One Of Those Days

Today is one of those days, rainy and dreary, we're even going to get some snow tonight. Baseball season starts today... maybe. I always wanted to go to Opening Day at Yankee Stadium... I'm glad I don't have tickets this year, LOL.

I'm not even counting calories today, or weighing my food, or even watching what I eat. For lunch I had Rotisserie Chicken with the skin on, I'm a wild man today, I might even have a glass of wine later... just one of those days.

But not to worry, this actually happens quite often whenever I'm about to start something new and I have a few days before the start. Sort of like a "last fling" type of thing, letting it all out before I buckle down... like the night out with friends before you go away to school.

It's all good, as long as you don't get too carried away or keep the "Lost Weekend" going into a lost year.

Quick & Easy Baked Salmon

I had an amazingly simple and delicious lunch today... Baked Salmon, real easy to make, just sprinkle the salmon filets with a little sea salt & freshly ground pepper, throw it onto a  foil lined baking sheet, throw it into a pre-heated oven for 15 minutes at 450° and your done. I had that with a baked Sweet Potato and a large mixed green salad. Great lunch... You can't beat a quick meal that's healthy & tasty.

Although I took the week off from working-out, I'm still walking for exercise. A new study from the University of Pittsburgh found that walking is not only good for your heart, but it's also good for your brain... it gets blood to your brain and that prevents the natural shrinkage that comes with age and it also helps with memory.

Expansion & Contraction

Nothing to report today. It's amazing how my time fills up, even though I have an extra 30 to 40 minutes from not working out. Here I am writing my blog at the same time as other days and I haven't done anything extra, you'd think I'd be at least a half hour ahead of schedule.

I bet if I had a half dozen things planned, I would have finished everything and still be sitting here writing this blog on schedule. It just goes to show you how you subconsciously fill in the amount of time you have with the work at hand. I noticed this phenomenon years ago, no matter how much work I had, whether it was a slow day or a high stress day, I would always finish my tasks around the same time. I even found a name for this curiosity, It's called Parkinson's Law, which states: Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. So I'm guessing work also contracts to fill the time, from my experience anyway.

So don't be afraid to over-schedule your day, most likely you'll get it all done. Just don't think about the whole schedule, concentrate on the task at hand, your inner clock will take care of timing. Like the saying goes, "Aim for the Moon, even if you miss you'll be among the stars."

The Wonders of Walnuts

All nuts are healthy, but a new study found that Walnuts are the healthiest to eat. Among all nuts, they contain the highest level of Antioxidants that is 15 times as powerful as Vitamin E. Nuts have a lot of fat,  but it's the good fat so don't even worry about it... plus nuts have high quality protein. So eat plenty of nuts and make sure there's walnuts in there also. Raw, unsalted is best.

I'm still working on the details of my new bodyweight work-out routine. I have to pick the exercises and make sure I cover all the body parts. I also have to decide if I want to do a full body work-out 3 times a week or a split routine 4 times a week, either way I'm taking this week off to recuperate. I was about due for a rest, it'll be only my 2nd week off from working out since last Sept. although I did have some modified weeks. And even this week I got in a Chest/Tricep work-out before I decided to rest my shoulder.

Important Decision

I've made an important decision concerning my weight training. If you've been reading this blog for awhile, you know every once in a while I complain about a sore shoulder while lifting. I've even switched to lighter weights, doing more reps, instead of heavy weights and less reps, to try to alleviate the soreness.

Well the problem does not seem to be getting any better. From what I've read, this is very common among people who train with weights. It's an inflammation of the acromioclavicular joint and an overstretched ligament. The soreness is easily tolerated at the beginning, but it gradually gets worse over time until finally certain exercises are too painful to perform correctly. It goes on to say, that although not serious, it takes a long time to heal.

So, I've decided to put the weights down for awhile and do workouts consisting of all body-weight exercises like Push-ups, Bench Dips, Pull-Ups, etc.. Of course, I'll have to design a work-out with enough different exercises to work my whole body and enough routines to vary the sessions.

I'm hoping this will help, if not I'll have to follow the other recommendation, which is stop all upper body training for a few weeks.

