Stay Tuned

I think I need to make a re-commitment to some of my goals... some things I'm doing OK in and some things I'm not even trying or not trying hard enough... If I had to give myself a report card, it would probably look something like this:

Cycling: B-minus...  I'm riding, but not nearly as much as I could, and if I'm not careful I will
                              not reach my goal of 2,011 miles for this year... today I could have went
                              out, but I stayed home and missed a big opportunity to ride, considering
                              Hurricane Irene will probably keep me off the bike for a few more days.

German:   A            I give myself an "A" because I'm doing my lessons faithfully every day.
                              I don't know how much I'm learning, but the "A" is for doing it.

Nutrition:  C            I eat healthy about 75% of the time right now... and part of that other
                             25% is not keeping track of what I'm eating or how much...  and this
                             is making my weight slowly creep back up to near 200 lbs.

Strength
Training:   D          FAIL!! Although I do get in 100 to 250 push-ups and 5 or 6 sets of
                            pull-ups a few times a week... I don't think it's enough, I need to get a
                            few complete workouts in every week.

So I know where my problem areas are, now I just need to fix them... I will start on that right away, but I will have some clear and definite goals posted soon... I have 4 weeks of vacation that I need to use and the first set starts in 2 weeks... I will definitely work on this then... and I will catch up on a lot of riding then also...
So Stay Tuned!!!

Anybody Miss Me?

Hey everybody!! I'm sorry about the lack of updates lately, there wasn't much new to report anyway. Mostly, I just ran out of time at the end of the day. Not that this blog isn't important to me, but I do need to sleep some times. I'm off today so I have some time.

I also have time because I did a shorter ride than I had planned, because of a forecast of rain that still hasn't happened yet... I hear it's raining in Manhattan now, so it should be here any minute. But I could have stayed out there another hour or so.

Anyway, after checking the forecast this morning I made the decision to go for speed instead of distance, so I cycled to White Plains and back for a total of 25 miles. The biggest surprise of the whole ride was my new personal best average speed of 17.17mph... 1st time ever that I've been over 17 mph for a whole ride, not only that but I believe this was the biggest jump for a new personal best.

There's probably a few reasons for the new PB... I had 3 days off the bike, I did do an easy ride yesterday, but I didn't go overboard, so my legs were well rested... another reason that I rode so well, is that I fueled up for hours beforehand... lots of carbs... and now that I think about it, I had whole wheat pasta yesterday, potatoes & broccoli last night and a bowl of oatmeal with a banana a half hour before my ride. So carbs, carbs, carbs... keeps the motor running. I didn't eat all carbs, I did have some protein with the meals, but carbs made up the bulk of the calories.

I've been keeping up with my push-ups and pull-ups and I've also done my German Lessons faithfully... So now you're all caught up... I'm off to play some games as my reward... have a great day all.
I'll write again soon,

Walk, Bike, Pull-Ups & German

A 30 minute walk, an hour bike ride, 4 sets of Pull-Ups & my German lessons, that is all for today... I couldn't get any Push-Ups in, maybe tomorrow... Enjoy your weekend.

Digging Deep

I really wanted to do a 40 miler today... I rode down to the Bronx first and back around my neighborhood to start off with a few miles before I headed up to White Plains... I should have done a few more loops before heading North... I rode to White Plains and back and wound up at my house with only around 30 miles... and I was beat, I really wanted to go inside and rest... I think yesterdays ride took a lot out of my legs.

But after I gave myself a good talking to, a little self-motivation, (I promised myself some chocolate, works every time, LOL)  I stayed on the bike for another 10 miles... so I was in the saddle for 2 hours and 40 minutes and I did just over 40 miles... and at a reasonable pace also, 15.1mph... I checked my previous long ride and it was at 14.1mph... so maybe that was another reason for me wanting to quit early, I set the pace too high.

I'm beat now, I gotta go eat and then do my German lesson, Later all

Cadence

Someone asked me where my blog update was yesterday... some days, like yesterday, I just run out of time... other days I have nothing to say, except for the same old boring, "rode my bike, did push-ups, learned some German." stuff that I usually blog everyday... I'm surprised I still have a reader or 2, LOL So if you don't hear from me for a couple of days, it was probably for one of the reasons above.... but I will try to update as often as I can.

Today I would like to bore you with cadence, or pedal revolutions... some say that the most efficient cadence when you're riding a bike is somewhere around 90rpm (revolutions per minute) or turning the pedals over 1.5 times every second... I usually average between 65 and 70 rpm's for most of my rides... so today's ride I concentrated on keeping a high cadence throughout the entire hour and 38 minute ride... I didn't focus on the speed as I usually do, but the cadence... my average cadence for today's ride was 81rpm, so I did spend a lot of time near the 90's... but guess what? my average speed was also one of the highest I've had 16.04mph, so maybe there is something to that bike ride efficiency theory.

But there are always a dozen or so factors that go into the results you get for any single ride... the wind, what you ate before the ride, your energy levels, tire pressure, how many hard rides you had earlier in the week, etc... so you take it all with a grain of salt... it's not like I'm a professional rider or anything...  I just love seeing results... speaking of which... I'm at 999 miles for the year, almost half way towards my goal of 2011 miles... but the year is more than half over, so I might have to ramp it up a bit.... where's my cheerleaders and motivators?

Week Off

I took an unscheduled week off, actually 6 days... I wasn't feeling too good... but I think it was a combination of things... I was feeling run down and I had no energy, I think a couple of days of bad eating did that, but I also might of had a bug of some kind... but to be totally honest the last couple of days was just laziness, that I called recovering.

I did do my German lessons faithfully... which just goes to show you were my mind is... I haven't even gone on this years vacation yet and I'm already totally thinking about next years. But if you could see Germany through my eyes, you'd understand.

Today I was back on my regular Push-Up/Pull-Up Routine and my hour long bike ride... now if I could only get my diet back on track... my main meals are clean, it's the in between snacks that kill me and the pre-bedtime snacks and my terrible cravings for chocolate.

Oh well, I'll get it all together some day... when I really want to.

Two for Tuesday

Two as in Two-hundred push-ups today... sets of 25 might be getting too easy for me... I'm going to keep doing them though... I'd add more, but it would take more time per set and I really can't sneak them in then... maybe I'll find a spot where I can elevate my feet and make them a little tougher... or keep one foot off the ground, alternating legs... or put my hands closer together to work more of my triceps... I have a few options without taking any more time than usual.

Still doing the pull-ups, I'm on my 4th set  and more to come... German lessons right after this update and I already did my hour long ride, slow ride today... 2 miles less than yesterday in that hour... and one incident... I was riding in the right lane but I needed to get over to my left... I look behind me and I see a car approaching in the left lane with his right blinker on, so I start slowly moving to the left part of the right lane and signal left, figuring we'll do a mutual swap of lanes... I'm still in the right lane and looking back to see if he's moving over, he's not... so as he's coming up behind me he's honking his horn, thinking that I'm trying to get in front of him in the lane, but I'm holding my line in the right lane... and as he passes he throws up his hand, no one finger salute, but I got the whole hand.... as luck would have it, the light turns red before he gets to the corner and I stop by his passenger side window and I said  "Hey." he looks over and he turns down the music... I said, "I thought you wanted to move over because your right blinker is on."... he looks at his dahboard and says... "Oh, sorry." LOL... I really need to stop confronting people, I might catch up to the wrong one one day. I don't even know why I do that because I only do that on the bike, no where else... maybe because I'm a little more vulnerable riding a bike... maybe I feel I have to be more assertive.

Oh well, see you tomorrow

Monday, Montag

It's Monday again... busy day at work, but I got 100 push-ups in anyway... I got 4 sets of Pull-Ups so far, but I ain't done yet... and of course an hour bike ride... at a good pace I guess, I got a mile further than yesterday.

Yep, still doing my German lessons... I hope I'm retaining some of the lessons and if all goes well, maybe I'll be able to use some of my German next year... we'll see.

OK Das ist alles für Heute.... Hey maybe we can all learn together, LOL
Wiedersehen

Easy Like A Sunday Morning

Busy day at work today... I didn't get one Push-Up in... I did get a few German exercises done though on my breaks and I'm hitting my lessons after this update.

I'm still doing sets of pull-ups, I'm up to 5 so far and I should get a few more in before bedtime. My bike ride was the same as yesterday... I think since I have a spare tire on my bike with tiny cuts and holes in them I'm a little leery of traveling too far from home... I guess I'll have to shell out for a new tire, so I can ride worry free.

Ok it's Sunday, so I'm outta here... check in again tomorrow... bis morgen.

Short and Quick Ride

I got up to 300 push-ups last night and this morning. These are not all at once, I do sets of 25 during downtime's and breaks. I also did my 5 sets of Pull-ups and I'll probably do a few more sets before the morning is over.

My bike ride was pretty typical... 1 hour and 15 miles, just getting my hour of cardio in... I also walked 2 miles last night before work, also I did some German lessons on my breaks and lunch off of an app I downloaded for free on iTunes... and I'm going to do a few more German lessons on my home computer after this update.

Yesterday I didn't ride because of rain and wet streets, but I did do a few hours of German, mostly "adaptive recall" of lessons I did months ago... I don't want to take in too much new stuff all at once, it might not sink in, so I do a few review lessons and then a couple of new lessons, hopefully I'm learning something.

I think that ought to be enough for today, How's your day going?
Catch up with you guys tomorrow. Tschüß

40 Miler (Now with picture goodness)

The Rising

Kensico Dam

Inscriptions

Walkway to the Center

Click on the pictures for larger versions

I did my usual sunrise ride today, but I was going for distance this time... first I rode down to the Bronx and then I took off for White Plains, when I got to White Plains, I decided to go further and I rode up to Valhalla and the Kensico Dam Plaza with the 9/11 memorial, "The Rising"

The Rising is an 80 foot high sculpture with the names of the 111 victims from Westchester inscribed at the bottom, and you can walk into the center of it also.

