Posted: 29 October 2007 at 5:13am | IP Logged

Hey  Friends and Neighbors,, well another week is gone... i got to work and my weight scales seemed to get up and leave somewhere.. so i did not weigh today untill i find the darn thing.... so keep on posting talk soon later Peabob 

Posted: 29 October 2007 at 4:26pm | IP Logged

Guys, I have been following this string for a little while, but haven't read everything all the way back to the beginning.  For now I'll just share a couple of thoughts on keeping in shape, for what they're worth.

I don't know enough about diets to endorse a particular one, but I do know that if I want to lose weight, I have to burn up more calories in an average day than I take in.  When I want to take off a couple of pounds, the first thing I cut is not the type of food I eat, but the amount.  I think it goes without saying that what an American calls a "normal" portion of food would feed any two other people, even in the developed countries of the world.

I know enough about my own devious little mind to realize that if I am bored, I will go to the kitchen to see what's there.  Hunger and nutrition have nothing to do with it: I eat for recreation when I let myself get away with it.  I indulge myself this way far too often.

We are agreed that riding our trikes is great exercise, and it does give an emotional high, too.  For me, the additional advantage is that it provides an enjoyable way to pass a couple of hours outside of an arm's reach of the fridge.

I haven't seen with myself that cycling builds a great deal of muscle mass, and that's true whether I work out on the tadpole, or on the handcycle.  Actually, rolling down the road burns considerably less calories than jogging, or even walking over the same stretch.  What I have seen, though, is that it improves muscle tone and, as some of you have pointed out, it's not nearly as rough on the knees, ankles, and feet as walking is.

One final thought: at least with me, a good day on the trike makes me look forward to doing it again the following day.  The more days I spend not riding, for whatever reason, the harder it is to get out there and start up again.

The good news is that two minutes after leaving the driveway it's just as much fun as ever!

Larry

Posted: 20 November 2007 at 2:17am | IP Logged

Yes, how's it going, Pea?  And how's it going, Jim?  And everyone else, too?

This is my favorite season of the year because of the fun and the mood.  If I could just enjoy that part without the food, I'd be fine.

But there is that temptation to overeat, almost like I'm Scrooge if I don't.  In other times of the year the trike can help me burn up a couple of hundred extra calories on a given day: an extra hot dog on the Fourth of July, for example, is no big deal.  A few more miles on the trike, an extra turn around the back 40 and -- no problem!  The scale still looks OK the following day.

It's not so easy now.  First, what goes on the table at this time of year is a lot more than one extra hot dog; and second, it's not "on the Fourth of July," it's from Hallowe'en to New Year.

And now there's no such thing as a couple of extra miles on the trike whenever I feel like it.  The days are much shorter and the riding envelope is smaller.  It takes a good look at the weather forecast and most of the time requires picking a time slot when I can ride between the raindrops.  The trikes are still willing, but the cards are stacked against them.

It's a quiet forum right now, but that tells me that many of you are struggling in silence, not that you're not struggling.  I've got mine, too, so I'm interested in knowing how it's going for all of you.

Good holidays,

Larry

Posted: 20 January 2008 at 5:41am | IP Logged

Hi, Peabob, nice to have you back.  And hi, Everyone else, too,

Sorry about my silence.  I've been here all along, but things got quiet over the holidays and I got out of the habit of checking for fresh posts every day.  But it's a new year and a new day and here I am.  I'm ready to get back to riding.  To help with riding, I'm ready to get back to writing, too.

We're having a mild winter in NJ, but even so it requires something more than biking tights and a windbreaker.  I picked up a pair of "winter sweat pants" the other day.  For those who haven't tried this, it's a pair of pants in your usual length, but a size smaller.  I suggest trying them on in the store.  You want a pair that is loose enough for a little air inside, but tight enough to stay clear of the chain.  It also helps if the drawstring is long enough to let the waist out more than you do on your regular sweats.

These are good for me down to about 30 F.  For colder temperatures, a pair of winter tights inside the sweats is sufficient.  At 20 F, the trike and I are indoors.  That's just how it is.

