Discussion Board

Norm, that is absolutely awesome that you rode another 30 miles yesterday! Woohoo! Your steady progress and increased ability to do exercise has certainly proved the doubters wrong now, hasn't it?

The canopy for shade is a great idea and there should be a way to rig that up. I've seen trikes with canopies but I don't know if they came that way or were homemade. Some of the recumbent bikes also have shade covers.

Re the salt, I would probably do what you did. After reading so many stories of hyponutremia during extreme exercise where the loss of too much salt combined with drinking loads of plain water (as opposed to electrolyte drinks), I would rather err on the side of a little too much salt. Reminder: I am not a doctor nor a dietitian so do not take my advice as medical advice.

I have no problems with blood pressure as long as I'm sticking to a plant-based diet. When it has gone up, it's been as a result of animal foods, not sodium. (I have a blood pressure cuff for home use to track it.) I also am a heavy sweater and I live in a very dry, very hot state. I generally do not worry about keeping my sodium intake as low as Jeff Novick or Dr. McDougall advise although I don't go crazy with it, either.

I saw your sunburn pics!! Ouch!!! I will lighten up on the trike riding if I have those same issues as yesterday... but I really wanted to push it since weigh-in is coming up and I've been in "push the envelope" mode these past two weeks.

-Norm

I doubt it. Ego and Pride can be even harder to overcome than 300 pounds of excess weight. The doubters will likely insist the "jury is still out" and that I must not only reach my goal but maintain it for few years, or for as long as it takes for everyone to forget what they said in the first place.
I don't think it'll be hard at all. I'll make a frame out of PVC pipe and fit some fabric to it. Shouldn't be too hard at all! What I do is I add salt to my water so I get a little every time I take a drink of water. I also make sure bananas and oranges are eaten along the way.

-Norm

Dr. Neal Pinckney has a recipe for a sports drink that uses orange juice, water, sugar, and salt. Good as an alternative to the ones sold in the stores. Click on the link here and then go to Recipes. It's under the Snacks & Treats.

When my husband was doing long-distance training (biking & running), he would make his own "Clif Shots" by mixing cocoa powder and a pinch of salt with brown rice syrup. A little bit of that helped him make it through a hundred miles on the bike or thirty miles on foot. This was even when he was following the McDougall program and thus always loaded up with carbs for energy.

For less intense exercise like you and I do, a banana or orange though works just fine. Reminds me of when I used to hike a lot as a teenager; I always took an orange for a snack. Bananas would get too bruised up scrambling up the trails I liked. One day, I hope to be able to hike like that again!

You'd be surprised my sun burn was extremely red but it really didn't hurt much and not for long.

Yeah there are times I tend to push the envelope too but we got to remember not to over push it and hurt ourselves. I'm bad about doing that myself. My hubby has been keeping me from pushing to hard lately.

Weigh-In Day Update:

Today's weigh-in reported another 7.4 pounds lost over the last two weeks. Adding in more raw vegetables and exercising more have increased my rate of weight loss enough to get me back on track for my goal of losing 1% of my body weight each week. I'm now 0.48 pounds ahead of that goal.
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Today I rode a bicycle for the first time in over 10 years. It was awkward at first but my balance quickly came to me. I found the seat extremely uncomfortable. I will have to get a much better seat for it and even then, the transition to two wheels will take some time. I'll slowly get used to riding two wheels again and I'm sure over the next 50 pounds it'll get easier and easier. I still plan on riding my trike.
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I don't know if I mentioned in my journal here that I have decided to cease my volunteer work at the local Food Bank effective at the end of the month. While I have really enjoyed the opportunity to serve my fellow man there these past five years, there are things that make this the time to put my energy elsewhere. I simply cannot align myself with the purpose and mission of the food bank any longer. The unhealthy food we give to people is simply not what my life is about anymore. The working model of how our food banks work is that they gather excess food from various sources and redistribute it to people in need. As a result the food they receive and give out is the same unhealthy food that most people eat already. They take what they get and they give out what they get. Lots of meats, pastries, white breads, pop, and candy. We got 800 pounds of leftover Easter candy. It was a huge hit with our clients! Not with me though. There is little interest in education and healthy eating, either by the food bank or the people who come there. I cannot be the Ambassador Of Good Food yet help push off crap food to people who REALLY need to be learning how to eat healthier. So I will spend my time instead finding ways to better serve my fellow man, pushing healthy eating instead of unhealthy food.

-Norm

Your story reminds me of something I may have read here. I think it was in Australia, in a community that was quaint and beautiful, a little secluded. Over time the rich got wind of it and started moving in, driving up all the prices. Someone started a little restaurant with very low prices for the regular town folk and the restaurant was a hit - affordable and completely vegan. Too bad I forget the name of the restaurant or who posted the story (not even totally sure I read it here though!)

