Quarantine Day 60

Today is Quarantine Day 60!

In those 60 days, I have become far more active.  I have already ridden over 2,000 minutes I have now completed 65 Peloton rides (I had 11 at the beginning of this year).  I haven't lost any weight (I still need to address my diet) but I am still feeling far more healthy. 

My exercise routine has become far more regular than it's ever been! 

I found the most amazing this on the Peloton page, which is Power Zone Training.  Power Zone Training is based on your current fitness level.  You start out by taking an FTP test (Functional Threshold power) to determine your average output in 20 minutes.  You enter your results into the settings on your touchscreen/profile and then you can see your current "zones" at the bottom of the screen while you are riding.  As opposed to using Heart Rates, you use your "power zones" which focus on your output (a combination of your cadence--how fast you are pedaling--and your resistance--how hard it is for you to pedal).  So everyone is working in the same zone, even though for me, zone 3 is like 65-80 output and for Matt Wilpers (the Baby-Faced Assassin) is in the 190-205 range, it is the same difficulty for both of us.  In other words, we are training at our own fitness levels while riding together.  To me, this feels like the Peloton version of CrossFit, but instead of figuring out what I need to do to modify the workout for my abilities, the zones have already done that for me.

I jumped into an 8 week challenge at the beginning of this insanity and this is the last week of my first ever Power Zone Challenge.  I've learned a lot, and found out what NOT to do in the challenge.  While this is week 8, there are some rides that I missed that I thought were optional....so I will be going back to complete those.  Once I finish all of the rides and have completed all prescribed rides in the challenge, I will re-do my FTP test.  As it stands, I've done the FTP test three times.  The first two times, my fitness levels were in the negatives (not surprising for me) but the third FTP showed a HUGE improvement! 

I didn't ride much last year, due to my shoulder injury, and laziness, but between my first and second FTP tests, (February 19, 2019 and March 23, 2020) I saw an improvement in my FTP of 4%; my FTP went from 67 to 70,  not surprising, since I'd only ridden a handful of times between these tests.  But, from March 23, 2020 to April 17, 2020, I saw an improvement of 27%  and my FTP went from 70-89!  It looks like I'm going to re-take my FTP test on 5/22/2020, and my hope, is that this will show an improvement to an FTP of over 100!  If I reach an FTP of 100 that would be an improvement of 12%, but I'm hoping by not only completing all of the rides from the beginning of the challenge that I missed out on, plus some "extra credit" rides, I'll see an improvement of another 27% or more, which would give me an FTP of about 113.  I'll take either one, but I'm really hoping for that 113. 

Now that I've got my Cardio game going strong, it's time to add in some strength training and consistent stretching/core work.  There are, of course Peloton programs for these as well, so I'll ge starting those next Monday as I finish up this challenge next week. 

The next challenge starts 6/1, for another 8 weeks. 

In order to address the whole food issue, I decided to try out Noom.  The "I want a quick fix" part of me keeps seeing posts on Social media about this supplement or that Supplement and promising "quick and easy weight loss with no requirement to workout or change anything".  I know logically and intellectually that these quick fixes aren't going to work long-term, but the idea of seeing the number on the scale drop drastically and quickly is tempting.  So, I decided instead to choose something that will help me address these issues long-term and give me tools to keep the weight off that don't include buying a million really expensive supplements every month. 

So, my fitness journey now includes 3 main aspects..
1.  Peloton!  I love it, and I'll keep doing it.
2.  Noom--I'm hoping for some recipes and ideas on how to eat to get to and maintain a healthy weight. 
3.  Thrive!  I've been using this for a while because since my weight loss surgery in 2013, my body doesn't process nutrition, and specifically vitamins/nutrients the way that it should.  Thrive has helped me get my bloodwork back within normal ranges with the exception of D3, so I need more time in the sun!