Biggest loser

Friday check in. Day 5 of the clean routine with fasting and no alcohol - and no Dunkin. I'm sitting at 201.8. Meh. I've been hovering in the 200ish area for a few weeks now. At least the work I did this week seemed to cancel out the post Christmas vacay binge. So I guess that's a start. I've been eating from 10-7 and having no snacks after 7 and so far so good. I do feel hungry at times like just before bed and the morning of course. But plain tea, and water are getting me through the fasting time. I'm hoping I can see 190 by the end of the month and then 180 by the end of February. If I can stay on that and hit those goals I'll be doing much better as that's when racing is starting for me. I plan to hit something in early March so that will help get me going and hopefully keep me going for the rest of the season. For me it's the start of 2022 all over again, but that was an awesome year for health and bike racing so I know I can do it, I just have to stay disciplined. I've blamed gaining weight on the knee surgery rehab, but now it's been 8 months so it's time to stop using that excuse and get in better shape.
 
2024 is here and started with a step on the scale to see what damage I've done over the last couple of months. Though I've been very consistent with exercise. You can't out exercise a bad diet. And I know that all too well. Since mtb racing season ended Labor Day weekend, riding for fun and having fun with trips and food really added up. Also a knee issue had me doing less running and riding for a bit in September as well.

Recapping some personal highlights of the year. Raced in the MASS Series Endurance SS class and finished 3rd for the season with 3 podiums in the 5 races I participated. Completed my 6th Transylvania Epic, which was also my fastest, besting my previously fastest '22 time by over 2hrs. Already registered for the '24 version. Completed my long-time bucket list race of the Wilderness 101. The stars aligned for my fitness and perfect weather to finish in a faster time than expected in 10h19m. Another year doing 31/31 Challenge in July.
From Strava
View attachment 230289

Weight = 200.8. A year ago, I was 180.8. I was weighing myself and staying pretty consistent until September.
View attachment 230288

This is also the start of my 3rd year following the E2M program. Re-committing fully to get things moving in the right direction. Getting back to the 185lb range before racing season begins in April should be obtainable.

Good luck to everyone committing to new goals.
Monday morning check in.
E2M R13W2D1

Diet
Stayed on plan food wise all week. While I was planning to stay with Dry January, it's now going to be Mostly Dry January. Saturday evening, ventured out in the shitty weather to have a burger and fries with 2 beers, followed by sharing a warm brownie topped with vanilla ice cream with my wife.

Exercise
Exercised every day. Running and E2M W1 Circuits M/W/F, Time Crunched Cyclist W1 T/Th/Sa. Took a much needed rest day yesterday, with no activity at all. Lounged around on the couch drinking coffee, went to the food stores, then meal prepped for the week. Prepped my exercise plan for the week as well.

Weight
01/02/22 Starting weight = 235.4
01/08/24 current weight = 197.8
Diff: down 3 for the week, total lost = 37.6
E2M W2 circuits/extra credit weights and TCC W2 on the spin bike are the plan this week. Fri and Sat my weight was 2lbs lower, but will keep Monday morning as the check in weight. Personally it was a rough week for me and I could have just said eff it to eat/drink my troubles away, but what would that accomplish? WLFOM
 
Got in a great week of rides last week including indoor and outdoor before the storm. Forced myself to do something indoors after snow removal and was glad I did. Did at least one day of quick Bodyweight stuff (core and push-ups) and stretching and foam rolling but have to get more consistent. Cut down on the crap eating even if I did have a few slip ups making a conscious effort to not binge on the remaining Xmas cookies and candies. Getting back to better portion control especially dinner.

Got on the scale this morning and it’s down a few so going in the right direction. The Marty’s club has a challenge going on (31 days/ 31 hours) so trying to keep up with that as best I can. I won’t do all 31 days in a row but I think I can get to 31 hours before end of the month. This should help me keep the metabolism burning.

Much needed day off tmw my legs and especially IT bands are feeling tight. Just some pre work stretches planned and a few minutes with new amazon massage gun I won at our annual college friends Holiday gathering.
 
I think there's a bunch of us on here with Concept2 Rowing machines and figured this is as good a place to post this as any.

