First RPM of 2010!

First day at the gym for 2010 was GREAT! It was weird since the instructor had bronchitis, so she actually couldn't ride. I'm glad I'm comfortable with the "syncing" of RPM and the music/pace, so I was able to pace myself well and keep on pace with every track. I normally burn between 520-540 calories (according to heart rate monitor) - I burned 561 this morning! WOOHOO! This felt really good - also considering that on one of the pace tracks I had to tone down the resistance just a touch in order to keep pace - so I really didn't think I would burn as much. Either that, or my legs really ARE getting stronger, so I'm able to push more with them and I am actually increasing my resistance overall - I'm not sure. I'll have to check measurements on my legs tomorrow to see if I'm down in inches - indicating more muscle and less fat :) I'll check my waist tomorrow - since I didn't work out yesterday, I didn't do the waist check in this AM. My weight is the same - so that was a plus. I really do think I just needed to take a day off - sometimes it's actually better to rest. Plus, I NEVER get to do a Friday RPM class, so that made a difference in my thought process I guess. RPM tomorrow will probably be pretty tough! Back-to-back AM workouts - my body is not used to that, but that's okay - to shake things up a bit.
Eating has been really good today and mostly good yesterday. I think I'm just refusing to count calories on principle. I do not want to have to journal my food and focus on calories for the rest of my life. I want to re-train my brain to think in terms of healthy and moderation. Then, once I am at my healthy weight, maintaining may not seem like such a chore and my clothes will tell me the truth as to whether or not I'm on track. They always do - but I think I'm finally ready to listen. I think it comes down to a wake-up call for each person - mine was definitely the doctor and my blood pressure. I'm considering getting a bp monitor for home (or checking it at school since we have the equipment) to keep on top of it. On the flip side, I KNOW if the weight comes off, then my bp will go down. I've also really got to focus on staying OFF the soda - it's not just calories and sugar - it's loaded with salt.
So, 2010 is off to a good start. I need to go ahead and transfer my heart rate data onto my computer today as well. It will upload to the website as well - and it would be interesting to see my total burned calories online. HOWEVER, it might also make me realize that if I AM burning all those calories, then if I back it up with better eating I could be losing a LOT more weight and becoming healthier as a result. It's reinforcement - I KNOW what I need to do. The workouts I can do, and will do willingly. So, I need to transfer that will power into my eating habits.
I also have had "biggest loser" running in the background today (repeats on some station) and I figured out what percentage of weight I need to lose to achieve my goals - 26%. A little more than 1/4 of me needs to disappear. Then I think - it could be worse. I could be 100 pounds overweight and really be struggling. I AM overweight - and I am classified as "obese" using healthy weight guidelines. But, the weight I need to lose is do-able. I lost 40 pounds once already, and I need to lose about 50-55 now, so I KNOW I can do it. It's one day at a time. It's planning. It's will power. It's motivation. And it's all ME.