Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - I've missed you, BF Clydes

Does anyone remember me? :roflmao2:

It's been a long, tough year for a thousand reasons that I won't get into, but I'm back to join "the herd" :).

Last year I got down to 336 in October from a high of 567 in June of 2005. Now, well, I'm at 392.5 as of yesterday. Let's just say, I could write a book on trial and error with the "error" chapters probably being in the thousands... :). For now I'll document my errors to help those of you who may make similar ones. Last fall we made the choice to start looking to buy a new home, around the same time I was off the bike for six weeks due to an injury. To add one more to the mix, around the same time we had layoffs at work that continued through early spring.

The result of all this was stress-induced eating/drinking, not much cycling due to buying and moving in early January. By March 1 I was up to 370 and started getting some focus back. Through the early summer I did pretty good, dropping down to 356 by August 1, just in time for work to get really busy which was compounded by our department being about a third of the size it was two years ago. The kids started school shortly after that, an hour earlier than their previous school (ever try getting kids used to waking up an hour earlier? It's November and we're FINALLY almost there), and I started school as well to also FINALLY finish up the 18 credits left on my B.S.

Summary is that now at the end of November I stepped on the scale and saw "392.5", which really wasn't pleasant. That's, of course, putting it mildly. It's the result of an amazingly stressful year with very little miles on the bike, too many miles in the car, terrible food choices, and way too much beer. Hell, for a little time there I started smoking again - after years of giving it up.

Now I realize that there's no such thing as too little time to ride, and am working to correct the damage done. I swear, I'm so sick of falling off the wagon I could scream.

Thanks for reading, tough for me to write, but I appreciate knowing this forum is around for me to write in.

Ben,

I hate to hear the part about the beer. That is sad:( But I do understand the stress part. I took on a new job this summer and have become so damned wrapped up in it, that I forgot about the most important person in my life...............ME!! I eat late, my riding has gone to almost nothing, and I have gained too. (I am not ready to confess to the "too much beer" thing yet).

Good luck to you man. Put blinders on during the Xmas holiday and may good times and a healthier you be in your near future.

Jay

I think we all struggle with the same things from time to time. Get on the forum and post about what you have done, and that sometimes makes you feel like you need to work harder. I did a short (10 miles) ride on my rollers, then we had to start setting up Christmas in our house. I will do 10 - 30 more later today on the rollers. Try to make time for YOU. Talk to the wife and see what will work for her to help. My wife wants to see me more, because of her work hours, but sometimes it just doesn't work out and we get to see each other when we go to our youngest daughters sporting events.

Remember that YOU have to work on YOU to keep the family going also. YOU need YOU time.

Good to see you back around Bdinger! Start posting weight on the biggest loser thread again. Remember, you are never defeated until you give up. Glad to see you have not given up! Year to year, month to month, week to week, day to day, hour to hour, keep on fighting...

Does anyone remember me? :roflmao2:


I do. You are that brave man in Nebraska who lost 200 some pounds. One of the tough guys here on Bike Forums I admire.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?466700-Saturday-135-miles-of-gravel-what-am-I-thinking&highlight=gravel+bdinger

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?348874-Riding-to-my-wedding-Sept-29th-ride-report&highlight=chubby+super+biker

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?548419-Hey-We-have-a-celebrity&highlight=kanza

And I still admire you. The question is, do you still admire yourself? You should.

Ben,

I hate to hear the part about the beer. That is sad:( But I do understand the stress part. I took on a new job this summer and have become so damned wrapped up in it, that I forgot about the most important person in my life...............ME!! I eat late, my riding has gone to almost nothing, and I have gained too. (I am not ready to confess to the "too much beer" thing yet).

Good luck to you man. Put blinders on during the Xmas holiday and may good times and a healthier you be in your near future.

