No worries, I only follow a couple, so it's easier for me to keep up.

Sure thing, let me know if you come this way. I have wanted to attend some crits in this area, just haven't gotten around to it. If you come up here it would give me a reason to do it. As far as riding together, it might work if you are on a recovery ride and I'm riding tempo pace, lol.

I prefer riding outside, but I'm not real keen on riding in the dark or the (relative)cold. That makes it hard this time of year. I tried a trainer in the garage and hated it, after 10 minutes my back hurt, my ass hurt and I was miserable. I gave the family memberships to LA Fitness this X-mas, and I can do their spin bikes for an hour without hating life, so at least I'm doing something during these months rather than only riding on the weekend, like I did last year at this time.

Eating: That is pretty much what I have been doing every year, I balloon 12 -15 pounds in the winter, ride my way back down to 200 in the summer and then fall happens and the cycle begins again. As I said in the op, this time I'm serious, and I think the food logging is the way for me to go also.

I'm probably slow, but it's really hitting me how many "opportunities" (excuses) there are to overeat/ drink too much in year.
1. New Years day
2. Super Bowl
3. My B-day
4. Valentines day
5. St. Patricks day
6. Easter
7. Memorial day
8. My anniversary
9. July 4th
10. Labor day
11. Wife's B-day
12. Halloween
13. Thanksgiving
14. Christmas
15. New years eve.

Some of these are more challenging than others, and I've left of my daughters and in-laws B-days, not to mention the odd pool party. Figuring out how to control intake on these occasions is going to be key to any long term diet success.

Weigh in day. 210.6 Down 4.4 in 3 weeks, .6 from last week.

A little disappointing, I'm not going to lie. Using the metabolic calculator and light activity, 1-3 times a week, I calculate these three calorie goals.
1. 2650 -> Stay the same = 18550 cals per week
2. 2400 -> .5 a week = 16800 cals per week
3. 1900 -> 1.5 a week = 13300 cals per week.

I logged 11,000 calories last week. Did I miss some or underestimate some meals? No question, but there is no way I missed 5,000 calories. I think I could be 1,000 to 2,000 under, and I really think it is not that much.

I will continue to do what I've been doing, try to make sure my logging is accurate, and see what happens next week.

if you only weigh in weekly, you will have LOTS of variance and the numbers are quite useless in the short run because of random daily fluctuations. imho daily weigh-ins is the way to go. some people don't like daily weigh-ins, because you have days where you gain weight despite maintaining proper diet. but for "emotionally stable" () people it's imho a lot better.

btw: you lost 4.4lbs in 3 weeks, so very close to the 1.5lbs / week... just saying. in the end, it's impossible to say with water weight, but just keep up your diet. if the numbers are correct, it ALWAYS works out and all of the sudden you have a -4lbs week etc... (on the other side, be prepared to have weeks where you gain weight. it'll happen)

I tend to have long stable weight periods followed by rapid dropping. Like 2 weeks, nothing, then -3lb in a few days that stays off. I weight myself 2-3x/day with a wireless scale, I don't even look at the number, I just like having a graph to look at whenever I feel like it.

Thanks for the encouragement. I "know" it's not going to be a straight line, but when it's not quite what I was hoping for it's easy to feel a little discouragement.

Good point that I'm on the 1.5 week average. I lost sight of that a little, as I was hoping to be closer to 2 pounds again. It's all good, I know it's going to work in the long run.
I've actually been weighing 3 or so times a week, but Tuesday is my "official" weigh in for this log.

I haven't been logging my activities, but the last two weeks have looked like this:
Mon Rest
Tue 60 min spin bike
Wed 60 min spin bike morning, body shaping workout in the evening
Thu 60 min spin bike
Fri Body shaping class in the evening
Sat 120 to 150 outdoor bike
Sun 90 min outdoor bike

Play an hour of table tennis at lunch almost every day, and trying to walk 15 minutes at work twice a day. I have been pretty irregular at the walking, would like to do it every day at 10 and 2. Just like Dr Pepper.

Weigh in day. 205.2. Down 9.8 in 4 weeks, 5.4 from last week.

I have been fighting a crappy chest cold since Friday, haven't done anything since Thursday morning. Think I may be dehydrated a little. Starting to feel a little better.

there you go

Thanks, I think I weighed in a little heavy last week, and I think I'm a little light today. The truth is somewhere in the middle, lol. I usually don't lose my appetite when I have a cold, but this time I really didn't eat much. Not exactly a long term weight loss plan, but the numbers look good.

Weigh in day, 206.2. Down 8.8 in 5 weeks, up 1 from last week.

I thought I was dehydrated last week. Also, the past week was pretty much a loss. I was still recovering from my cold, lingering chest congestion and crappy weather. Very low energy and lots of time on the couch. My eating was reasonable but closer to 1900 calories a day then 1700.

Today I did a 50 minute EM ride on the stationary bike, and I am starting to feel normal. Back on plan.

Nice job on the weight loss. I'm trying to shed a little myself, down about 3lb in the last month.

