Thanksgiving and Fitness

Heh, heh, heh... I had to title it that. I know, you think the two have nothing to do with each other, right? Couldn't be more wrong. So, first off, I'd like to take a minute to wish all of the stateside readers a very Happy Thanksgiving. I am thankful for all of my readers around the world, and would certainly be in a different place right now without you guys. You give me a reason to write, hold me (and one-another) accountable, and inspire me. Thank you for taking the time to check my little ol' blog!

As far as the link from fitness to Thanksgiving? Well, it's pretty simple, really. You get out of your body what you put into it. Fill it with a bunch of crap and you get, you guessed it, crap! Fill it with good wholesome things, you get power, strength, energy, and the like. So, this year I cut way back on my Thanksgiving intake. I had a few beers, but cut the food way back. I ate mostly turkey. Good, lean, protein. I did have some stuffing, about a tablespoon of mashed potatoes, a tablespoon of green bean casserole (not as good as straight green beans, but...), and a table spoon of sweet potatoes. I also had minimal in the way of desert. Just enough to taste it.

You see, the key in watching what you what you eat is not to starve yourself. Rather it's to think out what you're taking in, maximize the healthy portions, and limit the "less than healthy" junk. As an example, one thing that I did early on was to take my favorite foods and modify them. I LOVE burgers, but burgers could be murder on a diet. Buns, cheese, bacon, mayo, and on, and on, and... You get it. I took my favorite burgers and turned them into something special. I took the best and lowest fat meat that I could find and I fried them up. I sautéed mushrooms, onions, and peppers and put those on top, then sprinkled some blue cheese crumbles on top. The blue cheese, being so strong, was flavorful with a minimal amount. I served it with a healthy salad, with some raw nuts (extra protein and good fats) and veggies.

Get the point? It's all about modifying the input. Of course you still need to exercise, and whatnot, but watching what you eat sure goes a long way.

Weight Loss Week Two

So this whole "not having a computer at my disposal" crap is killing me! When I have the time to get out a post, I don't have to computer to do it. With that said, this weeks weight loss post will, still, be a bit lame.
As you probably know by now; myself, Bluenoser, Munky, Clyde, Lily, and Trio have all agreed to do something for the time being about some extra weight in our lives. My first week started at a 193 weigh-in on Monday of last week. This week I was still at the same 193 as of Sunday morning, and forgot to weigh on Monday. I have started some very minimal exercise, but have not had the opportunity to get out on the bike as I said I would.

I am, however, back on the Muesli Diet. Last time I did Muesli I lost a ton of weight. It was Sprocketboy's Muesli that he recommended. I started Muesli-fest today, Monday.

Going into Thanksgiving on Thursday I plan on cutting back food, and no beer except on Thursday. I also need to pull out the workout routine I was doing out of "Lean Look". For anyone looking to drop a few pounds, I highly recommend this book.

Would love to hear what you're doing, if you're trying to keep the pounds off during the holidays. Leave me a comment, and check back soon!

Cheers, for now!

The First Week Of Weight Loss. So Far, Uh, So Far?

Well... Hello to Bluenoser, Munky, Clyde, Lily, and Trio. Where to begin? So the first week started at a 193 weigh-in on Monday. Since then, two thirteen plus hour work days have given way to poor eating, lack of exercise and being completely wasted-tired by the time I got home. So the bottom line is as of Wednesday morning, still a not-so-svelte 193.

I did not manage, due to time and lack of planning, to get my muesli made, so I have not kicked back on the Muesli Diet. For those of you who may be new or not remember, I lost a ton of weight through exercise and a diet of Sprocketboy's Muesli. I will be going back to Muesli starting Monday.

I also hope to get a, roughly, twenty-five mile ride in on Saturday and a shorter fun ride, mountain bike, on Sunday. I will also be getting back in the habit of doing some of the "Lean Look" exercises.

How about you guys? Also, anyone else who is interested in joining else on the fun, feel free to jump in. Just leave your info in the comments section.

Cheers, for now!

Calling Out To The Fitness Geeks

OK, OK, OK... So it's been a hot minute since I've posted regularly. Likewise since I've seriously been turning cranks. Furthermore an eternity since I've had any serious level of fitness. I have a feeling that is all about to change. Recently I have been stressing out, and have been at home a lot more often. One major problem with that comes the serious problem of grazing. If you are not familiar with grazing, let me explain. You walk past the kitchen, do a double-take, go into the kitchen. Once in the kitchen you take ice cream, crush cookies on top, keep looking, grab the whipped cream and throw a dollop on, then move that concoction on a brownie that you warmed in the microwave, and finally cover it with chocolate. Disclaimer: I haven't done this, it was just an example I got carried away with... But now that I think of it, I wonder how much of it I have here...

Digressing... So I have a serious problem being in my home, for extended periods, stressing out, and around food. With all of that said, I have gained about 10 pounds in the last three months or so. I am officially back into the 190 range, and need to drop back to the sub 180 range. The lowest I have been in the last two years has been 180, so I think that will become my new goal. With all of the holiday's coming up, and all of the engorging that will occur, my goal will be to drop to 180 lbs by year end. Anyone on board with me?

