Day 69: Heading To The Beach

Update: 222.0 lbs, 36.2 lbs so far, 1.8 left to reach goal.

I'm heading out with a dozen of my favorite folks, the Mid High Staff, to the beach for the night, and will be back later tomorrow...so there may or may not be an update in the morning. Last time we stayed at this house on Devil's Lake, there were a few people who insisted on shooting their wi-fi into the house, so I did some quality assurance testing for them. We've got an early morning planned, so depending on how much earlier I get up, I may or may not be here.

Don't think I've forgotten about the pool, I'm still looking forward to buying Starbucks for someone, even though it may be 2008 before I hit my goal at the rate I'm going. I'm not going to really start worrying about progress though until I start feeling better. I think between the old body trying to heal itself, and cough medicines and what not...I'm just not at peek performance. I am still making slow progress, just not amazing progress. Standings so far:

K-biz - 4/1 - Date Passed.
Mistee - 4/4 - Date Passed.
Syd - 4/5 - Date Passed.
Jen - 4/8 - Date Passed.
Michael - 4/10 - Date Passed.
SeagravesJ - 4/25
Joe - 4/27
Skovelli (late entry) - 5/1

Until we cross that halfway point between 4/10 and 4/25 (what is that....4/17?) Michael still has a pretty good shot. 1.8 to go...we'll see. My apologies to everyone who had such great confidence in my ability to drop the tonnage...I don't know what happened. Wasn't for lack of trying, that's for sure! Blame my schizo-fattia!

Hasta!

Day 68: The Tire Swing

Update: 222.6 lbs, 35.6 lbs so far, 2.4 left to reach goal.

Today I saw this old picture of a tire swing and thought, "Hey, that's what I'm going through right now...a tire swing." The 'spare tire' around my mid section is teasing me by going down...then up...then down...then up. The double meaning of both the tire and the swing fits so amazingly well, I should just put one out in the giant japanese maple in front of the house as a tool of encouragement. (Reminds me of the time Chris pointed up to the bridge at Cove Pallisades and said "look, Chicken Carver." To be on that inside joke, you'd have to love both Boston Market and John Carver...but you can get where I'm going.)

I didn't look for too long, but really couldn't find any significant history on the tire swing. Simple concept...need some fun, grab and old tire, find a tree, tie it up and have at it. You could go out and spend $600 on one of the play structures sitting out in front of Wal-Mart, but the reality is that your kids would probably have just as much fun, if not more, on one of these babies.....treadmarks and all. Plus, most of the play structures out there only have swings that get you a few feet off the ground, but I've seen more than one tire swing that will launch you into the stratosphere. Or you could wrap yourself up in a cardboard box and let your buddies launch a tire swing at you from 50 feet up like these yahoos, for a whole different level of fun.

Well, tomorrow should be interesting. If we estimate the plot point using the data we have available to us, I should be UP about 5 lbs. I've become a schizo-fattic.

Hasta.

Day 67: Coffee To Go

Update: 223.8 lbs, 34.4 lbs so far, 3.6 left to reach goal.

Really hacked about a freaking pound upswing after busting my butt in exercise for 4 days in a row, while sick, and continuing to stay on my caloric and water targets, so rather than whining and complaining (more), let me just say I think this photo is a brilliant idea.

The cool thing about that coffee cup holder is it also doubles as a light mount, so you can swap between your coffee and night time driving needs. Although in my book, you probably need both.

There is also a whole site dedicated to coffee cup systems for bikes called BicycleCoffeeSystems - no amazing web design, but plenty of information, check it out.

Ok, since I didn't even try to make anyone smile today, here's a picture of the brown geek on his bike, big helmet and all, from his last commute. BGOHB for short.

Hasta.

Day 66: Boy Meets Grill

Update: 222.8 lbs, 35.4 lbs so far, 2.6 left to reach goal.

No, not THAT grill. Those of you who know me, and my backyard, know I'm on a two year plan to finishing up my brick barbeque outside. BUT I have managed to build a nice cedar shed out there, and set up a monster wooden play structure, so life has not been without progress in the backyard, the grill has just become a life mission at this point.

Anyway, last night was the first night we pulled out the little mini-grill. Yes, it's gas, and I felt kind of dirty, betraying charcoal, the true grilling love of my life, but I was in the mood for something cooked outside, and that's what was handy. Grilled up some chicken in Sweet Baby Ray's, and let me just say, if you haven't tried SBRs yet, GET OUT AND GET SOME! Ask anyone who's had bbq at our house -- THE SAUCE IS THE BOSS! I don't work for the company, I'm just trying to help set free those trapped in KC Masterpiece land. But chicken is easy. Toss it on, slather with SBR, and flip a few times. No worries.

However, the shining jewel of the night was some grilled asparagus, as you can see in the picture. I drizzled lightly with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkled some salt on it, and threw it on until the light green color had changed to a nice Jolly Green Giant dark green. Cook those babies between 5-10 minutes depending on your heat -- I did mine on low -- and they're done. Way better than steamed, or boiled, or even broiled for me. And, the whole meal was nice and lean.

Looking forward to lots of grilling this summer....anyone have any favorite items they like to grill? I'm curious about fruits too...pineapple, peaches, etc. Love to hear your idea.

Hasta.