A lot of people recommend weekly weigh ins and I think that's fine, but personally I go the other way. I weigh myself 2x/day (before bed, when I wake up). I only ever look at the "moving average". So technically my scale said I weighed 171 this morning but my moving average is at 174. So, imo, I weigh 174. The moving average shows a smooth straight downward line, wheras the daily weigh ins are all over the place. Makes it very hard to lie to yourself.

I've been on the indoor bike a bunch myself. And hating it.

Oh, I managed to get signed up to Zwift, though, although I haven't tried it yet. It's a cycling MMO. They take readings from your power meter, HRM, speed etc and use those as inputs to control your avatar. I think you can ride with AI riders, real riders, or both, in races or "group rides" etc. I haven't actually tried it yet.

All you'd need is a little ANT+ usb stick - I don't remember what mine cost me, $10 or $20. I have this one: http://www.amazon.com/Suunto-Movesti.../dp/B004YJS3LG
It's more or less plug-and-play.

At the moment Zwift is in beta, you sign up and after a day or 2 they give you an account. At some point they will start charging for it. Oh, and when you do rides they can upload to strava with "real" GPS tracks, strava segments, etc. Pretty crazy.

Oh, but maybe by stationary bike, you mean a dedicated machine and not a bike connected to a trainer?

Thanks. I've lost the easy weight, I think. It will go a little slower from here. I've gotten to 200 in the past but always seem to plateau there. I was always half assed about it though, being more diligent logging and watching what I'm doing this time.
Right now I've been using the LA fitness spin bike. I tried a trainer and hated it. I know it is supposed to be better because it is your bike, etc, but I'd rather do the spin bike.

Zwift sounds cool, and I read your post in your thread about doing some of the Sufferfest videos. Sounded tough

Weigh in day, 204.4. Down 10.6 in 6 weeks, down 1.8 from last week.

Happy with that, fully over my cold, and for the first time in 2 weeks there is some actual spring like weather in the forecast for Dallas. Will definitely get on the road bike this weekend. Been doing some spin classes and some body shaping classes trying to increase my over all fitness.

It's funny, I've done essentially the same diet, same workout regime since my first post of this log, except for the week I was sick where I ate ok but did nothing. The first 5 weeks were great, but for some reason this week my body is giving me really strong hunger pains. My current weight is what I would say is my average for the last 3 or 4 years, with a 4 or 5 pound variance up or down. I think my body is trying to tell me this is enough.
I will get through it, I just find it interesting.

Weigh in day, 204.2. Down 10.8 in 7 weeks, down .2 from last week.

Kind of a meh week. I didn't eat terrible, but was less vigilant and less diligent in logging. I will call it a cheat week and renew my logging efforts to avoid diet leaks.

On the plus side, I got my power tap up and running on my new(to me) road bike. It is a Specialized Roubaix with Ultegra components and a compact gear setup, 50/34 crank and an 11-28 11 gear cassette. Now I need to start doing some real riding instead of spin bike riding.

Some totally unscientific, anecdotal evidence suggests to me that I'm in better "shape" now then I've been in the last 2 years. Still have a long way to go but results are encouraging.

The roubaix is a great bike. My first real road bike was a similar aluminum bike, the secteur. I still ride it a fair bit.

Probably not going to the race in dallas this weekend. Kind of a long way to go for a single day race and no one else I know is going.

I was thinking of heading to Tyler Saturday for the Beauty and the Beast ride. That is a ride I've never done that is relatively close by. The beast is a hill close to the end of the ride, so I'm interested to see how big it really is. Need to check the weather forecast before I make that decision. Let me know if you end up doing any races up in this area.

Edit: Just checked the weather, 90% chance of rain in Tyler on Saturday. Won't be spending $45 to ride in the rain. Also watched the video on their web site, the beast is 7/10 of a mile at up to 13% grade. Not bad for East Texas, I guess.

hehe, yeah, i just checked the segment on strava (http://www.strava.com/segments/645258) before reading your edit and was like "lol americans", calling this "the beast" when it takes a ~4 minutes and is never super steep...
(and yes, i know, you have many big mountains, i'm just kidding with the "lol americans").
congratulations on the new bike, sounds great. compact crank and 11-28 is ideal for you imho (i ride the same config, ultegra as well). now it's time for outdoor rides.

One thing we Americans are never short on is hyperbole!
The people from Colorado laugh at anything we call a hill around here. They would look around and wonder when the hill is going to start, lol. Here is one hill I rode last fall. I didn't exactly fly up it, but I didn't have to stop, either.
https://www.strava.com/segments/630796

Thanks, I've only been able to ride twice so far. I agree, time to get outside.

I only know one other person on Strava who's been up that hill. You beat him by 7 seconds.

Thanks, that helps my ego. I wish it was closer, I would ride it more often. That is a 2 hour drive west for me.

my highest hill (obv semi-brag): http://www.strava.com/segments/951992

Sweet. If I climbed that, I would brag too! Here is the first climb from the ride I am training for, in 2016:
https://www.strava.com/segments/1754130