Since last December, I have been more or less “at goal,” hovering comfortably inside a five-pound window, from 140-145. And there’s one thing I know for sure: weight maintenance is trickiest tightrope I’ve ever walked.

Apparently, my body is fueled up and ready to go at 1100 to 1200 calories a day, but I’ve also learned that amount is not enough food to psychologically satisfy me.

Fuel in, energy out—at its roots, it’s a very simple formula. Too much fuel and the weight goes up. So it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that to maintain my goal weight, if I eat more calories, I must burn more calories.

And there’s the rub.

A full hour on the recumbent bike, pedaling at a pretty decent 10-12 mph, burns 250-275 calories. When I do the hour, I can then ingest up to 1450 calories and still maintain my desired weight. For me, 1450 is a much more reasonable expectation.

So I’ve reordered my life, and instead of writing first thing every morning, I do an hour on the bike before parking my butt in the office chair. And so far, it’s working okay, but I haven’t started my next mystery novel yet, and both of the first two were written in the wee hours of the morning.

It remains to be seen if I’m as witty later in the day…

Meanwhile, I’m enjoying life at a healthy weight, and I am grateful for both the bike and the DVR—my favorite maintenance tools. When I watch TV, I’m on the bike, and it’s good to have recorded shows to watch before daylight each morning!