Well, I guess it’s like, better than gaining II

Second verse, same as the first, a little bit louder and a little bit worse?

No matter how much I think the numbers should be lining up, the proof is in the pudding. Or the weights on the scale.

Week 1 – June 30 – July 6 – average 1987 calories consumed – 447 calories burned = net average 1540 calories per day

This is obviously over my goal but it was a vacation week. I tried to frontload the week with all the workouts (hit everything by Thursday!) and eating well (did okay) because I knew I’d go over in my calories whilst camping for the 4th of July. I expected to burn a little more since we had planned to hike, but instead just walked a few miles per day in the very few breaks in the rain.

Week 2 – July 7 – July 13 – average 1779 calories consumed – 500 calories burned = net average 1279 calories per day

This is more like it, you know it’s a better week when the average calories consumed were not a year in which I have lived. I took Monday super chill after returning home from working and hit the rest of the week with good workouts and didn’t screw up my eating too, too much.

Week 3 – July 14 – July 20 – average 1787 calories consumed – 517 calories burned = net average 1270 calories per day

Another pretty solid week in terms of calories in, calories out.

Week 4 – July 21 – July 27 – average 1811 calories consumed – 526 calories burned = net average 1285 calories per day

And, again. Solid. So why does my trendweight look like this?

There’s two possible answers.

1. This is still too many calories. It’s possible. I’ve eaten lower (averaging more like 1500 calories per day) while doing triathlete stuff.
2. I am doing a shite job at actually tracking my food. This is also possible. I’m estimating a lot of things and tracking hours/a day later sometimes. I don’t feel like I’m too far off but it’s possible every day being “not too far off” is just enough to make no progress.

So, I need to decide for next month – do I try to aim for a lower count (shooting for the moon, ending up among the stars and all that) or just aim to be accurate AF with everything I track. Both should accomplish the same goal, but the question is which one will drive me less insane? On one hand, I will probably reduce my calories if I have to legit log every effing pretzel I put in my mouth and measure out the damn cream cheese I put on them (yep, that’s my lazy guilty pleasure “I need some quick salty carbs” snack). On the other, I could just set the bar lower and be okay with a little inaccuracy. I’m aiming for a 500 calorie deficit and coming up with 0. I could aim for more like 750-800 (that 1500 average vs the 1800) and maybe I’ll lose half a lb per week (seriously, I would take it rn).

I think I’m going to try accuracy and see how that goes.

#2 Sporty Spice Stuff

As I alluded to, I’m very happy here even if the fluff ain’t going anywhere. I do also accept and appreciate that I have built a lot of muscle over the last few years and not everything I’ve put on since my low in 2018-2019 is fat now… but I’m still definitely carrying more fat than I was back then. But, we’re working on it.

Garmin calendar sez I’ve had a pretty productive July.

• 13 runs this month, 8.5 hours or 46 miles. My paces are getting faster, and I’m feeling stronger. My garmin 5k prediction is down to 28:40, and I was able to actually run under 30 last weekend. I’m actually having… fun… doing the garmin speed workouts and feel awesome when I can actually hit the paces. Who knew having a watch yell at you would be enjoyable?
• 11 bikes this month, 10 hours, or 155.7 miles. After Joel fixed my trainer, my power got WAYYYY better. I don’t suck so badly anymore, haha! After my new tires, it was bad, I was rolling at like 105 watts feeling like I was climbing hills. I think it may be a little EASIER than outside now, but I’ll have to ride outside (August and September) to calibrate. I also have been feeling stronger doing the garmin workouts vs just pedaling for 30-45 mins with no goal watching Bloodbowl games. I’m still watching Bloodbowl but my bike computer yells at me and tells me to speed up or slow down now. It’s definitely some solid type B fun but it does make the time go faster (I’m now regularly up to 1h+ workouts).
• I swam, uh 3 times. For a total of 33 minutes. Or 1 mile. Moving on.
• Lifting – 15 sessions. 6.25 hours. I hit all 3 sessions each week, I think on one or two weeks I combined the two upper body workouts into one because I was out of time.
• Walking – 48.5 miles, 19 hours. That’s only an average of 1.5 miles a day but it’s definitely 1.5 miles a day I wouldn’t be walking otherwise in the summer.

It feels like a really nice accomplishment to say the only thing I would like to change is swimming more regularly and getting outside on my bike more often (once in July, more in August). While I haven’t done a triathlon in almost a year, I almost feel like a triathlete again, no cap (as the kids maybe say?).

