Still stuck

Didn't eat salad for dinner this week.    Had healthy based lentil dishes for dinner most often.    Also, was hitting the roasted, unsalted peanuts hard this week again too.   Probably too much snacking.

Since March 19th, I've been bouncing around 226-227.5, but on the other hand, I don't feel like I'm starving.   How I'm eating feels sustainable, so if this is the bottom of my weight loss so be it.    It'll be 65lbs lighter than where I started last June.

On the other hand, I do want to try less snacking and more salad with a protein for dinner this week and see what happens.    The one night I just had a 3 egg omelette, I had a really low weigh-in of 225.8 the next morning.   The lowest ever!    And the omelette was plenty filling.

 But in general, I'm coming to terms that weighing 220 something may be it, and I'm ok with that.    The main goal was to get lighter so biking, hiking, and kayaking are more fun.   Mission accomplished.     I don't want to do fasting or anything that's not sustainable to drop more weight.     Assuming my blood work improves, which it should, no more changes.   

 

Little bummed I ended up at 227.4lbs for my weekly Sunday weigh-in, but I did eat home made pizza yesterday, and I think I'm retaining water from the long ride Friday still.    

Friday I did the first long ride of the season.  30 miles, in 3 hours.   Very happy with that.   Didn't take any long breaks anywhere.   Just kept trucking.    Figured out this loop around Wachusett reservoir last year.   Avoids heavy car traffic.   I used to do the roads closer to the reservoir, but the traffic has gotten too heavy to make that fun.   I only do it in the Summer, early in the morning on the weekend when everyone is sleeping.

 

The new seat and suspension post seems to work better than what I had on my touring bike during the Erie Canal trail.   I've tweaked the angle down a little, so I'll try one more long ride before saying it's good for my next trip.    I'm debating if I need their slightly narrower seat.    I did make one silly mistake and wore the bike shorts inside out, so that probably impacted comfort a little, and I didn't use any chamois cream, or butt balm.    So i'm thinking if I don't forget those basics, next time may get the official thumbs up.    No idea how I put the chamois short inside out.    Rushing to get going I guess.

 I did switch to underwear style bike shorts, and I wear lightweight joggers over the chamois underwear.   I pronounce chamois american biker style, "shammy"     Just FYI.     Thicker chamois pads aren't always better, things need to breathe down there.   Hot and sweaty gets uncomfortable too.     I'm  hopeful this style clothing wont' be too hot as Summer comes.   Blends in better than the biker spandex shorts and white leg tights I used during the Erie canal ride.

 I also bought a plastic snap kit and I added a couple to the bottom of the jogger pants so I can tighten up the lower leg to keep the pants away from the chain

 

 This afternoon, I'm going to go do some rougher trail biking on my fat bike.   Suddenly realized that a suspension seatpost I bought for my fat bike years ago (over a decade at least) can now be used.   When I got it, i was 260 something, just a few pounds from its max weight of 255.   

Then I put on way more weight, so it's never been used.   Going to try it out this afternoon.   Should make trail riding more comfy.   This style uses springs and it's not meant for touring, it's meant for harsher bumps on rougher trails.

 

Static week weight-wise

Weigh-in was 226.2.    Lost a whopping 0.2 lbs this past week.    I've noticed this pattern of losing a ton of weight over a week, and then the next week my body rebels.    It was one of those rebellion weeks; I gained half a pound, and then came back under slightly vs last Sunday.     C'est La Vie.   

I will say the weird thing is "feeling" like I've binged and overeaten a ton when I actually haven't.    Weird how the body adjusts like that.   Probably a good thing.    I only mention so you don't think I'm lying around moaning and starving.   Not the case.    I've felt quite full lately.

I've been saving more recipes i see on instagram.   I need to cook some different stuff, I've been in a rut lately.   Going to try this recipe next.   I want to try adding more sweet potato to my diet.   https://glow-diaries.com/vegan-cottage-pie/#recipe     

I don't think regular salad for dinner is going to cut it every night.    Never really thought that was going to last.   At best, it would work for 1-2 months to get under 220, but I don't think it'll work that long.    With the aforementioned vegan pie recipe, I love that the author listed stuff in grams.    Makes getting the veggie ratios so much easier.     I have a small kitchen digital scale for my baking, so it's easy to use for other recipes too.

