My Dedicated Follower

My desire to blog has come and gone many times over the years. I have been in a down turn in that cycle for about a year and a half now. I barely even remembered that this place existed.

Twitter has changed that for me. I use twitter constantly now, and find myself wanting more at times. 140 characters only goes so far. In light of that, I'm going to give this place a little more attention.

Google Analytics tells me that I have a visitor that stops by everyday. Someone in the Kearney Nebraska region. After dedication like that, I thought she deserved a special shout-out. So here you go:

Hey Liza. Good thing I have the Flickr and Twitter updaters in the toolbar, huh? Otherwise, this would have been painful. Here's to more content!

Nice Surprise

I love my iPod. I use it every chance that I get. I really want to get into more podcasts, but for now my audio bible and music supply keeps me happy. This, however, is not a post about my iPod specifically. This post is about the audio devices that I have used with my iPod.

I started off using the earbuds that were supplied with the iPod. Bad decision. The reviews are right, the iPod is the premier mp3 player, but the buds are second rate at best. I purchased a decent pair that crapped out fast, and I have been bouncing between spare stuff that is laying around the house ever since... until this last week.

While shuffling through Wal-mart I decided to grab a simple pair of earbuds to use to knock down on the wind noise while riding my bike. It was an impulse buy. I wanted a par now, and I didn't want to shop around. What's the danger in dropping down $20 on a pair of earbuds to get my by until I put the time into a decent pair? There are 6 other people in this house, someone is going to use them. Anyway, I grabbed a pair of JVC earbuds because they fit the bill. No planning, research, or thought behind it. The tag matched my pocket, and the buds fit my ears. I have never had an impulse buy work out so well in the past. I love them.

They are comfortable. They knock out almost all ambient noise. Most importantly, the sound quality is 4x better than the buds apple sent with my iPod. I know that there are a ton of high quality buds out there that would blow these away. For those of you out there like me, that destroy earbuds like toys, have a ton of kids that get their hand on everything, and don;t want to sink $200 on high quality earbuds for a $350 iPod. Give these a try. They are cheap, so you won't cry when they break or end up in the toilet.

Open Letter to the Guy in the Blue Taurus.

I would like to start off by taking a moment and saying Congratulations! I know that it was not easy, and that it probably took years of preparation. World Records are not easy to obtain, but you did it! So, tell me, how does it feel to be the newly crowned "Worlds Slowest Driver"?

I knew that you were special when I first met you on the road many months ago. I did not realize your full potential, however, until that famous morning when I watched a tractor pass you. Nothing says "Worlds Slowest Driver" like being passed by farm implements.

Now that the pleasantries are out of the way we can get down to the real reason for my letter. I am sure that you are quite proud of your accomplishment, but you need to stop rubbing it in. You're getting a little cocky. We all know that you're the record holder, you can stop rubbing our noses in it. Every morning you are crusing down the road flaunting your title for all the world to see. We get it. You're 'Da Man'. It's time to move on.

You don't see MJ shoving his 6 rings in everyones face. Joe Montana doesn't have a billboard outside of his house that reads "I'm a SuperBowl Winner". You don't see that tiny oriental guy that eats all of those hotdogs wearing a shirt that says "I'm the tiny oriental guy that eats all of the hotdogs!". They are winners and they know it. They don't have to remind everybody every morning. Every. Single. Morning.

I wonder....

Why aren't there more fruit drinks featuring the yummylicious cantaloupe? We are going to have to talk with someone about this...

Long-time-no-see

Sorry for the silence lately. Things have been quite busy. As I am sure you remember, I had a really bad cold. It’s still not totally gone yet, but it’s getting there. On top of all of that, I had 2 job offers materialize out of thin air within a few days of each other. Both looked good, but one required relocation, which the family was not excited about. Anyway, it all worked out for the best, and I accepted one of them. I am starting my second week of my 2-weeks-notice.

Work has been nuts. The moment I turned my notice in they locked me in the training room and have been parading people through for me to train. They have always known that there were a lot of things that only I knew how to do, and despite my repeated warnings and offers to train they never cared… until now. I even had them ask if I would continue to wear my business cell phone for a few months after I leave. Of course, I had to decline.

What does all of this have to do with my weight-loss routine? Quite a bit, actually. I had lost a total of 7 pounds before all of this started a week and a half ago. I have put one of those back on. Bummer. I have been burnt out from work because of the constant attack of meetings and stuff all week. Final budgets are due at the end of September, and they want me to have them as close to done as possible before I leave. My evenings have been spent doing the normal things, but my mind has been preoccupied with the things that I am going to have to do at the new job. Couple that with the cold snap and I totally derailed my exercise routine. Not exercising alone isn’t the worse things in the world. You can actually lose weight by diet alone. That went out the window because I haven’t been sleeping again. When stuff like this goes on, my body just won’t let me sleep. I go to bed about 11 or 12 at night, and I get up at about 2 for about an hour, then again at 6 for work. The whole time I am in bed I toss and turn.

All that said, I still exceeded my weight loss goal for the first month. I was targeting 4 pounds, and I lost 6. Cool. Now I need to get it all going again. Actually, if it were not for the cold, I am sure that the bike rides would have helped me clear my head during all of this.

*sniff*sniff*

No exercise at all for 2 days now. I have a cold of sorts that's making my head feel like it’s going to explode. I have some amazing sinus pressure going on. I broke my nose a few times when I was younger and never had it set properly, so whenever I get a cold it makes my eyes feel like they are going to explode and my brain run out of my eye sockets.

