The Nintendo thinks I'm 30 years old!

Just a quick update. I bought the Wii Fit video game for my family last week. We're having a ball playing it. It's a great add-on to the Wii video game system. It measures balance, weight, estimates BMI, and offers a great deal of progressive exercise options and encouragement. There are certainly some limitations and I don't consider it anywhere near a complete fitness system, but as a child of the 70s who remembers when Mario and Luigi made their first appearance (not to mention "pong" even earlier than that), it's a great departure from the "sit on your butt and get fat" video games that we all know.

Interestingly enough the Wii Fit system uses your body weight, age, balance and some other factors to determine your "Wii Fit Age", which is supposed to give you some indication of your overall health in relation to your chronological age. While most of my family and friends are finding their Wii Fit ages to be 10-15 years older than their actual chronological ages, mine seems to be 30, which is 6 years younger than my age at the moment. Interestly enough, however, it shows my BMI in the "overweight" range and even nearing "obese" which is a bit disheartening.

Anyway, if you've not experienced the Wii Fit system, I encourage you to check it out. It's become a reason, in our house, to share some great quality time together, as a family, talking about the importance of health and also challenging each other to "hula hoop contests!"

Cycling update: I'm getting between 75 & 100 miles a week on the bike and am planning an 85 mile ride tomorrow with my 1/2 way point being the Old Country Buffet for lunch. It doesn't get much better than that, does it?

Just a quick update. I'm spending a lot of time cycling these days. I finished the "Wabash River Ride" yesterday. It was a hot, but mostly flat, 65 mile ride near Lafayette, Indiana. I'm trying to stay in relatively good shape for the Hilly Hundred in a few weeks. The scales still aren't seeing things my way. I still need to drop about 7 or 8 pounds to get back down within my target range of 215-225 pounds. I'm eating the right things, but have been eating too much sugar free ice cream and not enough salads. I just bought some lovely "Mache" salad mix yesterday which I hope will tempt me into eating more salads for dinner.

3rd RAIN ride completed

Hi folks--
I just wanted to update you. A few weekends ago I completed my 3rd Ride Across Indiana (RAIN). I finished the 160 mile journey in 11 hours and 11 minutes (including stops). It stormed on us the first few hours and then got really hot and muggy. Not an ideal day, but still a good ride. I continue to work on dropping the few pounds that I picked up over the winter. I'm within 5 pounds of my goal again, so I'm feeling pretty good. Still sticking to SugarBusters and keeping a close eye on portions as well as squeezing in as much exercise as possible. I'm teaching a night class this summer so that cuts in to my cycling time. It'll be over in another week and I should have more time on the bike, then.

Today I'm doing a "pic nic" ride with my daughter. We'll do 11 miles together and then have lunch with a bunch of folks from the local cycling club (www.cibaride.org). Should be a good time.

Touring Ride In Rural Indiana

I just got home yesterday from a week-long tour in rural Indiana. This ride (www.triri.org) was an excellently coordinated jaunt through Indiana's most hilly areas. I rode between 30 and 70 miles each day (except for one resting day) and did a pretty good job of managing my diet. The only thing that I ate/drank that isn't sugar busters compliant was the gatorade that I use to keep my blood sugar levels within range while riding long distances. I ended up gaining 2 pounds over the week, but I've learned that I tend to pick up a pound on two on rides like this. I'm sure it'll level out within a few days.

My next big goal is to participate in the Ride Across INdiana again this year which is coming up on July 12th. Wish me luck!

Falling off the wagon...and being drug by it...

OK. True confession time. I picked up about 20 pounds over the winter. (Ready for the excuses?) My thyroid was whacked out. It was too cold to ride the bike outside. I was traveling a lot and had to eat out. The list goes on and on....

Want to hear the weird news? I didn't cheat on my diet. I didn't stop exercising completely. I still cycled a couple of hours a week. I never veered away from the Sugar Busters diet. I honestly did have some thyroid issues and with some adjustment in medication is back on track. I really and truly don't know how it happened. When I was gaining, it sort of creeped up on me and for a while I panicked. It seems to have plateaued and now I'm heading back in the right direction. Phew!

The worst part is that now I have to lose 20 pounds... again!

In the end, I guess I really didn't fall off the wagon. I did, however; experience a set back and now will drag you along with me on my journey of taking this extra 20 pounds off again.

Activity: On Saturday, I rode 115 miles (30 in gravel) on my bike. Sunday I rested. On Monday I rode 15 miles. Tonight (Tuesday) I rode 15 miles.
Diet: Actually very good. Oatmeal (Steel cut with blueberries and pecans) for breakfast. Salad (with grilled chicken) for lunch and dinner followed by a 100 calorie, no sugar added ice cream bar.
Weight: 240# (goal: 220-225)

Here we go... nose is back to the grindstone ... updates will be coming every few days.

Oh...and congrats to Team Type 1 on their admiral performance in the annual Race Across AMerica (www.teamtype1.org)

Updates: "Gains and Losses"

It's been 2 1/2 years since I lost 100 pounds. I'm here to tell you that maintaining that loss hasn't been all that easy and at the moment, I'm fighting a gain of about 20 pounds that occurred during this past winter. I had some issues with my thyroid that contributed to the problem and although I've not changed my diet and I never stopped exercising, I have some work to do to get back down to my goal weight, which I've set at to a range of 220-225 pounds.

Over the next several weeks, I have a lot of good, new information to share. I'm preparing for my third Ride Across INdiana (RAIN), a cycling tour next week and I have some interesting information to share with my diabetic readers about my new continuous glucose monitoring system.

So, stay tuned and I'll post more information!