Skipping Workouts

There is no excuse for not doing your work-out on schedule!! Just kidding, sometimes emergencies do come up, life does not always go according to plan. Even this regimented, organized and orderly German knows that... shhhhtuff happens. Life Happens.
There's a few things that you can do to make up a missed work-out. If you do full body work-out sessions, no problem, you'll just do it the next day. If you split your workouts into upper body and lower body sessions, make sure the next work-out you do is the one you missed. If you split your work-outs even more it gets a little complicated, not much, just a little.
If like me, you concentrate on one body part a day and you happen to miss Arm Day, you can  add Triceps to your Chest day and Biceps to your Back day. Because most Chest exercises also work some of your triceps and your Back exercises also work your biceps, so they're a natural fit.
You can also modify a regular workout to fit in 2 body parts in the same session. You might have to skip a couple of the regularly scheduled exercises in order to squeeze in a few from the missed session. Because you still want to keep the session under an hour. When deciding which exercises to cancel, try to keep the compound exercises over the isolation ones. Compound exercises work more muscles, so you get more bang for the buck.
Best is not to skip too many work-outs, because the more you skip, the easier it becomes to skip another one and then another one and before you know it, you're back to sitting on the couch with orange fingers from the Cheese Doodles.

Timely Trends

Seems that my worries yesterday about my weekly stats were unfounded. My weight was down almost 2 pounds, my waist was  a quarter inch smaller and my estimated body fat was down also down a tenth of a percent.
Just keep in mind, weekly numbers are not that important, those stats above, although they are all on the positive side could more or less be considered equal to last weeks stats... a quarter inch around the waist could be the difference in how taut or loose you are holding the tape measure, or how much air you're holding in your lungs. The 2 pounds could be the difference of how much water you're holding or if you've eliminated waste recently. And home body fat measurements and online body fat calculators are very inaccurate, I only use it as a numerical gauge to back up the best home method... the mirror.
What I'm really interested in is an overall positive trend over time. One week over the next is not as important as is month to month. If you go back a few steps in one week it's not that important, but if you have made no progress in a month or slipped backwards, something is wrong and it might be time for an adjustment in your program.

Sex and Heart Attacks

If this doesn't make you want to get fit and healthy, there's no hope for you. Just kidding, there's always hope. But research has found that sex can be a heart attack trigger for couch potatoes. They studied 6,000 people who had heart attacks and looked at what the people were doing one or two hours before the attack. Besides sex, infrequent physical activity such as the type done by "weekend warriors" are also heart attack risks for the out of shape.

Also people always over-estimate how much physical activity they are doing. Although gardening or taking the kids to the park might be better than sitting at home and watching TV, I wouldn't count them as exercise if it doesn't raise your heart rate significantly. I even question people who claim they are getting enough exercise by playing golf. You walk, you hit a ball, you watch someone else do it and then repeat. You're blood pressure might be going up if you're losing, but I doubt if you're heart rate is. Tiger Woods is in great shape, but he didn't get that way on the golf course.

I'm not looking forward to tonight's weekly measurements... although I did my weight training, I did not get any walking or cycling in, so the stats can't be good this week. But that's ok, they'll be better next week. ok time to go, have a great day all.

My Baby's Back

I went and got my bike back this morning from it's tune-up. Gears adjusted, chain lubed, brakes tightened, wheels trued... and it's ready to ride... Thanks Yorktown Cycles http://yorktowncycles.com/

Now if they could only tune-up the weather, it was snowing when I left work this morning, but it stopped sometime around 9am, so I said let me drive up to Yorktown and pick up my bike. They had left me a message on the phone that it was ready. I wasn't going to pick it up today because of the weather, and tomorrow it was supposed to be worse, so I figured I would get it on Friday. But I heard that there was going to be a window of no snow for a few hours, so I went.

Yorktown is about 30 miles from here, with a 40 minute drive... ok, I do it in 30... shhhhhh. But anyway, here in Westchester County we have a natural weather border, which is Interstate 287. It could be raining south of I-287 while just North of it, it will be snowing or sleeting. So I'm driving North and everything is wet and messy... until I get passed I-287 and it looks like a Winter Wonderland, all the trees were covered in white. I wish I would have brought my camera, because even though I've had enough of snow for a few years, it was beautiful scenery.

