Onward

I got a lot of good feedback from last week's post.  Enough so that I thought I'd do it again. 

It's been a good week in many ways.  Last week's travels took me back to Florida and my running shoes again came along for the ride.  Nothing new, except this time, they actually made it out of my hotel room.  I got in two runs on the trip, which is two more than the last few trips before that.  Nothing to get too excited about except that I could see immediate improvement.  Not quite ready for prime time, but at least I didn't forget how to put one foot in front of the other.

Saturday was the bike ride with the bike shop crew.  There would be a 25 mile group and 45 mile group.  I wanted long, but since I hadn't broken 30 since late fall, I wasn't sure I could do 45 (besides, last week's 45 came in at 50.)  I decided to go with the long group and hang on as long as I could.  I felt very good at 20 and 25 miles.  Though I wasn't leading the pack, I was in the pack.  Unlike other rides where I died off between 20 and 25, I held strong to 30, when the pack went up a short climb and left me in the dust.  I worked my way back to the shop and finished at 40.  Feeling stronger every ride.

With travels this week, I knew my number one challenge would be eating.  On Tuesday, I started to track my food and activity with Livestrong's My Plate.  I know that tracking food can provide huge benefits, but I've often avoided it for the exact reason that I should have done it:  I'll know what I don't want to know.

The tracker recommends for me to eat about 1800 calories per day to generate a two pound per week loss.  Add to that any calories generated from exercise -- for example, 3 miles at 5 mph burns almost 700 calories.  The total calorie budget for the day is then about 2500 calories. 

After plenty of exercise and healthy eating this past week, I find myself lighter by about 8 pounds.  That doesn't even include the mental plusses.  Getting back on track for a week isn't a long time, but it's been a long time in coming.  As I sit here gnawing through a grapefruit, I look forward to staying back on track.

L'Chaim!