Once upon a time, I was lean, focused, and fit.
In 1983, I weighed 153 pounds with 4% body fat. This was after an extensive medically supervised training program after my “accident.” Let’s be precise: it was no accident. We need to stop calling collisions “accidents.”
My team of doctors and trainers wanted to get me to as efficient body mass as possible to take advantage of my cardiovascular and muscular potential. Since my left leg was at a deficit due to nerve damage and muscle loss, being leaner would be to my advantage. This weight loss program also includes strength training to help ensure that I won’t lose lean mass and selectively address existing weaknesses. It wasn’t as if I was overweight; I was already at 11% body fat. For sprinters and kilo riders, race outcomes are determined by inches. A slight reduction in mass can make the difference. This was before power expressed in watts per kilogram was a common term.
After quitting racing, I regained an average weight and continued riding for pleasure. I still dabbled in club races, rode centuries, and rode with the club, but I was no longer fixated on diet or weight. Until my late thirties, I hovered around 165. Around that time, between work-related stress and indulging in beer, I began to gain weight. By forty, I had ballooned up to 205. After a friend (rather bluntly) pointed out my weight gain, I decided to change things. That winter, I rode my indoor trainer daily; by spring, I had dropped 30 pounds. The most significant change was abstaining from beer and regular exercise.
That spring, a core group of friends reunited to ride TOSRV. TOSRV, or the Tour of the Scioto River Valley, is a long-standing bike tour from Columbus, Ohio, to Portsmouth. One hundred miles each way over two days. It’s not a race, but as everyone knows, among racers, it most certainly turns into one. My friends were all former racers who were at various stages of life. Most of us were fit, although chubby compared to our past selves, and we enjoyed testing each other as we worked our way to Portsmouth. We rolled a sub-5-hour century that day. Not too shabby. We rode even faster the next day, just a bit over 4 hours, wind-assisted plus driven by my friend Kurt, who, despite his current enhanced size, had raced in Belgium for a couple of seasons and had been offered a pro contract.
A year after that, I had a series of injuries that kept me off the bike for a few years. My weight slowly crept up. I also changed careers, and the new job cut into riding time. Over the next 20 years and another career change, my weight slowly rose to 223 pounds.
I began to make a conscious effort to lose weight. I started riding again, and over the next few seasons, I dropped to 199. This was primarily due to increased activity and far less diet-related. Still, I struggled with hills and fast group rides.
A fellow racing friend had mentioned how he was training for the Ohio Senior Olympics and had qualified for the National games. This piqued my interest. At my age, competing against younger riders wasn’t attractive. With the current state of competitive cycling in the US, very few events accommodate older riders.
Inspired by this, I decided to test myself to see just what condition I was in. I entered the Grattan road race, and while I knew it wouldn’t be pretty (and it wasn’t), I came back with a bunch of race data collected by my bike computer and power meter. The race didn’t have separate age groups, just A and B groups, so I was competing against riders as young as 19.
One month later, I entered the Michigan Senior Olympics in the 40k road race. It was nice being able to ride against people of my age group. Nonetheless, I didn’t fare well. I did manage to stay in the peloton for about half the race (much better than at Grattan) and only got lapped once on the one-mile course. I came away from the race with a clearer picture of my strengths and weaknesses and saw what my fellow age group competitors looked like. They were all much leaner and more fit. If I wanted to be competitive, I needed to lose more weight.
After that race, I set a goal to lose weight, get into better shape, and be competitive for next year’s race. At about that time, I met a new friend who has become instrumental in helping me lose weight. Her background in fitness and nutrition has been crucial in what I have so far accomplished.
What has worked for me so far:
- Adopting a gluten-free, dairy-free, no added sugar, and nearly vegan diet along with a reduction in alcohol consumption.
- Intermittent fasting.
- Increased exercise frequency and volume.
Or in other words, Eat better, eat less, exercise more.
On December 31, 2023, I weighed 203 pounds.
As of April 3, 2024, I weighed 181 pounds.
Based on this and my bathroom scale (with body fat percentage), I estimate that another 5-10 pound weight loss is reasonable. I plan on getting a Dexa Scan in early May to determine my body fat percentage and assess my target weight.
Next up – Death, Mortality and Motivation