Week 12 Food Times

Week 12 -- 10:45 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.

Week 12, Day 1 & 2

Day 1
Weight: 240 lbs.
Waist: 44.0 inches

Ride: 30.0 miles
Time: 2 hours 5 minutes 2.74 seconds
Pace: 14.4 miles per hour
Conditions: light north wind.

Calories burned: 2,272.54

First food: 10:33 a.m.
Last food: 2:53 p.m.
Exceptions: Scone at Starbucks; salad later.

Note: Rode over the causeway to La Bou in West Sac, but arrived just before it was closing; so I stopped at the Enterprise Blvd Starbucks and had a good coffee and a good scone. On the way home I took the Olive Drive bike path.

Day 2
Weight: 240 lbs.
Waist: 44.0 inches

Run: 3.0 miles
Time: 30 minutes 0.00 seconds
Pace: 10.0 minutes per mile
Conditions: no wind.

Calories burned: 545.41

First food: 11:09 a.m.
Last food: 3:02 p.m.
Exceptions: Post-run banana.

Note: Today was my second post-illness run. I ran the west loop of the North Davis greenbelt + an added circle on Heron, Curlew and Sandpiper, before returning to the greenbelt. The route was a bit too short, and I think I'll do a full outer greenbelt loop next time I run in North Davis.

Week 11, Day 7

Weight: 240 lbs.
Waist: 44.0 inches

Run: 3.7 miles
Time: 41 minutes 0.00 seconds
Pace: 11.1 minutes per mile
Conditions: raining; light south wind.

Calories burned: 672.67

First food: 10:44 a.m.
Last food: 3:24 p.m.
Exceptions: Post-run banana.

Note: Today was my first post-illness run. I returned to my exercise routine on Friday, October 16, but put off returning to the restrictions of the diet until today. On Friday and yesterday (Sunday), I rode the 17.7 mile Tremont Cemetery course; and Saturday I rode to Steady Eddie's in Winters (27.3 miles) and back. I'm not where I was on the bike -- or running. But I had a nice pace going on the bike ride home from Winters, even passing a number of riders on much faster bicycles.

The infection which won't ever die

It's almost been three weeks since I first got sick. Typical for me, my throat began to ache. That was on Sunday, September 27 -- 19 days ago. Since then, I have had a cold, ranging from mild to miserable. I've had a lot of mucous in my sinuses, headaches, some coughing, a little sneezing, and generally a feeling of fatigue.

My thinking from the beginning, which I now largely regret, was that I had to go off the time and nutrient restrictions of this diet for the duration of my illness, because I didn't want a lack of food throughout the day to prolong my sickness. Yet despite violating every rule -- eating ice cream, cereal, bread and so on at all hours of the day and night -- I didn't get well. I'm still not perfectly healthy.

So today, feeling mostly better, I return not just to the diet but to the exercise. This afternoon, I will go for my first bike ride since I caught this infection. And should I get sick again, I'll not use that as an excuse to quit the diet temporarily. All that does is make me gain weight, which was hard enough to lose in the first place, and make it that much harder to get back the inertia of the entire diet and exercise program.

Week 11, Day 6

Weight: 231 lbs.
Waist: 43.0 inches

Ride: 19.6 miles
Time: 1 hours 21 minutes 40.00 seconds
Pace: 16.1 miles per hour
Conditions: moderate NNW wind.

Calories burned: 1,529.81

First food: 10:33 a.m.
Last food: 3:29 p.m.
Exceptions: Pre-ride banana; post-ride prunes.

Note: Woke up with a sore throat this morning; I hope that does not portend further illness as the week goes along.

Week 11, Day 4-5

Weight: 231 lbs.
Waist: 43.0 inches

Ride: 52.1 miles
Time: 3 hours 35 minutes 44.40 seconds
Pace: 14.5 miles per hour
Conditions: mild south wind on the trip to Winters; normal head winds on the road to the dam.

Calories burned: 3,779.68

First food: 12:25 p.m.
Last food: 4:11 p.m.
Exceptions: Pre-ride, a few prunes; mid-ride, a breakfast bar; stop at Steady Eddie's, a cranberry scone.

Note: Best ride yet. I've never had an easier time riding up the road to Monticello Dam. It wasn't "easy," but it has been much harder in the past. My sense is that my wind was much better, probably due to taking up jogging this week combined with having not ridden so much on the bike this week.

------------

Weight: 232 lbs.
Waist: 43.5 inches

Run: 3.7 miles
Time: 37 minutes 0.00 seconds
Pace: 10 minutes per mile
Conditions: no wind.

Calories burned: 650.25

First food: 10:44 a.m.
Last food: 3:24 p.m.
Exceptions: Post-run breakfast bar; and many exceptions, including a cheeseburger with fries and chips consumed with Barry, Justin and family on a visit to Davis.

Note: Today was my second run. It felt good, but I was still sore from my first run. I ran (with Truman) again from Border's to the Putah Creek Bike Path to Drummond Avenue and back.

Week 11, Day 3

Weight: 232 lbs.
Waist: 44.0 inches

Ride: 17.7 miles
Time: 1 hour 13 minutes 26.79 seconds
Pace: 14.5 miles per hour
Conditions: very light south wind.

Calories burned: 1,282.92

First food: 10:48 a.m.
Last food: 3:43 p.m.
Exceptions: Pre-ride banana.

Note: Slept too late to bike over to Woodland this morning, so did the Tremont Cemetery ride, instead. Stopped for coffee and a (very high quality) scone at Chamonix in the Anderson Plaza shopping center. Good place, but not really a comfortable or inviting place to lounge.

Week 11, Day 2

Weight: 232 lbs.
Waist: 44.0 inches

Run: 3.7 miles
Time: 37 minutes 0.00 seconds
Pace: 10 minutes per mile
Conditions: no wind.

Calories burned: 650.25

First food: 10:44 a.m.
Last food: 3:24 p.m.
Exceptions: Post-run breakfast bar.

Note: Today was my very first run in years. It felt good. I ran (with Truman) from Border's to the Putah Creek Bike Path to Drummond Avenue and back. I ran slow, but had no significant pain and feel fine now, a couple of hours after the run. My plan is to run again Friday, and then resume running the following Monday.

New Time Constraints

Week 11 -- 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Week 11, Day 1

Weight: 232 lbs.
Waist: 44.0 inches

Ride: 33.6 miles
Time: 2 hours 19 minutes 2.07 seconds
Pace: 14.5 miles per hour
Conditions: 10 mph north wind.

Calories burned: 2,442.82

First food: 12:24 a.m.
Last food: 3:44 p.m.
Exceptions: Bran muffin at La Bou.

Note: Biked over to the State Capitol, this morning, after frustratingly repairing my slowly leaking front tire. The problem was my pump was not working right. I ended up putting some air in my tire and finishing the job at the Shell station. In Sacramento, I didn't find a cafe I wanted to stop at, so I went to La Bou in West Sac, which was good, as usual.

Week 10, Day 7

Weight: 232 lbs.
Waist: 44.0 inches

Ride: 17.7 miles
Time: 1 hour 13 minutes 21.16 seconds
Pace: 14.5 miles per hour
Conditions: no wind, but warm.

Calories burned: 1,282.92

First food: 10:17 a.m.
Last food: 3:43 p.m.
Exceptions: Pre-ride banana.

Note: Ate like a pig all weekend at Lake Almanor. I had a great time up there, but it was not a good trip for a diet.

Week 10, Day 6

Weight: 232 lbs.
Waist: 44.0 inches

Ride: 17.7 miles
Time: 1 hour 13 minutes 17.52 seconds
Pace: 14.5 miles per hour
Conditions: no wind, but warm.

Calories burned: 1,282.92

First food: 10:55 a.m.
Last food: ??? (will be off diet this afternoon).
Exceptions: Post-ride banana.

Note: Leaving today for Almanor. Diet resumes on Monday.

