Other Changes

Beyond diet, exercise, and changing careers; Taj and I have been making some other changes to our lives these last few months. We canceled our television service...... I know! Crazy right! Yep, no television service for us anymore. We are getting away from the TV and trying to engage life more fully. I have been spending a lot of time in the garage wrenching on bikes of course, Taj has taken up Yoga at the new Yoga studio in Gresham, Fluid Yoga. She has been pestering me to give it a try as well but I haven't got the time in my schedule at this point. A few more weeks and I will run out of excuses though!

We have both decided to take up sewing, Taj and I are both interested in the Steampunk and Pirate scene in Portland. We have attended several events locally in which everyone dresses appropriate for the genre, costumes are spendy! I was quoted near $200 from a Victorian style vest in my size. See they don't make vests for guys my size and it would have to be made custom of course. Eventually I will be small enough to start buying stuff off the rack but even then Victorian style clothing is very spendy.

I had my first sewing lesson at PDX Seamsters studio in SE Portland last night and it was a blast. We didn't do much beyond straight stitches and learning how to sew on a curve, but it was pretty cool. I was not the only guy in class either, two other male students were in my class and the person teaching was also a guy. We finished up the first class with a little hand stitching and I have to say, these huge hands of mine are not made for that sort of stuff. Gonna need a lot of practice to become half way decent at that. My hope with sewing is to be able to produce my own bicycle jerseys (way expensive to buy), hats and other similar items as well as costume stuff for Taj and I. With our new budget being what it is, saving money on anything we can will be a big help.

Minor milestone

I had a doctors appointment today. As I am getting laid off soon I wanted to make sure and visit with my doctor and get all of my prescriptions refilled, etc. They went through the usual routine of getting my blood pressure, temperature and a weigh in. For the last decade I have had to use a special scale in a separate room because I simply weighed too much to be measured by the scales they keep in the exam rooms. I didn't have to do that today.

This may not seem like much to some people, but it was huge for me. It made me feel, if not skinny, normal. I can be weighed using the same scale everyone else uses instead of needing special equipment to get the job done.

My doctor came in the room after I had gone through all of the preliminary stuff with a huge grin on his face. First thing he said to me, "You've lost a lot of weight!"

Best doctors visit ever!

I really need to post more often!

I know, I know! I haven't posted on this thing in forever. What have I been up to? Working, dieting, working on bicycles. I have lost around 80 pounds at this point, down to 342 from the 425 I was at when I started. I am also in the process of a huge lifestyle change beyond the diet.

I am getting laid off from my family business in May, just before I attend United Bicycle Institute. I will be attending UBI's Professional Repair and Shop Operation class. My hope is to get a job working in a local bicycle shop in Portland at first. What I really would like to do is open my own shop someday. Portland is a good city in which to get into the bicycle industry at least. I have been volunteering on Sunday's at the Community Cycling Center . Sunday's are the tear down days, we take apart donated bikes that aren't going to be used for their Holiday giveaway or Build a Commuter programs. I am looking forward to being able to attend their Tuesday night drop ins, they assemble and tune up bikes on those evenings.

As a personal project I have been rebuilding a 1974 Schwinn Varisty. This was my uncle's bike, he bought it brand new in 1974 from Hook's Cyclery in Gresham. He rode this bike everywhere back in the day, including down into Oxbow Park and back up that huge hill! The bike has spent the last 15 years under a tree in his backyard however and looked like this when I first got a hold of it.


It took a couple of months to clean all the parts but I managed to save most of the original components and reuse them when putting the bike back together. I got all new spokes and relaced the wheels, this was my first time ever lacing up a set of wheels and it took a few tries to get it right. Truing the wheels was no easy task without a proper truing stand, the rear wheel needed to be dished as well, again no dishing tool to work with. They turned out pretty good regardless, they could use some fine tuning but I plan to take care of that while at UBI. I also replaced the pedals as the originals were rusted and wouldn't spin anymore, I found a pair that would fit and take toe clips at the Community Cycling Center, not easy considering they have a 1/2" shaft instead of the 9/16" that modern bikes use. New cables and housing all around and new tires of course, the old ones were literally rotting off the bike. The seat was a soaked, slimy mess so that was replaced as well. I had the frame and forks powder coated at Brooker Enterprises for $100, they charge an extra $50 if they have to disassemble the bike but I did all of that myself.

