From my blog, written three years ago when I was a smarter man:
"My entire weight loss program had been based on what Dan called a "fixed income" - basically the same calorie totals and the same foods regardless of what I was doing as far as exercise. Yes, the average person could do that and lose weight. A lot of weight, in fact. But I'm not now an average person. I'm a bicyclist. OK, perhaps a budding bicyclist recovering from obesity, but a bicyclist regardless. Which in turn means I'm an athlete. I'm in training for a sporting event, and I need to think differently about how I exercise, how I eat, how I train.
"When I began to lose weight, I needed to learn to stop thinking and acting like a fat man and start thinking and acting like an average person of normal weight. That's been a struggle, perhaps even more of a struggle than losing weight, and it's a struggle I'm still fighting. Learning to ride my bike, and ride it well, is also going to be a struggle, but I suspect it's going to be a lot easier once I accept that I am an athlete in training."
Let me add to my comments from then. My diet and exercise was like an axe chopping off excess to find the man underneath. Once I found that man, if I want to sculpt him, I need to replace the axe with a chisel, brush, and pick. If that means I'm choosing a meal based on its protein content as opposed to calorie count, so be it. I wonder, Craig, if that's something you should think about now. Now that you've uncovered Craig, start turning him into Lance.