Strawberry Crepes

When faced with a decision of doing yardwork or running errands its amazing what kind of things come up that keep us away from the house. In anticipation of getting my trike next week I still had some things that I needed, so we went to the REI in Sandy. I'd never been to REI before and I thought it to be pretty nice, but maybe a little expensive. I started out by getting the bike carrying rack for the roof of my Tahoe. I filled a shopping cart with all the parts and they had to give me one of the display models. After that, I got some Shimano shoes with SPD clips for the pedals that are being put on my trike. I've never used clipless pedals before, but I hear that it's the only way to go for serious riding. Before we left the store we walked through it to see if there was anything else we wanted. Sonia thought I should get one of the lycra/spandex-type riding jerseys, so I did. We'll see how that goes.

When we left the store it was already 1 o'clock and the kids were starting to get cranky, so we stopped at the Village Inn for lunch. I ended up having my breakfast and blowing all my calories on this one meal. It was good though. Strawberry crepes, hash browns, bacon, and two fried eggs. About 1800 cals I figure, so I made it today's only meal.

After lunch we decided to drive up through Payson Canyon to scout out a potential camping ground for memorial weekend. I also kept my eye out for potential biking roads/trails. We found a nice place after about 30 mins of driving. While the kids went for a walk with Sonia I put the rack and all the parts together. It looks impressive with all the hardware. I need to find a way to remove the factory cross bars off. Maybe a prybar?

Saturday morning ride

The problem with weekends is they disrupt my diet and exercise routine. I usually wake up later, don't exercise in the morning, and eat a huge breakfast. Last week for breakfast I had 1200 cals of potatoes, eggs, bacon, and there might have even been a slice of french toast or two in there. It gets quite frustrating to do so good during the week and lose it on the weekend.

This morning, I decided to skip breakfast and go for a ride. Henry was the only kid awake so I loaded him in the bike trailer and off we went. Since we weren't really going anywhere we just headed north until we hit a dead end. It was nice. We saw all the ranches and animals and smelled them too. Someone apparently raises emus out here. Once we ran out of northbound road we headed west toward the mountain and then followed the base of it back around. Henry had a good time, especially when a dog came and ran along side him.

The ride ended up being 13 miles and took right about an hour. The 305 said I burned 670 calories but I'm rounding it up to 750 for pulling the trailer. We saw a lot of other guys riding this morning too.

Flags flappin' in the wind

Good news. The tires were still full of air. I turned on the music and began riding. The flags were flapping in the wind. Things were not going as smoothly as I hoped though. There seems to be something rubbing. I had a hard time pedaling comfortably over 13-14 mph which is about 4 mph slower than normal. I just geared it down a bit and kept going. I'm not one for doing roadside repairs.

The flags really seem to grab peoples attention. Everyone was pointing and waving. The teenager punks yelled with their smart@!& comments, while an old vet even saluted. The mirror is not as cool as I hoped it would be. It seems that all the vibration from the front tire goes right into the mirror. If the car behind me has their headlights on I can see them otherwise it's almost useless.

I didn't mention it yesterday, but I also got a new helmet and sunglasses at walmart. The helmet, besides matching my flag theme, has vents in it which makes it much cooler than riding with my X-Games rollerblade helmet. It also has a visor which keeps the sun out of my eyes. The sunglasses work great. They are polarized and make the Edge 305 easy to see just as I thought.

Once Clayton got in to work I had him help me check out the wheels to see what was rubbing. The bad news is that both the front and real wheel were both rubbing. The back wheel was rubbing hard against the edge of my ZAP electric motor drive. It was easy to fix just by turning the motor to the side. I really should just take it off because I don't like to use it too much -- it's just too slow and the battery weighs over 15 lbs. But, I leave it on because I know if I took it off I would misplace all the parts for it and never be able to use it again. My front wheel was rubbing on the brakes. The only thing I could do was loosen the calipers. It shouldn't effect anything because I have lots of travel on the handle. The front rim appears to be slightly warped. I'm not sure if that is something that can be fixed or if I need a new rim.