On the way home I got my first flat in over a year... I've been out of practice so it took me a while to change it... the piece of glass that got me (actually a piece of mirror) left a big slice in my tire, so I had to be careful on the way home... every few miles I got off the bike and checked to make sure I didn't pick up anything else.

But I wound up with 40 miles anyway... I probably would have gone for 50 if it hadn't been for the flat... next time... oh well... have a great day all.

Quickie (not that kind) Update

I got up to 250 Push-Ups today... I made improvements on my Pull-Ups also, went cycling for an hour and now I'm going to go eat shower and do my German Lessons.

The reason for the quick update is that I want to make it to a concert tonight... It's the Amish Outlaws http://www.amishoutlaws.com/ at the Cross County Mall... should be fun... and I have to get some sleep beforehand... ok no time to explain, later all

Cooler Mornings

The mornings are cooler now... in the 70's... great for riding, I did 15 miles in my hour's ride... I also did 200 push-ups today, up 50 from yesterday... some days are gonna be more and others, when I'm busy are going to be less, but I will do some push-ups or other comparable exercise or work-out.

I also did 5 sets of pull-ups, up one set from yesterday... I won't mention the reps of each set because they are embarrassingly low, but I did add a rep on one set... and I only count the pull-ups that I do with full range of motion.

I still have to do my German Lessons as soon as I finish up here, I did 2 yesterday and I'm going to try and get through 3 today... we shall see.

OK let me run, see you all tomorrow.

Cool Down

I had a great day today... not only was it a cooler day, but I was also inspired to do extra physical activity... don't ask me why, I just got into it... along with my usual daily routines, walking and cycling, I also did 150 push-ups and 4 sets of pull-ups.

I rode for an hour at a pretty good pace, even though the wind was coming at me from the east and the south... according to Weather.com they were only at 10mph, but they sure felt a lot stronger, maybe because of the cooler temperature.

So hopefully I can keep up these new routines... with the push-ups and pull-ups and also get my German Lessons in... which I will start as soon as I'm done with this blog post... on rainy days or other days that I can't ride I'm going to start working some weight training in also... I can even start doing that on my days off... just the basic compound exercises to start with... and I'm going to take it easy at the beginning and slowly work my way up... no reason to screw up my shoulder again, that's if its ever healed at all... I haven't attempted a dip in a while.

OK German time... auf wiedersehn

The Heat Is On

It's still pretty hot here, although I only needed a half a bottle of water today on my hour plus ride... I just rode around the neighborhood, making loops of a few different areas... some quiet streets, the Irish section of Yonkers and the Northern tip of the Bronx, all within 5 miles of my home.

My average speed was right smack-dab in the middle of my fastest and slowest rides of the week... fastest was 16.2 mph... slowest was 14.2 mph and today's was 15.2 mph... Everything else was pretty much the same or close to my last few rides... heart rate, cadence, calories, climbing etc... so I should be pleased.

Ok it's Sunday and no reason to keep anybody here reading this stupid blog... have a great day.

Another Scorcher

phewww, it was hot out there... I did almost the same ride as yesterday, but I was a little faster... I went through both my water bottles... well, one bottle was water and the other was beer... just kidding,... the other bottle had a mixture of half water and half gatorade... but that was the first time all year that I even went to my second bottle, much less finish it.

I'm going over these computer stats, comparing yesterdays & todays... today I rode a mile and a half more... 3.5 minutes more, but yet I spent one less calorie today than yesterday... I did climb 37' less today than yesterday, but that's not that much.

OK I need a shower and I gottta replace the calories... but the shower is more important, nobody in my house wants to give me a hug, I try to tell them I need a hug after a hard ride, but they ain't going for it..LOL

ok, stay cool everybody

The Best Laid Plans

Yesterday I planned on an easy ride but I felt good and wound up going hard and finishing with a personal best... this morning I planned on a longer ride but a couple of miles out I wasn't feeling it and wound up with a short ride... my legs just didn't have it today, my avg. speed was 2 mph slower than yesterday, in a car 2 mph doesn't matter much either way, but on a bike it's a big difference... I was slower but my heart was working harder, so I guess I was tired plus it was hotter also... 80°F at sunrise.

Oh well, it doesn't matter what you have planned, once you're on the road it could go either way... I wound up with 17 miles in an hour and 12 minutes... and I was cooked.... Tonight I have to work so tomorrow's ride will have to start later and it'll be close to 90°F by the time I get out on the road... might be another slow ride.

ok Stay cool everyone.

Need For Speed

I know I said I wasn't going out for speed today, but half way up to White Plains I realized I was going good and feeling good... so I kept going, pedaling hard and fast... hammering, as it's called... 23 miles, I did... and I got a new personal best... 16.2 mph... my max speed was 33 mph in a 30 mph speed zone, tsk, tsk.

Maybe the secret to increasing your speed is to take a week off between rides... they say you need more recovery time as you get older... but I wouldn't get too many miles in that way... and I definitely wouldn't reach my mileage goal... I'd rather ride every day... I'm not training for the Tour de France anyway, just the Tour de Hans.

Ok time to do stuff... see ya tomorrow

Felt So Nice, I did It Twice...

... well not quite twice... I went out for my first ride in 9 days, and I figured I'd go out for a nice easy hour long ride, maybe around 15 miles... I did that and rode up to the fence outside my home, and I says to myself, "Self, you're feeling good, why not do another lap or 2."  So I did another 5 miles.

It was a little hot, my computer registered 91°F at one point, but the overall average was 86°... tomorrow it's supposed to climb up to 100°F so you know I'm going out as early as possible... sunrise is at 5:40 am... so that's probably when I'll hit the road... I don't know how long of a ride it will be... I won't know until I get on the road... but it'll be at least 25 miles... and I don't think I'll be riding for speed either... just a ride for a rides sake.

Okay, I'm glad to be back and I'll see you all tomorrow.

I'm Still Alive

Hey everybody... just a quick note... I survived my birthday, not unscathed, but still alive... basically, I overindulged, which I figured would be OK for a weekend... and it would have been OK if I had followed some basic principles, but since I didn't go about things in a sane and reasonable way, I am paying the price still, 4 days later... and no, it wasn't the alcohol this time... it was too much cheese combined with very little fiber and very little water consumption... and that's all I'm going to say about that... it was painful... hopefully, lesson learned. I'm at about 90% on the feeling good scale and hopefully I'll be fully recovered in a day or 2.

My bike was another story, the quick fix that I was hoping for, was actually a component breakdown, my right shifter was broken... a new set of Shimano Ultegra STI 10sp. goes for $498... but I only needed the right one... so eBay to the rescue, I got one for $139... now I just have to wait for it's delivery... come on Post Office!!

So both me and my bike are on hiatus for a few days... but we'll be back, better than ever... stay tuned...

A Mechanical Ride

On yesterdays ride when I shifted, some of the gears seemed jumpy, some wouldn't shift right away and sometimes it would jump up 2 gears when I only wanted to shift up one... I didn't want to play with the cables too much because I was out for speed and the shifting wasn't too bad once you got used to it... so I figured I go out for a mechanical ride today to see which gears are giving me trouble and adjust accordingly.

I just couldn't get it right, if I had the lower gears finely tuned the higher gears would give me problems and vice versa... until finally I over-adjusted and the cable stopped working all together and I was stuck in the highest gear, luckily I didn't stray too far from home and I didn't have too much of a climb, and I made it home without too much hassle.

So now I have to go through my bike maintenance books to see if it's a problem I can easily fix myself or if I have to bring it into the shop... with all the the "Fix It Yourself" talent I have, I'm probably better off just bringing it into the shop, mostly likely it's a same day fix... and if I attempt it myself, it'll turn into a couple of weeks fix, plus 10 times the cost of what it would have costs me had I brought it in in the first place.

Anyway tomorrow I'll turn 54, so there goes my "Riding my Age in Miles" birthday ride... I could do it later in the week... so if you don't hear from me in a couple of days, I'm probably celebrating... it's a 3 day holiday for me... so everybody enjoy, I'll be back a little older and maybe a little wiser... nah, who am I kidding, LOL

Speed Milestone

Fast ride today, well, fast for me anyway... I rode from Yonkers to White Plains for a distance of 20 miles with an average speed of 16 mph, a new personal record. If I lived in the flatland's I'd have a lot faster times... when I'm on flat stretches I average 19 - 21 mph+, but just like life, there's gotta be bumps in the road... you gotta endure the uphills to enjoy the downhills and you gotta endure the uphills to enjoy the view from the top also.

I spread out my pre-ride carbs a bit, I had a banana 2 hours before my ride and then another banana half hour before, along with a handful of almonds... that might have helped a bit to keep me going at the end, while my bike computer was going from 16.3 mph avg. down to 16. I was pedaling hard to keep the reading above 16, and in the end I did.

Ok, I'm beat... time to take care of a few things and then shower & eat... have a great day all.

Quick Ride, Quick Update, Quick Shower and Then A Quick Lunch

Yesterday it rained in the early morning, so no ride and no update... It rained last night, but it was nice & sunny this morning so I took a quick hour long ride of a little more than 15 miles.

Nothing much else happening, so I'm going to wrap this update up real quick, then shower & eat... have a great weekend, Y'all

Sunrise 35 Miler

All Right!! My longest ride of the year so far... 35.73 miles... my GPS took me on some nice quiet roads lined with million dollar mansions and gated communities here in Southern Westchester... but I don't think the GPS cares that I don't like hills... it had me do over 1800 feet of climbing, that's about 1200 feet more than my average ride.

But I made it through and I did it at a respectable pace also... 15 miles an hour... I was riding hard at the end because I saw the average mph go down from 15.4 down to 15.3, then 15.2... I just couldn't let it go down past 15... so the final 2 miles I was really pushing it to keep it above 15, and I did it.

