I felt like I did a good job staying on my diet plan, but the weight loss seems to be slowing down.  I don't think it's feasible to eat less so maybe losing 15 pounds a month isn't realistic.   I did lose 10 pounds this month and I look much better, but it's more than a little frustrating to not see the results on the scale.   What's worse is my weight goes up, up up then DOWN, then up, up up then DOWN.   Regardless, I'll keep plugging away and try to hit my goals.   I do need to eat a little more salad and fruit this coming month and less "other" food.   Having Merinda and Tyler here doesn't help, and having company really doesn't help but that's just something I need to deal with.

I completely missed my walking goal.   I got focused on the cycling goals and kind of skipped walking.   I know cross training is important, and have nu excuses, so I'll focus on that more.   

June Goals:

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

Final Thoughts:

A couple things.   I've increased my monthly mileage on the bike to reflect my overall better fitness.  Yes it means more time on the bike, but so be it.  I can't get results if I don't reflect progress in goals.  I need to work on getting better at rest days.   There were a few days last month where I felt just wiped out and still forced myself on the bike.   Those are the days I need to go for a walk and get some rest.   Obviously closing "rings" on apple makes that harder, but walking should be ok.   I set a 10 pound weight goal this month because 15 seems unattainable.   That doesn't mean I'd prefer to weigh 245, which ironically, was my original target weight, but it's a little demoralizing to see my weight and know I'm going to miss that goal with a week or so left in the month.   I'll shoot for 245, but consider 250 to be a win.   I also dropped the Sunday ride goal.   Yes, I'm going to make best effort to join those weekly because I enjoy them, I even hit a PB this past Sunday, but having Internet issues cause me to miss a goal is frustrating and occasionally I might need to do something different on Sunday morning.  I'll still do something substantial, or catch it on-demand, but setting a goal on something that I might miss by no fault of mine seems silly.   

Overall I'm pleased with my progress.   I've had to get rid of clothes which no longer fit, which is a nice feeling, and as I mentioned earlier my blood pressure is much better, today it was 115/67 and my resting heart rate is in the mid/low 60's and even went to 55.   These are real results and might result in lowering or removing some meds which would be awesome.   One of my long-term goals is to maintain activity once I get to my target weight.  Maybe I'll talk about my targets this month.   Anyeay, have a great month and look for more updates.

April showers bring May flowers

 So....   Here's my April update and it has both good and bad outcomes.   I'll start with the bad because it's important to explain why my month went sideways at the end.   I stay away from personal stuff here because I want to talk about other things, but my Father-in-law has been having some health issues, and he passed away four days after my mid-month update, and as such I missed a week of bike.   This caused me to miss  a few goals.  Obviously, I'm not goign to get down on myself over that, family always comes first, and I did my best to stay active while away.

April Goals:

• Weigh 265 or less
• Ride 270 miles
• Walk 25 miles
• Complete 4 live 75 minute Sunday fusion workouts
• Perfect month in Apple health
• Have one swimming workout

How did I do?

• Starting weight: 279
• Ending weight: 271.98
• Net loss: (7.02)
• Total Loss: (53.02)

Exercise Info:

• Number of rides: 42
• Time on rides: 13h 52m
• Distance on rides: 244.4
• Number of walks: 20
• Time walking: 7h 12m
• Distance walking: 20.9 with an additional ~15 miles walking that wasn't logged as a "workout"

Overview:

I was having a pretty good month until the end.   I think I might have hit my weight goal, but it was the only one that was concerned about missing.  I didn't weigh myself in Ireland, but I didn't gain weight and I'm already down a bit again.  I was able to stay active while away and hit my activity goals.

May Goals:

• Weigh 255 or less
• Ride 300 miles
• Walk 20 miles
• Perfect Month in apple
• 4 75 minute Sunday fusion classes

Final Thoughts:

Yes I keep setting aggressive goals.   I got home from Ireland and immediately started working out again.  I really want to achieve my ultimate goal, and I won't get there by slacking off now, despite people saying how much better I look.  Yes, I know I look better, but to be blunt, I looked awful when i was fat so any progress is good progress.  I'm going to have some rest days, and some light days, but when I work out I'm going to hit it hard.  That's how you make progress.  On a brighter note, the trip has helped me keep getting up early so I'll continue to do that.