And, I think I may try this bean salad next.    But I think the term salad is overused in this case.   It's more like a cold bean dish.   Maybe I'm biased?    To me salad requires leafy greens and broccoli/cauliflower.  

https://www.instagram.com/p/DWFW7TpCI6j/ 

Chickpea, Edamame & Cabbage Salad with Sesame Dressing

For the salad:

• 2 cups cabbage, finely shredded (green, purple, or mix)

• 1 cup cooked or canned chickpeas (drained & rinsed)

• 1 cup shelled edamame (cooked)

• 1 medium carrot, grated

• 2 tbsp green onions, chopped

• 2 tbsp fresh cilantro (optional)

For the sesame dressing:

• 2 tbsp sesame oil

• 1 tbsp soy sauce

• 1 tbsp rice vinegar (or lime juice)

• 1 tsp honey or maple syrup

• 1 tsp grated ginger

• 1 clove garlic, minced

• 1–2 tbsp water (to thin, as needed)

Sprinkle Toasted Sesame Seeds  and/or Panko

 

Salad it is...

Welp, I think I've figured out how to lose the last 10 pounds, and sigh...it's salad and tofu for dinner most nights.    At least it's just until it warms up enough for long bike rides outdoors again.   

To lose 1 pound per week, I need a calorie deficit of ~500 calories per day.      At 228lbs, my BMR (basal metabolic rate) is 3335 calories/day.   Thanks to my exercise regimen, I still get to eat a lot.   

The first couple weeks of March, I've been stuck hovering around 229, probably because I couldn't xc ski anymore so I've been burning less calories.  My xc ski outings were usually 2.5-3 hours; and my indoor bike rides are 1-1.5 hours most of the time.    

So, to get the scale moving again, I've tried just eating a big salad for dinner and not snacking until breakfast the next day.   It's working,  and it's not that bad to be honest.   For protein, I add some tofu/chickpeas.    

A lot of advice online says fasting 12 hours a day gives your digestive system time to rest and recover, and I'm not that active in the evenings anyway.    So no eating from 5:30p.m.- 7a.m. hasn't been that bad.

My current routine

• Wake up 6:30-7 a.m.
• weigh myself, and maybe check blood pressure   (avg 107/69, pulse 59 this month)
• eat breakfast,  usually it's...
• a protein smoothie ~250-300 calories.
• 1 cup soy milk 
• 1 cup water
• 1 scoop Orgain choc fudge protein powder 
• 1 scoop pbfit powder 
• 1 slice of 50% whole wheat sourdough with a schmear of natural peanut butter
• 1 peeled and cored apple 
• relax for an hour, feed the birdies 
• mostly Zone 2 cardio for at least 1 hour, usually starting around 9-10a.m.
• when I can do longer outside rides, i pack or get lunch somewhere. 
• Hot Box Sauna session after workout (25-27min)
• shower
• Lunch
• usually a spicy bean patty wrap with lots of salad stuff and southwest sauce
• another slice of whole wheat sourdough w peanut butter
• an apple or 2 dates
• some peanuts or dark chocolate covered almonds
• Easy Afternoon,   hobbies/TV time/meal prepping
• Dinner 
• 1/2 gallon (8 cups) worth of lettuce and veggies in a big 14 cup rubbermaid container. 
• < 1/4 cup of home made dressing
• i add dressing to the lettuce only and mix,  then I add the other veggies and mix with the coated lettuce.   
• usually no cheese (feta sometimes)
• air fryer tofu for protein
• half the dessert portion i eat at lunch
• drink 1-2 liters lemon/lime spiked water during the evening before bed
• no snacking until breakfast
• if I feel super hungry before bed, I'll have a small spoon of peanut butter so I don't keep waking up hungry 

progress again

UPDATE:   Monday Morning mar 16.   weigh-in was 228.8, and still feeling a bit "full".   I bet I'm back to 228.5 by tomorrow/Wednesday at the latest.   No biggee.

Sunday, March 15th, day after Legere family b-day celebration 

I had two 228.5 weigh-in's back to back before today's 229.5   This past week, I ate less peanuts and more raw broccoli and apples.  I'm not worried about the 229.5 weigh-in today.    A pound of fat is 3,500 calories, and there's no way I ate that much extra yesterday.  2 slices of thin style supreme pizza and about 500 calories worth of cake.     It's just water.   I just feel kind of bloated at the moment.   Like I need to exercise and binge on salad, which I'm going to do today instead of my normal Sunday rest day.   A sauna session will help too.

And I guess that brings me to the main downside of my new diet.     Yes, you can still have a cheat day and enjoy some pizza and cake with friends and family, but you'll notice your stomach doesn't feel as good the next day.    Nothing horrible, just feeling a bit overfull.

