Weight loss is always on a cyclist mind… Well this fall it was on my mind too. I came back from Italy where I had been eating like it was going out of style and I wasn’t eating salad that’s for sure. Pasta, pizza, cheese, bread and more bread was on the menu for three weeks, I found the weight just jumped on, it didn’t creep. So when I got back from my trip I had it in my mind that I was going to lose the weight. The first five pounds were quite easy then I stopped paying attention to the amount I was eating because I started a new job and the five pounds popped back on.
I found that it really wasn’t what I was eating that was the problem but it was the amount that I was eating. I was still eating like I was training for peak season and training hard. I had to start cutting back slowly on what I was eating because at first my body thought that that I wasn’t feeding it enough and was storing the food rather then burning it.
I wasn’t really training much at this time maybe 1-2 hours a day for 5 days out of the week. It was my off season and the job I did have, had me working quite hard outside for 8-10 hours a day. I started to watch what I ate and when I ate and worked with a nutritionist to plan out the things that I could eat. I cut calories down to about 1200-1500 a day. I stopped drinking juice, stopped eating pasta, more fresh veggies and cut down on the meat I ate a day. I never thought that I ate a lot of meal; I only ate it for the protein. But what my nutritionist told me that you only need four ounces of meal, about half a chicken breast. I worked on the plan my nutritionist set up for me for a while but truthfully I got bored with it, tried of eating the same kinds of things and having the craving for fried, sweet, chocolate, cheese and beer whatever. The plan stopped working after awhile and I had to create something that worked for me.
It turned out that I didn’t have a problem with the things I ate; it was the quality and the amount that I needed to watch for. I hating seeing diets that cut fat, carbs or sugar out of your diet cause those three things I cannot live without. I still eat cheese, I can’t live without butter, bacon, cheese burgers, fries, chocolate all things that really aren’t that health but every once in a while are pretty damn good. Once I started this the pound slowing started to come off, then I started training again and they rolled off. Right now I am the lightest I have been since about late 2007. I am sure I have put on about at lease a good six pound of muscle since then also.
I am lighter then I was at race weight right now this year, that doesn’t sit well in my mind as I know that I should have been like this in the racing season. I did get injured and sick quite a bit this year and did put a stop on my training – and I was still eating like I was training. I eat when I am bored, thus I am writing right now so it keeps my hand busy and I will not eat more. With Christmas in a couple sleeps I still want to continuo the weight loss a bit farther, so that means it might be tough saying no to the extra dessert and chocolate. But that by no mean that I will not be splurging Christmas day, it will be on Boxing Day that I will hope on the bike or in the gym for a couple hours of guilt training to burn the calories off.
I am not saying that just by watching what I ate that the pounds came off, I have been working out at the gym or pool or on the bike very hard the last couple months anywhere from 2-5 hours a day. Between running, weights, swimming, biking and yoga I have kept pretty busy as well with throwing work in when I could. I have never, ever been a person to get up early and go work out; I have preferred to do them at night. But lately have been getting up early at 6:45am, (by my standers this is very early) and at the gym by quarter to eight for a couple of hours for running and weights. By the afternoon though I have to have a nap I am so tired I start falling asleep anywhere. That is unless I have a double shot cappuccino, dry, of course; then I am twitchy and giddy for a couple hours.
Cheers
JG
