Made OFC Tonight

I got there a little late, because I made a wrong turn, then I had to find a place to get gas, because I was running pretty low, and I didn't know the neighborhood at all. I could have made it on time, if I didn't make the wrong turn, and I would have filled up after the workout. But, I got lost, and I really had to fill up, so I compounded my problem by looking for a gas station, in what ended up being a really bad neighborhood. Finally, I found a gas station, and when I pulled up in the Boxster, someone immediately asked me for money. Anyways, I filled up, and had to get back to where the workout was supposed to be. There also turned out to be a Padres baseball game going on at the same time in the same area, so this made navigation through downtown tough as well.

Anyways, I made it, and Jason managed to fit in a full workout for me. I was able to jog pretty quickly, running and the knees are working great. We did a bunch of core strength stuff, and I worked up a sweat and drank 1.5 litres. It was great to get outside again, and everything felt great. I was afraid of the lateral movement and running, but it felt fine. I'm glad I went, and it's going to be good to get at least one of these OFC workouts in per week.

Afterwards, I went back to the gym to do 30 minutes of cardio, since it's fairly close. I'm making dinner now, which is 350g of chicken thigh, 250g of red potatoes, and baby bok choy, all using a spicy ginger teriyaki sauce I picked up yesterday. I had a pear, some crackers, and some yogurt, totalling about 900 calories.

There Go The Profits

I took the Boxster in for it's 15k mile servicing, and to fix the relay for the windshield wiper that was going crazy. The car came out all nice and clean, and the bill came to $459.94 USD. I paid in cash using my poker winnings, and received $.06 change. I think you basically look like a drug dealer these days when you pay in cash. Most pople use credit cards; women write checks.

Probably Will Go To OFC Tonight

It's either Outdoor Fitness Camp tonight, or spinning. Since I've done about 20 spinning classes since my last OFC session, I should probably go to OFC. I'm slightly worried about all the lateral accelleration on the knees, but I'll try not to hurt myself.

The Biggest Loser (Vol 2, Week 3)

I have to admit I look forward all week to NBC's The Biggest Loser. I thought it'd never live up to VH1's Celeb Fit Club 2, but I was wrong, I'm now completely hooked. I can't say I'm really rooting for any one person, or following the game. I'm just fascinated by the attempt of these obese people to lose weight. So for week 3, they've lost less than 1.5% of their body weight. This is what you'd expect to see, although I hear the contestants always hoping for much more. I have to admit, it's much more enjoyable to watch these people try so hard, compared to the complaining and excuses of the celebrities.

Anyway, this week wasn't all that interesting. They took away all the food, and made the contestants order out all their meals. It's supposed to show you how you can lose weight under any menu, and how you'll need to discipline yourself in the real world. I think some of the contestants had some problems refraining from all the food, but everyone lost weight except one girl. That's really bad, considering that at their weight, and their exercise level, just eating healthy would have lost a few pounds. She must have lost it off camera.

Next week's show looks really good. They're going to Las Vegas, which is supposed to be temptation overload. Personally, Vegas is always a weightloss trip for me. You're talking about a gym in a casino, and where gambling replaces food. I sure hope one of the contestants loses it and eats a whole buffet. What they really need to do is to get some compulsive overeaters on the show. (I went to an OA meeting last week. I know there are people that claim they have this "can't stop once started" problem. But I don't think everyone in that crowded room had it. Sure, I open a can of Pringles, and it's gone. Then, I'm likely to open the other. But I don't think I have a compulsive overeating problem. I just like chips. And fried, doughey foods.)

I rested yesterday because I really felt bad from the food poisoning. I had to go get some Peptol Bismol, which I found in caplet form. This stuff works great, though I'm not sure how. I'm taking my 4th (and hopefully final) dose now, and will do spinning tonight. BTW, I'm now using the 5th (narrowest) notch on my belt. When I started my programme 3 months ago, I was using the 1st (widest) notch. Feels great.