Have a great month and I'll be keep you all updated...

Mid Month update

 I'm a little bored today so I thought I'd put out an update with about 2 weeks left in April.   I've had a pretty good month and I feel like I'm on track even with the conference and missing almost a full week of the bike.   I was able to get up in the morning and hit the treadmill in the hotel and I walked all over Disney so I kept myself pretty active.   The food choices were good so I kept my food intake right where I wanted it.

Here are the goals I've set and where I am today:

• Weigh 265 or less
• Ride 270 miles
• Walk 25 miles
• Complete 4 live 75 minute Sunday fusion workouts
• Perfect month in Apple health
• Have one swimming workout

My weight was 271 this morning.   Six pounds in 12 days is going to be cutting it close but we'll see.   As of this morning, I've ridden 169 miles this month so I will easily hit 270.    According to Stava I've only walked 11.5 miles this month and have a ways to go.  I'm guessing it didn't catch the walking I did during the conference because that wasn't a "workout" but Apple has me walking ~16 miles while there so I believe I hit this already.   I've done 2 of the 75's, including Reed's savage class so barring an illness I'll hit that, and despite my move goal going up agian, I'm on track for another perfect month in Apple health.   The only thing I'm unsure about is swimming.   I got in the pool so maybe that counts?

Enough said, enjoy the rest of the month folks.

March Fitness stats and update

Good to be back.   I was going to post mid-month but changed my mind.   Overall, I had a good month and I'm satisfied with my progress despite a few setbacks, namely minor surgery, a new scale and a light gout flare-up. 

Here are the goals I set 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

So how did I do?

March Results: 

• Starting weight: 290.2 
• Ending weight: 278.3
• Net loss: (11.9) 
• Total loss: (46.7) 

Exercise info: 

• Number of rides: 64
• Time on rides: 21h 6m
• Distance ridden: 355.4
• Number of walks:  9
• Time walking:  5h 13m
• Distance walking: 15.2

Overview:

All in all I had a good month.   I hit all my exercise goals, with the exception of adding in swimming but the doctor said I couldn't submerge my arm after the surgery, which eliminated half the month, so I'll take a pass on that one.  I've started taking regular 75 minute fusion classes, which add in weight training, which are both tough and rewarding.  I had a top 5 finish and a couple that were just outside top 10.  I'm definitely getting stronger and faster in the classes and can do things like accelerate into the 80's when I'm standing which I couldn't do before.    

I'm disappointed that I missed my weight goal but I'm sure if I had used the same scale for the rest of the month I'd have hit it.  I changed it this week and I'm already back to where I was on Sunday.  I also occasionally need to skip some standing parts of classes.   I'm not happy about it, but I think I'm 90 maybe 95% there and I'd rather finish the class than completely bonk and get a DNF on the class, which I was worried about last Sunday.   Regardless, I'm goign to continue to work on this.

April Goals:

What do I want to accomplish in April?  I'm going to set my cycling goal lower because I'm going to a work conference next week and will miss a few days on the bike.   I'll be walking daily, but missing 4-5 days on the bike, including a Sunday, will make 300 miles almost impossible if I schedule in some rest days.  I'veincreased my walking goal by 10 miles this month to accomodate for it.

• Weigh 265 or less
• Ride 270 miles
• Walk 25 miles
• Complete 4 live 75 minute Sunday fusion workouts
• Perfect month in Apple health
• Have one swimming workout

Final Thoughts:

I know I set another month of aggressive goals.   I did schedule a few days off the bike even with missing a week.  We all need rest days and I can use those for other activities like swimming and longer walks or even to catch up if need be.  Surprisingly I found that I like to get up early and work out in the morning.  That seems to set my day up nicely so I'm going to continue scheduling morning live classes.  I won't lie, I love shoutouts and got two this morning :) and it's nice to compete with people who are live too.   

Have a great weekend and if I don't post by then, Happy Easter.   

Talk soon...  Cheers!