In addition to browsing and writing from this thing I’ll play with some food tracking apps. What are your favorite ones?

My eating habits are only slightly better than before.  I have purchased a new hot-air popcorn popper.  I used it tonight.  Plain popcorn used to be a comfort food for me, but I had thrown away the old popper.  Now I can go back to this filling, low-calorie, snack that I used to enjoy.

In spite of the challenges, I’m in a good mood.  I’m not trying too hard to lose weight, just trying to prevent myself from gaining for a while.  Things are working well with Robin.  We’re now going out and doing something besides eating.  We saw a concert on Friday and a movie on Sunday.  We met with my daughter and her boyfriend on Saturday, but we did go out to eat then.

I feel more motivated to take care of housework and other related duties than I have in a while.

I probably won’t see Robin next weekend, but that will give me time to thoroughly clean house and catch up on other duties that need to be done.

I’ll take the bus to work most days now that I’m not riding my bike.  I’m considering walking a couple of days a week though, including tomorrow.  At least it’s still exercise and it doesn’t seem to hurt.

I didn’t ride the recumbent today (yesterday?).  This became important later.

I rode the Big Dummy.  I had my doctor appointment with my new family doctor.  I like my new doctor.  He’s nice, competent, and is honest.  He pointed out that my overeating and drinking are not only working against my weight loss effort (what weight loss effort?), but are adding to my depression.

So anyway, I met up with Tim again after work for our hour-long spin that we often do on Mondays.  As we rode more, my neck hurt worse.  It probably wouldn’t have been an issue on the ‘bent.  When we were nearing the end, I headed back on Payne St rather than following him back to his car on Mellwood Ave.  I wanted to cut the ride short.

I could have/should have went home.  Instead I stopped for food and beer.  I had my laptop with me so I made use of the free wi-fi and posted about my gastronomical disaster on BikeForums.

I went to bed after getting home.  I woke up in the middle of the night and looked at my post on BikeForums.  Apparently many people are supporting me and want me to continue the weight loss.  There’s a bit of “tough love” including from some strangers.  :)

The BikeForums post, the discussion with Tim while riding, and my doctor’s advice are all ganging up on me.  It is time to make a change.  Sure I lost 100lbs in 2007-2008.  Since then I’ve either held steady or gained.  I’m up 30lbs from my lowest weight.  I don’t want to be The Fat Guy anymore.

The neck pain has mostly ended long rides, but I can change that by riding the recumbent.  I just have to push myself out there and I will ride.  I miss disappearing for a day with the bike and a camera.  I can still do it.

I’m not spending any large amounts of money on bike stuff for a bit.  Long-term, I don’t know what bike(s) I’ll be riding.  I have one bike that I can ride a lot now, even with my neck issue.  It really doesn’t need anything other than maybe better lights, but I’ll use what I have for now.  The last time I spent money on that bike (upgraded brakes) I barely rode it for months because my neck improved.  Not that I’m complaining…

I need to make some major dietary changes, but I’m not writing out new rules here right now.  I’ve done that a few times recently and failed each time.  I’m going to make some changes now, but the changes are more minor and less strict.  I’ll figure out more later.  I will start riding more immediately also.

There’s also the issue of Robin.  We tend to go out to eat every day.  She wants to make changes too, so maybe it’s time.  Overall, I think she eats better than I do.  We’ll need to figure out social activities that don’t involve copious consumption of calories.

Tim and I had done some “training” rides on Monday nights last year.  No training today.  We’re both out of shape, and I’m slower on the recumbent due to not riding much in the last 18 months.

We meandered around town for an hour, then I headed toward home.  I stopped at Four Pegs to talk to the owner about Car-Free Happy Hour, and I had to have a couple of beers while I was there.  Their kitchen isn’t open on Monday’s, and I hadn’t eaten since lunch.  The last time I did this on a Monday, I went to Hammerheads and didn’t remember the rest of the night.  So, today, I went home.

I called Danny Mac’s Pizza for delivery, but they recently cut the days they are delivering.  Bummer.  I ordered anyway, and rode the ‘bent up to pick it up.

I ate well and rode a total of about 28 miles for the day.  That’s the best mileage day for the year.  It certainly was too many calories, but maybe I’ll get that under control tomorrow.

I’m riding the recumbent to work tomorrow.  It’s set up and ready to go.  It would be more work to NOT ride it.

On Friday, I took Robin down to Za’s Pizza on the Big Dummy.  It was a blast, but she wants a cushion to sit on next time.  I rode the recumbent to her house today, and she rode it through the alley.  She’s interested in trying out a tandem recumbent now… so I’ve got to find one available for a test ride.

My eating habits have been bad.  I’m drinking too much.  My bike riding is way down due to the neck issue.  I guess the recumbent becomes my go-to bike so I can get more miles in.  I’ll ride the LHT in winter weather, as it’s better equipped.  I’ll ride the Big Dummy for hauling loads or people, as it does it well.  The ‘bent is for everything else.

I’ve driven too much this year (Robin’s car).  It all involved us going out for something, but I didn’t think the first calendar year of being car-free would involve so much driving.  I’ve driven almost as many miles as I’ve ridden a bike.  Granted, I’m low on bike miles due to my neck issue, but it’s still frustrating.

I have tentative plans to meet up with Tim after work tomorrow for a one-hour ride.  We’ll see.

For the rest of the week I need to eat healthier and ride more.

On Friday, some co-workers were getting together to go out for food and beer.  I was invited, and social occasions are allowed per my self-imposed rules.  The fact I had an overly-large lunch earlier wasn’t good, but whatever.

I had a beer called “Morning Wood”, and I even shared my “Morning Wood”.  I made a (probably annoying) comment about the bike rack being free when others were complaining about parking meters.

I slept in Saturday.  I went out for a ride with Tim.  I got about 23 miles in.  I ate leftover split-pea soup.  I hadn’t gone grocery shopping.  I really wanted to go out for food and beer.  I successfully suppressed those urges.

I got up early today, Sunday, to meet Tim, Patrick, and Asher for a ride today.  I left before sunrise in the cold air.  It was a good ride, mostly urban.  Nothing epic, just four guys riding around.  I did have some snacks at coffee shops, but nothing extreme.  I ended the day with over 46 miles.

Again, later in the day I was really wanting to go out for food and beer.  I still haven’t gone grocery shopping.  I’m cooking a simple peas and rice dish that I actually have the stuff to make.  I’m not going back out, because if I do, I’ll find myself gorged on food and sloshing full of beer.

I’m slightly depressed because I know I shouldn’t go out to eat and drink.  Adding to that is the fact that I don’t like the way I feel about it.  I didn’t have this much trouble controlling my eating and drinking three and four years ago.  Why now?

I am killing time and forgetting about food for a while by burying myself in reading.  I’m currently reading Spin, which I highly recommend, at least if you’re into science fiction.

While grocery shopping yesterday I bought some cornmeal.  It has been years since I’d had cornmeal mush for breakfast.  Well, that’s what I did today.  I probably added a bit too much sugar, but it was good.

I also rode the Big Dummy out to Lyndon to pick up the rear wheel for the recumbent.  Tom had fixed a broken spoke for me.  I also needed to return the tires that I had borrowed from Patrick.  He lives even further out in the Goose Creek area.

If I would have gotten up early, I could have done all of this before it rained.  I slept in and had a relaxing late morning with my cornmeal mush, so it began raining as I headed out.

I had no issues, even on the busy roads, getting to Tom’s place.  We chatted briefly, and I left with my wheel.  The ride to Patrick’s place was a bit worse.  The bike lane on Westport Rd ends after a while, so I took the right lane.  That seemed to anger three different fellow road-users.

I ended up spending a bit longer at Patrick’s place.  It was nice to warm up and talk bikes for a while.

It was getting dark when I left and headed for home.  Strangely, I had no issues with drivers on the return trip.  Maybe they felt sorry for the cold, wet, crazy guy on the bike.

Once I arrived home I began cooking dinner: Split-pea soup!  I hadn’t made it in years, and I always stuck with a really basic recipe.  With some guidance online, I added ham, onions, carrots, potatoes, fresh marjoram, and even spinach.

Soup is an excellent food to warm up with after 27 cold, wet miles on the bike.  The two bottles of beer I had with dinner were nice too.

I have enough leftover soup for several more meals.  Tomorrow’s lunch is ready!

Since I have my recumbent’s rear wheel fixed, I reinstalled the tire and have the bike ready to go.  I’m planning on commuting on it for most of the coming week.  I’m riding it again because it’s a neat bike and I haven’t ridden it in a while, and my neck is flaring up again.

Progress?  I’ve not been perfect about the rules.  I even bought beer at the grocery store, and had a few last night.  I have been better.

Results?  My weight on 11/21 was 230.2lbs.  Today is 224.2lbs.  In the time between, it’s been 220s the whole time.  I’m seeing small consistent drops.

Weaknesses?  On Wednesday, I went out on an allowed outing for Car-Free Happy Hour.  I was fine with my food consumption, but had a bit more beer than necessary.  On Thursday, I was going to go out to eat, but the restaurant I went to went out of business.  I went home and cooked.  Friday I went out for pizza.  I ate entirely too much, but was better about the beer consumption.

I went grocery shopping last night on the Big Dummy.  I hauled a lot of groceries home.  I’m planning on making large amounts of soup.  I can freeze the extra.  I can easily bring it to work for lunch.  It should be a big help.

My daughter came to visit yesterday.  We made a chicken breast and rice dish.  I ate a bit too much and had beer.

I have no big bicycle plans this month.  I’m just coasting by.  We have one gravel ride planned in a week or two… I don’t know which weekend.  Other that that it’s just riding to work, running errands, or the occasional in-town ride.

I dropped off my rear wheel for the ‘bent on Friday.  That meant riding out to Lyndon after work.  I’m riding back out there today to pick it up, probably just in time for the rain to get here.

My weight goals:

• Get back down under 200lbs by March 2012
• Get to my goal weight of 175lbs by September 2012
• Maintain my weight between 175 and 180 indefinitely

How will I achieve these goals?  I will:

• Get back to tracking everything I consume
• Drink beer only for special, social occasions
• Quit going out to eat alone
• Quit eating at my desk at home or at work – especially snacks
• Severely limit carbohydrate consumption, especially sugars and grains, except on days with big bike rides
• Visit coffee shops less often, I drink my coffee black, but coffee shops have very little I can eat
• Look into a support group, such as Overeaters Anonymous – I’ll ditch it if I see little value

I have some physical goals also:

• Gain some upper-body strength
• Through diet or supplements, reduce inflammation – this should help my neck and other areas

Somebody asked if I was starting this at the first of the year.  No, it started TODAY.  I’m not waiting.  Here’s my food list for the day (don’t worry, I won’t be posting this all the time):

You’ll notice I’m not counting calories.  I think what I eat, and the amount of it is more important than an inaccurate calorie count.  I’m also not measuring stuff closely, but relying on common sense.  Portion sizes will be a challenge.

I also have some bicycle goals:

• Complete a ten-day tour next year
• Participate in at least one race next year (I’ll be racing Gravel Grovel this Saturday, but I mean another race)
• Get faster so I can keep up and have company during a Populaire/Brevet
• Buy a lighter road bike set up “Brevet” style
• Buy a mountain bike and try to avoid breaking any bones
• Ride one century per month next year

I’m 40 years old.  I’m in better shape now that when I was 35, but things have been heading downhill again.  I think that losing weight, eating better, and getting stronger will help my mental and physical well-being.  I may even see improvement in my neck, which is important as I can feel the inflammation returning.  I’m terrified of going back in for another epidural.

So, this “project”, over four years in, is being reset.

What a strange trip it’s been.

• Diet, exercise, bought a scale and an elliptical
• Got divorced
• Bought a bike
• Got rid of the elliptical
• Became a bicycle commuter
• Appeared on TV
• Made new friends
• Lost nearly 100 lbs
• Met another woman
• Got married
• Moved into Louisville
• Gained 30 lbs
• Split up again – heading for divorce
• Continued a destructive lifestyle
• Went car-free

It’s time for me to reflect where I’ve been and where I need to go.  I’ve gotten too used to “instant gratification” in everything.  I feel I “deserve” things that in the long-term are bad for me.  So I’ve gained weight.

This is more than eat less/ride more.  This is my relationship with food.

Looking back on old posts to write this has been illuminating and given me new incentive to work at this again.  The wedding pictures especially.  I was about 20lbs lighter then than I am now, and I looked quite a bit better.

So, I’m going to work harder and see where I am in another year.  I hope some of you hang out and enjoy the ride with me.

Work was busy, a bit hectic maybe, but went by quickly.  I felt much better as the day went by.

I met up with Tim after work for a training ride.  It was dark but we were both well-lit and reflective.  The weather was comfortable.  I felt strong and had a spirited ride.  I won’t lie, Tim was ahead most of the ride and probably riding stronger, at least until the last two miles.  I pulled ahead and left him quite a way back.  He worked hard to pass me again and I was too tired to chase.

I then took a long-ish route home meeting Bethany, another bicycle commuter on Third St.  We chatted briefly before going our separate ways.

After arriving home, I was tempted to go out for dinner, not because I’m hungry, just having a craving.  The spirited ride actually suppressed my appetite, so I’m skipping dinner and staying home.  I’ll eat a hearty breakfast in the morning.  It also feels good to make the right dietary decision.  I need to do that more often.

Edit:

I couldn’t sleep due to phlegm.  I got hungry so I cooked some white rice.  Still being good, and going to try to sleep again.

I had a light breakfast of a peanut butter sandwich and a glass of milk.  That’s mostly because I overslept and didn’t have time to cook bacon and eggs.

Work

I had a productive day at work.  Although my official duties are database related, I get pulled into various IT projects.  Today, I finished up a small Windows application to make deployment easier for one of our line-of-business applications.  Just a little thing, but it was nice to write software again, even on a small scale.

New Bike

I heard from Ian today.  We agreed upon a price and payment plan.  The Big Dummy is mine.  I’m getting the KickBack kickstand and wide loaders in the deal.  Now I truly have a pedal-powered pickup truck!

Cyclocross

After work I rode out to the park to meet with Tim.  We did a couple of easy laps around the course, then he started a faster lap.  I fell back, stopped and took a breather.  I really wasn’t feeling strong.  We then did a lap with me in the lead – running at my pace. It wasn’t much faster than an easy lap.

I’ve made up my mind that cyclocross is not for me.  I’ll continue to do these practices for fitness and fun, but I don’t want to race.

Tim gave me a ride part of the way back home.  I rode home from the Highlands.  I still rode 12.5 miles of commuting/errands and 12 miles of ‘cross practice.

Dinner

I go out to eat entirely too much.  I still haven’t been grocery shopping, but I had enough stuff to cook spaghetti, so that’s what I did.  I have no beer, but I need to avoid it for a while.  I had a filling meal, and have leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

Late Errand

My daughter works at a local drug store.  She called me to ask me to bring her something.  I hopped on the single-speed, went to the ATM, then the drug store, dropped off something for her, and bought some stuff for me.  The round-trip was only 2.5 miles.

What did I learn on my errand?  I learned my Acorn handlebar bag will fit two large bottles of supplements (glucosamine) and a 14oz tub of Haagen-Dazs ice cream.  So, dessert too!

More Saturday

I got an email from Michael, who I rode with on Saturday.  He passed along a couple of pictures of me.

The first is just me riding through the woods on my single-speed road bike.  Not the ideal bike for the terrain.

Action shot

The second picture is hilarious.  We were at the nearly impassable stretch of the Riverwalk behind the golf course.  I had no idea he was taking pictures, but I needed to lift my bike to get through.

Upward and onward?

Exercise & Stretching

I’m doing my dumbbell exercises.  Even the 5lb stuff hurts after enough repetitions.  I have no upper body strength.

I’ve also noticed over the last few months that I hurt more.  My legs were so tight last night that any movement was painful.  I realized that somewhere over the last six or so months I quit stretching.

So, I spent about 30 minutes stretching my legs, back, and torso yesterday.  I’ll do it again tonight.  Hopefully I’ll notice a difference soon.

The Truck

The gasoline-powered cargo hauler (as opposed to the pedal-powered cargo hauler) is going up for sale this week.  I’m done using it now, I just need to find a buyer.  Then I’ll be officially car-free.

This Weekend

Tim, Michael, and I are heading to Red River Gorge (in Tim’s SUV) for two days of riding, and one night of camping.  It’ll be cool during the day, and cold at night.  I’ll be wearing as much wool as possible at night.  I hope there aren’t any burn-bans in effect this weekend.  We’ll really need a fire.

