November 2023 Stats

November started off with our last flights out of Corralejo as we give up our place out there to allow us to tour the rest of Europe; we were prevented from doing so by Brexit, of course.

So on Fuerteventura, the road cycling ended with the sale of the mountain bike after some 2,465km.

Back in the UK and it was back on the Schwinn and FulGaz who are now running a four week boot camp to prepare for their “Tour de FulGaz” in January.

Here are November’s stats:

November 2023 Stats

November 2023 Stats

Activities: 24 Distance: 356.59 kmTime: 15:31:30 Calories: 13,843

Turning to my weight, at the end of October I was 85.3kg, and at the end of November I weighed 85.5kg, up 0.2kg, so maintaining a fairly constant weight whilst eating healthily and not drinking too much. Oh and loads of time in the Pain Cave.

October 2023 Stats

October started off with our postponed flight out to Corralejo; needlessly postponed, as it had turned out.

Once on Fuerteventura, the road cycling resumed with just a weekend break while I went over to Gran Canaria with friends to tour the island by motorcycle.  Early in the month, my time for the regular 15km and a bit reached its lowest, so that was a good thing.

So here are October’s stats:

October 2023 Stats

October 2023 Stats

Activities: 24 Distance: 322.29 kmTime: 16:50:45 Calories: 15,723

Turning to my weight, at the end of September I was 84.3kg, and at the end of October I weighed 85.3kg, up 1kg, so what’s going on there, God only knows (but I think I’m gaining muscle especially in my thighs).

Weight A Minute!

I’ve been monitoring my weight – albeit somewhat loosely at times – with Garmin Connect since 26 August 2011 (apparently) when my weight was 93.3kg (14st 10lbs) and I was starting out on my fitness journey.

After getting off to a good start thanks to running and then adding some cycling, my weight fell to 85.1kg (13st 6lbs) by the end of January 2012, but began to rise gradually into 2014, falling back again in 2015 with a low of 84.1kg (14st 3lbs) before we went off to Hong Kong, Vietnam and Ko Samui. 2015 was also when we ran the Berlin Marathon.

My weight then gradually rose – with a big dip in the summer of 2018 for our wedding – until late June 2019 when it hit 95.4kg (15st). And then the crash happened… A month laying in bed eating pureed food meant that my leg muscles atrophied so by the time I weighed myself in August 2019, my weight had fallen to 85.8kg (13st 7lbs).

Bride & Groom
Bride & Groom

The aftermath of the crash affecting my mobility and exercise capability coupled with our love of eating well and lots of travel – for work and pleasure – meant that one more my weight gradually increased, peaking at 99.3kg (15st 9lbs) in October 2021.

It stayed pretty constant after that until last summer when my knee was becoming particular painful with the necrosis that had been diagnosed back in 2012.  That had affected my ability to run, so I saw my consultant privately again and he encouraged me to do more cycling (also referring me to a sports physiotherapist who’s excellent) and to lose some weight, possibly trying some fasting or kept dieting. That led to the purchase of a fixed cycle and that explains the manic cycling, both indoor and in the real world since.

So since August 2022’s high of 98.2kg (15st 6lb), trying to limit my carbohydrates and this exercise (with some riding challenges to keep things interesting), I today hit 85.3kg (13st 6lbs), so that’s two stones lost since August and my second target of 85kg in sight (about 1lb to go).  Once I hit that, the next target is likely to be 80kg, or roughly 12½ stone.