Fruita = Fun

The gang headed to Fruita, CO this past weekend to exercise the rubber and it was a joy. The trails were packed and perfect. Although the weather was on the edge of sketchy, it worked out for us. We had a wonderful time.



Renee and Kim on Horsethief Bench.



Michael working on a slab.

playas play with lite

...or something like that.

I gotta say that photography is about capturing light...and there are lots of controls on the camera to modify that. The aperture of the camera..the time you expose the image, the speed of the film, or in digital, the sensitivity of the image sensor.

...And then there is the other side of the story--the light source.

Gosh, that equation has even more variability. You can modify the number of sources, where they are, what they are pointing to, the intensity of each, the color of each, ...and prolly more things.

just using a couple of flashes has changed the way I look at this mess.

Spring in full bloom

The tulips are poking out....erotic isn't it? ;-)



...and the things that keep me on the trail are getting some use.



...I'm not even mentioning how fun the bedroom is :P....

Yay spring!

Bike modeling

My spring time post...

So Pathetic

The current Terror Alert status is



..Which it has basically been since the Alert Status has been invented--except for a couple of occasions (when it was ORANGE).

Here is the history of the alert status changes.

August 1, 2004 - Advisory - Homeland Security Advisory System Increase to Level ORANGE for Financial Sector in New York City, Washington DC and Northern New Jersey.

May 30, 2003 - Advisory - Homeland Security Advisory System Lowered to National Level YELLOW

May 20, 2003 - Advisory - Homeland Security Advisory System Increase to National Level ORANGE

April 16, 2003 - Advisory - Homeland Security Advisory System Lowered to National Level YELLOW

March 17, 2003 - Advisory - National Threat Level Raised, Statement by Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge

Here is the chart for Terror Alert Status.



But if you look at the chart, there is blue and green below them. If you think about what blue means, "General risk of terrorist attacts" That basically sounds like normal. But what is normal? Aren't we in a normal situation now? Why didn't they use the word "normal"...why "general?" Then there is green. Low risk of terrorist attacks. Has there really been a low risk of a terrorist attack since the word "terrorist" was first used?--long before this chart. Green almost sounds like it's impossible, especially when someone defines blue as "general." WTF? I guess green is used in the movies.

I think this is a perfect example of bureaucracy and pointless waste.

Besides, how many people check the chart on a daily basis or before they fly--to see how safe it is? Maybe it should be on the weather channel?

"Honey, it's not going to rain today and the terrorist alert is blue, so your drive to work will be safe today."

BTW, I think they changed the red one a little. I remember it saying terrorist attack underway or something like that--no really!

Bust My Gut Update 10

Well some progress finally.

Original weight in November when I started this was 194 lbs.

Current weight as of today is 188 lbs.

I have been riding my bike a minimum of 4 days a week to work and at least one weekend day for the past 3 weeks. The other major thing I have been doing is skipping breakfast on most days. Yep, skipping breakfast. The usual problem that people think is when you skip breakfast is that you are so hungry you eat a larger than normal lunch. Well I'm usually starving at lunch but still try to eat a salad with my meal or as a meal.

The positive thing here is that I feel good and feel some acceleration happening in my progress. Once I hit that point, it's easy to be motivated, and things start falling into place. The nice weather is certainly helping.

I set a goal of 5 lbs lost by April 1 and it appears I will not only hit that mark(I already have), I might even lose 7 lbs by then.

Goals
April 15: 184 pounds.
May 1: 181
May 15: 178
June 1: 175

I'm also considering ramping up my bike ride time to 15 hrs a week to really improve my riding conditioning. Right now, it's around 7 to 8 hrs a week of steady riding. Racers usually put in 15 to 20 hrs a week to get into peak conditioning. Upping my riding time will increase my calorie burn to another 5000 a week or almost 1.5 pounds of fat per week. Thus, I would be in a mode where I would actually have to eat more food.

Now that is some exciting stuff.

Some Utah and Arizona Fun

I love the Southwest.

San Rafael Swell, UT


Moab, UT


Grand Canyon, South Rim, AZ


More here

The Bust my gut Bust!

So back in November I started the bust my gut project with a goal of 170 lbs by March first. What a disaster. I lost a pound.

What happened: (not excuses, but observations).

--I ate too much.
--I didn't exercise enough. I let the poor weather be an excuse.
--I drank too much booze.

I feel like a gave myself a big slug in the (big) gut. I committed to doing this, and posting the progress here with hope it would motivate me and help others see what devotion can do. But I failed and actually made this look like a really difficult task. Well it is a hard task, and the older we get the harder it is, it seems.

However, I'm certainly not giving up. I think what I will do is change my goals.

First, I won't make losing a 25 lb goal over three months. I will make smaller ones. Since it's the first week of March, my goal will be more short term. 5 lbs by April 1st. That is just over a pound a week, much less aggressive than the 2 lbs per week I had before.

The good news is the time is changing and the weather should be improving, making the probability of me riding my bike to work much higher.

Renee told me about this article she read in Men's Journal about why people exercise and don't lose weight. It was very interesting and included:

• Overexercising can cause one to eat too much after and put those calories right back in the body.
• When we overexercise, we tend to feel tired, then sit on the couch rather than move around, thus we offset the gains in exercise with sedentary activity.
  