Either way, it’ll be a blast.  Much like the Big South Fork trip was last year.

We had a server failure on Saturday.  I needed to get in early-ish today (Monday).  I woke up late and grumpy, so I drove to work.

Today was a whirlwind of activity.  I was there for over 12 hours.  I felt slightly stressed at times, but never overwhelmed (despite the problems we ran into).  I guess I’m a good problem solver but bad at time-management.  Time-management isn’t much of an issue during an emergency.

The problems are solved.  I stayed late to fix things.  I got home happy but hungry.

Despite “reminding myself” recently about weight loss and such, I went out for a burger and beer.  It was worthwhile.

Tomorrow, I’m back on the bike.  It’ll be a long day with a morning doctor appointment providing extra mileage.

I need to incorporate this productiveness into everyday.  Not only do I do better at work, I feel better about it later.

I had a can of soup for dinner last night.  Not exactly satisfying, but I’m running out of groceries.  I’ll be making a grocery trip tonight after work.

I still don’t have my weigh-in page figured out, but I have the data in an Excel spreadsheet.

I was running low on coffee.  I normally buy my coffee at Vint on Main Street because it’s right across the street from work.  I wasn’t working today, but I still needed coffee for tomorrow morning.

It was pleasant riding my commute route when it wasn’t rush hour.  I bought a pound of coffee and drank a cup while I was there.  I then headed eastward and turned south on Baxter Ave.

The LMPD have been known to be (mostly) bicycle friendly.  Some of them even do bicycle patrols.  The Jefferson County Sheriff Department… not so much.  One local bike advocate was ticketed by the sheriff’s office for not riding in a bike lane.  Kentucky does have an oddly-worded law requiring it “if practical”.  After much public outcry, the ticket was tossed.

Anyway, I was on Baxter Ave, which does not have a bike lane.  It has “flexible lanes”.  There are a total of four lanes.  The outer two lanes are for parking most times, but that changes between 4:00pm and 6:00pm, and no parking is allowed.

So, it was 4:05 and there were no cars in the right lane.  I took the right lane (it is narrow) and was moving along about 17mph.  I sheriff department SUV was behind me.  Rather than pass in the other lane, he honked his “buzz” horn.  I don’t know what they call it, but the sound makes it clear it’s an emergency vehicle.  He did not turn on any lights, so I ignored it.  After three more buzz-honks, I stopped in the middle of the lane and asked him if he was pulling me over.  He made several confusing hand gestures.  I repeated myself.  He made a clear hand gesture to get moving, so I did, still taking the right lane.  A few blocks up, he turned right while I continued straight.

I spent the next several minutes being amused about the sheriff.  He’s probably used to harassing cyclists, and they do what he says, whether they were breaking the law or not.  The incident with the local advocate probably lead to an internal memo being passed around, and my refusal to squeeze to the right in a narrow lane reminded him of it.

I continued on to Bardstown Rd and stopped at Cumberland.  I’m not supposed to drink beer or eat “heavy” food.  So I had only one beer, several glasses of water, and a salad.

Tim and I communicated via text, and I rode to meet him during near River Rd for a quick ride.  I rode a very urban, very heavy traffic route getting there.  It’s not something I do in a group, but there are days, and today was one of them, where I feel strong enough to mostly keep up with traffic.

I met up with Tim and we rode through Indian Hills, St Matthews, Seneca Park, and Cherokee Park.  His original plan was to hit the Beargrass Creek Trail, but last night’s deluge would mean mud, so we buzzed along Lexington Rd instead.  We continued out Mellwood Ave back to the start location.  It was about 13 miles in about an hour.

There were many cyclists out for the evening.  It was a bit cool, but pleasant.  Tim wasn’t feeling well, he wrote more about that here.

We went our separate ways, and I headed back down Mellwood Ave into downtown before heading south on Third St.

I ride Third St as part of my commute home most every day.  I pass Third Avenue Cafe most every day, but I can’t remember ever going there.  So, I stopped and locked my bike up outside.

I had another salad, and another beer.  I also had more water.  Salad doesn’t do much for energy when cycling.

By the time I left it was fully dark.  I’m glad for the SON hub and B&M lights to get me home safely (yes, I was riding the pink-barred single-speed.)

I arrived home with 33.2 miles for the day.  Nothing epic, just a mostly lazy, pleasant day.

Fun Facts

Due to the moisture and proximity to the river the gnats and other small bugs were horrible.  I ate several.  Tim had one in his eye.  I looked like a poppy-seed bagel by the time I stopped at Third Avenue Cafe.

Because I had originally just planned to ride 3.5 miles to buy a bag of coffee then ride home, I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt (and a helmet).  Other than wishing for long sleeves as it got cooler, I was perfectly comfortable during the ride.  Another 20 miles and I might have been wishing for a chamois.

I felt bad for Tim.  He was obviously not feeling well, but I was feeling quite strong.  It’s good to get out and ride when you’re having a bad day though.  I think the ride did him some good.

I was eavesdropping on an older couple on their first date from some online dating service.  It didn’t appear to be going well, but I got the impression they were going to spend the night together.  I walked home alone.  I wasn’t jealous of the guy, I would have ditched the woman.  :)

So, I ate too much and spent too much.  Tomorrow is the car-free happy-hour, and I barely have enough money for that.

I’ve been in an emotional slump.  I tend to use food and beer as crutches.  That’s not good.  I’m slowly gaining weight.

I did spend a number of hours moving the dyno-wheel and lighting from the LHT to the single-speed.  It was a pain.  I know how to work on bikes, but I’m lousy at it.  I struggle with simple things.  I get it done, it just takes way too long.

I’m home sick today.  I haven’t left the house, and have no intention of doing so.  I have groceries so I’ll eat, and I’ll actually eat healthy today.  I’ve spent hours laying in bed.  Some of that time I was sleeping, some of it reading.

My kitchen is still a whirlwind of bike parts and tools.  I need to pick up the mess before I can cook.  <sigh>  Maybe I’ll just go lay in bed instead.

After riding the recumbent for 70 miles the day before, I decided to ride the LHT.  I’m glad I did, as Tim took us through the somewhat hilly Indian Hills area.  Then we were on a flat stretch of River Rd doing 15mph into a headwind.  Tim was riding strong, but I was beat.  I eventually fell behind, but Tim waited for me.

At that point I was cooked.  When back on Baxter Ave, we parted ways.  Tim to do another loop in the parks.  Me to stop at O’Shea’s for food and drink.

O’Shea’s has a nice shady outdoor dining area.  I was able to bring my bike up near the table.  I hadn’t brought a lock with me, so that worked well.

Saddle eye view - saddles don't have eyes!

I ordered a beer (Southern Tier 2xipa), water, and a chicken wrap.  After finishing the first beer, I ordered an Avery IPA.  Both of these beers were new to me, and quite good.  I like a hoppy beer on a hot day.

Mmm... Beer!

After a while, I took the neighborhood streets home.

Part of the point of my vacation is to get some stuff done around the house.  I mowed the lawn, washed dishes, and started re-organizing my computer/office/bike storage room.

I’ve thought about creating a “beer” category for my blog posts, but then it’ll just point out how often I drink it.

I ended up with over 20 miles for the day, and rather enjoyed it.

Three Amigos

Early Morning Meeting

I was up at 3:30am.  I had time to do some bike maintenance, yet I put it off again.  I had an early appointment before work.

I headed out while it was still dark.  I was riding the single-speed.  About half way to work, the chain came off.  Rather than loosen the rear wheel to fix it properly, I managed to get the chain back on.

I got to work, and changed clothes.  I then grabbed the folding bike that I hauled to work yesterday and carried it across the street to Java Brewing Company.  I was meeting Chris aka Pondero and Tim.

Chris lives in Texas, and I’ve only known him via his blog.  He has a couple of really nice bikes, and some wonderful Texas Prairie roads to ride them on.

He is in town for a conference.  We arranged to meet up.  I thought it would be a good idea to let him borrow my folding bike to check out town.  I don’t know if he’ll have much time to ride, but I’d hate for him to have the time and not be able to take advantage of it.

The visit was brief, but it was nice to chat and drink coffee.  Chris pedaled off to get back to work.  Tim and I sat around and talked bikes a bit longer before I went back to work.

The picture above was shamelessly stolen from Chris’s blog.  There are a few more there.

Should Have Fixed it Right

After work, I had an appointment to donate blood.  I headed out and quickly regretted not fixing my bike properly.  I dropped the chain again while riding 20mph in traffic.  I managed to safely move over and fix it.  While pulled over on the sidewalk, Asher rode by, then turned around to check on me.  I talked briefly to him.  One of his co-workers was hit by a car.  I don’t know the guy, but I guess his injuries are minimal.

Oops

After donating blood, I was on a less-familiar road trying to get home.  I ended up hitting a concrete median and going down.  Yes, it was stupid.  I was looking behind me at traffic instead of where I was going.  Nothing was damaged, and I wasn’t hurt.  Mostly I just pulled a muscle while trying to (unsuccessfully) prevent myself from falling.

Food!

Once home, my wife wanted to go out to eat.  Part of me said “Yay! Beer!”.  Another part said “and I was doing so good today”.  We went somewhere without beer.  I had a small salad and a piece of fish.  I still did okay.

Time to Fix The Bike

After dinner, I properly fixed my single-speed.  Drew at On Your Left Cycles had mentioned that the chain probably needed a link removed.  I didn’t want to spend the time or the money, so I passed.  So, I have a chain tool.  I removed the chain and cleaned it thoroughly.  I shortened it, and reinstalled everything, then re-lubed the chain.  It should be good for a while longer now.

I’m having issues with the freewheel on the single-speed.  It works okay, but it’s now noisy and the chain tension varies.  The right answer is a new, better quality freewheel.  Drew has some nice looking ones from White Industries, but I’ll ride this one until it’s non-functional.  If it happens on a ride, well, I’m running a flip-flop hub, so I can flip the wheel over and run fixed until I get a new freewheel.

A Good Day

Even with the minor wreck and mechanical issues, I had a good day.  There was good company in the morning.  I enjoyed spending time with my wife and eating healthy at a restaurant.

I don’t have issues with coffee consumption, it was the money I was spending.  I almost always went to coffee shops, and I’d get a carb-loaded snack while I was at it.  Even brewing coffee at home, I had to have good coffee.  The money added up.

During my tour, I was drinking coffee every day again.  After the tour, I started going through withdrawal again.  So, I bought a cheap can of coffee at the grocery store. Yes, I’m drinking coffee daily again now.  I’m spending very little money on it though.  It’s hot, bitter, and loaded with caffeine.  It’ll do.

I had intended to go with a low-carb diet after the tour.  I was even considering giving the paleo-diet another try.  I’ve decided against it.  I will try to stay away from most wheat products, but I will continue to eat ride.  I’m just going to have to control portion sizes and try to eat healthy.

My weight has been rising slightly this year.  From just under 220 to just over.  Although I had been weighing myself, I hadn’t bothered to update it here.  Now I have.

Why is my weight still an issue?  I still eat too much.  I’ll do alright for a while, then I’ll pig out on pizza and beer, or burgers and beer, or down a whole box of cookies.  It’s a balancing act.  I want to enjoy eating, and use it as a social activity, but I don’t want to overdo it.

I’d never heard of cabbage pie until tonight, but it was good.

There was a pretty good turnout considering the cold drizzle  that came to area today.  Bicycling for Louisville managed to pry a little money out of my wallet, and fill my stomach with pie.  What’s not to love?

Yes, I ate too much, but I’m skipping dinner.

It’s almost 20 miles for me to get to the ride.  I may take a 30-mile return trip for variety, or not.

Either way, it looks like the weather will cooperate.  Now to wake up.  This time-change thing always messes with me.

I’m sitting here eating oatmeal and drinking chocolate milk.  Probably should have had regular milk, but I’m doing what I want.  :)

No more coffee. My coffee consumption has skyrocketed.  I seldom brew my own, I go to the coffee shop and end up buying snacks while I’m there.  It’s hurting my weight loss effort, and my wallet.  I’ll drink water and milk.

Very little eating out. I guess it’s a mental thing where I feel like I have to treat myself.  I’ve been doing it too often, and it’s causing problems.  I need to pack a lunch when I go to work, and cook dinner at night.

Very little beer.  I love beer.  It’s something I treat myself with, usually when going out for dinner.

No ice cream. I haven’t had any recently, but if it’s in the house, I’ll eat the whole container.  Kristy will be home soon, and probably bring some in the house.  If the allowed amount is none, it should be easier for me.

Changing weight-tracking. I’m still weighing daily, even if I haven’t updated the page here in a while.  I’m no longer going to post daily weights.  I’ll change the weigh-in page to be weekly averages.  Then maybe I’ll be able to keep posting regularly.

I did mention some exceptions to the changes.  I may occasionally violate one of the rules during social functions.  This could include an RCCS coffee ride, pub crawl, whatever.  If I ride a 40-mile round-trip to have pizza and beer, that’s okay.

I won’t be training this week, but I will be back at the YMCA on Sunday.  It’s time to get in gear again.  After the triathlon in July, I’m going to re-attempt switching to a paleo-diet.  I tried before, but I felt like crap when I didn’t eat carbs.  I’ve since learned that it takes 2-3 weeks to adjust.

By the time I was heading out the door at 5:15 or so the snow was coming down.  I rode to the YMCA and got in a small amount of exercise before heading to work.  There was some snow on the ground by then.  I was surprised that my bike was one of four in the parking garage when I was leaving.  Notice the XtraCycle on the far-right.

During the day we got a couple of inches of snow.  The main roads were kept clear and the warm-ish temperatures meant that nothing iced up (on the roads I was on).

My commute home was pretty uneventful, but the dogs seemed happy to play in the snow when I got home.

Notice all of the "luggage" on the bike.  Commuting and a stop at the Y means I get to carry more stuff.  There is a thermos for coffee buried in there to cut back on the expense of the coffee shop.

Now that I’m home, I need to get to sleep so I can get up at 4:00 a.m. again, but I’m not sleepy.  I’m considering walking to go out to dinner.  I’ll overeat, but a full belly might be what I need to sleep well tonight.

• Train for and complete an Olympic Triathlon on 7/31/2011
• Weight lifting for upper-body strength (I’m pretty pathetic above the waist now)
• Get to my goal weight of 175lbs by 7/1/2011, and never go above 180 again (at about 216 today)
• Ride at least 5000 miles for the year
• Drive fewer miles than I ride (this could be hard due to most driving being longer trips)
• Do at least three overnight bike camping trips
• Start riding with the local club – on my single-speed (I’ve done that once this year)

Old Goals

Let’s look at some goals I posted on 2/28/2009

• Goal weight will remain at 175 lbs (for now).  I hope to reach that goal by the end of August.
  Didn’t happen.
  
• Ride a century this year (100 miles in one day).
  Didn’t happen until 2010.
  
• Raise $3200 for The Ride to Conquer Cancer, and complete the entire ride under my own power.
  I raised over $2500 and completed the ride.  I’ll call that success.  I did not participate in 2010.  The fundraising part really is the hardest.
• Learn to ride my new unicycle, and complete a ten-mile ride on it by June 2010.
  I gave up the unicycle.
  
• Juggling?
  Didn’t bother.  Without the unicycle it wouldn’t be as cool.  :)
  
• Ride to work more often.  I had hoped to average 3 days per week, but I’m not even managing that right now.
  This was up and down for a while, but I moved to Louisville, and I ride (almost) every day.
  
• Ride to work five days a week at least 3 weeks per year.
  See above.
  
• Increase my average speed on the bicycle a little bit.
  Hasn’t really happened, although the triathlon training should help that.
  
• Learn to kayak this year.
  I still haven’t touched a kayak, but I did take a canoe trip.
  
• Get a rod, reel, and fishing license, and spend some time relaxing and fishing.
  I didn’t do this either.  Most of my free time is gone.  I have been reading a lot though.
  
• Find new fitness activities.
  I guess training for a triathlon counts.  I’m also starting weight lifting.
  
• I had made a goal to live-car free.  I think I’m giving that up.  I do want to drive less, but realities of the modern world make this a very unpopular choice.
  I wrote this when I had an old car that was paid for.  Then it died.  Then I bought a truck.  I seldom drive now, but I’m now married, and have a car payment.  It’ll be a while before I can become car-free.
  
• Ride 5000 miles this year.  I’m way behind on this so far.  I’m two months into the year, and I’ve only ridden 541 miles.
  I did not make 5000 miles in 2009.  I did in 2010, and hope to in 2011.
  