Jay

Jay - Right there is my exact problem. I was always eating too late (EVERY meal) which resulted in me being famished and eating either far too much, or making the wrong/fast choice. In the evenings the beer would help wind down, which was kind of dumb considering that if I would have just gone on a ride.. but retrospect is 20/20, of course. :) Thanks, though, amigo - we'll both make it through. Life is a series of hills we have to climb.


I think we all struggle with the same things from time to time. Get on the forum and post about what you have done, and that sometimes makes you feel like you need to work harder. I did a short (10 miles) ride on my rollers, then we had to start setting up Christmas in our house. I will do 10 - 30 more later today on the rollers. Try to make time for YOU. Talk to the wife and see what will work for her to help. My wife wants to see me more, because of her work hours, but sometimes it just doesn't work out and we get to see each other when we go to our youngest daughters sporting events.

Remember that YOU have to work on YOU to keep the family going also. YOU need YOU time.

That's one thing we've BOTH had a hard time doing - and both of us have had heath consequences because of it. We've finally come to the realization that the kids aren't going to suffer if we take an hour or two a day for us, in fact in the end they'll be better for it. That's been tough to work out, but it's going to. For me the biggest problem is that most of the time I only realistically have my lunch hour and the mornings to get exercise in so I've gotta suck it up and wake up early. Another part of the problem is I need to FINALLY get around to cleaning out the shower at work, waking up at 0530 and riding for a good 90 mins on the way in. That's on, high on, the list for this week :).


Good to see you back around Bdinger! Start posting weight on the biggest loser thread again. Remember, you are never defeated until you give up. Glad to see you have not given up! Year to year, month to month, week to week, day to day, hour to hour, keep on fighting...

Thanks man, I plan to do so. It's tough.. but what is good that's easy?


I do. You are that brave man in Nebraska who lost 200 some pounds. One of the tough guys here on Bike Forums I admire.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?466700-Saturday-135-miles-of-gravel-what-am-I-thinking&highlight=gravel+bdinger

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?348874-Riding-to-my-wedding-Sept-29th-ride-report&highlight=chubby+super+biker

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?548419-Hey-We-have-a-celebrity&highlight=kanza

And I still admire you. The question is, do you still admire yourself? You should.

Neil, thank you - seriously - thank you. It's taken some time for me to deal with all of this - but I think I do. I'm starting to again, let's do it that way, the apathy is slowly giving way to pride. My wife just got finished giving me a very similar speech, and believe me - it helps to know there are folks like you and her out there.

p.s. Still using those performance shoe covers, every time I throw 'em on I say to myself "WWND?" :)

My wife and I, for the first time, decided to combat our weight as a team. We've previously motivated each other, but never worked out together or really did much of a "team" thing - we both realize that just isn't going to work. So now we're hitting it together, and we also joined a 5% winter weight loss challenge (for me, that's 20lbs over 3 months) on sparkpeople.com. She took some "before" pics of me today:

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ysiJFvX1F0E/SxMA3pNHvkI/AAAAAAAAEGk/lyOq4nmA7gQ/s512/Mobile%20Photo%20Nov%2029%2C%202009%204%2047%2022%20PM.jpg

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ysiJFvX1F0E/SxMA3zTL_RI/AAAAAAAAEGo/MwjCABBch04/s512/Mobile%20Photo%20Nov%2029%2C%202009%204%2047%2007%20PM.jpg

Ouch. The camera is never fun. But we're in it together, and our 6 year old snapped a pic for us so we can look back together and see how far we've come:
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ysiJFvX1F0E/SxMA4apCLgI/AAAAAAAAEGw/fUVDIIcRH-I/s512/Mobile%20Photo%20Nov%2029%2C%202009%205%2011%2047%20PM.jpg

I

Welcome back Ben, you have been missed.

2009 seems to have been a weird year of transitions, trials, and turbulence for more than a few. I dread the 09 goals thread when it resurfaces, but it has made me rethink my 2010 goals to be more realistic and reflect just moving forward as far as weight, riding, and living.

