Richard Ha writes:

Today’s weight: 195.7. lbs. This week’s target weight was 195.0 lbs. I am .7 lbs. behind schedule. I lost 1.3 pounds during the last week.

When I started losing weight on May 23rd of this year, I weighed 214.6 lbs. In the last six months, I have lost 18.9 lbs. This is about 3 lbs. per month.

Along the way, I’ve learned some things about my personal weight loss journey.

It is important that I exercise regularly—six days of the week. And it’s important that I don’t miss meals. I try to eat salads for dinner now and I avoid eating too much fat and too much sugars, but I’m not on a diet. Other than those changes, I have not sacrificed much.

My program is a two-pronged one. In addition to weight loss, I have been working on lowering my resting heart rate, which is a good indicator of how strong one’s heart is. It was 63 beats per minute when I started in May. There was a period a couple of months ago when my heart rate was in the mid 50s. That was when I was riding my mountain bike and climbing Banana Hill once a week.

Today I can ride for longer distances than I could then. So why isn’t my resting heart rate lower?

I think it’s because I am settling into a comfortable pace. It’s becoming clear to me that I need to work harder than I am to lower my resting heart rate. It is also clear to me that while it may be good to walk very long distances to lose weight, that doesn’t do much to strengthen the heart muscle.

If I train three days a week on the elliptical trainer for 90 minutes, and do 30 minutes on the other three days, and don’t overeat, I feel like I can lose weight. If I do that, I will lose weight. But in order to strengthen my heart significantly, I am realizing, I need to push hard.

My friend Liane sent me this article stating that an ingredient found in red wine may help one lose weight, increase endurance and fight heart disease. I love red wine. Is this possible? I have to try it.