Busy bee but need to keep going!

radbikerchick
radbikerchick Posts: 39 Member
in Motivation and Support
What are your hacks for keeping on track when you are busy? I have a deadline to lose another 12-13 lbs by mid October but at least for a portion of that will have a lot of things to do and be traveling in a place where exercise might be hard.

Have been losing a lot lately by doing super long bike rides combined with eating a smallish amount of food (not sure that is recommended but it seems to be working and I currently have thighs of steel). But will need to rely a bit more on restricting food the next few weeks.

Replies

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Pre log
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,610 Member
    radbikerchick wrote: »
    Have been losing a lot lately by doing super long bike rides.

    Out of curiosity, what's a "super long bike ride".


    Also, often hotels have small gyms or coupons for the local pool/gym. There's also walking/hiking.

  • radbikerchick
    radbikerchick Posts: 39 Member
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    Pre log

    Good idea!

    Follow up question for anyone who has time to comment... thoughts on the complicating aspect of travel? Makes it harder to plan as I won’t know what food options I’ll encounter... was thinking of some sort of temporary intermittent fasting approach. But also have to be on my game mentally for work.
  • radbikerchick
    radbikerchick Posts: 39 Member
    Machka9 wrote: »
    radbikerchick wrote: »
    Have been losing a lot lately by doing super long bike rides.

    Out of curiosity, what's a "super long

    For me currently, a few 25-30 milers a week with significant hills plus one or two longer rides of 50-100 miles.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    radbikerchick wrote: »
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    Pre log

    Good idea!

    Follow up question for anyone who has time to comment... thoughts on the complicating aspect of travel? Makes it harder to plan as I won’t know what food options I’ll encounter... was thinking of some sort of temporary intermittent fasting approach. But also have to be on my game mentally for work.

    honestly - you guesstimate as best you can. the longer you weigh/track/measure your food the better you will get at doing this.

    also, being aware of what keeps you full will help - take protein bars or nuts or fruit or whatever for snacks if you know they are satiating.
  • kdbulger
    kdbulger Posts: 396 Member
    1. Use your sedentary time to plan as much as you can - plan your meals, bookmark workouts you can do at a hotel gym, etc.
    2. Check out websites of restaurants that you'd find in most towns to pre-screen your meal options - have a go-to breakfast at, say, McDonalds or Starbucks or Subway that fits your calories or macros or whatever. This has been tremendously helpful for me as I know I can eat on the fly without ruining my whole day's nutrition.
    3. Look into HIIT workouts. They're short but intense so you get the most bang for your buck and maintain your conditioning for when you're ready to get back to cycling. Many can be done with only a yoga mat.
    4. Honestly? Maybe re-evaluate the necessity of reaching that 12-13lb lost by October. Is it worth it to put so much pressure on yourself that you stress out about this while you're travelling and insanely busy? I've never regretted giving myself a bit more time to reach my weightloss goals - it's made it sustainable for me because it's about feeling good and not about weighing a certain number.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,610 Member
    radbikerchick wrote: »
    Machka9 wrote: »
    radbikerchick wrote: »
    Have been losing a lot lately by doing super long bike rides.

    Out of curiosity, what's a "super long

    For me currently, a few 25-30 milers a week with significant hills plus one or two longer rides of 50-100 miles.

    Do you do the 50-100 mile rides each week?

    If so, have you considered Audax/Randonneuring?
  • radbikerchick
    radbikerchick Posts: 39 Member
    The 50-100 milers have been once a week. More averaging on the 60-70 mile length this year (just one century ride thus far, think I did five of them last year over the course of the summer then was kind of burnt out on it). In previous years I had aspirations to get up to a double century length and do some more events, but it’s actually the work travel that has killed it for now...

    Ha, would love to relax the goal but actually have a deadline for this Healthy Wage challenge thing I signed up for (you can bet some amount of money that you will lose X amount in Y amount of time). Gave myself a year at that point to lose about 40 lbs which seemed reasonable at the time and was on track for a while but then life happened. Anyway, am trying my best to make the goal for October. The commitment is made has really been positive in terms of motivating me and forcing me to make some changes in my eating patterns this year (eating lots more veggies, learning better what amount of indulging myself in social situations is advisable) and has got me to a healthy weight for the first time since elementary school. But just have to eke out the last little bit faster than anticipated. Not sure if it will be sustainable in the end but am looking at it as an experiment.

    Thanks for all the suggestions thus far! Happy to hear any others :)

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