30 Days of Biking

30 Days of Biking starts again in April.  If you want to join in, here's how it works.  Just get on a bike every day for 30 days.  I'll be getting a lot of bike riding in by bicycle commuting.  I challenge you to join me.  Just pedal a little or a lot (it's up to you) every day in April.  It's healthy, it's green, and it will make your legs damn sexy.

If you'd like to learn more about 30 Days of Biking or register (don't worry, everything's free.  They just want to see how many people are participating), visit the website at 30daysofbiking.com.  Push yourself out of your comfort zone.  You'll be glad you did.

Yech.

I have had a no good, very bad, terrible day. Until I saw this video anyway. 


I was all set to bike to work for the first time in 2011 this morning, until my wife, Claire, informed me that there was some serious frost and black ice on the roads.  I'm glad I didn't take my bike.  I nearly biffed walking from my car to the building. 

Then the school day began.  It was rough.  All day was rough.  At the end of the day I was surprised my head hadn't exploded.  I may have done some emotional eating after work, I really can't remember.  It's all kind of a blur.


As a result, I'm feeling fat.  I have since yesterday, actually.  I was running on the treadmill at a different gym than I usually frequent and there was a mirror to the right of the line of machines.  I looked over and saw my belly and man-boobs flopping like crazy.  I felt so fat and gross.  I thought I could see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I have so far left to go. 


At least the weather is nice.  I'm hopefully going to bike to work next week and I'll try to get a couple rides in this weekend. 

All right.  I need to get some rest.  Parent-teacher conferences are tomorrow.

Weigh-In Results

Well... I had did really well posting every day until Thursday.  Then I let the entire weekend slip by too.  I'll try to do better this week.

I haven't had the best week diet or exercise-wise.  I've kind of just been plodding along.  I did go to the gym a few times and I didn't really count calories.  I wasn't out of control, but I'd definitely categorize my efforts as not good enough.

Let's see how I did.

Even the cat wanted to see how I did.

Well, I'm losing weight.  .7 pounds this week.  I'm frustrated that when I try really hard I stagnate, and when I have a week where I just kind of coast, I have a loss (albeit a small one).  I want to see some really big losses.  I'm only 6.3 pounds away from the weight that I was when I started college.  At about 225 or so, I will be the lightest I've been since I was 16.  That would will be amazing.

Diet Coke

I have a bit of an Achilles' Heel for Diet Coke.  I don't drink it as much as I used to, but when it's around, I go through a case in just a couple days.  I always took solace in the fact that it has no calories.  I just watched a video by Frank Dobner at Male Weight Loss Now.



I had read some of this information before, but Frank makes a pretty convincing case.

My weight loss journey isn't just about eating less food, it's about eating the right foods.  Michael Pollan's recent book, Food Rules, suggests not eating anything with ingredients that a 5th grader can't pronounce.  Highly processed foods, while not necessarily higher in calories, contain chemicals that, while approved by the FDA, probably aren't as healthy as fresh fruits and veggies.  Back when I was in Weight Watchers, the woman running the meeting said that you could spend all your points on ice cream if you really wanted, but you probably wouldn't lose any weight and you'd be hungry all the time.

I'm going to make soda a special treat and only buy it one bottle/can at a time.  I also think I'm going to stick to soda with fewer man-made chemicals.  Calorie free isn't worth the trade-off for me anymore.  If I want a sweet drink, I'll budget for the calories.  I'm not saying I'll never have another Diet Coke, but I will definitely think twice the next time I'm at the vending machine.

The Buffet

A while ago, my wife, Claire, and I dropped a friend off about half-an-hour away from where we live.  We decided we'd go out for dinner.  We found a place called Mongolian Buffet. It was a weird combination of Old Country Buffet and a Mongolian Barbecue.  I started with a huge plate of salad and tried to get a lot of veggies in, but I'm sure I went over my recommended daily intake that day. 

I noticed a lot of people trying to get their money's worth.  Going up for thirds, fourths, and fifths.  Helping themselves to plenty of soft-serve ice cream and loading their plates with deep fried food.

Two years ago, I would have been one of the people piling my plate as high as I could get it.  I would have tried to race against time to eat as much as I could before my stomach could tell my brain I was full.  Then I would have tried to shove down a dessert.

This got me thinking about the nature of the buffet.  Why does a restaurant exist where we can eat as much food as we can possibly eat?  For the $15 I paid to eat at the buffet, I could have bought a pretty nice meal at a much classier restaurant and still probably have taken home some leftovers.  Why are we compelled to go to a place with unlimited food?

