crappy sunday, funday monday

Current Weight - 253 pounds
Loss to date - 9 pounds
Calories in - 1440
Calories out - 3000(basal) + 1200 (hour long racing ride) = 4200 calories
Deficit - 2760


So I raced on sunday in my first ever sanctioned USAC road race. I went just for fun and to support charlie with my brief roll out camaraderie. Nicole and I came up the night before in hopes of having a nice afternoon in Eureka Springs but the weather forced us to just head to fayetnam and enjoy an evening of thai food and a drink or two. I should have skipped the beer and coctail I had with dinner and just after in lieu of more water. I woke up dehydrated without realizing it and ate breakfast too late to really digest much of it. Both of these things made my race suck. I got dropped early, couldnt seem to muster any power or rythm. Mentally I was also unfocused and just couldnt get into the strong pedal mashing im normally used to for a big rider. The cramps came on early as well and ust made my ride suck. I think my average on the cateye said 16.8 MPH and im pretty sure i finished just a few spots off last place. At lease I met my goal however by not being in last place which was a small victory. Next time I will have a much better pre race game plan to abide by.

In contrast to sunday's ride, I had a really strong ride monday night with jamie, charlie, JBar, and Bob Purdom. I was able to attack most of the hills and felt strong even going into the wind. Its a great feeling when your body can respond to what you want it to do. Now I just need to start working on more weight loss and learning how to maneuver through corners better without losing my nerve at 25 MPH. I always seem to get dropped up the big long hills and into the tight downhill corners.

Well, here's monday's food:

Breakfast:
Half of my soup made from 2 small chicken breasts, one smallish zuchini, one yellow onion, 7 baby portabella mushrooms, green curry paste, 5 garlic cloves, 2 TBSP olive oil, and herbs and spices - 290 calories

2nd breakfast:
1/2 cub organic lowfat vanilla yogert with 1 cup blueberries - 170

lunch:
sandwhich with 2 slices double fiber whole wheat bread, 1 tbsp olive oil mayo, 1 packet water pack tuna, 1/2 small avacado, sea salt, lime juice, ground cumin - 400 calories

ride nutrition:
2 shots tropical hammer gel - 180 calories

Dinner:
3/4 cup (cooked) whole wheat penne pasta with 1 tomato basil chicken sausage and one serving of ragu pasta sauce and a side of steamed yellow wax and green beans - 400 calories

total = 1440 calories

mmmmm eggplant parmesian and chocolate

yeah so i totally blew away my calorie limits for today. I think I ate almost 800 calories in chocolate bear naked granola throughout the day. I also cooked eggplant parmigiana for me and a special lady friend of mine which pretty much put the coffin in the nail for me. Im gonna just say I ate at least 2000 calories and my hour of cycle training in the gym barely offset that.

Oh well.

hummus is yummy

Weight -251.2
Pounds lost - 10.8
Calories in - 1300
Calories out - 3000(basal) + 1200(bike ride) = 4200
Deficit - 2900

i almost forgot how much I love the stuff. Today I made a bunch of roasted red pepper hummus for Nicole and I. It really is a wonderful food. For those of you that love it too, you should make it from scratch instead of buying it premade. You can save a bunch of money by doing so. All you need is tahini (sesame seed butter), garlic, lemon juice, chick peas (garbonzo), salt, pepper, olive oil. If you want to add roasted garlic that would be lovely, or you can add whole roasted red peppers that have had their charred skin removed. I wont bother you with the recipe but u can find it anywhere online.

Now a recipe that I will share with you is a sandwhich idea I came up with last week that totally rocks! Take two slices of bread, preferably french bread cut on a bias, take half a clove of garlic and slice it into paper thin slices, half an avacado, some sea salt, and lemon juice, and one package of water packed tuna, put it all together in layers and enjoy! This is seriously the best sandwhich ever.