Leg Day and Leg Room

Hey everybody... for leg day today I decided to do all Body Weight exercises, including a couple hundred squats... I think changing my leg work-outs more frequently will keep me from trying to avoid them all together. And it will keep it interseting. That, along with doing hill repeats on the bike ought to really work my legs. I just have to keep on finding new interesting leg work-outs and exercises to try.

I don't know if I should file this under "Every Cloud has a Silver Lining" but, according to a news report in the USA Today, because of overweight Americans the Federal Government wants to limit the number of passengers on buses because of safety concerns. But the good news is they also might have to make bigger seats and allow for more leg room. This might also affect the airline industry, I hope. Have you ever flown to Europe in a cramped seat for 8 hours. But all in all I think I would still rather see a healthier population.

March Madness

It's officially Spring and the snow is sticking to the blacktop in the driveway. But it won't be there for long, the temperature is going up to 52° later on today. Needless to say there was no cycling today and the rest of the week doesn't look too promising either. Possibly more snow on Wednesday and rain on Thursday, and there are no more 50 degree days in the next week and a half.

I did get my shoulder workout in and progressed some more on each exercise. And I've reached my upper limit (15 reps) on all 3 sets on 2 of my exercises, which means I'll raise the weights on each of those. I'm pretty close to reaching the upper limit on the other exercises also, so all my weights should be up within a week or 2.

Ok time to wrap this up and have some dinner... Turkey Chili with beans and a big bowl of salad and I think I'll have some extra veggies also, why not... very few calories and lots of nutritious vitamins and minerals, not to mention fiber. OK Signing off... see you tomorrow.

It's Springtime, It'll be Snowing

Hey everybody... Happy First Day of Spring!!
It sure doesn't feel like the Spring I remember.... it's cold outside and they're saying snow showers tonight... but hey... I'll appreciate Summer so much more, when it finally gets here... give me the heat anytime, I'll take it. I get the feeling I'll be retiring in the South somewhere. If I get to retire, that is.
I was thinking about riding this morning, but as soon as I stepped outside I changed my mind. It was a bit chilly, I figured maybe because it was sunny it would feel a little comfortable... but if it's a chilly while just standing outside it's gonna be a lot chillier riding.
So I just did my Back workout and caught up on some emails and other stuff. And now I'm just gonna sit back and relax a bit until bedtime.

Weights, Wheels and Wind

I came home from work today and immediately went to my Chest work-out, there was improvements again all around. The work-out lasted 26 minutes, not counting warm-ups. after my Chest work-out, I had my protein shake and rested for about 20 minutes, checking emails and stuff.

After that I jumped on my bike and headed out the door. I think my bike work-out was tougher than my weight session.... the winds were really kicking up. The temperature wasn't that bad, mid 40's... but the wind was blowing 22mph with gusts up to 37mph. Boy, was it rough. I was fighting all the way.

I only did 9 miles, but it felt like 29 miles... uphill. My average speed was only down less than 1mph over yesterday.... and I only stayed out there for 40 minutes. That was enough for today...  tomorrow looks like an off day for cycling, it's dipping back into the 30's... too chilly for me. I know my Canadian friends laugh at me, LOL.

But anyway, I got a little taste of how it's going to go, with weight training and cycling on the same day... I should have no problem falling asleep shortly after I hit the pillow. My average rides will be about 20 minutes longer, so these blog updates might be a little shorter if I'm pressed for time. Happy Weekend All.

Bike Stat Blues

We're rolling now, my second ride of the year is in the books. Another beautiful day, another beautiful ride. This time I remembered the "START" function on the GPS. I have the stats and even though they are a slight improvement over last year, I am a little disappointed over how similar they are. Considering that I am at least 20 lbs. lighter than last March and I consistently worked out over the winter and walked 4 to 5 times a week, I expected to see a lot better numbers than this.

But you know what? No use wasting time or energy fretting about it. I will use this as motivation to get better, faster & stronger on the bike as the year goes along. Last year my avg. speed on my first ride was 12.8 mph, today's was 13.07mph. I can think of a few reasons (Not Excuses) for the similar outputs, I don't have the weather from last year but it was a little breezy out this morning, 10 - 12 mph gusting to 17mph from the southwest.... and I climbed 15% more on today's ride than I did on last years ride... and last but not least, my quads are still hurting from my leg workout, so I didn't have the feeling of "fresh" legs....  those sound like excuses don't they, LOL No really, I was just trying to find answers.