I think the buffet really comes from the fear inside all of us that we won't have enough food.  A number of years ago when I was in Germany, I got upset that there weren't free soda refills a McDonald's where I ate.  Why did I need more soda?  Why did it make me so uncomfortable not to have a limitless supply of carbonated sugar water? 

Here's my point.  Go to a restaurant that serves limited portions.  Limit your portions.  The next time you eat a meal, stop before you're full.  You're not going to starve to death.

Stop being afraid of being hungry.  

Weigh-In Results (and Polar Bear Plunge Pictures)

Happy Monday.  Sorry I was absent from the internet this week.  At best, I was on vacation from a diet.  At worst, I fell off the wagon.  I really had a crappy week as far as eating and exercise is concerned.  I didn't go crazy or anything, but I ate a lot of fatty foods.  Chinese, pizza, a burger and chips (fries), buffalo chicken sandwich, etc. 

The one thing I noticed, however,  was my body really didn't like being fed crap.  I've had stomach aches and bloating a lot this week.

So how does all this factor into my weigh-in?  Let's see.

Sorry about the dark picture.  I forgot to take my camera off of ISO 100.

WTF?  I fall off the wagon and lose weight?  It's only 0.1 pounds, but it's still a loss.  I thought I was going to gain five pounds this week.   I'm glad that I didn't, but my behavior this week definitely doesn't deserve a loss.  My only guess is all the work I did the week before caught up with me. 

The really good news is I don't have any weight to re-lose. 

Now, as promised, some pictures of the Polar Bear Plunge that Claire and I did.

The blocks of ice they cut out of the lake.

 I feel so skinny in this picture.

We had about three seconds to stare into the cold, cold water.

Wait, was this a good idea?

Cold! Cold! Cold! Cold! Cold!

I look at these pictures and realize I've got a long way to go.  I'm still a chunker.  But I have made progress.   Here's what I looked like last year for the plunge just for comparison.

That's me on the left if you couldn't tell.

I'm back on board.  See you soon and make it a good week!

Weigh-In Results

Happy Monday everybody.  Before I get started with my post, I'm going to make one more appeal.  I'm trying to raise money for the Special Olympics by jumping into a frozen lake next Saturday.  For those of you unfamiliar with Minnesota, it's a little chilly here this time of year.  I'm still $130 short of my $400 goal and I really need your help.  Every little bit helps and it's for a really great cause.

Click here to donate!

Or just click the polar bear.

It's been a rough weekend food-wise.  On Friday we dropped a friend of Claire's off about 45 minutes away.  We decided to grab dinner before we went back.  We found a Mongolian buffet, which, while delicious, was not a good place for me and my unhealthy relationship with food. I did manage to limit my intake.  I started with a salad, then had a couple small plates.  Still, I felt extremely guilty afterward.  I went to the gym that night and ran a treadmill 5k.  That made me feel a little better. 

The rest of my weekend continued on roughly the same course.  We were bad and ordered pizza.  We also went to an Oscar party last night.  That's right, only people named Oscar were invited.  I got there to find a musical theater legend, that guy from the office and a muppet who lives in a trash can. 

Anyway, our hostess made turkey burgers and made sure we had healthy options, but the dessert was amazing.  I ate way too much.

So that was the cycle of the weekend.  Eating things I shouldn't have then kicking my ass at the gym.  Let's see if the exercise outweighed the overeating.

Nope.  I mean I definitely didn't hurt anything by exercising so much.  I no doubt would have posted a gain if not for all the exercise.  I'm still frustrated.  I want to be losing weight a lot faster than .2 pounds a week.  Losses like this make me want to just give up and eat an entire Dairy Queen ice cream cake, but I'm not going to let that happen.  I worked very hard this week at the gym and I'm proud of my efforts. 

I really needed a victory, so I decided to take measurements and see if there was any progress there.  The last time I took measurements was January 28th.  The red numbers are changes.

Neck: 17.5" -0.5"
Shoulder: 51" -0"
Bicep: 14" -0"
Chest: 45" -2.5"
Waist: 44.5" -0.5"
Hips: 44.5" -0"
Thigh: 20.5 -2.5"* (New measuring spot)
Calf: 18" -0.0" 

So there is progress being made.  Sometimes I feel like losing weight is like trying to cook a steak by having a succession of people breathe on it.  Nevertheless, I am going to win this war.  Two-tenths of a pound at a time if that's what it takes.