I can get away with my summer helmet, but not without an ear band: the wind chill at even 10 mph is really miserable.  For the same reason, normal biking gloves don't do it for me at this time of year: I wear a pair of lightly-insulated snowmobile gloves (not the huge ones that look like a hockey goalie's gloves, but ones that have some lining to keep the fingers from going numb on an hour's ride).  One of my "gifts" on a club ride last year was a pair of thermal booties to go over the shoes.  I haven't tried these yet, so I'll report on how they work after my first ride.

I find that sunglasses are just as necessary now as in high summer.  We don't have any snow glare, but the sun is lower in the sky on winter afternoons, and I find myself having to squint when looking in its general direction if I forget my shades.

Last year I kept a reasonably accurate riding log.  With a slight fudge factor for honest error, I figure I put about 2100 miles on my Terra Trike.  This year I printed myself up a no kiddin' riding log, so I'll have an exact figure in December.

For all of you who woke up to "the morning after the night before," Happy New Year!  The resolutions to do better with weight this year are good: stick with 'em, and chin up!  It's hard to get out there on a cold day, but if you have the right equipment, even cold days can be fun.  Remember?  We ride for fun, and the lost pounds are a bonus.

All the best,

Larry

Posted: 22 January 2008 at 6:35am | IP Logged

Way to go, Peabob, you're on your way.

Try to see the scale reading not as a final figure, but as one notch in a trend.  There was a little hiccup where it jumped 3 pounds, but now the line is going in the right direction.  Whatever you did to make it do that was the right thing: just keep on doing it.

My total gain for the holidays (Thanksgiving through Epiphany) was 8 pounds, and I'm taking some of that back now.  I have a doctor and pharmacy run today, but if I can get back home before the rain/snow starts this afternoon, I am hoping to get out and ride for at least an hour.  As it is, so far this year I've put in 20 miles on the tadpole and 10 on the hand-cranker.  It would have been more if the weather had been better.

I'm with you on the hot tub: if I had one in the apartment, I wouldn't come out until my skin fell off.

Larry

Posted: 28 January 2008 at 5:05am | IP Logged

Dragon,  Welcome to the post.  As far as recomending a trike.  There are some trikes that you can actually pedal using your arms.  I am not sure where you can get them but i have seen one here in lansing michigan.  So if the pegs (legs) are a problem and if your arms are ok, you might want to try and look up something along that line.  Just a idea.  Please post and let me know how it goes.  I will try to look for the link when i get more time. 

Now for my weekley weight report its good news.  lost five more pounds according to my scales i am now at 370 pounds.  My blood sugar was at 107 this morning.  I have curbed the midnight attacks on my refridgerator, drinking lots of water when i do get up for the nightly nature calls.   So keep on posting and i am sure spring is goona get here soon.  take care all your pal Peabob.

Posted: 29 January 2008 at 4:20am | IP Logged

I think these are available commercially, Dragon.  The frame is like an iceboat's, but set up with bike or trike wheels.  I saw something on TV a couple of years ago about clubs out west who conduct organized racing in desert areas.

Larry

Posted: 05 March 2008 at 12:37pm | IP Logged

Well, the bad news is that you didn't lose any weight this week, but focusing on the 8 that you lost last week, that still leaves you with an average of 4 pounds a week for two weeks.  That ain't so bad.

The trick is to stay with whatever you've been doing in the past two weeks and set up a trend.  Individual days, and sometimes even individual weeks don't count for as much as one good, solid trend.

The other trick is to not let the usual distractors get to you.  The weather (meaning that you can't ride), the holidays (interrupting normal eating habits), medications (to solve one problem while making it more difficult to solve another) -- all these can play the devil with good intentions.

Better to set up a do-able pattern for the average day, and then stick as close as you can to it each day.

Remember -- you're not alone.  From the correspondence, half the people who log in are battling one kind of physical problem or another.  You're in our corner; we're in yours.  That's how it works.

All the best,

Larry

Posted: 15 April 2008 at 9:40pm | IP Logged

Good to hear from you again, Bob,

Just wanted to make sure you typed the right number.  If in January you were 380 and now you're 345, that's 35 pounds in four months, which by anybody's reckoning is eyebrow-raising, pretty-flaming-good.

If you really meant that now you're 245 -- WOW!  The only thing from January that fits any more is your toothbrush.

Either way, the numbers are definitely going in the right direction and I'll bet you're a happy camper.  I am, too -- happy for you.

Larry