The ride itself was a mix of quiet suburban streets and busy urban streets, I enjoy both... most of the time. But early in the year you have a lot of potholes to dodge and that could drive the cars behind you nuts. You always have to be alert as to where all the cars around you are, and where all the possible cars could be coming from. Not to mention being aware of parked cars that might have someone opening a door right into your path. You have to be in the moment 100% of the time. Close to the end of the ride my butt started to get sore and my back started to ache... this is normal beginning of the year maladies and will go away the more I ride.

First Ride o' the Year

Top o' the mornin' to ya... well it's afternoon now,  Happy St. Patrick's Day... Ok, I did my first bicycle ride of the year this morning, it felt really good to be out there again. I'm not saying it was easy to get these wintered legs going in circles again, but it was very enjoyable.

I made a beginning of the riding season mistake, I took my GPS with me, I waited for the satellites to communicate with the unit before I took off, but I forgot to hit the "Start" button. So I have no data and no ride statistics, which really stinks because I wanted to compare last years first ride to this years to see how they stack up.

I went over a map online and I approximate that I rode about 13 miles in the hour that I was out, so I'll use that for my bike log book. I could kick myself for that dumb rookie mistake. 

It was a beautiful day out too, 46° and sunny at the start of my ride and 52° by the time I came home. So I did 13 miles towards my goal of 2011 this year. 1,198 miles to go. I might keep that goal in the same box with my other stats for quick reference.

Enjoy the day.

Fully Armed

Excellent Arm work-out this morning. My arms were pumped after the work-out, the biceps were swollen, the veins were huge and popping out... I almost looked like a bodybuilder... well, maybe if you squint, LOL. I've only been doing this consistently since Mid-September, that's only 6 months. And although I look and feel 100% better, I'm practically a beginner and I know I've got a long way to go. Somebody did ask me when I'll be finished... I told them there'll be a notice in the obituary section. LOL.

Last night when I went to work, my legs felt rubbery... and now I'm starting to get the sore Quadriceps and Hamstrings. So I guess I had a good work-out yesterday. It's strange how I enjoy the pain more than the work-out, LOL. I think the secret to doing a Leg Work-out that I don't dread might be to change the workouts frequently, more often than the other work-outs. I might give that a try, it's worth a shot I think.

Ok peoples, I got my Honey-Mustard Chicken Breasts in the oven, I have to make a salad and some veggies and I'll be set... I'll check in again tomorrow, Auf Wiedersehn.

Legs, Low Vitamin D and Lean Cuisine

Leg Day is done, and over with. Improvements on all exercises. I got home, put on my shorts, pulled out my Work-out goals, warmed up and got to it. Still hated it, LOL.

Low Vitamin D has been linked to patients with Parkinson's Disease. So now that it's getting nicer, make sure you spend a lot of time outdoors and soak in that sunshine. And here I need to take my own advice also... and I will.
http://www.webmd.com/parkinsons-disease/news/20110314/low-vitamin-d-levels-seen-in-parkinsons-patients
Lean Cuisine recalled their Spaghetti & Meatball dinners, because of plastic in the food. Yummy! It might be healthier than other stuff out there, but not as healthy as making your own... and you'll be able to pronounce all of the ingredients... and it's not that hard to make... and it'll be cheaper... and you probably won't find any hard plastic in it... I know, who has the time to cook? You do... you got time to watch TV, you got time to cook... you got time to play games, you got time to cook... you got time to text, time to twitter your facebook,  etc... you got time to cook... it just takes a little planning and implementing.

Thanks for stopping by, see you tomorrow.

Shoulders and Shivers

It's Shoulder Day... Improvements all around, I'm having a great week with my work-outs... so far. Let's keep the momentum going tomorrow with Leg Day. Repeat after me, "I love squats!! I love squats!! (Louder) I LOVE SQUATS!! I LOVE SQUATS!!" That'll be my pre-work-out mantra for tomorrow, LOL.

It's gotten chillier again, it's like the weather is going backwards... as long as we don't see any more snow until next winter. This chill is probably Winter's last gasp, since Spring arrives in about a week. Friday is supposed to reach into the 60's and then the temps should stay in the 50's for awhile. Then we deal with the April rains.

That's all I got for you good folks today, see you tomorrow.

