Progress Report

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail ...

I weighed in Monday morning and am happy to report that I have lost almost 12 lbs. I have been consistently working out with my cousin Mike over the past several weeks and have done pretty well on the bike for cardio. Speaking of the bike, I am coming up on one of my goals. I have well over 100 miles in the last week, so I should easily be able to get the 215 miles in 2 weeks. I still do 30 minutes in the morning before work (with some exceptions obviously), but have increased my evening ride to 1 hour on a regular basis. This last week I have been doing the same program in the morning that varies the resistance level for 30 minutes, followed closely by 30 minutes of a flat program. The calorie count is higher in the first 30 minutes and the distance is higher in the second 30 minutes, so it’s kind of the best of both worlds. I am also experimenting with 2 hours a day on the weekend. Sunday I did that and ended up with over 30 miles. Which brings me to my next point; I will be increasing my mileage goal. My new goal is 600 miles in the month of March. I will be going to Atlanta for the SEC tournament weekend and am planning to head to West V to visit the G-Men and their no-so-better halves late in the month. That doesn’t leave a lot of play, but if I don’t push myself who will? As for my weekly workouts with Mike, we are planning on increasing the duration and intensity after this week. We will be switching some exercises around and adding some new ones also. Mike recommends that I start doing pushups and sit-ups everyday. I have not made that adjustment yet, but I am planning to start working out on my own this week. Overall, things are going well. The next step on the dietary side is to closely examine what I am eating. It is recommended that I write down what I am eating to see what days/times that I don’t eat as well as I could. It also allows you to see how eliminating a bad habit a week can affect your overall progress. I have been wearing out my crock pot in hopes of having healthy meat options available to me. Over the weekend, I cooked a whole pork tenderloin and two sirloin roasts. They turned out pretty good and I’m looking forward to experimenting with some leaner meats like turkey and chicken. I have also added vegetables to my meals and canned fruits for snacks. I even bought an electric can opener to make those options more easily accessible. I have done pretty well with the juice. I have been trying to limit myself to one 64 oz container at home and another at work for the week. I try to drink some juice in the morning and then water the rest of the day at work. Occasionally, I have some diet soda. I have diet soda and peach-flavored water at home. From time to time, I will have a small float with fat-free sherbet or no-sugar added ice cream and a little juice and diet soda. Its pretty much my only indulgence as far as sweets. Keeping an eye on my workouts and eating will help me to figure out what is and is not working for me. Here’s to another step in the journey!