On January 7th, I started on a program to lose a half pound per week.

Weight on Jan. 7, 2007: 204.5 lbs.
Weight on Sunday, Mar. 4th: 198.4 lbs.

Target weight yesterday was 200.5 lbs.
I am 2.1 lbs ahead of schedule.

I’m getting in shape for a mountain bike “Poker Run” on April 15:

Monday – Forty minutes on the elliptical training, plus some weight lifting (three sets of 10 reps).

Tuesday – Cross-country hill climbs on the farm. There is a 35-minute course with three steep hills. Next week, I’ll do one of those hills twice.

Wednesday – Sixty easy minutes on the elliptical.

Thursday – Forty minutes on the elliptical, plus weight lifting (three sets of 10 reps). I’m working toward four sets and increased weight. Last week, I did four sets of 25 crunches. This week, two of those sets were done with five-pound weights behind my head.

Friday – I rode Banana Hill, which is 45 minutes straight up. I’m improving; it wasn’t so painful.

Saturday – Rest.

Sunday – I rode for three hours. I am a little ahead of schedule with my weight loss, so next week I’ll take it easy and do two and a half hours. Then the following week, three hours and the week after that three hours and 30 minutes.

I am increasing my training intensity and so far, so good. Every third week, I’ll decrease the intensity so that I don’t injure myself.

Training is something I like to do. It’s much easier for me than controlling calorie intake. It is what it is and I’m not agonizing about it.