Wednesday weigh in for 9/30/09

Jumping from one set of 10 lbs. to the next lowest is always exciting. I am now officially under 260. I weighed in at 258 this morning for a 2.2 lb. weekly loss. I have lost just over 20 lbs. in about 6 weeks. I am setting a goal of 245 by Thanksgiving, 238 by January 1st. My original long term weight goal was to be 210 by Memorial Day 2010. As my weight drops I expect the weight loss to become a little slower but I feel good about the pace I'm on.

One thing I can tell my family members is that I will be easy to buy for at Christmas time this year. If you draw my name I NEED WORK CLOTHES! What I have now is starting to fall off me. No brag, just fact...okay I AM BRAGGING! I really have no idea what size I'll be so Walmart or even Sam's gift certificates are what I want. They carry a good Docker type pant that I wear and they have good oxford dress work shirts too.

Tomorrow I start a new series that I plan to work in called "We were also Goonies". Be sure and check it out.

I'm off and pedaling for now.

I usually post on Mondays but...

It's my birthday. I don't get a day off work so I'm taking a day off posting.

I'm back Wednesday with the weigh in and unless I really blow it these next two days ( and I am capable of massive "blowing-it") it's going to be a good one.

I'm off and pedaling for now

TV Talk

Amazing Race starts Sunday with 2 hour premier. If you have never watched this please try it out. It is the most wholesome of all reality shows and is edge of your seat intense. My favorite show of all.

Survivor...This is the best Survivor in several seasons. Russell makes Johnny Fairplay look like a boy scout.

Dancing with the Stars...Very enthused after one week, I like several people but Michael Irvin is embarrassingly bad. The swimmer is my early favorite among the gals and Donny will be hard to beat with the fans although there are a couple of guys with talent.

Hells Kitchen..this is winding down to the end. A disappointing season actually as there are some marginal people still around this late. If that guy Dave hadn't broken his wrist I think he would be the run away winner. Gordon Ramsey alone makes this worth watching. He fascinates me.

Greys Anatomy..may be an interesting season. Ellen Pompeo (Meredith) is pregnant in real life but her pregnancy is not being written into the show. Look for less of Meredith and more of the rest of the cast and that I predict will be a good thing.

I'm off and pedaling for now.

Wednesday weigh in for 9/23/09

The most encouraging thing this week is that I had a couple of days where I ate "outside the box" and it didn't kill me. I actually gained 2 lbs on Thursday and Friday but after eating smart the rest of the week I weighed in at 260.2 lbs this morning for a 1.8 lb. loss for the week and I will take that.

With the rain and weather I am using the jogging trampoline quite a bit now. I just love that little thing.

I'm off and pedaling for now.

One nice surprise, one not so nice

We had a nice surprise Friday night when Laura and Jenna showed up with pizza and brownies for Karen's birthday. It's always so good to see the girls and we didn't even know they were coming. Then on top of that they bring food! That was great. What I learned after they left though is just how bad pizza is when you are trying to watch what you eat. The really good pizzas (my kind of pizza) are loaded with fat grams. I really didn't over eat but I gained a couple of pounds that day. I love pizza just like everyone else but I have to watch it from now on whenever I am near pizza.

I'm back Wednesday with the weigh in.

I'm off and pedaling for now.

My first big bike adventure

My brother Dave and I loved detective books when we were kids. We were avid readers of the Hardy Boys series. Life was a big mystery and it was up to us to find the clues that would solve the case. I remember our first case which in true Hardy Boy fashion I call "The Case of the Lost Slip of Paper with the Address on it".

One day we were in the old JC Penny store that was in Plymouth Park Shopping center. Dave was in the 4th or fifth grade at the time and I was in the second or third. Dave found a scrap of paper that had an address on Winslow street written on it. Winslow is near the intersection of Northgate and Finley and at that time that was the far northern tip of the city of Irving.

THIS WAS THE CLUE WE HAD BEEN WAITING FOR!!

We decided that returning this scrap of paper to the address on Winslow street would solve the case. How would we get from 3124 Williamsburg to Winslow Street? Our twin gold sting ray bikes of course. Our Mom would never give us permission to ride across town so we had to make it a covert mission. Dave, our friend Mike Skaggs, and I embarked on the case solving trip. It was far and away the longest bike ride I had ever been on. It was at that moment when I realized the power of the bike. It provided mobility and freedom that I'd never known up to that point. It was exhilarating actually.

Okay, back to the case...I had imagined knocking on their door, telling them we found this very important slip of paper, and taking the hugs of gratitude we no doubt had earned from the tearful and grateful mother. No one was home. We wrote a note telling the owner that we found this scrap at JC Penneys, gave them our phone number if they had any questions, and left it on their porch. We never heard back but I'm sure we saved the day for them. We had solved "The Case of the Lost Slip of Paper with the Address on it".

I'm off and pedaling for now.