Anyway, I understand how you're feeling because I would feel the same way. I volunteered for a children's food education program but later left because I couldn't take how poor the nutrition side of it was. They followed the USDA guidelines and were more excited about whether or not the kids were having fun making pizza then about teaching them true health.

Just a quick reminder that, regardless of the seat on the bike, your own seat still has to get used to bike. In the biking world it's called putting in T.I.T.S. - Time In The Saddle. Make sure you have the best bike seat for you (men often prefer those with the middle cut out to avoid impinging on nerves down there and causing painful numbness) and then ride consistently, incrementally increasing your time riding. It will take a few weeks but the discomfort will subside.

And now it's time for me to go ride my bike before it gets hot out there!

You were talking about riding a 2 wheeled bike and seat being uncomfortable I had that issue when I first started riding 2 wheeled too. I changed the seat out to the widest gel seat I could find and now it's comfortable.

Kudos to you, Norm, for losing the weight, as well as rethinking your mission as to how to help serve humanity. I have no doubt you'll come up with an awesome idea. Keep us apprised.

I rode my trike today. Not the full 30 miles of the path, but the half I've ridden the most. I pushed myself harder than I ever have and it felt good. When I started a few months ago my legs were the weak link. I could get my heart pumping, but it was my legs that slowed me down. Today, for the first time, my legs had enough strength and I could pedal hard enough that it was the best cardiovascular workout I've had in over a decade! I had to slow down in a few spots to catch my breath. I did the uphill portion of the trail in 49 minutes, 7 minutes faster than my previous fastest time, and the downhill portion in 37 minutes, 3 minutes faster than my previous fastest time. The difference this time is that I did not stop and rest at the halfway point. If I had, I'm sure my time on the downhill portion would have been faster.
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35 minutes after riding the trike my blood pressure readings were:

95/70 with a pulse of 75, after driving and walking to the BP machine. and:
92/63 with a pulse of 67 after a five minute rest while sitting at the BP machine.
I'm having consistently similar readings after riding my trike. I'm thinking I should plan on riding my trike right before my next doctors appointment... I bet those readings would freak my doctor out!!
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I only walked 2.5 miles today, less than I have been, but it was enough to put me over the halfway point to my goal of 1000 miles. My math tells me that in order to finish 1000 miles by the end of the year (one of my new years resolutions) I have to average 2.2 miles a day till then. I believe I can do that! In fact, I think I can reach 1000 miles quite a bit before the end of the year.

-Norm

Great job! You're an inspiration!

I've been holding off on exercise per the instructions in Dr. McDougall's book. I've been almost a week and it's about time to start. I really would love to ride my bike, but at this weight I know I"ll break spokes, so I'll hold off til I'm a wee bit lighter.

I used to love riding my bicycle. It was fantastic. Nowdays, people drive so crazy and text message and are so selfish. I don't want to end up a negative statistic in the car vs bicycle category.

People love to give advice about bicycle seats. So, I'll give you mine. I loved my C9 seat. The owner of the bike shop couldn't believe I'd ride that thing, but lemme tell you, it's utlra comfortable. Another seat I rode on for a while was the Ergo The Seat type saddle. It's a bit weird at first, but it's ultra comfortable, especially as I lost weight.

Again, keep it up! You're great!

I was reading about your wanting to build a canopy of PVC and fabric and thought you should try electrical conduit instead of PVC--it is strong and much lighter weight.

Keep up the great work! I love hearing about you and the other people who are doing so much bike riding.

Fulenn

Thank you!
I admit, I have a hard time with holding back on exercise. It is so easy to harm yourself at larger weights and I have pushed myself too hard, suffered for it, and had to slow down as a result, multiple times. Still I push the envelope of what I'm able to do at any given time. Not because I'm a sadist or anything, but because I spent too many years able to do so little because of my weight and now I am out doing it simply because I can, and the novelty of being able to hasn't worn off yet. I hope it never does!
Ease into exercise slowly, don't overdo it, and don't do anything unsafe. Good points to remember and I should focus on them more myself!

How does it compare in cost and ease of working with?

-Norm

An interesting thing has happened.... After walking 500 miles around my neighborhood I decided to try walking the same route I've always walked, only backwards. I've been doing it a couple days now and my hip is bothering me much less and as a result I'm able to walk faster and further. What's up with that? I can think of only one explanation: The roads I walk on aren't perfectly level. They're sloped from both sides to facilitate water runoff. As a result when I walk one leg has to reach a tad bit further to the ground and doing this consistently over many miles has really irritated my bad hip. Walking the other direction takes the pressure off the bad hip and it's so much more pleasant to walk on!

Why, oh why did it take me 500 miles to discover this?

-Norm