Back Time, Time Forward

Excellent Back work-out this morning, improvements on all exercises, especially on my Chin-ups & Pull-ups. I don't know if I can keep up this level of progress, but you know I'm going to do my best and try my hardest.

Today we change to Daylight Savings Time, or is it Standard Time? Who knows... who cares... all I know is I lose an hour somewhere, either Sleep, Activities or Relaxation Time... or some combination of the three. Most normal people have the weekends off, so it doesn't affect them too much. But some of us work on the weekends and some of us also work nights. So the time changes while we're at work. And you're looking at the clock and it says 8AM, for a split second you're elated because your day is over and then you realize you still have another hour to work. And once you finally get home you're already an hour closer to bedtime than you usually are. This is where your list of Priorities comes in handy, whether on paper or in your head.

My 1st priority today was my work-out, and then my dinner. Then the "B" list of priorities, eMails, this blog, and whatever else I have time for. Actually, this is a good test run to see how I'm going to manage my time once I start bicycling every day for an hour. So it wasn't all bad.

Chest, Chicken & Chillin'

Great chest work-out today... I improved on most of my sets, and I felt spent after each Super Set, which made me take a few extra seconds to recover. That explains why the exact same work-out as last week was 2 minutes longer this time. That and the few extra reps that I was able to muster. All in all it felt like a great session.

For Dinner I had just plain Chicken Breasts that I sprinkled with salt & pepper, minced onion and garlic, and some rosemary... I baked them for 45 minutes at 350° and they came out just great... I filled the rest of the plate with steamed vegetables... and that was my delicious meal.

It's 2 hours before my bedtime, so now it's time to chill a bit. I'll see if I can catch a German Soccer game on TV. If not, an English one will do... or maybe stage 7 of the Paris-Nice Cycling Race... I know, I like weird sports... not really, just under-appreciated sports (in the USA anyway). But I love my NY Yankees also.

Missed Opportunity

I think I missed an opportunity to ride today... the temperature is in the low 50's right now, it is windy though. I never checked the updated weather. Yesterday they were predicting rain until noon and here it is noon and the streets look dry, so I'm guessing it stopped raining hours ago. I never even looked out the window. My fault.
It won't happen again... until the next time.

My weekend is over, back to work tonight. Where does the time go? I did get all my high priority goals crossed off the list. The biggest one was to bring by bike in for a tune-up. I also cleaned out my wallet of everything except the bare essentials. I keep reading that sitting on your wallet can contribute to back aches, so I cut it down from 1.25" to three quarters of an inch. It's amazing how much junk you collect in the span of a few months, business cards, slips of paper with numbers, codes, etc... everything but cash. Now I got it down to my Drivers License, Credit card,Health Insurance card, etc. That'll have to do until I find a better way to carry things around with out losing or misplacing it.


I've been watching the various news reports on the devastating earthquake in Japan. It kind of puts things in perspective. My thoughts go out to all my affected readers.

Tune-Up

A couple of weeks ago I downloaded a Groupon for a bike Tune-up at 50% off, $80 tune-up for $40, not bad. I've heard nothing but good things about this particular bike shop, so I loaded my bike into my car and took it there this morning. The shop is about a 40 minute drive North, but like I said nothing but rave reviews.

I guess a lot of people took advantage of this deal, because it's going to be there for 2 weeks...  oh well, I wasn't planning on riding this week anyway because of the weather. But in 2 weeks the weather should start to begin being in the 50's (hopefully)... and it'll be Spring. And besides, I still have my beater bike I can ride on, if weather permits.

 This weekend we lose an hour with the return of Daylight Savings Time... for those of us that work weekends, it's a little bit rough... we have to decide whether to lose an hour of sleep or an hour of being awake... I'll probably split the difference by going to bed a half hour earlier than usual.... something like that... it's so confusing... An Indian Chief once said,  ‘Only a white man would believe that you could cut a foot off the top of a blanket and sew it to the bottom of a blanket and have a longer blanket.’

Taking Up Arms

Yesterday was my least favorite work-out and today was my favorite... Arms... Biceps, Triceps, and Forearms...  Everybody loves doing the "Show" muscles... I'm no different. Ever since I can remember, whenever someone asked someone else to show them their  muscles, the first thing they did was flex their Biceps. My arms are also exposed most of the year, so it's nice to have some muscularity showing and I plan to some day, LOL. My un-flexed arms have grown 2 inches in the last 4 years of on-again/ off-again weight training, I don't really keep track of my flexed arms, although maybe I should, it's just never been in any of the tracking logs I use.

