First let me say that I'm keeping my cool about it and not letting it stress me out that much. Stress is a leading cause of weight gain because ... cortisol... whatever. Anyway, I'm just getting frustrated lol.
At first I was always right on that little red line on the weight chart and losing the weight so fast. I mean, I've lost 24lbs. Well, last year in November 2008 I was riding the bike and I was 244lbs and then I got down to 227 and had the accident then had to stop but then I gained 10lbs and was up to 237. So when I started exercising in April I started losing weight again. So you are damned right I'm counting the 244lb starting weight even though I'm only counting the 237lb starting weight with SparkPeople because that is how much I weighed in April when I started riding my bike again.
Anyway, what is the most frustrating is Chip. I thought that he would come home from work and I'd make him something to eat or he might make it himself or something but then he started bringing taco bell or burger king home with him for our dinner. Instead of just coming home and letting me make him something he brings fast food home for the both of us.
I know what you are going to say, take responsibility for your actions and refuse to eat that BS food and just go eat your salad and shut the hell up. Right? You are absolutely right. I have on excuse.
Well, I've added 3 miles to my bike route everyday. I've also added the amount of days I'm riding. Instead of riding 2 days then taking a day or 2 off I'm riding 3 days then taking 1 day off then ride 3 days then take 1 day off. Some weeks like this week I will have 2 days off in 1 week but then there might be some weeks that I might have 1 day off because riding 3 days then 1 off then 3 days that's 7 days total. And then to top it off with the extra 3 miles makes it even better.
So all I have to say is that with all the cardio I'm doing with my 19 miles a day total and the slim fast for lunch and the bowl of Raisin Bran for breakfast and I will try to say no to fast food and restaurant dining and just eat a salad for dinner. Then I will be able to lose the weight again.
This isn't a marathon, I mean, it takes a long time to lose weight and I don't want to rush it. At the same time I do lol. I just want to be skinny by Thanksgiving you know? I want to walk in the front door of Chips brothers house and have everyone go wow omg you are so skinny. My goal right now is to be at 150lbs by February 2010 so if by Thanksgiving I'm 170 then that's fine, I'll still be skinnier than I am now. And I keep adding more miles to my bike ride every few weeks, I'm sure by Thanksgiving I will be riding 30 miles per day 7 days a week never taking a day off to rest and the weight will be melting off lol.
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Malt-O-Meal Hot Cereal
I can remember when I was about 4 or 5 years old and my mother used to make me Malt-O-Meal for breakfast. That was the best hot cereal ever. Yes I like Oatmeal but this is better. I don't care too much for cream of wheat though.I remember that my mom always bought the Chocolate Malt-O-Meal and if she bought the original, I would put some chocolate syrup in it to make it chocolaty hehe.
Did you know that Malt-O-Meal hot cereal is nutritious? I knew it was good for you but I didn't know to what extend until I read this:
Link is gone, sorry. But take my word for it lol. Visit the website and do some digging (link below)
Wow, I'm going to buy this more often and eat it before my bike rides instead of regular cold cereal. Although this means I'm either going to get a late start or I will have to get up earlier. Then again you can nuke it lol.
I don't know why but the stores in California, or at least in Bakersfield, don't sell the chocolate flavored Malt-O-Meal anymore. When I was 4 or 5 as I mentioned before we lived here in Bakersfield and that's where my mom bought it so I'm not sure why they don't sell it here now. They do mention that flavor on their website. I want CHOCLATE Malt-O-Meal! Adding chocolate syrup adds more calories to it lol. Oh well, I guess Maple and Brown Sugar will have to do.
Image copied from their website www.malt-o-meal.com. Make sure you go to your local grocery store and buy some today. It's the best hot cereal ever made IMHO.
New Bike Seat & Wood Burning Stuff
New Bike Seat:
I just bought my new bike seat finally. It's an Ergo bicycle seat which means it has no "horn". It's just the butt part. The one I bought is the "Classic" Vinyl Bicycle Seat with the black sheepskin cover. The sheepskin is supposed to add more cush for the tush. It was a bit pricey at $67 after the shipping cost but it's worth it to me to have a bicycle seat that doesn't make me numb in places that make me blush to mention. Also my left leg has had some pain shooting down from the crotch area and that's not good so this is going to be great to have.
