way to break through a plateau!

hope you get well soon.

Thanks!
Feeling better today. Back to 185. I think I'm rehydrated, so I'm hoping I actually did lose a little, and can keep it off. My goal was 180 by 12/31. If I get one more good stomach virus I can make it.

Weigh in day today, 186. Down 2 this week and down 29 overall, 42 weeks.

Decent weather and still getting in some rides on the weekend, plus doing core classes during the week. ~ 7 months to go before the TB.

I've made good progress toward my goals of losing weight and increasing my overall fitness. Is it / will it be enough to even have a chance of completing the TB? I do have some doubts.

I think I need to figure out how to improve and test my endurance over some LONG rides in the coming months. I suppose I should be looking at flat land 300 k's if I'm expecting to do a mountainous 200 k.

Weigh in day today, 190. Up 4this week and down 25 overall, 43 weeks.

Yikes, guess it was still water weight last week. Oh well, at least I haven't put on 10 to 15 pounds this holiday season, which I did last year.

Read an interesting article in today paper regarding eating times, which was discussed a few weeks ago ITT.

http://www.dallasnews.com/lifestyles...mes-to-eat.ece

article and the original study both were a lot better than i expected. but still: imho way too many unclear and variable factors to take anything away from it.

but come on, it's time for another push! or time for a deliberate diet break. but at least for me personally, it sucks to be in this state of limbo where you diet but at the same time you're not strict enough and make too many exceptions and just don't lose weight week after week... (even though you still somewhat feel like you're constantly dieting)

Yes, I don't think the article was definitive or anything but interesting concepts to think about.

To your second comment, at this point I will be happy to finish the year where I'm at or a pound or two less, so I guess I'm taking a short break. My next big push will be in January.
It's been a bit frustrating to stay status quo for so long, but as I said earlier in the thread if I'm honest with myself I know why its happened. I wish I had just zoomed to my weight destination but to look on the bright side I feel like there may be some value in plateauing. Perhaps I'm teaching my body a new "normal". Plus, my goal is a lifestyle change, not deprivation dieting so I don't feel too much the limbo state that you mentioned. I just need to be more consistent with it in a few key places.

Looking back through my log it looks like I first hit the 190 mark in early August. I've essentially been within 3 or 4 pounds of 190 for 4 months. Totally unscientific, but I've gotten a lot of comments in the last month on looking thinner / more fit, even though my weight is the same. Maybe some small amount of body recomp going on even without losing weight.

I appreciate your support though. Having to post both bad and good news in the log helps a little with staying on track, tbh. I feel somewhat accountable to the people that are taking some time to read my thoughts and results. I will endeavor to make 2016 a good year!

Weigh in day today, 191. Up 1 this 2 weeks and down 24 overall, 45 weeks.

Closing the books on 2015. Next post will be Jan 5. I didn't accomplish everything I wanted this year, but I am a fitter, leaner person than I was a year ago. That didn't really translate into as big a difference as I had hoped in my cycling performance, though I believe I made some gains. I went from a 36 waist loose fit jean to a 32 waist normal fit blue jean. I went from an XL/L to Medium shirt size. My osteoarthritic left knee hurts less than it used to.

I think one thing that may have hurt me this year was I actually followed the Time Crunched Cyclist program. I think it helped me make top end gains in power but may have hurt my overall endurance. I got a book for Christmas called Base Building for Cyclists. I haven't gotten that far in it but what I have read makes a pretty good case for building that base of endurance at some slower speeds / power outputs in order to make bigger gains later in the season. I'm going to give it a try.

Happy New Year to everyone.

Happy new year!

Going down in waist and shirt size is still a good indicator.

Good luck with your goals this year.

Thanks. Good luck with your goals, as well.

It's funny, I consider myself a reasonably intelligent person, but every so often I read something and its a bit of an epiphany, and then I think to myself, you dumbass, you should have figured that out for yourself long ago.

The nugget I came across recently that has caused me to write the above was "fitness is dynamic, it is either increasing or decreasing" - Base Building for Cyclists - Thomas Chapple.

