I've been sittin' on the sidelines on this, but, I suppose I should pitch in a bit...
Twenty years ago, I was a lean 19-yr-old, 6' tall, 150lb infantry Marine. Before then, I could eat anything, wouldn't gain a pound. When I got out several years later, I was more like 180lbs; heavier, but strong, square-built, was fine. But, married, two kids, entered grad school, ended up sitting on my duff, sedentary. By the time ten years had passed (ten years ago), I'd gotten up to... 280lbs. I still thought of myself as a skinny kid in my head, but was anything but. Finally, wanted to do something about, and I heard about how well low-carb worked for people, decided to try it. I didn't buy a book, or follow a particular menu; I just tried to not eat carbs. I'd started in at the beginning of March, and by the end of November, I was down to 200lbs. I thought, awesome. But, there between Thanksgiving and Christmas, a switch was thrown in my head. If I thought about not eating a roll, I found that I ate the basket of rolls. If I thought about not eating a donut at the coffee pot, I'd eat a dozen donuts. Want to pass on a piece of pie, I ate a pie. It was eerie. It was like there was some change in how I was wired. By the end of spring, I was up to about 230. And, there I stayed for five, six or so more years. I'd not paid close enough attention, my weight had crept back up, to about 260. I needed to get off my duff and try again. I started watching carbs again, and, this time, that's when I got back on a bike, after a long hiatus. I got down to 220, then would creep back up to 240, then back yoyo down to 230, back to 240... last Thanksgiving, I was 220 again, but by the end of New Years', was back up further, to 260; By March, I was down to 230; but I've since gotten to where I fluctuate between 235 and 240. It's hard; vegetables and meats are more expensive than carbs. I have a sweet tooth. I like beer. I do like the idea of eating nice salads and lean cuts of meat, but when the wife insists on having selections of cookies in the house, it's hard to not sneak one. When suppertime comes and it's pasta and potatoes, it's hard to skip dinner. The first time I lost all the weight, she was really supportive of it, but, what also didn't help my backsliding was that she realized she'd doubled our food budget, and decided to revert to more bread, potato, snacky stuff.... she was tired of not having bags of chips in the house, just to keep me from being tempted. So, in my house, it's a struggle. I want to get down under 200, but when my wife makes a point of saying she doesn't care if I'm over 250, then she opens up a bag of candy bars.... When I want to go for a bike-ride, but she says she wants to spend more time with me, but just wants to nap on the couch and watch TV to do so, it's hard to not be sedentary. I want her to be more active, too, but she doesn't want to... I want to live to a ripe old age, and she says she doesn't want to be an old woman, would be ready to kick the bucket sooner than later, especially if it meant she had to get off the couch, well..... It's frustrating. + + + + The other day, the local paper ran an article. There was a ranking of metro areas and transportation conducted; at the bottom of the list, 3rd from last place for non-car infrastructure, was the Tri-Cities here. It's fact, I can't deny it. You can't get to work on a bus here; there's a bike trail here or there but using one to commute is hazardous. Mobile was 1st, I don't remember what was 2nd, but, basically, if you live here, you can't function w/o a car. I know I can't. I didn't used to think in terms of wanting to commute by bike; it really didn't bother me that it's a 40-min drive to the office. When I lived in Knoxville, I was less than 10-miles from my office, and it took an hour, w/ traffic; so for it to be 40-miles from driveway to parking lot at work, and take 40-minutes, I was thrilled it was 'that short' of a commute. I know lots of people that drive an hour and a half to work each day. It didn't bother me before, but, I didn't think about it before, either. It's risky to bike here. I and my kids, we go biking when we can. Yet, even my wife complains about the one fellow who rides home in the afternoons along Orebank Road. He has as much right as she does to the road, but she thinks he should get off the road, quit holding up cars. I can't argue w/ her, even if I think she's wrong, she's heck to live w/ if I do argue w/ her. But when the spouses and mothers of the bikers in town think bikes should go away, it's hard to see progress made in getting more people to bike. Sorry for venting, but, it's been starting to gnaw at me.... -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/T0wohbafiPkJ. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