Here's what we'll do... I don't have the time or money to do a prize this time around, and since we're publicly embarrassing Don; I still owe Bluenoser his prizes from last December. My suggestion is accountability. Set a fitness and/or weight loss goal for year end, and push for it. I don't care what you are eating, I don't care what your exercise is, so long as you're growing toward your goal. If you're not reaching the goal I will ride you, like my Rockhopper, until you do. Likewise, I'll expect that you do the same. Anyone up for it? Drop me a comment and lets get cracking. We start Monday! Hope I could get 3-5 of you to get on board, I'm sure that I can at LEAST count on Bluenoser, right? C'mon, it'll be fun, and we'll all be a bit better for it going into 2010.

I SO Want To Try This

There are so many different things in life that I just want to try to say that I've done them. THIS is one of them. I've always wanted to try to unicycle. While I was watching TV today, I saw something really cool, more on that tomorrow, and it got me to thinking.

Have any of you guys ever tried the one wheeled wonder? I would love advice, then just need to find someone with a unicycle that would let me try it out... I totally don't care enough to buy one...

Ugh...

Just in case you were curious how slow it has been around here, as if you couldn't tell by the current state of the blog, I wanted to just keep you all in the loop (vent) about what's been going on. I am still sans my main computer, business is still way down, and I haven't turned a crank in well over two months now. Just to reiterate, if anyone out there has a power supply for a 1.42DP G4 Mirror Doorthat you could give up really cheep, or free!... preferably free, please message me. A college career might depend on it. Yeah, I still need to recover the wifes colleg work from it, and the clock is ticking. I've been that crazy.

As far as riding, I would LOVE to do a Black Friday ride in Cleveland I was thinking maybe of the Ohio Erie Canal Toe Path Trail for a leisurely ride. Cleveland south, and back. Likewise, it'll probably pause on the way back at the Winking Lizard for a few beers and a late lunch. Any takers? I need to get one good ride in this year, and this could be it.

Weekly roundup October 29, 2009

The aforementioned G4 Power Supply go boom story is still effecting what I can and cannot do. I have had almost no time, it seems, to my computer since I am now forced to share it with my wife who is in college. That, combined with the ridiculous amount of work I’ve been doing, and the added house work with said wife in said college… Ugh. I actually was debating which is likely to happen first; lose my freaking mind or have a massive heart attack. No kidding. So, for now I’m going to get out what I can. please enjoy a Weekly Roundup, and my apologies for keeping you hanging… I’ll try to get better about keeping current here.

Fat Cyclist: I’m just going to leave Fatty at this; check out Fat Cyclist’s Blog! Fatty has been writing about the awesome Austin LiveStrong Challenge, and the Ride For The Roses. Congratulations Fatty on having the record for most money raised by a team at more than three-quarters of a million dollars! WOW! I guess if we must be exact $773,874.30… Give or take a few bucks. That’s a LOT of cancer fighting, and a lot of people being helped. Check out his blog, the last week is pictures of the Austin events, stories, videos, and pictures of the Team Fatty members who were able to make it out to Austin. Congratulations Fatty on doing a wonderful thing. God bless, man!

HighwayMunky: My buddy across the pond the HighwayMunky has me worried lately. First he posts a blog about the pros and cons of wearing a helmet now this, Slipping The Traffic. That’s right, he’s taken to the risky behavior of playing dogems with the metal monsters on the road. PLEASE Munky! Please be careful man. I have, however, decided by reading his blog that I really need to get to England and ride. It sounds awesome and beautiful. By the way, Munky… Arm warmers are AWESOME!

50K Loop NS: Poor Bluenoser’s cross season seems to be over before it started. He took a header before, and apparently it was pretty damn bad. Well, now apparently it’s official, It’s Over. Yup, the fat lady has sung, and he’s calling it dead. Sorry bout the shoulder, Blue… I’ve been there YEARS ago. When I rode dirt BMX I was on pavement and went over the bars… It sucks. I hope you’re better soon!

Harp Rider: There are two reasons I am posting about Harp this week… One is I, too, Need More Singletrack. I think I might not remember how to ride, it’s been so long. The second reason is that he MIGHT just be more geeked out on Kevin Smith than I. Way to go, Harp! Hope you get at least one more epic ride, before the white stuff.

Cozy Beehive: Finally, today, Ron touches on a subject near and dear to my heart. Mainly, Velo Taboo: Wearing Underwear Inside Shorts. I had a friend who was talking about lycra, and was asking how I could wear them without underwear. First off, I wear boxers… Yeah, big baggy pants under tight? Second, I had a friend wear tighty-whities under jeans for a 25 miler… He called me, nearly in tears, because he had blisters from the rubbing. This is a GREAT point, Ron! Keep up the good work.

Well, that’s all I have for this week. Snow will be here soon, ride while you can! I’m the Phun Cyclist, stay classy Cleveland.