Now, I'm not saying that I didn't realize that you lose fitness if you don't use it. I have certainly seen that in myself. I guess the revelation is how fast it goes, and the word dynamic is what hit home. I had started thinking there was something wrong with me, age, former smoker, weight, whatever, that made me lose fitness faster than other people. Now I think it was just my really bad habit of not doing anything for 3 months every fall, generally October to early January. That also meant gaining 10-15 pounds over that same time period. I have basically been starting over every for the last 4 years.
This year I have done some activities both on and off the bike and my fitness is higher than its ever been at this time of the year. Hopefully I can build on that and have a good bike riding season.

Yeah fitness drops off *fast*. I'm in fall/winter base miles territory which means longish rides, many hours a week, but not very fast. And I've lost a TON of fitness since the summer. I went on a high-speed ride yesterday and it was extremely hard, wheras in the spring or summer I'd sail through it, no problem.

Losing fitness in the winter is fine, but the idea is, you have to still be active to
a) avoid losing ALL of it
b) build an aerobic base

Some people manage to stay at peak condition all year. Most of them probably don't realize that if they took it easier in the fall, their spring peaks would be Much Higher. I can't hang with those people in February, but I'm way ahead of them in May.

I bolded the main points you mentioned that I've gleaned from the book. I guess I really should have gone into base building in November, but better late then never.

I saw you set a goal of 8500 miles this year. How many did you ride last year? I did ~2700. I'd like to see if I can get 3500+ in 2016.

I rode around 7200 miles in 2015. I think 8500 is doable - I had many enforced weeks off last year due to injury.

And FWIW you can get there from where you are. Here's my mileage per year since I started riding

2010: 551
2011: 80 (injured the whole year)
2012: 2250
2013: 5550
2014: 7530
2015: 7200

For me, the main means of increasing miles was finding a way to do it, that did not negatively impact the amount of time I had left. So, I rode to work and home a lot. On a typical commute day I get in 40-45 miles, taking 2.5 hours.

Commuting by car would take me about 1:40 so I only spend about 50 minutes "extra" to get in an extra 2.5 hours. I do that 2-3 days/week which gives me 80-120 miles on the week days. An average of 2 days/week = 4160 miles/year

Jealous, I need to move somewhere warmer. I got 1500 last year and 800 the year before....

Be careful what you wish for. Some of my races were above 100 degrees F.

Commuting is one of those things I always intend to do and then...

It would be about 33 miles round trip for me, from the house. If I drive the bike ~4 miles to a less traffic area it is about 25 RT. The planning ahead is what makes it such a PITA, making sure I have a change of clothes and stuff to shower with. I sweat too much to cycle in street clothes, at least once it gets over 65 degrees.

I leave 2 weeks worth of clothes at work, rotatong them out every 2 weeks. I tend to do real basic prep the night before. It becomes a habit

(I mean, yeah, spoiler alert, but if you want to ride 10 hours/week you have to do a little prep!)

Ouch! That one went straight and true to the mark. As Yoda said, "do or do not. There is no try". Words I should live by.

I have definitely found that you have to aim higher than what you want to accomplish. No one ever rides more hours than they have planned in a week, but many times you ride less.

For example, I'm probably... 5-10 hours behind... on my yearly plan. I should probably be tacking 1 hour on per week to catch up. But I rarely do.

So to hit 7500 miles I probably have to aim for 8500.

For you guys that ride the roads - Garmin's Varia Vision is like Google Glass for cyclists

Interesting, thanks for the link. Doubt I will invest in that technology, but it looks cool.

2016 begins. Weigh in 189, week 1.

Goal weight < 180 @ at a deficit of .5 to 1 pound a week.

Hm, I think still donotwant

I like some of the HUDs that project onto motorcycle faceplates though.

Weigh in day today, 187.8. Down 1.2 , down 1.2 overall, 2 weeks.

178 days until the TB. I should probably just go ahead and register, but that little seed of doubt is in the back of my mind. On the other hand, once I register then I know I have to go do it. They do have registration cap of something like 2500, but I don't think it filled too early last year.

One thing I just read that I wasn't aware of is the course is open from 5:00 AM to 8:00 PM. They don't have a mass start, you pick when you want to go. That is in my favor, as a slow rider. I can get an early start and not feel so much time pressure, just keep chugging along at my pace.

Weigh in day today, 187. Down .8 , down 2 overall, 3 weeks.