Personally, I kind of like the physical push back; it makes me WANT to get back to the healthy stuff.   Most weight loss diets require fighting hunger/cravings every day.    Now, it's more like I just want to eat certain foods because they make me feel better.    Positive reinforcement I guess.    

So maybe that's the main flaw of the diet below?   If you eat out a lot, or frequently have dinners/potlucks with friends/family; you'll feel your body saying, "ugh, what did you eat?"  the next day.       But, on the other hand, I think this is how I used to feel all the time, and I just didn't know it.    Now, that I've figured out a way to eat that makes me feel good most of the time; it's addictive.   I think it's sort of like as you get older, you eventually decide the hangovers aren't worth the fun night out anymore.  

No wonder people find Vegans obnoxious.   They're all happy and feeling good all the time.   ANNOYING!!!!  

I did a big bike ride Wednesday (>50F/10C outside), so that's why my weight went up for a day.   Sore muscles = retain water for a day or two.  I should also note,  this week was my first ride on my touring bike since October last year.    weighing 30lbs/13.6kg less made the local hills noticeably easier.   I was able to ride outdoors Monday, Tuesday Wednesday, so after Wednesday I'd gotten a little sore from all the riding.

230.1 weigh-in Monday

I'm thinking it's the shelled peanuts I've been eating recently.    I've slid into a habit of grabbing a handful of shelled peanuts per meal.   If my math is right, i'm adding 400-500 calories per day doing that.   Oops.

 Back to broccoli/celery for a snack when needed

 I can do peanuts when bike touring, when I'm burning a crazy amount of calories.

 Peanuts aren't nearly as filling as broccoli/celery anyway

 

 

 

Weight Struggle week

Some weeks are harder than others for losing weight.   If I hadn't mentioned yet, I do my weekly progress weigh-ins on Sundays.   Sunday is also my rest day and cheat meal days (after the weigh-in).    In fact, I just had home made sushi for lunch.    Dinner will be back to the routine.     

I've also learned to taper off my exercise on Saturday, so I'm not retaining water excessively for the weekly progress weigh-in.   Being retired, I try to avoid hitting the trails on the weekend anyway; too busy.  So yesterday, I just did an hour of indoor kayaking on my kayak erg machine; I was recovering from a long, indoor bike ride I did Friday, more on that below.    I have an older model kayakpro ergometer in the attic.   Here's an ad photo i found.  

 

Weirdly, I felt kind of hungry most of this week, and it felt hard to not overeat.    I did do a ton of xc skiing the week before, so probably related to that.    This past week, I tried eating salad for dinner more, but i think my home made dressings were way more caloric than I thought.   I made a lentil soup Friday, and that fixed my hunger issues (more fiber?).    I'll have to do some googling to try and figure out why that worked.    Having a brothy indian/mexican lentil soup with cooked mushrooms and/or spinach for dinner seem to work better than salad for dinner, weird.   Live and learn I guess.

on a postive though, my blood pressure has been consistently good, if it continues, I think I may just start checking once a week.    Today was 104/68.     Eating well and losing weight, i feel like I'm out of the danger zone, so I can check less often. 

Last Sunday my weigh-in was 228.9, and I spent almost all week after that floating between 230.1-230.2, but i did have a 229.1 weigh-in today.   Weird to be happy with gaining 0.2lbs.   But it's way better than 1.2 lbs, and I've been way ahead of my 1lb/week plan this year.   No biggee.    I could stay put for 3 more weeks and still be ahead of my 1 lb/week plan.    I did well this Winter, and I think as I get back to riding outside, the weight loss will resume again.

 

 

Friday I decided to do a mega (for me) 55 mile ride on my indoor Rouvy bike trainer.  Technically it's my specialized sequoia gravel bike on a Saris H3 trainer, using Rouvy software.     It was my longest indoor ride ever (4hrs 3 minutes).  It goes against my ethos of not exercising the weight off, but so be it.   The day before (thursday),  I did a 1 hr and 50 minute ride that felt easy, so I decided to just go for it Friday.   In the past, my butt couldn't take riding more than 90 minutes, but the new SQ labs saddle is comfy. 

 

One thing I like when riding Rouvy indoors is when I see big climbs like the picture below coming up on the computer screen.    I snapped this photo of the computer screen with my cellphone during the ride.

