Keep on Pedaling!

Well, I have been slacking on posting here, but I have not been slacking on riding my bike and prepping for the bike trip.  I am actually having a GREAT time riding my bike every day.  I always have to talk myself into actually going, but then once I get out there I feel fantastic!  The weather has been amazing for the past week, so the riding has been even more enjoyable.

I went further than I have ever gone on the Katy Trail on Sunday.  I discovered a gorgeous sunflower farm.  There were literally tens of thousands of sunflowers that stretched as far as you could see.  I stopped and took a picture, but my iPhone really didn't do it justice.

I'm noticing some positive improvements in my heart rate the more I ride.  When I first started, my heart rate would consistently stay around 160-165 and easily go up to 180 when I was pushing hard up a hill.  Now my heart rate stays in the low 150s and won't really go over 170.  I have read before that a lower heart rate usually indicates you are more fit, so my cardiovascular fitness has definitely been improving.

I have been struggling to eat right for the past couple of weeks.  My brain keeps telling me, "It's okay to eat that (insert junk food here) because you rode your bike for 2 hours today."  I need to get out of that mindset.  Exercising is NOT a free pass to eat whatever I want. 

I decided that the only way to keep myself accountable is to go back to tracking calories.  I downloaded MyFitnessPal on my iPhone, and it is a fantastic app!  I know a lot of you already use MyFitnessPal, but I will have to do a detailed review of it soon for those of you who don't.

I've got 4 weeks left until the bike trip, so I'm going to keep on pedaling!