Expensive Aspertame-Water

Okay, shoot me for shilling for $1.50/bottle water, but this stuff really tastes good, and it has about 1/4 of the calories of Gatorade. It's actually a Gatorade product, aimed at the anorexic/gym crowd. They used to say, "You can't beat water", but there's a good argument for this stuff.

Burger King

On my way back from AZ yesterday, I drove about 6 hours, drank about 1.5 litres of water, ate a banana, 240 calories of trail mix w/ M&M's and nuts, and finally, stopped at a Burger King for a hamburger. I might have been in El Centro, CA, or something.

If you walk up to the cashier, and they ask you, "What would you like?", and you say "Can I have a hamburger?", they'll ask you, "A regular hamburger? That's it?" Any way, it came out to $1.10 USD, and they put it in a nice little brown bag to go. I was pretty hungry, and it tasted very good. Sure, the "meat" is pretty bad, and the bun is not whole wheat, but it's not bad for a 310 calorie meal. Actually, it's pretty close to a 40:30:30 (carb:protein:fat) ratio. From BK's nutritional info, the hamburger works out to about 40:20:40. Ok, so it's a little fatty. It's ok for an occasional stop-gap meal.

81.4 kg

Hit a new low this morning, on this Week 13 weigh-in. I've now lost 8.6 kg, and my progress has been fairly linear, at .65 kg / week. That's close to my 100g / day goal, which I visualise as scuplting off a handful of fat from my body each day.

I still feel the food poisoning effects, which is really killing my appetite. I hope it goes away soon.

Dumped Some Money

In the last 4 poker sessions of the weekend, I lost about $190, bringing the trip total to a reasonable +$260 net. Not bad for a vacation. I went shopping at Whole Foods tonight, and now my wallet has almost exactly the same amount as it did on Wednesday afternoon. I only used my credit card for gas, and paid cash for everything else.

I got a bout of food poisoning from eating old food out of my friends refrigerator. I found some almonds, that I assumed were ok. He said they're probably from the spring, and I should have checked before eating anything. I guess we all have some very old stuff in the fridge, that is known to be toxic by the owner, who is just too lazy to throw it out. So I'll probably make a low weigh-in tomorrow morning.

Tacos El Gringo

After the gym this morning we looked for a local Mexican restaurant, as I had a foolish idea that local might mean authentic. Well, local might mean "not a franchise", but that's about it. The restaurant we found in Scottsdale served Mexican-American comfort food, the standard Anglosised version of a combination plate. I guess it's similar to the standard "Chinese food" served to an American clientelle. Things that mean something only in America, and probably have a different expectation in other countries. Anyways, I had a carnitas taco, which actually was pretty close to what it should be, and a green corn tamale. It was served with rice and beans and cheese, which I didn't need. I ate a bunch of chips, but left a lot of the rice and beans on the plate. I don't think there's a place to "keep it real" in Scottsdale, the whitest place I've ever seen.

Now I'm Really Done

Another 1/2 hour of $50 buy-in PLO8. Won another $50. Time to go to bed.

Gambo, AZ

Well, that was a useful day in Scottsdale. After spinning, and watching Port Charles, we headed off to the Fort McDowell casino. Twelve hours of various Hold'Em games, blackjack, and wandering around the casino, I'm $400 richer, and I own a new country/rock CD by the guys playing in the casino lounge. I'm almost too tired now to play online. Maybe I'll pick up my second wind after 1am.

Busman's Holiday

I made it to Arizona in about 5 hours, driving the Boxster with the top down for the first few hours out of San Diego. By the time I hit Yuma, AZ, it was about 40 degC. I realised convertibles are suitable for places about 30 degC, otherwise hardtops and air conditioners are appropriate.

