For later reference

January 1, 2017 231.6

Thought dump

It has been almost exactly a year since I bothered posting. Lots on my mind today.  Just thought I would leave these here for now and maybe revisit them later.

I have lots to be thankful for. 

Great family.  Both chosen and by birth.  And, lots of them.

I work for a great place.  Not only is it historically significant and currently relevant, it is also a place that treats employees like human beings. I appreciate the policies in place which allowed me so much time this week to be with my family and the folks who work there with the flexibility and humanity to take up the slack in my absence.  There was absolutely no hint of an issue with me being gone though I know folks had to step up and pull a little extra weight here and there.

I met a few folks my dad was friends with.  Other folks cherished him as much as we did because he was so kind and caring about people and his community.  I am heartened by his example and the reminder to keep on doing these same things.

The sun came up today.  It is hidden by clouds but I still know it is there.  This past week has been intense and inwardly focused.  I don't know how other folks feel but it is always a comfort to me when I come up for air that the world is still turning and life is still going on.  Things can get real personal when dealing with tragedy and reminders that it is not all about me help me to take the next step and get back in the flow of life.

If I could say that I have a central philosophy I would say that "Live, Love, Learn and Laugh" does a reasonable job of summing it up.  Laughing is my favorite and I even managed to do some of that this week.  In moving on from my dad's death, I want to both look forward but also mine the rich emotions and thoughts that I have been experiencing this week.  How do I keep those things relevant while I also facing tomorrow.  I desperately want this to be a transformative experience and I think the best way to do that is to keep the feelings close.  I want to learn all I can from this. I want to experience the full range of feelings available.  I don't know exactly what this means, and I might never, but right now, the most important thing to me is to honor my dad by challenging myself to improve though I am not sure what that even means. 

Sick again

I despise being sick.  Too much being in bed and feeling like shit.

Another round of weight foolishness

We are doing a weight loss challenge at work.  I was on the committee and it got way out of hand real quick and became something that people would win actual money for losing the most weight.  We had to pay to be involved and I agreed to pay because we used part of the money to buy scales for three different places.

So, I weighed at home this morning (216 sans clothes) and at 220.2 here at work for my official weight.  I have disqualified myself from winning because I am collecting the data and building the spreadsheet to tally everything.  I don't have much integrity and I would hate to have the little I actually have to be challenged over a few bucks.  Now, sex, drugs or rock and roll would be no problem because I have no integrity when it comes to those things.

Having now tracked mine since early 2011, I find the whole thing with making your weight a secret a bit absurd.  I mean, I know some people are very private and I respect that.  But, if you can see, you can make a reasonable guess as to what someone weighs.  More importantly, knowing it exactly in no way changes the way a person looks.

2014

Keep it simple
Be kind
Enjoy
Learn

Work

I have decided that I work to live and I no longer have any desire to live to work.  I am happy that my work is something I enjoy and does not (at least directly) contribute to the decline of the world, but I don't have a need to do it.  I work so I can do other things.

I feel better now.

November? Seriously?

According to my usual timeliness measure, it is about time to post again.  Not much has changed with my weight. At least not for the good.  Still mostly bouncing back and forth between 210 and 215 with occasional bounces higher.

In other news, my prized bike, my Soma Double Cross broke yesterday. The right rear dropout broke right where it enters the chainstay. Sigh.  I don't know whether I want to fix it or not.  Part of me says yes it is worth it.  Part of me wonders if I could trust it.  Logically, I know I should, but I can allow my non-logical side some say in this I suppose. 

June weigh in

It was a good news/bad news kind of day.  Weighed in at 210 and 24.9% body fat.  So, down three pounds but a bit up on the body fat percentage.  I now need to lose 11lbs in 18 days (which is not likely) to meet my goal.

On the plus side, earlier this week a colleague noticed that I had been losing weight. Since she did not know me at my heaviest, I take it that the latest drop is showing up.  Woot!

New Goal

Shooting for 199 by June 19.  Under 200 by 45.  I think I can. I think I can.

New day, new scale, new baseline

Picked up a new scale last night.  New baselines

Weight-213.6
Body fat %-24.2

By my calculations, that gives me 51.7 lbs of fat and 161.9 lbs of lean.  I am resisting the urge to compare that to past readings since this is a new scale and a new baseline.

Scale Woes

I think the scale woes continue.  Within 10 minutes I weighed in at 213.2 and 28% body fat followed by 211 and 27% body fat.  I checked in with my daughter and she has noticed continuing fluctuations as well.  So, it is time for a new scale.

I do not know for sure that I have lost weight but I know that my relatively newly purchased 36" waist jeans are getting looser so something has changed.  I find it hard to believe that my waist could shrink while my body fat % goes up.  Also, I have been working out so weight gain should be represented by a decrease in body fat.  Anyway, a new scale today and a reset of weight and body fat tomorrow.

For the record

I don't normally weigh in more than once a month, much less, two days in a row.  But, given the fluctuations yesterday, I bought new batteries last night and weighed in again this morning.  I showed 211 and 26% BF about 4 times in a row before I decided that the batteries fixed it.  A 1 pound fluctuation is not really much to jump up and down about but I am going to use that as my comparison for next month.