An ad for this came across my feed so I signed up for the early notification. While I dont think I am going to buy one and spend $30 a month, I think this will bring Concept2 up to speed to compete with flailing Peleton and their rower, depending on how the execution is. One of the instructors they got on board is pretty popular for all his free videos (Dark Horse rowing).

 
I think there's a bunch of us on here with Concept2 Rowing machines and figured this is as good a place to post this as any.

An ad for this came across my feed so I signed up for the early notification. While I dont think I am going to buy one and spend $30 a month, I think this will bring Concept2 up to speed to compete with flailing Peleton and their rower, depending on how the execution is. One of the instructors they got on board is pretty popular for all his free videos (Dark Horse rowing).

Looks better than the crao normal display I don't have a concept 2 though and I kinda hate my rower 😅
 
Looks better than the crao normal display I don't have a concept 2 though and I kinda hate my rower 😅
Two different things tho.

Myrow to me seems to be finally targeting a way to leverage the base of people that have these machines for the last 20-30 years and adapt it to add on the live class kind of experience like Peleton or Hydrow machines for a much cheaper entry point.

I was surprised Peleton went ahead with their version of the rower post COVID with all the financial troubles they have.

I would say I’m at least intrigued by the idea and I’ve been looking at some of the C2 forums with people retrofitting flat screen TVs so they can watch videos while they row. Not sure I want to spend $500 and subscribe tho. Yet.

And im not sure if you have a C2 rower or not but I love mine and the workout it provides Vs always just riding or zwift.
 
Friday check in. 201.8. Same as last week. Kinda annoying. Diet has been good, but I haven't been as active as I'd like. I rode a few days and did some manual labor/playing in the snow days. I was hoping to be comfortably under 200. I guess at least the pattern of eating is getting established. Hungry is the new full eh? At least that's what one of my old teammates used to say. I thought I'd see a drop this morning but I actually went up from yesterday. Does anyone else find the scale only moves after cardio days? If I do anything else it never seems to help move the numbers. At least I'll be riding today and aiming for a longer ride Saturday. As long as the diet doesn't go to shit that should help move things a bit.
 
I know it sounds wrong, but maybe you're not eating enough and your body could be in defensive mode and holding onto some things. Try adding a bit more protein.

A few things that I notice about myself when not seeing a drop: Eating window longer than 8hrs, not enough sleep, a bit more carbs, snacking.
 
I know it sounds wrong, but maybe you're not eating enough and your body could be in defensive mode and holding onto some things. Try adding a bit more protein.

A few things that I notice about myself when not seeing a drop: Eating window longer than 8hrs, not enough sleep, a bit more carbs, snacking.

Defense mode is kinda what I’m thinking. Sleeping better and longer lately. Calories are still low. I’ll try more protein. It feels like an early plateau that once I get it broken I’ll be seeing the scale move. I’m upping the calories a bit today and riding longer. Let’s see what happens tomorrow.
 
Monday morning check in.
E2M R13W2D1

Diet
Stayed on plan food wise all week. While I was planning to stay with Dry January, it's now going to be Mostly Dry January. Saturday evening, ventured out in the shitty weather to have a burger and fries with 2 beers, followed by sharing a warm brownie topped with vanilla ice cream with my wife.

Exercise
Exercised every day. Running and E2M W1 Circuits M/W/F, Time Crunched Cyclist W1 T/Th/Sa. Took a much needed rest day yesterday, with no activity at all. Lounged around on the couch drinking coffee, went to the food stores, then meal prepped for the week. Prepped my exercise plan for the week as well.

Weight
01/02/22 Starting weight = 235.4
01/08/24 current weight = 197.8
Diff: down 3 for the week, total lost = 37.6
E2M W2 circuits/extra credit weights and TCC W2 on the spin bike are the plan this week. Fri and Sat my weight was 2lbs lower, but will keep Monday morning as the check in weight. Personally it was a rough week for me and I could have just said eff it to eat/drink my troubles away, but what would that accomplish? WLFOM
E2M R13W4D1

Missed check in last week. No biggie as it would not have been good.

Diet
Did ok over the last 2wks. Still mostly Dry January. Cheat meals have turned into Cheat afternoons. Still sticking closely to 16/8 fasting. Tried a new place this recent weekend, burger and really salty fries. Looking ahead to the coming weekend, attending the Burns Supper in Cape May on Saturday.