• Get better about riding in cold rain.  I often use this as an excuse not to ride to work, but I have the gear to do so.
  I ride in cold rain.  I still don’t care for it, other than the “crazy factor”.
  
• I had planned to try to drive less than 3500 miles per year.  I’m giving up on this also.
  I’ve modified this to simply ride more than I drive.
  
• Ride in a roller coaster this year.  I’ll actually fit now.
  I didn’t get a chance for a real roller coaster, but I did ride in a number of other amusement park rides.  Yes, I fit.
  
• Go skydiving in the summer of 2010.
  Didn’t happen.  I still want to do it someday, but I’ve got too much else going on financially and time-wise.
  
• I want to be a better cook.
  I may be slightly better, but only slightly.  I still don’t cook often enough.
  
• I want to find a wonderful woman to enjoy these activities with.
  I did.  I met her shortly after writing that blog post.

Winter Blah!

Nobody showed for up this morning’s RCCS ride.  I had a feeling that might happen, so I brought some reading material with me.  I sat at Sunergos enjoying good coffee and a book.  I eventually wandered home, and read a while longer.

Not riding was starting to get to me.  I really wanted pizza, but riding three miles over to Za’s and overeating isn’t going to do my weight-loss effort any good, so I decided to ride to Charlestown Pizza Company.  I still overate, and had an excellent beer.  I then rode over to the old house and took care of a few things before riding home.

I got 41.6 miles in for the day, enjoyed what I ate, and I feel good.

I’m up to 4900 miles on the bike so far this year.  I’ll easily hit 5000 for the year.  Getting 5000 next year will be the real challenge with my shorter commute.

I still don’t seem to be losing weight.  I am eating better now.  There was a company potluck yesterday, but I skipped dinner after I got home.

I ate much better at work today, but don’t feel like cooking tonight, so I’ll probably just microwave some frozen vegetables.  I’ve been ignoring my food diary.  I still need to start using my dumbbells, or doing push-ups, or something.  Writing blog posts, sleeping, and reading are taking up my time though.

I threw three cage-free brown eggs into a bowl and whipped with some milk.  I put a pat of real butter in a pan on the stove.  After the butter melted I dumped the egg-milk mixture into the pan and covered with fresh baby spinach.

When the eggs were nearly done I tossed some shredded cheese on top.  I had a glass of vegetable juice with it.

Now it’s time to drink a quart of water.

I’ve been more productive in getting things done around the house.  I cooked, cleaned, and even updated this blog.  :)

I’m feeling better.  It may be temporary, it may not, I don’t really know.  I do know that being lazy makes me feel worse about myself later.

I woke up late this morning, and it was cold, so I really didn’t want to ride.  I refused to drive to work though.  I took the bus, which was probably a mistake.  The bus was busting-at-the-seams crowded.  Nobody wants to walk when it’s 15 degrees.

Tomorrow morning is supposed to be cold also (although it’ll be warmer in the afternoon), but I’ve already packed my bike.  That will keep me motivated to get on the bike.

I decorated the single-speed with Christmas lights tonight also.  Now that I have two bikes decorated, I really need to take some pictures.

• A health issue I haven’t said much about, but now I know what it is, and what to do.
• I’ve been horrible about eating out, and drinking beer.  Today, I broke the trend, cooked, and ate better.
• I drove to work two days last week.   I even paid $8.75/day to park *eek!*
• I had an appointment with my doctor in New Albany this morning, so I rode in the bitter cold to the appointment, then to the lab for blood work, then to work.  After work I rode to the drugstore before heading home.  30 miles in 15-20 degree temperatures was a testament to my dedication, or insanity, you choose.
• I’m still gaining weight.  I am weighing, but haven’t caught up on posting it here.
• After more diet & health research, I’ve started taking 5000 IU of Vitamin D per day.
• I put Christmas lights on my bike again this year.  I’m sorry I don’t have pictures yet.  I’ve gotten a lot of positive comments from random strangers.
• I put the studded tires on my LHT.  It seems I was a bit premature, as the roads have been fine, but I really don’t want to change tires again already.
• I still haven’t started my upper-body exercises in earnest.
• My moods have been up and down.  I feel great today, but last week had some hellish days.

Anyway, I’ll have more to say later.  I’ve got things to do, then I’m going to bed.

The things that were successful during that time?

• Tracking everything I ate and adding calories
• Exercise
• Ate most of my carbs early in the day
• Limited snacking
• Very little consumption of beer
• Weighing myself daily

From early 2009 to now this has turned into:

• Not keeping track of anything I eat
• A lot of exercise, but nearly all of it cycling
• Food binging
• Higher consumption of beer
• Weighing myself sporadically

I will be accountable again.  I will track what I eat (although I’m going to forgo the calorie counting).  I will weigh everyday.  I will post what I eat here (sometimes).

As I said in my last post, there are several changes I’m making.  They started this morning.

I was actually off to a bad start.  I didn’t want to cook, and due to laziness I still needed to wash dishes.  I hadn’t been to the grocery store so I had nothing quick, easy, and healthy around the house.  So, I just didn’t eat.

Around 3:00pm, I was too hungry, and went looking through cupboards again.  I spotted the oatmeal.  I had given up on oatmeal a while back when I started following the paleo-diet.  Now that I’m back to my original weight-loss plan, paleo is out the window.

I put 1/2 cup of oatmeal, 1 cup water, and a dash of salt in a large cup, and microwaved it for 2 minutes.  I stirred it, added a small pat of butter and some cinnamon.  I did not add sugar.  It was a late lunch after skipping breakfast, but it’ll do.

The dishes are nearly done.  I’ll cook a proper dinner tonight.  I’ll go grocery shopping tomorrow (after the RCCS ride).

I have some other changes I need to make.  I need to start doing some more exercises to strengthen my core and upper body.  I need to drink more water. I need to limit my coffee consumption to one pot per day.

I haven’t been cooking.  I go out to eat almost every day.  I’ve been drinking beer several times a week.  I’ve been snacking.  The only exercise I’ve been doing is bicycling.  I haven’t stepped on a scale in a while.

That’s changing now.  I will drink NO beer until further notice.  I will cook and prepare lunches to take to work.  I will not go to the coffee shop, unless it’s to buy more whole bean coffee or to buy a cup of coffee on a bike ride.

I realized earlier today that I would have ordered pizza today for Thanksgiving had I found a place open.  As I got hungrier, I cooked what I had here at the house.  I hadn’t went grocery shopping in a while, but I had pork chops, frozen vegetables, and a couple of potatoes that I made into mashed potatoes.

The meal was satisfying, even if it meant I had to skip turkey, stuffing, and cranberries.  :)

I had hoped to be under 200lbs by the end of the year.  I now know that’s not going to happen.  My revised goal is to be under 210lbs by the end of the year.  It’s going to mean a difficult push to even do that.

I’ll get back on the scale tomorrow morning, then update my daily weigh-in page.

I worked from home on Friday (due to a health issue).  Later in the day I went grocery shopping, and bought several large bags of candy for the kids that will expect some.  I made it a goal to not eat any of this candy, no matter how much is left.  I’ll take the leftovers to work.  So far, so good.

Today, I shirked a bunch of responsibilities and drove out to Bluegrass Bicycle for the LBC Crestwood ride that Tom was leading.  Actually, as ride captain, he had to trail behind everyone else.

I’ve ridden that ride before.  It’s roughly 25 miles of rolling hills in the Kentucky countryside.  I decided to ride my single speed bike.  I wasn’t really even sure if I could finish the ride on that bike.

I did fine.  I walked two hills.  I averaged 14.2 mph.  I was near the rear of the ride, but not completely at the end.  I did feel like I was going to cough up a lung a few times.  I think that’s a good route to get faster on a single speed.  It’s hilly enough to be challenging, but not so long or hilly to be impossible.

My weight has dropped back to about 216 after peaking above 220.  I need to keep the momentum going.  I’m 41 lbs from my goal.  I let it slip away before.  I don’t want to do that again.

In my previous post I mention that I’ve been “out of control”.  That’s true.  I’m fixing that.  Cooking meals at home is saving me money and helping me eat healthier.  Bringing coffee to work saves me money and keeps me from being as tempted by the snacks at the coffee shop.  Taking a lunch to work is saving money and calories over eating out.

I may, or may not, ride another LBC ride tomorrow.  I have a lot of things to do, but I would like to get some more riding in.

I’ve gained weight.  My weight this morning was 221.2.  I’ve erased a lot of progress, but that’s changing today.

My Dinner - Low Carb

I haven’t spent a penny today.  I brought a lunch to work.  I carried a thermos of coffee to work.  I cooked dinner tonight.  I have leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch.

I want to be at my goal weight of 175 (less than 50 lbs away) in one year.  Then I want to maintain between 170 and 180 indefinitely.

In addition to controlling myself again, I’m going to start doing some upper-body exercises.  I have a set of dumbbells, but haven’t touched them in a while.  I need to quit busying myself with stupid stuff.  I can exercise all I need in a few minutes a day.

I drove to work yesterday.  I paid $8.75 to park the truck.  Ugh.

I’ve been having problems getting up in the morning.  This morning I got up early and rode to the coffee shop (where I’m at now).  I’ll be leaving here shortly to go to work.

My single-speed bike has been switched over to a fixed-gear.  Riding fixed is different.  It works well for riding around town.  I certainly wouldn’t want to ride it on a long, hilly ride.

My weight continues to climb.  This probably in part due to the snacks at the coffee shops.  I would be better off if I limited myself to just the coffee.

There are two RCCS rides this weekend.  Saturday morning at 8:30, there is an easy urban ride starting at Sunergos.  Sunday is the 80-mile gravel ride that is “training” for the overnight ride coming up later this month.  Can you join us?

I’m going back to smaller portions, lower carbs, and better decisions.  I’ve been eating too much “because I want to” instead of “because I need to”.

I’m giving up beer permanently.  I will finish off the two six packs in the fridge first.  :)

I had a muffin and a banana with my first coffee this morning.  I had chili and unsweetened tea for lunch.  I had a bagel for a snack (oops).  I cooked two hamburger patties on the grill for dinner, and ate them with onions and tomato.  I did not have bread.

I am drinking a beer as I type this, but, as I said, once these beers are gone, that’s it.  My wife doesn’t think I’m going to follow through with the no-beer thing, but I am.

When the RCCS holds another “brew cruise”, I’ll just drink water.

My eating on this trip could have been better, but I still did much better than the old Dave that I used to be.  That Dave would have eaten several plates at each meal.  I generally had normal size meals.  I did have some unnecessary snacks.  I had a few beers.  I haven’t exercised at all.  I could have, there is a fitness center here.   I’ll still be eating lunch here, and probably getting something to eat at the airport, but I’ll keep it light.

I’ve been thinking a lot about re-focusing on the fitness and weight loss.  I have gotten fatter.  I hate having a gut that hangs over my belt.  At one point, I was well on my way to not having it.

There will (probably) be a fun bike ride tomorrow.  There will be drinking, so it’s not a healthy ride, but I will practice moderation and make the purpose of the ride social rather than enjoying too much food and beer.

After that, I’ll probably go some time without beer.  I also need to clean up my eating again.  I need to avoid ice cream completely.  During my weight loss, I was able to limit myself to a single scoop of ice cream.  Every time I’ve had ice cream recently, I’ve had entirely too much.  I’m not sure why I have less self-control than I use to.

EDIT: Nasty weather has cancelled my flight, and a bunch of others.  I’m stuck in DC for another night.   I really hate air travel.

I’ve been riding a lot of miles.  I broke a few records on Sunday.  I’ve ridden two centuries in a little over a month.  I hit 3000 miles of cycling for the year during my commute today.  I’m well on track to get 5000+ miles for the year.

The depression that was really affecting me earlier this year has gone away.  I’m sure it’ll come back again some day, and I’ll have to cope.  Overall, I’ve been feeling really good recently.

Bad Stuff

My eating has been crazy.  It’s partially from being hungry from riding.  It’s partially due to treating myself to beer, pizza, ice cream, steak, and similiar items much too often.

I haven’t had any real weight loss since March of 2009!  That sickens me.  I know weight is just a number, but I still have a gut.  I feel like I’m way too fit for this gut.  I’ve got to lose the gut.  Damn the gut!

I’m having comfort issues on my newest bike, Surly Sue, the LHT.  Although I’ve ridden two 100-miles rides on that bike, the recent rides have left me with possible ulnar nerve issues in my left hand.  I also have some saddle issues to figure out.  As such, I’m riding Oria, my recumbent, more often, as there is no pressure on the hands.  I will get a bike fit to help get comfortable again, but in the meantime it’s nice to have another option.

What’s Next?

I’m trying to get my eating under control.  I had started my “food diary” back up a while ago, but that didn’t last long.  I need to track what I eat.

I’ve decided that I need a fast bike.  Both my current bikes are designed to be comfortable for hauling stuff long distances.  Neither is really designed to be fast.  After much thought, I think my fast bike will be a recumbent.  Probably a Bacchetta Strada.  It won’t be until at least next year until I can afford one, but that’s the plan.

Last Saturday I rode a Century.  I rode my bike to work and back 4 out of five days this week (I overslept on Thursday).  Most days this week were calling for rain, but I avoided it each time, other than a few sprinkles.

My commuting for the week racked up 140.5 miles on the bike.  I’m not doing any big rides this weekend.  I may not ride at all.  I have a lot of “domestic” stuff to do.

Depression

I’ve had a depression issue for most of this year.  It lifted mysteriously on Thursday, May 27th.  I’ve been almost giddy ever since until yesterday (the day I didn’t ride) and my mood darkened.  I rode again today, and things are well again.

Does riding fix the depression?  Is the cause more subtle than that?  I don’t know.  I do know that it’s hard to get on the bike when I’m depressed.

Diet

I’ve been eating better, other than Wednesday where I went out for lunch, and again for dinner.  I overate to the point of discomfort at dinner.  I hate it when that happens.

Weight

My weight is still bobbing around between 200 and 210.  It may linger there forever, but I now know that I must monitor my weight regularly and watch what I eat for the rest of my life.  This isn’t negotiable.  If I fail to do this, I will gain every pound back.

My goal weight is still 175.  It may take a long time to get there.  It seemed to be in striking distance at one point, but the loss has stalled.

I watched a speech by a doctor discussing a few things about obesity.  I recommend it if you have a spare 90 minutes.  The advice he gave was:

1. Be as fit as possible at your current weight
2. Prevent further weight gain
3. If successful then begin weight loss

That’s not the way I did things.  I started with the diet, then exercise, now I’m hoping to lose more weight, but trying not to gain more.

When I started this adventure my BMI was about 41.  Standard medical procedure for someone like me would have been gastric bypass.  I’m glad I didn’t go that route.  I rather like having a complete GI tract.  My BMI is now about 28, which is still considered overweight, but I would no longer be considered for surgery, and that is a very good thing.

What Now?

I got a bit lazy after losing 100lbs.  I started to indulge in the foods I love.  I thought I could still do it, because I’d already lost weight, and because I ride my bike… a lot!

Well, that’s not the case.  I went two months without weighing myself and gained almost 10 lbs.

I’m back to keeping a food diary.  I am weighing myself daily again.  I’m making more appropriate decisions about what I eat and drink.

I may have to give up beer.  It’s a weakness for me, and I often go to a wonderful food establishment just for the beer.  Then, of course, I partake of the food also.  I really wanted to go again today.  I didn’t.  I stayed home and ate sensibly.  If that particular establishment is off-limits to me, and I quit drinking beer, it would be easier to stay on track.

I ate too much today.  I went to a Mexican restaurant for lunch.  I cooked steak for dinner, but I feel good, and I think it was worth it.

I’ve been busy with little things.  I’m still setting up my new work laptop.  I’m doing the bills.

I’m in a good mood even though I haven’t ridden today.  Maybe I just needed the break.  I’ll be back on the bike tomorrow… probably in the rain.

I’ve started a “food diary” now that doesn’t involve calories.  It’s simply a list of everything I’ve eaten.  I can look back at previous days and determine what I did wrong and what I did right.  It’s just a tool for me to keep track.  Unlike calorie counting it doesn’t give me a goal, just a reminder.

Here are the first two days of the food diary:

Yeah, I’ve been eating a little weird.  I really need to visit the grocery store soon or it’ll get even weirder.

I did ride my bike to work today, for a round trip of 34 miles.  June is off to a good start.

I’ve made a concerted effort for most of my trip to keep my eating under control.  That didn’t stop me from enjoying some great food, but I tried not to overdo it.  I’ve also been staying away from beer, at least since Friday.

