Losing Weight

I am approaching racing like I manage projects at work. I have a list of tasks with a specific time frame that have to happen to complete the project. One task is to lose weight. The thing is, I realized this 13 years ago and I have addressed this issue. I am 5'9" and 153 lbs; if I drop much more I will look like an Ethiopian marathoner. My task is to lose 10 lbs that will put be below 7% body fat. That is as far as I want to go.

My original plan was just to watch what I eat a little more closely. I dropped one pound after three weeks on this plan. That ain't going to work, I need to be done dieting before I transition from my base stage of training to my build stage in the middle of February. I decided I needed a structured plan so I chose the South Beach Diet because it uses a glycemic index of foods like Joe Friel does in his book Mountain Biker's Bible (which was all the credence I needed) and I figured I could talk my wife into doing this with me (which would make cooking and grocery shopping easier). I have been on this caffeine-free, dairy-free, alcohol-fee, low carb diet all week and I feel like crap. I feel anemic and just plain out of it. Riding is miserable with low blood sugar.

The first two weeks of the diet are very stick so I have to carefully prepare all my meals. Dinner is a little tricky since I normally eat on the road. Earlier in the week I did a good job of packing a dinner so I could eat while I take the kids to dance or on the way to the gym. Yesterday the plan was to drop off my rear wheel and fork at Two Wheel Tango in Ann Arbor on my way home from work (preventative maintenance is another task in my project) then eat once I got home. My riding partner Bill asks me to pick him on the way there so he can check out the bike shop. Two Wheel Tango is a ways from our neighborhood but it is the only local shop I know that both rebuilds forks on site and has the tool you need for disassembling needle bearings in a Chris King hub. I got out of work late and the traffic on the way to the shop was bad. The Mechanic, Al, was very cool so we talked for a while. The traffic going home sucked. I thought I was going to pass out if I didn't eat soon. I go to McDonalds for Bill but I can't eat there. Before I take Bill home we stop by my house to show him the Inglis single speed I just built. Eat at 8:00 PM. I have lettuce/Humus/turkey wraps for dinner that were even less appealing than it sounds. I am just miserable when Cin comes home. I ask her how the diet is going. Cin: "uh...ya...about that diet. I didn't really like it...I had pizza for dinner." Ok, I am on this alone. I did drop 4 lbs this week so I am sure I will have no problem reaching my weight.