Good News

The results from the MRI show some fluid, a bit of arthritis and a small anomaly on my meniscus.  According to the doctor there were 3 options - Surgery, a cortisone shot and physical therapy, or give it more time to heal.  I opted for the third option.  I explained to him my main fear was doing more damage and he said that I wouldn't.  So I've been on the spin bike the last 2 days.

I'm starting slow as I don't want to over do it - 7 minutes yesterday and 9 minutes today.  My knee is sore, but since I'm not doing further damage, its time to HTFU and ride!

Glad to be back on the (spin) bike!

Wednesday Weekly Update #1

This is the first in the series of weekly updates for my progress in losing weight and getting healthy.  I'm going to be playing with the formatting and the content of these updates, but the goal is to list what I've been doing and how things are progressing.

Today's Weight:  430.6 LBS
Weekly Loss:  3.4 LBS
2012 Loss:  3.4 LBS

I'm thinking about listing my highest and lowest calories consumed and calories burned each week, but I don't have the data right now.  Hopefully next week.

As this was a starting over week, it was a bit tough trying to keep within my newly reduced daily allowance of 2200 calories each day.  I was able to do it 4 out of the last 6 days.  My biggest intake was 2516 yesterday because I had a cupcake in celebration of a friend's birthday.  While this was over my target, it was still less than what My Fitness Pal tried to automatically set my daily calories to.  Their suggestion was 2587.

As for calories burned through exercise, that was zero for the week.  Hopefully I'll get good news Friday and I can change that for this coming week.  My biggest fear has been that if I were to exercise through the pain, I would be doing more harm and I didn't want to take that chance.

Overall that's a 3.4 pound loss for a week without exercise.  I am very happy about that!  I do find myself having to managing my expectations from watching the biggest loser where, through intense training they achieve miraculous results.  I don't have the hours to devote to exercise that they have.  I will be happy with 2 to 3 pounds per week as I head towards a healthier and lighter me!

Waiting...And a fresh start

I have been waiting for my knee to get better.  I did something to it back in December and thought I just needed some time to heal, so I have been waiting for it to heal and it hasn't.  I broke down and went to the doctor to see about it 4 weeks ago.  He said there was a problem and referred me to an Ortho specialist.  Between waiting for authorization and dealing with his limited calendar it was 2 1/2 weeks before I saw him and he ordered an MRI after a non-committal "you might have torn something in there."

I then had to wait for another referral for the MRI which finally came through and I have it scheduled for tomorrow (Friday) morning.  Of course then I will have to schedule another appointment with the Ortho Doc to have him read it and recommend treatment.

While I have been waiting, I have noticed that my tendency to consume calories has not abated.  Where before I was maintaining my weight with a bit of exercise, I have now been gaining.  My estimate is 15 lbs since the injury.  This is not good.  This cannot continue!

So, today marks another fresh start for me.  I had planned to start over in January, but hadn't had the motivation without being able to ride either the spin bike or on the road.  I realized today, after reading Fatty's post about a possible competition, that I don't have to wait to restart (or continue) my weight loss journey.  Obviously, since I so enjoy riding, that will be a big part of the exercise side of the equation, burning more calories, but I can also address the intake side of the equation and frankly should have been doing so all along. So today marks a fresh start and my new beginning towards a healthier me.

Today's weight is 434 lbs.  No excuses, no hiding from it.  In the last year and 4 months I have gained back 46 of the 100 lbs I lost leading up to Pumpkinman in fall 2010.  I have a new goal:  Lose 120 lbs by Pumpkinman this fall. That means by October 20, 2012 my weight should be under 314 lbs. My plan is to post weekly updates of my weight and include highlights from the week's calories - both burned and consumed.

Thank you for being the trigger to hold me accountable to achieving this goal.

Spinning

I bought a spin bike for the house. I never could figure out or trust rollers and none of the other exercise bikes in my price range seemed like they would hold up so I bought a spin bike. Spinning has taught me to be less concerned with mileage and with average speed – there is no speedometer, odometer or any other kind of meter on my spin bike. I could wear my Garmin, but it won’t show any progress – only time. That’s what I’m focusing on when I’m spinning – riding for x number of minutes at a time.

Now, granted my time on the spin bike is currently fairly short – only in the 10 minute range, but that will be increasing as I move forward. My goal is to spin at least 5 days per week.

Some people call it boring, but I find it relaxing. It gives me a chance to retreat a bit from the chaos of the house and focus only on one thing – turning the cranks. Its almost a zen-like feeling as I focus solely on what I’m doing and leave the rest to resolve itself.

I know riding the spin bike this winter will give me a new appreciation for riding my bike and actually going somewhere. Sure I’ll still be doing my training loops and out and backs, but I think I will enjoy them more.

An Afternoon Ride

Took the afternoon off yesterday and decided to ride on a trail near Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam. Its called the Railroad Tunnels Trail. For the first half it follows the old railroad bed where the tracks for transporting the materials to construct the dam once laid. Along the way they carved 5 tunnels through the rock to facilitate the journey – hence the name.

