Day 153: From The Lake

Update: 207.2 lbs, 50 lb Goal Reached Day 124. 9 lbs to 60 lb goal.

In an effort to appease those who have been disapointed in my lack of bloggidicia, I bring you a blog post from the far edge of the Triangle Lake dock as the sun rises over my back. Don't say I never did nothing for you. (yes, actual photo of the lake at sunrise from the built in camera of the macbook...oh how I love thee macbook...)

Last night's dinner menu included some fine frozen chimichangas and corn salsa. We've got the trailer of love out here for the night, so we're able to stock the fridge and fire up some fine home cookin', and finish it off with some nice hot french pressed Starbucks. It's amazing how good, I mean, really good, that coffee tastes when you're sitting out around a camp fire...just something about it.

For those that know me, you'll be amazed to know that I actually drove a boat across the lake yesterday...helping Big Daddy D launch his out, and taking it around to the dock. You can ask him yourself, but I pulled that baby in like a pro...like I've been doing it all my life...like I was a fish out of...well, you get the idea. I've got a picture to prove it, but limited connectivity, so maybe I'll post later.

This morning we're griddlin' up some pancakes and center cut bacon - not quite a McGriddle, but still gonna be pretty tasty. Before we know it we'll be back in civilization heading to another buffet dinner party!

That's it for me, time to check on the fam! Hasta!

Day 152: Off Topic - iPhone, baby!

Update: 207.2 lbs, 50 lb Goal Reached Day 124. 9 lbs to 60 lb goal.

I know, I know...I've been a blogging slacker. Summer has been great for getting a little more activity, but that usually happens first thing in the morning, when I was previously sitting inside with a hot cup of joe. But since it's been a few days, let me update with a couple of random thoughts.

First off, the iPhone rules. It may rule enough that I leave the long standing love affair I've had with Verizon's coverage. I'll give it a few weeks of testing out in areas where I haven't had great success with Cingular and T-mobile in the past and see if the new AT&T is any better since I last tried it, but if all pans out, I may be porting over my Verizon number to the iPhone and just end up carrying one device, like I've done with my Treo. Only bummer part is, no tethering and using as a modem, which the Palm let me do. But everything else is pretty cool - I'll have a review up on our tech blog before long and link from here.

Next item - 4th of July food. Smoked turkey legs and grilled meat plus tons of dessert....oh momma. It was one hot mother of a holiday, but the food was great and always good to hang out with family. I'm worrying less these days about taking it easy on special days and partaking of the peanut butter brownies, strawberry and berry pies, jello poke cake, and homemade ice cream (although, I did miss out on the ice cream yesterday) and just knowing that if I've done my job during the week, I'm probably going to be ok. I won't be losing pounds every day, but overall should still be moving downward.

I'm also thinking that my BIG goal for the summer will be to hit 70 lbs by the time I ride 70 miles in September. I may even label it the 70x70 Summer Tour, (or SummerFEST..haha) which gives me a little under 3 months to drop the next 19 lbs. But if I don't hit it, I'm not gonna sweat it...I figure whatever comes naturally from here on out, I'll be happy with. Yeah, famous last words...

That's it for me...gotta get to some camping for a night!

Hasta!

Day 146: Camping Again

Update: 207.2 lbs, 50 lb Goal Reached Day 124. 9 lbs to 60 lb goal.

But it's not quite what you think. I DID have the trailer on this trip, but I'm NOT at any kind of campground per se'. This camp setting involved no registration, it was first come first serve, and there was no hook up for the trailer, so it was a little boondocking for the fellas last night.

If you take a look at the photo above (click for larger image) you'll see a few of the fellas waiting for the sun to rise in front of the South Salem AT&T store...waiting for iPhones. We joined the brave, the proud, and the few that decided to spend the evening beneath the stars -- of course with Xbox, laptops and internet access -- to await the newest geeky device to hit the street.

The Xbox gods were not smiling down on us last night. The plan was to rock the night away, clearing the levels that have been eluding C-dub for a while, but from the quest to find power, to the dead controllers, to the fact that I actually left the Guitar Hero game at home, and just about everything in between that could keep you from plaing video games outside...it just never materialized. We cleared a few good levels of Burn Out though....but maybe today we'll make GH happen during the last hours of the quest.