Week 10, Day 5

Weight: 232 lbs.
Waist: 44.0 inches

Ride: 23.7 miles
Time: 1 hour 38 minutes 4.14 seconds
Pace: 14.5 miles per hour
Conditions: light north wind.

Calories burned: 1,722.28

First food: 11:00 a.m.
Last food: 3:23 p.m.
Exceptions:

Note: Notice today's weight: 232 pounds. Today is a day of celebration. I've now lost exactly 50 pounds from my starting weight. It's good to make progress. I still feel like I have a long way to go. I bought some running shoes, yesterday, and walked Truman with them this morning around far East Davis. Perhaps beginning next Monday, I will give running a try. This weekend, up at Lake Almanor, I'll try to further break-in the new shoes.

Week 10, Day 4

Weight: 233 lbs.
Waist: 44.5 inches

Ride: 17.7 miles
Time: 1 hour 13 minutes 42.31 seconds
Pace: 14.4 miles per hour
Conditions: no wind.

Calories burned: 1,306.10

First food: 10:55 a.m.
Last food: 3:44 p.m.
Exceptions:

Note: Nice ride.

Week 10, Day 3

Weight: 234 lbs.
Waist: 44.5 inches

Ride: 31.8 miles
Time: 2 hours 12 minutes 35.52 seconds
Pace: 14.4 miles per hour
Conditions: stiff south wind.

Calories burned: 2,347.45

First food: 11:04 a.m.
Last food: 3:44 p.m.
Exceptions: Scone at La Bou.

Note: Nice ride this morning over to Raley Field in West Sac. Stopped at La Bou for a nice coffee and an adequate, though not great, scone.

Week 10, Day 2

Post for Monday, September 14, 2009

Weight: 234 lbs.
Waist: 44.5 inches

Ride: 17.7 miles
Time: 1 hour 13 minutes 46.21 seconds
Pace: 14.4 miles per hour
Conditions: light south wind.

Calories burned: 1,311.71

First food: 10:22 a.m.
Last food: 3:44 p.m.
Exceptions: Pre-ride prunes.

Note: After forgetting to post the last couple of days, I'm back on track. The ride this morning was nice and easy, though the roads were wet, due to last night's rain, and muddy in places, where the dirt from tomato trucks got wet.

Week 10, Day 1

Post for Sunday, September 13, 2009

Food times: 10:15 a.m. to 3:45 p.m.

Weight: 234 lbs.
Waist: 44.5 inches

Ride: 36.0 miles
Time: 2 hours 30 minutes 56.48 seconds
Pace: 14.4 miles per hour
Conditions: very stiff west wind on the ride to Winters; on the trip back from Lake Solano, had the stiff wind at my back.

Calories burned: 2,676.59

First food: 10:15 a.m.
Last food: 3:51 p.m.
Exceptions: Pre-ride banana.

Note: Rode to Winters and took a break, due to the hard ride into the wind, at the Train bridge. After my rest, I rode Putah Creek Road up to and around Lake Solano and back to Steady Edddie's, where I relaxed with a cup of coffee and a scone.

Week 9, Day 7

Post for Saturday, September 12, 2009

Weight: 237 lbs.
Waist: 44.5 inches

Ride: 17.7 miles
Time: 1 hour 14 minutes 27.29 seconds
Pace: 14.4 miles per hour
Conditions: very strong south-west wind.

Calories burned: 1,328.52

First food: 10:12 a.m.
Last food: 3:51 p.m.
Exceptions: Pre-ride banana.

Note: Due to early morning fatigue and then the threat of rain, I delayed my ride to the early afternoon, tody. Instead of my normal long, hard Saturday ride, I decided to take it easy with just the Tremont Cemetery loop.

Week 9, Day 6

Weight: 237 lbs.
Waist: 44.5 inches

Ride: 17.7 miles
Time: 1 hour 13 minutes 47.31 seconds
Pace: 14.4 miles per hour
Conditions: north-west wind.

Calories burned: 1,328.52

First food: 11:02 a.m.
Last food: 4:00 p.m.
Exceptions: Pre-ride banana.

Note: Bought a stand-up tire pump, today. Hopefully, it works well enough to replace my regular trips to the Shell station to get air.

Week 9, Day 5

Weight: 237 lbs.
Waist: 44.5 inches

Ride: 23.7 miles
Time: 1 hour 38 minutes 51.68 seconds
Pace: 14.4 miles per hour
Conditions: moderate north wind.

Calories burned: 1,777.35

First food: 11:12 a.m.
Last food: 3:23 p.m.
Exceptions: Had a pre-ride banana. In the afternoon I had an off-diet lunch over at Carol's in Sacramento (sandwich plus ice cream).

Note: Bike road really well this morning, following its repair at Davis Bike Exchange. I have nothing but high praise for the service provided at DBE, plus the price was very reasonable. ... Also, rode through Springlake in Woodland. Got a little bit lost, but it seems like a very nice neighborhood, much like Mace Ranch or Wildhorse (without the golf course). Fat Cat Cafe again was nice. I passed on the scone, though.

Disastrous days -- part V

Just when I thought things could not get worse with my ever-breaking down bicycle, they got worse, today. I was only a mile and a half into my Tremont Cemetery ride, fortunately, when my left crank arm and its attached pedal broke off of my bike. I had just crossed F Street, heading east. I was easily making my way up the Covell Blvd overpass in 5th gear (on the back sprocket) when I lurched forward as my left foot came crashing to the ground. I didn't realize what had happened. I thought my chain had merely slipped. However, when I stopped and got off my bike, I could see that my left pedal and its crank arm were gone. I found them 20 feet down the hill.

So once again, for the third time in four days, I had to walk my bike home. I have yet to get my bike repaired. I think I will take it to a different shop. I'm a little perturbed at B&L, feeling that their service has not been great for me. My rear wheel, the one they sold me, they now tell me is not the right caliber of wheel for my needs. If that's the case, why did they sell it to me? Also, I am unhappy with my rear tire, and that is one they installed, never asking me if I wanted instead to buy one less apt to be punctured. Finally, having just gone to B&L on Saturday, I'm embarrassed to bring my bike back in, broken, so soon.

Week 9, Day 4

Weight: 235 lbs.
Waist: 44.5 inches

Ride: 30.0 miles
Time: 2 hours 5 minutes 2.74 seconds
Pace: 14.4 miles per hour
Conditions: light east wind.

Calories burned: 2,225.19

First food: 10:03 a.m.
Last food: 4:00 p.m.
Exceptions: Ate a pre-ride banana.

Note: The saga of bike breakdowns continued again, today. My "fixed" rear flat tire was flat when I got outside to start today's ride to West Sacramento. I decided to throw away the inner tube, buy a new one and install it. That set me back a good hour plus. But in the end, I got on my bike around 8:45 a.m., put in ear plugs, and had a pleasant (not too noisy) ride over the causeway to La Bou in West Sac, where I enjoyed a couple of cups of good coffee and a cranberry scone. On the way home, as with the last time I rode to West Sac, I took the Olive Drive bike path.

Disastrous days

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Today is going to be a vacation from the Bicycle Diet for me. All started out normal, ready for my usual Monday trip out to the Tremont Cemetery and back. (I even had the good news of weighing in at 237 pounds, my lowest yet.) However, just where I turn left from Davis Road onto Tremont Road, I felt my rear tire going flat. As I know now, the hole in the inner tube was in the exact spot where I supposedly fixed the hole I got yesterday. As a result of today's flat tire, I walked my bike a half mile north on Old Davis Road, before hiding it behind an old black walnut tree near a large field of sunflowers. From there, I walked another hour home, got the car, drove back and picked up my unlocked bicycle.

Today's problem makes three straight days of disaster: Saturday my seat broke on Midway Road and I had a horrible ride back without a functioning seat. On top of that, I broke a spoke and had another expensive repair bill at B&L. Sunday, I got my flat tire just before Road 96 on Covell, about the same distance from home as today's flat tire. And then today, I made it three lousy days in a row.

