My goal is to lose weight and get healthy despite how cliche that might sound.  Therefore, I am committing myself to a 40-day bicyling "fast".  I was going to juice fast from Ash Wednedsay until Easter (though I am not Catholic), because I have had such tremendous success with it about 3 years ago.  But this year I have decided to try cycling for 40 days to see what other benefits can come from exercise. 

I realize people will be jumping in and reminding me that you should give your body a rest every now and then.  I agree.  But this is what I will do: If I don't ride, I will do yoga.  I need to have something physical every day.  

Baseline:

1. I weigh 144 lbs,
2. I am sleepy some of the time,
3. Okay, I am pretty lazy in the evenings,
4. I have a Buddah-belly (If you have one, you know what I am talking about [and no disrespect to Buddah]), and
5. Measurements: (Will be inserted shortly).

Wow!  You should read what my baselines were before I fasted.  This is amazing.  I am really encouraged.  It feels like I am half-way to the finish line already.  Okay, for the goals:

Goals:

1. Lose 10 lbs
2. Fit back into my old jeans
3. Have more energy
4. Lose the Buddah belly....sorry Buddah!
5. Lose the thighs, and
6. Be able to ride 50-mile rides by fall.  ( I realize this is longer than the 40-day goal, but it's the long-term goal).

Inspiration:

A good friend and I are challenging each other these next 40 days.  We are competing, which works, because we are both so competitve.  Whoever rides the most days during this period wins.  The ride must be at least 10 miles to count.  I realize that is nothing to some cyclists, but it provides some guidelines for us.

Some Thoughts:

It's funny, when I was fasting, a friend pointed out that my metabolism was going to get so low that I will definitely gain weight back plus more once I go back to eating.  I did gain some weight back, but I only gained a few pounds relative to the large amounts that I had lost.  But in those 40 days, I shed my old self and gained a new life.  I haven't looked back.  I used to eat the Standard American Diet (SAD), but now I eat mostly raw other than fish and sometimes a baked sweet potato and a little chocolate.  All food addictions were broken and I had little desire to go back to them.

Now that I am committing myself to a 40-day exercise regeigm, it is ironically the opposite concern: What happens if I lose weight by getting my metabolism so high, and then I cannot find the time to ride as often afterwards or it gets too cold in the fall/winter?  Won't I gain the weight back?  But knowing that the benefits of the fast were so vast that it outweighs any little poundage that I regained makes me wonder what benefits will come from this committment.

Add This Entry To Your CureZone Favorites!