At any rate, here's today's food!

breakfast
2 hard boiled eggs - 140 calories
1/2 cup blueberries - 40 calories
mini whole wheat bagel with one serving lite creamcheese - 170 calories

2nd breakfast
1/2 mini whole wheat bagel with 1/2 serving lite creamcheese - 85 calories
3 slices turkey bacon - 60 calories

Dinner
A few olives, home made roasted red pepper hummus with whole wheat pita and carrots, oven roasted eggplant,
yellow and zucchini squash, red onion, red potato with thyme on brown, texmati, and wild rice - about 600 calories

Snacks
Yellow Baby Carrots with sour cream and salsa to dip in - 75 calories
3+ servings of bread and butter sweet pickle chunks - 100 calories
One serving Orange Hammer gel - 90 calories

ive been slacking

on the diet and the calorie diary. But this morning i woke up at 252.2 which is officially 10 pounds lost! I think im going to celebrate by getting my ass back on the bandwagon and doing real blogs and keeping track of calories again. Look for a new blog tonight!
-jonny

"Time to go groccery shopping" or "Does Hammer Gel Count as a snack?"

Weight - 256 pounds
Weight Loss - 6 pounds
Calories in - 1700
Calories out - 3000
Deficit - 1300


Yeah that pretty much sums it up. I had too few large meals today and decided that hammer gel is yummy instead of going to the groccery store! lol.

No exercise today because of the cold and a photoshoot from hell today. I got threatened with a gun on set today over a problem with a location that I thought was safe. That kinda sucked, then the photos sucked because the land owner gave us 20 minutes to finish which wasn't enough time coupled with the fact that it was 40 degrees out, raining, my client and models were late so the light was dropping too fast. Yeah, it was a shit day but it doesnt matter cause i've been on cloud nine lately with better moods from my diet and activity levels. There are other reasons as well.

It's not fair that yesterday it was 80 degrees outside and right now its 33 degrees. Damn arkansas weather.

well here is the food for the day:

Breakfast
1 slice Quiche of chicken, asparagus, and montery jack cheese, 1 cup of thick chicken noodle soup,
1 crusty roll from community bakery. - 770 calories

Lunch
1 vitamin water, 1 1.28 oz piece of buffalo jerky, one serving of peanuts - 400 calories

Dinner
1 serving of whole wheat penne pasta, 1 serving of jarred tomato sauce, 1 sundried tomato
chicken sausage - 350 calories (thanks Nicole)

Snacks
2 hammer gels - 180 calories

First tuesday night ride

Weight - 257 pounds
Loss to date - 5 pounds
Calories in - 1315
Calories out - 3000 (basal) + 1865(one hour of racing above 20MPH) = 4865
Caloric deficit - 3550

Tonight was one of my best Tuesday night rides ever. It was the best because I didn't roll back into cook's landing as the last man.

Tonight was the "Fast Girls Slow Guys" season opening Tuesday night ride. It was a barn burner of a ride too. I was hoping that there would be a bunch of fat out of shape winter slackers (not unlike myself) that would keep the pace somewhat respectable. This was not the case.

Turns out the majority of the people who showed are the triathletes and generalized cycle gurus who make training their year round mantra. Regardless, I have been taking the past week and a half to get my mojo back to par on Suzie and I have felt good.

For some dumb reason I was afraid to relax in the middle of the pack and ended up being "that guy" who runs away from the pack only to be hunted down by the cave man like instinct that so many cyclists have running strong in their genes. I was able to hold everyone off from the soccer fields all the way to the flats just past Ft. Roots which to me was my own mini victory in the "stupid" category. Regardless, I didnt have enough gas to land myself back on the pack and relax. Thank goodness it was only a mile for me to be dropped before the turn around.

I think I ran off because i was hoping it would give me what I needed to get over the two hills that always seem to be responsible for me being dropped. Being 55 pounds over what I think is a reasonable weight really sucks when its time to conquer a hill. The only other problem I had was the big ass hill on the first section of the Burns Park Loop. That thing blows ass. And it blew my ass. So did all the fast skinny cyclists that blew past my ass.

This got me to thinking. What if Robbie "Lance" Mooney wore a 55 pound weight vest and went on a bike ride with me, who would come out on top. Im very curious. Hopefully by the time that the BDB100 comes around and I'm at my goal weight of 200 pounds I will have done it without losing too much of my strength which comes with being over weight and active. Id like some discussion on this point.

In the food department I kept things light today. Part of it was out of guilt for induldging myself this weekend with booze and higher calorie days and partly because i was busy and didnt have a lot of time to eat. My biggest splurge was the caprese sandwhich I enjoyed with my beautiful friend Nicole after our workouts. It was fresh baked foccacia with tomatoe, fresh basil leaves, fresh mozzarella, and pesto served with a few baby carrots. Such simple flavors and textures make that a wonderful sandwhich and something anyone can make at home. I have no clue how many calories it is though so I am going to guess it is 500.

