Day 1393, yes that says Thirteen Hundred Ninety Three!

Day 1393, yes that says Thirteen Hundred Ninety Three!

1700 calorie menu 2011 trek X Caliber Gary fisher x caliber Weight Loss Windsor tow path zeusmeatball

Staying on track is the theme of the week for me, I had an awesome week last week and dropped a good amount of weight, got in a nice bike ride on Sunday in lieu of the still broken toe and this week is off to a good start. Sunday we decided to check out a different trail and it did not start off good or end well, Pulling into the trail head my riding buddy says that his tire was flat when he woke up but he pumped it to 60psi so we should be ok. Deciding that it was a good idea to check if the tire had lost air from then until when we got to the trail head we did, less than 40psi so we started the ride by changing his tube, no biggie. I slammed my already broken toe onto a rock near one of the trail head barriers, my camera mount broke because the terrain was not great, we rode through a muddy un-kept trail with lots of branches across the mostly single track section of trail just to get about a mile and a half in to find a dead end via a huge boulder a bunch of tires and .... a swamp. After a quick discussion on our options we decided to head on over to a tow path on the Connecticut river to salvage the day and our ride and that part of the day was awesome.

The new section of trail looked promising enough at the start.

A mile and a half down the muddy, ever thinning trail we found a swamp! time to head back and stick with our original plan of riding the tow path.

Stopped under the railroad tracks on the tow path for a quick drink I'm really diggin' the color scheme of the new bike.

Same place that I took the shot a few posts back with my K2, I figured the new ride needed to pose there too.

Something that I seem to have found my groove with again is the intake, I am pretty spot on with the calorie limits that I have set for myself and am not feeling hungry or "deprived" at all. Falling back on my experience with creating low calorie options for fuel is proving to be the ticket with that one and I am not 100% back into the game yet as I had transitioned into mostly whole foods at one point since starting down the better health path and we're not there just yet. I am depending on quick decently healthy if not slightly processed options for lunches and mid day calories right now because quick and easy yet staying on track trumps eating more calories or getting frustrated and eating too much so deli sandwiches it is for now. I also find that writing down my calories for the day helps keep me in check, in the beginning I used my excel spreadsheet to great success so it only makes sense that I use it again for this "restart" until I get my juju back, and with that here is yesterdays menu.

Breakfast
7:15 AM
coffee/creamer 90

8:45 AM
2 cup honey combs 220
1 C almond milk 90

11:30 AM
2 slices lite Rye 120
3oz deli ham 180
1 wedge laughing cow cheese 35

Lunch
12:30 PM
1 banana 105

2:45 PM
1 oz turkey pepperoni 70
1 wedge laughing cow cheese 35
1 deli slim 100

Dinner
6:15 PM
8oz grilled chicken 400
brussel sprouts 160

Grand total of 1605 calories is almost true.... I did take a couple bites of some pasta that I made on the side with dinner, less than 100 calories for sure but more than nothing so I left the excel sheet at 1605 and let the bites account for the remaining 95 calories.

The menu does need tweaking, I need to stop having that morning cup O joe for one thing, switching the processed stuff back to more whole foods and veggies needs to happen as well, all in good time. Right now I am dropping weight at a rate that is more than motivational for me, I know the tweaks that need to be made and am slipping them in as the days go by. Losing that am cup of coffee gains me nearly 100 calories that I can spend on veggies, taking the deli meat out of my lunch will surely get me feeling a bit better, not that I feel bad but I know when I was mainly on whole foods I felt unstoppable and we need to get back there. Drinking enough has never been an issue for me, I still drink a gallon of green tea per day and at least another half to whole gallon more in straight H2O and or powerade zero throughout the day so that's where it needs to be.

Over all things feel normal again where my intake and drive are the subject, avoiding foods that are bad for me is easier again now that I have refocused myself with the task at hand. Its funny that no matter how far along a person comes when dealing with an extreme weight issue the risk to "fall back" on old habits is there when stressful situations come into the fold. Never claiming to be Super man or a robotic entity that can be programmed I can 100% understand how people that are so driven and diligent with something like this can get sucked back into the spiral of eating bad. Its too easy to just grab that "insert favorite crap food here" when we get in a bleh mood and solve the problem with a paw full of a salty calorie filled band-aid that has nothing to do with the not needed food that we now feel pushing against our cheek.