Wednesday weigh in for 09/16/09

I have to say one thing..I hate the treadmill. My old friend the jogging trampoline is about to make a comeback.

The weather/rain cost me some riding time this week but I ate well and it was still a good week. This morning I hit the scales at 262.00 for a 2.4 lb. loss for the week.

I'm off and pedaling for now.

Old diet vs. new diet

I used the word "diet" in the title but let me state once again that I am not on a diet. I am eating three meals a day with fruit, salads and sometimes even cereal as snacks. But there are reasons I gained so much weight before and reasons that I am losing weight now and I want to look at some of those reasons.

My worst eating of the day used to be breakfast. My old eating had too many donuts. My cleaners is next to a donut shop. Twice a week I made the cleaner run and that included a quick run into the donut shop. We also have donuts at the dealership every Saturday morning. I have not had a single donut in a month. I am not saying I will never eat a donut again but I won't eat very many until my weight is under control. I also used to eat a lot of fast food breakfast meals. The charts at Livestrong.com have revealed to me that those aren't good healthy choices. Karen makes me a home cooked wheat bread toast, bacon, egg, and low fat cheese sandwich almost every morning now. This breakfast has 1/3 the fat grams as what I was eating. When she doesn't cook I eat the delicious Jimmy Dean low cal breakfast sandwich or a hot pocket breakfast. If you haven't tried these get you a box and sample it. Good tasting food can be healthy too and these little jewels are proof.

For lunch and supper I pretty much eat the best thing from my old consumption routine which is Karen's cooking. Her left overs from the previous day were and still are the best things I can eat at work each day. Karen not only is a wonderful cook but she has always cooked healthy food for me. If you have to eat fast food, and sometimes that is all we have time for, my favorite choices are Subway (of course) and Taco Bell. Three regular Taco Bell tacos fills me up and that meal has 510 calories and 30 fat grams. Any complete meal that has around 30 fat grams is good for me as my daily goal is 100 for the day. My old favorite fast food meal was a Jumbo Jack, two tacos, and large fries (1600 calories, 83 fat grams). That is about what I try to consume for the total day now so needless to say I don't eat that meal any more. I used to eat a meal after work. The main problem there is I get home after 9:30 most nights. We now send my entire day of meals to work with me and I eat my last meal around 7 o'clock. If I get home really hungry I will eat a bowl of cereal but in the last 4 weeks that has only happened three times. I have cut back on sweets. I loved Karen's baggie of oreos or the honey bun he used to give me but we have replaced that with fruit. I really haven't missed the sugar and the fruit gives me all the sweetness I need.

Well that pretty much sums up the old diet vs. the new. I am not starving my self although I do let myself get hungry before I eat now. I just can't put into words how much better I feel.

I'm back Wednesday with the weigh in.

I'm off and pedaling for now.

TV talk

It is probably accurate to say that for most people the number one form of entertainment in our lives is TV. I have always loved watching TV. For Karen and me watching our shows together is our bonding time. We have certain can't miss shows and many of them are starting in the next two weeks. I plan on making TV talk a semi regular report where I review and discuss our shows. We have a new entry this year and that is the show "Glee" on Fox. The first episode of the season was last night and I find this show a little quirky but highly entertaining. It is not a musical but being a show about the school's musical group it has a lot of singing and dancing in it so you know that is a plus for us. WE LOVE MUSICALS. If you missed the Wednesday show it will be repeated Friday night, try and catch it. Observation number one on "Glee" is that that character of Sue Sylvester, the cheer leading coach, may be the meanest female character I've seen since the witch in "Wizard of Oz" but she is an absolute hoot.

Our shows that are either on or starting soon...Numbered but not in order of favoritism.

1. Amazing Race...the most intense hour of TV each week. My favorite show.
2. Dancing with the Stars...We love it. Gosh I wish I could dance like that.
3. Survivor....We never get tired of it. The original is still one of the best.
3. Grey's Anatomy...sometimes irritating, sometimes compelling, it still is must watch although of all the shows on our list it is the one I can miss without caring really.
4. Hell's Kitchen....We missed the first 2 seasons but got hooked in season three. Surprised me how entertaining it is. Gordon Ramsey is fascinating and terrifying.
5. Lost...Have not missed a second of this series. Confusing yes, but good anyway. This will be the last season and I hope it explains everything.
6. Next Food Network/Design Network Star...These are summer shows and we just love them. Competition with weekly eliminations. Food Star is over, Design Star finale this Sunday.
7. American Idol...Nothing need be said here.
8. 24...The most intense drama on TV...hardest part here is waiting till next week's episode.
9. Dark Blue...Summer series on TNT. It features Dylan McDermott who played Bobby Donnell on "The Practice". Finale is next week. This has been good. Intense under cover cop show.

I probably forgot a few shows..I will make updates to this list.

