Keep Moving

In February I decided to get more active and build better habits. I started small by purchasing a bike and committing to ride it at least three times per week.

Keeping this commitment to myself has naturally progressed into improving other aspects of my physical health—my nutrition and mindset have made leaps and bounds from where I was a year ago. As of today I’ve lost 57 lbs and counting, which really is just a byproduct of a lot of small life changes I’ve made over time.

I’ve still got a way to go before I hit my current goal weight but I know if I just keep doing what I’m doing indefinitely I’ll get there and be able to sustain it, which is crucial to long-term success.

Everything I’ve done can be attributed to a single principle—energy balance. Eat less, move more. Make sure your energy output (i.e. movement, calories burned) is greater than your input (i.e. calories consumed). If you follow this rule, you cannot fail. It’s basic science.

When I started cycling I was maxed out after 10 miles. As my endurance has improved over time, I’ve worked up to an average of 75mi/week with a single-trip max of 40 miles.

Unfortunately, I had a setback on my afternoon ride last Tuesday.

I came around a curve on my route and before I could react I rolled over some debris in the road and caught a nail in my rear tire. Could be worse, but that means I’ll be off the road until I can patch the tire and replace the inner tube.

Am I going to let that stop me? Nah. My backup strategy for things like this is to transition to a walking/running plan I’ve created for myself in the meantime. No excuses for equipment malfunction when I can just use my legs.

Gotta keep moving.

P.S. I’m posting this because I’ve had a handful of folks ask me about what I’ve been doing to get the results that I have. I plan to compile some of my best tips & lessons learned in a separate post (coming soon) and will periodically publish updates along the way.