My Diet

When we moved from California I weighed 350 lbs. Yep, that's right! When I got married I was about 200 lbs, so that's 150 lbs in 10 years. I had tried dieting several times with various pills and drinks, and while I usually saw some results they were short lived. When we moved to UT we drastically cut down on our consumption of fast food. This is probably due mainly to the lack of In-and-Outs in UT. I mean Sonic is OK, but they don't have a double double! Well, just by cutting down on the burgers my weight fell down to 327 lbs. Woo hoo!

In January my family went through a flu cycle and we all had earaches. When it was my turn my eardrum burst and I decided to go see a doctor for the first time in 7 years. They said my eardrum would be fine but my blood pressure was through the roof. When I asked why the answer was obvious -- I was a sedentary fat dude. I made an appointment with a regular physician and she said "pick a diet and follow it, and get some exercise".

At that time I decided that I really wanted to change my life. I wanted to be active. I wanted to rollerblade, ride a bike, and run without getting out of breath and jiggling all over the place. I also knew that whatever diet I chose would have to involve a complete lifestyle change. And, most importantly, I didn't want it to take 10 years to lose all the weight. The secret to losing weight is as simple as gaining weight. It's all related to how much you eat and how much energy you spend. Losing weight is as simple as eating less calories than you spend.

Enter Dietpower
In order to know how many calories I burn and how many calories I eat I decided to use Dietpower. DP is a software application that allows you to log your food, exercise, and weight. You enter in daily and it calculates your metabolism. You enter in a weight goal and a date and it tells you how many calories to eat every day to reach the goal. You can earn more calories by exercising. It works great as long as you honestly log in everything daily. And, you can eat whatever you want. (If you check it out and decide to buy it enter "Ashley Guy" as the dealer name and save $5). I decided that I wanted to lose about 4 lbs a week. To achieve this goal DP gives me about 1000 calories a day. Ouch!

Time to workout
I like to eat, so 1000 calories a day just won't suffice. If I want to hit my goal and eat then I have to exercise. I started out by joining Gold's Gym in Spanish Fork. I went religiously every morning for two hours until the time changed. My internal clock got messed up and I couldn't wake up at 6 a.m. anymore. I still needed to eat, so I started exercising at home. We got an elliptical and a Bowflex Revolution and setup a home gym with the other equipment hiding in our garage. So far it has been great for the whole family. While cleaning our garage a few weeks ago I found my old bike. It hadn't been ridden in about 4 years, but it was in good condition. I started riding in the evenings and after I felt comfortable doing about 15 miles at a stretch I decided to start riding to work. The office is about 10 miles away, and once I ride there I HAVE to ride back!

The Results
It has worked great so far. I lose about 1/2 lb a day and am down to about 250 lbs now. The amazing thing is that I can find clothes at regular stores now. I can actually wear a Large shirt now and wear 36-inch pants. Bad thing is I have to keep buying new clothes and then they are too big after a couple weeks. I'm not complaining though!

Pimp My Bike

My trip to walmart went well. Me and Hannah spent an hour in the hardware, automotive, bicycle, and sporting goods sections getting stuff to attach to my bike. Upon returning home I took care of the tires first. I put about 3/4 can of fix-a-flat in the back tire and the rest in the front. After filling both tires to 65psi I went for a mile ride to let the stuff circulate. It feels much better to ride when the tires are full. We'll find out tomorrow morning if I have to add any more air.

My next "upgrades" were meant to make my bike more visible to prevent getting hit on my commute. First, I added tireflys. They are these little lights that screw into the schrader valves on the wheels. While you move they flicker with bright LEDs. Next, I added a flashing taillight to the back of my helmet. I tried to add it to the bike but I couldn't find a place to hook it to. My trunk is in the way of the seatpost. Finally, I added two 12x18" flags w/poles on the back. It worked out perfectly that the locking brackets on my trunk box have holes that the poles will snugly fit into. As a further safety precaution I added a mirror to the left side of the handlebars. I'm not sure how well it will work. I thought it would fit inside of the handlebar, replacing the endcap. Instead it velcros around the grip on the end and doesn't seem to solid.

