Happy Thanksgiving and Happy 65th Birthday to me

Losing weight can be easy at first then the closer you get to where you need or want to be the harder it becomes to lose it. And we all get to a point that we just stop losing anything. Well I have come to believe that is our bodies adapting to what we are doing and it is happy with that. So we have to change or plans and either eat more or less or exercise more or less. There is not a formula for this. I have come to find out that even my doctor does not have the answer to it, his explanation is to experiment. And that means as I said above change something. Now I do not think you should change everything all at once. I believe you need to make a single change and see how the body reacts to it.

To summarize this we cannot stay with what worked last week or the week before if we are at a standstill with our weight loss. We have to be willing to make changes. Sometimes the change is just to take a week or two off and relax and rest. Sometimes it is more exercise, and sometimes it is more calories eaten and other less calories eaten. And I have found that even a vacation can make the difference.

Everyone have a Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy. But tomorrow get back to the plan.

What the Last two years has taught me.

Thanksgiving will be two years that I have been working on my journey to better health and fitness. It was Thanksgiving Day that I got up and was trying to find something really nice to wear for the family dinner, and everything I tried on was very tight on me. I got on the scales for the first time in more than 5 years and was shocked at what I weighed (285). I started researching on ways to lose the weight that I needed to lose. I knew that it had to be something that I could do and live with the rest of my life. And I really did not know I was on my plan as I was just cutting back and not eating as much from that Thanksgiving Day to this very day. On New Year’s Day of 2011 I made it my goal to lose my weight and to do so by eating what I liked to eat but just not eat as much. Then slowly as I lost a little weight I started to walk more. By March I had lost 20 pounds and I was able to walk almost a mile without it killing me. By our vacation in early March I had given up diet cokes and was drinking a lot more water and also tea without any sweeteners.  After vacation in March I looked around for a gym to go and workout at and ended up joining the YMCA. So I started working out at the Y mainly on the exercise cycles and very light weights and I kept increasing my walking distances and speed. By My physical in July of 2011 I had managed to get my weight down to about 240 and also managed to get off my reflux meds and the cholesterol meds. In late July I found the Loseit site by researching and trying to find an app for my Android phone to log everything I was doing. And I have to say that Loseit is the best thing that every happened to my on this journey. I also found Fitbit due to the Loseit Site. And Loseit and Fitbit has really motivated me to continue my journey and to never give up.  In October of 2011 I got my bicycle and started to ride it and not go to the Y so much, and in November of 2011 I got my weight set for home and started working out at home while still working on my walking and bike riding.  By New Year’s Day of this year 2012 I was down to 208 and hoping to get to 195 and off all of my meds.

This year 2012, I have had a lot of ups and downs. I have tried a number of times to completely get off my blood pressure meds without any luck. I do feel so much better and I have learned so much and I have made so many friends on the Loseit site.  This year 2012 has been really rewarding and also very disappointing; rewarding in that I have managed to do so much more with keeping to this journey and eating correctly an exercising. This year has been disappointing in that I have not been able to lose the weight that I had in my mind to lose. But as we come up to and in to this next year I am armed with a lot more understanding of my body and my determination to keep this weight off and to hopefully finally get to a normal weight for me.

What have I learned?

Never ever give up.

It is all about the plan and the goals.

You have to want it more than life itself.

You have to be selfish in that you are going to do what is right for you and that means sometimes of letting loved ones and friends know that this is more important to you than anything else is.

You also have to educate yourself first then you have to educate loved ones and friends. 

Here a few questions and answers to really think about

1.       Will I or you ever reach our goal?  Yes if we stick it out and never give up.


2.       Will I or you ever get off the track (have bad days and fall of the wagon)? Yes we will and we have but as long as we recognize it and get back on track we will succeed.

3.       Will I or you ever just want to give up?   Yes I have wanted too many times, but I am still at it.

4.        Do I or you really know when we will get to our goals? No not really and we also have to understand that this whole process is not about getting to the goal, that is only part of the journey the journey is never over, for as you see once we get there we have to maintain it for the rest of our lives. There is no such thing as going back to the way we were.

There is no such thing as going back to the way we were, that is what we really have to remember for the rest of our lives and if that is not what you wanted to here or believe then you will never be successful at losing the weight because as soon you reach your goal you will be back to your old ways and gaining the weight back again. That is why this is about life style changes and not about a diet.

I hope I have gotten your attention.

Doctor’s appointment

October 9, I had my doctor’s checkup for my blood pressure and weight.  I have been completely taken off all of my prescription medications and I do not have another appointment until July next year. I am now on yearly physical checkups.