According to my numbers when I weigh in tomorrow I will have lost a pound of weight! This was a good day.

Here's my food for the day:

Breakfast
one mini whole wheat bagel with one TBSP of whipped lowfat creamcheese
and half a serving of cracked pepper smoked salmon - 180 calories
one banana - 105 calories

Lunch
starbucks "tall" fat free latte with one serving of "perfect" oatmeal and dried fruit - 260 calories

Pre Ride Nutrition
Chocolate Hammer gel (YUMMY!) - 90 calories

During Ride Nutrition
Tropical Hammer gel (one serving) - 90 calories

After Ride Dinner with a Beautiful Yankee Named Nicole
Community Bakery's "caprese" sandwhich with 5 baby carrots and a big ass water - 500 calories?

Late Night Dinner
one pouch of chunk light tuna in water - 90 calories

my lazy weekend

so i totally F'ed off friday, saturday, sunday, and monday. I added calories friday and saturday but blew them away by drinking both days. Id say that they were both 2000+ calorie days. I wasnt able to get my ride in on friday because of getting Bonnie my new greyhound. She needed a lot more attention and I had to pick up her kennel and supplies and such.

But I did get decent rides in on all the other days and to my delight, I woke up sunday after a night full of drinking and fun at 255 pounds, which is 7 pounds into my 35 pound goal. It was a bitter sweet victory because really I was just dehydrated and had completely emptied out my system as a result. Regardless, I woke up this morning at 257 which still means I have lost a solid pound since thursday making my first week roughly a 5 pound week and that isnt too shabby. My weekly target is 2.5 pounds in order to reach my goal by may 29th so I am ahead of the curve so far.

Im really excited to start the tuesday thursday rides again because it will be the kick in my pants I need to really boost my effort on the bike. I got dropped all last year and that really pisses me off. This year im hoping to be able to stop that and hang with everyone once I can get my weight down enough to be competitive.

If anyone wants a good solid laugh i really suggest the site http://www.fmylife.com
It's a blog where people post the really shitty things that happen in their life and it is all really funny in a morbid kind of way. Whenever I have a shitty day I will be going here to remind myself that my life doesnt suck all that much. Yesterday was one of those days, I lost out on some work I thought was coming my way, my rear wheel went badly out of true, and I didnt balance my meals well and all the extra protien I ate made me cranky.

I wont be posting my food from the weekend because it doesnt matter at this point. I'll just start again tonight with today's food.

Here's the recipe for Maffe that I promised. The cabbage and eggplant really is optional, so if you dont like those things dont bother with them. They do add plenty of added nutrition however. And if you really want to notch up this meal, add 4 or 5 sprigs of fresh thyme when you add all the liquids and serve it with some pan fried white fish with cajun seasoning. ANother trick i found is if you use crunchy peanut butter you can add a nice bit of texture to this dish. ANd please dont use crappy peanut butter. The added sugar and trans fats are not cool. try finding a natural brand where the only ingredient is peanuts. YUM! And Jo, I'll be at the tuesday ride tonight at 6 with the maffee i promised for you. This is a traditional west african dish.

CAMILLES’S MAFFÉ

3 Tsp oil 1 med onion chopped

1 Maggi cube (this is chicken bouillon, use two) 1 lrg clove garlic pressed

3 tsp tomato paste (dont be afraid to use a whole can of this) 5 tsp peanut butter

½ package of dried okra powder (cajun file powder works well too) 3 eggplant chopped

3 African sweet potatoes chopped (i prefer arkansan sweet potatoes) ½ head of cabbage

2 carrots chopped salt,pepper&pimento to taste

meat/ fish if desired

Can be served on rice or macaroni (prepare as usual) or with bread

*Add or reduce vegetables depending on tastes or availability.

In a large pot sauté onion in oil. Add Maggi, garlic, and tomato paste. Sauté mixture for 1 minute over med heat. Add water and bring to a boil. Mix peanut butter and stir until dissolved. Stir in veggies, pimento, salt, and pepper to the mix and simmer for 30 minutes. If a thinner sauce is desired, add more water or omit okra power. If making with meat, be sure to brown it in oil while sautéing the onion.