I'm also seeing some vascularity in my arms, especially my forearms. Having the veins right there was very helpful when I had to give blood a couple weeks ago. The nurse didn't have to search too hard for a good one to jab.

My legs are plenty sore today from yesterdays work-out, so I guess I did all right by them. I can even feel my hamstrings, which is a new soreness for me. I was doing "Good Mornings" and really stretching it at the bottom, and I didn't even use a lot of weight on those.

So that's that... and here comes my weekend, enjoy.

My Regularly Scheduled "I Hate Leg Day" Rant

If there is one reason I would join a gym, it would be Leg Day. I can't seem to get over my negative attitude about working out my legs. I can't get motivated, like I do about working out my other body parts. My Leg work-outs seem to last forever, and I do take more time between sets, and my mind seems to wander off to other things. I just don't want to do it, it is just plain torture for me. But I do it anyway.

It's just weird since my leg work-outs would benefit what I love doing the most... bicycling. I could ride faster, climb easier, and ride longer with stronger leg muscles. But my brain doesn't want to hear it. And I don't know if I'm getting any benefits from just going through the work-outs without the intensity I give to all my other muscle groups.

I will keep trying to turn my thinking around, until one day I will look forward to doing squats & lunges. But as of right now, it's the day I dread the most.

Doin' the Deltoids

Shoulder Day today, I felt no discomfort during my work-out today. I think lighter weights, more reps is the way to go, for me anyway. I'm using just enough weight so I can do 12 - 15 reps in a set, the first set is usually 15 reps & the last I'm struggling to do 12 on most exercises. And I definitely feel like I've done a work-out.

I'm still doing Super Sets, 2 different exercises, one after another without rest. For example, I'll do 15 reps of shoulder presses and then follow that immediately with 15 bent-over side raises. That's one Super Set, I'll take a very brief rest after that, just enough to log it in and drink a sip of water and then I repeat that 2 more times. Then I take a 90 second break and go on to the next Super Set of the next 2 exercises and so on.

And to my friend that jokingly called me a sissy for not riding today, I'll let you know it was snowing this morning, LOL. But my buddy and I did 20 minutes of sprints up & down 3 flights of stairs last night for cardio... and I did another 5 sets of  stair sprints later on, so I should be good.

Cold Return

Today was Back Day, I Super Set-ted my Weight exercises with different variations of Pull-Ups/Chin-Ups, underhand, neutral grip, and wide grip... by the last Super Set, I could only pull myself up 3 times and I was spent. I'll be happy if I can improve each set by one every week, I'll give it all I've got anyway.

Another day of no riding and it looks like my first ride might have to wait. Tomorrow it will be windy, 16mph winds will make the 39° temperature feel like 30°... I think I've mentioned it before, and I'm not afraid to admit it, I'm a cold weather wimp. I love riding in 70° - 90° weather... 50°- 60°'s is ok, but temps in the 40's or below, I have to talk myself into it.

It'll be awhile before I'll see 50° weather... even when they say today's high will be in the 50's, that won't be until the afternoon when I'm already sleeping. My riding window of opportunity is between 9AM and 11AM on workdays, so the temperatures are just starting to warm-up from their overnight lows at that time. But I will ride soon... when it's in the mid-40's, Sunny and no wind.

Life Is What Happens...

...even when you have things planned.

I was going to do my first ride of the year today, but the weather would not cooperate. The streets were wet and it rained on and off, and it's supposed to rain tomorrow also. So it'll be at least a few more days before I get my first ride of 2011.

I did do my new work-out... it was fast and intense... the session I planned only lasted 23 minutes, about 10 minutes shorter than I thought. But since I wasn't riding I added some extra at the end.

I also used the time that I would have been riding to cook up enough roasted sweet potatoes for the week. I cut them up in cubes, tossed them in some extra virgin olive oil added some spices and baked them for 50 minutes at 350°... good stuff.