Ok, so I get into Scottsdale last night, and already it's been gambo / workout / gambo. I found the local 24 Hour Fitness, and made spinning this morning, and we're in a $50 buy-in PLO8 game now. I'm also checking out the soaps. Port Charles looks preposterous, I may have to watch it. Some good looking guy is holding a good looking girl captive in some Dogville-style set. This kidnapper seriously looks like Kurt Warner. He brings her a tray of food, and she says she's been held 24 hours without anything, but her hair and makeup look perfect. She looks more self-conscious about being on camera than anything else. She suddenly overturns the tray. Drama. I can understand how gay guys like watching these things. They're so campy.

Well, I'm up pretty well in the PLO8 game now. We're about to head out to the other casino in town, Fort McDowell and sit in a $3/$6 Omaha8 game all day. More casino food.

Road Trip

I'm headed out to Arizona to see a friend, where hopefully, it's still hot and sunny. Autumn is arriving here in San Diego, which gets me down a little. For me, surviving winter can be a challenge. I know, I'm talking about a Southern California "winter" like it's the frontier in the 1800's, or hiking across the Artic Circle. Well, I'll hunker down with my new furnance and humidifier, take occasional visits to the tanning booth, and God willing, I'll make it through 'till Spring.

I'm re-watching The Biggest Loser Week 2 while cleaning up the house, and I'm still trying to figure out how the guys lost another 2.5% of their body weight, following the 6.5% they did in Week 1. The women are immediately down to losing only 1% of their weight, which is about what I'd expect. I'm losing about 0.75% per week, and I'm quite pleased with this rate. Well, it'll be interesting to see when the guys drop to a 1% loss. It'll probably be next week. I'm also enjoying all the advertisements for weight loss products during the show. It's kind of my Super Bowl. I'm going to have to find a house party to watch Week 3.

Rest Day

I took a day off from the gym last night, since I was pretty beat up from the previous workouts. I took care of a few errands, and checked out the VW dealer, to see if I wanted a GTI as a second car. I think I'll wait to see the 2006 (Golf V) body style before I made a decision.

I ate a bunch of stuff, and played poker all night. I ended up +$125, playing $25 and $50 max buy-in PLO8 (Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo). I missed out on a lot of sleep. Not really worth the time.

82.0 kg

I have no idea why I made a new low weight this morning. Yesterday was a new low, and today I'm under that by another .4 kg. I'm definitely not starving myself by any means. Yesterday I had 2 eggs and a tortilla for breakfast; for lunch, I had a fish sandwich, a fruit bowl, and quite a bit of raw trail mix. I did spinning very hard, averaging 90% MHR for an hour, which is a very high output. Immediately after, I bought a tuna sandwich at Starbucks, and ate it in the gym, sitting on a lifecycle, watching Monday Night Football. I did another strength training session 45 minutes later, and finally went home. I cooked dinner, making 140g of pork tenderloin, zucchini, a tortilla, some crackers with sour cream, some prosciutto, an apple, some yogurt, and handfulls of Grape Nuts cereal.

82.4 kg

There must be a reason why I always seem to lose weight over the weekend, while my weight tends to go up during the week. I'm sure there's a large percentage of people that feel the opposite, but it's always been like this for me. The biggest difference is that I work out in the mornings on weekends, but I work out at night on week days. But, I've looked into the research on elevated metabolism following a workout, and I remember concluding there wasn't that much of a compelling reason to change. Well, I may experiment by warming up each morning on my lifecycle (not cardio levels). I'm starting to believe more in fat-burning low-intensity activity lately.

I watched movies on the couch yesterday, trying to catch up on sleep from my massive Friday and Saturday poker sessions. I surfed the net on my laptop, and played some $.25/$.50 pot-limit Omaha8. I won another $60, and transfered it to my checking account. That makes a total of $440 for the weekend, which was a total waste of time, except for the workouts and the trip to Target. My friend called yesterday evening inviting me to dinner, but I made excuses, and eventually headed off to the gym. I got a full strength workout in, and 40 minutes of easy Stairmaster @ 65% MHR. Then I went to Whole Foods, and got out of there for under $40 with $20 worth of food (about 1.5kg of meat, some crackers, tortillas, fruits, and vegetables).