I'll return Monday. I'm off and pedaling for now.

Wednesday weigh in for 09/09/09

It was a good week. I have one thing I would like to mention and that is that I have increased my rice consumption . Knorr rice mixes are so easy to fix and with their many flavors you get a variety. We had fajitas Sunday and I have been eating rice and fajita meat mixes for lunch. It is delicious and there are very few fat grams in rice. Fajita meat is high protein and low fat too. I feel full but not bloated. Highly recommended.

I lost 3.4 lbs. this week I now tip the scales at 264.4 pounds. That's about a 16 pound total loss so far.

I'm off and pedaling for now.

Bike memories

Teaching your kids how to ride a bike is, to quote Charles Dickens, "the best of times and the worst of times". The worst part is of course the hours spent running beside and holding the bike up for them. It is exhausting and at times frustrating. The best part though is the site of them when they start pedaling on their own. None of us were born with the ability to ride a bicycle. We just learn how some way. It doesn't happen in the first 5 minutes or even on the first try. It takes several tries and a few falls before we get it down. I'm not sure how accurate this is but my recollection is that my Grandfather Roger Howard ( my Mom's Dad) is the person who got me going originally. We were at their house on the corner of Staffordshire and Conflans. I'm pedaling away on the sidewalk and so thankful he is holding me up. I glance over my shoulder to make sure he won't let go and he is gone! I immediately panic and fall but he comes and lifts me up. He tells me I have been riding by myself and that I can do it. He got me going again, told me he was letting go, and off I went.

I do recall Karen and I both training Melanie and Kimberly. I recall very vividly when they got it. We were on the LB Barton blacktop. There was plenty of room and no other traffic. After several tries it happened. Kim got it first. I can't believe she stayed up given the way her front wheel went back and forth but she did. The wobbling lasted maybe 5 minutes but then she was zipping all over that blacktop. I was so proud of her. Well big sister Melanie would have none of that and with new determination she got on her bike and within 15 minutes of Kim's first solo ride she had it down too. It was a great day.

The younger two daughters were a lot easier on me because the older sisters provided more training than I did. Karen, Mel, and Kim taught Laura. I do remember getting home from work and Laura calling me outside to show me she could ride. She was so proud and I was even prouder. Laura picked it up fast and she was good on her bike in a short time. I really don't know how Jenna learned to ride but I remember when I found out that she did. I was outside in the front yard while the kids were playing. Little Jenna comes flying down the sidewalk on a little 12 inch bike without training wheels. She was so young and tiny that it had never occurred to me that she ready to learn how to ride a bike but she was off and pedaling. I'll give the credit to her sisters for teaching her. Whoever taught her I owe a big thank you.

The thing about memories is we own them to ourselves. Sometimes they aren't totally accurate and my recollections may not be 100 percent the way things actually happened. But this is how I recall the events and they are some of the best memories of my life.

Back Wednesday with the weigh in. I'm off and pedaling for now.

Random thoughts while riding...

Sometimes I get home late and it's just too late for Karen to ride. I still take a solo ride. Random thoughts for the solo rides...

Why is everything funnier when I am laughing at it with my grandaughter Madi?....I am happiest when Karen, my daughters, and my granddaughter are in the same room with me.....I don't like to be seen when I am heavy.....I miss the elementary school years.....Thank you, Karen Lay, for teaching me about fat grams.....Does Jack Bauer ride a bike? .....Karen is so beautiful on her bike.....Like Forrest Gump, I once could run like the wind blows.....I have a great family.....I wish I was The Shadow.....Winning the lottery would be so much better than going to work every day.....I can't wait until Madi can ride without training wheels..... ~~~que sera, sera~~~whatever will be, will be~~~ .....I should have listened to Karen more through the years.....I remember pedaling the bike being a lot easier than it is now.....Go Rangers!.....Even the safe residential streets, at night and in the dark, are kind of spooky.....Is my front wheel assembled backwards? It is!!!


But most of the time my mind is just blank.

I'll be back on Monday. I'm off and pedaling for now.

Wednesday weigh in for 09/02/09

Before we get to the weigh in, I must share something that I have come to grips with. I can not ride my bicycle every day. I have always known that come winter I would need other forms of exercise. The cooler weather we've had lately is so nice but let me tell you it is actually already chilly during a morning ride. I feel that winter riding will catch me my death of cold. The good news is that my bike knows it is my first love and is not jealous. My bike knows I will always come back to it. I am going to start working a treadmill into the exercise routine. Daily exercise is the key and I will get mine in one way or the other.

Well I maybe have hit the wall. I ate well all week and rode every day. The bad news is I was hoping to keep the 4 lb. per week loss pace up and it didn't happen. The good news is that I did hit my weekly goal and lost 2.2 lbs for the week. I weigh 267.6 for now and I am still committed to get to 210-ish by Memorial Day 2010.

I'm off and pedaling for now.