It's good to have you back, the place is missing something when you are otherwise occupied.

Welcome back, Ben. And best wishes to both of you!!

So where is the photo of you wearing a Viking helmet and a clock 'round yo neck? :-)

So where is the photo of you wearing a Viking helmet and a clock 'round yo neck? :-)

Haha, that actually wasn't me - I meant to reply to you on FB but of course I forgot. It's a friend who bears a striking resemblance to me on picture, in person he's about a foot shorter - LOL

Neil, thank you - seriously - thank you. It's taken some time for me to deal with all of this - but I think I do. I'm starting to again, let's do it that way, the apathy is slowly giving way to pride. My wife just got finished giving me a very similar speech, and believe me - it helps to know there are folks like you and her out there.


You have an awful lot to be proud of. Remember that.

Welcome back, I have had "life" bite me in the butt a few times. The trick, as you know, is to just keep trying. I'm glad you have someone willing to work with, you can keep each other motivated. I imagine loosing weight with a loved one can help boost your drive, and your desire to succeed. I read a great article in Bicycling about a family who rides together, sounds fun to have more then one obsessed person in the room. Keep it up.

You have an awful lot to be proud of. Remember that.

Thanks Neil, as you probably also know it's far easier to focus on the failures than it is to focus on success. We humans are an odd bunch :).


Welcome back, I have had "life" bite me in the butt a few times. The trick, as you know, is to just keep trying. I'm glad you have someone willing to work with, you can keep each other motivated. I imagine loosing weight with a loved one can help boost your drive, and your desire to succeed. I read a great article in Bicycling about a family who rides together, sounds fun to have more then one obsessed person in the room. Keep it up.

Thanks, and know that you are one of the ones who inspire me. I too started as a 500+er, and I know how hard this thing can be - stick with it, you're doing amazing. Are you at the point where you can buy clothes in normal stores yet? If not, that alone is worth the loss - not having to mail order or buy at the Big and Tall stores :).

Thanks Neil, as you probably also know it's far easier to focus on the failures than it is to focus on success. We humans are an odd bunch :).


Speaking of which, meet the enforcer of the Clyde Forum. It's a Diamondback Black Anacondasin Mamba, although it prefers to be called Doug. It collects water bottles from Clydes if they crash when he's around. TXVintage and Bautieri can explain further. :-)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2666/3854479667_7f685f5da9_b.jpg

Speaking of which, meet the enforcer of the Clyde Forum. It's a Diamondback Black Anacondasin Mamba, although it prefers to be called Doug. It collects water bottles from Clydes if they crash when he's around. TXVintage and Bautieri can explain further. :-)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2666/3854479667_7f685f5da9_b.jpg
Lol I remember that post and I can relate (snakes are afraid of me......wait...reverse that:D )

Thanks, and know that you are one of the ones who inspire me. I too started as a 500+er, and I know how hard this thing can be - stick with it, you're doing amazing. Are you at the point where you can buy clothes in normal stores yet? If not, that alone is worth the loss - not having to mail order or buy at the Big and Tall stores :).
Yeah I can buy my pants at normal stores, I'm down to a 44 from a high of 56. My shirts on the other hand, I feel I am a 3-4xlt but my girlfriend (yeah I acquired one of those along the way..go figure) says I look good in a 2xlt, I disagree.

Welcome back man, you will be back to it in no time!

I sort of wondered where you went. I understand about the new house and job thing. I went through the same thing a year ago. Welcome back !!!!

Good to meet you. I have been "slimming" since July with help from the bike and 90% less beer. 1 pound at a time brother, and celebrate those victories. I don't use food to celebrate anymore, I buy a new gadget or bike gizmo to help me remember and not want to go backwards.

From one Ben to another, welcome back. It's good to see you posting again!

