A metaphor for life...

       This past October, Emily and I rode in the Tour du Port, which is a 40 mile bike ride in Downtown Baltimore. As the cyclist gathered at the starting area, Emily and I overheard another rider saying that he has ridden this course before and it is flat... there are no hills in Baltimore. Later on that day, Emily and I were BOTH looking for that rider, hoping to run him into a ditch. If anyone tells you that Baltimore has no hill I will refer you to Emily, who will tell you differently.

       As we were riding together Emily and I started talking about how cycling is pretty much a metaphor for life. At the start area there were people of all shapes and sizes, riding bikes of all different makes and models. Not an entirely inclusive representation of the human race, but you get the point. As we started the ride (which offered 12, 24, 40 and 50 mile routes) some cyclist sprinted away and opened a sizable lead on the group, while others stayed back and waited for the group to get ahead so that they could move along at their own pace without the pressure of either keeping up, or keeping ahead of the group. Very representative of the varied personalities of people we come across everyday. As Emily and I got further into the ride I mentioned to her that I was looking forward to the pizza that they were having at the end of the ride (the pictures from last years ride showed boxes and boxes of pizza). I had been eating healthy over the summer and the thought of having a piece of pizza sounded really good. Emily and I used that as motivation to help us pedal over the hills, knowing that even though it is harder to pedal over this hill, if I can keep pedaling and make it to the top I will be that much closer to my goal... PIZZA! Just like in life when  weset a goal, there are usually at least a couple of hills that have to crested before you reach your goal. Granted, these were not the Alps or the Pyrenees that we were trying to cross, but they were hills that stood between us and our pizza.  The importnat part was that we continued to pedal up and over the hills. (By the way, Emily made it up all the hill and finished the 40 mile ride. We were disappointed that they didn't have pizza at the end, but we did get pizza at the airport before she flew home. We deserved it!)

       The reason that I told you that story is because my ride on this weight loss trip has been relatively flat, with very few hills. However, with Thanksgiving (two of them) and fado' for more calories, my 100 pound crab cake celebration and just the warm fuzzy feeling that "if I am exercising I don't have to watch what I am eating so closely" has brought me to the first incline in my trip. I gained 2 pounds over the past two weeks. Now, I am not going to lie and say that I am happy about that, but I am not devastated either. I know what caused it to happen and I can control those things by paying more attention to what I eat. I will do a better job over the next two weeks. I am determined to keep pedaling over the hill. I am still down 100 pounds, and I took a couple weeks to enjoy that accomplishment. Now, I have more of the journey ahead of me.

       Thanks for everyone's support and for checking out my blog. Check back soon.