*Tip: since peanut butter is hard to dissolve, mix in another saucepan while heating with half of the water. Then add to the original mixture.

a few butterflies

Jonny met a girl. :)

Weight - 258 pounds (i think i gained some water weight thanks to the wine and lack of water)
Loss to date - 4 pounds
Calories in - 1500
calories out - 3000(basal) + 2200(cycling hard for 1 hour 20 minutes) = 5200
calorie deficit - 3700

Ok so today i had a bit of work to do for a friend, just a simple head-shot photoshoot. If you go to my flickr account (http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonnymeyerphotography) you can check it out.
We had sushi for lunch and it was yummy. We had a small bowl of miso soup and then 2 small 8 piece rolls each. We both had tuna with avacado and salmon with avacado. Jane didnt finish 6 pieces of her rolls so she gave them to me and I couldnt resist finishing them off as well on the way to my other errands. So basically I had 3 small 8 peice fish and avacado rolls. YUM! After doing much research im going to estimate that each roll had about 200 very healthy calories in each. So lunch was a very filling 650-700 calories and it really helped propel me through my afternoon bicycle ride at 5pm. I forgoed doing intervals because i did them on tuesday and then again on the exercise bike on wednesday in the gym and i felt like it was time for some extended miles by myself. It was pretty damn windy to start. The wind downtown can be tricky when you are trying to dodge 9-5ers in their frantic attempts to get home to the TV and some other lifestyle that I'm going to assume is worth being judgemental about. It was blowing so hard and it would switch directions dramatically with all the buildings altering its path. The idea of having a wreck on my bicycle is prety darn scarey to me. I've never had one and I sure hope I never do.

At any rate, it was a glorious ride on a glorious warm march afternoon. It was much needed after all this fucking cold we have been getting. I gotta say that I think that winter is bullshit and I propose that Obama gets rid of it. Once I got down on the trail it was wonderful and I felt good. I even passed a big crowd of tubesuckers coming out of altel and I smoked them. I had to stop and take off one of my unnesisary base layers and I let them catch up and decided to pull for them for the majority of their ride from the bridge thru the burns park loop but they were just too slow for me. It felt good to put some out of shape skinny folks to shame and spank them on the bicycle. I was able to keep my speed between 17,18-22MPH even with the wind. That felt awesome and it also burned about 2200 calories over an hour and 20 minutes so I more than made up for my decadent dish of dead fish and delectable avacados.

It has occured to me that salmon has become a regular part of my diet this week. I have had it for 5 days so far and im begining to rekindle a love affair with it. For those of you who dont know much about it as a food I would encourage you to research it. It is loaded with heart healthy fats and high quality protien. Definately a food that I will miss when this great depression that is looming forces me to start eating rice and beans and to change my career to "public works construction worker".

I didnt eat anything that required me to really cook today so im skipping my daily recipe. Sorry Jo, im still working on getting that recipe put together and seeing how its 2:05 am i should probably get to bed. I promise you though that not only will i post the recipe soon, i'll also bring you some to sample next tuesday.

Here's my food for the day:
breakfast:
leftover mushroom and onion soup - 100 calories

2nd breakfast:
1/2 cup stonyfield farm organic lowfat vanilla yogurt with 1/2 cup bluberries - 110 calories

Lunch:
cup of miso soup, 3 small salmon and avacado, and tuna and avavado sushi rolls - 650 calories

Dinner:
one red pear with 1/2 cup lowfat cottage cheese - 180 calories

Date Beer:
2 Michelob ultras - 190 calories

2nd Dinner:
1/2 cup cottage cheese - 90 calories
half sandwich with sausage - 200 calories

almost 5 pounds

day three
weight - 257.4
loss to date - 4.6 pounds
calories in - 1920
calories out - 3000 (basal) + 767 (training cycle + weight lifting on machines) = 3767
deficit - 1847

Well I woke up this morning weighing in at much lower than i expected so I kinda celebrated as you can see by my calories. It was almost a 2000 calorie day due to some wine and a nice dinner I cooked for Nicole and I.

My workout was 20 minutes of intervals on the cycle trainer at the gym and then an hour of doing 3 sets of ten on the weight machines. I did all upper body except chest and it took me about an hour. It was very frustrating to be in there and to see the weight that I was actually putting up for all the different exercises. I seem to have lost a lot of my strength from last year. I'll get it back though.

My funny anecdote for the day happened after I walked nicole home. I had wally the dog with me and i really had to pee so i stopped off at this big bush to take a whiz. Wally decided to join me. It was a magical moment of bonding between man and beast.

