Clipping In (To the Pedals) Ask

The Mt. Washington race is in late August 2022. I started “psychological” preparation the previous summer. It takes energy to do what you gotta do: lose weight, train, stick to it, deal with the temptations which can derail you. This is not a spur of the moment decision. There is too much involved.

I had a false start in October. Lost a few pounds. Then it was as if I could not stop eating ice cream. I marvel at my capacity to delude myself. I was convinced that the ice cream was not adding pounds. I still was training, a bit. I was running the stairs at the ski jump. I was getting ready! But the bride was cooking all these apple treats, making cookies for the grandchild…

Then December 14. I stood on the scale and everything changed. No more sugar. No more sweets. No cereals with sugar. No more meat except some tuna and occasional salmon. All vegetables, fruits, quinoa, brown rice, beans, whole grain anything. A weekly treat is white rice or spaghetti. The bride agreed to stop making cookies and stop buying. When she does, she hides the stuff. That is a real blessing for me.

I weigh myself every morning, after exercise and every evening. The numbers provide a general trend and that is what I look for. Daily variations do not mean much. The scale is the truth teller. I added sit ups, push-ups, arm curls for strength as I do not want to get any weaker. The idea is to lose fat not muscle. Getting on the bike can be a chore as can be doing the steps. Some days my energy level for that is low. That is the price of trying to drop the pounds. I knew that.

You can call it determination or commitment. I call it obsession. There are so many matters that can derail you. I need the power of obsession to stick to it. As of mid March – 3 months into this – I am down 25 pounds, another 10 to go. Every morning I pray about this, “Lord, help me today. Help me stay away from sugar. Help me stick to it. This one day.” We can go a long way with a little help. Have to ask. Have to have some will.