SR-71 Blackbird

I did get to visit two museums on this trip.  First was the National Museum of the American Indian.  Although an enjoyable experience, it doesn’t compare to National Air and Space Museum – Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.

I do have new resolve to lose weight.  I don’t want to be “The Fat Guy” any longer.  I’ll leave you with a picture of an SR-71 Blackbird, one of my favorite aircraft.

I did visit a bike shop on Saturday, but I was just looking around.  I have done some walking.  ”Playing pedestrian” is a nice change of pace.

Kristy and I drove the rental car from Herndon to DC and back yesterday.  Parking in DC itself is crazy.  I would have rather been on a bike.

After eating entirely too much on Saturday and hating myself for it, I ate better yesterday.  It’s still early today, but I’m determined to get my eating back under control, whether or not I’m traveling.  I haven’t weighed myself since April 1st, and I’m a little scared to step on a scale again.  I will weigh myself on June 1st, but not before.

That said, I am enjoying playing tourist and spending time with my wife.  I fly out tomorrow morning, and will spending some time at the Detroit airport.  If I can avoid some of the food, and concentrate on just getting home, that will help.

Diet Progress

I haven’t been watching what I eat or weighing myself.  I’m taking a break from the weighing and trying to focus my energies elsewhere.

I ate what I wanted on vacation, and have pretty much kept doing that in the few days I’ve been home.  Losing weight is still important to me.  I just need to focus on it again.

Bicycling

I rode a little over 45 miles on vacation.  Thursday of last week was a short but hilly ride.  Sunday was about 25 miles and several thousand feet of climbing.  I think I prefer riding in the mountains over really flat terrain  such as I did in Florida in September.  On Monday on the return trip I rode down the mountains from the highest point of highway 442 in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park down to Gatlinburg.  That was a fast 15-mile ride.

My wife dropped my bike and I off at work on Tuesday, and picked me up after a partial ride home.  I was too tired to continue.  Wednesday I rode my recumbent to work and back.  It felt good to be a bike commuter again.  Today, I overslept and my wife dropped the bike and I off at work again.  I intend to ride the whole distance home this time.

Vacation Pictures

I took a lot of photographs on vacation.  I’ll just share a few.

The mountains are quite lovely.

We went canoeing on the New River outside of Boone NC.

Mountains in the evening are great for photographs.

Riding in the mountains is challenging but rewarding.

I rode through the (former?) town of Pyatte.

This was a very picturesque area that I wasn’t able to explore by bike, but was driving.  If I ever go back to the area I will ride there.  Steep gravel roads with switchbacks and stunning views.

Kristy and I took a helicopter ride on the way home.

Sometimes I’m a geek on a bike.  Other times I’m a geek in a helicopter.  :)

Weight and Diet

I haven’t been tracking my eating or weight since I got back from DC.  I’m trying to concentrate less on that, and spend more time enjoying life.  Practicing moderation is still hard for me.

Riding

I’m still riding a fair amount.  I went on a 50-mile mixed-terrain ride with Tim on Sunday.  It was a beautiful day in a beautiful area.  See a few pictures below.  Also check out Tim’s post with pictures.  Yes, there was a stream crossing.  Yes, there was an off-road section.  Yes, we were both riding LHTs.

I didn’t ride to work on Monday, but I did ride on Tuesday.  My wife picked me up from work on Tuesday, so my mileage isn’t quite where it should be.

Encounters

While I was standing outside work waiting for my wife to pick me up yesterday, Adam approached me about my Surly LHT.  He apparently has been, or still is, bicycle touring across the U.S.  I didn’t have enough time to find out the details, but we talked bikes for a few minutes.  He’s touring with Dwight, and they are documenting their travels online.  It seems they haven’t updated the blog since last month though.

Vacation

My wife and I are leaving today for a vacation in the mountains of North Carolina.  We’ll be bringing bicycles, but that’s not really the point of the vacation.  With luck I won’t have cell reception.  :)

My daughter will stay home to take care of the dogs and go to school, so this should be a really low-stress vacation.  I’m looking forward to it.

Mental

When I initially lost a lot of weight it gave me a huge sense of accomplishment.  Unfortunately, that fades over time.  I’ve been fighting with depression again.  I’m not sure of the best way to deal with it.  I’m not a believer in medicating for it.  Writing about what I’ve done and where I’m heading is probably the best tool I have to keep the depression at bay.  I do have to say that today is much better than yesterday.

Pictures

Enjoy!  I did.

Diet

I believe the paleodiet works.  I think it could work for me.  However, it’s a trial and error process to get there.  Since I started the paleodiet I’ve been suffering depression and lack of energy.  I’ve also had dizzy spells.  I don’t have the drive to figure out how to adjust the diet, so I’m switching back to my previous diet.  I need to watch what I eat.  I used to track calories, but I’m not going to this time, unless I start gaining weight again.

My new-old diet has helped me feel better, mostly.  My energy level shot back up quickly.  The depression is fading, but not quite gone.  I’m still having minor dizzy spells.

Biking and Travel

I’m writing this from a hotel room outside of Washington DC.  My wife is here for work, and I drove to meet her.  I’ll be heading home in a few hours.

I brought Nermal with me to ride around DC.  I’m glad I did, but I’ve had some mechanical problems with the bike, and may be retiring it soon.  Kristy joked that I should have a “funeral” for the bike, and make an ID card identifying the bike as a “parts donor”.

I rode just over 30 miles on Friday, and did some sight seeing around the capital.  It’s Cherry Blossom time, and a beautiful spring day, so the crowds were out in force.

On Saturday, I only rode about 10.5 miles, because I turned back due to the mechanical issues I mentioned.  I didn’t want to walk back to the hotel.  I spent most of that ride in Alexandria.

I have to admit that the Mt. Vernon trail is rather nice.  It was heavily used while I was out.  There were many cyclists, runners, walkers, and what not.  I saw three trike riders.  I stopped and talked to Michael riding a Greenspeed X5.  He was kind enough to let me take it for a short spin.  Now I have another item to add to my wish list.  :)

I’m a bit underwhelmed by the “bike friendliness” of the area.  Although the trail was nice, getting off the trail and unto a major artery in Alexandria was met with much honking, yelling, and even the flashing of a badge.  I later looked it up, and I was allowed in the road.

In the part of DC itself that I rode in there weren’t actual bike trails, but simply wide sidewalks that were also used as bike paths.  This was not ideal, especially with the crowds.  In fairness, it was faster than attempting to ride in the streets, where traffic was mostly stationary.  I also managed to fall over while coming to a stop in front of hundreds of people.  That was embarrassing.

There is a bike/pedestrian path along the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge.  This path makes it possible to easily ride from Alexandria VA over to Prince George’s County MD.  I wasn’t able to find any good bike riding on the Maryland side.  There were a lot of riders going back and forth across the bride, many of them with children.

Bicycle Indecision

I’ve put a lot of miles on the new Surly LHT I bought in January.  I’m still having comfort issues with it.  I’ve ordered a new stem from Bluegrass Bicycle to raise the handlebars (I’ll be picking it up on Monday).  I’m hoping that it will help.  I rode the recumbent to work on Wednesday, and had forgotten just how comfortable it can be.  I can ride many miles on the Surly, but do I want to?  I can climb steeper hills with the Surly, but I can climb most hills on the ‘bent, and walk the ones I can’t ride up.  I won’t be buying another upright bike until I’ve made up my mind about this.  Poor Nermal (the cheap hybrid that is now broke) will not be replaced.

Bicycle Commuting

Kristy will be home on Monday also.  I’ve ridden a lot of miles while she was gone.  I can’t let that stop.  I love the way riding makes me feel.  It isn’t even just about weight loss anymore.  It’s a combination of things.

• Weight loss
• Save money on parking and gas
• More freedom from car issues
• Sense of accomplishment
• Endorphins!

I get cranky when I don’t ride, so to be a better husband and father, I must ride often!

Weight

My weight had dipped when I started the paleodiet.  It’s now gone up a little, but seems to be holding steady now.  I haven’t been weighing as often.  I’ve actually quit focusing on weight as much as I used to.

I’m trying to find a healthy balance in my life for everything.  I tend to obsess over things, so I’m taking a temporary hiatus from weighing myself.

Video

I shot the following video of a plane coming in for a landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.  There is a park along the Mt. Vernon Trail with great views of the planes.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQHa7c0rlGc

Pictures

A rare empty area on the Mt. Vernon trail

Capitol Building from a distance

Cityscape

Tourists in front of the Lincoln Memorial

Washington Monument

Cherry trees are blossoming

I rode my bike to work every day this week, except on Thursday.  I feel good about that, but haven’t been feeling good in general.  More on that later.

$30 worth of rubber, wasted

Monday I rode the long way to work.  A beautiful route through Utica with lower traffic volume than the normal route.  The ride home was cut short by a large nail, and I called a friend for a ride.

Tuesday, I took a wandering route that was longer than my standard commute, but not as long as the Utica route.

Wednesday was the full Utica route, without a tire failure this time.  I’m really enjoying the longer days than we had a few months ago.

Thursday I didn’t ride to work, but I did ride a few miles to get pizza and beer.

Today, Friday, I took the direct route to work and back.  It was cold and windy this morning, and slightly less cold and windy this afternoon.  I throughly enjoyed the ride to work, but the ride home was a slog.

I’m not planning on riding tomorrow, as I’ve got a lot of other things going on, but I am planning a 55-60 mile RCCS ride on Sunday.

That will push me pretty close to 200 miles for the week.

Weight and Diet

My weight is fluctuating around 200 lbs again.  My eating habits aren’t where they should be.  I’m drinking a beer as I write this.  I’m seriously considering giving up beer for good.

My paleo-diet idea is currently just that, an idea.  I’ve been consuming pizza, brownies, ice cream, beer, chips, and other things that I shouldn’t.  I think I need to reformulate the how and why I eat.  I can better change my behavior if I understand it.

Mood

This has been a rough week.  I’ll write a seperate post about it when I can put it into words that don’t come out sounding whiny.  I went too long without updating here because I didn’t want to post something that basically means “Whaaaaaaaaaaaa!”.

The video below outlines how fructose (from high-fructose corn syrup and plain old table sugar) really destroys the human metabolic process with chronic usage.

Glucose, a simpler sugar, can cause weight gain, but without as much other damage.  How do you get glucose?  By eating starchy carbs.  So, a piece of bread, which I generally avoid, is still better than a comparable number of calories of sugar.

You don’t believe it?  Watch the video below.  It’s 90 minutes, but is completely worth it.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

My “paleodiet” avoids the issue neatly by avoiding most carbs, including sugar and HFCS.

The biggest change you can make with the smallest effort is give up all drinks except milk and water (and unsweetened tea or coffee).  This means no fruit juice too folks.

I had a large-ish lunch of salad, steak, and steamed broccoli, but totally within my diet.  It was dinner that was totally out of line.  I took my daughter and one of her friends out for pizza.  I had entirely too much, and a couple of good beers.  Pizza and beer really doesn’t belong in my diet, except in small amounts.

I ate so much that I was uncomfortable and had to lay down when I got home.  My stomach has been rumbling and gurgling trying to handle all this crap floating around.

So, tomorrow will not be a sub-200 lb day.  Maybe in a couple more days.  Why do I do this to myself?

I put them in a with a small amount of olive oil, put a slice of onion on each, sprinkled with garlic, salt, and pepper, and cooked on a low heat while covered.

A while later they were done (actually slightly over-done).  I served with brussel sprouts, and it was good.

I had read about meatza, a paleodiet-friendly pizza with meat instead of crust.  I used the general idea from here, with my own changes.

My “crust” was ground beef and eggs mixed together like meatloaf.  I fried some sausage as a topping.  I sauteed onions, green peppers, and red bell peppers for more toppings.  I mixed tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, basil, garlic, pepper, and oregano for sauce.  I made the meatza from these ingredients, and broiled it until it was done.

I had mixed some olive oil, dried red pepper, and parmesan cheese as a thick sauce to add after the meal was cooked.

It turned out delicious!  It is filling so I have leftovers.  I didn’t take any pictures of it, or measure anything, so I don’t have a true recipe, but I’m going to do it a little different next time.

I cooked mashed potatoes with the skins still on, covered them with onion and green pepper sauteed in butter.  I then had two pan-fried pork-chops with red pepper served on a bed of fresh spinach.  I had a large glass of water with it.

It was an easy meal to prepare.  Although the potatoes provide some carbs, I’m mostly just giving up sugar and grains.  I’ve found a way of life that is more sustainable in the long-term.

The advantages of this diet:

• No counting calories or restricting myself
• Better for long-term health (supposedly)
• I can have a juicy hamburger, without the bread, or big piece of meat

The disadvantages:

• Finding a restaurant to eat at is difficult
• Cooking is required much more often (rather than convenience foods)
• Initially I had a lack of energy and carb cravings; that has passed
• It can be more expensive to eat this way
• There is a long list of items that shouldn’t be consumed, including beer.

Once my lack of energy subsided, I was able to ride my bike to work and back again.  I rode the full way on Monday, the full way there (but got a ride home) on Tuesday.  Wednesday I drove.  Thursday I rode a partial-commute each way.  Today, I’m driving because of weather.

I’m also spending much of the weekend doing this that I’ve been putting off too long.  The house is a mess.  I have a lot to do.

I plan on commuting to work by bike as much as possible this next week.  Not only does it help me lose weight, but it clears my head.  I may have to take a day off to drive to my brother’s funeral, but that’s not been completely decided yet.

I am working on learning, and eating, the paleodiet that I mentioned before.  I think I’m going to end up doing a modified version of it, getting a few carbs here and there from potatoes.  I’m avoiding nearly all grain products.  The worst part is that I’ve given up beer.  Not to say I won’t have one beer on a rare occasion, but it’s no longer a regular thing for me.

One of the advantages of this diet, is that I don’t have to measure and track calories.  I have found that I occasionally binge on too much meat, but I don’t think it’ll be a problem.  Most people who follow the paleodiet don’t eat dairy products.  I still haven’t given up on my cheese though. 

My weight is slowly trending downward again.  It could take me a while to get below 200 lbs again though.  This time, I don’t ever want to get back above 200 lbs.  I need to be healthier.  I need to eat better.  I need to exercise more.

I did some reading and found the paleodiet.  It certainly sounds good.  It would mean I don’t need to track calories.  I can eat a lot of good food.  This diet may actually work, but apparently not for me.

My problem is carb-cravings.  I’ll do well for a few days then I’ll binge on high-carb food.  One of the main points of the paleodiet is to avoid the carbs.  I seem to have issues doing so.

So now I’m faced with a new decision.  Do I:

1. Work harder on the paleodiet, and control my eating?
2. Start tracking everything I eat and control my eating?

Either way, it appears I need more self control.  Self control isn’t fun.  Why can’t it be easy?

Blah.

Oh, it isn’t about exercise.  I get a lot of exercise these days.  I’m a bit bummed out that I’m not riding my bike to work tomorrow, but I really don’t want to get stuck there with snow on the ground.  My wife is out of town until at least the end of March, so she can’t pick me up if weather gets bad.

Tasty!

I met up with five others today for the Ghost Bike Memorial Ride.  It was a cold day for a ride, but I was dressed well enough.  After the ride, Tim and I continued on for a few more miles (after a stop for coffee) bringing the total to 19.

After arriving home I cooked a nice healthy meal of chicken tenderloin with red pepper (I overdid the red pepper), brussells sprouts, and a bottle of Schlafly’s Coffee Stout.  Thanks Tim!

I started a true lifestyle change back in 2007.   The changes were drastic, but effective.  I lost weight, and got much more fit.  The changes centered around eating sensibly and getting exercise.

I realize that although I’m still much healthier and fit than I was when I started, my eating habits have slipped  gradually back to horrible.  Overall, I’m still doing well due to the exercise I get but I need another lifestyle change.

I’m considering a six-day diet.  A strict low-carb diet six days per week, then eat what I want on the seventh.  This will allow me to lose weight, yet still go out with Kristy for dinner, or have a beer or three.

The low-carb, high-fat, high-protein diet is a bit controversial, but will be easier to fit-in with Kristy’s cooking habits.  It’s also similar to what I was eating during my best period of weight loss.

I still need to track everything I eat, and weigh regularly.   Both of those things mostly disappeared for the month of December.

I had talked about the fact that I ride for fun rather than weight loss.  I was dreaming of buying a new bike, though I have two perfectly usable ones.

Since then, my mileage is way down, and my weight is up.  I can make excuses about being busy, but the truth is that I haven’t been trying hard enough recently.