I was told that I should not frat over my blood pressure as long as it does not go into the high range (140/100). I asked what my weight should be and he said that I was at my high end of good (208), and it would be great if I could get done to 196-198. This weight is by his scales and being fully clothed. So I said that I would do my best to get there by my next appointment next July. That means that I am working to 189 by my scales weighing the first thing in the morning before I get dressed.

I have finally getting my weight to turn around after coming off my meds, mostly a diuretic. You see when I first went off of the meds I gained 8 pound almost overnight. I have now lost about 4 pounds of that again. I have about 14 pounds to lose to get to my new goal. I will be doing it by logging what I eat and keeping my calorie in put down to about 2000 calories and also by walking and riding my bike as well as I am going to start doing some weight training now that fall and winter is up on us. I have gotten this far and I will get to my goal as some point.

Saturday was the Round Rock Outlaw bike ride.

 This ride is not a race but just a day for social riding around the county. The day was mostly cloudy and the wind was out of the South. I was planning on ride 50 miles. We started out staged by the distance we were riding with the 100 milers first, then next the 100K riders. Then I lift with the 50 mile group. I was in the middle of the group. The organizing of this ride was very laid back, but at the same time well organized with sag wagons and rest stops with everything that anyone should need. The route started out to the north north east with the wind to our backs for about the first 25 miles, but there were hills on the route much harder than I have managed in the past and I believe that was what zapped my legs so much. I will say this I did not walk up any of the hills, I did managed to ride up the hills, but I learned the real meaning to my granny gears. And of course with the hills to climb there where hills to coast down and I found that coasting is not always a good thing my legs would want to cramp up when I started to pedal again so I just pedaled up and down the hills. I was climbing a lot of the hills slower than I could have walked up them if I was really strong. I rode up some of them at no more that 4.5 to 6 miles an hour and there was the last hill that I climbed that I was not doing 4 miles an hour on and that is when I decided that was enough and I called my wife to pick me up. What was so sad was that I was less than 10 miles from my home. But I also had a few down hills that I saw 30 miles an hour and that took me back to my child hood days of riding my bike. I did talk to some very nice people along the way and saw lots of them that were very much faster than me and some that were about my speed. But I say very few really young riders and even fewer old riders like me. And I say bikes that looked to be built up of parts that were just laying around, and others that looked to custom made and cost as much as I would pay for a car. And I saw bike shirts and tee shirts that advertised about every business in the area as well as across the state and beyond. I even noticed one man’s shirt was advertising a bike shop from Alaska.

I really enjoyed the ride and I will do it again. And I am already planning to ride organized rides next year that are out of this area even. I guess this kind of riding is in my blood. I know that I am very much older now that when I was riding this type of rides in the past but I really plan to get stronger, and I plan to keep this up.

And to answer the question that is in some of you minds. The ride that I did that caused the 20 + years of not riding was so hard and I pushed myself so hard that I just could not make myself get back on the bike, and so I sold it. And Also in that 20 years I had to change jobs a lot to keep working and lost my first wife to a car accident and just kind of let myself go, and I am now really paying for that.

Also I got on my bike today and rode 14 miles. The ride today was painful but it was something I had to do. For you see I had to get back on the bike and go. I will be riding as much as the weather and my time lets me this winter, and I am planning to increase my weight training and walking to keep me in shape, fit, and hopefully help me improve my strength.

There are 2 days coming up I plan on riding regardless of the weather and that is my birthday and New Year’s Day. 

Saturday Morning Ride

Woke up with a headache and was trying to find reasons not to ride. But as it turned out it was a great ride. The day has been cloudy and the wind was out of the North East ,and about 65 degrees. I started out riding into the wind, and I ended up riding about 20 of the 31 miles either into the wind or with a side wind. I saw about 35 bike riders today at one time or the other. Most of my ride was without seeing any cars which is very unusually.
My bike seems to be set up very well now, I had to make adjustments to my seat height, I ended up with it about an inch and a half higher, after the ride I changed the angle of my stem, by maybe 10 degrees, and I changed the angle of my seat by maybe 2 degrees. My pedals are Okay but the clips hurt my toes and I really believe that I need to change my pedals for a city platform pedal style. I want to be able to just ride my bike with any shoes, are cloths that I may be wearing.
The ride was very tiring, I did manage to finish strong by really backing off and slowing down at about the 25 mile mark. That really helped me be able to finish. I am hoping to ride again tomorrow and I would really like to get the other pedals and ride with them. It is now about 6 hours after the ride and I am feeling much better, but tired. I really believe it has to do with a few things I did right after the ride.
First I had a G Series performance drink. Then I had Greek yogurt with fruit. Then I took a long shower. And for dinner I had 1 and a half roast beef sandwiches with pinto beans, and potato salad. I sure hope I sleep better tonight.