My new love: Bicycling

It has been a while since I last posted! Here is an update on my life thus far...I started riding my bike and I LOVE it. My husband and I made a goal to go on a long ride once a week. On our first ride, we rode about 16 miles (whoop!). The key for me was having music. Initially, I chose a moderately upbeat workout station on my iPhone, but I just wasn't getting that energy boost I was looking for. I then changed it to Rage Against the Machine radio and my intensity level skyrocketed! I couldn't believe what a difference music made in my workout. Last weekend we ended up riding almost 30 miles! One of the perks about riding or running outside is that you have to get home. I felt pretty tired at our halfway mark, and typically I would've stopped working out at that point. However, without that choice, we made a stop in the park to rest and got a popsicle from the Ice Cream Man. That break made such a difference in how I felt on the way back. My goal is to ride from Spokane to Coeur d'Alene and back, which is about a 50 mile round-trip ride. I like having distance goals because it feels less arduous than to say, "I want to burn 1,000 calories today". That feels so BORING to me! I got a new seat made for ladies and it's much more comfortable. I also need to get a pair of biking shorts for some padding. 

In other news, I bought a Fitbit. I have been looking for a device to monitor my activity level. I got the idea from watching The Biggest Loser and seeing the contestants with their Body Bug. I looked online and it was over $200! The reviews also didn't look very good. I decided to go with FB because it is under $100, is very small and discreet, and has access to free software online and a free iPhone app. I am a very visual person and being in psychology, am very driven by quantitative (measurable) data. The FB has a flower that grows as you engage in activity, and shrinks as you sit on your ass. It also records steps taken, distance traveled, and stairs climbed. You can log your weight online, record your food intake, and it even tracks your sleep (well, your movement during sleep). This is my first day using it, so I'm still working out the kinks. I tested it to see if it was accurately counting my steps and it was overshooting by about 40%. That means that when I walked 10 steps, it counted it as 14. To fix this, I simply went online and manually adjusted my distance between each step, which is about 14 inches. Fixed! I wore the FB last night to see how soundly I slept and apparently I sleep pretty soundly, although I didn't feel like it this morning. I will keep you updated on whether this was a waste of $ :)

My current weight is 151. I'm not surprised by this because I haven't been watching what I eat. My goal is to drink 64 ounces of water each day and have oatmeal each morning for breakfast, and lean proteins, fruits, and veggies throughout the rest of the day. School has been hectic and I find myself becoming more apathetic as the day progresses. Today I'll go to Trader Joes and get some healthy stuff! 


Good luck on your own journeys and feel free to give me words of encouragement, as I have finals in about 3 weeks and I find that as my stress increases, so does my eating!


claire