Update: I just got an email from the bicycle seat website that I bought the seat from and the guy who is in charge of it all sent me an email saying it will take him 4 to 5 days before he can send it out because there was a tragic death in the family. Poor guy. I can wait. 4 to 5 days would be Monday or Tuesday when he can send them out. That's fine, I wasn't really expecting it to be sent out until then anyway because of the 4th of July weekend. I can be patient. I was hoping it would've been shipped out today though so I could get it by Monday but that's fine.
Wood Burning Stuff:
I've been wanting to go to Michael's to buy some wood burning stuff but their wood burning section is too small. So instead I went to the Walnut Hollow website. They have a special discount for the 4th of July, all you do is type in Made in the USA when you checkout. It didn't work for me, probably because all the things I bought are already discounted. Here are the things I bought.
I don't normally brag every time I buy something... ok yeah I do but I just wanted to brag about these things lol. All the wood burning stuff from Walnut Hollow came out to about $38.58 after the $10 UPS shipping. Which is not a bad price to pay for shipping considering the alphabet set and the numbers set at Michael's costs $28 each. And all that wood that I bought they don't sell the irregulars at Michael's but they are expensive there. I would guess that I'd have to pay about $15 or $20 each for those. So I think I got a really good deal on everything. The hotstamps everyday series and word series, I probably will never use those or maybe use them once but who freakin' cares, .50 cents dude! The books were not in the "Great Deals" section which I like to call bargain bin but that's ok. $5.29 for a book is great and the other one that is 99 cents is a thin book. No biggy.
I can't wait to get all that stuff especially the seat. Oh boy do I need that seat because I've already added 3 miles to my ride thanks to that homeless guy at the rest stop. But you know, thanks to him for creeping me out and pushing me to go further lol.
I just bought my new bike seat finally. It's an Ergo bicycle seat which means it has no "horn". It's just the butt part. The one I bought is the "Classic" Vinyl Bicycle Seat with the black sheepskin cover. The sheepskin is supposed to add more cush for the tush. It was a bit pricey at $67 after the shipping cost but it's worth it to me to have a bicycle seat that doesn't make me numb in places that make me blush to mention. Also my left leg has had some pain shooting down from the crotch area and that's not good so this is going to be great to have.
Update: I just got an email from the bicycle seat website that I bought the seat from and the guy who is in charge of it all sent me an email saying it will take him 4 to 5 days before he can send it out because there was a tragic death in the family. Poor guy. I can wait. 4 to 5 days would be Monday or Tuesday when he can send them out. That's fine, I wasn't really expecting it to be sent out until then anyway because of the 4th of July weekend. I can be patient. I was hoping it would've been shipped out today though so I could get it by Monday but that's fine.
Wood Burning Stuff:
I've been wanting to go to Michael's to buy some wood burning stuff but their wood burning section is too small. So instead I went to the Walnut Hollow website. They have a special discount for the 4th of July, all you do is type in Made in the USA when you checkout. It didn't work for me, probably because all the things I bought are already discounted. Here are the things I bought.
- 4 Irregular Country Rounds 9.5" to 8.5" wide @ $1.25 each
- 2 Irregular Country Rounds 10.5" to 9.5" wide @ $2.25 each
- Alphabet HotStamp™ Set @ $6.50
- Number and Punctuation Hotstamp™ Set @ $5.00
- Hotstamps™ Everyday Series 1 @ .50¢
- Hotstamps™ Word Series 1 @ .50¢
- Woodburning Basic Techniques @ .99¢
- Creative Woodburning® Book 1 @ $5.29
I don't normally brag every time I buy something... ok yeah I do but I just wanted to brag about these things lol. All the wood burning stuff from Walnut Hollow came out to about $38.58 after the $10 UPS shipping. Which is not a bad price to pay for shipping considering the alphabet set and the numbers set at Michael's costs $28 each. And all that wood that I bought they don't sell the irregulars at Michael's but they are expensive there. I would guess that I'd have to pay about $15 or $20 each for those. So I think I got a really good deal on everything. The hotstamps everyday series and word series, I probably will never use those or maybe use them once but who freakin' cares, .50 cents dude! The books were not in the "Great Deals" section which I like to call bargain bin but that's ok. $5.29 for a book is great and the other one that is 99 cents is a thin book. No biggy.
I can't wait to get all that stuff especially the seat. Oh boy do I need that seat because I've already added 3 miles to my ride thanks to that homeless guy at the rest stop. But you know, thanks to him for creeping me out and pushing me to go further lol.