Speaking of which, meet the enforcer of the Clyde Forum. It's a Diamondback Black Anacondasin Mamba, although it prefers to be called Doug. It collects water bottles from Clydes if they crash when he's around. TXVintage and Bautieri can explain further. :-)

The "Doug" story can be found in these link:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?558221-I-Think-the-Universe-was-Trying-to-tell-me-Something&highlight=doug+mamba (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?558221-I-Think-the-Universe-was-Trying-to-tell-me-Something&highlight=doug+mamba)

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?566582-The-Saga-Continues&highlight=doug+mamba (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?566582-The-Saga-Continues&highlight=doug+mamba)


Also search for doug and mamba in the search feild, you'll get some good hits.

Hey there Ben;

Welcome back. I understand the frustration with "falling off the wagon" and putting weight back on. The past few fall seasons, due to work, I wind up putting on several pounds back on, and spending too much time off the bike. By the time I can get back on the bike, the weather has gotten cold and I start to wonder if I really want to go for a ride. A good pair of gloves really helps on those cold mornings.

I'm going to try and only make one trip past the holiday buffets, and hopefully start the new year no worse than I am now.

Good luck, and keep us posted on your progress.

David

Good to have you back Ben!
I'd started wondering if you had left us for your own blog. (I still check it every couple of days to see if you've posted)
Your voice was sorely missed around here.

Good to have you back Ben!
I'd started wondering if you had left us for your own blog. (I still check it every couple of days to see if you've posted)
Your voice was sorely missed around here.

Progress! You can now distinguish between the voices.

This is good:)

Wow, thanks everyone (again) - seriously. One nice thing about previously being on the wagon, even if you've fallen off? It's amazingly easy to get the focus back. I've been working out about an hour every day, and commuting. Today I just made two huge leaps forward that I'm super stoked about, which should help firm up this life change.

First, I previously kept a car at work to use on work errands. This allowed me to bike commute, while still being available to drive somewhere if needed. Downside of this was, of course, that it made it easy for me to wimp out at the end of the day (when I'm generally the weakest) and drive home. Well.. the economics of my family owning three cars for two drivers, one of which who drives extremely rarely made me go "okay, this is ridiculous". We have cars at work, so today I lobbied successfully to get formal approval to use work cars for whatever work errands I need to do. Score! Now I'm going to sell both my "stay at work car" and my pickup, then replace both with a thrifty Subaru wagon (which can haul bikes + kids!) - and leave it at home.

Second, I FINALLY got off my butt and got keys for our showers (which are being used for storage), and am moving everything out so I can actually use them. Double score! Now I can wake up, hit the bike for a nice long ride, then come in to work and be ready to rock.

I'm most excited about 1, because really owning so many vehicles has been both irrational and a source of stress. I don't want to sell my truck because like most I have some odd "bond" with it (I won't lie, I love that big V8 powered beast), but it makes no sense to keep paying for it. My car, well, I just don't like it at all and it makes no sense that it should stay at work all the time. I get reimbursed for mileage, sure, but the maintenance stuff is still there. And, finally, it removes the excuse to drive home (which, ironically, I use quite a bit while I rarely if ever use the excuse to drive in).

Changes are a comin'...

I've been resisting the 3rd car thing (although we have 3 drivers in the family).
I've found that the daughter needing the car for work removes the obstacles to cycling to work...especially when the weather is less than ideal. (c'mon 3 miles is nothin'...there's only so wet you can get, etd.)

Now, if I could only get showers for work...

You know, once you get into the habit of riding to work for a couple years, it gets to the point where driving is the thing that seems weird. That's what I finally got to, and went "well okay.. then why the heck do I still own three cars for two drivers?" For me that became because I kept the car at work for work errands, and the truck at home for home errands with the van for the wife + kids/family trips. So of course I did some numbers and realized what the REAL costs for keeping the car at work were, and that was a great excuse to get rid of the car here - and the excuse to drive here.

