I'm sorry it's taken me so long to reply to this thread here. I really appreciate the support and had previously typed up a long reply, but ended up accidentally deleting it. Argh!

I haven't been on my bike in over a week. It was really strange at first, and this Saturday was very hard for me because I skipped a race I had been looking forward to all winter. I did well there last year, and I honestly think I could have done really well if I would have taken better care of my body this winter. But, I didn't. I stayed at home, instead, and tried to stay busy. I ended up cooking (and freezing!) at least 5-6 different meals, so I should be set for a long time now.

I am finally about ready to head out for a ride here soon, I think. I'm actually looking forward to it now, and I think it will be a good warm-up for my soccer game tonight. I love the idea of a cycling diary (or a blog!) and hope that I can get back to riding for fun again, without any pressure to go faster, be lighter, etc.

I also really appreciate the help in reframing my disappointments about last weekend's race. Thank you so much for helping me to see that I really can trust my body to settle at the weight it's healthiest at -- I certainly didn't seem to improve things much by losing the weight in the manner I did. Lesson learned for good this time, I hope!