I'll include my recipe for the salmon today.

ingredients:
fresh skin on salmon
fresh rosemary - several sprigs
sea salt
lemon juice
olive oil
2 cloves of elephant garlic

directions:
coat your garlic (skin on) in olive oil and put in a 375 degree oven for an hour
meanwhile cut your salmon into individual servings and then cut the top of the salmon in diagonal 1/4 inch deep slits about an inch apart. Finely chop the rosemary reserving the tips of the sprigs for garnish. You will need 3 or 4 tbsp of it when chopped. Fill the slits on the salmon with your rosemary so the salmon looks striped. sprinkle sea salt on each portion. After 40 minutes of the garlic roasting, take a large cast iron skillet or other heavy bottom skillet and put a few table spoons of olive oil in it and heat over medium heat until the oil is about to smoke. Put the salmon in skin side down and keep the salmon moving for a minute to keep from sticking. let the oil sear the skin for about 5 minutes or so then sprinkle lemon juice on top of each portion being careful not to wash off the salt or rosemary. Transfer the whole pan to the oven with the
garlic. and cook until done. I like my salmon to be slighty raw in the middle but you can decide how it should be cooked. For those of you afraid of food born illness, if you get fresh fish and wash it properly having raw meat in the center wont hurt you. Just dont do this with freshwater fish. at any rate, after the fish is done pull out the garlic and the fish. Take the garlic and squeeze or scrape out the inside flesh which should be nicely soft and fragrant. Discard the skin and any tough parts of the garlic, then mash it together in a bowl with a touch of lemon juice and some sea salt. It should have a bright garlicky flavor without being overly powerful. Garnish your salmon with a dollop of the puree and stab your rosemary garnish next to it and enjoy!

Here's my food for the day:

breakfast
1/2 cup stoneyfield farms lowfat organic vanilla yogurt with quarter cup of blueberries - 100 calories

2nd breakfast
mini whole wheat bagel with 2 TBSP of my smoked salmon, capers, and onion creamcheese - 180 calories

lunch
Mini Cucumber Sandwhich with lowfat smoked sausage and olive oil mayo - 340 calories

Dinner
one serving of rosemary crusted salmon with a soup of mushrooms, onions, celery, oven roasted garlic puree,
cream sherry, chicken broth, rosemary, thyme, chili flake, and olive oil. Dessert was sugared strawberry quarters
(1/2 cup with 2 tsp turbinado sugar) and 3 tablespoons of vanilla yogurt. - about 700 calories

2 glasses of "cycles gladiator" chardonay - 280 calories

snacks
baby carrots with 2 TBSP lowfat sourcream and seasonings - 80 calories

2 TBSP of peanut butter - 150 calories

one serving of turkey lunch meat - 90 calories

day two - a hard spanking

Day Two
Weight: 260 pounds
Loss to date: 2 pounds
Calories In: 1565
Calories out: 3000 (basal) + 1,675 (excercise) = 4675
Deficit: 3110

today was interval day with Dewon and crew. It was a cold damn day with a frigid and driving wind out of the east. We did 2 20 minute intervals which basically meant the crack house to the bridge with 4 minutes of cool down to head back. I got on dewon's tail and stuck there with all my effort for maybe 8 minutes then i tanked out. The rest of the ride was solo until the return when charlie felt bad for me for maybe 1000 yards and let me draft on him. The wind was just killer though and the cold froze my unprotected feet making it very uncomfortable. I can't wait till spring finally sets in and I can start complaining about the heat again.

After intervals we went to ft roots to make our showing of the final set of Root Canals for the winter season before the tuesday/thursday rides start up again next week after Daylight Savings ends. Charlie and I both made 3 before it was time to say fuck it and go home and warm up. All in all it was a satisfactory workout for me. I did about 19 miles on the bike, nearly lost my toes to frost bite, and blew more snot on my gloves and jacket than im normally accustomed to. Do non smokers get as much snot as recently divorced from the habbit smokers? Anyone know any tricks to get that shit to stop in the cold? I even tried mucinex with a decongestant tonight and it didnt really help. Nothing distracts me more from pounding my pedals in the cold than a runny nose.

