June 19th, day 14

I knew the 232.3 was not maintainable. It was aided by the 35 miles Sean and I rode Friday. It was hurt by the pizza I killed 2/3rds of at Sunshine with Dad, the brothers and their wives and Rick. On the semi-bright side, I did hold back to just 2 glasses of soda.

But I really wanted to be at 234ish. Today is the day I need to hit 234 to stay on schedule. So when it said 234.4 well...I was not ecstatic like I would have been at 233, but I was not disappointed. I have been tracking calories and exercise pretty closely, so if my math was correct, I SHOULD be at 234 and change. anything else and I would need to refigure.

I was pretty hungry, so I had 2 cups of Golden Grahams, kept with the no-fat milk. Not nearly as good, but the calorie savings matters. 330 calories.

I really need to figure out how to do the weight lifting. I am pretty convinced building some lean muscle mass is a key to getting my metabolism up. It has been quite revealing how that has gone.

I guess it is kind of disappointing that I did not push harder to just have the trainer show me how to use the machines instead of doing a regular session. Had I known I was quite so prideful about not looking like a complete idiot, I probably would have.

Instead, I have thrice gone to the gym with the explicit intention of working the weights, seen the crowd, not wanted to look stupid and just hit the stationary bike instead.

On the one hand, that has been very good. I really kill it on the bike...I average a bit over 20 mph even on the top level the machine offers and biking is a calorie-eating exercise. Even at just putting out 43 watts, it claims I am burning 7-800 calories per hour.

Also, when Sean and I rode, I could feel myself staying stronger longer. It is a delicate balance between just laying back enjoying the ride and wanting to burn a boatload of calories. He was really cool about letting me push it a bit and we definitely road faster than normal.

I do not want to do that all too often. Good exercise, but I think less fun from the just hanging out with a friend standpoint. And that is why I have the gym membership.

Anyway, today after church I had a crazy thought. I bet not many people hit the gym on Sunday. Would be a great day to study the machines and see if I could figure out how to use them.

Sure enough, there were maybe 6 or 8 people. So I went straight to the machines. I read the instructions, and where they were not too complicated, I sat down and did 12 - 15 reps.

I am happy to say I now feel comfortable with my ability to work most of the machines. I went row by row and maybe 3 or 4 looked too complicated to try. So I did a lot of leg curls, leg presses, military presses, etc.

I did notice my left shoulder is completely shot. On the military press I noticed I could not lift it nearly as high as the right. It was 6-8" below it. I tried my "if I have enough desire, I can perform any physical task I desire" routine and it failed miserably. I simply cannot lift as high with my left arm.

It was a very sad moment.

Anyway, after running through the machines, I was only about 30 minutes in, so I went back to the stationary bike and tried to keep my heart rate at the specified 108 for fat burn. In 35 minutes I punched out 13.7 miles, burned something like 156 calories but was only putting out 43 watts. A constant 43 watts.

That was sad, since my cadence was often 138 r.p.m. which should be at least moderate effort. But according to the charts, it is only light effort. *Sigh*. Even when I try to work it, it says I am barely trying.

I did kill the rest of the pink lemonade while on the bike, about 200 calories.

530 for the day.

Then went shopping. I am happy to say I was much better; I loaded up on bananas for breakfast, grapes, a couple different types of apples, and even some strawberries. I will be pounding a lot of fruit this week.

I also grabbed some baby carrots. The only vegetable I do not despise. I am going to try and snack on those this week.

I also decided to switch it up and instead of turkey tacos, going with turkey burgers this week. Was going to get the lean ones, but they mix in peppers. Yech.

Grabbed some shrimp, orange juice, roast beef for lunch and a marinade.

Then I went to the soda aisle and...oh, I am proud of this. I passed on the soda. It was tough, but I really want to hit 220 so I am making sacrifices.

Got home, was starving. Hour at the gym, then shopping...got out the pan, ready to cook the burgers...and when they are frozen I cannot get the @#$%^&*(*&^ wax paper off. I have to thaw them out despite their ludicrous brag "freezer to grill, no thawing".

Sure...if you enjoy wax paper in your meal.

So I measured out some shrimp, had that and some baby carrots. 230? And I splurged on a coke, 140.

900 for the day. I am all set for one of my beloved monster dinners. Couple turkey patties (340), some cheese (80) and I foolishly grabbed some burger buns...170. 590 calorie double burger...mmmm....

I am starting to come down with a cold again, so I will have OJ with it.

I am keeping a few calories in the bank because I hope to A) get together with Sean and Michelle at Cold Stone later this week and B) want to have a small popcorn and hit Green lantern Tuesday.

So the plan for the week is simple;
I hope to ride to work Monday through Wednesday...looks like rain Thursday...and go to the gym for an hour Monday and Wednesday.

I should finish the cereal Monday morning and then have bananas, apples and grapes for breakfast the rest of the week. Roast Beef sandwiches with some of the Doritos I have left over from last week, then turkey burgers most evenings.

I really, really, really want to be 232 by next week, and down to 230 before flying out to visit Em.

Days like today where I should finish about 1300 will really help with that. Gives me an extra 569 already, so I should have 2/3rds of my ice cream covered...go me!