A Pint's a Pound...

"A pint's a pound the world around."

Why quote a cooking maxim? Well, I have been losing weight these last few months. A lot of it was sweat and dirt, but some of it was water weight. Water weighs 1lbs per 16 fl oz (16 oz = 16 fl oz of water).

Two months ago, I weighed a consistent 263 lbs. My routine 11.5mile road ride took 41 minutes. As of Tuesday morning (day of OTH), I weighed 247lbs. 16 lbs loss. However, the same routine 11.5 mile ride actually dropped to 42:30. Consistently. I lost 16lbs of weight and recorded worse times? Something had to be wrong. I started weighing myself before and after every ride, tracking my food and water consumption, and determining how much water I lose per hour of riding. It turns out that I was dehydrated. I used to drink about 1.5 gallons of water per day, plus 1 liter per hour of cardio. My water consumption has been woefully low, so I've been drinking 6 more pints of water per day (read: 6lbs). I weighed in this morning at 253lbs and logged a 39:40 ride. That's more like it. So even though I can't look at my weight and congratulate myself, I'm feeling faster, stronger, and more energetic.

Moral of this post: Drink more water.