Week 9, Day 3

Weight: 239 lbs.
Waist: 44.5 inches

Ride: 27.3 miles
Time: 1 hour 54 minutes 20.67 seconds
Pace: 14.3 miles per hour
Conditions: light north wind

Calories burned: 2,063.92

First food: 10:04 a.m.
Last food: 3:58 p.m.
Exceptions: Pre-ride banana.

Note: Started out like a very nice ride, after having the bike fixed at B&L, yesterday and installing my new seat. I had a nice time and a coffee at Steady Eddie's, which is always a pleasure. However, approaching Road 96 from Winters on Covell Blvd, I realized something was wrong, stopped roadside, and found I had a flat rear tire. I don't yet know what caused it, but it was a disaster. I walked most of the way home -- a guy picked me up in his truck and with me and the bike in the back, I was driven 1.5 miles. After all the air was out of my tire, I had to lift the back end of the bike. Worn out from the lifting, I left my bike unloocked at the Adobe Apartments at Shasta Drive and Covell, walked home and drove back to retrieve my bike, which thankfully was not stolen. Combined with breaking my seat and a spoke yesterday, this has turned into a "whatever can go wrong, will go wrong" weekend.

Week 9, Day 2

Weight: 239 lbs.
Waist: 45.0 inches

Ride: 37.8 miles
Time: 2 hours 38 minutes 36.08 seconds
Pace: 14.3 miles per hour
Conditions: strong SSW wind.

Calories burned: 2,878.62

First food: 10:01 a.m.
Last food: 3:55 p.m.
Exceptions:

Note: Brutal ride today. Planned to go 65 miles. My seat broke 15 miles into the ride and my last 22 miles were horrible. Oh well.

Week 9, Day 1

Weight: 239 lbs.
Waist: 45.0 inches

Ride: 16.6 miles
Time: 1 hour 9 minutes 28.53 seconds
Pace: 14.3 miles per hour
Conditions: very light south wind.

Calories burned: 1,249.21

First food: 10:30 a.m.
Last food: 3:55 p.m.
Exceptions:

Note: Easy short ride, today. Need to prepare for big ride, tomorrow.
Note 2: Week 9 -- 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Week 8, Day 7

Weight: 239 lbs.
Waist: 45.0 inches

Ride: 23.7 miles
Time: 1 hour 38 minutes 49.26 seconds
Pace: 14.4 miles per hour
Conditions: no wind, but warm.

Calories burned: 1,792.35

First food: 11:12 a.m.
Last food: 4:14 p.m.
Exceptions: Had a mediocre scone during my stop in Woodland at Fat Cat Cafe.

Note: Baed on a recommendation, I stopped at the Fat Cat Cafe on Dead Cat Alley in Woodland. All in all, a good place. The people were nice. The coffee was good. The prices were fair. The decor was quaint. And they had newspapers free to read. However, the scone was more of a muffin; and the chairs were not comfortable.

Week 8, Day 6

Weight: 239 lbs.
Waist: 45.0 inches

Ride: 17.7 miles
Time: 1 hour 13 minutes 18.12 seconds
Pace: 14.5 miles per hour
Conditions: warm; light north wind.

Calories burned: 1,321.63

First food: 10:33 a.m.
Last food: 4:00 p.m.
Exceptions:

Note:

Goals for September

I have two goals for the Bicycle Diet this month:

1. For a target weight, I would like to get under 230 pounds by October 1. I weighed in today at 239 pounds. I still cannot fit into my nice corduroys. I think at 229 pounds I will be able to wear them. Even though my monthly weight loss up to now has been over 20 pounds*, I think 10 pounds is a reasonable and an achievable goal for September. It gets harder to lose more absolute pounds as my relative condition of being overweight decreases. But by sticking with the parameters of the diet, foods and time of day, I think I can take off 10 pounds in the next 30 days.

2. For my rides, I would like to complete 3 long rides this month. (Note that one weekend, the 18th to the 20th, we will be up at Lake Almanor, and I won't ride there.) The three long rides should include: a) another summit of Cardiac Hill; b) a 65-mile ride on a flat loop; and c) a 75-mile ride on a different flat loop.

* From July 3 (282) to August 3 (258), I lost 24 pounds. From August 1 (260) to September 1 (239), I lost 21 pounds. My total weight loss to-date is 43 pounds.

Week 8, Day 5

Weight: 239 lbs.
Waist: 45.0 inches

Ride: 30.0 miles
Time: 2 hours 5 minutes 28.23 seconds
Pace: 14.3 miles per hour
Conditions: mild south wind.

Calories burned: 2,263.07

First food: 10:47 a.m.
Last food: 4:00 p.m.
Exceptions: At La Bou in West Sacramento, I had a mediocre (too sweet) cranberry muffin with my coffee. That said, La Bou was a nice find and a good destination in West Sac. The coffee was good.

Note: I reached my two goals for this date -- I rode to the top of Cardiac Hill and I weighed in under 240 pounds. I'll try on my cords and see if they fit, yet. (Edit: they don't fit. Too tight in the waist to button them.)

Note 2: My ride to West Sac was much nicer today, wearing ear plugs, than my ride there last week. I can still hear what I need to with them in, but the painful din of the interstate becomes tolerable background noise with the earplugs.

Note 3: I arrived back in Davis via the Olive Drive bike path, most of which I'd never been on before. Very nice way to enter town.

Week 8, Day 4

Weight: 241 lbs.
Waist: 45.0 inches

Ride: 17.7 miles
Time: 1 hour 14 minutes 8.78 seconds
Pace: 14.3 miles per hour
Conditions: very strong south wind.

Calories burned: 1,369.20

First food: 10:02 a.m.
Last food: 4:00 p.m.
Exceptions:

Note: I need to buy some earplugs for my ride tomorrow to West Sac.

Week 8, Day 3

Weight: 241 lbs.
Waist: 45.0 inches

Ride: 17.7 miles
Time: 1 hour 13 minutes 41.93 seconds
Pace: 14.4 miles per hour
Conditions: stiff south wind.

Calories burned: 1,350.95

First food: 10:31 a.m.
Last food: 4:11 p.m.
Exceptions:

Note: Had coffee this morning at Common Grounds near Safeway in South Davis. Good cup of coffee and a pleasant, living room-like setting to relax. High marks overall, but the furniture was a bit worn out.

Week 8, Day 3

Weight: 242 lbs.
Waist: 45.0 inches

Ride: 55.8 miles
Time: 3 hours 54 minutes 18.37 seconds
Pace: 14.3 miles per hour
Conditions: no wind early; strong wind heading into the dam; light north wind heading back.

Calories burned: 4,289.64

First food: 10:31 a.m.
Last food: 4:11 p.m.
Exceptions: Pre-ride, I ate an apple; at Steady Eddie's, I ate a scone.

Note: Very tiring ride. I'm just not in good enough shape yet to comfortably ride up to Lake Berryessa, let alone summit Cardiac Hill. Although I had to stop and rest one mile up CH, I made it to the top and I'm glad I met that goal. I was very tired riding back. I nearly fainted in Steady Eddy's, just before I bought my coffee and scone. Yet with an inordinate number of stops to rest and stretch my aching back, I made it all the way.

Week 8, Day 2

Weight: 244 lbs.
Waist: 45.0 inches

Ride: 16.6 miles
Time: 1 hour 9 minutes 13.32 seconds
Pace: 14.4 miles per hour
Conditions: no wind.

Calories burned: 1,275.35

First food: 11:12 a.m.
Last food: 4:13 p.m.
Exceptions:

Note: My rear wheel on my bike was wobbly during today's ride. Need to check the spokes.

Week 8, Day 1

Weight: 243 lbs.
Waist: 45.0 inches

Ride: 23.7 miles
Time: 1 hour 39 minutes 9.79 seconds
Pace: 14.3 miles per hour
Conditions: moderate north wind.