Here is the bike as it looks now.

Eating Healthy

I have lost another five pounds (since last weigh in) and Taj is still stuck at her starting weight. She has started to notice some increased muscle toning though!

We are starting the Sonoma diet this week. We are on day one and so far I have to say the food tastes pretty good. The portions are generous too. As Taj and I both really love food that should help us stick to it I hope. We had to go through our kitchen and get rid of a lot of stuff that we had (we gave most of it to the neighbors). Whole grain's, no refined sugars and no fruit is what this first 10 days is all about. After that we get to start adding a few things back in, mainly fruit. Taj and I binged yesterday to say goodbye to ice cream, General Tso's chicken, and potato chips with dip (cheese and bacon for me, ranch for Taj).

I wish the rain would let up so I could start riding my bike, I have a hard time forcing myself to get on the bike when it's a torrential downpour outside. My pinched nerve has started to ease off, yesterday morning and this morning both it didn't bother me as we worked out. It starts to ache about mid day, which is a huge improvement over the last 10 years of constant pain morning, noon, and night.

What the? Where have I been?

To make a long story short, I fell off the wagon for awhile. I had to have the big toenails removed from both my feet, they got so ingrown it was painful to put on shoes or stand up. It took months for that to heal. In the meantime I put twenty pounds back on. And then winter set in. The pinched nerve in my back has been kicking my ass big time and I can't stand up for more than 5-10 minutes at a time.

Two months ago my niece started a Biggest Loser challenge at her work. One month ago my wife and I got copies of the same DVD she has been using and started working out in the mornings. We haven't been extremely consistent with it but we are getting better about it. For half an hour each morning we get up and work out. It's not easy, the pinched nerve and my bad knees make some of the stuff rather difficult really. It is rather nice to have my wife by my side while I work out though.

Good news, I have lost those twenty pounds that I had put back on already! My wife hasn't lost any weight yet though and she goes on a half hour walk with our dog afterward as well as working out with me in the mornings. She keeps a better eye on what she eats as well. It's a bit discouraging for her, I imagine she is just putting on muscle mass right now and that the weight loss will start soon.

Taj and I are planning on cooking more of our meals as well, less additives in our diet should help us both. Having to stand up and move around to prepare the food helps too, every little bit counts.

Nine Days

For those of you who live nearby, you know that it has been over 100 for the past week or so. The temperature has finally started to come back down and I hoped back on my bike yesterday to ride. I managed 7.78 miles without too much trouble but I had some people I was supposed to be meeting further in town so I hoped on the MAX. It wasn't a bad ride, fairly flat, but I could tell that I have definitely lost some of my conditioning. I logged the ride and found that I have been off of my bike for nine days total. I tried riding the trainer I bought but the AC in my house doesn't cool it down that well and it was just too hot. It is also harder than just riding on the road, on the road you can coast down a hill or for a ways on a flat. There is no coasting with a resistance trainer, you stop pedaling and the wheel stops. Next time the temp gets too extreme I am going to suffer through using the trainer anyway. The ride to work this morning was hard, and definitely not one of my best elapsed times either.

Projects

I have a couple of project bikes in the works. Mainly to practice my bike wrenching skills but also because I enjoy doing this sort of thing. The first is a Huffy frame that I am upgrading some of the parts on, it's most likely not worth it but when done it should be a decent bike for someone to get around on at least. The second bike project is one that I picked up last weekend. I drove by a garage sale after doing a tow and came across this lil gem of an antique bike for five dollars.
The plan is to get a new rear wheel that has an internal shifting hub, most likely a three speed. Right now the rear hub looks like a good old fashioned coaster brake deal but it isn't, it freewheels and there are no brakes so I will need to add some. Of course neither tire holds air and it has one metal pedal and one plastic pedal. The current paint job isn't too bad, but it will be replaced in favor of a green color my wife likes. She also wants some aliens and ufo's on the bike somehow. I am hoping to find someone who can do that with a little airbrushing. The white seat stays, and the swept back handlebars as well. Going to try and find a rack for the back and a wicker basket for the front.