We all have goals, we all have stress, all we can do is try and balance things so that the goals can be reached and the stresses don't rule the day.

That's all I got..

As Ever
Me

My Passion...yep, and some photos for your pleasure

My Passion...yep, and some photos for your pleasure

broken toe Connecticut river k2 zed 3.2 train Trek X caliber Weight Loss Windsor tow path zeusmeatball

Spending as much time on my bikes has been my plan to stay on track and that part of the equation has been very much happening. My cycling has been my saving grace in the past couple months, its my me time and honestly besides my kids and the Wify is my greatest passion, I am happiest when I am pedaling my ass off literally and figuratively.

A week ago I rode on a tow path that rides along the Connecticut river, I took it slow because it was the first time I had been on this path and I like to take in the scenery and look around a bit so that's what I did. I only rode 9 miles that day but it was a very relaxing ride with the smell of the salty water in the air and the leaves starting to turn I had lots to take in. I rode my K2 and stopped a few times for some photos, it was a perfect day for a ride about 70 degrees, sunny with some fat white clouds in the sky, days like these are a plenty and once upon a time I was missing out on them because of my weight.

Looking over the Connecticut river on a nice October day, this is at the trail head.

My bike with the kiddo's bike near the trail head, Wify walked with her and I caught up with them for the last 1/2 mile or so of slow riding.

This was after the ride overlooking the Connecticut river again.

Railroad tracks that go over the trail and the river, bike is in the lower right corner.

Taking a break under the tracks I was lucky enough to have a train pass over when I was there, you can see it on the right hand track.

I'm too sexy for my... for my... just a self shot with the Connecticut river in the background.

Cockpit shot coming down the trail.

Posing in front of the inner bank of the tow path.

This is whats behind the bike in the image before this one.

My favorite shot of the day, an old abandoned building at the end of the trail, tossed the bike up on a loading dock for a quick shot.

Me and my bicycle(s) get around these days, my range is expanding on every ride and I enjoy every second that I am pedaling, focusing on the cycling is my plan from here on out and I am hoping to do some winter riding this year. Back in June of 2009 I started down a road that has lead to me becoming one with my two wheels contraptions and I am so very happy that I made the decision to get back in the saddle again. Learning about bikes again has been fun, entertaining and has given me a new hobby, I have upgraded the K2 bike along the way and made it into a pretty fun and dependable bike to ride but I started feeling like my riding was outgrowing that bike so I started looking into a new dual wheeled transportation device and picked it up last week.

This weekend I had a chance to take my new ride out on its maiden voyage and an interesting ride it was! I joined the 29er crowd and bought a 2011 Gary Fisher collection Trek X-Caliber and my initial feeling on the bike is WOW! I have only ridden 22 miles on it so far, took a look at a new trail and ended up with some... how do I say? injuries? on that first ride but man I love the way this thing rides! I won't get into it too much, I shall leave that for another post but here is a sneak peek at the bike from Saturdays 22 mile ride and one of the um..... injuries.

Oh my! a broken toe!

A sneak peek at the 2011 Xcal just hanging out on the trail.

Making it a point to ride as much as possible is my goal right now, I feel as if biking is a huge part of my weight loss and better health goals so keeping it on the forefront of the fight is the plan. Keeping the cranks turning while keeping the fuel clean is going to be the way of the meatball, the results will be what they are and with some hard work, discipline and a steady intake of positive vibes I am hoping that we can dent the weight. Getting to below 300 pounds over this fall and winter would be a fantastic addition to my spring time riding season and with that a goal is set.

Trying to get more posts up is always on my mind so keep checking back, I AM still here and kicking, its that life is kicking too so sometimes its harder to sit down and write a post.

Until next we meet.... That's all I got

As Ever
Me