First Ride Planned for Tomorrow

I've got my revised work-outs all set. So as soon as I get home from work tomorrow morning, I hit the weights. The workout should be intense and around 30 - 35 minutes. Then after a brief rest and a PWO shake, I'll jump on the bike and ride around the neighborhood for about 45 minutes to an hour. The weather looks good, in fact the temperature is supposed to rise all night from 37°F at midnight to around 45°F at my scheduled ride time at approximately 9:30AM.

This will be my first ride of the year and it should be somewhere between 10 to 12 miles. I'm just looking to get my legs used to pedaling again, and get some base miles in. I'll be using my "Beater" bike with the platform pedals for now. When I get some miles under me and the weather gets warmer, I'll break out my Carbon Fiber bike and don my biking outfits. I've also made an appointment for a tune-up for my Carbon Fiber bike, so it should be humming when I finally get on it.

Last year I didn't use my good bike at all, I didn't want to punish it with my 220lb. weight. It would have been fine, but I needed a reason to lose the weight, so I made a self-imposed rule, "No riding on the good bike if you're over 200lbs." LOL

No change in my measurements this week, this didn't surprise me a bit, considering my blasé attitude towards my diet & work-outs last week. OK, You've had your fun, now back on the program, Hans.

Changing Gears

I think it's time to change things up... this week I got a little loose with my diet and my workouts. Not that I ate anything bad, I just ate too much of some things and not enough of others. I ate a lot of "All Natural Peanut Butter" for example... it's good stuff, but anything in excess is not too good for you. I also took some liberties with the amount of protein I was taking in with a few meals, especially with my Honey Mustard Chicken Breasts... but they were just soooooooo  good, my will power broke down. It's ok, it happens... you acknowledge it and move on.

My work-outs were also uninspired the last couple of weeks, I did have a sore shoulder that made me back off on some exercises. I believe it's an inflammation of a tendon from the research I did. I'm not a doctor, but I did see one last week and I conveniently forgot to mention it. My mistake. No excuses. I own it. And no excuses for my lackluster work-outs either. I take full responsibility.

So I'm going to shake things up a little bit. I'm going to go head-on into cycling season mode. I'm thinking quick, intense 30 - 35 minute weight training sessions, lighter weights, more reps, very little rest between sets. Some Free Weight/Body Weight super-sets. Of course I will still practice the Principle of Progression, making sure I either increase the weights or the reps at each work-out. After the Strength Training, I'll jump on the bike (if weather permits) and ride for 45 minutes to an hour... the first couple of weeks it will probably be closer to 45 minutes as I build up my base mileage.

My diet will basically stay the same... I just need to watch the excesses.

World Wide Blog

Since I started daily blogging in October I've had 1200 hits on my blog. Although that's not really a lot in the Blogging World, it's a lot more than I ever expected. I know a lot of those hits are friends and relatives that check it out regularly, but I've also had some multiple hits from far away places. Obviously most of the hits are from the USA, coming in second is Canada and Russia is third... this is starting to look like a Winter Olympics Medal Count, LOL
But the rest of the list is pretty interesting also. Ive had multiple readers from Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Slovenia, China, Germany, France and Croatia... I want to say Welcome to everybody and I hope I don't bore you too much. Feel free to comment or ask questions about anything at all. Just remember I don't know too much, I'm learning as I go along, LOL
Well, my weekend begins, time to unwind and relax. Ciao.

Lunch Time

Hello everybody!!
I just finished eating... I made some chicken breasts, very simple and delicious. I preheated the oven to 350° I threw the chicken breasts into a shallow baking dish and coated them with a mixture of equal amounts of mustard and honey and some spices... and baked that for 40 minutes. Voila!!  I used Guldens Spicy Brown mustard, it doesn't have any calories and you don't need too much spicing up either, I just added very little sea salt, some freshly ground pepper, and rosemary. But you can use any mustard, like Dijon, and you can add whatever spices you like. To me, spices are very personal, everybody has their own favorites and favorite mixtures also.
You can also coat the chicken breasts with a mixture of half balsamic vinegar & half honey, that works very well also.
I also had a big bowl of salad... I threw some spinach on the bottom, added some fancy organic mixed greens and sliced up a tomato, I sprinkled some extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar over that... plus I also had some steamed veggies with my chicken. Plenty of carbs with the salad & veggies, good amount of protein from the chicken, and a little fat from the oil and whatever fat was left in the chicken.