March/April Weight Management Challenge

[Catrin]

126.8 this morning....sigh... However I DID work out, hard, for the last 5 days in a row that included heavy lifting (trapbar squats) so am likely retaining water. Today is a rest day and tomorrow I am just planning an easy 60-90 minute spin outside to break the legs and bike in. It promises to be windy. It will be interesting to see what my weight looks like by Sunday morning. I want to ride this afternoon but am down-right fatigued, I KNOW better than hit the gym 5 days in a row!

[Crankin]

I also am resting today; my low weight was after a rest day, but then I went to a spin class, when I should have done yoga or hiked. I expect to be riding a lot this weekend, so right now I am getting ready to go out for a leisurely walk.
I was pretty tired, too, after riding 3 days in a row, two hard boot camp classes, and a spin class with only one rest day.

[Catrin]

125.0 this morning This will be my official weight for the week - I was correct about yesterday's weight being a result of fluid retention from working out/lifting so many days in a row. As soon as my body got a little break it gave up that extra fluid. I just need to start weighing in on Saturday mornings rather than Friday, at least until May when my gym schedule will be cut down to only 2 group training sessions a week.

[Miranda]

On Friday 4/5...142#...M.

[Crankin]

Finally, a successful week.
106.2
I have come to the conclusion that for me, it's more the total number of calories I eat, and not so much what I eat. And, I need to rest more. I had 1 full rest day this week and one day where I did nothing more than walk 2 miles with a client. Also, I haven't had my almost daily glass of red wine this week, since Saturday and I did a really hard ride on Wednesday. I really don't know if any of this is all magically thinking on my part, but with 2 weeks to go on this challenge, I'd be happy to get to 105, let alone my goal of 104.

[Miranda]

Fri 4/12 #142...idk, my body just seems to want to hold onto this plateau.

[ny biker]

This week I am down to 146.6. What's that you say? How can I be "down to 146.6" when I was at 144.4 at my last weigh-in? Because I was UP to 147.8 this past Monday after my vacation. At this rate I will be lucky to end the challenge at the same weight I started.

At least we're finally getting some warm weather for outdoor exercise. I got in a good hill ride after work on Wednesday and I'm planning to do 35 miles this weekend.

[ny biker]

Finally, a successful week.
106.2
I have come to the conclusion that for me, it's more the total number of calories I eat, and not so much what I eat. And, I need to rest more. I had 1 full rest day this week and one day where I did nothing more than walk 2 miles with a client. Also, I haven't had my almost daily glass of red wine this week, since Saturday and I did a really hard ride on Wednesday. I really don't know if any of this is all magically thinking on my part, but with 2 weeks to go on this challenge, I'd be happy to get to 105, let alone my goal of 104.

re: rest days -- I've read some interesting things from Nancy Clark recently about exercise and total daily calorie expenditure. There was a study involving older women who I think were sedentary before the study -- they were split into three groups: one exercised two days per week, the second group exercised four days per week and the third group exercised six days per week. They found that the third group burned fewer total calories per day than the second group because the second group were more active in their everyday activities (like taking stairs instead of an elevator). The reason seemed to be more related to the third group feeling busier than the second group rather than being more tired.

She also recently referenced an older study involving marathon runners in her blog. It had similar findings -- less overal physical activity during non-exercise periods:

http://community.active.com/blogs/Na...athon-training

In my case, I did find that I was very inactive much of the time when I was training for full centuries, though for me the reason definitely was that I felt too tired to work out after long training rides. Unfortunately I was also very hungry after the long training rides, and I wound up gaining weight. It's one of the reasons I stopped doing full centuries.

Anyway I thought these studies were a useful reminder of the different ways to be "active." I also think I generally feel better if I take at least two rest days (with little or no exercise) per week, and I'm making an effort to use the staircase at my office to get in some extra steps over the course of each day.

[goldfinch]

I am so far out there I am not even going to report.

I went from one scale to another and found that the new scale is more accurate.

[Possegal]

Updating. Sorry for the delay. My job's been crazy of late.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...FN0czOHc#gid=0

[Catrin]

125.2 this weekend

[Chile Pepper]

124. This has been an awful challenge for me. March was horrendous--too much work, no exercise. Now harvest has started, so April is turning into more of the same. I did get some workouts in last week, and I'm hoping I can get back on my diet today.

[Crankin]

106.2, exactly the same as last week. Actually, I am quite happy with this, after helping Oakleaf carb up for the marathon .
In fact, I only want to get to my goal of 104, to give me some wiggle room for gaining. This is a good weight for me, but I am still trying to get to my goal. Obviously, cycling is helping.

[Catrin]

Still the same 125.3....but April has/is a special month of 5 day workouts on top of whatever riding/walking/geocaching I can get in. In May that drops back to 2 days a week to allow more riding. My current elusive goal of 123 is basically there to encourage me to keep things on track. I am more concerned about body composition at this point than the number on the scale.

[ny biker]

I will post a weight tomorrow. I had to get up early this morning for a meeting (which was scheduled by someone who is stunningly bad at managing meetings, sorry but I just had to get that off my chest, thanks for letting me rant).

This week has shown a good downward trend, though things have fluctuated up and down by .5-1.5 lbs per day.