Usually my back starts protesting after 20 miles but this morning it didn't make itself known until about mile 30... so I decided to ride another 5 miles after that, and it was ok with that.

And to top it all off, I get to replace 1400 calories... which is one of the reasons why I ride in the first place, so I can eat, eat, eat.

I only drank about 22 ounces of water during my ride, which isn't a lot, but I must have been well hydrated before my ride, because sometimes I go through 48 ounces on a 20 miler... and I lost 3 lbs. on the ride also.

One thing I saw on the ride was 3 dead skunks on the road... somebody must have gotten the 3 while they were crossing the street... I took a picture of them that I was going to post, but looking at it again, there's too much blood and guts for my G-rated blog.

Hot Fun In The Summertime

It's creeping up to the 90's again, but I got my ride in already... 21 miles today, not all out and not too leisurely, just a nice enjoyable ride... there's a chance of thunderstorms tonight and tomorrow morning so that might keep me from this weeks sunrise ride... I'll be tracking the forecast all night.

I forgot to check my standings on Bikejournal.com before my ride, so I had no idea how many miles I needed to move up in the rankings... I'm rapidly closing in on being in the top 3,000 out of 5,000+ riders that track their mileage on that site... and I'm trying to get into the top 50 of about 100 New York riders that log in their miles there... right now I'm 64th and about 170 miles away from  #49.

Of course these rankings mean nothing and they aren't even verified, I just use them strictly for motivation... for example: If I'm planning a 16 mile ride and see that the guy or girl above me is only ahead by 19 miles I might add 4 miles to my ride just to pass him or her and move up a ranking... it might be silly but it works.

Sunny, Sunny Day

It's a sunny day and it's going to be a hot one, in the 90's... I'm glad I got my ride in early while it's still in the 70's.... I did almost the exact same ride as yesterday, not the same route, but the time/speed/distance are almost identical... except I did 100 more feet of climbing which might be why my average heart rate was higher, as was my calorie expenditure... not much higher, just a little.

I think I need to start going out with specific goals for each ride... like one day hills, another day speed and another day endurance and distance... and of course, probably the most important day, the recovery ride... as we get older we need more time to recover, or so they say... I'll probably have to find out the hard way, LOL.

Happy 4th

Happy Independence Day!! It could be a little sunnier, but at least it's not raining... it's cloudy and muggy out today... 69°F when I got home... topped off the air in my tires and out the door I went. I stayed out for a little over an hour for almost 16.5 miles, just doing neighborhood loops.

My heart rate was 10 - 15 beats a minute slower than comparable rides, I wonder if that means my heart doesn't have to work as hard as it used to for the same results or if it just means I wasn't trying hard enough, hmmm.

Dinner time now... enjoy the rest of the holiday... I'll catch up with you tomorrow. Ciao.

A Sunday Soakin'

As if my legs did a rain dance we had thunderstorms this morning, so my legs got out of pedaling me around Westchester today... They should be well rested tomorrow then, but they'll have to drag a little more weight up them hills, because I ate as if I rode... plus a little extra in Independence Day Fare...  that'll show 'em.

Heavy Legs Today

I guess after 2 back-to-back, comparatively longer rides, my legs had a right to protest a bit... I jumped on my bike as soon as I got off of work and headed on my way... a few minutes into the ride I knew it was gonna be a rough one... my legs felt heavy like they had lead in them... but I wasn't about to turn around.

I rode for an hour for a distance of 15.29 miles... the rest of the data did not reflect how I felt... my average speed was still above my total average for the month of June. My average heart rate was right on par with my June average. The only thing that was just slightly below my average was my cadence. So in spite of how I felt I still had the numbers... of course I always look for improvement, not the status quo.

One thing I might look at is nutrition and what I put in my tank before I ride and how many hours before I ride... that also could have an effect on my performance. I eat about 500 calories 3-4 hours before my ride... about 50% carbs, 20% fats & 30% proteins... that actually looks pretty good, the only thing I might change is to consume some more carbs 2 hours before the ride, maybe a banana or something.

Oh well... it's a beautiful day... everybody out the door, LET'S GO!!

Two In A Row

I enjoyed yesterdays sunrise ride so much I did another one this morning. This time I rode North to White Plains and back. 28 miles in an hour and 50 minutes.. I was doing good at an average of 16.1 mph but as always, the last few miles is uphill and I saw my average go down to 15.3 towards the end.

I'm having a great run of rides, 6 days in a row so far... and the weather looks good for the rest of the week, so I might get to continue my streak and chip away at my mileage goal... I have 1,469 miles to go towards my goal of 2,011 in 2011... In the month of June my average ride was 19 miles, I would need about 90 riding days to meet my goal... that's 3 solid months... you have to consider that the year is half over and I've only done 30 rides so far this year.... uh oh.

I think I'm gonna need some words of encouragement... let's hear it.

OK my weekend's over, back to work tonight... everybody else enjoy your weekend.

Sunrise Ride

I did a sunrise ride this morning... sunrise was 5:27AM... but it's already light enough out at 5:15 to start riding. It's a beautiful time of day to ride, it's so peaceful, very little traffic and all you see out there are runners, walker's and a few other cyclists. I decided to do a loop ride to City Island... going through Mt. Vernon, Pelham and New Rochelle before hitting the Northern tip of the Bronx and out to the very end of City Island.

I stopped there for a few minutes to look out at the spot where my brothers ashes were placed into the water at one of his favorite fishing spots about 12 years ago. Then I headed back home going through the Bronx and back into Yonkers and home.

I made a stupid rookie mistake after my first rest stop... I had turned off the timer on my GPS for my break and I never turned it back on when I re-started my ride... the unit reminds me to turn it on at the beginning of a ride, but apparently not after a rest break. So I had to use maps to estimate my mileage, time, and average speed... I'm not even gonna try and estimate my ascent totals, even though the GPS sent me up some daunting hills... I'll have to do the same ride again some time.

See y'all tomorrow, enjoy your day.

Out 'N Back

I did my out 'n back ride today... after a 5 mile warm-up loop I took off to White Plains... I used the navigation on my GPS to get me there... it basically took me the same way that I always go, except for one hill it wanted me to take that I usually go around, I opted for going around it as per my normal route... when I get down to 180 lbs. I'll think about taking extra hills.

I found out that the screen dims itself when I have a long stretch on one street and it'll brighten up when a turn is coming up... a battery saving measure I guess... there's also an audible beep when a turn is coming up and a double beep when you're almost at the turn.... all good features I suppose.

The temperature according to the GPS is always on the high side also, but it might be hotter on the bike than the real air temperature, plus the sun beating down on it might account for that also... it said my min. temp was 77°F, the Max was 91.4° and the avg. was 82.8°... but according to the local weather it's just only hit 79°F right now.

Anyway, enough of this, I haven't eaten anything since 5:30AM and it's 12:30PM now... that's not good, even though I'm not hungry, I gotta go eat something.... have a great day all... see ya tomorrow.

Raindrops & Kittens

I wanted to go out on an "Out 'n Back" ride today, meaning to ride in one direction halfway and then come back to the start, but as soon as I started riding I felt a raindrop. I didn't think much of it because sometimes you get some dew falling off the leaves as you're passing under trees. But then I felt another, and another... which made me say "Uh, oh..." Then as quickly as it started, it stopped just as fast... and I got a hint of sunshine coming through the clouds... so I stayed out, but instead of the out'n back route I was going to do, I did loops around the 'hood.... round and round... 15.66 miles of loops... an hour of loops... no wonder I feel loopy. <rim shot>

Oh yea, I gotta tell you about the cat that's in the title up there... I was going down a hill at a good rate of speed, (btw my top speed today was only 32.2mph) when I see this cat (old kitten) crossing the street ahead of me... my brain is calculating it's rate of travel and my rate of travel and determines that the cat will be passed my line of travel before our paths would meet... so I stay the course and the speed.... don't you know the cat stops dead in its tracks and decides to stare me down... so I check behind me for any cars in case I have to take drastic actions and it's all clear... so I figure the cat is crossing the street for a reason (I know... to get to the other side) and will keep moving forward and not go back the other way, so I figure I'll ride behind her and hope for the best, because stopping was not an option, well not without swerving anyway, and possibly losing control... plus I've "Bunny-hopped" potholes bigger than a cat before, so that was an option also... anyway to make a long story shorter, we both made the right decision and we get to ride and cat-walk another day... of course the incident didn't last as long as this story did.
See y'all tomorrow.

Hot Fun Summer In The City

Another warm day, another ride in... I was out on the road 30 minutes after I got home from work... I get out there while the weather is still in the low 70's... just a nice short, easy ride in the 'hood... I stayed out for an hour and did 15 miles.

GPS is working fine... although the screen is readable in the sun, I think my last bike computer was a little easier to read in the bright sunlight... but I can read it... and all the data... and boy does it record a lot of info... I get Total time, time I was moving, time I was stopped, average speed, max speed, elevation gain & loss, cadence(avg. & max.), temperature (Min., Max, & avg.), Heart rate (avg & max)... what I had for breakfast...  and that's just a small sampling... for heart rates I get the max, the avg. and how much time I spent in each heart rate zone... good to know because some zones are aerobic, and some anaerobic... and if the beats stop, ride right over the ER.

Luckily I'm a data junkie, so I can take these numbers and analyze 'em, scrutinize 'em, stack 'em all up high and then crunch 'em. 
OK I gotta go replace some calories, have a great day all.

Sunny Day... Finally

I finally got to ride, it was a sunny day finally, after all these days with the fog and everything from misty rain to thunderstorms... I was so happy to be outside I stayed extra and did about 7 miles more than my usual Sunday ride... and I was so overjoyed that I hit a new personal average speed record of 15.8 mph for the ride... and that's not all, I hit a new maximum speed of 39.7 mph (going down a hill of course) that was a bit exciting (scary)... fortunately I didn't come up on any potholes... so it was all good. I'm running late, I still have to take care of a few things before bedtime, so I gotta cut this short...  enjoy your sunny days, ciao.

