Weigh-In Wednesday (Belated)

Today was the end of the "Weight Loss Challenge" at work. If you participated in the challenge, kept a food diary, and lost a total of 6 pounds (over 3 months) you won $25.

Today I had my final weigh in. In late January my weight was 281lbs. Today I weighed in at 263lbs. A total loss of 18lbs (6lbs in February, 5 lbs in March, and 7lbs in April).

They plan on starting it back up in June, and I plan on joining again. I plan on getting down to 210lbs, and if someone wants to give me money for doing it, I can't complain about that.

The Ride from Hell

If you are a cyclist, you probably have heard someone say "Any day on a bike is a good day."; those people are full of $%!t. They weren't out riding yesterday.

I rode the Silver Comet yesterday after work; I was planning a 30 mile ride from Smyrna to Hiram and back. It was a warm sunny day when I started the ride, but that only lasted 20 minutes. At about the 5 mile mark it started to rain. It was a light rain with big drops that stung as I cruised at 17 mph, but the sun was still out, so I continued the ride. After another couple of miles, the heavens opened up.

Now as a boy, I rode through hurricane David when my family moved to Florida; and as a adult, I sailed through hurricane Hugo(not through the center, but still through)when I was in the Coast Guard, but I still say it was raining harder yesterday as I rode my bike.

I was so soaked through that the chamois, in my shorts, felt like a diaper, but not a baby's diaper, a depends diaper. Not just any depends diaper; it felt like a depends diper worn after drinking a case of beer and having your hands cuffed behind your back. Yes, I was that wet. At this point a smart man would have turned around, but no one ever called me smart (smart ass, yes; but not smart). I kept going. After all, it was just water (I'm not sugar or spice, I don't melt), and I wanted to do my 30 miles.

At the 10 mile mark it stopped raining and I continued on to Hiram. In Hiram, I stopped and had a snack and tested my cell phone (it was in my jersey pocket during the rain)(it's OK). While I was sitting on the park bench enjoying my snack, I heard thunder. I decided it was time to head back, and head back fast.

I hauled ass all the way back doing over 20 mph (that's fast for a fat guy). This was great up till the last 5 miles, when it started to rain again. Now it is late in the day, raining, and I'm wearing sun glasses (I can't take them off due to the rain). I can't see $%!t. Lucky for me, the trail isn't crowded (most everyone is smarter than me; they got out of the rain), but there was a few people still on the trail (my fellow knuckleheads). With my limited sight, and traveling over 20 mph; I was lucky not to have killed anyone (including myself). I would see occasionally see blurry figure a few feet away, and I would quickly move over.

You may be asking, "why I didn't slow down?", after all I was already wet. The answer is simple; you don't want to be pedaling a giant lightning rod any longer than you have to, especially when the lightning is popping all around you.

I made it back to my car, and loaded my bike up just minutes before it started hailing.

Weigh-In Wednesday

263.8lbs

42.7% Fat

See what happens when it doesn't rain. Since last weigh in, I have ridden the bike for 35 miles (2 ten mile and 2 seven and a half mile rides), ran 5 miles ( 1 three mile and 1 two mile runs) and hiked 10 miles ( a 5 mile Sweetwater hike, a 4 mile CheathamHill/Burnt Hickory hike, and a 1 mile hike with my bike when my tire blew).

The only problem I see in the near future is that I restocked the candy dish on my desk with Peanut M&Ms.

Beau

I was saddened to here that Hal and Alison's dog, Beau, past away last week.

We will miss you Beau.

Goodbye Beau.

Exercise Helps Reduce Stress

Have you ever heard the saying, "Exercise helps reduce stress". I have, and up till today I believed it.

Today my boss was irking me; he was being irksome. By lunch time I was becoming twisted. So at lunch I went for a ride. It was my normal 10 miles (4 laps at 2.5 miles a lap) ride. I was taking it easy this ride, keeping my heart rate below 135 bpm. I had just done 2.5 laps when I ran over a pebble (a fracking pebble) and I got a flat.

I pulled over to the side of the rode; took off the tire and opened my tool bag. I did have a patch kit, but no tools. So do you know what I wasn't going to do? That's right, I wasn't going to fix my tire. Do you know what else I didn't have in my tool bag? A cell phone. This meant I couldn't call back to the office and have someone pick me up. Do you know what that meant? That right, it meant I had to hoof it back to the office wearing cycling shoes and carrying my bike on my shoulder. In case you didn't notice, I was 2.5 laps through my ride. That means I was as far away from the start(work) as I could be. No matter which way I walked, I was still a mile and a quarter away from the office.

Because it took me alot longer to get back to work, I stayed late. Because I stayed late, my boss came into my office and irked me some more. I don't think my lunch time exercise did anything to reduce my stress. I think it may have raised it.

Weigh-In Wednesday

I am starting to feel like a yo-yo.

I know why my weight went up this week. It wasn't that I didn't work-out this week; I had done two lunch time ride (10 miles each), ran two mornings (3 miles each), and went on a hike (2 miles). It wasn't what I ate; I didn't hit the sweets (like my sisters) and I ate alot of fish and veggies. The reason I gained weight this week can be summed up in one word, BEER.

The last month I've been beer free. I had given it up for lent (which is kind of funny that I still do this, even though I am a lapsed Catholic), but on Sunday (Easter, the end of lent) I hit the beer hard (I also hit it pretty hard Monday and Tuesday). I'm usually not a heavy beer drinker (a six pack usually last me a couple of weeks), but their is something about wanting what you can't have, and over indulging when you can finally have it again.

Next week I expect to do better.

Plateau

North Dakota Plateau

My plateau.

Weigh-In Wednesday (Belated)

264.2 lbs

39.5% Fat

I am surprised at this weight. Why, you ask? Because I've been eating like it is going out of style, and my activity level has been that of a cadaver. I'm not talking Weekend at Bernie's cadaver, or a cadaver that you find floating in the water (that could be classified as swimming really slow). I'm talking about the kind of cadaver that you find weeks later because of the smell.

I know the rain had to do alot with it, but even when it was nice out (both of those days) I didn't do anything except eat. I wasn't even eating healthy. In the last two weeks I ate 1 large bag of Peanut Butter M&Ms, 2 big bags of Robin Eggs, went to a all you can eat buffet 3 times, had Sonny's all you can eat pork, and ate fast food for lunch most days. I should be back to 280lbs.

Weigh-In Wednesday

Weight 264.8 lbs

Fat 40.1% Body Fat

I knew I hadn't lost as much as the scale said last week. Do you know why I knew? Because I haven't done squat. Since last weigh in, the only thing I've done is a 4 mile hike at West Palisades (it is more of a stroll on a paved path).

It has been raining most of the time during the last two weeks and I don't like being cold and wet. So I've been sitting on my couch, eating everything in the house. I am looking to get a treadmill or spinner bike so I can exercise when it's raining, but everyone is trying to talk me out of it. They feel we need many more months of this wet weather, and if I buy a treadmill or spinner bike, the rain will stop. They think this because scientists (and Al Gore) have determined that my activities have a direct correlation to the weather (i.e. I want to go hiking - it rains, I buy sunglasses - it gets cloudy, I wash my car - it rains, I try to go boating - it is so dry, the lake is dry, etc...).

I hope the sun comes out soon, or I'll start gaining back all the weight I lost so far.