April 1 weigh in

Slow and steady may when the race for the tortoise, but it is not as inspiring when it comes to weight loss.  I am fairly certain my scale needs new batteries in that it first showed 177 and 18% body fat.  It then went up to 216, back down to 209 before settling on 212 and 26% for several in a row and a set of "new" batteries. I must admit that the "new" batteries were batteries found in drawers with no way of telling whether they are fresh or not.

So, I am going with 212 and 26%.  That has me at 55 lbs of fat and 157 lbs of lean weight. I am down 2.5 lbs fat and up about a half pound of lean weight.  At this rate, I will be 6 more months getting to 200.  April will be an improvement.

March 1 weigh in

I can't say I am surprised but I also can't say that I am excited.  I was prepared for the number to go up but it actually went down-just not much.  I was 214.4 this morning with the same percent body fat-27%.

By my calculations I am now 57.89 pounds of fat and 156.51 pounds of lean. When not rounding off, that means I dropped about .5 lbs of fat in February and about a pound of lean weight.  I will take it though I hope to do better.  Considering the trip to Vegas and the backing off of both resistance and cardio, it makes sense.  Between a sore shoulder, a sore knee at the beginning of the month and general tiredness that pervaded the entire house this month (the girls missed several days of school with general aches, pains and tiredness so I think we may have been experiencing a mild bug) it ain't too bad. 

For March, a re-commitment.  I am starting the month with a bicycle commute.  I also finished February with a commute.  Here we go.  210 and 25% by April 1?  I think I can.

Hmmm....

February has not been as good of a month as I would have liked for health.  I started the month with a work trip to Vegas and I definitely did not eat as well or exercise as much as I should have.  And, I have been a bit tired so I backed off a bit of the cardio and resistance.  Overall I am happy with things and I am curious what the scale will tell on the first.

First weigh in

I weighed in this morning and I now weigh 216.  That is only a drop of 4 lbs but the cool part is that that my body fat percent dropped from 29% to 27%.  That means that I went from about 64 lbs of fat to about 58 lbs of fat.  I will take a drop of 6 lbs of fat and a muscle gain of about 2 lbs.  It seems to bode well for the next weigh in as I continue to do the resistance exercises.

Cold ride/warm desk

I find that if I am in the mood for it, riding in the cold is not too bad.  It was about 10 this morning when I left and after the initial bite on the bridge of my nose wore off, all was fine.  As long as I can keep my ears and hands warm, I can handle most rides.  It takes a while for cold feet to do me in but cold hands and ears will stop me quickly.


Contributing to this morning's comfort were two pieces of my motorcycle gear.  My neoprene/fleece balaclava kept my ears happy and my winter rated motorcycle gloves did the job for my hands.  I have bicycle gloves but they have lost their insulation due to old age (though I seem to have added insulation due to old age, just not on my hands).  I need to replace them because those motorcycle gloves are expensive and I don't think I need carbon fiber knuckle protectors for the speeds I ride my bicycle.

(Why yes, I do have pets, why do you ask?)













As far as the warm desk goes, a friend loaned me his Led Zeppelin collection. Led Zeppelin was my first musical obsession.  I think they, more than any other band, contributed to my low level hearing loss and slight ringing in my ears.

I am listening to Physical Graffiti for the first time in years.  Between emails and the usual work stuff, the memories just keep coming back.  Each song has it's own images popping up.  Mostly though, they are just so comfortable and familiar.  And, interestingly, fresh at the same time.  Sure an 18 year old can appreciate the fact that Led Zeppelin can melt your face, but as an adult I can appreciate how difficult putting together something this great is.  Wow!

Now, on to In Through the Out Door.  Someone has to do it.

Dang!

Woke up this morning tired to the bone.  My head was awake but my body was not having any of it.  I took it as a sign and decided to skip today's workout and I rode my motorcycle to work instead of my bike.  It was definitely the right decision.  I feel much more rested than I have in a few days.  Back at it tomorrow.

Going along pretty nicely, thanks.

I have ridden my bike to work everyday this week. I have managed to stay on top of the exercise plan so far this whole month.  I even managed to do my sprint workout this morning.  Sprinting is my least favorite exercise with pushups being a close second.  I can definitely feel it in my legs right now.  They are heavy.

I have to say that I can feel a positive difference overall. I just feel stronger which makes it easier to move. I want to believe that I can see a difference.  But, I am waiting until Feb, 1st to weigh in because I would be crushed if there was not much difference.  I have been working too hard to not see a difference on the scale.

This week I have rediscovered the bane of the occasional cyclist-butt pain.  The first day is always fine, but the pain increases each day until, miraculously, it is gone.  I am about out the other side but I know there are still 1 or 2 days of soreness left. If I was a total noob it would probably discourage me but (no pun intended) I have been through this enough times to know that pain free days lie ahead.

Decision Made!

I will ride at least one century in late Spring or early Summer.  Not a competitive one.  One that I map out and ride.  My 12 year old is thinking about joining me.  That would be awesome.