I finally got around to cooking at around 10pm, and I made about 300g of sausage (4 links), had a bunch of crackers, some prosciutto, an apple, some yogurt, and an artichoke. This must have been the first time I made an artichoke. My mom used to steam it when we were kids, and we'd have it with mayonaise. My father would have first crack at the heart, and we'd all scrape the meat off the leaves with our teeth. I think my mom would say that Americans would only eat the heart, and would throw away the rest. I still believe that, but I'll have to ask around to find out.

82.6 kg

Moved my low weight down a little this morning, following a poker/workout/tacos/poker weekend so far. I played a while on Friday night, didn't get to sleep until 3am, and made the gym the next morning at 9am. I did strength, spinning, then headed to Chula Vista for Tacos El Gordo, and the Village Club. Ironically, I ran into someone at the restaurant who recognized me from a poker game. Of course, he had been playing, and told me a story about bubbling out (finishing 1 place out of the money) in a tournament the night before. He was on the button, no openers, and he raises all in against KK in the blinds. Moron. When I got to the Village Club, I re-told the story to Cowboy (floorman who got famous one night on a televised WPT event), who said that he stops listening to people when they get to that point in the conversation. He correctly concludes this type of person can't be reasoned with.

So I start playing what ends up being a 12 hour $3/6 Omaha8 session. People chronically bleeding money. It's me an the house preying upon these people who should not be playing. In 12 hours, we probably played 300 hands, and the house collects $1200 in rake, and the dealers collect another $300 in tokes. I won $280, so that's about $1800 gone, or $225 lost per person. Which is probably too conservative. And they're there again today.

I played way too much poker again this weekend. I'm up about $380, and will buy some cool t-shirts from PalmerCash.

Back To Calorie Counting

I've been working out hard on the cardio all week, but my weight spiked up in spite of the workouts. Even though I haven't eaten poorly, I probably need to restrict my calories to lose weight. I'm going to return to calorie counting for a week or so, to see what happens.

Fuhrer Says What?

I just watched a "documentary" investigating the earth-shaterring question of whether Adolf Hitler was a closested homosexual (Hidden Fuhrer). Let's not trivialize the fact that this maniac was responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of people, but really, what was up with Eva Braun? What's German for beard? And hello, cellmates with Rudolph Hess for a year? If we only had such in-depth journalism back in the 30's, WWII, or the holocaust might never have happened. These are the what-ifs of history.

The documentary is basically 90 minutes of homosayswhat? Hitler liked art and opera, therefore, Hitler was gay. Hitler designed the costumes and sets of the Nuremburg rallies. Helloooo. Hitler commissioned Albert Speer to place naked male statuary in the Reich buildings. And so on, this kind of conclusive, irrefutable logic. Reminds me of a college paper someone once wrote that analyzed the Godzilla movies as poltical propaganda by Japanese nationalists to support a constitutional change allowing them to re-form the army (instead of the weak self-defense forces).

Also reminds me of the scene in The Producers where Franz Liebkind says "Not many people know it, but the Fuhrer was a terrific dancer."

Ran Without Pain Tonight

I saw the season premier of NBC's The Biggest Loser tonight. I just happened to catch it on the on-screen guide, and I decided to tivo the season. I watched it, and was instantly hooked. First, it's in HD, always a plus, and it's big-budget, and well produced. Finally, the kicker is the reality element of the show, where you get involved with the personalities. I'm less interested in the competative nature of the elimination rounds. I'd rather keep in touch with the progress of all the participants. However, they do immediately follow up on the eliminated player, fast forwarding 6 months or so, to show their long-term progress. That's a very nice feature, which makes the eliminations more acceptible for me.

