89 More Days of InstaFood
I promised myself I can do anything for 90 days, so here I go again. I'm back on the pre-packaged diet food for another 89 days. The good news, I almost have my ALC weight all off (they said it would be water...jeez, just looking at the pictures you can see I gained about 10 in just 4 days, and no, it wasn't just water). 90 days, 5 powdered meals and one protein/veg meal each day--carefully portioned and NO cheating. I stopped this in the fall because I was cheating and not losing, and if you're not losing why pay for the fake food? Why bother eating it at all? So I didn't.
On the plus side, I managed to keep the 55 pounds I lost from this diet last year pretty much off (unless you count the ten pounds gained and then lost from 1. injury, 2. health scares that converted my diet to almost pure chocolate and Girl Scout Cookies--yes, I am an emotional eater--and 3. ALC goodness).
I've found that the more I ride my bike, the less willpower I have on the diet front. I can stick to any diet as long as that gnawing hunger doesn't set in on me day after day after day. My plan now is to keep enough going workout wise to salvage some muscle mass and prevent my base from slipping too damn much. BUT, if it comes down to it, the workouts will be secondary to the diet. I'm tired of looking like a sausage in my spandex. Done. The goal is 90 days, strict adherence and with my metabolism's help (or the grace of the gods) a loss of 45 pounds. 35 of that is mandatory, 10 more would assure I fit comfortably in the top of the "normal weight" category for my height. Given my muscle mass (thanks to resilient Native genes), I'm shooting for the top of the range rather than the bottom.
Posting this here will keep me honest, if not motivated.
Also, today I begin shopping for my winter commuter bike; I'm starting by looking at Cyclocross bikes and will be headed down to BikeAttack to try some out. I'm almost to the point that I could buy the frame I want and have it built from there, but really don't want the hassle. Maybe for my next bike. If I can get this weight off without losing too much fitness, I may actually try a Cross race, just to say I've done it, but chances are I'll be too much of a goof to manage the rapid mount/dismount without knocking my chin on the handlebars--and that just isn't much fun. Mud, yeah, gravel, sure, running uphill with your bike on your shoulder, hell yeah...but chin smacks or cross bars between the legs kind of frighten me.
Oh...sorry...sometimes I forget I'm getting pulled into this odd little subculture. For my brother, so he doesn't have to research cyclocross now, on reading this: near as I can figure, Cross is an anything goes sort of bicycle race, developed originally so road racers could keep in shape when the weather was bad. It's part road race, part mountain bike race and part obstacle course (stairs?!). The races are laid out on a short-ish track (1-2 miles) and last from 30 to 60 minutes. It's all out for an hour, but then you're done. Consequently, bikes are light but tough and can handle all kinds of conditions--perfect for a winter commute in wet sand and pouring rain, or a ride up AND down garbage hill to/from the observatory). I'm hoping for some braise ons so I can add a pannier or two and have the option of touring or camping from the bike--without having to add to my growing bike stable.
ALC 10 will see me training hard again this year, and I'm not putting my Ninja road bike away, just wanting to have more terrain options without destroying that fine piece of equipment. Speaking of which, after spending three hours cleaning that beast, it may be time to learn how to take it all apart and re-assemble it--which has me looking at components to replace the stock ones. I doubt I'll get to that point, but the first barrier to consider such things is understanding all the technical stuff about repair, maintenance and replacement that just seem so over my head at the moment. Also, I'm afraid to have someone do that kind of take it apart, really clean it and reassemble it kind of maintenance--after all, the last time I had a tune up, they looked at my fat ass, and nodded as I went on and on about my mileage and upcoming ALC, thinking to themselves that I was just a rich bitch with a big wallet and too much bicycle. It didn't get the TLC it required, and there is no guarantee any future appointment would yield a different result. So...I guess the control freak's answer to any such dilemma is good DIY. You can either know enough to double check that what you asked for was indeed done or you can just save the three trips back and forth and do it right the first time yourself. Plus, I get to learn some new stuff, and that makes me happy. Hmm...so where does a gal go to learn bike maintenance that goes beyond checking tires, patching tubes and filling to the correct air pressure?
On the plus side, I managed to keep the 55 pounds I lost from this diet last year pretty much off (unless you count the ten pounds gained and then lost from 1. injury, 2. health scares that converted my diet to almost pure chocolate and Girl Scout Cookies--yes, I am an emotional eater--and 3. ALC goodness).
I've found that the more I ride my bike, the less willpower I have on the diet front. I can stick to any diet as long as that gnawing hunger doesn't set in on me day after day after day. My plan now is to keep enough going workout wise to salvage some muscle mass and prevent my base from slipping too damn much. BUT, if it comes down to it, the workouts will be secondary to the diet. I'm tired of looking like a sausage in my spandex. Done. The goal is 90 days, strict adherence and with my metabolism's help (or the grace of the gods) a loss of 45 pounds. 35 of that is mandatory, 10 more would assure I fit comfortably in the top of the "normal weight" category for my height. Given my muscle mass (thanks to resilient Native genes), I'm shooting for the top of the range rather than the bottom.
Posting this here will keep me honest, if not motivated.
Also, today I begin shopping for my winter commuter bike; I'm starting by looking at Cyclocross bikes and will be headed down to BikeAttack to try some out. I'm almost to the point that I could buy the frame I want and have it built from there, but really don't want the hassle. Maybe for my next bike. If I can get this weight off without losing too much fitness, I may actually try a Cross race, just to say I've done it, but chances are I'll be too much of a goof to manage the rapid mount/dismount without knocking my chin on the handlebars--and that just isn't much fun. Mud, yeah, gravel, sure, running uphill with your bike on your shoulder, hell yeah...but chin smacks or cross bars between the legs kind of frighten me.
Oh...sorry...sometimes I forget I'm getting pulled into this odd little subculture. For my brother, so he doesn't have to research cyclocross now, on reading this: near as I can figure, Cross is an anything goes sort of bicycle race, developed originally so road racers could keep in shape when the weather was bad. It's part road race, part mountain bike race and part obstacle course (stairs?!). The races are laid out on a short-ish track (1-2 miles) and last from 30 to 60 minutes. It's all out for an hour, but then you're done. Consequently, bikes are light but tough and can handle all kinds of conditions--perfect for a winter commute in wet sand and pouring rain, or a ride up AND down garbage hill to/from the observatory). I'm hoping for some braise ons so I can add a pannier or two and have the option of touring or camping from the bike--without having to add to my growing bike stable.
ALC 10 will see me training hard again this year, and I'm not putting my Ninja road bike away, just wanting to have more terrain options without destroying that fine piece of equipment. Speaking of which, after spending three hours cleaning that beast, it may be time to learn how to take it all apart and re-assemble it--which has me looking at components to replace the stock ones. I doubt I'll get to that point, but the first barrier to consider such things is understanding all the technical stuff about repair, maintenance and replacement that just seem so over my head at the moment. Also, I'm afraid to have someone do that kind of take it apart, really clean it and reassemble it kind of maintenance--after all, the last time I had a tune up, they looked at my fat ass, and nodded as I went on and on about my mileage and upcoming ALC, thinking to themselves that I was just a rich bitch with a big wallet and too much bicycle. It didn't get the TLC it required, and there is no guarantee any future appointment would yield a different result. So...I guess the control freak's answer to any such dilemma is good DIY. You can either know enough to double check that what you asked for was indeed done or you can just save the three trips back and forth and do it right the first time yourself. Plus, I get to learn some new stuff, and that makes me happy. Hmm...so where does a gal go to learn bike maintenance that goes beyond checking tires, patching tubes and filling to the correct air pressure?