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Wood Burned Box
I just added a video to YouTube, it's just a 1 minute video but it's of the box that I just finished making for Chips cousin Vedra. Her birthday is this Saturday, July 4th.
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_3cqj-0WWA
I wish I had thought of doing this earlier in the month because then I would've had time to do it properly. I put this wood protector stuff on it, I don't know what it's called but it protects the wood from the sun and from water. Anyway, you are supposed to put that stuff on then let it dry then sand it then put more on and then sand it again and I think you are supposed to do that several times. But I didn't have the right sandpaper to do that and it's just a box lol.
So what I did was I found the pattern online, it's like a border for making a card or sign or whatever. But I stretched it out so it was the same size as the top then for the front and back I cut out the bottom of the border image and printed it the right size for the front and back. Then I did the same thing with the sides and I just blended them in with the roses so it looked normal lol. Then I used this water based paint to paint the roses and the leaves. Chip wanted pink so I mixed the red and white to make pink. I was trying to be clever with the green color for the stem that the leaves were on so they weren't as dark of a green lol.
I'm still a beginner with 0 skill in shading so until I can learn that there is no shading in any of my projects. I'm going to buy a book online this Friday along with some supplies so I can learn.
Anyway, I hope you like it.
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_3cqj-0WWA
I wish I had thought of doing this earlier in the month because then I would've had time to do it properly. I put this wood protector stuff on it, I don't know what it's called but it protects the wood from the sun and from water. Anyway, you are supposed to put that stuff on then let it dry then sand it then put more on and then sand it again and I think you are supposed to do that several times. But I didn't have the right sandpaper to do that and it's just a box lol.
So what I did was I found the pattern online, it's like a border for making a card or sign or whatever. But I stretched it out so it was the same size as the top then for the front and back I cut out the bottom of the border image and printed it the right size for the front and back. Then I did the same thing with the sides and I just blended them in with the roses so it looked normal lol. Then I used this water based paint to paint the roses and the leaves. Chip wanted pink so I mixed the red and white to make pink. I was trying to be clever with the green color for the stem that the leaves were on so they weren't as dark of a green lol.
I'm still a beginner with 0 skill in shading so until I can learn that there is no shading in any of my projects. I'm going to buy a book online this Friday along with some supplies so I can learn.
Anyway, I hope you like it.
Reaction to Michael Jackson After Death
Wow, I'm just shocked and amazed at all the nasty comments people are leaving on Michael Jacksons videos on YouTube. It's really not cool. Mother always told me "If you can't say something nice then don't say anything at all."
Ok yes, he "allegedly" molested children and yes, he was kind of a freak show and I really didn't care too much for him as a person because of the way he lived his life but that is not for me to say anything negative about him. It's not for me to judge him or anyone else for that matter. Judging him or anybody for that matter is for a higher being to do.
You have to admit that the man was a musical genius. His music video Thriller was awesome and it was played on MTV every hour or something because it was requested so often.
Well that's all I'm going to say about it.
Ok yes, he "allegedly" molested children and yes, he was kind of a freak show and I really didn't care too much for him as a person because of the way he lived his life but that is not for me to say anything negative about him. It's not for me to judge him or anyone else for that matter. Judging him or anybody for that matter is for a higher being to do.
You have to admit that the man was a musical genius. His music video Thriller was awesome and it was played on MTV every hour or something because it was requested so often.
Well that's all I'm going to say about it.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Bike Path Home?
Now before I get nasty comments on this I would just like to say that at age 17 I was homeless for 10 months, 1.5 months after my 17th birthday all the way until about 1.5 months before my 18th birthday so I know what it's like being homeless. That being said here you go...
So I'm riding on the bike path last week and I stop at the Manor St. rest stop which has about 4 cement benches, 1 of them has like a bus stop roof so if it's raining you can sit in there out of the rain. 2 of them have no cover and those 3 are all in like a half circle (see my bikecam video at the end). Then the 4th bench is separate from that little half circle, more like across the "street" hehe.
Anyway, so I'm riding the bike path last week (as I said lol) and I go to the stop and it's dark because the sun hasn't come up and I see this darkness over by one of the benches. So I don't go around the half circle and sit in the middle like I normally would, instead I just pull in on the other side and sit on the bench at the end. I look over and see a face staring at me. It's a homeless guy in a sleeping bag next to the bench but on the ground. I sat there for my 10-15 minute break and then leave.