Of course I'm a big fan of Dave Ramsey, and then I did some dirty numbers work on which vehicle to keep - the truck or the car, or to sell both and "upgrade". In the end I realized that while I'll be taking a 50% hit on the truck compared to what I paid for it, insurance plus fuel for it for a year (and my insurance is CHEAP) still are costing me around $1,000/yr. Which is, you know, dumb just because I have an odd emotional attachment to it, and because I don't want to take a "hit" when really I already am taking quite a hit every month. Realizing that even with the work that my car is due for, it's still going to be significantly less than what I paid for it, and that the only real reason I want a newer car is for appearance - sanity has kicked in.

Remember folks, seriously, smart people don't give a damn what you drive - they care about what you are. I work with plenty of "rich" people, and they drive much less flashy cars than most of the, well, poseurs. They don't wear the flashy clothes, and they don't have the flashy "things". All that crap is for is to make up for what's lacking inside most of America, and it's just wrong. You know another word denial spells? Denali. For the longest time after I got this job I was hung up on not riding my bike to work to appear to be that guy, or a weirdo, or whatever. You know what? It's gained me more respect than I had when I was driving.

But that doesn't matter. What matters is that for once I'm starting to get happy. My life is coming under control, I'm riding my bike a lot every day no matter what Mother Nature does, and I'm loving life. Everyone should do the same.

Well, it worked last week. Tracking calories (Range of 2500-2800 S-W (was waaay too high), 2100-2500 W-F) and riding 16 miles/day commuting in the brutal cold has paid off. Today's weigh in was at 385.25, a solid 8.25 pound loss for the week.

My average calories were 2581/day, which I think is way too high - this week I'm dumping my range down to 2000-2300 to see how it goes. Only problem is, of course, it's cold and my body thinks it needs to be a big fat hibernating bear. After every ride the past couple days where it's been in the 20s or lower, it seems I'm absolutely starving.

Well, it worked last week. Tracking calories (Range of 2500-2800 S-W (was waaay too high), 2100-2500 W-F) and riding 16 miles/day commuting in the brutal cold has paid off. Today's weigh in was at 385.25, a solid 8.25 pound loss for the week.

My average calories were 2581/day, which I think is way too high - this week I'm dumping my range down to 2000-2300 to see how it goes. Only problem is, of course, it's cold and my body thinks it needs to be a big fat hibernating bear. After every ride the past couple days where it's been in the 20s or lower, it seems I'm absolutely starving.

Hydration. Cold weather is at least as dehydrating as hot.

Hi, Bdinger. Welcome back.

Hey Ben, great to see you, and of course, this place is like family. :D You can always come back, and always get either the kind word you need, or the spur you need. Just keep coming back. :D

Only problem is, of course, it's cold and my body thinks it needs to be a big fat hibernating bear. After every ride the past couple days where it's been in the 20s or lower, it seems I'm absolutely starving.

Try working outside in this weather. I come home from wokring outside in this and feel like I need twenty bowls of hot chili to get me warming up. By the time I feel warm enough to do anything it is really time for me to go to bed, so I don't run, ride or swim. That leaves me with the weekends to swim, bike and run. That and I eat too much during the week because I am tired and cold. I wish I could eat a lot of warm fruits and veggies, but that is not me right now.

I had noticed your absence and wondered what was up. Welcome back!

Hey dude, welcome back, congrats on the 8 lb loss.

I'm Dave P, who has been commenting on your blog over the last little while. Good to see you here.

Dave P, glad to see you again! It's good to be back.

This week has been something else. Crazy cold temps, snow, ice and no studded tires have left me looking for exercise. Took a nice outdoor hike in the snow last night - but tonight it's already below zero, far too cold. Studded tires are enroute, but man.. so much snow. A 5am trip to the gym before work is in order tomorrow, so I'm not going to spend much time on this.

Go figure, I finally get a shower at work, and no good excuse to use it! haha.