The temps were in the low 50’s with a very light wind and lots of sunshine – a gorgeous day to ride, if a bit cool in the shade.

I have to say I really enjoyed this ride. It had a very different flavor from my early morning rides which are mostly about getting in the miles as quickly as I can and then getting home to get ready for work. This was a pleasant roll along a fairly smooth gravel trail with some gorgeous views of Lake Mead and the surrounding mountains. Add to that the bonus of actually going through tunnels carved through the mountainsides and it was truly a lot of fun. There was, however one disappointment for the ride – you can’t actually ride to the dam along the trail. It ends at a series of steps and from the top, you cannot see the dam.

I have ridden part of the trail in the past with my grandson, Jacob, but we only made it about halfway – just past the third tunnel. What was interesting is that beyond the fifth tunnel, the trail leaves the gentle, fairly flat railroad bed and takes a fairly dramatic descent to the steps area. I didn’t realize how dramatic until I got to the bottom and then had to ride back up. The total elevation change was 586 feet according to my garmin, but it was the unexpected nature of it that caught me off guard.

This ride reminded me what it is I enjoy about riding my bike – getting out and seeing things and covering distances much easier than walking. Was I fast – definitely not. With all my stopping to look and talk to hikers along the trail, plus taking pictures of the big horn sheep, it took 72 minutes to cover the 7.22 miles I rode. A short ride by a lot of standards, but a huge one in my book as it helped to rekindle my fire for and love of riding.

Also received a delivery last night via UPS. It is an exercise bike so that I can keep up with my riding in the colder weather. Sure, I know its not that bad, being only in the 30’s, but I find myself using that as an excuse for not riding. This removes the weather as an excuse. It also allows my to jump on and do 15 or 20 minutes several times a day if I want to. I have big plans for improving my stamina and strength using this new equipment.

So Many times

So many times I've started to write a post, gotten lost in the middle and never went back to finish it, and therefore never posted it.  I'm starting to really notice a pattern here - not just with the blog posts, but with my weight loss efforts.  Many times I've started losing weight, getting healthy and then gotten lost and abandoned the journey.  Not anymore.

I've watched the Biggest Loser every season from season one.  I've seen amazing transformation
occur on the show and seriously have thought to myself "I can do that."  I don't see it happening as
quickly as on the show since I have other things, like a job and family obligations, that prevent my dedicating such large amounts of time to it, but there is no reason I can't do some work outs and watch what I eat and get healthy.

Thoughts are easy. Ideas come all the time.  The hard part is putting those ideas into action on a daily basis.

 I've noticed that there is a need to have some sort of emotional revelation or catharsis in order for the new lifestyle to really stick.  Those that have a breakthrough emotionally on the show are the most successful when it comes to maintaining the healthy lifestyle beyond the show.

I'm waiting for it to click for me.  I'm waiting for it to become second nature.  I'm waiting.  Maybe that's the problem - I'm waiting instead of doing.

I want to be the person who can go for a 50 or 100 miles ride on the weekend and not think of it as any great feat.  I want to be the person who would rather ride/hike/run/??? instead of sitting on the couch
watching it happen or on the computer playing games.  Right now, I'm not that person.  Right now I prefer staying nice and warm in the house.  I prefer playing on the
computer and watching TV.

If I could ask one thing of all those successful people on the Biggest Loser, it would be when did it change for them?  What made it change for them?

I did a triathlon lastyear.  Sure I wasn't fast and finished 376 out of 383 overall, but I did it.  I had planned on doing it again this year, but I lost my way.  Training became a chore.  My motivation evaporated.  It was no longer new and exciting.  I shied away from the work I needed to do.  Part of it was the training route
was more difficult than the flat I rode/walked previously, but that should be a good thing.  Instead it made me not want to ride it.

Somehow I need to rekindle the fire to actually go out and do the work.  To face the cold and early mornings.  To set small, incremental goals and then achieve them.

I read Fatty's blog.  And The Trailer Park Cyclist and Elizabeth Waterstraat’s and I think to myself “why can’t I do these things?”  I mean, Fatty rides 100 mile MTB races, completes marathons and triathlons.  TJ
(The Trailer Park Cyclist) rides centuries for fun on a monthly basis.  Elizabeth completed Ironman KONA this year for the second time and did it in 10:22:02  which is amazing!  In my mind I tell myself that I can do these things – all it takes it hard work and dedication. And that’s where I have a problem.  Staying motivated to do the work to get out there day after day and do what needs to be done.

I should have been happy when I completed Pumpkinman in October of 2010.  I was, but I was also feeling that maybe I cheated and it wasn’t such a big deal because I hadn’t worked as hard as I could have so didn’t end up with the time I could have.  I knew I put in some work to get ready, but when I truly examine it, I didn’t put in as much as I could have.  I expected to feel spent at the finish line, having given everything I had to complete the race and I really didn’t feel like it.  There was still gas left in the tank and I think that is what makes the accomplishment feel lessened somehow.