Calories burned: 1,822.35

First food: 11:12 a.m.
Last food: 4:14 p.m.
Exceptions: Had a lousy donut during my stop in Woodland at Timothy's Bakery.

Note: Woodland really needs an independent local coffee spot. Timothy's Bakery sucks. Worst coffee I've had in 20 years.

The 8th Week Cometh

Week 8 -- 9:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.

Week 7, Day 7

Weight: 242 lbs.
Waist: 45.0 inches

Ride: 17.7 miles
Time: 1 hour 13 minutes 53.62 seconds
Pace: 14.4 miles per hour
Conditions: moderate west wind.

Calories burned: 1,356.55

First food: 9:56 a.m.
Last food: 3:55 p.m.
Exceptions:

Note: Because of my recent problems with back tightness -- pain, really -- I've increased my pre-ride stretching regimen and (when I remember to) I'm taking an Alleve anti-inflammatory when I wake up.

Week 7, Day 6

Weight: 243 lbs.
Waist: 45.0 inches

Ride: 23.4 miles
Time: 1 hour 38 minutes 5.07 seconds
Pace: 14.3 miles per hour
Conditions: moderate west wind.

Calories burned: 1,803.94

First food: 10:00 a.m.
Last food: 3:55 p.m.
Exceptions: A scone with my coffee at Starbucks in West Sacramento; a teaspoon of peanut butter on bread with lunch.

Note: I biked over the Causeway today. Unless I get some hearing protection, I don't think I'll ever do it again. The bike path is fine. However, it is a lousy ride. It's very, very, very noisy. The air from the freeway cannot be healthy to breathe. And, although there is a pleasant view to the north, it's a rather ugly ride on the whole, mostly just a tunnel-type view of the bike path and of I-80. I cannot imagine this ride as part of a daily commute.

Week 7, Day 5

Weight: 244 lbs.
Waist: 45.0 inches

Ride: 17.7 miles
Time: 1 hour 14 minutes 12.64 seconds
Pace: 14.3 miles per hour
Conditions: moderate west wind.

Calories burned: 1,367.76

First food: 10:00 a.m.
Last food: 4:10 p.m.
Exceptions: A mistaken tablespoon of peanut butter with some raisins.

Note: After "celebrating" 40 pounds of weight loss yesterday, I weighed in 2 pounds heavier, today. On a day to day basis, I suspect all the difference is just water retention.

Week 7, Day 4

Weight: 242 lbs.
Waist: 45.0 inches

Ride: 15.6 miles
Time: 1 hour 5 minutes 21.40 seconds
Pace: 14.3 miles per hour
Conditions: strong south wind.

Calories burned: 1,191.57

First food: 9:44 a.m.
Last food: 4:15 p.m.
Exceptions:

Note: Weighing in today at 242 pounds was a milestone. I started this regimen 50 days ago, weighing 282 pounds. Thus, I've now lost 40 pounds, an average daily weight loss of 0.80 pounds. Considering that I have taken 4 days off from the diet over the last 50 days, my average daily weight loss on the diet is even a bit higher. My expectation, though, is that my daily or weekly weight loss will start to slow dramatically, because my percentage of body fat has dropped substantially. In other words, the less fat you have, the harder it is to burn fat.

Week 7, Day 3

Weight: 244 lbs.
Waist: 45.5 inches

Ride: 52.1 miles
Time: 3 hours 39 minutes 49.87 seconds
Pace: 14.2 miles per hour
Conditions: west wind early; south wind later; wind not a major factor out or back.

Calories burned: 4,066.32

First food: 10:15 a.m.
Last food: 4:11 p.m.
Exceptions: Pre-ride, I ate a peanut butter and raisin snack on a piece of bread. While peanut butter and bread are no-no's, my thinking was that I needed extra energy for my planned long ride.

Note: Horrible, horrible ride. I started feeling weak early on (after maybe 10 miles) and that became lower-back pain for the final 3/4ths of my ride. I was very, very exhausted in my last 7 miles and felt poorly once I was home. However, after resting for a few hours, I feel well. I did, however, manage to have an easier time climbing up the hill to Monticello Dam; and I enjoyed my respite at Steady Eddy's, which included a tasty Mango Smoothie.

Week 7, Day 2

Weight: 245 lbs.
Waist: 45.5 inches

Ride: 16.6 miles
Time: 1 hours 9 minutes 36.10 seconds
Pace: 14.3 miles per hour
Conditions: no wind.

Calories burned: 1,299.13

First food: 10:01 a.m.
Last food: 4:08 p.m.
Exceptions:

Note: Turns out Wednesday's weigh-in was not a blip? I "re-lost" 3 pounds over night.

Week 7, Day 1

Weight: 248 lbs.
Waist: 45.5 inches

Ride: 21.6 miles
Time: 1 hours 30 minutes 29.03 seconds
Pace: 14.3 miles per hour
Conditions: no wind.

Calories burned: 1,690.77

First food: 10:20 a.m.
Last food: 4:09 p.m.
Exceptions: Ate a scone with my coffee at Peet's at the Marketplace after my bike ride to Woodland around 8:15 a.m.

Note: Turns out yesterday's weigh-in was a blip. I "gained" 3 pounds over night. ... Note that the new parameters for meals are 9:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

Week 6, Day 7

Weight: 245 lbs.
Waist: 45.5 inches

Ride: 17.7 miles
Time: 1 hours 13 minutes 41.93 seconds
Pace: 14.4 miles per hour
Conditions: no wind.

Calories burned: 1,373.37

First food: 10:20 a.m.
Last food: 4:19 p.m.
Exceptions:

Note: Looks like I lost 4 pounds from yesterday. Possible that it's a blip. Next few days will tell.

Week 6, Day 6

Weight: 249 lbs.
Waist: 45.5 inches

Ride: 20.7 miles
Time: 1 hours 26 minutes 40.28 seconds
Pace: 14.3 miles per hour
Conditions: NNW wind.

Calories burned: 1,641.00

First food: 9:57 a.m.
Last food: 4:29 p.m.
Exceptions:

Note: Weight again is stagnating at 249 pounds. I think the idea that my metabolism has slowed, due to reduced calorie intake, makes sense and explains why it's become much harder to lose weight, despite vigorous daily exercise and a more modest diet.

Week 6, Day 5

Weight: 249 lbs.
Waist: 45.5 inches

Ride: 17.7 miles
Time: 1 hours 14 minutes 26.11 seconds
Pace: 14.3 miles per hour
Conditions: moderate west wind.

Calories burned: 1,395.79

First food: 9:57 a.m.
Last food: 4:29 p.m.
Exceptions:

Note: Bicycle felt a bit off, this morning. I hope there is nothing mechanically wrong with it.

Week 6, Day 4

Weight: 249 lbs.
Waist: 45.5 inches

Ride: 19.6 miles
Time: 1 hours 21 minutes 40.00 seconds
Pace: 14.4 miles per hour
Conditions: moderate NE wind.

Calories burned: 1,546.69

First food: 9:57 a.m.
Last food: 4:29 p.m.
Exceptions:

Note: Very strong ride, though it was strange having a wind out of the east.

Week 6, Day 3

Weight: 251 lbs.
Waist: 45.5 inches

Ride: 47.8 miles
Time: 3 hours 20 minutes 23.48 seconds
Pace: 14.3 miles per hour
Conditions: no wind from Davis to Lake Solano; west wind to Monticello Dam; increasingly strong north wind back to Davis.

Calories burned: 3,802.71

First food: 11:04 a.m.
Last food: 4:25 p.m.
Exceptions: At Steady Eddy's, I ate a scone with my coffee.

Note: First ride up to Lake Berryessa, this year. The ride up to the top of the dam was very tough. Hurts my back, still, to ride this far.