The Rouvy software uses my bike trainer to adjust how hard I have to pedal, so combined with the screen views, I can kind of pretend I'm riding outside.   Rouvy also has you input your weight, so it adjusts how hard the hills are according to your weight too.     On the hills, I shift the gears on my bike so it's on an easy low gear (low gears, aka granny gears), just like I would when riding outside.     

Riding indoors, you have to setup some fans to stay cool.    There's no breeze like you get when riding outside.   I also have my trainer on a rocker plate, so I can rock the bike side to side as I pedal.   I made the rocker plate myself, it also slides back and forth a little as I pedal.   It dramatically reduces sitting discomfort.   The forces making the rocker plate tilt side to side and/or slide back and forth are no longer going straight to my butt.   As far as I'm concerned it's a must for indoor riding.   See my rocker plate blog post, click here   

Over the Winter, I've really liked the Maine Ironman Rouvy route of the ironman race course that was in Maine a few years ago.  I've ridden it 3 or 4 times this Winter.    I usually just do 1-1.5 hours or so per day, taking 3-4 days to finish it.     Nice to know I could do it all in one go now.

Ridewithgps also has the route.   Different software I subscribe to for navigating when riding out in the real world.   It made doing the Erie Canal super, duper easy.    Like an old gps gadget but made for bicycles; way better battery life than trying to use your cellphone to navigate.    You might need an account to open the following link, I don't know.   https://ridewithgps.com/routes/43721905   

RidewithGPS makes it easy to download the navigation to my bike computer, so maybe I'll try biking it in the real world someday.   Zero interest in triathlon racing again though.   I do like swimming but not with people kicking me in the face or getting swum over by some clueless idiot.    Looks cool on TV seeing a big mass of people swimming in a giant pack, but it sucks being in the middle of it.

Anyhoo, the super long indoor ride I did Friday likely helped me drop a pound for my weigh-in today.   I did go slower than my normal workout pace.   I coasted on the downhills a lot, and in general, I didn't try super hard.   I wasn't attempting to race at all, just wanted to do the ride in one go.     I did move the seat back a tiny bit, and titled the nose down, but my butt felt pretty good for the 4 hours on the bike trainer which is far less comfortable than riding a bike outside.    Nothing rubbed raw, and nothing sore the next day.    After the snow melts this Spring, I want to start doing longer rides and not waste good weather.

During the indoor ride, I texted Jacqui around 11am to ask if she'd bring me some of the lentil soup I made earlier that morning.    She did!    I asked for a food delivery around Noon of warm soup with a slice of buttered toast, and she delivered.   I was a Happy Boy!   I was eating a couple dates and half a Clif bar each hour too.   I asked Jacqui to bring me lunch because I was worried if I paused the ride, Rouvy would automatically end the ride if I took too long, and I wanted to finish it all in one go.     In theory you can pause up to 1hr and 59 minutes, but I've had the software glitch on me before, losing the entire ride!   Could be the computer going into standby mode too, will check.     I won't abuse Jacqui's food service though, so now that I've done it once, i'll risk getting food on my own next time.   a 15-20 minute break would be nice tbh.

Btw, Lentil soup is PERFECT when riding.    It's hydrating and has nearly all the nutrients (protein, fiber, carbs, vitamins, minerals)  you need if you add a slice of bread or some rice.   I personally like this recipe, it comes out more soupy than others I've tried, which is great for hydration,  https://www.cookingclassy.com/mexican-lentil-soup/    I puree it a lot with an immersion blender.   Be warned, it's usually enough for Jacqui and I to have soup once a day for a week.   For dinner I often saute a large pan's worth of raw sliced mushrooms and heat up 2 ladles worth of soup in a separate small pot.    Probably less calories than salad with too much dressing (which i think has been my weight loss struggle this past week)

Figuring out cooking options for bikepacking

 

Before I bike cross country, I need to figure out how to eat healthy when touring.   Healthy to me means all my nutritional needs AND fiber to keep the ole poop chute happy.  The joys of getting older...sigh.

I've been trying to find a way to pressure cook dried beans/lentils while bike touring.   it's a challenge. 

I've had one of these backpacking Keith multi cookers for a while when camping/backpacking.   It only weighs 9 ounces and it prevents burning the rice to the bottom of the pot, which is super easy to do using backpacking stoves and titanium pots.   The Keith multi cooker is like a lightweight double boiler that vents steam out a tiny hole in the top.   Works great for steaming raw veggies too.     But to cook dried beans that have soaked overnight, it would still take 45-90 minutes.    That's way too long and would use way too much fuel.