So today was a great day for food. Im enjoying my diet. I think what I enjoy most is the fact that eating regularily through the day has kept my energy levels high and i seem to have more focus. My mood has improved dramatically as well. For those of you who know me well you can testify to how much of a cranky bitch I can be in the winter and when im sick. Im sure part of that has to do with the increased regularity of strenous exercise that Im doing. Regardless, its nice to feel this way again and I regret falling so far behind on the level of fitness I was able to achieve last summer ending in the BDB100. My hope is that I'll be able to complete a century this year in under 5 hours. Last year i did the BDB100 in 6 hours 12 minutes. It was my first taste of endurance cycling and finishing that race was probably the most difficult task I have ever achieved.

At any rate, I digress.

One of the things I'm going to start implementing into my blog is "Jonny's daily recipe". I love to cook and Im always inventing dishes or discovering new and wonderful recipes that are definately worth sharing once I cook them. If you are lucky enough you will be someone who gets to taste my cooking but this is a good way for me to share as well. As promised to jo tonight, I'll be putting "Maffé" into the daily recipe but that will have to wait until tomorrow. For tonight I'll include my recipe for

"Whatever the hell you have pasta"

ingredients:
-1 cup whole wheat pasta.
-2 chicken breast tenders uncooked raw. If you dont have this then go shoot a pigeon. they taste wonderful.
-2 tablespoons tomatoe paste or whatever u have that is red and tomatoey...)tomatoes work well for this if that's all you have)
-1/2 cup of whatever the hell liquid u have on hand. I had chicken broth, u might be as lucky.
-a splash of whatever the hell booze u have on hand. I had cream sherry, u will probably have something less embarassing in your bar.
-a few sprigs of fresh thyme, rosemary, and oregeno.
-handful of sliced mushrooms, i used baby portabellas
-one yellow squash roughly chopped
-1/3 of an onion chopped
-3 gloves of garlic roughly chopped
-salt and pepper to taste
-pinch of ground nutmeg
-1/2 tablespoon of butter or olive oil. I used smart balance 50/50 omega 3 which is half butter and half oils from fish, flax, olive etc that are high in heart healthy omega 3 fatty acids and polyunsaturated fat molecules. All of which are essential to any healthy diet.

directions:
Cook pasta in salted boiling water.
Meanwhile, add your veggies in a pan with the fat and sautee till soft over medium heat. Add liquids and tomato paste along with the fresh herbs and nutmeg and mix till blended. Add your chicken and cover and cook over medium heat untill the pasta is done. Drain pasta and add to pan and cook uncovered until all the pasta has absorbed the sauce and there isnt too much soupyness left to it. Enjoy!

Calories: 440

Here's today's food:

breakfast
mini whole wheat bagel with one serving of my smoked salmon with capers and onion cream cheese - 180 calories

2nd breakfast
celery spear with 2 tablespoons cinnamon rasin natural peanut butter - 160 calories

Lunch
lowfat smoked sausauge sandwhich with a mini cucumber, 1 TBSP of olive oil mayo, and two slices of double
fiber whole wheat bread. - 340 calories

Dinner
1 cup whole wheat rotini - 190 calories
Sauce of one yellow squash, 1/3 yellow onion, 3 garlic cloves, fresh thyme, fresh oregano, fresh rosemary, nutmeg,
4 TBSP tomato paste, 1/2 cup chicken broth, 2 chicken breast tenders, half tablspoon smart balance omega 3 butter -250 calories


snacks
1 Gala Apple - 180 calories
one banana - 105 calories
one serving of baby carrots with 2 TBSP of seasoned lite sour cream - 80 calories
one serving of low fat smoked sausage - 80 calories

day one

Weight - 260.4 pounds
Loss to date - 1.6 pounds

So today was my first day. It was a lazy day. All I really accomplished today was running some errands and doing my grocery shopping for the first week or so, and steam cleaning the carpets and all the couches in preparation for getting wally's new playmate bonnie this week from the track in memphis.

I'd just like to say that food prices are ridiculous right now. When the fuck did good food get so fucking expensive? And yes I do have to swear. I'm a demonstrative guy and hopefully you can appreciate that. All I have to say is I cant wait until the local farmer's markets start opening up and I can start buying local and fresh and cheap again. I think im gonna start buying local dairy as well and even forray into making my own fresh cheeses. I think it would be fun.

I didnt work out today, my legs were on the noodley side from yesterday's 30 mile scorcher through the hills of the pinnacle region. Tomorrow will be long intervals with the Dewon crew then off to do hill repeats with a few fast girls and a lot of slow guys (myself probably the slowest).