Anyways, the show is also inspirational, even though you really don't see too much of what they're actually doing on a daily basis to lose their weight. And, their weight loss doesn't look healthy or sustainable. In week one, the average weight loss for all the contestants was about 6.5% of their initial weights. Some of these guys were losing more than 20 lbs, which was probably the average. That's weight loss for one week.

So I decided to get off the couch, and take a walk around the neighborhood for a bit after dinner. My knees have been feeling better, and I decided to try running up the hills. I was happily suprised that running felt fine (other than my weight), and I was running naturally without pain. I haven't run without pain in a very long time. I know it'll feel even better once I lose another 10 kg. Ultimately, I might lose another 15 kg. It's just a matter of time.

The Spinning Instructor Is So Hot

This girl that runs spinning on Monday is so hot. She's petite and wears hot spandex-type outfits. She has a six-pack and is very, very toned. Out of all the instructors, she probably puts in the most effort in the saddle. Spinning on Monday from the front row is better than porn or strip clubs. Just thought I'd let you know.

82.8 kg

I was suprised by this morning's new low weigh-in at 82.8 kg. I haven't been doing anything special lately, and in fact, I've been eating at Tacos El Gordo in Chula Vista for the last two days. On Friday, I skipped a workout, and went there for dinner, before heading to the Village Club cardroom. It was crowded, and there wasn't a free booth, so I shared a table with some people. We started talking, and this woman asked me if I knew how to order the right things. I told her I've only tried the carne asada (grilled beef) and adobada (roasted pork). She then told me about the nobales (cactus), lengua (tounge) tacos, and hand-made tortillas. I said I probably wouldn't like the tounge. She said it's good once you get over the idea of the body part, but I told her I was fine with the anatomy, it's just that there's no fat in the tounge. Things must have fat to taste good. If the tounge was fatty, it'd be a univerally desired part of the cow. She asked me how many tacos I'd eat, and I told her two, and she said even she ate four, and her boyfriend had six. These people were thin, and I'm sure almost no one except a small child would eat only two tacos. But, it's the right amount, I'm pretty sure. I ordered a dozen fresh tortillas to go, which was a little difficult, until someone translated my order.

So, on Saturday, I ended up doing two spinning classes and a full strength training workout. I woke up at 6am, had a few tortillas for breakfast, and headed to the gym. After the first spinning class, I ate a sandwich, the I tried to go to the Outdoor Fitness Camp workout. When I got there, I found they moved it, so I headed back to the gym, in time to sign up for the second spinning class, eat a protein bar, and get in most of a strength workout. After spinning, I finished the rest of strength, then headed to Tacos El Gordo. I had two carne asada tacos, then I tried the cactus taco, and the tounge taco. Just as I thought, the tounge didn't taste very good. Of course, it is probably much lower calorie than regular beef, so it's good for you.

Anyway, I played two sessions at the Village, and ended up about $59 down. Argh. For dinner, I made about 4 tacos from the fresh tortillas, using about 400g (1 lb) of chicken thighs, onions, and peppers. I also had a couple extra tortillas.

Eating Bad

We had a couple of company functions the last two days, and I ended up eating some things I normally wouldn't. At an upscale restaurant/lodge, I had a chocolate macadamian tort in lieu of a workout, which I'm sure had more calories than the dinner itself. The next day I actually got into a gym near the hotel, and did a strength workout, but I followed that by eating a few uncalled-for bagels, and a lot of tortilla chips at the company picnic. I didn't eat too much of the barbeque, but I ate a big bag of M&M's for dinner.

I got on the scale this morning, and it looks like I didn't do too much damage. Maybe next time I'm around food, I'll do better.

Game Tonight

We're about to go out to the Saddle Creek Lodge, and their menu features fresh and mildly exotic game. Even though I'll have the very rare chance to eat elk, I'll probably get the ling cod. I've caught one of these in the SF Bay before, when I was a teenager, and even back then we joked about how much mercury the thing probably contained. Maybe I'll just get the elk or venison, if it's fresh.