Forecast This...

I got up last night and the first thing I did was check the weather to see if I could possibly get a ride in sometime during the morning... it looked good, for a 10 AM ride... temperatures in the 70's, cloudy but no rain until after noon... so that was the plan. I got the GPS set up just the way I wanted it and I was going to see if my configurations were OK on an actual ride.

Around 8:30 AM I looked outside and it was foggy, but visibility wasn't too bad. The street didn't look too wet from the dissipating fog, so I was thinking I might start my ride at 9:30 instead... I shave and brush my teeth and get presentable for the outside world... and I check the forecast one more time because the skies did look a little threatening, but they told me no rain before noon... sure enough them weathermen thought it was a good idea to move the rain ahead 2 hours, the rain was now scheduled to arrive sometime after 10 AM...  grrrr... I wasn't going to waste my time with a half hour ride... Shave or no shave... oh well, we'll try again tomorrow.

...and it didn't rain until almost 11:00.

Into Each Life...

...a little rain must fall.
But why on MY weekend? It's supposed to rain until Sunday when it'll be partly cloudy until Tuesday and then rain until July, which is a week from Friday... but forecasts change all the time, I might get some good weather and some good riding in there somewhere. There might even be a break on Friday morning... I'll keep an eye on it.

Meanwhile, it's a good time to catch up on some things that need catchin' up on... Like finding more things to do during my 4 weeks of stay-cation coming up in September and October. So far I got some Fairs & Festivals in my sights... plus the annual NYC German Day Parade (Steuben Day Parade) and an Oktoberfest also... but I'll keep my options open in case I find more stuff to do... there will definitely be bike riding in there... probably a lot of it to get closer to my mileage goal of 2,011 miles.

Other things I'll be doing this weekend is setting up my GPS the way I want it, that means reading the manual... ugh. I also have at least one movie I want to watch and I might watch a few more... and as I look around in front of me, my computer desk could use a little organizing... just gotta put all my little notes, various notepad scribblings, and other assorted pieces of important paper in an orderly pile and then, without looking back, dump 'em.

OK I gotta go, there's places to go and people to meet... but not for me, it's my weekend.

1st Impressions on the GPS

I took my first ride with my new GPS... I put in the Scarsdale train station as my destination, I figured that was far enough to get me home in an hour, I was off by about 5 minutes. The GPS put me on the same roads that I was already using on past rides. Now you might think that the GPS is useless then, but to the contrary, it showed me that it guides me on quiet roads with very little traffic and very little hills... the same roads it took me months to find. So therefore when I want to go somewhere new, I can somewhat trust it to put me on a bicycle friendly route... I say somewhat, because no system is perfect and nothing can replace common sense and street smarts.

A few things I need to fix before my next ride...
-I need to adjust the screen brightness to make it more readable in the sunlight.
-I need to have it stop scrolling from page to page when I'm rolling, because when you look down it's never on the page you want... although I noticed that when you need to make a turn ahead it stays on that page until you turn.
-I need to set up the data fields to put the information that's most important to me where I can view it easily.

They improved a few things over my last model... they have a more conservative estimate of how many calories you've spent, I'd say it's about 50% of what they used to estimate, I think it's more accurate now... and the same with the elevation data... it's also more conservative and probably more accurate.

One thing that went wrong, when I tried to set the navigation for the way back the screen froze and it stayed frozen all the way home... probably because of my impatient pressing on the screen... I didn't want to reset for fear of losing all the data, but when I uploaded the ride to the computer, it was all there.

So overall I'm pleased with the new toy... I just gotta configure it to my way of thinking... Gotta run, later all.

T'was a Great Father's Day

I always knew I was a lucky man and had a great family, but they keep outdoing themselves over and over again... yesterday for Father's Day they all chipped in for a GPS unit for my bike with all the bells & whistles. I guess they wanted to make sure I would always find my way back home, LOL.

I didn't ride today because I wanted to set up everything with the bike, I had to take off all my old computer stuff and put on the new stuff, like the mount for the unit and the cadence sensor... I have to set up the unit itself also... but what I failed to realize is that it has to be charged first and that takes a few hours. So I'm waiting for it to be fully charged so that I can customize the screens that I will see while I'm riding.

I'll also have to set up an account at the GPS website so that I'll have somewhere to download all my ride data to... so I can analyze and crunch numbers and pat myself on the back for a ride well done. I'll check in tomorrow and give a report on how he first ride went. Good Day All.

Happy Father's Day!!

It's a Beautiful Day, very befitting a Father's Day... an awesome day for a bike ride... I did 23 miles in an hour and a half... averaged 15.46 mph... pretty close to my personal best for this year, but not quite there... I blame it on the new shoes. LOL. I love my new shoes though.

Since it's Father's Day, I'm going to cut this update extremely short and wish you all a pleasant day. Ciao.

First Impressions

OK, so I took my new pedals out for their first ride and so far I like them very much. After I got used to clicking the cleats into the pedals, which didn't take but 2 clicks, I find it much easier than my last pair. These pedals have dual side entry, which means I can click in no matter which side is facing up, they're both the same. On my last set of pedals I had to make sure the pedal was right side up in order to click in. Also with the new pedals you seem to just step downward onto the pedal to click in, whereas with the last ones you had to push your foot forward into place first and then step down.

Now for the shoe... it sure is a pleasure to walk more normally once you step off your bike. No more making loud "tap-shoe" noises while walking, no more walking like you're on a sheet of ice, no more holding onto things while you're walking... ahhhh... it is so nice. I'm sure I lose some speed with the new shoes, because the soles are more flexible and not the stiff carbon soles of the last pair that are designed to transfer more power into the pedal strokes... but I can live with that.

One last thing, yesterday while I was laying in bed I realized that the pain in my shoulder is gone. I have no idea how long its been gone or when it left. Now the question is do I dare start weight training again or wait to make sure it's 100% healed. Whatever I decide, I'll make sure to start up again slowly... and with lighter weights... OK I gotta go, ciao everybody.

Stats Updated

It was raining all night and into this morning, so my inaugural ride on my new virgin pedals has to wait until tomorrow. The wet streets aren't very conducive to my style of riding, namely turning corners at a high rate of speed and at a 45° angle. My city slicker tires were made for speed not for traction, so there's very little tread on them. Apparently treads slow you down.

According to some cyclists, everything slows you down, they buy everything according to grams. The lightest bike, the lightest components, the lightest shoes and pedals, they buy the lightest tires and tubes all to save grams and make themselves faster. Save a gram here and save a gram there, it all adds up... but they always seem to ignore the extra 10 or 20 lbs. around their middle... and I'm just as guilty.

I'm slowly moving away from all this lightweight fragile stuff in favor of equipment that is durable and reliable... these carbon and titanium products are expensive and are so light you have to replace them more often... give me something that will last me awhile... I'm through trying to make my ride a few grams lighter, I think it's better and cheaper to make the engine a few pounds lighter.

Speaking of which... I updated my stats this morning... I lost 8 lbs. this week, don't get excited it was mostly water weight from all my partying and celebrations last week... so I'm down to 190.6 lbs. today. My body fat is still way too high at just over 20% and I need to get that closer to 10%... I'll be working on that until my next vacation in September, when I'll probably be loose with my diet once more, it's a vicious cycle.
It's back to work for me tonight, everybody else enjoy your weekend!!

Pedal Shopping

After yesterdays mishap, I needed to buy new pedals for my bike... and if anybody knows me, they know I hate shopping... for anything. If I absolutely, positively need something I'll go in to the store, buy it and get out. I'd rather shop online and order through the mail, it's so much more convenient... but that doesn't work if you need something right away. So off I went.

I decided I wanted a new type of pedal, which means I needed to buy new shoes also. The cycling shoes I had were meant for riding only, you couldn't really walk in them, they had the protruding cleats on the bottom of the very stiff carbon soles, so walking in them made it sound like you were tap dancing and it looked even worse... So now I have the Mountain Bike type shoes with the recessed cleats which are a lot better for my needs.

I didn't go for a ride today as it was getting too late, but I did ride up and down the block to make sure I can click in and out of the pedals when I need to... they're a little bit different than the other ones, but it didn't take me long to get used to clicking in and out. I guess you could say me & my pedals clicked right away... well almost right away.

In other news, there was no change in my weight this morning, but that's ok... the 4 lbs. I lost yesterday will keep me motivated for a few more days. I'll do my measurements when I get up tonight and update the stats on the right... it's been a long time since I did that... I knew I was slipping and didn't want to know how far.
Ok that's all for today... enjoy

What a Day!!

I went for a ride today... I was only going out for an hour... but it didn't even last that long. About 5 miles into my ride I snapped my right pedal and enough of it broke off that it was of no use... I couldn't clip back in and if I tried to pedal with what was left of it, my foot would just slide off... which it did anyway all the way home... the side of my right shin is all scraped up, but it's not bleeding, so it'll just be a little sore and raw for a day or two.

So basically I rode home using only my left leg and trying to keep my foot just resting on the stump of the pedal, so I wouldn't look silly riding with one leg pointing outwards. The hills were a challenge... I tried to find the flattest route back home, but in Yonkers that is all but impossible... but the couple of hills I had I just put it into the lowest gear and tried to keep a steady cadence. On one short hill of 6% grade (according to Garmin) I almost had to dismount, but a few shaky pedal strokes later I was over the crest and moving on. I need to buy new pedals now, this biking stuff is expensive.

On a brighter note, I finally dropped a large amount of the water weight from my week of decadence. This morning I weighed 192.4 lbs. down 4.4 lbs. from the previous day. I feel better already, I was really moving on that bike before I had my mishap... and so it goes.