Speaking of, the one I was signed up for got cancelled (for absolutely good reason, Kerrville got absolutely demolished by the floods and I hope they can donate my race entry to the city that wasn’t already used to set up the race!) so I’m looking for alternatives. Thinking:

• Cal Tri Austin, Sept 21. I don’t love love love the course but I am familiar with it, so might as well go give it a go since it’s local. I wouldn’t normally race the weekend before Kerrville but the logistics make it almost impossible to pass up.
• Wurst Tri Ever, Oct 12. Never done this, usually “done” with tri season after Kerrville, but since I haven’t raced at all this year and kinda have some fitness going on… this seems like a fun one (it starts on a water slide!)

And then… what next? Half marathon? Trail racing? Go crazy and start training for a 10k swim or something? Take a break and then think about an early season 70.3? Actually commit to being speedy and work on my 5k times and chase my watts on FTP tests?

I have a bit to consider it, but again, really happy with how I’m training, feeling absolutely very little burnout in my training, and enjoying the garmin dictator immensely. I will ride this feeling (with some down weeks, of course) as long as I can!

#3 Adulting

• Tri bikes got serviced
• Met with tax people and they told us what we needed to do to pay less money on our taxes and we even followed through and did it.
• Uh, we, like flushed the hot water heater because the company that installed it told us to and scheduled an appointment
• I think that’s about it and also about it on the goals besides don’t flake on doctor or chiropractor appointments. We will save any of the great cleanouts for when it’s not a million degrees

#4 Hobbies

• Book – tee hee. I haven’t touched it for the whole month. And I’m totally procrastinating it by writing this. Bad me. Idk what my mental block is but I know I need like a solid, undisturbed hour where I have quiet and brain cells and spoons left for the day and that has not happened yet in July. I know once I get ONE chapter under my belt I’ll get rolling, but right now there’s a little pebble in my path that feels like a boulder. I shall aim low make the goal to edit one chapter in August, and get started, and hopefully surpass that.
• I’ve got the guitar habit forming again! Just 1-2 songs a day when I’m at home, but it’s a few times a week instead “oops, I forgot all month”. Just in time too, because I really have almost forgotten some of the songs I memorized. It took 3 days to lock back in “Don’t Fear the Reaper”. I’m still working through some of my set list and the muscle memory is coming back. But, seems like about 6 months is the limit.
• Photos – I’ve been rocking and rolling on Vermont (only a year later!) and will finish those in August. Then, I guess it’s a toss-up between fish pictures and flower gardens. Goal will be to at least start sorting either Bonaire or Krause Springs before I leave for my next trip.
• I started a painting at Krause Springs, OMG! I haven’t touched it since then, but I shall celebrate the starting of it, at least. I think a good August goal is to put some more paint on the canvas.
• Travel:
  • Seattle in about a month. I’m excited for a semi-solo tourist experience (since Joel is working) and I’m looking forward to taking the ferry to Bainbridge Island, Chihuly Glass Garden, Museum of Pop Culture, all the Parks with all the views, and eating all the seafoods.
  • Short Cruise with my parents in November. Just a long weekend but enough time to eat, drink, scuba once, and play a bunch of card games with them.
  • Fall trip – we wanted to do fall foliage but the timing isn’t going to work out, and since we’re planning 2 epic trips next year, considering just a nice 5-6 day camping trip right before Thanksgiving to relax and enjoy the fall weather.
  • Next year we are looking at potentially Peru (play) and the Philippines (work/play), and it’s always possible we need to go to Germany (work) which would mean at least a long weekend somewhere in EU. But, my travel plans for the next year always look grander than they end up being. However, the first one is non-negotiable and our big adventure trip for the year that is just for US (not connected to a work destination).

#5 Work Life Balance

Some stuff has come up, but I think I’ve rolled with the punches well. I don’t feel overworked, occasionally overwhelmed because I’ll get “behind” (my terms, no one else’s) on things and feel like I’m the bottleneck, and then have one productive day and rock almost everything out of my backlog. Do I think about work in off hours? Occasionally. Does it invade my free time and raise my blood pressure like it used to? Definitely not. I’ll take the win.

So, August. I gotta pick accuracy or raising (lowering?) the bar for the stuff going in my cakehole, I need to get outside on the bike and get to the pool a little more often if I can, and getting effing restarted on my book and painting. Otherwise, August is third verse, same as the first, a little bit louder and a little bit… better, hopefully.