Btw, Keith's website is cheaper than Amazon's  $44 vs $70,  for the multifunctional cooker,  maybe Keith's shipping/handling makes up the difference, idk.

https://www.keith-ti.com/products/keith-titanium-ti6300-plastic-free-multifunctional-cooker 

 

Keith recently came out with a pressure cooker too, but it's lower pressure than a typical pressure cooker 35kPA vs 80-90 kPa   I think it would work great for cooking noodles/rice but not pre-soaked beans.   I'd waste too much fuel, and it would take way too long cooking at camp.

https://www.keith-ti.com/products/keith-titanium-ti6302high-altitude-mountainpressure-cooker 

 Instead I'm thinking of a normal pressure pot, but a tiny one.  A 1.5 liter Hawkins, which is also much cheaper,  $45 vs $175 for the Keith pressure pot.  Easier to get spare parts for it too.

https://a.co/d/01ag6q6f 

 

The nice thing with the little Hawkins is that it would also work on the electric induction burner in my truck camper too, which means I can practice using it when truck camping.     So I can start some beans in the instant pot, and then cook some rice in the little Hawkins, or vice versa.   Or if it turns out to be a fail for bike touring, i can at least use it in the truck.

The hawkins does weigh more than the Keith pressure cooker, and it's more bulky.   520g vs 1200g.    Or 1.1 lbs vs 2.6 lbs   But I've lost 35lbs since I did the Erie Canal bike tour, so I'm pretty sure I can manage an extra pound or two.  It's more the bulk of it.  I suppose if I put dry rice/beans in it when traveling that'll help.   I bought a 2nd old man mountain Divide rack to mount to my bike's front fork, so I can carry food and cooking stuff more easily.

If i presoak beans at least 8-10 hours,  then it'll only take 6-8 minutes of high pressure cook time to cook the beans, and per some youtube reviews I watched, it only takes 3-4 minutes to get up to pressure.   Fuel wise, that will mean high burn while getting up to pressure, and then reducing to medium to low during the 6-8 minutes of cooking.  

I'm thinking I can also saute whatever i have in the pot before adding the soaked beans and water (ratio of 1:3  beans:water).   So I can pick up a small onion, some carrots, garlic, jalapenos at a grocery store when touring; and that stuff will keep for 1-2 days without a fridge.     And there's always bouillon cubes and/or spice powders.

While the beans cool, i can then cook rice in the Keith multifunction cooker that I already have   In the Keith cooker, it takes 10-15 minutes to cook jasmine rice which will match the pressure pot cool down time.   Also, just like the pressure cooker, I'm only on full burn until the steam starts venting out the top and then you lower the burn to simmer.    Uses less fuel than you'd think.   The keith multifunction cooker without the inner pot, also makes a nice tea mug.    And I can use it for soaking beans during the day as long as I can pack it upright. 

In the mornings,  I can cook up some steel cut oats in the hawkins, and mix in some protein powder, milk powder, coconut powder and/or nuts after cooking.     I'll have to pack it all in my kevlar ursack bag to keep the rodents and other critters out of my food stash.   maybe i'll just pack my small plastic bear vault too.

Dehydrated meals are pricey, super salty, and lack in fiber.   I suppose I could go that route and pack some metamucil to keep my gut happy, but then you have to worry about where to resupply.   Most grocery stores don't carry backpacking meals, and I don't want to have to set up having care packages mailed. 

And when you think about it, dehydrated meals take up a lot of space too.   Small bags of rice, beans, oatmeal, etc and a tiny pressure pot aren't any more space, and far easier to find in any grocery store.      If I can figure this out, I'm going to make a few youtube videos on it.    Bikers and hikers love food, so there may be interest in some alternatives.    I have my home dehydrator too.  I could practice dehydrating veggies to add to my meals as well.    I like cooking.   Just another challenge, but this one has a fun prepper vibe to it, lol.   

Oh, and I'll be using my primus omni stove, which runs best on Coleman/MSR white gas, but will run on gasoline too in a pinch; it just clogs faster on gasoline.    I have a big 1 liter fuel bottle for it.    It's trickier to use than the ultralight butane stoves thru-hikers use to boil water for dehydrated meals, but you can cook way longer, and it's far easier to refuel.   Just find a gas station worst case.

I'm thinking I may bring stuff along when I do local rides.    I'll just find a trailhead to cook lunch somewhere.   Better to practice before I need the skills for bike touring.