Week 6, Day 2

Weight: 249 lbs.
Waist: 45.5 inches

Ride: 15.6 miles
Time: 1 hours 5 minutes 0.00 seconds
Pace: 14.4 miles per hour
Conditions: no wind

Calories burned: 1,226.03

First food: 9:58 a.m.
Last food: 4:24 p.m.
Exceptions:

Note:

Week 6, Day 1

Weight: 249 lbs.
Waist: 45.5 inches

Ride: 17.7 miles
Time: 1 hours 14 minutes 9.41 seconds
Pace: 14.3 miles per hour
Conditions: light SW wind

Calories burned: 1,395.79

First food: 11:04 a.m.
Last food: 4:24 p.m.
Exceptions:

Note: Weighed in 3 pounds under the 252 pound plateau. I think it's a breakthrough. The next few days will tell. ... Week 6 begins a new time structure -- first food 9:15 a.m.; last food 4:45 p.m.

Week 5, Day 7

Weight: 251 lbs.
Waist: 46 inches

Ride: 17.7 miles
Time: 1 hours 13 minutes 55.78 seconds
Pace: 14.4 miles per hour
Conditions: no wind

Calories burned: 1,407.00

First food: 9:57 a.m.
Last food: 4:24 p.m.
Exceptions:

Note: Still no real breakthrough on the 252 pound plateau, yet.

Hitting a plateau

I'm not exactly sure why this happens while dieting, but it seems rather normal to hit a weight plateau, where, while generally declining, you can't get under a certain weight for quite a while. For me, this has been 252 pounds.

On August 4, exactly a week ago, I weighed in at 253 pounds. Today, after 126.0 miles on the bike -- burning off 10,551 calories, which equal 2.9 pounds of fat -- plus some long walks with Truman and sticking to my dietary rules, I'm essentially the same weight.

It's a bit of a mystery to me why I haven't lost weight for a week. I have four theories:

1) Water weight. I don't think it unlikely that how much water is in a person's system varies a few percent either way. When trying to lose weight and replacing food calories with more liquids, especially water, it's probably the case that I am retaining more water. Hence, I may have lost 3-5 pounds of fat over the previous 7 days, but I replaced that with added water weight and thus the scale remains the same;

2) Greater muscle. It also seems reasonable to me to think that while working hard on the bike, putting in more than 140 miles each week, my muscles are getting bigger and stronger. So one explanation for not losing weight for a while is that fat is being replaced by dense muscle, which weighs as much as the fat lost;

3) Overeating. While it is true that I am no longer eating late at night or even early in the morning -- per the time restrictions of my diet -- it's possible I have hit this plateau because I have simply been increasing the number of calories at each meal and in between meals. In order to stay true to the strictures of the diet, I need to watch this; and

4) Reduced metabolic rate. A final possibility is that, in response to taking in fewer calories, my body is burning calories at a much lower rate. Thus, at least for now, even while exercising seriously every day, my body is consuming no more calories than I am taking in, and therefore my total body weight has stabilized.

In response to the 252 pound plateau, I am going to try harder to limit my caloric intake until I can reach 249 pounds. If the true answer to the plateau is #1 or #2, there is nothing I can do which will help. But if it is #3, eating less should work. Even if it's not #3, eating less cannot hurt.

Week 5, Day 6

Weight: 252 lbs.
Waist: 46 inches

Ride: 36.0 miles
Time: 2 hours 29 minutes 47.52 seconds
Pace: 14.4 miles per hour
Conditions: light west wind

Calories burned: 2,863.40

First food: 10:15 a.m.
Last food: 4:24 p.m.
Exceptions: Pre-ride banana

Loose Pants

The first tangible sign that my diet is working came today: loose pants. While seeing the number I register on the scale fall is a pleasant reminder that I have lost weight, that's just a number. However, feeling my pants slip off as I walked Truman this morning felt real. The same pants which were snug at 282 are too loose to wear without a belt at 252. Walking from Border's to Walnut Park and back, I had to keep one hand in my pocket to prevent my shorts from slipping down to my knees.

At the top of my weight arc I bought size 42 pants. I cannot yet get into my size 36 corduroys, pants I really like, but I don't need 42s any longer. If I had to guess, I'm somewhere between a size 38 and a size 40, depending on the manufacturer. I don't want to buy any new clothes until my weight stabilizes -- hopefully that will be well south of 200 pounds. For the time being, I'm in a bit of a clothing limbo, lacking many clothes that fit my current size. After I lose another 15 pounds, I'll hopefully fit comfortably into my substantial collection of size 36 pants, as well as a number of shirts which are still too tight to wear.

Week 5, Day 5

Weight: 252 lbs.
Waist: 46 inches

Ride: 17.7 miles
Time: 1 hour 14 minutes 15.94 seconds
Pace: 14.4 miles per hour
Conditions: light north wind

Calories burned: 1,412.61

First food: 10:08 a.m.
Last food: 4:33 p.m.
Exceptions:

Week 5, Day 4

Weight: 252 lbs.
Waist: 46 inches

Ride: 19.6 miles
Time: 1 hour 21 minutes 40.00 seconds
Pace: 14.4 miles per hour
Conditions: no wind

Calories burned: 1,565.32

First food: 9:16 a.m.
Last food: 4:44 p.m.
Exceptions: Breakfast scone in Winters

Note: After my ride and a shower, drove over to Winters with mom and Truman to have a coffee and a breakfast scone at Steady Eddie's. Also bought a couple of good looking yellow tomatoes at the Winters Farmers' Market. On the way to Winters, we stopped off at an orchard which has very strange looking spiked fruits (or nuts). I took some pictures of the trees and grabbed a fruit (or nut) off of the ground and took it home. After cutting away the very sharp needles which surround the fruit, I am not sure yet what it is. My plan is to search the Web and ask others, perhaps fruit scientists from UC Davis.

Setting goals

When I started this effort, my primary goal was to get my weight down to 180 pounds and sustain that weight (hopefully for the rest of my life). That remains my objective.

In about 1 month and 1 week, I have already lost 30 pounds. I'm very happy with that. I can definitely feel it in looser pants and shirts.

Today, I will add two interim goals:

1) By the end of August -- which is 23 days away -- I want to weigh under 240 pounds. That means another 13-14 pounds of weight loss in the next 3 weeks and 2 days. If I stick the the diet and exercise regimen, I believe I can make that goal;

2) Once I sustain my weight for 4 consecutive weigh-ins under 240 pounds, I want to ride to the top of Cardiac Hill*. Once I have accomplished that, I will join the Davis Bike Club, and start riding with them on the Thursday Mocha Joe's ride.

*Before I attempt Cardiac Hill, my plan is to ride once more around Lake Solano; once to the top of Monticello Dam; and once to the base of Cardiac Hill (where Markley Cove store is).

Week 5, Day 3

Weight: 253 lbs.

Ride: 27.3 miles
Time: 1 hour 54 minutes 16.90 seconds
Pace: 14.3 miles per hour
Conditions: stiff north wind

Calories burned: 2,184.82

First food: 10:04 a.m.
Last food: 4:15 p.m.
Exceptions:

Note: despite a stiff cross wind most of the ride, this was my best effort on the bike, yet. I rode a couple of miles or more before I pushed it into my highest gear, but in the top gear I got an excellent pace going, which I kept up all the way to Winters and back. No one passed me, this morning!

Week 5, Day 2

Weight: 252 lbs.

Ride: 17.7 miles
Time: 1 hour 15 minutes 50.16 seconds
Pace: 14.0 miles per hour
Conditions: no wind

Calories burned: 1,450.79

First food: 10:48 a.m.
Last food: 4:44 p.m.
Exceptions:

Feeling much better

I have no idea what ailed me the last two days. I don't think I had a heart attack, but I did have some serious chest pains and general fatigue. However, after a couple of nights of good rest, I felt well enough this morning to get back on the program.

Heart ache, Day 2

I'm still feeling poorly. I slept much better last night and hope by tomorrow I can resume my bicycling schedule. Until I feel well, though, I don't think it's a good idea to push it.

