A minor milestone in my training this week.  This is the first week that I managed to do all six training rides.  I’m finally starting to get into shape and am beginning to see the effects of the training.  I’m becoming thinner, which externally is most easily noticed in my face, and I’m having some trouble keeping my pants up.  Another week or two and I’ll have to pull in the next notch of my belt.  Oddly, I’ve not yet begun losing very much weight.  I lost 5 or 6 pounds (the easy part) over the first 2 weeks, but since then it’s lessened to around (although not quite) a pound a week.  I’m not too worried.  Although I do have the goal of shedding 20 lbs or more during this period, I’m not going to be terribly disappointed if I don’t lose it all.  I also know that this early in my training I’m losing fat and adding muscle.  I think it’ll be a few more weeks before I start to see significant weight loss.

One of the most effective tools for losing weight, by the way, is to keep a food diary.  Write down everything that you consume.  You’ll start to notice patterns and will be able to identify snacks or foods that you can eliminate, and others that you can replace with something healthier.  For example, you can replace the afternoon soda with a diet drink, fruit juice, or just plain water.  My problem is that I don’t like being hungry.  When I get hungry I eat whatever is convenient at the time, regardless of its health benefits.  As far as my stomach is concerned, a Snickers bar is just as filling as a rice cake.  I usually eat the Snickers because the vending machine doesn’t have rice cakes.