I do spend a lot of time thinking about bikes.  I spend more time thinking about bikes than riding them.  I have spent very little time thinking about my eating habits recently.  I haven’t been tracking my calorie consumption or my weight very regularly.

This has led to a 20 lb weight gain over the last five months.  So, I lost 100 lbs, but gained 20 of it back.  That is frustrating.  I feel like the “Fat Guy” that I used to be.

Not Totally Negative

I did ride to work yesterday.  Then I ran some errands around Clarksville Indiana by bike.  I traveled Eastern, Lewis & Clark, Greentree, and Veteran’s Parkway.  I have never considered riding those non-bike-friendly-roads until yesterday, but it wasn’t as bad as I imagined (even with holiday shopping traffic), and I had a good time.

My ride terminated at Feeder’s Supply where I bought 50 lbs of pet supplies, and waited for my wife to pick me up in the truck.  I had 32 miles for the day, not bad for simple utility cycling.

Now What?

Ride more, eat less!  I need to start carrying around paper and pen to write down everything I eat.  I normally track it on my computer, but if I’m not near a computer, it may not get recorded.  I need to track it even I don’t have time to calculate the calories.  I need to hold myself accountable.

I briefly considered posting everything I eat here, but that would truly make this a (more) boring place. 

I need to post here more often.  Writing about my weight loss attempt keeps me focused.  It keeps my goals at the front of my consciousness.

Merry Christmas everyone!  I’ll try to keep my snacking on sweets to a minimum.

The snow did help put me in a more festive spirit, which matched the Christmas lights I put on my bike yesterday.  My daughter snapped a couple of pictures before I left.  One is with the flash, my reflective bits are very visible, but the Christmas lights aren’t.  The other is without the flash, but the lights are very visible.  Either way, motorists should be able to see me.

Still Struggling

I’m still not losing much weight, mostly because I’m still eating too much.  We had a birthday party for my daughter on Saturday, and I consumed way too much food.  I need to stop doing that.

I got Nermal back from the shop yesterday, with a new bottom bracket.  The front brakes weren’t working well, so I pulled them apart, cleaned, lubed, and adjusted everything.  They seem to be working better now.

My daughter wanted to spend the night at a friends house, but wanted a ride.  She wasn’t certain where the house was, but with a little prodding, she rode the 2.6 miles with me on her bike… after dark… on a Friday night.  It was fun, but I think she was terrified.  She has lights, but is uncomfortable in traffic.

I went against my own judgment and stopped for food and beer on the way home.  I really don’t need the calories, but good beer is worth it.

That’s just one of those simple things that is easy to forget.

I hadn’t been posting my weight for a while, I have now.  I’m also back to tracking my food.  I need to take control again.  Losing the last 35 lbs seems near-impossible.

I did go on an awesome Friday night “Brew Cruise” with Tim, Ben, Chaz, and Kristin.  It was a shortish ride, but I had ridden to work that day, then had to ride home.  I made it home just before 2:00 a.m.  Granted, we did have five stops along the route, and spent some time at each.

Saturday was spent at home doing housework.

On Sunday, I met up with Tim and Dale for a 45- mile ride in Oldham county.  I really enjoyed the ride, other than a painful issue with my ankle.  I think I caused that Saturday by smacking my ankle on the laundry hamper.  (Maybe I shouldn’t walk around the house without shoes?).  Dale hosted the ride, and provided a nice selection of beer for after the ride.

Mountain Biking

I got up early on Saturday to take my daughter to take her SAT test.  I dropped her off, then headed over to Tim’s house.  We rode two of his mountain bikes.  He rode his Redline Monocog, a single-speed 26″-wheeled bike with no suspension.  I started out on his Cannondale 29er hardtail.

The Cannondale felt like a truck: big, heavy, and would roll over anything.  We later switched bikes and the difference was huge.  The Monocog was simplicity itself.  No shifting to worry about, and it was easier to just tug around on the trail.

This was only my second time mountain biking, and I managed to stay upright, even if I did run into a small tree and tweak my wrist a little.  It was a lot of fun, but quite a bit more tiring than road riding.

I will remain primarily a road-rider, but a mountain bike is on my wish-list.

Inappropriate Clothing?

I had worn cycling tights and a jersey (I needed the rear pockets!) for the mountain bike ride.  I had planned to bring a change of clothes, but forgot.  I needed to run an errand at the Louisville International Airport… so I walked through the airport wearing the clothes I had ridden in, including the mud splatters.

After picking up my daughter from her SAT test, we needed to stop at Meijer for some shopping and I was still in my cycling garb.  I felt like a goof, and did get a few weird looks, but nobody said anything.

Sunday Ramble

Tim came by on Sunday for a 45-miler.  We stayed on paved roads, but dove down into the river valley twice, with two climbs to match.  There was also a nice descent into a creek bed on Tunnel Mill Road, followed by a short, steep climb.

The weather was absolutely incredible.  It made it into the low 70s, not bad at all for November.

The rural area north-east of Charlestown has a number of run down buildings.  There are  some pictures below.

Tim wrote about it here.

Yard Work

I had a lot of yard work to do, hopefully for the last time this year.  I got it done over the weekend, but split it among the two days, so that I still had time for other things on both days.

Commuting

I only commuted by bike two days last week.  This week isn’t looking good either.  The first three days of this week I have after-work obligations that require me to have my truck.

I’m not sure what’s going on Thursday yet, but I do intend to ride on Friday, as the RCCS is having another “Beer Run“.  I’ll be riding to work, then riding the short-ish RCCS ride, then riding home way too late. 

Overeating

I’ve eaten way too much this weekend.  I’m currently stuffed from eating too many brownies.  I’ve had pizza twice.  I’ve been drinking beer.  I can’t keep eating like this!

The Pictures!

I rode to work 4 days last week (3.5 commutes due to getting a ride home one day).  I did three full commutes this week, but won’t be riding tomorrow as I need my truck for some errands.  I did ride with Tim on Saturday for the Fuck Gas 40oz Fun Run.  Tim wrote about it here.

I’m not gaining weight anymore, but I’m not really losing either.  I’m still eating too much on average.

Biking and moving things are my only exercises recently.  I still need more upper-body exercise, but at least my shoulder isn’t bothering me much now.

I had really intended to be at my goal weight by now, but I’m almost 34 lbs away from it.

My foot pain is gone.  My shoulder is mostly just a minor nuisance.  I can and will keep riding, and lose the weight.

I haven’t been posting weekly and monthly updates, because they were bad news.  I haven’t been posting as much in general for a variety of reasons.

I have felt better this week than I have in a while.  I’ve been terribly busy, but I’m squeezing in time to ride my bike to work and back.  It’s a huge stress-reliever, and the key to my weight loss.

I need to go back and re-think my goals soon.  My target weight isn’t changing, but many other things will.

We’ve still got of stuff to move from her old apartment, but we’re getting to it.  Although we’re probably still going out to eat too often, we are splitting meals now which is better for the wallet and the gut.

I’ve worked three days this week.  On Wednesday I drove to work.  Thursday and Friday (today) I rode the bike into work, but Kristy picks me up after work.  That seems to work out well.

I’ve been riding Nermal.  Oria needs some work on the wheels, and should probably have the bearings cleaned and regreased after the sand and saltwater spray in Florida.

I am disappointed with my weight.  I’ve been above 210 lbs all of this month, and part of last.  I had been down below 198 as recently as July.

Kristy is supportive of my weight loss and bike riding.  She kicked me out of bed this morning so that I had time to ride.  I love her for that. 

I’m going to have to try to continue to eat that way for the next week and a half.  I’m leaving for Florida with her, and we’re getting married on the 12th in Cocoa Beach.

I am bringing  bikes with me (Oria for me, Nermal for my mother, and Kristy’s bike).  I’ll attempt to get some riding in.

I did ride to work and back on Monday.  I rode a partial commute on Thursday.  That’s not nearly enough miles, but life has been crazy.

215 lbs is about what I weighed back in January.  I’m going to have to really push hard to get back under 200 lbs by the end of the year.  I’m going to Florida in less than a week.  I have another conference to attend in October in St. Louis.  I need to learn better eating habits when travelling.

For now, I’m back at home, and will be back on the bike.  I’ve got some good food around the house, and need to watch how much of it I eat.

The picture on the right was taken from Chart House restaurant at the top of Tower of the Americas.  I ate dinner there last night.  It was one of my healthier meals until desert came around.

Today brought a wonderful selection of fruit and breakfast burritos in the morning, and a big spread for lunch.  I don’t know what dinner will bring, but I’m not yet ready for more food.

I’m going to hop on my bike tomorrow morning and ride to work.  I’m going to quit drinking Coke (again).  I’m going to eat out less. I have Nermal’s rear wheel fixed, and will re-install it tomorrow.

I’m spending some time with Kristy on Friday and Saturday.  I’ll also be school shopping for my daughter.  I’m hoping to get a good ride in on Sunday.

I’ve had some depression issues recently.  I’m not sure how much of it is due to work, and how much is due to not riding my bike and gaining weight.  The solution is to ride my bike… which is harder when I’m depressed.  I’ve got to break out of the cycle.

I’m back to weighing myself every day and tracking my eating. I’ve been bad about doing that recently.

I took two vacation days from work, and had a four-day weekend and went to Parkersburg, West Virginia with Kristy and Dawn.  It had been 32 years since I was last in West Virginia, so I had little memory of it.

Parkersburg is an interesting town.  It has it’s issues, but I found one charming aspect.  People ride bikes there.  There are kids on BMX bikes all over town.  Adults were riding mountain bikes (most with disc brakes).  Nobody wore a helmet.  It was like the 80s all over again. 

Kristy didn’t have a bike, so we brought both of mine with, plus Dawn’s.  We hauled three bikes there, and four back.  Kristy doesn’t like riding either of my bikes, so we bought one for her.  Her new bike is a Cannondale Adventure 5.  I also test rode a Surly LHT, and it even fit.  I don’t have the budget for that bike.  It’s been on my wish list for some time, and the reservations I’ve had about getting one are now settled.  I want it.  I just can’t have it now.

I didn’t get to ride nearly enough while I was there.  I did ride between the hotel room and her family’s house (about 2.5 miles) several times.  The three of us also went on a short ride around town.

I had to go back to work on Monday, and wasn’t able to ride because I didn’t get much sleep, and had to pick up my dogs from the vet where they were boarded.  I felt a strong need to ride.  My mental health was requiring it.

So, on Tuesday, I rode to work.  There was a chance of rain, but it only rained while I was at work.  The ride home was lovely also.

Today, Wednesday, was the opposite.  I got drenched in the morning, and in the afternoon, but it didn’t rain while I was at work.

I enjoyed riding in the rain.  Only the first few minutes of getting wet is uncomfortable.  Once you get totally wet, it doesn’t really matter anymore.  I’m riding again tomorrow, no matter what the weather.  I probably won’t ride on Friday, as Kristy will be here.

Back to my weight… I’m sure I’ve gained.  I don’t know how much.  I’m actually pretty happy with the way I feel this week.  I feel like I’ve developed the right mindset to ride much more often.  If I can keep riding, I will lose the weight.  Yes, I should get back on the scale.  Yes, I should eat better.  Yes I need to lay off the beer.

Maybe tomorrow. 

I haven’t eaten well today, but I haven’t eaten much either.  That coupled with not riding my bike has me feeling lazy.

On the positive side, I have some better tires ordered for Nermal and I’ve got my new hand-built front wheel to match the one in the rear.  I should be able to put it all together this weekend.

I’m also going on an early morning ride with Tim on Saturday, possibly 80 miles.

She tagged along for Sunday’s RCCS ride driving my truck as a “support vehicle”.  Mainly, she carried snacks and took pictures.  Tim’s write-up is here.

I didn’t post a weekly weight update, but basically I gained 0.1 lbs.  I haven’t weighed regularly and I’ve been eating more.  My next weekly weight will probably be up more.

I haven’t ridden a bike since Sunday, but I will be riding tomorrow.  I felt angry and depressed today, but I think it was the lack of bike riding, or exercise in general.  I felt much better today after my weight-lifting session.

I’m considering riding a century (100 miles) this Saturday.  I need the stress relief.  If I do it, it’ll be my longest ride yet.

If anyone else out there is interested in riding 100 miles starting early Saturday, and riding at a slow-ish pace, let me know.  I could organize a last minute RCCS ride.

I did do housework, cooking, and bike maintenance, so it wasn’t a total waste.

Despite a case of the “blahs” that made me want to consume large quantities of food, I actually ate pretty well.  I did have to keep reminding myself that I want to lose weight though.

Kristy will be back in town on Friday.  I’m taking that day off, so I have a four-day work-week.  I’m going to ride to work every day and try to keep my progress going.

We started just after 7:00 a.m.  When Tim has a route, I just follow him.  I rarely know the roads.  His account is here.

I did take a fall, but I was on the ‘bent, so I didn’t have far to fall.  I slid on my bottom, and have minor road rash.  It’s not enough to keep me from riding.  The bike suffered only minor scrapes.

I did get a quick ride on Tim’s new QuickBeam and on his Rans Rocket.  This discussion that ensued may well encourage Tim to ride his Rans a little more often.

After the ride I went to Bluegrass Bicycle for some repairs.  Nermal’s rear wheel was trued, the derailleur was replaced, and some cables were replaced.  Oria needed one new cable, and the front derailleur adjusted.  I also bought some new bar-ends for Nermal, the old ones were breaking.

Later, my daughter and I rode our bikes to the grocery store.  It’s not a long trip, but I rather enjoy it.

I ate well most of the day, but I had fresh, hot brownies and ice cream for a snack.  It was a nice finish for the day.

On Saturday I drove to Michigan to pick up my daughter.  She’s spending most of the summer with me.  Tonight, she’s eating dinner at a friend’s house, so I’m taking advantage of that and just “grazing” on some healthy food instead of cooking a meal.

I’ve been rather busy, and haven’t posted on the blog as much.  I also haven’t figured out how to get my daily weigh-in page fixed.  It broke when I upgraded to WordPress 2.8.  I still track my weight in Excel so I’ll update it here once I fix the issue.

I’m still above 200 lbs, but I think some of the lack of weight loss is due to building muscle.  I’ve had a lot of progress in my weight-training sessions for my shoulder.  I still have shoulder pain, but it’s more manageable.  I can also lift substantially more than I could when I started.  I still have the most trouble when trying to sleep at night though.  Being really busy and not sleeping well does not make me happy, but other than that, life is good.

Up from last week:
4.5 lbs

Down since I started on 10/31/2007:
92.2 lbs

My average loss per 30 days since 10/31/2007:
4.68 lbs

Weight until goal:
29.2 lbs

Getting under 200 lbs was a challenge, but I did it.  Staying under 200 is harder.  Hopefully my diet changes I talked about in my last post will help here.

I later thought about my recent struggles with losing additonal weight, and how my diet has changed.

I used to be able to lose weight even when not riding many miles, as long as I was sane with my calorie intake.  Now, I struggle with the weight whether I’m eating a reasonable number of calories or not.

I went months without buying bread.  I didn’t eat sandwiches.  I ate a high-carb breakfast, but low-carb meals for the rest of the day.  I later starting eating more carbs.

If I’m going to take the trainer’s advice and eat more protein, I’ll need to lower my calorie consumption somewhere else, so I’m cutting the lunch and dinner carbs.  It’s still not a strict low-carb diet, as I don’t believe that’s healthy.  I really need carbs in the morning to get me going.

I’ve also been working on weaning myself off of caffeine.  If I cut it cold-turkey, the withdrawal will be miserable, so I’m doing it gradually.  I’m only doing it because there is some evidence that caffeine can worsen arthritis, and I’m really sick of the pain in my shoulder.

As far as bike riding, I rode to work on Monday, and haven’t touched the bike since.  I will be doing some riding tomorrow (a partial commute, and some errands), but none on Saturday.  I am riding a 60-70 mile ride on Sunday with the RCCS.

Having a plan… and idea of what I need to do to lose more weight helps me feel better.  Maybe now I can reach my goal weight of 175 lbs.

Today, Wednesday, I rode the full way to work on Nermal, had a lunch ride with two co-workers, then rode the Ride of Silence through downtown Louisville before heading home.  I rode 49 miles today, and didn’t get home until almost 10:00 p.m.

I’m not really lined up to break my weekly mileage record again unless I do a lot more riding this weekend.

I’ve been eating better the last two days and I’m actually “feeling thinner” again.  I’ve been through that before, and it usually happened at the beginning of another drop in weight.