Now, to keep in line with the heart of this blog, let me just say that staying out all night in front of a retail store, does not for a healthy food adventure make. I only really gave into one 4-day old Krispy Kreme, and three Taco Bell soft chicken tacos....oh, and a Jamba Juice. But other than that not too much. I *did* ride 15 miles and play 18 holes of golf in the day, so all in all, I probably balanced out ok.

We're down here all day. If you are a faithful reader and want to hop on down...stop in and say hey.

Hasta.

Day 143: Beauty and The Beast

Update: 207.2 lbs, 50 lb Goal Reached Day 124. 9 lbs to 60 lb goal.

You may think from the title that I'm referring to my wife, the beauty, and myself, the beast...but I'm actually borrowing from Sir Walt today because my morning activities made me think of the classic Disney tale.

First off, my allergies are kicking in, and I'm beginning to feel it on the rides. Tooling around through the back fields of K-town, I'm sucking down good amounts of sneeze-inducing pollen with every mile. Today I realized that, like Gaston, (warning, not for the faint of heart) I'm "especially good at expectorating, Ptooie!" I'm pretty sure that when I set out on the ride, I don't actually have as much 'stuff' up in the old head as I seem to produce after pulling in the allergens floating around in the air. I don't really have the biceps to spare, like Gaston, but I have considered using antlers in all of my decorating.

The second thing that made me think of the classic love story, was when I got home this morning and carefully, and oh so gently rested Baby Blue Torelli (still working out that whole name thing) up against the beastly 1978 Ford Lariat Supercab that now takes up half the driveway. If there were ever casting calls to play the lead roles of Belle and Beast, the Torelli and Ford would beat everyone out, hands down. Don't believe me...take a look:

I mentioned to the owner of the vehicle, a.k.a -- the woman I live with -- that I LOVE that truck....it's the perfect place to rest my bike and all my riding schwag after I get home from the ride, so I can run around and open the garage door. I couldn't have built a better custom bike rack.

And speaking of beastly, I'm down another half pound after some sketchy days of eating again. Too many Krispy Kreme opportunities with the fundraisers each of the past Sundays, plus camping this past weekend (and hey - they have campgrounds, campers, campfires, and campsites....so it WAS camping) and pizza on drive-kids-to-Mayfield day -- I just wasn't sure how the effort was going, but apparently we're still moving in the right direction. Gotta get this gut down under 200! Whoo-double-hoo!

Hasta.

Day 139: On The Road Again

Update: 207.6 lbs, 50 lb Goal Reached Day 124. 9.6 lbs to 60 lb goal.

Greetings from the luxurious inside of our trailer at Fort Stevens, Oregon. The rain has been falling all night, and still is doing so this morning. I'm about to fire up some breakfast, but figured I'd drop down a quick update before we get moving since I didn't yesterday.

This is our first split camping trip - half the family at home, and half of us in the trailer. A couple kids had another camp scheduld we didn't know about when we booked our spot, so we decided to keep both reservations and split up the Lopi clan. Big ol' traffic jam on I-5, 217, and then Hwy 26 for about 45 minutes, so the 120 mile trip took us almost 3 hours, but other than that, it's all good.

In food news, I brought along some gardenburger on the trip -- actually two kinds, one with black beans and another that apparently is mostly just grass and dirt, cause that's what it tastes like. But the black bean version tastes pretty good, and I could go for those more often. They are a winco brand of some sort...I can check when I get home, but only 80 or 100 calories, I think, as opposed to the 350 calories that the winco brand hamburger patties were.

Anyway, that's it for today...short post because I need to get the griddle going for some eggs and bacon for the morning. On another note, I'm back down again, and heading towards that next mile marker of 60 lbs! Whoohoo!

Hasta!

Day 137: Eatin' Good In The Neighborhood

Update: 208.8 lbs, 50 lb Goal Reached Day 124. 10.6 lbs to 60 lb goal.

Some of my least favorite radio spots, in all of time, have been for Applebees. Songs made popular by country music artists like Tim McGraw and Joe Diffie have been turned into little ditties pimping babyback ribs and curbside service. However, I gotta hand it to them for some decent low cal menu options.