Post-Vacation Day 2

This morning I was down 1.8 lbs. to 196.8 lbs... so it's coming off slowly... but I did eat a lot of calories yesterday, even if they were healthy ones. Today I was a little more strict with my food consumption... by end of the day I should have around 500 calories fewer than yesterdays.

It's amazing how just a few pounds can make you lazy & lethargic. The weather has been a little cooler and there's been threatening clouds in the sky, but I haven't even thought about getting in a quick bike ride or even an indoor workout. But that will change tomorrow when I will definitely be out and about on my bike. I'll have no excuses, the weather looks to be good around 9 or 10AM or even a little later, it won't matter much because I'm off of work for the next 2 days.

A couple of good rides will be all I need to get me back into the swing of things. Burning calories, replacing some of them... getting my cardio in and building up my energy... I should be back to "normal" in no time at all.

Meanwhile, I still have one more night of work, so I gotta get going now... have a great day all.

Vacation's Over

Hey everybody... my vacation is over and it's back to work, in more ways than one. I'm back at my job and I also need to get back to working on my health and wellness. I had almost 2 weeks of care-free eating and drinking and I feel it.

When I went to pick up my tux 2 days before my Daughters wedding I weighed 185.6 lbs. and this morning I was 198.6 lbs.... That's a 13 lb. gain in 2 weeks... and I feel it... on my 2 mile walks for the last couple of nights I felt sluggish and almost out of breath... and I feel bloated.

I know some of that is water weight... probably 5 - 8 pounds of it... that should come off pretty easily in the next few days, but the rest I'll have to work on... I've already started eating clean... back top my normal healthy food fare... but I'm still eating more than I should, so now I'll have to start cutting the calories. I'll have to keep eating the same foods, just less of everything... that means measuring and weighing everything I eat.

And I also need to get on the bike... the dark threatening clouds kept me inside this morning, but it's turning into a nicer day now...  too little, too late for me. Tomorrow looks like rain also... so Wednesday might be the better day to ride. We shall see. Ciao for Now.

It's Gonna Be A Scorcher!!

I went out early today, just a nice short ride... About 14.25 miles in an hour... I wanted to get out before it got too hot... it's supposed to be in the upper 90's today. I'm not complaining about it though, I love it much more than the cold... as I always say, the heat might be uncomfortable at times, but the cold is downright painful... I'll take the heat any day.

I'll tell you when I couldn't take the heat...  when I was a smoker, I just couldn't breathe on high humidity days... but since I quit smoking, I enjoy every hot day there is. I can see a move down South in my future... that is if I can't swing a move to Europe, LOL.

Even though today's ride was leisurely again, I did have a higher average MPH for the whole ride, I blame the Police for that... I was riding down Yonkers Avenue when all of a sudden, because of road work, it was only one lane with no shoulder... so I look to see how traffic was behind me and I see there's a cop car right behind me... right on my tail... luckily for me it was a decline and I could keep up with traffic if I pedaled hard enough, which I did... even if I am in my rights to do so if I have to, I never want to hold up traffic and I definitely don't want to hold up the Police, I might need them if I have a traffic incident. So thanks to the Police my top speed for today was 32.2 MPH. Ironically, I think the Speed Limit for that street is 30 MPH, LOL.

I'm Back

Hey everybody, I'm sorry I haven't updated for a few days, but I've been a little busy... My daughter got married on Saturday and on Sunday we had a get-together with the in-laws, actually the grandparents. It was lots of fun...  great company, great food and some great home-made wine. That wine wouldn't have let me write a blog update that made sense anyway... it was that good. And Monday I was recovering from Sunday... I didn't have a hangover or anything, but I didn't feel like doing anything but relaxing, which is what I did.

But I am on vacation this week, so I am a little lax, ok I'm a lot lax with my usual regimen, but that's what vacations are for... in fact I just came back from the distributor with a case of Franziskaner Hefe Weissbier (Wheat Beer) that I will enjoy as soon as I finish up here.

It's a nice day out so I wanted to spend some time outside while they were giving all that sun away for free, but instead of just sitting in the sun I went for a nice leisurely ride of 15 miles. It was so leisurely I recorded my lowest speed since my 2nd ride of the year way back in March... but that was fine with me... I was just out there to soak in some sun and enjoy the ride... Enjoy your day everyone and get outside.

Vacation

Yay, I'm on vacation... only a week, but I'll take it... I still have to take 4 more weeks before the end of the year. But anyway, I'm off this week and to celebrate I rode 30 miles. I can catch up on a lotta miles this week, hopefully... you know what happens when you plan things, Life Happens.

I'm gonna do my darnedest to get out there as often as possible... and I'm gonna try and stay safe at least until my daughters wedding on Saturday... so no risky maneuvers in traffic, no 40mph downhills, none of that exciting heart-pounding stuff that lets you know you're still alive... I'm gonna do my best to keep the rubber side down.

Oh well, let me go replenish my calorie stores, it says I used 2292 cals... I'm guessing in real life that's about 1000 calories... but I'll just eat normal, nothing extra... unless I get hungry later.
OK Ciao, See Ya

Rested Legs are Fast legs

Just as I suspected, my legs needed rest... that's why my times kept getting slower and slower. After 2 days rest, not only was I faster again, but I had the best average speed of the year so far... 15.5 mph. At one point half-way through the ride my average speed read 16mph... I knew I couldn't sustain that because the last half of the ride always consists of climbing the hills that I descended on the first half. I'll have to go over my records to see what my top average speed for a ride was when I was riding regularly a couple of years ago.

Tomorrow, I'll probably go for a longer ride and not worry about speed.... just to get out there and put some miles into my legs... and get some sunshine... and most importantly, start my one week vacation.

OK off to make some lunch... see you peoples tomorrow, ciao

Curve Ball

Just when you think you have it all figured out, life throws you a curve ball. I had it all planned out today... get home from work, throw on my cycling clothes and be out the door by 8:45AM... But when I leave work it's raining, not showering, but raining... so, no ride... 2 days now... my legs will really be rested now, I should be back up to or close to my top speed again when I finally get out there.

It did stop raining before 9AM, but the streets were soaked and all that grit and grime winds up in my gears, that stuff wears everything down prematurely and I wasn't in the mood for a major bike clean-up afterwards either. So far the weather looks good for tomorrow... so far.

Unfortunately, I've been eating normally as if I'd been riding, but that's a lot of extra calories that I didn't need... I can see my weight creeping up slowly day by day... and right before the wedding...  arghhh. It's only a couple of pounds, but enough to make my tux a little tighter.

Nodded Off

Well, my body took care of my decision of whether to ride or not today. When I got home this morning I sat down for a minute and decided to rest my eyes a bit... a bit turned out to be close to an hour... I really must have needed a break.

So now I can ride tomorrow with fresh legs, I'll see if I can do a medium length ride of about 20+ miles... of course for some people that's just a warm-up... but I'm not there yet, and probably by the time I'll get there it'll be winter time again, LOL.

OK, now to take care of some chores then take a shower and get ready for my 7 hour nap.
Good Day to you all.

Short Ride, Short Update

I wrote a whole blog update already and Firefox decided to quit on me, so i lost it before I could publish it... so here's the short & sweet version.

I intended to ride to White Plains today, a 22 mile round trip, but after about 5 miles I realized my legs were not having it... I was struggling just a little bit, so I did my hour loop around the neighborhood... all my stats were way off...  way below normal, maybe not "way" below, but they were similar to my stats from around the end of April... my legs were dead... I might need a day off soon... I'll go out and ride tomorrow and see how I do... I'd love to ride at least Sunday & Monday and then take off Tuesday if I have to....  then Wednesday morning is the beginning of my week off, so I could take a longer ride then with fresh legs... I'll see.

OK I gotta get going... enjoy your weekend everybody.

It's Getting Hot

75°F for my ride today... I'm not complaining, this is what I've been waiting for all Winter & Spring and here it is... right now I'm waiting until 9AM to start riding, after rush hour... but soon, maybe next week, I'm going to start riding at sunrise on my days off... it's such a beautiful part of the day to start my rides... there's very little traffic and I can ride up the main thoroughfares without hassle, of course by the time I turn around to come home there will be plenty of traffic and I'll have to use the back-roads and quieter streets.

Today's ride was a little over 26 miles... I just did some loops around my neighborhood... average speed was 15 mph... average heart rate was 139 bpm... my heart rate before the ride was 62 bpm and I got it up to 164 bpm on my ride, so I did a little work.

OK, my weekend is over, I gotta eat something and then relax a bit after that... back to work tonight... then I got a week off starting Wednesday morning until the following Friday night... I have my daughter's wedding next Saturday... everybody's getting excited... and busy... it's gonna be a great day.
Ok I'm out.

Longer Ride Today

Today's ride was to increase my endurance and distance... I rode for 2 hours and logged in 30 miles... on another beautiful day. It was my longest ride of the year but not by much... on May 12th I rode 29.75 miles... and I rode it at a faster pace. A couple of possible reasons for this could be, I rode hard yesterday when I set a new personal best average speed record.... and on the 12th I rode on 4 days rest... I think today I also made the mistake of going out with not enough calories in me... I had breakfast at 2am and an ounce of walnuts and 2 apples at 6am and then I rode 3 hours later at 9am... I have to plan my pre-ride meals a little better.

OK, now I have to go replenish some of my calories, but I'd still like to stay in a deficit... I hope everyone is enjoying beautiful weather like we are... ciao.

It's a Beautiful Morning

WOW, these are the mornings I have been waiting for... Sunny, 75° and a little breeze... you know I went out for a ride. I cycled almost 19 miles, I wish I could have stayed out there a little longer... but I was getting hungry, not having eaten anything in 5 hours. I set a new personal average speed record for this year... 15.2mph, so I'm improving even with my limited riding... soon I'll have to incorporate some hill training into my week. Oh joy, Hill Repeats!!