I’m looking forward and trying to set some goals and trying to decide what I want to accomplish in 2012 and I’m not sure yet.  I need to do some more soul searching and see what gets me up and out there.  One big
event will be my 50^th birthday.  The question is, what should I do to commemorate it?  What will be my
motivation to do the work day in and day out? When will the work become fun?

Autumn - A time to begin?

Autumn is the time of harvest, the time for enjoying nature's bounty.  Not typically a time one thinks of for getting back on track with a fitness and weight loss routine.

I will admit it, I have not been following any plan for the past 4 months.  I have not watched what I eat, I have not exercised, I have not been active.  That's the cold hard truth.  Sure I sugar coat things and try to give reasons or make excuses, but the bottom line is I indulged myself calorically and was nothing more than a slug sitting, watching TV or playing on the computer.

Sure I had great intentions and high hopes for myself, but I never got around to putting those intentions into any kind of meaningful action.  That is changing here and now.

I am restarting my fitness and weight loss drive and I'm going to try and hold myself accountable by posting my goals and my progress here.

My slovenly ways have led to my gaining back a significant portion of the weight I had lost last year leading up to Pumpkinman.  Here I am one year later and almost 40 lbs. heavier.  Yes, 40 pounds!  So, now is the time to get my ass moving and do what I keep meaning to.

I've started by modifying my diet.  I am going back to the low carb diet as that is what seems to work the best for me.  It is fairly simple and straight forward.  Its so much easier for me to just say no to certain foods than to eat them in moderation.

My goal is to be under 400 lbs by Thanksgiving and in the 370's by Christmas.  These are aggressive goals and will take work and dedication, but that is my plan.

Today's starting weight: 427.4.

Technology is wonderful

Support a worthy cause for free!


As I've written before I love technology. While it’s not essential for working out, it makes the tracking and record keeping much easier. It can also help raise money for a worthy cause - World Bicycle Relief. Technically it’s not the technology itself that is supporting this great cause, but the record of our training that helps.

I could go through a long explanation in my own way, but it would be redundant since Fat Cyclist, Elden Nelson, has done such a great job of explaining how this works here. Essentially, you sign up with this awesome site, +3 Network, Join Team Fatty and then upload your training data from your device like an iPhone or Garmin. Plus 3 Network then does the math and SRAM makes a contribution for your efforts.

It really is that simple. Even with my sporadic efforts so far this year, I've helped raise over $10 for this cause. Fatty has set a goal of raising over $120,000 this year and I know we can certainly do this. This may just be the extra motivation I needed to get back to a more consistent training routine.

CALCULATORS

I've started walking again on a regular basis and my wife has started to join me (I'm so proud of her!). As I'm doing this I'm logging my activity into both MyFitnessPal.com and MyDailyMile.com so that I have a record of what I've done and how well I'm doing. It helps me to track calories burned and fitness levels.

One interesting thing I've found is that if I walk 45 minutes at a 3.0 mph pace I will burn around 500 calories depending on which tool I use to enter that information. This is a pretty good work out for me and I'm definitely tired when I'm done. If I bike for the same 45 minutes at a 12.0 mph pace the calculators show me as burning around 800 calories. I find this very interesting because I'm much more tired after the walking than I am after the biking.

I do realize that no calculator is going to give me exactly what I burn calorie-wise while exercising, but it seems to me there is a disconnect between the 2 activities. I have a feeling the calories burned for the walking are on the low side and the calories burned for the riding are on the high side.

Regardless of the actual numbers, the important thing is I am getting up and getting active and burning calories. I know it is doing god for my body and my health and I am committing myself to keeping up with both activities.

Training

Training is something that takes hard work, dedication and Time. There is a commitment of time needed to become proficient at any sport or activity. Training for a triathlon takes more time because there are 3 sports involved that one must train on.


This is something that seems self-evident at first glance, but when you stop to really look at how much training, and therefore time, is needed to prepare for an event, it can be a bit overwhelming. I bring this up because I asked Michele if she would do the Pumpkinman triathlon with me this October. With a bit of reservation and some thought, she actually said yes!

I was very happy and agreed that I would work with her to get her ready. We basically have 5 months before the event and I figured this would be more than enough time. Until I sat down and really started to plan exactly what training would have to be done to get her ready. Then I started looking at how much time we had available and when and realized that we really don't have enough time.

2 things are working against us. The first is that Michele is currently not an athlete and is essentially starting at 0. The second are commitments beyond work that would limit when and where we could train. The 2 events she would need the most work on are the bike and the swim. Everything I've found says that she needs to be swimming at least 3 and more likely 4 days a week in order to get to a proficiency that would allow her to be successful. Unfortunately we do not have a pool so this becomes a much greater commitment than the 3 to 4 hours per week of actual swim time.

The second issue is we are going to have our 2 oldest grandsons for 7 weeks over the summer and this precludes both of us heading out in the morning for training rides or runs.

With all of these factors taken into consideration, we've decided that doing the Rage in April is much more realistic. So that is what we are going to do. As a first step along the route to the triathlon, Michele got up early this morning and joined me on one of my loops. It was very hard for her, but she did it and I am so proud of her!