Starting again...

I think that at this point, it's no secret that this cycle isn't quite accomplishing what I had set out for it to. I'm basically right where I was when I started. 231.5 this morning. So the question is... what's the problem?

It's not really a question for me... I know the answer. It's not something I like to admit, because, well... it's hard to admit. Booze.

Alcohol is full of empty calories and I've probably been averaging 2-3 drinks a day. Maybe more. I'm not proud of it, but it's reality. I guess I'm also not being as careful about my food intake as I had been previously.

In order to make a good choice on goals, I have to figure out what my priorities are. Here they are... lose weight (duh), running, and cycling. I don't need to make a goal for my training. I work hard at it because I'm motivated by doing well. When it comes right down to it, I really enjoy the training. Mostly.

So when I think about my needs and what's worked for me in the past, I have decided that alcohol is the factor that needs to be changed. How am I going to change it? Good question. I'm giving it up.

Drastic, I know, but I need to see if this is really the problem. The only way to experiment is to remove the factor entirely. Well, not entirely. I'll make exceptions. Such as Cinco de Mayo and May 12th for the Quad County Metric bike ride. Other than that, I don't really have a reason to drink. I also realize that's two out of the four weekends in May, but this kind of goal will cut out the mid-week drinking.

So the goal is this... no alcohol for the month of May with the two exceptions I made above. I'm starting today, a day early, but it's going to help the weight loss for sure. I'm only doing a month, not my typical 90 day cycle, but if all goes well, I may extend it. For this kind of goal, I need to start small and build on the small successes.

In this month, I'm hoping to lose 8 pounds. From 231.5, that means I should be down to 223.5 by the end of May.

So I'll raise my water glass and toast to an alcohol free month of weight loss!