I hope we stay with this weather for awhile... tomorrow & Friday looks great... scattered thunder showers for Saturday and then a few more days of sun to close out the month of May. Finally!

Yesterday, I was having trouble with Blogger, that's why there was no update... I was having trouble with it today also, but I finally got it to come up... looks like the URL that I had saved in my Bookmarks got corrupted somehow and when I clicked on it, all I kept seeing was "Redirecting" over & over again... I might have gotten some Malware from somewhere, but it seems to be ok now. 

Another Dreary Day

Lots of cloud cover today with on and off rain... needless to say another ride-less day... this has been a lousy Spring for a fair weather rider like myself... I might have to leave my comfort zone and start riding in all kinds of weather. Like a friend of mine keeps telling me... "There are no bad riding days, only bad riding clothes." or something like that...  yea, yea, yea.... whatever!!  LOL

The good news is that after today it looks like the daily high temperature will stay in the 70's except for tomorrow when it will hit 81°... unfortunately there could possibly be showers, rain and/or thunderstorms in 6 out of the next 7 days. But June is just a week away, that's bound to be a better month for riding... didn't I say that about May? LOL

Chilly Post- Apocalyptic Sunday

It's only 56° outside today and cloudy... no ride for me... sad, but it's not the end of the world... oh wait, that was yesterday... I must have missed it...  how did it go?

Oh well, we're still here, I guess we'll have to keep eating right and working out... we'll still have to do our chores and take care of our responsibilities. I was so looking forward to an excuse not to take care of myself anymore, to drink beer for a reason, to pig out on all the bad food that tastes so good... but it just wasn't to be.

Time to get back to living and stop worrying about the end. Our individual ends will get here soon enough.

Saturday Morning Bike Ride

Did an hour ride this morning, it started out sunny and in the 60's, so off I went... I stayed mainly in my neighborhood, just touching the tip of The Bronx before heading back North. A few laps of that loop and the hour just flew by. I covered 15.5 miles in 65 minutes. After about 45 minutes the sun went away and now it's cloudy.

No spectacular numbers or stats, I just went out for a ride, just to ride. So now I'm going to replenish my calories, my bike computer says I spent 1,284 calories on my ride, but I think that is way too generous, it's probably only half that.

Anyway, have a great day everybody... I'm out

Weekend Went, Work Week's Back

Seems like I just wrote about beginning my weekend and here it is over already... oh well... 2 more weeks until my daughters wedding and a weeks vacation for me.

Tomorrow looks good for a ride... temps in the lower 60's and mostly sunny... sounds good to me... so I'm cutting this short and I'm going to enjoy the last 2 waking hours of my weekend.

Have a great day everybody and a great weekend also... I hope that wherever you are located, there's plenty of sunshine. Ciao.

Hans the Hermit

Another miserable day, cycling wise... This morning it was real foggy outside and although it's not really raining at the moment, and it's in the 60's, and the wind is negligible... the streets are just wet enough to keep me indoors.

More TV and movies for me... and a few Poker games... what a rough life, LOL... I am looking at vacation options in between the fun stuff... so I'm being semi-productive anyway.

But seriously, my right arm will venture outside today, but just long enough to reach for the mail... there's no chance of a sunburn, it's real cloudy and could start raining at any minute.

Hello Weekend!!

It's Wednesday, so that means my weekend has started...What to do... What to do... there's rain in the forecast for both days... can't ride, don't wanna work-out, so I guess it'll be a real weekend off... good time to catch up on some movies, I guess.

I'm also gonna check out some options for my vacation later this year... I'll probably stay within driving distance, maybe spend some time in the Big Apple and definitely get some riding in... a Yankees game or 2 maybe... Hey it's New York, there's always something to do... right?

OK back to to reality, the here & now... time to do some chores.... I'll just imagine I'm on a cruise ship, in the Caribbean, hot and sweaty, working in the kitchen washing dishes, LOL.

Rain, Pain and More Rain

According to the 10 day forecast, the only 2 days without rain in them will be Sunday & Monday... very depressing for me... I was just getting into my cycling mindset and forgetting about everything else... I stopped doing my other workouts because my shoulder is starting to act up again... and I wasn't even using weights. I think I just overdo everything, when I'm doing push-ups I always try to top my PR of 500 in one day... when I'm cycling I always try to go faster than the last ride or longer than the last ride... sometimes that's a good trait to have and sometimes it's a bad one.

Of course cycling could be irritating my shoulder also, because as I ride I am leaning forward onto the handle bars, putting some pressure on my shoulders, I'm sure... but it hasn't bothered me while riding... it's my left shoulder that hurts, so I'm going to try and consciously ride putting more of my weight on my right arm, without falling over on my right side.

The other alternative is going to see a doctor, but with me that's always the last option... I'd have to have a real constant, nagging pain. Man, this getting old stuff ain't for sissies... gotta keep on truckin' though.

Car Trouble

Driving to work last night, my dashboard lit up like a christmas tree, the Low Coolant light is always on and it's been on for years, no matter what we do... the Check Engine light came on, sometimes it was just on and sometimes it was blinking... then a few miles up the road the Transmission Light came on... and when I switched lanes I had the blinker going also... the music on the radio had a hard time keeping the beat.

On the way home the same lights were on and on top of that it was raining, so I had the windshield wipers going also, all to different beats... the auto industry really needs to synchronize these things better... anyway I made it home okay... on the ride home I felt a slight vibration, so slight that I couldn't really tell if I was just imagining it because of all the lights or if it was just the normal vibrations from an older car... but there was definitely a reduced response when I stepped on the gas pedal to accelerate onto the highway. So I figured it was best if I brought it to the mechanic today instead of waiting for my day off... don't know when I'm getting it back though... hopefully it's something minor... I really don't need another big bill right now.

Late Riser

I woke up almost an hour late last night, I had no time for a proper breakfast, so I wolfed down a banana with a half a cup of coffee... I forgot to weigh myself and I can't even remember if I took my vitamins... it's been a long time since I've overslept like that... I guess all them 6.5 hour sleeps catch up with you if you really need 8 hours.

I always get up at least an hour and a half before I have to leave the house... this way I don't have to rush, I can eat a good breakfast and enjoy it... a couple cups of good coffee and I can check my emails before I get out the door... I'll never understand people who wake up 15 - 30 minutes before they have to leave the house, they dress in a hurry, they eat in a hurry(if they eat at all), then they have to drive in a hurry... no wonder they're stressed before they even get on the clock.

I'm going to try and make it to bed on time today... I hope there's no good games on TV.
I couldn't didn't ride today because of the rain... and the rain is here to stay for awhile, at least a few days.

Blogger is Back Up

Blogger.com was down yesterday, so I didn't get to publish an update... It could've stayed down another day, because not much is happening here... The weather turned chillier again and there hasn't been any sun... it's cloudy today and it's supposed to rain for the next few days.

So it doesn't look good for cycling... but I'll play it day by day, because forecasts sometimes are wrong and sometimes they do a 180° turn-around. If I can't ride it'll be more indoor work-outs for me... I might even try and pick up some weights that won't bother my shoulder.

Ok everybody enjoy your weekend, see you tomorrow.

Lazy Days and Vacations

I was going to go out for a ride on my #1 bike today, but the wind was gusting up to 20 mph... I just didn't feel like fighting it... I must have been real tired after work because I nodded out for about an hour... I never do that, or I should say I never allow myself to do that. I checked the weather after I woke up and it was about the same 59 degrees with wind gusts up to 18mph... slightly better but not much... so I'll wait until tomorrow.

I wasn't completely lazy, I'm researching vacations for this year... We might just save some money and just stay local... this being New York there's tons of things to do all the time, or we've never done a cruise, that could be a possibility also. We'll see, I still got a lot of researching to do and I won't be able to go on vacation until mid-September at the earliest.

JUST DO IT!!

"I ain't doin' all that!"... I hear this over and over after someone asks me how I was able to lose 40 lbs. and I tell them how I accomplished it. Why don't they just ask this..."Isn't there something I can do while I'm sitting on my couch, watching TV, eating Cheesy Poofs and drinking 2 liter bottles of soda?"

Nothing is gonna work, unless you do. There are no secrets or magic potions. There are no shortcuts to anyplace worth going. If you want something new or different, you can't do the same old, you gotta do something new or different. And it won't get done by just thinking about it, you can't plow a field by turning it over in your mind... or as the Buddhist saying goes, "Do not mistake the moon for the finger pointing to it."  If you really want to do something you will find a way, if you don't... you will find an excuse.

Now that I snuck in a bunch of fitness cliches &/or quotes, here's a final one...  JUST DO IT!!

No Cardio Day

I took a break from cardio today... no walk before work and no bike ride, instead I did Push-Ups, Pull-Ups and Chin-Ups.I did improve on my work-out again, although it was a  struggle to do one more rep than the last time on each set. I also did one Dip and immediately felt a pain in my shoulder, so I guess it's not healing anytime soon. I'll just have to work around it... there's no pain or discomfort doing normal everyday type activities, just when I do certain exercises, especially with weights. I'll stick to the body-weight exercises through the summer and concentrate on my cycling.

Another reason I didn't ride today because I had to bake some more chicken breasts for the week. This time I just dressed it with a Yogurt-Honey dressing... added some minced onion & garlic, some paprika to put some red speckles in the creamy white mixture some salt & pepper to taste and it was yummy.

Happy Mother's Day!!

Happy Mother's Day to all the Wonderful Mom's out there!! I hope your kids and significant others are treating you right today. I went out for a ride today and I saw lots of fathers with their children out riding, presumably to let Mom sleep in... but I presume too much sometimes.