Exercise
No running last week. Knee feels better from that. Spin bike sessions as Circuit warm-ups or TCC W3 last week. Snow clearing a few days counted as exercise as well.

Weight
01/02/22 Starting weight = 235.4
01/22/24 current weight = 196.8
Diff: down 3.8 for the week, total lost = 38.6
If I had checked in last Tuesday, I was 200.6, so I'm counting the 3.8lbs down from that. Still trying to stay focused on my activity level and working on my work induced stress reduction.
 
- Drop 5lbs by end of January.
I went back to my post from Jan 1st and glad to say I checked this off the list already. It's actually 6.5 lbs because my starting fatness was up more than I realized when I weighed in again Jan 2nd. The real indicator for me is that some of my pants that were starting to feel a little tight on me don't anymore.

While I have not been as good about doing "non cycling" exercises, I have been doing a lot of stretching and using my recovery compression boots a lot more. The Marty's 31 day/31 hour challenge is just the motivation I needed because my competitive nature kicks in and I like to stay on top of the leaderboard, even if I have been doing a lot of hours on Zwift its clearly helping. I'm already at 27.5 hours for this month in terms of cycling and pretty much been doing at least an hour a day, if not more.

I'll finish out this challenge and get back on the rower again at least 1 - 2 times a week and get back to some more core/bodyweight activity.

First target is this event on Feb 25th so will see how this all translates to an event I have done before a few times. This event is only about 10% gravel roads can be done easily on a road bike with 25's but it was much more comfortable riding it last year on my gravel bike with 32 road tires and lower PSI.

 
I skipped my Friday check in as last week was a total cluster F. Busy as hell with little activity and more crap than I wanted to eat. Plus I’m back on the beer which is 👍🏻. I didn’t think I’d make it all month and that’s ok. It was good to reset for a little.
 
Hey - back to weekly check-in.

1/1 - 196.3
1/26 - 190.3
Difference YTD: -6.0

Down 6 from the beginning of the year. That really isn't the whole story - -
While i did the Resolution Run on Jan 1 (@Robin - took me a bit to notice)
then some light workouts - vacation was coming up very quickly.
Totally failed the vacation workout idea. Weather cancelled some activities, but it was really just a fail.
I might have been 200+ cause my clothes that kinda didn't fit when i left, didn't fit at all.
Didn't bother weighing.

Got back on the evening of 1/17 and locked it down. A few days of full time work with @mattybfat kept me active in the poor weather,
and cutting out the drinking and snacking contributed. Limited sugars other than the protein bar i like for lunch.
Getting 8 hours of "sleep" - well at least i'm in bed and not eating.

Feeling kinda energized - 4 Weeks until spring break! (couple weeks in florida.)
Maybe i'll be comfortable taking my shirt off!

I'm not big on sitting around for vacation - this made it kinda easy.
Whales were also in the area. Every minute or so, there'd be some activity.
Thinking the goal now is calm mind, with active body.

IMG_5907.JPG
 
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Last Friday of January check in.

It's been a rough month for me.

Earlier in the month we has to put one of our cats to sleep. That was awful.

Hubby was sick. Had allergy testing last week. And now I have COVID.

Was seeing some gains at CrossFit but haven't been all week. And my MTB is collecting dust.

Down 2 pounds for the month. Not as much as I wanted but better than where I started 1/1.

Ready for February.
 
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The vacation thing is hard. Went through Christmas/NYE then two weeks later, came back from Vegas and started fresh Monday. Didn't step on the scale, but I don't feel nearly as gross. Maybe tomorrow ill see where I stand.

Been sticking to a loose E2M Diet. By loose, I mean, I had Chicken Thighs instead of breasts because that's what was in the freezer, but carbs are at an all time low. Vegetables are on high consumption and some people in my house can notice. 💩👃
 
The vacation thing is hard. Went through Christmas/NYE then two weeks later, came back from Vegas and started fresh Monday. Didn't step on the scale, but I don't feel nearly as gross. Maybe tomorrow ill see where I stand.

Been sticking to a loose E2M Diet. By loose, I mean, I had Chicken Thighs instead of breasts because that's what was in the freezer, but carbs are at an all time low. Vegetables are on high consumption and some people in my house can notice. 💩👃
All or something as they say in E2M motivational words
 
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