I’m adjusting to the reduced caloric intake and bringing the miles back up slowly. There isn’t as much variation in day to day stamina as there was when the diet started. I’ll be a lot happier when my goal is a balance of calories rather than a deficit though.

Next week I’ll be in a good spot miles wise. Barring unforeseen circumstances, I’ll do a full week of daily 21 mile rides. 21 miles a day is 147 miles a week. That’s almost 150% of the required weekly project miles, but only 75% of the miles for my personal goal of cycling in both directions (making this a greener low impact project, and at the same time doubling the amount of video shot). I’m well positioned to make the project work, but I’d rather be doing the longer rides I was making before the diet.

I’ve lost about as much weight as our recording and other equipment will weigh. If the weight loss over the next four weeks matches the last four weeks, I’ll be halfway to goal. That’s a big “if”. Weight loss is usually faster at the beginning and I wasn’t getting enough calories the first 7-10 days of the diet, so that should have made it even faster.

It’s been a while since I’ve been really specific about individual rides, so maybe it’s time.

Wednesday June 29

I felt rotten. Other responsibilities and weather kept me from 2 recent daily rides. Exercise stimulates ketone production, so it’s even more energizing while dieting. Missing that twice in short order made me low energy and stiff. I was also pretty ticked. That was related to my personal life.

I rode anyway because that’s how you turn things around. I’m better about taking a break before I return now that I’m paying attention to glucose/ketones and working on weight loss. 8 miles out was the limit for my “rotten day” riding. I had a Pro One protein Bar and turned. About 10 minutes later I felt the bar kick in. It was the first time I’d ever noticed something like that. Riding got easier. I really picked up my pace and pushed it harder than I had any idea I would when I started. I’m guessing that lasted 4 miles. It went away a little more slowly than it came on. I still kept up the pace fairly well after it was gone. I’ve been testing different bars. It is hard to find one with fewer carbs and more protein. I liked the taste of this one, but the carbs wipe out a full day’s carb allowance, and I noticed later that the carbs in this bar are sugar, disappointing since I’m doing the keto thing at the moment. I can’t foresee myself ever going to the glucose pouch, but one I’m at a healthy weight and doing full centuries, I could see myself using this bar during the ride. 16 miles

Thursday June 30

I felt a lot better in most ways, but as I did my morning stretches, I noted how I’m stiff more often lately. It’s not the amount of riding. Before the diet I was doing longer rides.

I forgot that it stormed the night before and wen to the lot at Big Creek Park, the southern terminus of the Greenway. I love the scenery around the retention ponds, but when the boardwalks are wet, I park further north and skip that section.

Half of my lifetime falls were on the “Slippery When Wet” boardwalks in Roswell, mostly while avoiding people who slipped in front of me and I’ve only been riding there for 7 years. I still have the tiny remains of a fibrosed bruise that shrinks a little more every year from the first one. The boardwalks are not just slippery. There are some weird unnecessary turns. If I’m not doing a fullI ride, it is Roswell I skip, even when it’s dry.

I tried a different protein bar with a third of the calories and no noticeable effect. I’m not so sure I need one during these rides, If I’m understanding things correctly, riding 20 miles burns around 1000 calories and I should have 1500 calories available at any given time…unless I haven’t allowed recovery time since depletion.

I have been riding fasted and time the bar/turn-around for the end of my fast if the weather is cool enough to ride that late. The risk I was warned about with keto is muscle loss if you can’t produce enough energy.

Friday

We accepted that Russ can’t ride at the same level as me until the project makes, but he still hasn’t been riding as much as either of us would like. He has a busy season at work that keeps him working the longest hours on the longest days. But, he got off early for the holiday weekend and we rode together. He remembered I was doing the 45 minute rides recommended to me for the weight loss plan and paced himself accordingly, but now I’m pushing the distance back up, so I rode a little further than he did.

I know it will be okay. Russ will build his miles quickly. He’s stronger, younger and builds stamina faster. I really want to minimize how much back up he has to do in the car though. Car back up is doable. It even has some advantages, but not the best efficiency of resources. 16 miles

Saturday

More frustrations of all kinds for Russ and he hasn’t been doing daily rides lately. He had some equipment problems and turned back early. I finished while he did some errands. We’re really feeling the rub and hope we’ll have the video and the submission completed in the coming week. 17 miles

Sunday

We loaded and unloaded furniture before our ride. Then when we got to the trail I started while he was still getting ready. We were past my break fast before I was rolling. I had a 90 calorie protein bar at my turn around and met him at a lunch place before we rode back to the car together. 19 miles

Monday

I rode alone. I’ve been trying to figure out if I really need a snack, forgetting to reload made that decision for me and I was fine. Good ride. 21 Miles

Tuesday

Another day, another bar. I got a little excited about this bar because it had a lot of fiber and protein without many carbs, but it did have palm oil, so I was bummed about that. The trail was quiet (the first weekday after a holiday weekend) and the wildlife was out. It made me remember how nice this trail is at it’s best. There was also some flooding, but not enough to be impassible. 21 miles

Diet Status

I’ve been doing the keto thing for 5 weeks now. In the first four weeks I lost 12 of the 12-15 pounds I was told I would, or 24% of the 50 pounds that is my initial goal. I say initial goal, because that’s what I’m guessing now, but I realize it could change. I’m 5′ 8′. My lowest adult weight was 115. My high school weight was 125. During those years I didn’t have the kind of muscle mass I expect to have when I meet 150 lbs this time, but we’ll see. I may choose to keep going. Cyclists don’t bulk up naturally and I don’t like bulk for the sake of bulk, not on women or men. I should feel successful in my progress. Nearly a quarter of my goal met in 4 weeks. It’s promising.

I’m frustrated with the amount of meat and dairy this diet requires though (unless you going to choose highly processed food substitutes). The research on this stuff is consuming, a real time sink, but I’m not going to just change drastically on the word of someone from the internet without doing any. And, while this diet has thus far performed as claimed, recent weight loss has been ultra slower than the stuff that comes off fast in the beginning of the process. I’ve started recording a daily weight so I don’t loose track and miss signals.

When I asked my FB group for weight loss suggestions, I went through and joined every group that was recommended, including one for people doing the polar opposite of keto. I joined one for vegetarian endurance athletes. I still shy hard from calling myself an athlete, but there’s no denying that what I want to accomplish will require the skills of an endurance athlete.

Tuesday after noting my stiffness, I saw a thread asking people what changes they noticed after going Veg. The resounding answer was lack of stiffness and quicker recoveries. I wasn’t vegetarian before I jumped on the keto bandwagon, but I remain open to it. Sometime in the last week I read an article that vegetarians in the octogenarian and older group were less frail than omnivores. Frailty is a big risk in aging, and waiting until I reach 80 is too late to start that trip.

All these things combined with being tired of eating so much meat and dairy made me really consider jumping ship. I found a resource and ordered books and cookbooks. We’ll see how creative I can get with keeping the carbs down and the protein up, because this diet is working.

I plan to hang with the 8/16 intermittent fasting regardless of the keto/vegetarian choice I’ll be making. It’s not at all hard for me to compress the eating window to 8 hours so that I can experience some of the keto benefits.

Until next time, have a glorious day, and we’ll see you on the trail.