I did my longest ride of the year this morning, 21.5 miles... at the end I had to struggle to keep my average speed above 14mph and I did, just barely... 14.1 I wound up with at the end... at one point I was up to 14.6, but towards the end of the ride with all the hills I had to climb I saw that average go down little by little... I think by next week I'll be on my lighter bike and in my bike outfit... I think it's warm enough now.

OK gotta run and take a shower and quickly fix me something to eat and then it's off to bed, have a great day everyone.

Wonderful Weather

It was supposed to rain this morning, so I had planned to do an indoor work-out. But when I got out of work it was a beautiful day, the sun was shining... a little wind, but not much... so I nixed the indoor work-out in favor of an outdoor ride.

And it was an enjoyable 1 hour ride, I started out trying to be faster than usual but I wound up with an average speed slightly less than yesterday when I wasn't trying to be fast at all....  I can't figure it out... unless it's because I'm going out at a fast pace and wearing myself out early so as not to leave enough in the tank for the last half of the ride. Whatever... I enjoyed the ride just the same, and I was still above 14mph.

It looks like great weather for the next few days, So I'll have to sneak my body-weight exercises in somewhere. Some push-ups here & there... and pull-ups and chin-ups also. Between all of the things you can do for your physical health... Stretching, Strength training, Nutrition and Cardio... if you had to choose only one, it should be Cardio. In a perfect world you should do some of each, but if you can only do one, I believe Cardio is the most important one.

33rd Anniversary Today

My wife and I are married 33 years today, so of course she went to work and I'm going to work tonight. Typical of us, maybe that's the secret of a long marriage, business as usual, LOL. We don't need much, we exchange cards and sometimes gifts on the big anniversaries like the 25th.

This morning, before she woke up I made a special treat for us, I sliced fresh bananas and strawberries and stacked them, alternating each, Strawberry, banana, strawberry, banana.... 4 stacks on a plate with a dab of non-fat whipped topping on top of each stack and a walnut half on top of that then I garnished the plate with piped whipped topping and a few fresh blueberries. It looked a lot better than I can describe it here, but I couldn't find the camera, I don't know where she put it.

I also went for a bike ride, it's getting warmer now. I wasn't trying for speed, I just wanted to go out for a ride and get some low intensity cardio in. But my speed was exactly the same as the last ride when I was really trying to be faster. I guess I'm getting stronger with each ride, one can only hope.

Making Habits Stick

If you want to make healthy changes in your life, you need to adopt healthy habits. Habits don't become habits overnight, you have to do them day after day... estimates go from 21 days to 90 days depending on the habit you are trying to learn. Most likely the stronger the mental resistance to the change the longer it will take.

I remember when I first decided to start eating breakfast before I left or work. I did it the first few days and then a few days later I'm at work and I realize I forgot. Sometimes I realized as I was walking out the door, but it was already too late. But I kept at it, I left the oatmeal bowl on the kitchen counter to remind me, or I'd take the oatmeal out of the cabinet before I showered and shaved, so that when I went in the kitchen for my coffee I'd see it and remember. Today, it's automatic I don't even have to think about it.

Exercise might take longer to make into a habit, because there's always something on TV or something to check on the internet or whatever you're used to doing... but you can make it a habit and once you start feeling better physically and feeling better about yourself, you'll be looking forward to the habit.

On Another Note: Awesome Pull-Up/Chin-Up workout this morning... amazing improvements on my first 2 sets, improvements on my middle 2 sets and no change on the last 2 sets... I'll take it... I hope I didn't set the bar too high (no pun intended) for the next work-out... I think not having worked last night gave me a little extra energy, but we'll see the next time.

Rainy Day

Rain today, so no ride for me... tomorrow looks a bit chilly in the morning, plus wind... so it's not looking good either... so I'm thinking back to my Pull-Up/Chin-Up workout. My Lats are still a little sore, but they should be fine by tomorrow.

I just finished lunch... a big fresh spinach salad with tomatoes and carrots, I threw in some walnuts for some more crunch and instead of a dressing I just added some low fat 1% cottage cheese and freshly ground black pepper... pretty tasty, I must say.... I also had Chicken Breast that I baked with a seasoned yogurt topping... it was out of this world... I really should write down these recipes that I come up with so I can make them again, but it's so much fun throwing things together and coming up with something new. Oh yea, I almost forgot, two-thirds of my dinner plate was steamed vegetables.

I think that's about it for today, time to do the dishes and clean up the kitchen... always leave things cleaner than you found it.

Awesome Day

I started my day with my usual 2 mile walk, a sort of warm-up before work... I did my 8 hours of work and somewhere in there I managed 130 Push-Ups and after work it was 57° with very little wind, so I took a 15 mile bicycle ride... and now it's relax time and dinner time.

I always have to specify "bicycle" ride because when I say I took my bike for a ride, people always ask me what kind of bike I got... so after telling them I got a Giant TCRc2 Carbon Fiber Road bike, they still assume I'm talking about a motorcycle.

I guess I passed a milestone speed wise on Sunday, because I was over 14mph again today... on a street ride with traffic, stop signs and red lights, some of which I obeyed, LOL. Now I can't wait to take my good bike out for a spin to see how much faster I am with a lighter and more responsive machine. Maybe by the end of next week.

Pull-Up, Chin-Up Day

It was too chilly to ride this morning, so I decided to do "Pull-Up/Chin-Up Day" instead.... I improved on every set and I even did a couple of extra sets... but of course the actual number of Pull-Ups is still too embarrassingly low to mention here, but I will be increasing them little by little.

It looks like I have to give up my goal of riding the "Golden Apple" 100 mile ride... the quota for vacations that week at my job has been filled and it will be impossible to get that day off... and it's also the Labor Day weekend and that makes it more than impossible... and I'm not the type to call in sick when I'm not.

Oh well, I'll have to find another Century ride... there's the NYC Century Ride two weeks later on September the 18th... that's a possibility. It's all Urban though and also since it's NYC, it will be crowded... I'll keep looking, I can even do the NYC one and another one... and the way the weather is going, I might need a few hundred mile rides to reach my goal of 2,011 miles for the year.

Bicycle Sunday Returns

I did my Sunday Bike Ride... it turned out to be a beautiful day... I was hedging at first I didn't want to go because the temperature was in the 50's when I got home... but by 9am it was pretty close to 60° and the sun was shining... if the sun is shining 55° feels like it's in the 60's.... so I put my bike into the back of my car and drove down to the parkway.

They don't close the parkway to traffic until 10AM and that's a little late for me to start a ride, so I got down there about 9:30 and rode my bike up to White Plains along the streets and by the time I got up there they were just about to close it down... I had to wait through a couple of short speeches and the annual ribbon cutting and the photo ops for the county executive, but about 10 minutes after 10, we were off...

Total distance was 13.88 miles and I have a new speed record for this year... 14.6 mph... It's amazing how much faster you ride when there's other people riding... as fast as I was today, I still couldn't catch up with her, LOL.

Back on Track

My diet was 100% totally clean today, no junk or processed food. 50% carbs, 30% proteins and 20% fats... can't get any more perfect than that.

For my workout I did alternating sets of Push-ups and Pull-ups, each set to failure and on my last set of each, I couldn't do a single one... so obviously I did a more sets of Push-ups than Pull-ups. I'm going to work on getting my Pull-up numbers up there.

Tomorrow I'm definitely going to go for a Bike ride... It's May 1st and the 1st of  this years "Bicycle Sundays", where they close the Bronx River Parkway to traffic and open it to pedestrians, rollerbladers and cyclists. The only decision I'll have to make is if I should drive to the start or ride from my house, which would add another 8 miles and another 45 - 50 minutes to my ride. Maybe on the 1st Sunday I'll drive down and on warmer Sundays I'll ride from my house... that sounds like a plan.

Re-Focusing

It's time for me to re-focus on my long-term and short-term goals... I've really been lax lately, so it's time to buckle down. I have just a little more than a month before my daughter's wedding and I could stand to lose another 5-10 lbs. before then. Of course on the wedding day I'll put that weight right back on at the reception.

I think part of my laxness is due to not being able to lift weights because of my shoulder and not being able to ride because of the weather... but it's time to stop making excuses and do what I can do instead of concentrating on what I can't do. So there you go...

My weekend is over and It's back to work tonight... so I gotta get off the computer and get ready to try and sleep. Later

Summer Goal

I need a goal to work towards to get me re-motivated. I'm not sure yet, but I'll probably sign up for the Golden Apple Century ride. It's a 100 mile ride across Scenic Northern Westchester County... it has over 7000 feet of climbing, so I will have to do some hill training for sure, along with some longer training rides. But the ride is in September, so I have plenty of time to train.

I've done this particular ride once before and I finished it in 6.5 hours with a little help from an experienced century rider I just happened to pick up along the way... she stuck with me through the rough parts of the ride right through to the end... at the end she said, "Good Job!!" and disappeared into the crowd... never to be seen again.

This time I'll see if I can hook up with a small group of riders of approximately the same skill level or a little better than me. When you ride with a group you save about 30% of your energy by drafting, which is how I was able to ride this ride at 16.5 mph the last time... my fastest time for any ride I had ever done. We were switching leads back & forth, so the back rider was in the front riders slipstream being pulled along at a 30% energy saving... of course during the last half of the ride I think my ride partner was doing most of the pulling and I was doing most of the drafting. I really had no clue as to how hard 100 miles with hills would be... I bit off more than I could chew for sure.

This time I plan to train for this ride and maybe even ride the route in parts beforehand. First goal is to get some riding in... the weather should start to cooperate soon, May is next week already.

Wine & Chocolate

People only read what they want to read, and hear only what they want to hear... Take Dark Chocolate for example... all they know is that Dark Chocolate is good for you, but they don't know how much they can have before it becomes bad for you. First of all it has to be at least 70% cocoa and you shouldn't eat more than 45 grams or 1.6ounces a day.