X-Rays Negative

I had a pretty bad scare that I destroyed the cartilage in my knees, due to my arthritis, and being sedate for 2 years. Before I was diagnosed with arthritis, my joints were wearing down from the inflamation, and the x-ray of my right wrist would make you cringe. So, I thought I was in serious trouble with my knees, since I hadn't been exercising while I was eating pizza and fast food and balooning up to 90+ kg. My knees had been bothering me since December of last year and I've neen pretty much hobling around since. Since starting exercise, my knees have felt sometimes better, sometimes worse.

Anyways, my doctor ordered x-rays of the knees, to see if there was bone erosions or narrowing of the gap. The radiologist actually wrote that there was narrowing of the gap (the gap is where your cartilage is, and you want a healthy, large gap). He said there were effusions too, but no bone erosion, and no large bone spurs. But, I got very scared about the narrowing part, and I thought I was screwed. Today, when the doctor brought up my x-rays (electronically, BTW), I was very scared to look at them. But, he told me that while he might be able to see some signs of effusions (excess fluid), they looked very good, and I had a large, healthy gap. He said the radiologist just wrote the "narrowing" and "effusions" stuff, because he thought he was supposed to find something. Amazing relief. The pain that I have running is probably just due to tendonitis (from over-training to the point of injury), my excess weight (I still have 10 - 15 kg to lose), and the long period of inactivity. I'm in the process of making it all healthy again. I am a happy camper. Spinning tonight!

83.6 kg

Hit another low this morning. They've been coming in rapid succession lately, like on a good stretch when I was weighing every gram of food, and killing myself at cardio. Of course, I haven't been weighing food for a few weeks now, so I'm not sure exactly how much I'm eating. It varies. When I made the 1.5kg pork roast, I almost ate half of it the first sitting. Now, almost a week later, I'm finishing it off slowly.

I started up the Porsche for the first time in well over a year, and drove it around yesterday. I guess I really do like it. I thought I was going to sell it, and get a BMW, but I think I may keep it, and get a new Volkswagen Golf.

Of course, I gambled my ass off this weekend, which is much better than sitting on the couch watching television, but is worse than reading a book or doing something constructive. I won about $190 in two long poker sessions. I think I may take up casino walking as part of my weight loss program.

My Chili Is Getting Better

As I posted earlier, my last attempt at "chili" was a disaster, 12 hours of slow cooking two pounds of stew beef into an oxidized, monochromatic food mess. I decided the next time I'd make chili, I'd use ground beef and onions for flavour, and I'd make it on the stove in about an hour. So, last night I soaked some kidney beans, and this morning, I rooted around the cabinets for something to season with. I found probably a 5-year old can of enchilada mix, that still seemed edible after opening it up. Seeing as how I didn't have anything else, except for some cumin, I poured it into the my large saucepan, and hoped for the best.

As this mix started firming up, I started to imagine my chili would end up like a fantastic Taco Bell enchirito version of chili. I was getting pretty excited actually. I browned the ground buffalo and onions, and added them in. I stirred my enchirito mixture, and I was certain this was going to be the best kick-ass thing I've ever made. I figured I made up a new amazing recipe.

In actuality, it tasted suprisingly like my last attempt at chili. It was better, but it was obviously missing many things. Coincidentally, the Rachael Ray show was playing on FoodTV while I sat down for lunch, and she was making a huge batch of chili. She was using more ingredients than I'd ever thought of, and she called it a beginnger's recipe. This is getting a little frustrating. However, this last chili is edible, and I'll probably eat more of it later.

84.0 kg

A new low weigh-in this morning, at a new low 25.5% body fat measurement. Like the week before, I've lost another .4 kg. So I'm losing about 50g of fat a day, which isn't tremendous, but is still a macro-quantity I can visualize. And it adds up.