Since we literally have an Applebees across the street from the office, we often times find ourselves there. When the three options for something decent in the area are Subway (good), Love Love Teriyaki (good, but careful on the rice), and "Crapplebees," we're gonna end up at the monster chain sit down now and then. Fortunately they have a Weight Watchers menu that actually has some great options, and all at under 500 calories per meal. You can view the Applebees Weight Watchers menu here, but you might have to drop in your zip code to see what options are available in your neighborhood. A couple of the old standys that I've been having are:

Steak and Portobellos - 330 calories and 10 grams of fat
This is not the Ol 96'er from The Great Outdoors, but instead a rather petite little slab of meat, with portobello mushrooms, brocolli and potatos. 4 quarters of red potatos, small steak, a few portobellos and heavy on the brocolli...and with just a little bit of brown sauce. Pretty tasty.

Cajun Lime Tiliapia - 310 calories and 6 grams of fat
Pretty basic slice of white fish and some lime salsa dumped on top, with some rice underneath. This is good, but you're definitely in snack mode by later in the afternoon.

Italian Chicken and Portobello Sandwich - 360 calories and 6 grams of fat
I think someone at Applebees corporate got themselves a killer deal on portobellos. This sandwich is decent, but for some reason not as flavorful as the others, and I think the little slab of chicken is kind of sad looking. Decent for when you want a break from the fish or steak.

For something quick and healthy at a sit down place, these options are pretty good. You'll still do best if you bring your own healthy food to work, or just keep it simple and eat good things, but if you're going out to eat, it's nice to know there are some optons for you. On another note, I'm moving back down again...which is good after the week of reckless abandon last week!

Hasta!

Day 135: Purple Graze

Update: 210.2 lbs, 50 lbs so far, 50 lb Goal Reached Day 124. 12 lbs to 60 lb goal.

Yes, you read that right...I hit my 50 lb goal, and am back up 2 lbs. There I said it, just wanted to be honest with you. If we get it out of the way early on, we can have a better relationship because of it.

After hitting my goal a week ago last Thursay, I pondered where to go next. Work hard towards another goal, take it easy, do nothing...or something else. After pushing hard for 124 days, I decided to cruise a bit while making the decision and found out that it's much easier to go the other way, than to keep pushing forward. In the midst of deciding, I cruised right on through a couple parties, get-togethers, an overnight trip with kids, and picking up 100 dozen Krispy Kreme donuts between the last two Sundays. Needless to say, if you don't plan to not eat, you will....or at least *I* will.

Turns out, I'm just a grazer...I think that may be my biggest downfall. If you have a big table of food out, I'm going to be tempted. All weekend, we had food out...chips, cookies, candy, fruit, cheese doodles, etc. Then we were around a bon fire on the beach with tons of s'more makin' goodness, and I was grazin' through roasted marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers. Watching crazy college kids break boards with their heads will do that to me. Then birthday parties with chips, salsa, more chips, cheese cubes and crackers and I'm back to grazing yet again.

Part of the problem is I gave myself a break from entering in all my foods to the Daily Plate for the past week, and I think it's been a little too easy to let an extra few hundred calories slide in here and there. Still been trying to exercise every day, but also been doing some of this eating late at night. Guitar hero and chips until 2 am does not a healthy food plan make.

Anyway, I've got a new goal, and I'm back on the wagon. I'm hoping to use the early morning time before work as my exercise time. Where I used to be on the clock for getting kids going from 6 to 9, I can now use it to put some miles on the odometer. I'm going to shoot to get under 200 lbs, and since it's so close to that mark, will shoot for an even 60 lb loss, or a weight goal of 198.2 for this next milestone. No specific date in mind but I'm planning on exercising each day if possible, still aiming for that target goal of 1500 net calories, (and logging them at TDP) and drinking plenty of water. I hadn't really thought i'd be into going much below 200, and maybe I'll be happy there, but I'm thinking about trying to do 70 lbs, before my 70 mile ride, since there seems to be some number synergy going on with that goal....but we'll see.

Hasta!