Cycling

I have enjoyed being outdoors riding my bike week after week. I just completed my first organized ride in the Texas Hill Country. I rode 24 miles yesterday in beautiful sunny weather. It was cool in the morning and ended about 69 degrees no wind. I have a sunburn to show for it but we could not have asked for better weather.

I started riding Jan 17th and now have 385 miles in for the year with my goal at 1500 by year end. (All on my mountain bike) I will reward myself later in the year with a nice road bike but for now it is my mountain bike that is building muscle and character.

I have been discouraged since January not losing as much weight as I thought riding 20-30 miles a week. BUT my BP is almost normal and my size 16's now fit. I refused to buy 18's and only had 2 pairs of pants to wear to work. Now I have all my 16's to wear and I can squeeze into a couple 14's.

Coming up on my 3 month mark I have averaged 1.25 lbs off a week which I wanted it to be 1.75 lbs a week. The successes I have right now are regular exercise, eating better (life style change everything within proportion), regular BP and more cloths to wear. The best part was yesterday while riding I notice going up the really tough hills my lung capacity could handle it but my legs gave out. Having the ability to breath without sounding winded is such a great success.

Everyone keep up the CONSISTENCY of your exercise. Talking to my Mom yesterday reminded me that doing what I love to do is the best thing I can do to lose this weight. I LOVE THE OUTDOORS!!! Join a cycle group to help push you along. bikejournal.com has been a life saver. I belong to my local group who push me and there are blogs to help you keep working it. My competitiveness came out in me when you are on a list and someone passes you in miles logged, you want to go out and ride more to pass them again. I have been number 10-14 in our local group. I am sitting at 12 right now and the guy is 4 miles in front of me for the next slot. If I had my bike out of the shop I would be riding 5 miles today just to surpass him. Although my legs might want to rest for a day or two.

RIDE LOG REPEAT!!

LtSoccerMom