My Weight Loss Blog
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October 18, 2009: Summer's end
I have just returned from what might be my final long trike ride of the season, a 17.5-mile ride out and back on Roger Canyon Road north of Laramie. It took nearly 2 hours. Yesterday I did my standard 14-mile ride on the Laramie GreenBelt (7 miles on the GB itself and 7 miles getting to and from the trail head). I'm guessing these might be my last trike rides of the season mostly due to a change to cooler temperatures. The past 2 days have been in the mid-60's but while tomorrow looks like another nice day (perhaps the last of the season), I'll be in Cheyenne. (I may try to bring my trike and go on the Cheyenne Greenway, but I'm not sure yet if I'll do that, since it is a somewhat onerous task to load and unload my 70-pound trike in my SUV.) The high temps in the coming weeks are forecast to be only in the low 50's and high 40's, not ideal for biking.
Prior to these two rides, I hadn't used my trike in about three weeks. Instead I was preparing for and taking a trip to Minnesota. During this time I used my indoor exerbent a few times, and also spent much time getting my exercise by steam cleaning lots of carpets.
My minimum weight in the past month has gone as low a 245, or minus 80 pounds, however due to daily fluctuations and some poor eating habits on my trip, my weight is still mostly between 250 and 255, so I can still only claim a total to-date weight loss of minus 70. I weighed in just now at about 251 (-79).
With Halloween, Thanksgiving, my Birthday, Christmas and New Years just around the corner, I'll be facing a challenging time weight-wise the next two and a half months. This period in 2008 was not particularly good in terms of weight loss; I hope to do better this year. But while I do have plans to continue daily exercise, mostly on my exerbent, I also know that I'll likely indulge in holiday treats and my favorite take-out pizza and cake on my birthday.
So, life progresses, and I still want to stay on track for my goal weight of 220, or minus 105 pounds by this time in 2010. Time will tell! An hour a day, I'll keep plugin' away.
August 27, 2009: Another long bike ride
I set a new record distance biking today: a little over 22 miles in 2 hours and 23 minutes. I again dropped between 4 and 5 pounds on this outing.
4 years, ago, doing anything physical for 2 hours and 23 minutes would very likely have resulted in my laying down and dying of exhaustion. I've come a long way, baby!
August 12, 2009: New Min. Weight via Long Bike Ride
I went for a long bike ride today, about 21 miles total. I went out of town on a road familiar to me, Roger Canyon Road north of Laramie, but I went about 1.5 miles farther on the road than I've ever gone before:
The ride was my longest of the 21st century (just by a bit) and also had the most altitude gain, a gain of about 400 feet over 9 miles:
I didn't set any speed records, though; my average speed was just under 9 mph and I took a 20-minute break in a park just after getting back into town. To my surprise, despite the fact I didn't think I sweat too much, I discovered that I had dropped 5 or 6 pounds just on this one ride, and I have set a new minimum weight record, coming in just under 248 pounds after my return home. (Note that I do expect to regain most of that 5-6 pounds by rehydrating and eating tonight, but that's a lot of weight loss for a single bike ride!)
I was definitely tired afterward, but usually on these 13-20 mile rides my biggest problem is not getting tired, but more so suffering from a sore butt and having a "hot" feeling on the bottom of my feet (I suspect this is due to diabetes-related bad circulation in my feet). I was encouraged to discover that my 20-minute rest period did wonders for my feet and butt :-).
Of course I want to keep challenging myself; next time 22 miles!
July 19, 2009: Two Milestones
First milestone: I'm happy to report that for the past week or so, my maximum daily weight has been under 260 pounds. This puts me at 65 pounds lost since November, 2007 (so I can update the graphic at the top of the page 
). 65 pounds lost is a significant number since it represents 20% of my total starting weight. That's comparable to a 500-pound man losing 100 pounds down to 400, a 200-pound man losing 40 pounds, down to 160, or a 150-pound woman losing 30 pounds, down to 120. Woohoo!
Second milestone: my minimum weight has come in at a pound or two under 253 pounds the past few days (I guess good weight loss like this will happen when I continue to watch what I eat plus bike on my trike 13-20 miles per day in this beautiful Wyoming summer weather.) 253 pounds might not sound like much of a milestone; after all it's not a round number like 250, but it is significant to me in that it is a number I've had in mind for the past 16 years or so. The last time I remember weighing myself before becoming way obese was 253 pounds sometime around the summer of 1993. So yay I've managed in the last 20 months to drop the weight I spent 14 years putting on. Let's hope the trend continues.
I'm now around 2/3 of the way to my goal weight of 220 pounds. I'm hoping to attain that weight by the end of summer 2010.
(Follow this link to see previous blog entries from early to mid 2009)