I really stressed the first few weeks about not wanting to miss any days. No matter how hard you try, life throws things at you that just get in the way. Sometimes it’s just a busy day and you can’t make the time, sometimes it’s a cold. I have had both slow me down now. There is something to be said for rest days though. I have noticed on several occasions that I am able to ride with a renewed vigor after a day off. I have wanted to start a schedule and do specific exercises on specific days, and even plan in the rest days. The problem is that I have to adjust what I do based on what is going on that day. Plans change constantly, and so does the exercise routine. The good news is that I don’t feel bad about taking a rest day. I have seen some progress in my weight loss, and I have seen the benefit to resting your muscles. I initially turned my nose up at all the articles that said you need to take rest days every 3 or 4 days. I thought that I would get out of the flow and not start up again. I trust myself a bit more now. I want to stay aggressive though. I want to beat the 10 month deadline.

I think I might load up on some Sudafed and Tylenol and try to ride again today. I feel marginally better, and I don’t want to sit around for too long waiting for this to pass. I’ll just have to stuff a few tissues into my pockets before I leave.

Motivation

There are a lot of familiar faces on my bike rides at night. Though the crowd is always changing, there are a few people that I see almost every day. People of all ages and sizes. All sweaty. All making strange faces. There is one man in particular that has caught my attention over the last few weeks.

The trail around Kearney is more than 10 miles from one end to the other. I have seen this man on every inch of the trail, sometimes coming, sometimes going. He caught my attention because, although not obvious at first, he is clearly in his 60's. He is never riding at high speeds, just a methodical ride with his legs pumping at a cardio pace. This guy is 'rip' too. He is obviously in great shape. One day, when I noticed him about a quarter of a mile ahead, I slowed to his pace and shifted into the lower gears to match his cadence. It was very low resistance, very heart-pounding, and obviously for guys with a longer attention span and greater focus. I like speed, and that style is obviously not about speed.

I have been inspired, and a lot humbled, to see a guy of 'his age' in such great shape out pounding the pavement day after day. He fills an image in my mind that I have tried to hold on to for the last few weeks. This exercise routine, and healthy lifestyle, are a necessity for me. If I wish to make it to his age successfully, I have to do exactly what he is doing. It has been almost poetic for me to see him day after day. Inspiring and motivating don't quite cover it.

Yesterday I decided to ride the trail until it ended. I discovered that the trail went farther than I originally thought by looking at it on satellite a few days ago. It actually extended about 3 miles farther than I thought. It ends (at least for now, plans are in place to extend it almost 10 more miles over the coming years) at a nice little monument and bridge at the doorstep of the Platte River Archway Monument. When I arrived there last night, I stopped to stretch for a second and was startled by a voice right beside me. The gentleman that I mentioned above was there sitting on a bench by the monument. It started with a random pleasantry, but it turned into a short conversation. We talked about the trail, and the future plans to extend it. I decided to take the opportunity to tell him that I have found his presence on the trail to be an inspiration. He thanked me, and asked me what got me riding, because he has only seen me for the last few weeks. I chose to skip the whole N.A.S.H. explaination, and just tell him that I wanted to lose weight. He asked me where I start riding at, and we talked about length of rides and stuff like that. He complimented me on my progression over the last few weeks. He complimented me on my new-found dedication to exercise, and he threw in a few other encouraging comments along the way. I mention that he complimented me for a reason. Not to toot my own horn, but to praise him just a bit more.

He obviously had the 'upper-hand' in the conversation. He is clearly more fit, he is obviously more dedicated, he rides the trail in its entirety it seems, and he is twice my age! I have told many people time and time again that our society has totally lost sight of what it means to be a man. We have left chivalry, respect, courtesy, and many other things in the dust in exchange for an image of manhood that more closely resembles gorillas. Chest thumping, 'I'm-the-man' attitudes rule the day. This gentleman was in a situation where the conversation started out with me bowing to him, and he chose to encourage and compliment instead of puff out his chest and swell his pride. Rarely found anymore.

Yesterday I respected him as a cyclist, today I respect him as a person.

17,500

What is 17,500 calories? 17,500 calories is the amount of fuel hiding in about 30 Big Macs. You don’t like Big Mac? 17,500 calories is also about the same as 66 candy bars. Or how about 70 Pepsis (20oz bottles). 1,200 cups of coffee, 400 apples, 165 bananas... they all equal about 17,500 calories. Now don’t forget, 3,500 un-burned calories amounts to 1 pound of added body fat. Simple math tells us that 17,500 calories equals 5 pounds of body fat. The good news is that 17,500 extra calories burned equals 5 pounds of fat lost. That, my friends, is exactly what I have finally accomplished.

Yeah! Sweet! Woot! (I had to throw that one in for my web friends).

I am a bit skeptical about what the scale tells me. So, I only weight myself when conditions are as close to my set of rules as possible. Here are my rules:

- I only weight myself in the morning. I wake up and go through my normal ‘self-maintenance routine’. As soon as I have toweled off I step on the scale, in nothing other than what God sent me here in.
- I never weight myself if I have had anything to eat or drink within the last 6 hours.
- I always weight myself after ‘taking a ride on the porcelain bus’.
- I never weight myself unless it is a typical morning, and I got up at my usual time of 6:30.
- I always re-zero the scale before each use.
- Once a week I put a ‘test weight’ on the scale to check for accuracy.

Why go through all that trouble? I don’t like inconsistent or inaccurate data. I want to remove as many variables out of the equation as possible. I know that is impossible to do, but sticking to my little routine above, I feel a lot better about the results. As a final precaution, I average my weight over a running-3 days, and use that number as my ‘official current weight’. I know I may be going to far, but I don’t want to get excited about weight loss that is not real, or part of a normal fluctuation. Anyway, I've gone from 240lbs to 235. My wife claims to be able to see a difference in my face. I don’t yet. If not for the scale, I wouldn’t believe that I had lost anything at all.

5 pounds down, 35 to go.