I’ve had twice-weekly strength-training sessions for my upper body.  The idea is if I strengthen the muscles around my shoulder, it will help protected my poor arthritic shoulder joint.  So far I have some reduction in pain… until I move wrong, then the pain is back.  I haven’t seen any improvement in range-of-motion yet.

It’s now 8:15 a.m. on Monday morning, and I’ve ridden more miles in the last two hours than all of last week.  I rode my recumbent the full way to work.

I haven’t been completely lazy.  I’ve been doing yardwork.  I went and bought a used weight bench, and did a brief workout with it.  I’ve been cooking more.  I’m starting to get a handle on the out-of-control housework again.  I went grocery shopping yesterday… but I drove.

This week should be interesting.  I’m off to a good start.  I want to ride to work everyday.  I’m riding to Louisville’s Bike to Work Day event on Friday.  I’m riding on the Tour de Cure on Saturday.

Maybe this week can get me out of my rut.

Down from last week:
0.0 lbs

Down since I started on 10/31/2007:
92.7 lbs

My average loss per 30 days since 10/31/2007:
5.00 lbs

Weight until goal:
28.7 lbs

This week’s average is the same as last.  Looking at the chart above, I’m at the end of the largest weight spike I’ve had so far.  I’m glad I lost the weight that I had regained, but I did lose two months of progress.

My biggest problem is still overeating.  I haven’t completely brought it under control either.  I ate a huge dinner last night, and a rather large breakfast today.

I bought another bag, and it took me two days to snack my way through it.  It’s like eating green, leafy potato chips. 

I had a light dinner today and my total calorie consumption for the day is 1170.  Yesterday was 2520, so it does vary quite a bit.  Amazingly, I’ve averaged only 1600 calories per day in the last week.  The week before was over 2000.

Alright, I’ve had a lot of exercise, now I’ve eaten, it’s time for bed.

My mental state is greatly improved from being back on the bike.  Starting off the workday with a bike ride is a huge boost to my mood and attitude at work.

I was highly motivated to get home quickly after work, so I could drive to go visit Kristy, my girlfriend.  I have to drive to see Kristy, as she lives about 90 miles from my house.  I may eventually ride there, but I’ll need a few days off work to do that.

I did drive to work today, but I’ll be back on the bike tomorrow.

My weight is  still up, but I’m back to eating healthy, and plan to put some serious miles on the bikes, so I should be back to losing weight very soon.

I figure I’ll work toward the “middle ground” stuff.  Simple enough that it doesn’t take too long, yet isn’t just heating something up, or throwing it on the grill.

I had some brown rice that I put on to boil with spices and frozen peas.  I had some chicken tenderloin that I dipped in flour with some spices.  I pan-fried it in a small amount of olive oil.

This was a rather simple meal, but it’s different than what I usually do.

I didn’t spend a lot of time trying to calculating calories, but the two pieces of meat and small serving of rice seems to be about 650 calories.  I had enough left for another meal.

With more practice the rice will be better.  It was slightly mushy.

Up from last week:
1.6 lbs

Down since I started on 10/31/2007:
91.8 lbs

My average loss per 30 days since 10/31/2007:
5.43 lbs

Weight until goal:
29.6 lbs

This is why I have weekly averages.  My weight has been trending upward.  I know why it has also.  My daily average calorie consumption is almost double what it was a few weeks ago.  I haven’t been riding my bike nearly enough.

I did have a great time.  I spent time with my girlfriend.  We cooked meals together, went out to eat, went to a movie, and went to the zoo.  I did tell her that I need to fit my healthy lifestyle back into my life. 

I’ve also realized that my binge-eating problems are still around.  I had kept them in check by limiting my available choices.  That’s a bit harder with someone else around, and when going out to eat.  Just before posting this I was eating way too much of an apple pie.  I need to put it away now, or I’ll eat more.

I have a RCCS ride today that should help, and I’ll be riding to work most of this upcoming week (hopefully).

I ate a huge meal at a Cuban restaurant last night.  It was very good, but today’s weight was 206.6 lbs.  I can’t eat like that too often.

It seems amazing to me that it’s been 500 days.  I have changed a lot, physically and mentally, but I still have the same food issues if I don’t pay attention.

There have been days when I overeat, and wanted to abandon calorie tracking for a day or two.

Now that I’m dating, going out to eat seems to happening more often.  I’ve still been plugging away on my calorie tracking though.  There are a few scary numbers in there, but I try to offset them with lighter days.

I haven’t ridden my bike in way too long, I’ve had days with horrible overeating, yet I’m still losing weight, although slower.  I can live with that.

I’m not going to blame the lack of bike riding on dating.  She’s not around through the week, and I could have ridden except for other things that have come up.  I was going to ride today even with the threat of rain, but I just don’t feel well enough today.  Yesterday, I was sitting around the house in the morning waiting for the cable guy to fix my broadband and had to go into work late, so no riding.

I will be riding the 40+ mile RCCS ride on Sunday, but I’m not sure if the time off the bike will mean I’m refreshed and ready, or that it’ll kill my legs.  I guess I’ll find out.

My weight loss appears to still be doing well.  Yesterday’s weigh-in was 202.6 lbs. If I continue to eat well I lose weight even when I don’t ride much.

I ate Girl Scout Cookies for breakfast.  At least those things are gone now.  I now know not to ever buy them again.  I apologize to the Girl Scouts, but my problems with food are not solved.

Tomorrow is supposed to be warmer,  but with a good chance of rain.  I may ride anyway.  I may even ride Nermal the entire distance.  I will fix the flat tire tonight.

I did do some dumbbell workout routines last night, and this morning, so my chest and arms feel a little weird.  They’re not really painful, just weird.

I had a soft drink with my fast food.  I drink the stuff so rarely these days… and now I want another, in a deranged kinda way.  I actually considered getting dressed and riding down to the gas station to buy some more.

That said, I’m going to go to bed and curl up in the fetal position.

Today, I rode into work in 16 degree temperatures.  It was a bit below my comfort level, but I managed it.  Other than the temperature, it was a great ride.

I ate a large lunch at work, and a snack.  The ride home was warmer, but I felt famished.  I stopped and bought some fast food on the way home.  That was the magic screw-up that was needed.  I felt a ton better, and continued the ride home.

I don’t feel so good now that I’ve totalled my calories for the day.  I ate over 3000 calories.  I intend to ride tomorrow also, but the two boxes of Girl Scout Cookies I ordered should be in tomorrow.  Two screw-ups in two days might be too many.

On the subject of trying to ride when hungry, I found Paul Cooley blogging about fasting and riding with his kids.  I dunno, I would probably pass out if I tried something like that.

Four of us were there.  Tim, Dale, Rich (Rick? – not sure, sorry), and myself.

We started at Sunergos Coffee on Preston St.  At this point it was windy, and there were times we had a hard time pushing through the wind… other than Dale… he’s a monster.

On the way to our first stop the rain began.  It was a cold rain that would sting slightly when it hit exposed skin.  Luckily, I had very little exposed skin.

Our first stop was Rich O’s in New Albany for a good beer, and to warm up.  While at Rich O’s, the rain had turned to snow.  It was wet, sticky snow, but it was better than the rain.  The temperature had dropped, so I switched to my warmer gloves, and put on my balaclava.

We travelled back through New Albany and Clarksville, and were heading across the bridge.  Tim is great at choosing moments to take pictures, so we pulled off on to the sidewalk while he grabbed a picture of the downtown skyline disappearing into the snowy haze.

We went to BBC for hot food, and cold beer.  Then continued on to Cumberland Brews in the Highlands for another snack, and a beer.

It was a great ride overall.  I left my camera at home, so I stole these from Tim.  Dale had a camera too, but I don’t have those pictures yet.

By the time I got back to my car, the precipitation had stopped.  There was a light accumulation of snow on the grassy areas, and on my car, but the roads were fine.

I completely blew my calorie budget for the day, even considering the calories burned by the ride.  I don’t care, it was completely worth it.

When I got to the Second Street Bridge (nearly done with the ride to work), my average speed was 15.0 mph.  It went down from there as traffic was backed up across the bridge.  The ride home was slower, at about 13.4 mph.

This was the only the day this week that I rode the entire commute.  I need to ride more often, not just for my fitness, but to save money on gas and parking.

I’m probably going to drive to Bluegrass Bicycle tomorrow morning, and check them out.  I’ve never been there.  It’s a bit far for a ride however.

Yesterday I met up with Dennis Sheridan at Molly Malone’s Irish Pub.  We have worked together in the past, and I figured it was time to hang out a little with him.  I didn’t ride yesterday, and he’s not really a cyclist, but he decided to surprise me by showing up on a bike.  It was amusing.

I ate too much, and drank too much beer, so my calorie count for the day was off the chart.  I had a good time, but the corned beef and cabbage and beer made for some weird smells today. 

My first almost-meatless week was due to not having much money for groceries.  The second week was totally meat-free, and was just done for the hell of it.  I have no intention of being a vegetarian.  I guess I’ll be meat-light. 

About seven years ago, I had a short-lived weight loss attempt that involved only eating meat once a week.  I don’t really know how much I lost, as I didn’t own a scale, but I think I did lose a little weight.

Oddly enough, the month or so that I went without meat seemed to cure my heartburn problems for several years.  My new lifestyle has since eliminated the heartburn problems again.

The picture to the right was taken in May of 2002, around the same time in my life that I went vegetarian for a month.  I didn’t do the other things that were required to make any weight loss “stick”.

The ride home was nearly 60 degrees.  I had zero rude drivers today.  I’m not sure how that happened, but I’ll take it when I can get it.

The only issues I had on the commute were minor mechanical things.  I need to adjust the rear brake, and my bicycle computer quit working for 3.5 miles on the way home after running through a puddle.  I’m going to take a good look at the sensor, and seal it with silicone if necessary.

The weather for this weekend looks really nice, with a chance of rain.  I intend to ride a lot on both Saturday and Sunday.

Next week will start out warm, but with a greater chance of rain.  I did go ahead and order a rain cape, but I’m not sure when it’ll arrive.

My weight has been slowly trending downward pretty consistently.  I’ve been eating well, and have been on a vegetarian diet all week (mostly to save money).  I’ve eaten a lot of beans for dinner, and peanut butter sandwiches and bananas for lunch.

Weight

My average weight for January 2009 is 216.5 lbs, or 7.3 lbs lower than last month.  My progress during the month has been mixed.  On 1/1/09 I weighed 215.0 lbs.  On 1/31/09, I weighed the exact same 215.0 lbs.  There was a fair amount of fluctuation in between those dates.  The highest weight was 221.4 lbs, and the lowest was 211.6 lbs.

Bicycling

I rode 277.8 miles for the month.  I need to ride 417 per month to meet my goal, so I’ve only achieved 67% of what I intended too.  I drove 678 miles for the month.  I intend to drive only 292 miles per month, so I did poorly there also.

The weather has not been kind to me this month.  We had bitter cold, ice and snow, then an ice storm that really derailled my cycling.  Hopefully February has better weather.

I’m beginning to re-think my idea to become car-free at some point.  I still want the bicycle miles, but the bad weather we’ve had this month has made me wonder if I’m cut out for a car-free life.

Food

My diet is fluctuating as usual.  I have a number of good days in a row, then I overdo it.  Obviously this pattern works for me, as I have continued to lose weight.

I have been changing my diet up a bit.  I’m trying to continue to eat healthy, but spend less money.  One of my other goals is to pay off my debt, and that will be slightly easier if I spend less money on everything, including food.

I’ve been spending more time cooking, instead of using the microwave.  Overall, this is a good thing, and maybe I’ll actually learn a bit about cooking.  I’ve also become a big fan of beans.  They are high-fiber and high-protein.

Exercise

I have done very little exercise other than cycling, and cleaning up debris from the ice storm.  My dumbbells have been sitting in a corner unused.  My push-up plan has been all but forgotten.  I need to start doing these things again.

One new exercise I’ve begun doing, and need to do more often is hiking.  This is an activity my dogs and I enjoy together.

No only is there couple of inches of wet, heavy snow, but there is sleet coming down now and it’s supposed to continue to be a nasty mix of sleet and snow through tomorrow.

I wouldn’t have been able to ride my bike the full distance to work due to accumulation on the roads, then pushed unto the shoulder.  I considered a partial commute, but I am attending the Louisville Geek Dinner tonight, and having my car is probably safer.

I will have to watch what I eat and drink, but it should be a good time.

I’m not sure how much riding I’ll get in this week with the snowy weather forecast, but the dogs and I may go for another hike.

As the day went on, I felt much better and wished I had ridden to work.  I think my “cheap eats” post from earlier this week explains the real problem.  I wasn’t eating much, and I rode to work two days in a row.  I needed more energy than that.

I basically blew my goal to not buy food until Friday.  I bought a candy bar yesterday, and after work today, I rode my bike to the grocery store and bought a few necessary items.

• Bananas!  I need the potassium when I exercise.
• Yogurt.  Calcium, and one of my “comfort foods”
• Cereal… I was running low
• Milk, for the cereal
• Orange juice.  Helps the immune system.
• Lunch meat.  Not necessarily a healthy food, but something to stuff between to pieces of bread.

That’s all I bought.  It came to about $15.00, and easily fit on my bike.  I still ate beans for dinner, but I also had a banana, orange juice, and yogurt.

My limited diet this week and the two days of riding did help my weight.  I weighed-in at 212.8 lbs.  I first got to 215 lbs on the first of the month, and was unable to get below it, until today.  It’ll probably be up tomorrow, but that’s okay.  Overall it’s still trending downward.

I grabbed a Snickers bar.  I devoured it, then looked at the label.  The King Size Snickers is considered 3 servings, each serving is 170 calories.  In other words, I ate a quick 510 calories, and it wasn’t even filling.

That candy bar was the highest calorie single item I’ve eaten since Friday of last week.  The item on Friday was a foot-long sub from Subway.

I’m still on track for my “cheap eats” track for the week, but eating beans is getting old. 

I rode Oria to work today, and don’t have much choice other than to ride home later.

I thought being back on the recumbent would speed me up.  However, I still made poor time.  Part of the issue was backed up traffic, but my average speed was pretty bad before I ran into traffic issues.  Overall it took about two hours for me to get to work today and it was 13 degrees.

For those of you wondering why backed up traffic would affect me, on a bike, well, I ride with traffic.  I don’t ride on the sidewalk and I don’t ride between lanes of cars.  What I do is the legal and safer way to ride.

I went through my cupboards yesterday to figure out how long I can go with my existing stuff before having to go to the store.

Pinto Beans: I had a bag of these that had been sitting in the cupboard way too long.  I cooked up a big pot last night, ate beans for dinner last night, and refrigerated enough for tonight (which I have now eaten), and froze the rest for later in the week.  I added spices and hot sauce, but I didn’t have anything else to add.

Rice: I have a fair amount of rice.  I haven’t cooked any of it, but I will have to later in the week.  I will boil it, or if I’m feeling energetic, fry it first for a different flavor.  I have some olive oil left for that.

Split Peas:  I have a small amount of these.  It should be enough for one meal.

Corn Meal: I have a large bag of this that appears to be several years old.  I opened it, and put it in a canister.  There were no signs of mold or bugs, so it should be fine.  I figure that once I run out of cereal and milk, I can cook cornmeal mush for breakfast.

Lunch: I have enough lunch meat for 3 more sandwiches.  I have a little more bread than that.  I’ve been in the habit of eating two sandwiches for lunch when I ride to work.  I’m planning on bringing one sandwich and a package of frozen brussels sprouts for lunch tomorrow.  I’ll eat later in the day so I have energy to ride home.  I should probably bring an extra piece of bread or two.

Frozen Dinners: I have one frozen dinner in the freezer.  I’ll save it until I’m really sick of beans.

Popcorn: I have a large amount of popcorn, and a hot-air popper.  That will help my small meals fill me up.

What I don’t have: I’m completely out of fresh fruits, orange juice, cheese, and meat.  I’m nearly out of milk and lunch meat.  I don’t have a lot of cereal, but the milk will run out first.

My goal is to make it to Friday with what I have.  Then I’ll spend a little at the grocery store.  The more days I drive (and spend $7 to park), the less money I’ll have for groceries.

I’m actually looking forward to this challenge… mostly because I’m weird. 

After work, I was riding home, and although the temperature was warmer, the wind was a lot worse.  The wind was mostly a cross-wind, but it kept changing directions, sometimes pushing me from behind and giving a welcome boost in speed, other times, blowing right into my face and slowing me down horribly.

After 8.5 miles of my 16.5 mile commute I called it quits, and called for a ride.  I could have finished the ride, but I just didn’t want too.  The weather was bad, idiot drivers were everywhere, and I was hungry.