Nonetheless, I weighed in at 253 lbs. this morning, but won't count that. I will still follow the diet plan for today.

Heart ache?

I was having chest pains all night last night and decided it best not to do much exercise, today. I hope it's no big deal. I feel okay, for the moment, but not great. As such, I'm taking today off from The Bicycle Diet and hope to resume, tomorrow.

Nonetheless, I weighed in at 255 lbs., but won't count that. I will follow the diet plan for today.

Week 5, Day 1

Weight: 253 lbs.

Ride: 20.7 miles
Time: 1 hour 27 minutes 50.16 seconds
Pace: 14.1 miles per hour
Conditions: light SW wind

Calories burned: 1,686.52

First food: 9:01 a.m.
Last food: 4:55 p.m.
Exceptions:

Week 4, Day 7

Weight: 258 lbs.

Ride: 17.7 miles
Time: 1 hour 14 minutes 20.03 seconds
Pace: 14.3 miles per hour
Conditions: moderate SW wind

Calories burned: 1,446.24

First food: 10:01 a.m.
Last food: 4:55 p.m.
Exceptions:

Week 4, Day 6

Weight: 260 lbs.

Ride: 27.3 miles
Time: 1 hour 54 minutes 37.73 seconds
Pace: 14.3 miles per hour
Conditions: light W wind

Calories burned: 2,264.96

First food: 10:08 a.m.
Last food: 4:55 p.m.
Exceptions: pre-ride plum

Week 4, Day 5

Weight: 260 lbs.

Ride: 17.7 miles
Time: 1 hour 14 minutes 15.94 seconds
Pace: 14.3 miles per hour
Conditions: no wind

Calories burned: 1,457.45

First food: 9:00 a.m.
Last food: 5:00 p.m.
Exceptions:

Note: Went to Santa Cruz today to see Jean and other UCSB friends. Exempted from some dietary rules.

Week 4, Day 4

Weight: 257 lbs.

Ride: 19.8 miles
Time: 1 hour 23 minutes 36.19 seconds
Pace: 14.2 miles per hour
Conditions: no wind

Calories burned: 1,635.32

First food: 9:55 a.m.
Last food: 5:00 p.m.
Exceptions: Post-ride coffee with skim milk.

Week 4, Day 3

Weight: 260 lbs.

Ride: 17.7 miles
Time: 1 hour 14 minutes 15.94 seconds
Pace: 14.3 miles per hour
Conditions: W wind

Calories burned: 1,477.15

First food: 9:02 a.m.
Last food: 5:15 p.m.
Exceptions: Pre-ride coffee with skim milk.

Note: Due to problems with my bicycle, followed by a failed car battery, I took yesterday off from the diet/exercise program. However, I did follow all of the rules of the diet itself.

Week 4, Day 2

Weight: 260 lbs.

Ride: 20.7 miles
Time: 1 hour 25 minutes 53.41 seconds
Pace: 14.0 miles per hour
Conditions: W wind

Calories burned: 1,693.80

First food: 9:39 a.m.
Last food: 5:15 p.m.
Exceptions:

Week 4, Day 1

Weight: 260 lbs.
Belly: 46.0"

Ride: 17.0 miles
Time: 1 hour 11 minutes 57.46 seconds
Pace: 14.2 miles per hour
Conditions: N wind

Calories burned: 1,418.06

First food: 9:55 a.m.
Last food: 5:14 p.m.
Exceptions: post-ride coffee with non-fat milk.

Week 3, Day 7

Weight: 261 lbs.
Belly: 46.5"

Ride: 19.1 miles
Time: 1 hour 21 minutes 23.52 seconds
Pace: 14.1 miles per hour
Conditions: ESE wind

Calories burned: 1,601.46

First food: 9:19 a.m.
Last food: 5:08 p.m.
Exceptions:

Note: scale says I lost 8 pounds from yesterday to today. I think I might be a little lighter due to some water loss. However, I suspect my scale is not accurate. No way did I really lose 8 pounds. Yesterday's weight was oddly high, too.

Week 3, Day 6

Weight: 269 lbs.
Belly: 46.5"

Ride: 30 miles
Time: 2 hour 8 minutes 53.18 seconds
Pace: 14.1 miles per hour
Conditions: N wind

Calories burned: 2,608.27

First food: 10:14 a.m.
Last food: 5:08 p.m.
Exceptions: pre-ride prunes

Note: inner-tube on back tire blew out 7 miles from Davis. Walked a mile before a truck picked me up and drove me home. I fixed my tube at home, but put bike in shop to have wobbly rear wheel checked.

Week 3, Day 5

Weight: 265 lbs.
Belly: 46.5"

Ride: 17.7 miles
Time: 1 hour 15 minutes 51.43 seconds
Pace: 14.0 miles per hour
Conditions: strong SW wind

Calories burned: 1,505.56

First food: 9:50 a.m.
Last food: 5:25 p.m.
Exceptions:

Week 3, Day 4

Weight: 264 lbs.
Belly: 46.5"

Ride: 16.8 miles
Time: 1 hour 10 minutes 59.15 seconds
Pace: 14.2 miles per hour
Conditions: NW wind

Calories burned: 1,419.88

First food: 8:31 a.m.
Last food: 4:38 p.m.
Exceptions:

Week 3, Day 3

Weight: 263 lbs.
Belly: 46.5"

Ride: 17.7 miles
Time: 1 hour 14 minutes 16.09 seconds
Pace: 14.3 miles per hour
Conditions: light WSW wind

Calories burned: 1,474.27

First food: 10:34 a.m.
Last food: 5:28 p.m.
Exceptions:

Week 3, Day 2

Weight: 265 lbs.

Ride: 20.7 miles
Time: 1 hour 26 minutes 51.19 seconds
Pace: 14.0 miles per hour
Conditions: light WNW wind

Calories burned: 1,746.44

First food: 9:04 a.m.
Last food: 5:28 p.m.
Exceptions: Pre-ride half banana

Week 3, Day 1

Weight: 266 lbs.

Ride: 17.7 miles
Time: 1 hour 15 minutes 30.00 seconds
Pace: 14.1 miles per hour
Conditions: no wind

Calories burned: 1,511.24

First food: 9:35 a.m.
Last food: 4:15 p.m.
Exceptions:

Week 2, Day 7

Weight: 270 lbs.

Ride: 18.6 miles
Time: 1 hour 19 minutes 2.25 seconds
Pace: 14.0 miles per hour
Conditions: light WNW wind

Calories burned: 1,642.29

First food: 8:35 a.m.
Last food: 5:40 p.m.
Exceptions:

Week 2, Day 7

Ride: 17.7 miles
Time: 1 hour 14 minutes 2.25 seconds
Pace: 14.4 miles per hour
Conditions: no wind

Calories burned: 1,513.51

First food: 11:02 a.m.
Last food: 5:40 p.m.
Exceptions:

Week 2, Day 6

Weight: 270 lbs.

Ride: 17.7 miles
Time: 1 hour 14 minutes 2.25 seconds
Pace: 14.4 miles per hour
Conditions: no wind

Calories burned: 1,513.51

First food: 11:02 a.m.
Last food: 5:40 p.m.
Exceptions:

Week 2, Day 5

Weight: 270 lbs.

Ride: 20.7 miles
Time: 1 hour 27 minutes 2.25 seconds
Pace: 14.2 miles per hour
Conditions: mild north wind

Calories burned: 1,779.40

First food: 9:05 a.m.
Last food: 5:40 p.m.
Exceptions:

Week 2, Day 4

Weight: 270 lbs.

Ride: 17.7 miles
Time: 1 hour 11 minutes 2.25 seconds
Pace: 15.0 miles per hour
Conditions: mild north wind

Calories burned: 1,452.15

First food: 8:15 a.m.
Last food: 5:40 p.m.
Exceptions:

Week 2, Day 3

Weight: 271 lbs.

