Let’s Get Small

No more treats for you!

If you made a New Year’s resolution a month ago, how’s that going?  I didn’t make a resolution, officially, but I also didn’t realize the weight loss for which I was hoping, unofficially.  Basically, I fought January to a draw.  I began the month at 203 and ended it at 201.  I have started to undo the damage of the holiday season but I’m a long way from where I should be.

Sometime around Thanksgiving I abandoned the practice of logging my meals and snacks.  Today I resumed my food journal, hoping that it will encourage me not to eat or drink bad things.

In January I spent 13.5 hours on the treadmill at Planet Fitness, went snowshoeing once, rode my bike outside on five occasions for a total of 83 miles, completed 12 upper body strength training workouts in my home gym, and used my foam roller as part of my stretching and self-massage routine every single day.  That’s not a bad amount of activity for January, but a permissive approach to my diet prevented meaningful weight loss.

Now it’s February.  I couldn’t get to Planet Fitness yesterday, so I went today on what otherwise would not have been a treadmill day.  As I burned 500 calories during a 1-hour workout, I noticed that the gym was far less busy than it had been just a couple of weeks ago.  I think a lot of New Year’s resolutions are failing.  For me, February provides another framework in which to start over.  It’s the shortest month of the year.  Surely I can show some discipline and restraint over just 4 weeks.  With a combination of exercise and responsible eating, I know I created a calorie deficit today.  One day down, 27 to go.

And where do I want to be?  I’ve got a number in my head that sounds good.  Certainly, I won’t reach this target by March 1 but maybe I could get there by June 1.  I think 175 is the weight I need to reach to be as competitive in my racing endeavors as I can be.  My bike-specific, preseason training plan will begin on Feb.12, but no amount of training will yield as much real-world benefit as simply losing weight.  How much does your bike weigh?  Do you obsess over every gram?  If I can lose 26 pounds over the next 4 months, it will be as if my bike weighs nothing!

This is ambitious, I know.  Fanciful?  Unrealistic?  Maybe.  But I am resolved to take my best shot for these 28 days of February and then revisit the plan as March begins.  If I see good progress this month, then I will be encouraged to keep pushing.  If I don’t, then maybe I’ll just accept the “big for a bike racer” label, plod through a couple of seasons with mid-pack results, and return to the podium when time takes away your quickness but leaves my toughness largely untouched.