After getting home I went out to (over)eat instead of having a sensible meal at home.

The weather for the rest of the week looks to be extremely cold and windy.  I don’t think I’m riding again this week.

These decisions aren’t helping me with my goals, weight loss, or car-use, but sometimes I need a break.  I’ll have to do a lot more riding to make up for it once the weather warms a bit more.

Other than that my weekend was spent indoors at home.  I had plenty of housework and other tasks to keep me busy.  I also managed to get some computer stuff done that I needed to.  However, I ate too much, and didn’t ride my bike at all.  Then I was up too late last night, and didn’t get up early enough to ride today.

My weight has been climbing for the last few days.  The weather doesn’t look good for riding for the rest of this work week, so I may have to spend some time working on sit-ups and push-ups.

I originally intended to ride to work everyday this week, but between cold rain and my lazy butt, I skipped two days.  I still rode three days.  That’s about 100 miles on the bike.  That’s 100 miles I didn’t drive.  That’s $21.00 I didn’t pay in parking.  That’s a whole bunch of calories burned.

I had a busy week at work, but that does make the time go by faster.  I also feel that I accomplished a fair amount of work, and have been learning the ropes at the new job.  My eating habits have been good this week, and my weight loss marches on.

I talked to my daughter today, and it looks like we may go see Wicked tomorrow.  I’ve been hoping to spend more time with her, and this sounds like fun.

The Friday evening commute home is usually the scariest and worst with rude drivers.  Today’s commute home was one of my best.  I only had one slightly rude driver, and several polite ones.  I even had someone in an SUV follow a safe distance behind me the entire length of the 2nd Street Bridge.  It was probably someone who knows me, or another cyclist.  I didn’t see the person, and didn’t recognize the vehicle.

I made good time getting home today.  The slight tailwind helped, but my overall good mood for the day helped me pedal faster.

The various changes I’ve made to Nermal have made the 16.5 mile trip a little easier.  The Brooks saddle helps tremendously with comfort.  The new straight handlebars with bar-ends give me more hand positions, and allow a more forward position on the bike.

I’m not giving up my recumbent, but I’m beginning to think that Nermal will become my primary commuting bike.

There is some rain forecast for tomorrow, but I’m hoping to ride everyday this week.  I’ve actually been having an easier time riding in these days.  I guess I got past the mental barrier of “I can’t do it”.

My weight is up, but I overate the last few days.  It’ll go back down this week.

I’ve ridden my hybrid bike 150 miles in the last five days.  I rode to work all three workdays this week, and every commute was great, except the ride home today, which I really did not enjoy.

I’ve ridden my two bikes a combined distance of 2238 miles for the year.  Next year, my goal is ride at least 5000 miles, and drive less than 3500.  That will mean riding to work nearly every day.

I was going to go on another midnight ride tonight to ring in the new year, but I had a rough ride home, so I’m going to sit with my dogs, watch The Dark Knight, and eat popcorn.  Then I’ll get to bed.  I won’t be drinking tonight.

Happy New Year!

Calorie Spreadsheet

I track everything I eat in a spreadsheet, and total up the calories.  This allows me to eat what I want (within reason), and analyze it later to determine what I could have done better.  Early on, I had decided I didn’t need to do this anymore and my weight loss faltered, so I went back to doing it.

Deal with Depression

I’ve suffered from depression my entire life.  It is partly to blame for my weight gain to begin with.  I truly believe my depression is caused by a combination of genetics and dietary deficiencies.  There isn’t much that can be done about genetics (pick new parents?), but I started taking general vitamin supplement and fish oil pills months before my weight loss attempt, and it eased the depression substantially.

Buy a Scale

Small changes in weight add up.  It’s hard to determine what direction the change is going unless you have an objective way to measure it.  You don’t need a fancy scale that calculates BMI (I don’t have one), but you will need something that will handle your weight.  Many top out at 300 lbs, I found one that goes to 330, and that’s what I bought.  I believe it was less than $20.

Quit Drinking Soda and Beer

There is some evidence that artificial sweeteners aren’t good for weight loss.  Play it safe and give up regular and diet soda.  Beer has quite a few empty calories also.  Although I haven’t had a beer in a while, I still haven’t managed to completely give it up.

Eat Breakfast

Having a good breakfast means you need less food throughout the rest of the day.  I don’t follow a low-carb diet, so I have a high-fiber, high-carb, high-protein breakfast cereal (Kashi GoLean Crunch).  Choose whatever works for you, but high-fiber has heart-health benefits.

Bananas

Yum – Bananas.  They are high in potassium, and are good.  They are a great snack when you would otherwise eat something less healthy.  I usually eat two a day.

Yogurt

Calcium, vitamins, low-carb, great for digestion.  Once my diet became high-fiber and had yogurt, I had way fewer issues with, ummm, bathroom stuff.

Air-Popped Popcorn

Air-popped popcorn is another high-fiber snack.  This one does have carbs, but not too many.  Don’t use microwave popcorn or add anything too it.  If you don’t like the taste, keep with it.  You may find many of your tastes changing.

Exercise

Yeah, this is obvious.  Pick something you enjoy, and won’t hurt you too bad.  If you are over 300 lbs, running probably shouldn’t be your first choice.  Lose some weight before doing anything hard on the knees.

I started with an elliptical, which is easy on the knees and back, but I found it extremely boring.  Then I bought a bicycle.  I fell in love with bicycling, but I initially found the saddle uncomfortable, so I bought a recumbent.  I’ve now learned that with the proper saddle, and upright bike can be fine on the rear-end.  You’ll still have more pressure on your back and hands though.

Don’t Give Up When You Screw Up

I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve screwed up.  Ate too much at Asian Buffett?  Don’t worry, unless you keep eating too much on a regular basis it won’t matter.  Didn’t exercise for a week?  Don’t worry, just get back into it.  You have the rest of your life to get it right.

Be Careful of Your Social Activities

If everytime you are around family or friends, you eating and/or drinking, maybe you should consider new social activities.  I’m still struggling with this one, as it’s pretty ingrained in our culture.  It is possible to go out to eat, and still eat well, but it is difficult.

Set Goals, and Don’t be Afraid to Adjust Them

Without goals, you don’t know where you are going.  You can set weight goals, calorie goals, exercise goals, or all of them.  However, be sure to revisit them occasionally, and adjust as necessary.

This is for Life

This isn’t a “diet”.  It isn’t a way to look better for hanging out a the beach.  This is a way to change the way that you live.  It will affect your life in many positive ways.  It will take time, and the changes will be gradual.  In November of 2007, I was writing about how difficult it was to tie my shoes.  Now, I can ride my 33-mile round-trip commute to work and back on my bike.  Compared to now, I was an invalid.

Don’t Make it a New’s Years Resolution

Those always seem doomed to fail.  Just do it.  Now.  I started near the end of 2007.  I didn’t have a New Years Resolution.  Just Do It (says the guy with no Nike products).

Remember, the stuff above was just my suggestions.  If low-carb is you way, so be it.  If you’re going to drink diet soda, well, others have managed.  There is no one-size-fits-all plan.  Change your life for the better, and it’ll eventually fall into place.

I intend to ride a short ride around town before riding to her house for dinner.

My weight was 221.4 lbs this morning.  It seems to be stuck there again.  I didn’t weigh-in on Christmas of last year, but based upon other days it appears I weighed about 274 lbs.  So I’m down over 50 lbs in a year.  I’m hoping to be at my goal weight by next Christmas.

Merry Christmas

Once I get some sleep, I’m going on  a Christmas ride around town.  Nothing too long, just a ride on my recumbent decorated with Christmas lights.  If I had a Santa hat I’d put it on my helmet, but I don’t.

My diet for the last few days has been pretty good.  I think my Christmas dinner will be small this year, so I’m not worried about diet.

I am worried about not riding my bike enough.  I’ve been suffering from the normal holiday blues, and it is affecting my ability to get motivated.

I didn’t intend to make this such a negative post.  I will enjoy the day, I hope you do too.

Merry Christmas!

I’ve eaten healthy today so far.  I rode my recumbent on an 11 mile ride with temperatures in the teens, and gusty winds.  The skies and roads were clear.  It was quite a nice ride.  I battled some killer headwinds, but I also had a tailwind that helped me up a hill.

I rode my hybrid to the grocery store for a few things I need to cook vegetarian spanish rice.  I’m not switching to a vegetarian diet, but I’m eating vegetarian today.

My main concern for today is ice cream.  I have ice cream in the freezer.  I will eat some, but I need to have self-control.

Down from last week:
3.9 lbs

Down since I started on 10/31/2007:
74.7 lbs

My average loss per 30 days since 10/31/2007:
5.39 lbs

Weight until goal:
46.7 lbs

This feels great.  I no longer have doubts about reaching my goal weight.

I’ve ridden my bike less than two miles over the past five days, but by controlling my diet carefully, I’m still losing weight.  I’m not giving up on the bike.  I actually feel the need to get back on it.

One of the issues I’ve run into in the past is that all of my social activities involved food.  I’m trying to change that.  I also seem to have given up beer without even noticing.  I just told myself I’d rather lose weight that buy beer, and after enough times of thinking that, I no longer found myself wanting  beer.  I’m not going too far that direction either.  I’ll still drink for special occasions.

I’m going to restart my push-up plan on Monday.  I did the “test” last night and manged 15 push-ups, which is better than before.  I don’t just want to be thin.  I want to be toned, strong, and healthy.

Just for fun, I’m including a picture of me and my daughter from May of 1995.  I was overweight then, but I certainly wasn’t morbidly obese.  I don’t know what I weighed, but I wish I had never gotten bigger than that.  I was 24 in that picture, my daughter was three.

Once I’m through this winter, I will revisit my decision to not buy studded tires for the bike.  Next winter I may be ready. 

I haven’t had a week without riding since I started tracking my mileage in June.  My average weekly mileage in November and December was 54.  My average weekly mileage for August through October was 91.

I haven’t done any exercise this week.  I feel lazy.  I’ve been considering starting back on my push-up plan, but can’t seem to motivate myself.  I bought a pilates video months ago, and haven’t used it.

However, my weight is doing just fine.  I’m still eating well, and haven’t had beer in weeks.  I’ve been out to eat a few times, and was pretty proud that I didn’t over-indulge.  I will probably be solidly under 220 lbs before the year is over.

This comes in the midst of me not riding enough.  My weekly mileage is down.  I rode a partial commute on Monday, and the full commute today.  So, I’ve ridden roughly 50 miles all week.

What I have been doing better this week is watching what I eat.  I have went out to eat several times for social occasions, but I found myself ordering water to drink, and eating a salad, or a vegetarian pasta dish.

The bike riding and other exercise is important to my long-term mental and physical health, but the eating habits are more important for the weight control.  That will continue to be true after I have reached my goal weight, and simply need to maintain it.

I tried out the shower at the new job today after riding into work with temperatures in the low 20s.  Apparently they only turn on the hot water heater when there is an event going on, so I got an ice cold shower.  It did still help rinse the road grime off.

I rode a partial-commute (12 mile round trip) today.  With my new winter gear, I was actually overdressed.  When I left work, I went with one layer less.  I was still overdressed.  I should have checked the weather forecast.

I also ran some errands here around town after I got home.  I park my bike in the grocery store now, but don’t walk around with it, and they seem to be okay with that.

I had a really good riding weekend, and I rode today.  The weather forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday doesn’t look so good, so I’m not riding.  I’ll get back on the bike on Thursday.

Car-Free

In my previous post, I talk about a future where I am car-free.  I got some comments about that.  It’s not easy, and it’s not for everyone.  I’m not sure it’s for me.  It is a long-term goal I want to work toward.  I probably will have to sell my house and move to make it work.  However, I’ll worry about that later.

Blogging

While on my ride with Tim yesterday, he said that someone else said that blogging is a bit narcissistic.  I guess it can be.  However, I believe Tim and I share the view that writing about what we do (cycling for him, cycling and weight loss for me) is good for others that read the blog.

If I wouldn’t have found some of the other cycling blogs out there, I probably would have never taken my bike into the street.  I certainly wouldn’t have bought a recumbent.  A blog (even a silly one like this one) can inspire someone to change something in their life.

I do know that my posting frequency has gone way up.  However, I don’t think the quality of my writing has.  I’m taking a few days before I post again.  I will keep updating my weigh-in, and respond to comments.

Progress

My weight this morning was 225.8 lbs.  That’s the lowest yet.  It’s probably a temporary dip from yesterday’s ride, but I’ll take it.  I have been eating better over the last few days.  I even went out to eat at Panera Bread and was sane with what I ordered.  I’m cooking tonight.  I’m having a small piece of steak, and brussels sprouts.

Work

My new job is much different than any I’ve had before.  It’s a neat atmosphere to work in.  I do have to dress better, but that’s easier now that I don’t weight 300 lbs.  I will have to be there at 5:30 Wednesday morning for a software roll-out, but that’s a rare thing.  My normal hours are 8:30ish to 5:30ish.

My ex-wife and I have no family in the area, and travelling wasn’t in the plans for this year, so I’ll be spending Thanksgiving with my daughter and ex-wife.  Spending time with family is the good part of Thanksgiving.

About the food thing… I’m going to overeat today.  I’ve eaten well over the last two days, and  I don’t intend to have a huge Christmas dinner next month, so I will probably be eating well for the rest of the year.

There is some beautiful weather today, so I’m hoping to squeeze in a short bike ride.

Oh, and my ex-wife doesn’t care for turkey… so we are having ham.

I have been overeating too often.  I went out to eat last night.  I came home completely stuffed.  This morning I have a “food hangover”.  I’ve got to quit doing that.

I’m not riding today, but I do intend to ride tomorrow.  I’ve also re-arranged my push-ups schedule for this week.  Day 1 will be today, after work.

I haven’t ridden my bike since Monday.  I exceeded 3000 calories per day for several days in a row.  I woke up late today, and forgot to bring my lunch.  The scale read 231.6 lbs this morning.

Once I voted and went home, I rode my bike a short distance to buy beer.  Then I ordered pizza.  My ex-wife and daughter came over and brought ice cream.

We all sat around and watched the election results on TV.  I ate way too much, and drank too much.  I didn’t even track my calories.

Wednesday morning I was feeling dehydrated from drinking.  I didn’t feel up to riding all the way to work, so I threw my bike on my car, and only rode a short distance.  I ate reasonably well, but didn’t track calories.

Wednesday after work, I went shopping for clothes, including some more base layers for cold weather riding.  By the time I got home it was late, and I was up too late, and drank more beer.

This morning, I woke up two hours later than expected.  I made it to work on time (barely), but drove the entire distance.

My daily weigh-in has been above 230 for two days in a row.  I need to focus more.

However, I was pressed for time to get to the polls on time.  I had ridden my bike all the way, and it would be cutting it very close.

I called my ex-wife for a ride, and met her part of the way home.  There was no line to vote in my small Indiana town.  I was done in a few minutes.

Now I’m having a small party here at home with pizza and beer (not great for the weight loss) while watching results come in on TV.

With daylight saving time here, the morning ride actually occurred with some (gasp) daylight.  It will be dark on the ride home though.

It was a good ride in.  It was warmer than last week.  The skies were clear, and the drivers were mostly sane.  I love arriving at work with the endorphin rush.

We had a Halloween party at work yesterday, with a “bake off”.  I had to sample everything.    I did eat too much yesterday, but I’m doing much better today.  I’ll have to watch my serving size for dinner tonight though.  My daughter is making chicken and broccoli pasta dish.  It already smells delicious.

I’ve had one beer almost every day for the last week and a half.  I’m not going to give up beer, but I still need to cut down more.

I’ve went out to lunch too often recently.  I always overeat when I go out.

I’m not entirely sure why my habits have slipped.  I have been weighing daily.  I’ve been tracking my calories.  I guess I need to “think before I eat”.

My weigh-in yesterday was up a little, to 232.6 lbs.  I had hoped to stay under 230 permanently.

I’m considering an 11-mile night ride tonight.  It’s a low-traffic area that will be a lot of fun.  I’ve got some housework I’ve got to get done first… Oh, yeah, I’m at work, so I’ve got to finish up here too.

It’s easy to get lazy when life is throwing curves.

I skipped breakfast, but had two cookies here at work.  Hmmm… now I’m craving the Halloween candy that’s laying around the office.  That’s not good.

There were two cyclists on the Second Street Bridge, as I was driving across.  They weren’t taking the lane, so I was a bit worried someone would pass them too close.  I slowed down and followed them across, so anyone passing would have to pass my car also.  They probably just wondered why I didn’t pass them.

