Keep the faith, brother. And oh yeah, Semper Fi! On Thu, Aug 18, 2011 at 3:24 PM, Leslie <leslie.bri...@gmail.com> wrote: > 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. >
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