Thursday, October 9, 2008

A Happy Plateau

Hello everyone. These two shots are from about two weeks ago just after riding to work. I leave a set of clothes at work and ride in on Thursdays. Mon - Wed I am taking two or three littlins to school in the morning and the handle bars is just not a good place for them to ride. Mainly I think they would block my bike light. This time of year it is dark in the morning so I have a head light (literally it's strapped to my head) so wherever I turn my head there is light. I Have front bright bike light and a rear flasher that sits under my seat. As the temp's drop, I just layer a few more clothes under my windbreaker jacket and go for it. One good thing is that we do have a place to take a shower here at work and lockers. I keep the toiletries I need here (always wondered why they are called TOILETries) so I can shave and brush my teeth and get ready for the day. Usually on Thursdays I also play racquetball during my lunch time, finish my work day then ride home. 8 miles each way so I am not breaking any records on distance. I am just happy that I can do it since the hip surgery back in November

I have been very stagnant in my weight loss actually up or down about 2 pounds but centered on 195. I will say though that this is a good thing. I have seen a place in my eating & exercise habits that I can be comfortable. As for now. I need to get back on the sacrificial horse and continue to lose some more weight.

I keep getting asked, as recent as today "What are you doing?" Folks there is no secret. You have to burn more calories than you take in. Now there are tricks or tips to doing this. What do you do everyday or 5 days a week, (you're not going to like this part) what can you do to make that task more difficult? Me? I park farther away from the office than usual and do the same at most stores. You may say "WOW, you burn a whole extra 5 calories by walking an extra 100 feet" I am glad you said that and think that way, lets do the math. 365 days in the year minus 104 (two days off every week) equals 782.5 calories, about a 1/4 of a pound a year. Mulitply that by how ever many times you can do that like stores and so on and you can effectively lose an extra pound or two not including your workouts or limited food intake. One place that most people almost fight over parking close to a facility is...THE HEALTH CLUB. People go there to run miles on treadmills and so on then complain to high heaven over where they have to park. I also do this with task around the house. Mowing the lawn, cleaning and so on. The house gets cleaner, the lawn gets greener and I burn a few extra calories in the process and it all adds up.
The best tip I can say about food is don't go drastic all at once. One or two good habits every other week or so and sooner or later you will be onto a health lifestyle. God bless you all and remember...Just Do It! CS