Over the weekend I had a “back to basics” moment where I ate less – a lot less.  Monday, I ate over 1500 calories (which is still down from my normal 1900 or so), and rode the bike.  I’m not done eating for today yet, but it looks to be a 1300-1400 calorie day.  I am hungry, but as long as I eat small amounts often, I don’t feel weak or sick.

Today’s weigh-in was 229 lbs.  I’m finally below 230.  I hope to be below 220 by mid-December.

Also, this week, I won’t be riding my full commute at all.  I really need to move closer to work.  I’ve been driving to Jeffersonville, IN to park (for free), and riding from there.  I still get a workout, but with the shorter distance (and cooler weather) I can ride in my work clothes.  I also rode in a business suit today (with my tie flapping in the breeze), but that’s a story for another day.

I haven’t been exercising much at all for a few days, so I made a conscious effort to eat a lot less.  On Friday my calorie consumption was 1505.  On Saturday I only ate 885 calories.  Today, I’ve eaten 730, but I’m still going to eat something else.

I intend to be back on the bike tomorrow, so I’ll try to eat around 1800 calories or so.

I also didn’t ride my bike today.  The recumbent was in the shop getting adjusted.  I could have ridden my other bike, but I was lazy, and lousy weather is an easy excuse.  I am planning on riding tomorrow.

I’m going to have to put a little more effort into my eating habits.  I can eat fine for three days, then consume 3000 calories in one sitting, and that isn’t helping my weight loss.  I don’t want to deny myself the things I like, that’s not sustainable long-term.  I just need to control the amount of the things I eat.

Over the last two weeks, I’ve been skipping tracking my calories on an occasional basis, usually when I’ve eaten too much.

I’ve made excuses for not being on the bike enough.  If I lived closer to work, I’d have someone take my car keys for a few weeks, but I really don’t think I’m ready for a car-free existence, not even on a temporary basis.

I will be taking another ride this weekend.  I’m shooting for 70-75 miles.  I’ll leave early enough that I can get home before dark.  I have a route in mind:
http://tinyurl.com/4hhz5s

The route is about 75 miles, and it’s a little flatter than the last ride I took.  It does have a few hilly areas, so I’ll get to work the legs some, but hopefully without turning into a pile of rubber.

Don’t let anyone lie to you.  There are no magic pills or diets.  Weight loss is hard!

On the bright side, it is low-fat and high-fiber.

I’ve been overeating for almost a week.  I haven’t been on a bike ride in a week.  I haven’t rode to work in over a week.  I’ve got to get out of this rut.

I worked all day today, then went to an Italian restaurant for dinner.  Now I’m back at the hotel, and getting ready to get some sleep.

There is a fitness center here at the hotel, but I packed light, and don’t have clothing to wear while exercising.  I thought about renting a bike, but exhaustion and time are problems.

I gave up tracking my calories for these few days, and don’t have a scale with me.  Oh well, I’ll be home late Friday, and I’ll get back into my routine.

Anyway, I’m only riding my bike to work three days this week.  I rode yesterday, today was a “lazy day”, I have other plans tomorrow and I need my car, and I plan on riding Thursday and Friday.

My weight has been hanging right at 243.6 lbs for three days.  There is no fluctuation at all.

I’ve been better with my eating, but I have had a six-pack of beer over the last four days.

Sometimes when there doesn’t seem to be much going on, I feel like I’m not making progress.  Then I pull up my spreadsheet, and I can see that I’m down 52.8 lbs.  I can also see that I’m down 16.6 lbs since June 30th when I started tracking my calories again.  So, really, I just need to keep doing what I’m doing for another 68.6 lbs.

I mixed 1 cup of fresh, rinsed blueberries with 1 cup of vanilla yogurt.  It made a healthy snack that comes in at 283 calories.

When the weekend comes, then I end up using the car. I (obviously) use the car when I decide not to ride to work. However, I rode four days last week, and I’m still on track to ride all five this week.

My food is my fuel for most of my travel now. After a healthy breakfast this morning, I rode to work, and was famished. There was a package of donut holes in the kitchen. A serving (four holes) is 260 calories, so I grabbed a single hole, and ate it. It’s not the highest quality fuel, but it was only 65 calories.

My two dogs eat a fair amount of dog food. I usually buy a 40 lb bag to limit the number of trips to the pet store. A 40 lb bag of dog good is large, yet I’ve lost more weight than that. It still surprises me. Based on the progress pictures, human fat is denser than dog food.

I rode my “wedgie” bike yesterday. It has fenders, and the weather forecast was calling for rain. On the bright side, I didn’t get caught in the rain. On the not so bright side, I rode that bike for no real reason. I’m 2-3 mph slower on it, and the seat hurts me. I never wanted to be one of those recumbent riders who swears off traditional bikes, but I can’t imagine taking a long ride on a traditional bike.

Today I consumed about 1720 calories:

Breakfast:

• Kashi GoLean Crunch w/ skim milk
• Banana
• Vanilla Yogurt

This is actually a bit heavier than my normal breakfast.  I do find the fiber in the cereal to be good for keeping me full.  It also has quite a few carbs for energy.  Bananas provide potassium, and the yogurt gives extra calcium… and I really like it.

Lunch:

• Sliced chicken lunchmeat sandwich on rye bread w/ swiss cheese
• A bunch of grapes

Yes, I have some lunch-making supplies at work.  I usually have a sandwich and fruit.  Sometimes it’s grapes, sometimes it’s bananas.  The sliced chicken, cheap lunchmeat crap is too high in sodium, but I like it.

Snack:

• Twix Ice Cream Bar
• Gatorade

I picked up this snack at a convenience store on the way home.  I was riding my bike, and I felt I needed a little more energy.  I also drank some water from my water bottle.

Dinner:

• Small pork chop, grilled outside
• Brussell sprouts

I need protein.  I love brussell sprouts.  It was a quick easy meal.  I need quick easy dinners, as I don’t have a lot of time after getting home before I go to bed.

I also drink black coffee from the time I get to work until around 2 p.m.  I drink water all day long.  I occasionally drink beer, but didn’t today.

Supplements and drugs:

• Fish oil pills
• Multivitamin
• Metamucil fiber supplement
• Aspirin (or acetaminophen if pain is bad)

The fish oil and vitamins started before the weight loss to help deal with depression.  It seems to work for me, and has other health benefits.  I used to take the fiber regularly, but I don’t do it as often now due to gas.  I take aspirin most days for its health benefits, or, if I’m in pretty bad pain, I’ll take acetaminophen.

That is a list of everything that I consumed today.  Today was typical for a weekday.  My calorie intake does vary.  Sometimes I go out to lunch.  Sometimes I eat a very light dinner.  On weekends my eating is all over the board.

The average was 1988 calories per day. That’s not too bad, but I’m shooting for lower than that.

By the time I got back to Charlestown I was extremely hungry, and I was too tired to cook.  I stopped at Domino’s at grabbed a pizza.  I strapped it to my rear-rack and went home.

I only intended to eat half of it.  It was only a 12″ medium.  It was gone within ten minutes of getting home.  I looked up the calorie content on calorieking, and found that it was 2000 calories.  So I ate 3320 calories yesterday.

I rode my bike to work again today, determined to burn some of those calories.  I’m planning on riding the rest of this week, plus a group ride tomorrow night.

On the other hand, I have been tracking my calories, and controlling my eating.  I had been eating too much, especially carbohydrates, and I had not lost weight.

On June 30 my weight was down over 4 lbs to 260.2.  I assumed this was just a fluctuation, but it has continued.  My weight today is 256.2.  This is the lowest weight I’ve been at since starting this.  My last “big” weight loss was April 30, and I’m 3.2 lbs less than that.

I feel good that this is partly due to just the calorie tracking (averaged 1826 calories per day since June 30), and partially a fluctuation.  The bike had little to do with it, because I’ve barely ridden it since Monday.  I will be back on it this weekend, and commuting next week.

• Counting calories
• Counting every penny spent
• Counting pounds lost
• Counting miles ridden

I’m counting calories again, because my eating habits got out of control.  It is enlightening to see how much you really eat.  It’s also helpful to know that if you eat it, you’ve got to count it, no cheating.  I ate 1685 calories yesterday, and 1595 today.

I’m counting money spent, everything, even small cash purchases.  Like my eating, my spending is a little out of control.  Forcing myself to see where it all goes should help.  I just started this today.  I won’t be putting numbers about this on the blog though.

The daily weigh-in needs to be daily.  I’m trying to get back to doing that everyday again.  I was pleasantly surprised with my weight tonight.  I weighed in at 256.8 lbs.  That is the lowest since I started.  I realize it’s just a fluctuation, but I’m going to do my best to keep it there, or below.

My bike has had an odometer since June 17th (two weeks now), and I’ve put 148.7 miles on it.  I’m tracking the mileage on a weekly basis, but I don’t yet have any plans to post that here.  I didn’t ride today.  My legs needed the rest after yesterdays hellish headwind on the way home

I do sometimes feel like I’m spending more time counting things than doing them, but If that’s what I have to do to get my life in order, then it’s worth it.

I’ve seen almost no weight loss in two months, just fluctuation.  This is discouraging considering the effort I’ve put into biking.

As of today, I’m tracking everything I eat, and the estimated calories, just like I did when I started this adventure.  I done eating for the day, and I’ve consumed an estimated 1685 calories.  That’s pretty good for someone who rode about 34 miles on a bike today.

Putting the food I eat in a list, even without calories counts, makes me aware of what I’m doing wrong.

So, I’m aiming for under 2000 calories per day, and biking to work and back (32 miles round trip) 3 or 4 times a week.  As always, I’ll adjust any of this as I need to.  I’d love to see my average monthly weight drop by 5 or six pounds for several months in a row.

My weight has been holding steady around 260 to 262, but holding steady isn’t going to cut it.  Nobody ever said this would be easy.

My life has been crazy in the professional, personal, and mental ways recently.  I haven’t been exercising often enough, but I have done some.  I have, however, quit going out to lunch as often.  I’ve been eating much healthier in general.

Apparently, that has been working for me.  I hadn’t weighed for 12 days.  I was a bit scared of the scale.  However,  I’m down 4.2 lbs.  My total loss so far is 35.8 lbs.

I did spend 50 minutes on the elliptical today.  I really wanted to do more, but my laziness won.

I went out last weekend and bought some new clothes.  I was able to drop a size in my pants.  I was hoping to wait until I could wear a size 38, but I really needed new pants.  I also have lost enough weight that I can tuck in my shirt again, and not look too horrible.

That’s right, losing weight will make me a better dresser.

I think I had the reputation at work of looking like a slob.  Maybe I can fix that too.

I promised more pictures, to better document this process.  I will do it soon, but not today.

I had been eating well, until today.  I had three slices of pizza and two breadsticks that totaled more than 1300 calories.  It’s also too many carbs this late in the day.

I did workout on the elliptical for nearly 90 minutes today though.  My weight is still trending downward, so I’m happy.

On Sunday, I felt fat and bloated.  I ate much less food.  I drank a lot of water.  I didn’t have much energy.  I did make a token effort at a workout, but it was difficult.

Today, I am totally exhausted, and feeling a little down.  I hope to have a good workout when I get home, but what I really want is sleep.

I wonder how much effect our diet has on our mood and energy level.  I used to never consider the consequences before, unless large amounts of alcohol were involved.

I ate well today.  My weight has been holding steady for three days in a row at 279.8.

I posted on my other site that I had learned to use jQuery a little, and received an offer to review a book about jQuery.  I agreed, and now have my new book.  As luck would have it, a new project I’m working on required jQuery.  I hope I have time to review the book before starting another project that uses jQuery.

Basically, I’ve been busy as hell.

I ate 1144 calories today, and I feel no desire to eat anymore.  I mean, I could handle a scoop of ice cream, but I don’t want to start down that road.

Do I not need many calories because I sit at a desk all day?

I’m still unsure what my target heart rate should be when working out.  I guessed at around 150.  I set my monitor to keep me between 140 and 160.  Today, that didn’t seem like I was working hard enough.  I went a little harder, and pushed my heart rate to 170 for about ten minutes of my 30 minute workout.

After the workout, I walked around and drank some water to recover.  Then I sat down with a bowl of yogurt.  It’s weird.  Yogurt has become my new comfort food.

I did work extra hard on the elliptical today.  I’ve finally gotten to where I can do a thirty minute session and burn over 400-500 calories.  If I can do that twice a day, and eat a little healthier, I think I’ll make progress.

There will be cake, ice cream, soda, and chips.  I’ll be hiding in my office (that also serves as a workout room & laundry room), working on a website for a client.  I will allow myself one scoop of ice cream, and that’s it for junk food.

Update:
I didn’t hide enough, and I ate 2478 calories.  Most of it was worthless carbs.  I will try harder.

I talked to her on the phone today about my weight loss plan.  She kept lecturing me about carbs.  She kept repeatedly telling me to buy “light” bread because it has fewer carbs.  This is despite the fact that I repeatedly told her I’ve had two slices of bread in the last three weeks.

My diet is rather low-carb.  My mother tells me I can eat an 8oz pork chop, because it’s just protein.  No carbs!  I really don’t need all the fat either, so I keep my meat portions smaller.

I’ve noticed that everyone has their own weight loss advice.  Most of it is valid, but most of those people don’t realize that there are other just as valid ways.

If I ever come off as preachy, or as close-minded as my mother, please slap me.

My wife helped out today by running some errands for me.  I was at two client locations for a total of over 14 hours, and I might be up all night tonight working on some code.

I’ve also been asked to write a book review, once I read the book.  I love having stuff to do, but it needs to space out a little more.

Before I got serious about dieting, I would have polished it off the very next day.  This time was different.

I really wanted some of that ice cream.  So I had one single scoop.  That was my treat for the day.  At roughly 140 calories, it certainly won’t kill my diet.  My wife and daughter finished it off, so I’m not tempted anymore.

My new plan is to ignore that, and eat only what I need.  Holidays throw a wrench into that plan.  I don’t want to insult my wife, or not enjoy the holidays, so I decided to eat a little of everything for Thanksgiving dinner.

I enjoyed the meal immensely, and although I overate, it wasn’t by as much as it would have been before.  Also, due to the amount of food I ate, I’m not trying to log the calories I ate for each item (as I usually do), but just estimating the whole meal.  It may not be very accurate, but there should only be a few days a year like this.

Some days I’m at a client site, and some days I’m at home.  My primary client expects me to work on-site most of the time.  Working there is similar to a regular job.  The location is in downtown Louisville, so there are plenty of restaurants within walking distance, including places where it is relatively painless to eat healthy.

However, today, I have to work at a different client site.  My options are more limited.  When grocery shopping I didn’t take this into account, so I don’t have a healthy lunch ready to go.

I did go overboard in buying bananas.  I have more than I can eat before they go bad.  I suppose I’ll bring two bananas, and eat one at around 12:00, the other around 3:00, and hope I don’t get stuck there past 6:00 or so.

I’m wondering if I still need to eat fewer calories.  I rarely get more than “a little hungry”.  It’s possible I’m not burning enough calories sitting in front of my laptop.  So how many calories would I need to survive?

Don’t think I’m going to go nuts and starve myself.  I’m actually planning on staying at 1500 for now.  I should have my elliptical on Wednesday, then I might need a few more calories.

I ordered more pizza, intending to eat half of a medium pizza.  I ate entire thing.  It was bacon and onion, and probably about 2100 calories.

I guess I’ll have homemade vegetable soup for dinner.

It does feel good to change those habits, and I saved money.

Going to the gas station is much the same way.  I now pay at the pump to avoid spending more money and eating more.

I used to work in a pizza place.  I drank a lot of Coke, and ate pizza whenever I could.  I was proud of myself today for limiting myself to two pieces, and drinking water.

My weigh-in tonight was 286.6, the same as yesterday.

I have a deadline at work so I’m working from home to get some stuff done.  My daughter is also sick today, and she’s sitting here next to me.  It’s not a bad way to spend time with her.

I skipped breakfast.  I don’t feel like eating.  I know that’s not healthy, but I am sick.  I’ve been drinking coffee, but that feels good on my throat.

I’ll probably go get a veggie sub for lunch.

I found CalorieKing.  I’m not signing up for there service, but I do use them to look up calories for various foods.

There is some guessing involved though.  Here’s a sample of my calories spreadsheet:

You’ll notice that I put 5 calories for a cup of coffee. I drink my coffee black with no sweetener, but I think there are a few calories from the oils.