Ride: 15.6 miles
Time: 1 hour 6 minutes 0.21 seconds
Pace: 14.2 miles per hour
Conditions: moderate south wind

Calories burned: 1,354.89

First food: 9:12 a.m.
Last food: 5:40 p.m.
Exceptions:

Week 2, Day 2

Weight: 271 lbs.

Ride: 27.3 miles
Time: 1 hour 44 minutes 44.79 seconds
Pace: 15.6 miles per hour
Conditions: light north wind

Calories burned: 2,155.50

First food: 11:15 a.m.
Last food: 5:40 p.m.
Exceptions: pre-ride banana

Week 2, Day 1

Weight: 273 lbs.

Ride: 17.6 miles
Time: 1 hour 10 minutes 33.33 seconds
Pace: 15.0 miles per hour
Conditions: stiff south wind

Calories burned: 1,447.61

First food: 10:00 a.m.
Last food: 5:40 p.m.
Exceptions: pre-ride banana

Week 1, Day 7

Weight: 273 lbs.

Ride: 16.4 miles
Time: 1 hour 4 minutes 45.68 seconds
Pace: 15.2 miles per hour
Conditions: no wind

Calories burned: 1,344.21

First food: 8:44 a.m.
Last food: 5:59 p.m.
Exceptions: None

Week 1, Day 6

Weight: 273 lbs.

Ride: 20.7 miles
Time: 1 hour 25 minutes 25.30 seconds
Pace: 14.5 miles per hour
Conditions: Slight north wind

Calories burned: 1,757.81

First food: 8:16 a.m.
Last food: 5:59 p.m.
Exceptions: None

Week 1, Day 5

Weight: 274 lbs.

Ride: 17.6 miles
Time: 1 hour 9 minutes 53.80 seconds
Pace: 14.9 miles per hour
Conditions: Slight southwest wind

Calories burned: 1,452.91

First food: 9:18 a.m.
Last food: 5:54 p.m.
Exceptions: None

Week 1, Day 4

Weight: 277 lbs.

Ride: 17.6 miles
Time: 1 hour 9 minutes 36.48 seconds
Pace: 15.2 miles per hour
Calories burned: 1,468.82

First food: 8:00 a.m.
Last food: 5:54 p.m.
Exceptions: None

Week 1, Day 3

Weight: 277 lbs.

Ride: 15.9 miles
Time: 1 hour 6 minutes 0.27 seconds
Pace: 14.5 miles per hour
Calories burned: 1,384.88

First food: 9:10 a.m.
Last food: 5:58 p.m.
Exceptions: 7:30 a.m., pre-bike ride banana.

Week 1, Day 2

Weight: 279 lbs.

Ride: 17.6 miles
Time: 1 hour 15 minutes 22.59 seconds
Pace: 14.0 miles per hour
Calories burned: 1,585.09

First food: 9:45 a.m.
Last food: 5:55 p.m.
Exceptions: 7:30 a.m., pre-bike ride half banana.

Fruit is always good

I played in a poker tournament this afternoon at Cache Creek Casino, which is 45 minutes from my house. When I was knocked out -- on the final table bubble I dumbly reraised all-in with pocket Fours and was crushed by pocket Jacks -- it was 5:25 p.m. and I was hungry. The problem was that I can't eat anything once 6 p.m. tolls. There are a bunch of restaurants at Cache Creek, but because I can't eat breads or dairy on the Bicycle Diet, I couldn't think of anything quick which I wanted, there. (But for the diet, I would have had a hamburger and fries.)

So I got in my car and started driving back home. As I pulled into Esparto, I saw a roadside fruit stand. I bought a $3 bag of cherries. I was going to get some apricots, too, but they were quite pricey. I then sat in the car next to the fruit vendor and munched down most of my cherries, which were excellent. When my clock read 6 p.m. I still had four cherries left. I didn't break my diet and left them for later.

I'll probably feel pretty hungry when I go to bed in an hour. That's not all bad, as it is quite normal and healthy to sleep on an empty stomach and wake up hungry in the morning. The only problem now is that I'm not used to that. In a few weeks, I will be.

LESSON LEARNED

I knew I was going to be playing poker away from home all afternoon. I should have planned ahead and packed a late meal which I could have eaten at the casino. To succeed at the Bicycle Diet, I need to be responsible for my decisions and actions. The reason people get fat is because they act like children and don't think about the consequences of what they are putting in their bodies. A part of being an adult is planning ahead. That is the lesson learned, here.

Week 1, Day 1

Weight: 282 lbs.

Ride: 17.7 miles
Time: 1 hour 14 minutes 47.75 seconds
Pace: 14.2 miles per hour
Calories burned: 1,602.14

First food: 10:08 a.m.
Last food: 5:59 p.m.

Money on the line: $30

The Punishment Program

The Bicycle Diet involves both carrot and stick. Getting out and riding a bike, eating proper meals and enjoying them and losing weight -- those are the carrots. This is the stick: burning money.

Each Monday, you need to take out three $10 bills and place them where you can see them when you record your basic measurements each day. On top of each $10 bill, you need to place a book of matches. As the weeks go by and you follow the diet, you will have large stacks of tens.

The first $10 bill stack is to remind you to follow all of the dietary rules, including what not to eat, when not to eat and how much time you must let pass between meals. If you violate any of the dietary rules (without the best of reasons), you must burn all of the $10 bills in your dietary stack. If you have not broken a rule for 10 weeks, the stack will have $100 in it. That will be a severe punishment for eating a bowl of breakfast cereal or downing a Big Mac which comes in a bun or eating ice cream.

The second $10 bill stack is to remind you to follow the exercise rule: get on your bicycle and ride for at least one hour each day. If you fail to ride your bike and you don't have a great reason, you will have to burn all the tens in the second stack. If you burned your stack 2 weeks earlier, it will only be $20. If you forgot to ride one day after 23 weeks, that mistake will cost you $230.

The third $10 bill stack is to remind you to take your three basic measurements (your weight; your time and distance of your bike ride; and your times of your first and last meals) every day. If you fail to write one or more of these metrics down any day -- and there is no good reason not to do so every day -- you will have to burn your third stack or tens.

The idea here is a harsh one: there is nothing worse than burning money. It's brutally painful and wasteful. Giving money away that you need is much less painful. Buying alcohol for a drunkard is less of a waste than burning money. It is a powerful incentive to stick to the requirements of the Bicycle Diet.

When your 52 weeks are up, and you have large stacks of cash -- $10 times 3 times 52 is $1,560 -- you should take some of that money and buy yourself some nice new clothes which fit your new body.

The Basic Measurements

To follow the Bicycle Diet, you will need to keep a record of all of the following every day:

1. Your weight;
2. The time and distance you rode; and
3. The time of your first and last caloric intake.

Also, if you violate any of the rules of the Bicycle Diet, you need to write down exactly what rule or rules you violated, and if there was a reason, write down just what it was.

It's a pain in the ass to weigh in every day. However, doing so will be very rewarding as the pounds come off. Losing weight, looking better, feeling better, fitting into clothes more easily and so on will encourage you to follow the rules of the Bicycle Diet for one year's time; and then hopefully following the eating and exercise rules of the post-diet program.

The Basic Exercise Rules

The Bicycle Diet, as its name implies, is one which requires you to ride your bicyle every day. If you cannot ride outdoors for some reason, that might mean riding an exercycle at home or at a gym. Either way, you have to ride every single day, unless very unusual circumstances make it impossible.

If you are travelling on business or you're on vacation, for example, plan ahead to find a gym which has an exercycle available for your use. If you normally ride your bicycle, but a windstorm or rain or snow or some other weather problem makes it impossible, have a back-up plan involving a stationary bike.

