My jaw dropped this morning again, just like the time I hit 190. I don't know how real it is, because I have been having some serious problems with my scale. It's very inaccurate. If I jump around a bit, it usually settles and goes to a higher weight. I usually try to use that measurement. The problem was I had about four pounds of preload already on it. Don't ask me how it got there, but I left it. I think it was fairly accurate at that. But I reset it to zero, so all my previous numbers were off. It's probably off by four pounds.

When I got on the needle was closer to 180 than 190! Even after jiggling around I couldn't believe it. It was definitely reading much lower than it was when I adjusted it on Friday. Probably about four pounds or so. 3000 calories of beer and I lost four pounds! Haha!

I'm starting to see a trend now. When I go for my long weekend ride I lose a large amount all at once. It's this big shocker drop, like I just had. Then for the next week or two, I end up maintaining that weight, kinda hovering around it, up a little, down a little. The cycle repeats the next week or two later.

I wasn't happy to see such drastic changes, as excited as I am. I don't think that's too healthy. I think it's starting to make sense though. I think my loss is actually gradual. When I get the big losses it's probably from loss of water. Then when I start gaining the water back I'm losing fat at the same time, making it look like nothing's happening. I have no idea if it's true, but it sounds right.

I'm also thinking this whole eating more, working out more thing has some merit to it. I really like getting to eat more. More spaghetti breakfasts! I've realized that I don't have to starve myself, just those few lifestyle choices actually were enough. I'm still not drinking any sugar drinks or fries. I'm still avoiding some other things too, and making better fast food choices. That's more than enough. I just have to keep riding.

Or maybe it just seems like I haven't sacrificed much with food because I'm getting used to eating healthier. I kinda like the thought of that.

So I think I have the whole eating thing sorted for now. I'm still going to track everything with Fitday, mostly because I really like tracking what I ate vs. what I expend. Here's the graph from this week.



Don't look at the 30th, that day was a bit of an exception. There is a strange trend here too. I always seem to keep increasing my calorie intake from one day to the next, then it'll drop off dramatically, like on the 30th. It's happened three times, and I don't know if it's natural because I'm listening to my body, or if I'm subconsciously punishing myself for eating too much the day before.

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The next step is to start lifting weights. I'm worried that at the rate I'm losing weight I'm starting to lose muscle. I don't look all that smaller right now, so it must be coming from somewhere. It's certainly not coming off my legs, so I'm worried my already (muscularly) small upper body might be suffering. I'm going to start lifting weights to try and avoid any wasting, and as well it might help build up some strength for some future swimming.

I don't know what I'm going to do for weights. I'm not going to touch my lower body, because it's getting enough work, and I don't want to tax it any more. I'm going to have to talk to Phil about it and see what he says. I think I might actually do more free weights than using all the machines. He has some good logic for avoiding machines. I'll have to find some swimming specific training sites and see what they recommend. It should be fun.

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The plan right now for Poland is to go to Greece after and head straight to an island. Don't know which one yet, but probably one of the Cyclades. I've spent more time there than anywhere, but I kinda feel like going to a familiar place this time. Right now I'm thinking Mykonos, but the thought of the red beach in Santorini is tempting. I want to do this to try and get a bit of a feel for swimming in the sea again. I love the salt water, and the beaches are usually busy enough where I'd feel safe. After a few days of sun and swimming I should be ready to come home.

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I've also been thinking about putting in a day of mountain biking in again. I'm starting to miss it, although I don't miss the cuts and bruises. I might actually stick with the smoother cross country trails, and avoid the stunts and groups of logs like in the pic on the top. Treating it more like a workout than a way to freak myself out and causing injuries. I'm not sure how to schedule it though. I'll have to treat it as an intervals training day, like spinning. I think three a week might be a bit much, especially since I ride that hard on Saturdays too. I'm really only having one or two zone 3 workouts a week right now. I can't afford to lose one of those. I think I need Sundays to recover, but I don't know. I might try it next week.