I may take a few sample days next week to weigh my food and add up the calories. I wonder how much I'm eating now that I'm not compulsively counting calories. I'm probably eating more now, but you never know. Let me try to estimate the calories in yesterday's intake:

protein cookie -- 160 cal
gatorade -- 100 cal
grilled veggie sandwich -- 400 cal
roast pork, chicken -- 250 cal
tortilla -- 120 cal
kiwi fruit -- 70 cal
2 slices pizza -- 500 cal
roll -- 100 cal
M&M's -- 250 cal

total = 1950 cal

Not bad. I ate more the day before (like a large portion of the 1.5kg pork roast I made Tuesday night), and really didn't feel like breakfast before working out this morning. I did eat a protein cookie, because I wanted to have enough power for spinning. Anyways, I guess I can regulate what I eat ok. Now, that is.

Strength Training Again

I think it's ok to do strength training again. I did a strength workout last night on cardio rest day, and this morning I did about 1/2 a workout before spinning. I'll take it easy for a while, until it feels safe. I'll probably take a day off in between strength workouts, to prevent overdoing it.

I haven't mentioned it, but I ran into an old friend from those teenage vandalism years that I haven't seen or thought about in 25 years. I saw him in my spinning class, and he looked just the same as before. Of course, it turns out he's gay. I had no idea, and I never picked up on any signs. He acts the same today as before, and maybe he sets off a standard gaydar set, but I have no idea. I figured it out when I found him at the gay gym, and he had a guy sitting on his lap on the bench outside.

One of the reasons I work out at the gay gym is because I don't want to run into anyone I may know. At my local gym, I'll see a few people who might know me. At the gay gym, everyone is different, and younger. There's no reason anyone I know would be here.

The guy I ran into now talks to me a lot. We used to do a lot of juvenile vandalism in a set of friends that included my brother, and the Schneider's (two other brothers the same age as us). We'd do things like rip off the Pacific Bell phone trucks, do low-level phreaking, and computer stuff. It was a pretty formative time. This guy was a few years older than us, and we simultaneously looked up to him, and gave him a hard time. He had red cheeks, and in the group he was known as Pumpkin. I never called him by his first name. Sometimes his last name would be an alternate label for him, depending on context. But as far as we were concerned, his birth certificate said "Pumpkin". Come to think of it, I think this was his CB handle as well. Ahh, the 70's.

Anyway, I wish I could tell this guy I had a family and a life. I wonder what he thinks I'm doing at the gay gym. I get the feeling he's probing around a little when he asks me why I come all the way there, instead of my local branch. Also, he asks if I live alone. I try to stare at all the hot chicks that pass by as we have this conversation. I think he buys my explanation that I'm just trying to lose weight. I tell him I get into a routine (meaning I'm attached to this gym and classes) and he understands that. Maybe he's just suprised I'll burn the gas to drive here. I pick up on the fact that he doesn't have a lot of disposable income. He tells me he took off 8 years and lived out of his truck, just hiking every day. He also traveled a lot. I don't know anyone except well-off suburbanites, so I find it a little awkward discussing our adult lives. I'm not sure why he tells me all this. I'm not really comfortable talking about my life, so I try to avoid it. He just kind of puts it out there. I'm pretty sure I come off as being insecure. He probably wonders why. I'm working on it.

84.2 kg

I got the courage to get on the scale this morning, following the Oreos, Ice Cream, and chocolate break over the last few days. I was suprised to see a new low @ 84.2 kg, bringing the total weight loss to 5.8 kg so far. More importantly, I'm still losing weight while not weighing food, and not being paranoid about food.

It's spinning again tonight. I still have the chest injury, so I have to avoid strength training for a few more days until I can be sure I won't aggrevate it. Spinning to the iPod is great. It's now my trademark. That and riding like the Tour de France. I made a new playlist for it after buying some stuff off iTunes.