HOW MUCH TO RIDE

The ideal amount you need to ride every day is one hour. If you are a slow rider, that might mean only 12 miles or so. If you are fast, and you probably aren't if you're fat, that could mean 20 miles or so. As you get into better shape, as your legs get stronger and you lose weight, it gets easier and easier to go faster. Three months into the Bicycle Diet, you should be going at least 2-3 miles faster per hour.

As I start this program, I have no trouble riding for one hour. However, if that is too hard for you, then start out riding for just 15 minutes. Do that every day for a week. Your second week, add 15 minutes, so you will ride (at a comfortable pace) for 30 minutes. Your third week ride 45 minutes a day. From your fourth week on, ride one hour.

If your goal is to eventually ride a long ride, say 100 km or 100 miles, you will have to slowly increase how much you ride 6 days a week, and add in a longer ride one day each week. For example, if you start out riding 16 miles a day, you might ride 20 miles on Saturday. Then every Saturday thereafter, you could add 4 miles to your long ride. After 10 weeks, you would have added 40 miles and your Saturday ride would be 60 miles (which is about 100 kilometers).

That's the same basic method for training for a marathon, having one long run day each week and adding to it slowly. Yet one great advantage of bicycling over running is that you can add mileage and not take time off to recover from your longer rides. As you run more and more, you need to take more and more days off to recover. When I was training for my marathons and my long run got up to over 20 miles, I would usually only run 3 days those weeks.

The Bicycle Diet program does not involve any long rides. To follow it strictly, you simply need to ride one hour each day. Keep this in mind, though: being on the bike for an hour and riding for an hour are not the same thing. If you end up hitting red lights and stopping at stop signs or you see a friend and stop for a chat, you are not riding during that time. The hour, regardless of your pace, is only counted when you are pedaling.

Because you want to keep pedaling, you want to burn calories, my recommendation is to ride in a place where there is no traffic and no stop signs. Where I live, we have good bike lanes in town. However, in town I have to stop every few blocks. My preference is to bike out of town and ride on untrafficked rural roads.

The Basic Diet Rules

My diet program is one that I know works. It worked very well for me a few years back, helping me to lose about 85 pounds in 6-8 months. It isn't easy to follow, but for a year or so, it's doable.

There are two basic restrictions to the diet: 1) restricting the times of the day when I can eat; and 2) restricting some foods.

TIME OF DAY

One of the reasons I am fat (and I think a major reason why so many Americans are fat) is I eat all day long, including a lot of food in the hour or two before I go to bed. The Bicycle Diet starts with a simple clock: No calories may be consumed before 8 a.m. or after 6 p.m. on a normal day.

Exceptions can be made in special circumstances. For example, if I'm travelling or at a dinner party with friends or some other oddity changes my schedule, it's okay to break the rules for a day. But otherwise, the time of day decides the outer bounds of when I can eat. I need to plan my meals to fit into that eating window.

Every 7 days for the following 11 weeks, the window closes by 30 minutes. The second week of the diet, for example, I will be able to eat between only 8:15 a.m. and 5:45 p.m. After 12 weeks, only four hours a day will be open for caloric intake. This is the time schedule.

Week 1 -- 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Week 2 -- 8:15 a.m. to 5:45 p.m.
Week 3 -- 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Week 4 -- 8:45 a.m. to 5:15 p.m.
Week 5 -- 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Week 6 -- 9:15 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.
Week 7 -- 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Week 8 -- 9:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.
Week 9 -- 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Week 10 -- 10:15 a.m. to 3:45 p.m.
Week 11 -- 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Week 12 -- 10:45 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.
Week 13 -- 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

For the 40 weeks following, the time schedule will remain the same as it is in Week 13.

The idea of restricting the hours of eating is threefold: 1) to limit the total calories which possibly can be consumed each day; 2) to get one's body used to fasting. One of the things I hear a lot of fat people say, and I have said myself, is that "I'm never really all that hungry. I just eat." Eating should be done to satisfy hunger. But if you eat all day long, you are just eating to eat. You aren't satiating a hunger. And if you eat late at night, you won't wake up hungry. You don't need "breakfast," because you had no fast to break; and 3) it is unhealthy to eat soon before you go to bed. You will get much better sleep if some hours have passed between your last meal and when you fall asleep. Also, if you sleep on a full stomach, your metabolic rate will slow down.

A second important restriction on times when I can and cannot is how much time I allow between meals. There are two guidelines which must be followed:

1. From the first bite to the last, a meal must be consumed in 30 minutes or less; and

2. Three hours must pass with no caloric intake in between meals.

WHAT NOT TO EAT

Besides eating too much of everything, I am fat because I eat easy foods. A store bought cookie is an easy food. In a matter of 5 seconds, I can consume 500 calories eating that cookie. In 10 minutes, I can eat 2000 calories of cookies or ice cream. Yet in order to burn off those 2,000 calories exercising, I'd have to run for more than 3 hours.

The Bicycle Diet is designed to make eating a little bit more work. I need to cut out a lot of easy foods: that is, those foods which are pre-made and which can be consumed fast without even having to cook them or cut them up or combine them with other ingredients. I think part of the reason French people can eat such rich meals and not get fat is because they have to wait a long time for those meals to be ready. Americans eat fast foods and are getting fatter all the time for doing so.

Here are the Bicycle Diet's five forbidden foods:

1. All breakfast cereals;
2. All cookies, candies, pies and cakes;
3. All dairy products except non-fat milk;
4. All buns, breads and bread-like foods; and
5. All soda and other high-calorie canned or bottled drinks.

WHAT TO EAT

Over the next 12 months I will describe in detail good meals to eat which fit the rules of the Bicycle Diet. For now I will give a bare outline: eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Drink some fruit juice, but not too much. Drink non-fat milk. Never consume more than 3 alcoholic drinks in a week's time. Eat lots of lean meat, lean chicken, lean pork and lean fish. Eat modest portions of rice and potatoes, but stay away from fat-laden products like French Fries. Put olive oil and vinegar on your salads; avoid things like Ranch dressing and other heavy dressings. When you drink coffee or tea, don't add half-and-half or sugar. Use sugar substitute products, instead. Drink water in small portions all day long.

Getting Started

I've been thinking about this for awhile. I'm terribly overweight and I have decided that I need to combine a diet regimen and exercise program to get fit. I don't actually know how much I weigh, probably around 285 pounds. I'm 6' 2" and I'd like to get down to 180 pounds.

Some years ago, I was in pretty much this same position. I started running and got in aerobic shape. I then intentionally reduced my caloric intake. The pounds came off. In about 6-8 months I lost about 85 pounds. I ultimately ran two marathons. The problem, though, was once I had lost the weight I started eating more and more. I could get away with it mostly, because I was still burning a lot of calories running. But then, after a few years of pounding the pavement, my knees started to get very sore, and I was intermittently having severe cramping problems in my calves and thighs. Without thinking about it, I one day just gave up running. But I didn't give up eating. And as a result, over about 3 years, my weight returned to what it was before I started running, around 285 pounds.

My intention, therefore, is different this time. I not only want to lose weight and get in shape, but I want to design a program for myself which will help me keep off the weight permanently. To shed pounds, I will reduce my food intake and I'll regularly ride my bicycle. I'm calling the plan, The Bicycle Diet. What I hope will be different from my last experience of losing weight and regaining it is that I have in mind a long-term plan, what to do when I come off the diet.

I am convinced that in order to lose 105 pounds or so, I need to go on a short-term diet, one which will last about a year. I think that is enough time to greatly reduce my size. However, I am also convinced that I will need to strictly follow some dietary rules for the rest of my life, once the one-year period is up. And unlike with running, I know I can bicycle for the rest of my life. Other than some saddle soreness and a little muscle fatigue, bicycling is a low-impact aerobic exercise. My joints won't fail from riding my bike. I don't expect to ever give it up.

In short blog entries like this one, I will explain in detail the rules I must follow for the bicycle and for the diet. I will also keep a log of everything which I do in regards to the bicycle diet for the next year.