goldfinch

Jeneralist is otherwise occupied so I will issue this week's welcome to the Weekly Inspiration Network!

Since many of us do a better job of sticking to our goals if we have a little public accountability, here's a way to get some support for your efforts towards a healthier you.

If this is your first time posting, let us know what is is you're trying to do, where you are now, and what your goal is. You might be trying to lose weight, or exercise more regularly, or home-cook more meals, or even spend more quality time with your family.

Then every week, let us know how you did the week before.

We'll read each others posts & cheer each other on.

tergal

Changed the communte from 10kms a day to 18km.

Taken up walking soon as i get home ( which is a killer after the ride)

Goals ... ride and ride some more

goldfinch

This week I hit a wall and spent the last few days of the week feeling exhausted and underfed. My goals were:

Maintain weight
bike with the guys for fun if not raining
do one set of intervals
try out the suggestion of another poster to do some slower cadence/harder pedaling work for strength
run twice during the week (probably on the rainy days as rain is forcast)
do two weight/resistance training sessions
stay within shopping budget

I didn't meet my goals but that is fine. I needed a break. My weight has continued to drop (down to 104.5) and I've felt the lack of energy. I've now upped my calories for the last couple of days. I went higher than I wanted, way over my allotment. My goal is to stay within my new alloted calories of 1600 per day. I was at nearly 2000 today, which would be a weight gain if I kept that up.

I did meet the resistance training goals. I skipped the intervals. I skipped the running as my knees were bugging me and I only did two walks. The bike riding was down too because of the weather.

I didn't overspend my budget.

Goals for the next week, besides maintaining my weight are to ride my bike as much as I want and no more. I will also walk at least three days, a minimum a mile but it should be two or three. Weights two days.

tony_merlino

I lost more weight than I planned to this week - 6 lbs. I really feel the difference - I'm almost back where I was last August, when my last diet crashed and burned. Altogether, I've lost 18.5 lbs since the beginning of January. I feel lighter on my feet, my clothes are looser, it's easier to move around. Of course, I still have 18 lbs to go before I'm not in the obese category on the BMI scale. But that's a lot better than having 36.5 lbs to go to get there.

But I'm not able to explain the accelerated weight loss - I haven't really changed my eating, and I'm not exercising any more than I was. I'll just be grateful for it, for now.

youcoming

I maintained the same weight from a week ago but over the last two weeks have lost 3.5" of fat. Weather has again turned more Canadian like and have not been on the bike since last week plus I have a cold. Have to get bike back on trainer, man that sucks! Will have a weight loss to report next week. I have a few goals set for the year and one is a sub 5hr century ride and I will be better prepared for that at a lower weight.

jeneralist 

Thanks, goldfinch, for kicking things off this week. I was in Florida visiting friends and family... and not riding. Didn't bring my bike down with me on the plane, and when I looked at the rust-covered cruisers in the "rental fleet" near my folks' place, I just shook my head and went for a long walk instead. (And remember -- anyone can kick things off on Monday! I've just been doing it because I get up early in the morning and live in the Eastern time zone!)

Other activity highlights: took the open water ("checkout") test for scuba certification and failed. I spent the first 30 minutes of the dive demonstrating my "natural bouyancy" by popping up like a cork. My teacher would dive, my husband would dive, and I'd swim 15 feet over them trying to kick my way down. By the time they got enough lead on my belt so that I could get down to the reef, I had used up all time meant for instruction. Ah, well...

Goal for this week: get back with the program. Back to the gym, back to the treadmill, and (if weather permits) back on the bike.

Lifetime high: 255 lbs, September 2009
Recent best: 182 lbs, May 2011
Jan 9: 192.4 lbs
Jan 16: 191.4
Jan 23: 189.8
Jan 31: 190.2
Feb 6: 188.8
Feb 15: 187.4

Hill-Pumper

Managed to lose back to pound that I had gained the week before. So I'm sitting at 185 again. Had my body fat checked and am at 17 percent. The trainer was a little concerned since some of my weight loss seems to be at the expense of some muscle. She had me do a Tabada interval routine, plus wants me add a day of light weight training and eat more protein before my workouts to see if I can maintain my muscles. Hopefully, it will work and get me past this hump that I always seem to stop at.