I learned an interesting fact today about tree nuts. People who regularily eat them have a 50% lowered risk of heart disease in life. Even if you eat one serving of them a week you can lower your risk by 30%. I discovered this while desperately trying to discover how many calories are in just one pecan.

As far as food goes today was fairly protien and carb oriented. I came right up to and hit exactly my 1500 calorie limit for the day. I think it might be wise to make rest days even lower to say 1100 calories and force myself to get creative with the foods I eat. Im feeling very good today, havnt had any nicotine what so ever and my mood has been very good the entire day.

Here is today's food breakdown:

Breakfast
1/2 cup stoneyfield farm organic lowfat vanilla yogert - 90 calories
1 package kroger active lifestyles Maple Brown Sugar and pecan Instant Oatmeal - 180 calories
9 whole Pecans - 40

Lunch
1 carton fat free chocolate milke - 80 calories
1 sourdough bagel with one serving of creamcheese with smoked salmon bits and scallions - 350 calories

2nd lunch
One package of premade rotini in tomato basil sauce - 240 calories
1 Tablespoon cinnamon rasin peanut butter - 80 calories

Snacks
half of a mangoe - 50 calories
2 oz Smoked Salmon - 100 calories
9 chunks of sweet pickels - 90 calories

Dinner
Red Lettuce salad with one egg, one tin of salted anchovies stored in olive oil, and a dressing emulsified with the anchovie oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, emeril's essence, and two cloves of salt crushed garlic. - 200 calories

-Jonny

Its time to begin...again

Last year I worked for 3 months and lost 30 pounds. This year I gained 12 of those back and intend on losing another 35 pounds in the same time frame. This year I am more determined. I MUST lose weight to become healthier. I MUST lose weight to become competitive on my bicycle. I MUST lose weight so I can spank Charlie on the hills and the flats and show everyone that the fat cyclist has stronger legs and can actually hang out front of the pack for 30 miles without getting dropped on every incline. I have quit smoking and will continue to dedicate myself to the struggle of healing my lungs and increasing my will power to stay away from the smokes.

Im hoping that all of you who read this will continue reading and offer me advice and support as well as disdain and severe judgement if you catch me slacking. Im one of those folks that really benefit from outside motivation sometimes as hard as it is for me to admit.

So the starting weight is 262. The goal will be 35 pounds by may 29th. That is 2.5 pounds per week. I'll be calculating my basal metabolic rate at 3000 calories/day. In order to reach my goal I'll need to cut 8750 calories from my system through diet and exercise each week in order to reach my goal. I believe that If I can cut 1500 calories a day I'll reach that weekly goal and then some. I will have to eat less, eat more frequently, eat less calorie dense foods and more foods that have a higher nutrition to calorie ratio. I do not plan on getting on any kind of fad system or partake in any philosophy of eating. The real fact is and always will be that no matter what u eat, you will only lose weight through creating a caloric deficit.

So my plan will be to eat normal healthy whole foods with an emphasis on fruits, vegetables, low fat yogerts and cottage cheese and other cheeses, lean meats such as fish and chicken, pork, a bit of beef, tofu, whole grains with minimal processing, whole sugars and no corn syrup or artificial sweeteners, and only saturated and mono-unsaturated fats such as butter and olive oil.

I'll eat 6-7 times a day in order to stave off hunger and keep my blood glucose levels fairly stable. On days when I do high intensity bike rides i'll probably eat more calories and add meals before and after the rides to aid in training and recovery. In the next day I will be putting together a schedule of workouts to fill my week 6 days a week. I want to try and work on putting together a rutine that will challenge my body without killing myself and over training. Im thinking I'll have to limit myself to only 4 bike rides a week with some days having gym training in addition to a bike ride, other days having only work in the gym on my upper body and legs, and some days where I just hammer it out on the cycle. Id like to keep my entire body working to heal itself and grow from the workouts so my metabolic rate will stay high and I can burn more calories in rest periods.

In the next few days ill be doing more research and coming up with a more accurate reflection of my true basal metabolic rate that reflects more than just my height, age, weight, and sex. If anyone has any ideas on this I would love to hear them.

As usual, I'll be doing a food diary and an exercise diary that I'll list in each day's blogs.

My name is Jonny and I am the fat cyclist.