Same with red wine or beer, it's good for you in limited quantities. For a male, no more than 8oz of wine or 2 beers a day and for a female it's half that amount... 4 oz. of wine or 1 beer... so for a couple, a 6-pack every 2 days works out perfectly.

Also Sea Salt, people think they can use as much sea salt as they want, but it still has the same amount of sodium as regular table salt.

It's just ignorance, they read the headlines but not the accompanying article that explains the headline. They see, "WINE IS GOOD FOR YOUR HEART."  then underneath they see, blah blah blah, blah blah blah. Drink wine.

Now I need a drink, good day!

You Are What You Eat!!

Even though I relaxed my usually strict lifestyle this week, I'm still eating pretty healthy. I had my Oatmeal for breakfast, Turkey on Whole Wheat for lunch, my usual apples, bananas and almonds for snacks and desserts... and now I'm going to have my turkey chili w/beans for dinner. So my diet is basically the same, I'm just not weighing everything or keeping track of the micro-nutrients.

After awhile I won't even need to keep a close eye on everything I eat... I can pretty much tell how many calories I've taken in for the day. I can even get a pretty close estimate of how much Protein, Carbs & Fats I've had. But I'm a statistic nut... I like to go over stats, examine them, compare them and tweak them. I like to be able to see what I ate and compare it to how I felt that day. Or if I wasn't feeling so hot or sluggish one day I can see if it had anything to do with what I ate... there's usually a correlation.

What you put into your body has a big effect on what you get out of your body, on a whole lot of different levels... healthwise, attitudes and moods, energy, appearance, just about everything. You are what you eat!!
Anyway, that's my strange world... I hope everyone has a great day.

Leftovers

I'm going to ease up on my normal routines for the rest of this week... I'm not going to go totally crazy, but just relax my self-imposed rules for dieting & exercise until Saturday. This will serve a few purposes... one is to rest my shoulder a bit more... I get the feeling the inflammation is here to stay, unless I rest it for an extended period of time... which is out of the question, unless I take a vacation from everything, including my job... or the other option is surgery, which to me is the last option. I'll just have to baby my shoulder and rest it every once in awhile.

Another purpose for taking this week off is to get rid of all this "slightly less than healthy" Easter dinner leftovers. Including some alcoholic beverages, I won't lie, LOL. But come Saturday, it's back to business. I'll have just about a month to lose a couple more pounds before my daughter's wedding and then put a few pounds back on at the wedding, LOL. Ahhhh, life just goes round and round.

Happy Easter!!

Hello everyone... as I mentioned yesterday, my wife is having her side of the family over for Easter. So I'm relaxing my diet today, that's the 2nd day this week... I'm just going to hell with myself, aren't I? Oh well... this is why you work-out and why you maintain a clean diet most of the time, so you can enjoy yourself when it counts... when you're getting together with friends and family. It would look pretty weird anyway, weighing my food and then entering everything into my food log in front of the guests, LOL.

I still have to go to work tonight, so I'll have to try and sleep through all the festivities and it's accompanying noises, although, once I'm asleep, I'll sleep through anything & everything..  So everybody enjoy... and I'll be back tomorrow.

Out to Lunch

Another quick blog update today... Easter get-together is at my house as usual, my wife's side of the family comes over every year. So I'm helping cleaning up the house, I got bathroom duty to start.

I'm taking a break for lunch and writing this blog update... if my wife complains I just tell her I'm union, LOL. I think she was just pleasantly surprised that I offered to help after working all night.

So anyway, for lunch I made a huge green salad and sliced up some left-over chicken breast, threw that in, sprinkled some extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar over it... even though the greens take up most of the bowl, it still comes out to under 100 calories and the chicken breast was around 450 calories and the oil & vinegar about 150 calories, so you can see, you can fill up on all the green vegetables you want without adding too many calories to your day. Just take it easy on the oil, that's 120 calories for 1 tablespoon.

Bloated Cheater

I feel bloated from yesterdays cheat meals. I always enjoy my cheat meals but I don't enjoy the "less than my best" feeling the day after. Same with alcohol, I enjoy the beer & drinks, but not the groggy feeling the day after. But that being said, I think cheat days are important, not for your physical health, but for your mental health.

This is only my 3rd cheat day since September, so I do enjoy them when I allow myself one. Obviously, my daughters wedding in June will be another one coming up. There are other ways of enjoying cheats... if you got the will power and you can trust yourself to stay on target, you can use a 90/10 method. Every day get 90% of your calories from good, clean healthy foods and 10% from whatever else you want. So if you're taking in 2000 calories a day, you can have a cheat snack of no more than 200 calories. That would be a candy bar, or two of those 100 calorie snack bags, or a can of soda.

Personally for me, I couldn't use that method, I have an "All or Nothing" personality when it comes to things like that. So I'll stick to my clean diet and have a cheat day every once in a great while. Like they say, the best method is the one that you will stick to.

Quickie

Short update today... I have to go get fitted for a tux for my oldest daughter's wedding in June and then maybe we'll go out for lunch... I feel a cheat meal coming on.

I am so glad I am 35 lbs. lighter for this wedding, I know it's all about my daughter and her groom on that day, but I would have felt self-conscious all day about my belly sticking out over my belt... not too mention opening the jacket for more room. I've been through that many times, but this time it's important. I can concentrate on my daughter and her day.

Of course there is the vanity thing, LOL... I wanna look good in the pictures also... for generations to come. Now all I gotta do is find all my "fat" pictures and destroy them, LOL.

D.A.R.E.

The most popular prescribed drugs in America are Pain Killers, Anti-Diabetes Drugs, Statins for treating High Cholesterol, High Blood Pressure medicines... why eat right or exercise when a doctor can just give you a pill to keep what's ailing you at bay. It's easier... the hardest part is getting the cap off the bottle.

The top drugs are mostly for preventable diseases, mostly diet related, but also sedentary lifestyle related. Not only that, but drugs are expensive... it's much cheaper to eat good food.  D.A.R.E. (Drugs Are Really Expensive).

61% of adults are taking at least 1 type of medicine for a chronic health problem. That's 15% more than 10 years ago. And more than 1 in 4 seniors take at least 5 medications daily. Those drug ads for Lipitor, Avandia, Boniva, etc.. are probably helping to boost drug use also.

I know some medicines are totally necessary and I might need a drug or 2 in the future also, but I'm willing to bet most can be avoided through lifestyle changes by losing weight, eating better and getting regular exercise. The irony of it all is that all those people that kicked the habit back in the 70' & 80's are back on them now... legally.

Push-Ups and Chicken Breasts

I did a total of 500 push-ups today... I'll have to start something similar with Pull-Ups/Chin-Ups, it won't be anywhere near 500 though... well, not yet anyway... then I'll just have to add in something for legs, unless I rely on climbing hills on my bike.

I made my Chicken Breasts differently today, instead of Honey-Mustard, I did Balsamic Vinegar and Honey... same ratio, 50/50 plus spices and seasonings, it came out very good... 400°F oven for 45 - 50 minutes... the only thing is it's not as thick as the Honey-Mustard, so it tends to run off the chicken onto the bottom of the pan... so it might be better as a marinade, or you can baste it a few times during cooking... it was still delicious and enough of the juices stayed on the chicken.

I guess you could use more honey than vinegar if you want... or even use half honey and a quarter each of mustard & vinegar. Whatever you like, it's your chicken... I remember a cook that was just doing things without recipes, or measuring cups, or any menus... she was just putting things that were on hand together and it always came out delicious, being very naive at the time, I asked her how she knew what to use and how much of any one thing to put in, she said in her accent, "What you put in, is what you get out." can't get any simpler than that.

Swai? I Don't Know Swai.

Today's lunch was Swai Fillet, if you don't know what Swai is, you're not alone. I had to look it up myself... it's an Asian Striped Catfish. It was pretty tasty... just a little sea salt & pepper throw it in the oven at 400°F for 20 - 25 minutes and go make your large salad and steamed vegetables.

I'm on a push-up kick again, whenever I get a chance at work, I find a quit corner and drop and do push-ups. I did 200 a few days ago and 300 today, mostly 25 at a time. Of course if anybody asks, it was all on my breaks and lunch hour.  :-)

Then when I get home I do Pull-Ups, Chin-Ups and whatever else strikes my fancy that day... and of course when the weather gets nicer, I'll be riding my bike also... any week now.

Chicken Breasts & Sweet Potatoes

Lunch today consisted of baked Chicken Breasts that I coated with a Yogurt-Honey mixture before I put it into a 375°F oven for 50 minutes... then I cut Sweet Potatoes into 1 inch cubes, tossed them in a little Extra Virgin Olive Oil (just enough to coat them) with a pinch of salt, a healthy amount of freshly ground pepper along with some minced onion & garlic and put those in the oven at 375°F for 50 minutes also, I added some steamed vegetables to my plate and I was set. Great lunch.

Today is Sunday, so relax and watch a game or better yet, go outside and participate in a sport or activity of your choice.

News Items

A couple of things I found interesting in the news...

From the Department of the Obvious a study done at the Hutchinson Cancer Research Center found that Fat Loss is better accomplished with Diet and Exercise together as opposed to doing either one by itself. They put over 400 people into 3 groups and found that...
The group that only did the exercises averaged a 2.4% loss off of their original weight... the average weight loss for that group was 4.4lbs.
The group that did the diet part only lost an average of 8.5% of their original body weight, or an average weight loss of 15.8 pounds for the group.
The Group that did both Diet & Exercise lost on average 10.8% off of their original body weight... and an average of 19.8lbs for that group.
You can see what a big part diet plays in weight loss, there was a big difference between the group that just exercised and the group that just dieted. But both together is definitely the best option.

The other item that I found interesting... they found a link between weight loss and improved cognitive skills and memory... I forgot where I read this so I can't provide a link... I better lose a few more pounds so I can remember... now where did I put that Snickers bar?