This photo makes me really upset. It shouldn’t “upset” me, maybe I’m becoming a bit sensitive to things like this now. But it really bothers me.

1) The escalators are outdoors. These things are probably super expensive to maintain because keeping them lubed after all the dirt and stuff flying around is a hassle.

2) Even gyms need handicap access. Escalators do nothing for handicap people.

So yeah, why are these here? If the business before the gym wanted them, that’s fine. It was probably a furniture warehouse full of couches and recliners so they catered to their clientele. But it’s probably cheaper for the gym to shut these down or get rid of them…and they should be gotten rid of due to the fact that THEY LEAD TO A FREAKING FITNESS CENTER!

I’ve heard there’s an LA Fitness on the entire second floor of a building in Hollywood. It’s a big building and having an elevator is necessary…but LA Fitness should deactivate the thing since they cover the entire floor and only allow access with a key or something. Take the stairs people…

And I’m done.

Weight Report

So news is in and it’s a positive…no not positive poundage, but a good report. Here’s the quick stats:

• Weight: 223.8 lbs (101.5 kg)
• Loss Since Last Week: 1.2 lbs (0.544 kg)
• Total Weight Loss: 46.2 lbs (21 kg)

So it’s good news. It’s leveling off a little bit and I think it’s for a couple reasons. So I’ll work to break through those issues.

1. Weight Watchers Points Values have reduced. So to keep loosing weight WW reduces your points as you loose weight, so you keep losing weight. What I’ve found was early on it was really easy to stay within my points values. I could often not you any of my weekly points and feel satisfied everyday. Now as my points values have reduced, it’s harder to keep it under and I find myself diving into my weekly points sooner. Does this mean I’ll stop loosing weight? No. But it can explain the slower loss.
2. Plateaus. It seems to be that ever ~20lbs or so I hit a slow down. At 240 it slowed down so now I’ve hit a slow down as well. Just gives me something to break through.

I’ve got a few more posts for you coming up just need time to work though them. I’ll get them posted as soon as I get them. Another gear post, I’m riding tonight, and something more on little victories.

Sorry for the lack of posts, I’ve been dealing with a family issue. My little girl, Elliot, (her personality is exactly like Dr. Elliot Reid’s on Scrubs, a little crazy but really sweet) had to have emergency surgery to remove a tumor.

I know this has nothing to do with weight loss or riding my bike, but I feel like I’ve been pretty open with you guys about my fight to loose this weight that you’ve had a little window into my personal life. So this is something else, and the reason I want to mention it now is that it had put me into a minor stint of depression. Now I don’t claim to have the kind of depression struggles that many people have, but I bet most of us feel really close—to what those people feel all the time—for short periods.

So in this depressive state, I wanted food. I wanted really bad. I could have eaten for 48 hours straight. But if it wasn’t for the super person that I have in my beloved wife, I would have. She kept those things at bay and I did well this weekend. Thanks, Babe.

So now Elliot’s home and just having her back around has put me in better spirits. She’s having trouble eating, so we are figuring out how to fix that. But all in all she’s close to her former self. If you are religious, a few prayers would be greatly appreciated.

Weight

So I’m glad to see that I was able to burn off enough of the additional calories I ingested over the weekend. So I did loose some weight. Here’s the stats:

Weight: 225.0 lbs (102 kg)
Weight Loss since Last Week: 1.8 lbs (.81 kg)
Total weight Lost: 45 lbs (20.4 kg)
Weight Until Next Goal: 9 lbs (4.1 kg)

So there you have it. I’m kind of getting a bit excited about where I’m going. At 220 lbs, I will be under 100 kg…that’s a great thing to think about.

One key that I’ve been using to keep me motivated to loose is simple and achievable goals as well as simple things to get excited about. When you are eating healthy, it’s exciting to eat a big delicious but not exactly healthy meal. Things also like this 100 kg marker. That’s something most people wouldn’t think about but saying that I am 5 lbs from weighing under 100 kg is nice and motivating. That point, 220 lbs, is also a big deal because it means 50 lbs total loss. Little things, these are the things to get excited about and keep you going.

What motivates you?

Upped the Ante

My friend and I decided to upgrade our ride. This has been boiling in us for a number of weeks, but due to scheduling we stayed with our slower/shorter ride. But this weekend we decided to take the plunge or up the ante so to speak.

It was a 45.5 mile ride (as you can see, Hit the Watch if you are in the Dashboard) and pushed me pretty hard. I did really well the first 30 miles. No real problems and held pretty good. My friend Mark was upset that it wasn’t going faster…jerk. Then after the second break (where I hit the Lap button), I could really feel the drain. When we went over the Highway, it wasn’t bad but after that there were a number of hills that sucked it out of me. Finally on Ridgeview, I was gone. But it was nice to find 5-6 guys that were having a hard time as well and me and another guy pulled them the last 3-4 miles home.

Did you guys go riding on your long holiday?

Operation: Back on the Bike (Complete)

Mission Status: Success

Debriefing: So I got it. I got the Orbea Onix TRV. It feels awesome. Got fitted to the bike and could feel the difference immediately. Flipped the stem to a positive angle, helped me sit up higher and adjustments to the seat stopped it from feeling like I was reaching far out to grab the handlebar. Looks pretty slick right?

Two things I have to deal with. I think this is the problem with all bikes, but the saddle is a bit rough. My old bike’s saddle was a problem, every bike I sat on in my research had a saddle that didn’t agree with me (save Specialized, which has some good saddles as well as some Fiz’ik saddles I’ve sat on). So my butt got used to my last one, so I assume it will to this one as well. Second, the guy at the bike shop wrapped my bartape with some bottled up anger. It’s hard to see from the video but it’s as tight as hell and not much overlapping of the tape. I think he was able to use one spool for both sides. I have big hands and so a more “plush” handlebar suits me better. So I bought some more bartape and I’ll have to fix this issue when I can.

Tell me what you think! Also, the music is my angry, pissed off proclamation to the thieves that stole my other bike. Kind of a you-can’t-keep-me-down vibe. Also changed my background color in celebration.

Hope you like the video, I made it while my wife watched The Good Wife (hehe) so not too shabby for less than 1 hour of effort. Sorry for the few seconds of “blurry cam”.

Weigh Day!!!

Big news on the weight front. Goal 2 has been hit! I weighed in at 228lbs! Seriously.. I hit that mark running. I was hoping to hit it earlier in the month, but no biggie…I’m still trucking!

So it’s a new weight goal. As I get closer to my final target weight (hope to hit 199lbs), I know that my weight loss week to week will slow down. So I’m thinking I should shrink the distance to my next goal weight down. I’m thinking 216lbs. Why? Because that’s 20% from my initial weight (270lbs). I hit 20%, then I keep on rolling.

I’m so close I can taste it…TASTE IT!