Next day he's not there and then the next time I go there he isn't there but the sun has already come up and it was the day after Michael Jackson had passed away. So I go sit down on the bench and as I'm taking off my helmet I can see in my helmet mirror this guy all of a sudden standing like 15 feet away from me, staring at me. This kinda freaks me out because he wasn't there when I stopped and when I sat down, almost as if he teleported there lol.
He slowly creeps towards me and is now in front of me and I know that he's the guy sleeping in the sleeping bag over by the bench and I'm not quite sure I trust him. He has this scar on his neck from having his throat slashed. I'm not sure what that was all about but I'm going to give him the benefit of a doubt. He comes up to me and starts talking about Michael Jackson and I sat there talking to him about all the recent deaths and about how MJ is getting all the attention while Caradine, McMahon and Fawcett get no attention.
So anyway, after about 10-15 minutes I'm ready to go so I said well breaks over and start getting my gear back on, camelbak, gloves, skull cap, helmet, earbud's and I look in my helmet mirror and he's back where he was when I first spotted him. Standing 15 feet away from me, arms folded, staring at me.
The last 2 days (yesterday and today) I could see him in his sleeping bag, I'm leaving really early and so I get there before the sun even has a chance to come up. But I've decided I'm not going to take any chances. Instead of stopping there and sitting down I'm just gonna go through that tunnel and go about maybe 1/4 of a mile away and rest there. I'm having to rest standing up now which kinda bites but that's fine, I'd rather have to stand then worry about having my throat slashed.
Now, as I said above about being homeless, I know what it's like and not everyone should be judged based on their scars and I don't want to judge "the content of his character" as Martin Luther King Jr. would say but at the same time I really don't know this guy and I'm not taking any chances.
So I'm riding on the bike path last week and I stop at the Manor St. rest stop which has about 4 cement benches, 1 of them has like a bus stop roof so if it's raining you can sit in there out of the rain. 2 of them have no cover and those 3 are all in like a half circle (see my bikecam video at the end). Then the 4th bench is separate from that little half circle, more like across the "street" hehe.
Anyway, so I'm riding the bike path last week (as I said lol) and I go to the stop and it's dark because the sun hasn't come up and I see this darkness over by one of the benches. So I don't go around the half circle and sit in the middle like I normally would, instead I just pull in on the other side and sit on the bench at the end. I look over and see a face staring at me. It's a homeless guy in a sleeping bag next to the bench but on the ground. I sat there for my 10-15 minute break and then leave.
Next day he's not there and then the next time I go there he isn't there but the sun has already come up and it was the day after Michael Jackson had passed away. So I go sit down on the bench and as I'm taking off my helmet I can see in my helmet mirror this guy all of a sudden standing like 15 feet away from me, staring at me. This kinda freaks me out because he wasn't there when I stopped and when I sat down, almost as if he teleported there lol.
He slowly creeps towards me and is now in front of me and I know that he's the guy sleeping in the sleeping bag over by the bench and I'm not quite sure I trust him. He has this scar on his neck from having his throat slashed. I'm not sure what that was all about but I'm going to give him the benefit of a doubt. He comes up to me and starts talking about Michael Jackson and I sat there talking to him about all the recent deaths and about how MJ is getting all the attention while Caradine, McMahon and Fawcett get no attention.
So anyway, after about 10-15 minutes I'm ready to go so I said well breaks over and start getting my gear back on, camelbak, gloves, skull cap, helmet, earbud's and I look in my helmet mirror and he's back where he was when I first spotted him. Standing 15 feet away from me, arms folded, staring at me.
The last 2 days (yesterday and today) I could see him in his sleeping bag, I'm leaving really early and so I get there before the sun even has a chance to come up. But I've decided I'm not going to take any chances. Instead of stopping there and sitting down I'm just gonna go through that tunnel and go about maybe 1/4 of a mile away and rest there. I'm having to rest standing up now which kinda bites but that's fine, I'd rather have to stand then worry about having my throat slashed.
Now, as I said above about being homeless, I know what it's like and not everyone should be judged based on their scars and I don't want to judge "the content of his character" as Martin Luther King Jr. would say but at the same time I really don't know this guy and I'm not taking any chances.
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