My final upgrades were purely for my enjoyment. I got a replacement cell phone a couple months ago that has a built in MP3 player with a speaker on it. I normally fold it over one of the cables on the front. I can hear it great as long as I'm barely moving and there's no wind or traffic. Obviously this is less than ideal. Well, as we were walking to the checkout we passed the electronic department and I saw a little amplified speaker box designed for an Ipod. So I hooked it to the frame with a hose clamp. The wire isn't long enough to connect to my phone's normal spot so I had to mount a cell phone clip on the frame with another hose clamp. The end result is exactly what I wanted -- I now have the perfect volume.

By the time I finished I didn't want to do any elliptical. I'll just log my shopping and tinkering in DP and call it good:)

Squishy Tire & Chicken Mole

Every day my ride home seems harder than my ride to work. Every morning before I leave I have to add 20psi to my back tire. I think there's a corelation. My back tire felt really bad on the way home today. I think I'll go to wal-mart and pick up a can of fix-a-flat. I don't want to spend a lot of time on it. The weather is getting warmer but as log as I keep moving the breeze keeps me cool. Those stop lights on Main Street are killers though.
So, after my commuting I had burned about 1300 calories. Dietpower gave me about a 1100 so I thought I'd have no problem. But, Sonia made chicken mole and I went about 200 calories over my budget. I couldn't believe it. I might be a little off though because I couldn't find calorie numbers for the mole sauce. I just weighed the whole mess and calculated 3/4 chicken and 1/4 chocolate. I'll burn a couple hundred on the elliptical after walmart -- just in case.

Sore Back Morning

I woke up this morning with a really sore back but I was a half pound lighter. I soaked in the tub for an hour until my back felt relaxed enough for me to get going. With the Edge 305 on my bike I don't need to wear a watch anymore since it has a clock on it. That's nice because in addition to the sore back, my hands start feeling numb after about 20 minutes of riding.
The heart rate siren came on twice when I hit above 170bpm. Once when I passed a bus and the other when I was climbing the overpass hill. That hill was a bummer today too. Usually I like to climb it fast and then rocket down at ~30mph, but as soon as I got over the crest I could see the road crew had blocked the base and had flagmen letting one car through at a time. So, I had to coast down with the brakes on. Disappointing to say the least.
About the heart rate alarm, I think I'll be able to use that for training pretty good. I can set it to a 125-130bpm range for maximum fat burn!!!!

Treasure found!

Garbage day is on Thursday here. It started on Monday when we moved here but every time there's a major holiday that the garbage guys take off they move our day to the next. Anyway, I digress.
So, since we've changed our diet we only fill up one garbage can instead of three. I'm not ready to give the extra cans back so every Wednesday we clean the garage until all the cans are filled. So far we've found a lost treasure every week. This week we found Sonia's missing tennis shoe. They were a brand new pair that got split up during the move. Reunited and it feels so good!
Harold saw my new bike computer and asked if he could have one, I told him he could have my old one once he can ride. He said he could but then chickened out. If anyone has ideas about teaching a 6-year-old to ride a bike let me know. He has training wheels but he's still terrified of falling.

First ride with the 305

So, I had my first ride with the 305. I'll need to play with its position. It was hard to see the screen at times -- it could use an antiglare screen but maybe some polarized sunglasses would work. I had the display set up to show 8 different things which is probably too much because of the small size of the display. Happy to say that the heart rate monitor worked great. I didn't even notice it on me while I rode.
I'm working on my sprints and I did two 5 minute stretches where I sustained over 20mph (and no, it wasn't downhill). I averaged 16mph and made it home in just 30 minutes. The 305 said I burned 670 calories which is right on par with DietPower. Maybe I'll lose another 1/2 pound tomorrow!

Edge 305

I got one of the Garmin Edge 305 Bike GPS units today. I mainly ordered it for my Trike (which is being built right now), but figure I might as well hook it up to my regular bike for the ride home. It looks pretty good. I tested the heart rate monitor and it worked and wasn't too uncomfortable. It has a lot of display options on it which I'm excited about.

First Day of Blogging

So, I've been thinking about getting into this blogging thing for some time and after finding another guys blog on this site I thought I might as well do it. So here it goes!