A tip: How to lose 4.5 pounds in 5 hours

Do you guys want to know how to lose 4.5 pounds in just 5 short hours?

Bike 70 miles in the hot North Carolina sun.

That's right, this morning I weighed in at a nice 277.5 and now, just 45 minutes after returning to my vacation home 5 hours and 70 miles later I weigh 273. Kinda crazy especially considering I drank mucho water the entire time, and even consumed a fish sandwich half way through my trip.

It's back to reality after today. Tomorrow morning we start the 7 hour drive home. In a way it's sad since this basically means back to work, end of the summer, back to monotony of daily life. But in another way it's a bit of a relief. This by far has been my hardest week so far in sticking with my healthy routine. I had all these great plans, but in the end there was NO lifting, and some less than stellar eating decisions. I chalked it up to being on vacation, but I can't say there wasn't a bit of guilt when I ate that brownie the other day, or had that 7th glass of Captain Morgan's and Diet Coke the other night...

My saving grace was the roughly 150 miles I was able to bike this week as well as the other 95% of good eating choices I made. The net result is that I weighed 279 when I came here, and was weighing in at 277 before today's bike trip that brought me down to 273 (in all water weight I'm sure).

Considering the reality of this week, I deem a 95% success rate to be a 105% success rate on any normal week. I don't think that having regular sub 275 weigh-ins by my birthday on the 15th will be a problem at all. That will officially be my first goal met. Isn't it funny how much your goals change once you've come close to just the first one? I've already got my sights set on 250.

One more thing before I get back to enjoying the last few hours of my vacation: If I've learned anything from the past few weeks of my healthy lifestyle, it's that for at least part of your new life of fitness, you have to find something that you really enjoy to help you through the tough times. Weather its biking, or walking with your kids, or the elliptical machine(in case you happen to be a Masochist) or whatever, you need something that you at least semi enjoy so that this whole thing doesn't seem like it's such a big chore. When all else falls there has to be something to fall back on so you don't have a complete mental breakdown. Don't have something like that? Then you have to keep an open mind, consider your options, and find it. I think there is something out there for everyone.

Anyhoo, I hope everyone has had a great week! I'll be back into the regular posting upon my return...

Cheers

-Brian