It's been about 7 months since my last post. I was cruising along, weight relatively stable between 185-190. But I should have been dropping the pounds... I was riding about 550 to 600 miles per month in September, October and November. On top of that, I was running and swimming, as I thought I might enter a sprint distance triathlon in the fall. I was counting calories about as closely as I could. I should have been dropping pounds, but instead, between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I put on about 10 pounds!
Most of us gain weight through the holiday season, but I had to figure out what happened. In November particularly, I shouldn't have gained any weight, considering that I was counting calories throughout the month. What I discovered is that with all the food available over the holidays, I would go for a ride or run and figure out that I burned, say 1,500 calories. And instead of sticking to my normal eating routine, which was virtually impossible during Thanksgiving and Christmas, I would say to myself, "I burned 1500 plus the allocation of 1500 for the day, that gives me 3000 to munch on" and armed with that dubious rationale, I wasn't so careful about the dinners, parties, etc. I figured I had lots of calories to spare.
It's hard to quantify the number of calories in a home-made meal or a meal in a restaurant that isn't a national chain. Calorie counters like Livestrong or My Fitness Pal, just can't have every possible combination of dishes in their database. So I had to guess. And it seems like I guessed wrong every time, because before I knew it, I was up 10 pounds by first week of the new year. It was even worse, because my latest physical, which I did in early January gave me a clean bill of health and it somewhat vindicated my habits.
In a sense, counting calories was actually counter-productive as it made me complacent about calorie intake. I'm now out of that mindset where I "reward" myself with food after a big calorie burn. I no longer think, "I just burned 800 calories, I can go have a Smash Burger." Instead, I'm trying to have the same volume of food, no matter what my workout calories are. If I feel hunger because of the workout, then I grab a little snack instead. I have to be more careful during a workout that I don't under-nourish.
My goal is to be back at 180-185 pounds by the end of April, and the beginning of "serious bike riding season" aka the climbing season.
