There are many possible morals to this story...

I imagine what a prospective adoption parent must go through and feel. When you finally get your baby it just has to seem absolutely perfect to you. Then after a couple of weeks you notice it's imperfections but you deal with them. I have been through this sort of thing with my bike the last two weeks.

All little boys love their bikes. When I got this shiny red bike it was love at first sight. It was awkward pedaling at first but I attributed that to my declining motor skills and physical conditioning. And I did get better at riding it. But this bike did present ongoing challenges. It was hard to control, especially at start up and lower speeds. It also seemed harder to pedal than I felt it should have been. I felt from day one that the front wheel was too close to me and even commented on that to Karen. I noticed on our rides together that there were times she was coasting but I had to keep pedaling to keep up with her. A boy having to ride harder to keep up with a girl? I would not have survived childhood if that had been the way it was back then. I was starting to think of ways I could modify the bike. Maybe adding a banana seat or new handle bars, something to make this ride right. It never occurred to me that maybe it something was not assembled correctly...until yesterday.

I have shared how we got our bikes. We bought them, at a good price, fully assembled from a guy who buys them at auctions. He is a nice guy but not a bike shop owner. If you scroll down to the bottom of this page you can see our bikes. Notice the fork that holds the front tire. It has slight crook in it that extends away from the pedals. My bike was assembled with the fork backwards! This shortened my wheel base and caused all the problems I listed above. All I had to do was loosen a nut and turn the fork and handlebars in the correct direction. I did this and a light shone from above and a dove flew down to my shoulder and a voice from heaven said " It's about time you figured that out Einstein!"

So of all the possible morals to this story I choose to go with "All's well that ends well".

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

What is the ideal body weight?

What is an ideal body weight for me? What is your ideal body weight? Well as always I turn to my good friend Google and ask the question. There are several answers of course. What drives me nuts is the opinion of the medical profession. They say a man 69.5" tall at my age and big boned should be 131-171 lbs. In my junior year of high school, in the best physical condition I was ever in and at this height, I weighed 167 lbs. I do not find their number to be realistic. In my search of sites I found the one that has what I believe the most realistic number. The site is http://www.halls.md/ideal-weight/body.htm . The number is the average weight for people my height, age, and gender and they say my goal weight should be 214-218 lbs. Given where I am now that number would be great. I initially set my goal at 210 lbs and I do plan to get somewhere in that range. But what then?

I have set weight goals before and I met them. I then celebrated over the next year or two by putting all the weight back on. Tracking pounds is important. It is how we can measure our success. But this ultimately isn't about hitting a weight. It's about eating a diet and exercising enough to keep my weight where it should be for the rest of my life once I get there. I guess my goal this time is to get there and then keep on pedaling and eating right.

This will be my last post of the week. I'll return on Monday.

I'm off and pedaling for now.

Wednesday is weigh in day

Tip of the day: Lean Cuisine Panini sandwiches. Healthy food never tasted better and at only 3 minutes in the microwave has never been easier to fix.

When you are trying to lose weight every pound lost is good but the pound that takes you from one set of 10 to the next lowest set of 10 is always special.I am now under 270! I hit the scales this morning at 269.8 lbs. I love digital scales by the way. Any loss, even 2/10 of a pound, is reflected and just lifts my spirits.

I have lost over 8 lbs in two weeks. The weight loss is always quicker early on and I don't know if I can keep that kind of pace up or not. I guess we'll see what happens.

I'm off and pedaling for now.

The sins of the children visiting the parents?

My mom gave a good reminder tip today. It's something we all know but don't practice. The funny thing is I recall when I was six years old and we would eat at the dinner table my mom would tell me to do this very thing and yet to this day she still has to remind herself to follow her own advice. Mom, this is actually quite a relief. I thought it only me.

To quote my Mom... " slow down, chew longer, maybe take smaller bites. If I want to eat half as much, try to make it last twice as long. They say it takes 20 minutes for your stomach to "feel the full" from what you're eating. "

Okay I'm back Wednesday with the weigh in.

I'm off and pedaling for now.

Keep those tips coming in...PLEASE!

One thing I have quickly learned about writing a blog is that there is only so much you can say. I can only say " I ate well and rode my bike last night" so many times before it gets old. Fortunately the great encouragement I have received along with what you all have shared with me has provided most of the content here so far. Be sure and let me know of any cool websites and/or programs you know about so I can share them with everyone.

Today's tip comes from my daughter Kimberly. She, and anyone else who knows me, knows how much I love french fries. I have always loved them deep fried too. They are obviously much healthier baked but you lose so much in the flavor and texture areas. Well Kim told us about a way to bake the fries and get deep fried texture and taste and it is so simple! First you Spray the sheet with Canola oil non stick spray. Then spread the fries in a single layer and spray the fries with the same canola non stick spray. They are wonderful prepared this way. The crispiness and deep brown look and most importantly the taste that you get with deep frying is all there. Tip number two is my own. You should cook only the recommended serving size portion and when it's gone it is gone. Now this is simple and most of you have probably done this all your life but just understand this is a new practice to me.

I'll have my next post Wednesday and every Wednesday is weigh in day. See you then.

I'm off and pedaling for now...FLAME ON!!!