Happy Birthday, Me...

	ideal	11/29/08	12/13/08	12/27/08
neck	43	40	40	40.5
chest	117	108.5	109.5	111
bicep	42	34.5	34	34.25
forearm	34	32.13	32	31.25
waist	82	94	94	93.5
hip	99	99	100	99
thigh	62	60.75	61.75	61
calf	40	41	40	40
	percentages	93.02	93.02	94.19
		92.74	93.59	94.87
		82.14	80.95	81.55
		94.49	94.12	91.91
		114.63	114.63	114.02
		100	101.01	100
		97.98	99.6	98.39
		102.5	100	100

So, last weekend was my birthday. How convenient. I will admit that I had set ambitious goals for this particular birthday, although I'd never actually made clear to myself exactly what they were. What kind of numbers were I shooting for, anyway?

I don't know. I don't have a quick way of getting body fat percentage, which would have been the most useful. I'm not sure why I haven't bought a bioelectric impedance unit. I don't believe in weight goals. Setting a target body weight encourages dieting - and some people end up starving their muscles of nutrients. Losing muscle is a quick way to lose weight, but obviously that's not something we're interested in.

Whatever. Since I didn't set any real goals, I'm not sure how disappointed I should feel. The fact that I feel disappointed clearly means that I'm, once again, not living up to my own expectations.

Whee!

In honor of the occasion, I've whipped up a slightly more interesting graph. The lines show a vague and ponderous convergence. I guess I can stare at it and think about how difficult progress really is.



Weight at the end of this week: 191.

Numbers, numbers

	ideal	11/15/08	11/29/08	12/13/08
neck	43	39.5	40	40
chest	117	107.5	108.5	109.5
bicep	42	34.38	34.5	34
forearm	34	32.13	32.13	32
waist	82	95	94	94
hip	99	99	99	100
thigh	62	61.13	60.75	61.75
calf	40	41.38	41	40
	percentages	91.86	93.02	93.02
		91.88	92.74	93.59
		81.85	82.14	80.95
		94.49	94.49	94.12
		115.85	114.63	114.63
		100	100	101.01
		98.59	97.98	99.6
		103.44	102.5	100

Almost everything is trending in the right direction. Right now my focus is on maintaining muscle mass, yet dropping weight. So far so good: weighing in at 195 consistently now. Of course (as I tell myself every time I do this) I need to work harder.

I'll do a graph along with the next set of numbers.

I want my face back!

Isn't that just perfectly awful? I put this image series together to document my descent into disgusting levels of fatness. In the left image, I weight about 155 pounds. The second image from the right: about 175. The last image? 215. In a year, my weight just skyrocketed. I had stopped windsurfing, and there wasn't a gym within ten miles of where we were living. I wasn't riding. I wasn't doing anything.

The thing is, when you look in the mirror every day, you don't notice little changes. It wasn't until I saw pictures of myself, and started comparing them with older images, that I realized how bad things had really become.

Every time I need some motivation to work harder, I'm going to look at this sequence.

Then, sometime early in 2009, I get to take another picture.

Numbers for this weekend

	ideal	11/01/08	11/15/08	11/29/08
neck	43	39.25	39.5	40
chest	117	108	107.5	108.5
bicep	42	34	34.38	34.5
forearm	34	32.13	32.13	32.13
waist	82	95	95	94
hip	99	99.5	99	99
thigh	62	61.5	61.13	60.75
calf	40	41	41.38	41
	percentages	91.28	91.86	93.02
		92.31	91.88	92.74
		80.95	81.85	82.14
		94.49	94.49	94.49
		115.85	115.85	114.63
		100.51	100	100
		99.19	98.59	97.98
		102.5	103.44	102.5

I'm not doing a graph this week, because I don't feel like it, and nobody cares. On the other hand, the numbers look good, and I'm feeling good about my progress. One thing that's helping is that the weather is unseasonably (might I say, ridiculously) warm, and so I'm riding more than I expected to. For instance, it's sunny and in the mid 50s today.

Weight: still hovering right around the 200 pound mark.

Tell you what is weird, though. I decided to check my height yesterday, because I can't even remember the last time anyone measured that. I know it says 5'6" on my driver's license, but that's just what I told them when I was getting my first license at the ripe old age of 17, and honestly at the time it was just an educated guess.

Apparently I'm actually 5'9". Uh, wow. That's a pretty serious discrepancy. In fact, I've become so used to thinking I'm 5'6", that I find it hard to believe. Still, I've checked it repeatedly, and I'm not wrong.

No wonder I weigh more than I thought I should. I'm a full three inches taller than I thought I was. It's not every day you realize you've been under-estimating your height by a quarter of a foot.

Once again: another Day of Reckoning

Man, these just creep up on me. Almost exclusively a mix of short duration, high intensity and long duration, low intensity cardio these past two weeks, with some weight training thrown in.

	ideal	10/18/08	11/01/08	11/15/08
neck	43	39.5	39.25	39.5
chest	117	108.25	108	107.5
bicep	42	33.5	34	34.38
forearm	34	32	32.13	32.13
waist	82	95	95	95
hip	99	99	99.5	99
thigh	62	60.5	61.5	61.13
calf	40	41	41	41.38
	percentages	91.86	91.28	91.86
		92.52	92.31	91.88
		79.76	80.95	81.85
		94.12	94.49	94.49
		115.85	115.85	115.85
		100	100.51	100
		97.58	99.19	98.59
		102.5	102.5	103.44

It seems like it's been raining almost constantly. Cycling is an exercise in masochism, and even walking to the gym has been a pain. That said, I've been managing longer and more intense sessions, so regardless of the numbers I feel like progress is being made...

Current body weight: 200.5. Hmm.

Friday meditation: Confronting the Cars

Stumbled upon this interesting piece about breaking through the insular barrier that cars create for their occupants and actually talking to drivers.

I'm not nice enough to pull this off. I think I have a great deal of pent up rage towards the many, many incompetent drivers I have encountered over the years, not on a bike, but in another vehicle. Road rage is neither attractive nor healthy, though, so I suppose it'd be better to simply accept that the vast majority of people will never be good drivers, and move on.

Is it that simple? I'm not so sure. Still, there's definitely something to be said to improving driver-cyclist relations.

Numbers for this weekend

	ideal	10/04/08	10/18/08	11/01/08
neck	43	39.25	39.5	39.25
chest	117	105.75	108.25	108
bicep	42	33.75	33.5	34
forearm	34	32.25	32	32.13
waist	82	95	95	95
hip	99	98	99	99.5
thigh	62	61.5	60.5	61.5
calf	40	41.13	41	41
	percentages	91.28	91.86	91.28
		90.38	92.52	92.31
		80.36	79.76	80.95
		94.85	94.12	94.49
		115.85	115.85	115.85
		98.99	100	100.51
		99.19	97.58	99.19
		102.81	102.5	102.5

Last weight: 200.5. I feel like I'm going to be at 200 pounds forever. Not much progress by the numbers, but I actually feel good about the way things are going. I can definitely push myself harder... but isn't that always the case?

And of course, a graph: