The New Me and my new BFF

I know I've mentioned on here that I have been thinking of changing my goals/aspirations a bit since the running thing just wasn't working for me. We've always loved doing family bike rides and my parents are avid cyclists, so I decided to start taking that sport more seriously. I think I have found my niche. I absolutely LOVE it. Ryan and I got new (to us) road bikes and I am in love with my bike!! Lincoln and I still take morning rides together most mornings, but the child seat is on my mountain bike (which I have named "The Blue Beast" because it is SO heavy.) On the evenings and weekends when I get to ride my road bike by myself, I just fly. I LOVE IT!! I come home so happy. I never felt that way about running. I liked the way I felt physically after doing it (minus the massive knee pain) but I never loved it. Not like this. I look forward to my rides. I still have a lot to learn, but I am so excited to have found something I truly love to do! Now Ryan and I are training for a triathlon relay in Sept. where we will be the cyclists on our teams.

In terms of eating, I have still continued to count calories using my website (myfitnesspal.com) and it is such an effective tool for me. I'm down 13 pounds (and that is even with my two week vacation and some bouts of serious stress eating.) I have learned a lot and I'm glad I tried that South Beach Diet because it gave me a lot of tools for how to substitute foods in order to cut calories. Carbs can get dangerous, let me tell you. So I rarely eat pasta now, but I always have a lot of spaghetti squash on hand. Today's lunch was spaghetti squash, turkey meatballs and marinara for a whopping 303 calories. The same lunch using whole wheat spaghetti noodles would have been 500 calories. I also use only low carb tortillas (70 cal.) and those sandwich thins (100 cal.) You just have to find what works for you and go for it! And thank goodness that most restaurants have nutritional info online these days! THAT is eye-opening.

If anyone is still reading this and is a member or joins myfitnesspal.com (it's free) we can become friends on there and encourage each other! Let me know...