I went to Utah and Arizona on a 10 day bike trip hoping I would get some good exercise in. Well I did! But I ate out and partied with people and put a lot of empty calories back in too. Thus it was a good thing I was riding or I might have gained a few pounds instead of maintaining what I have.

**pushes the reset button***

Here we go...............

Hoar Frost

The world was white this morning, as everything was covered in the beautiful layer of hoar frost.

Chair

Browsing some of my pix from a Taos trip in 2004, I kept looking at this....

Snow breeds desperation...

Sifting through photos of the past, ones that represent warm, but warmth in a way that has similiar suffering of the cold snow I have been slogging through lately. It might be insanity to wish such a thing.

Nala

Reminding me of the Blair Witch Project.

Snow: Round Three

It just keeps piling up. At least I got some exercise.



The ice has been so bad lately, it's dangerous to take the dogs out. I have snowshoes but although there is a lot of snow, there are lots of clear paths too that make snowshoes really clumsy--especially if I choose to walk on the street. Unfortunately those paths and the street can have some serious ice. I feel like I'm doing the Saturday Night Fever split dance move or some sort of yoga position several times a walk. A groin pull is something I really don't care to have, not to mention falling on my ass.

A coworker recommended some Yaktrax and wow, that was a good recommendation. They slip on like slippers and grip like crampons. Probably one of the best things I have purchased in a while. They stay solidly on my feet too. I feel so confident in them, I feel I could play basketball on an ice rink. But conversely, walking on my tile floor is them IS like walking on an ice rink.

Bust My Gut update 8: derailled

Snow, snow, travel with gobs of food and hardly any exercise....I didn't even bother...except i weighed myself yesterday and came out at 193 lbs....that is at least hopeful.

As I type it's snowing.

I can't even run very well due to the trail ice. I did grab some yak tracks at the hardware store tonight so hopefully if the snow and ice doesn't melt, I can still get something going on.



Otherwise I have a very positive attitude....

This Snow is Gonna Haunt For a While...

I'm done with the last two storms...but seems the snow it here to stay given the temps are in the mid thirties and there is a lot of it--packed.

Some images of the fun.

Nala is on the prowl.




Enjoy the silence on the morning of the second storm.

Front Range Blizzard Photos

Nala enjoying her roots.


What does this look like?


Breaking out the skis.

Bust My gut Update 8

Wow, tough week...they all are.

Rode my bike lots last week (thursday thru sunday) but then came the weekend of party on Saturday and party on Sunday with lots of food and beer.

But the bad news is my riding...I have the excuse of christmas shopping on monday, a work activity on Tuesday and of course ONE ZILLION inches of snow today. Actually I was going to ride to work today, with plans on riding the bus home but didn't due to wind. Well that was a good move since the RTD bus service stopped in the afternoon due to heavy snow.

So the update is simple: Chaos.

Current weight is stable at 192 lbs.
Calorie intake is unknown
Exercise is unknown

least there is not an increase...

On an ending note....Rest in peace Sergio of Sergio's Roofing. He put a new roof on our house last spring in addition to several neighbors' houses....Sad to hear about his passing from some fuckheads who wanted to steal his car. Amy (Rocky mountain Rat Girl, linked from my blog) was his neighbor. Sergio was a great guy and it's sad to see this stuff happen.

The Sky is Falling

The drive home...I swear this describes my experience....my vision was this good.




Accumulation in about 6 hrs....and it's still coming down strong.

Integrated Advertising?

It's a magazines dream situation; advertising and content all in one place. The magazine gets content and revenue, and the product gets stealthy, and possibly convincing, exposure. Take for example the shaving cream below. This article is written about all the amazing chemicals and what they do in a particular can of shaving cream. The stated concept is about the miracles of chemistry. The hidden one is that it's a particular brand that, after reading the article, you might appreciate and want to buy it.



Advertisers already work hard to make ads entertaining so that they grab your attention. Several years ago ads were being made to look like articles and apparently that caused such a stir, they are now required to put "advertisement" on the top and bottom of the ad. But this is the next step. The magazine itself writes the article and kinda hides the ad in the context of the article. I don't believe in this article, the name of the cream was mentioned, but clearly, the photo shows it. Since the article is a genuine piece, you really can't complain that the magazine should label it as an advertisement. Very clever. It's done regularly in many magazines these days. I'm guessing it's very successful.

(I edited the photo to not reveal the name of the shaving cream. If the company paid me an appropriate sum of money, I would have gladly not done so)

Bust My gut Update 7

So far I have felt a lot better than the scale is showing....it's showing basically no progress. Todays weight 193 lbs after an optimistic 191 on Tuesday. Too much holiday activities I suppose considering I have been riding everyday since last Wednesday. Obviously, I have some error in my eating or in my exercise estimations. I gotta point to eating since that is harder to determine when you eat out.

The positive side here is that when you keep track of it, even in rough manner, it keeps you honest. It makes you think, "why isn't this working?" Thus, I think I really need to crack the whip on my calorie consumption, cuz I know i can't do much more exercise that ride my bike to work over an hour each day.

To summarize:

Weeks estimated calorie intake is at least 2000/ day = 14000
Exercise burning 4350 calories.
Weight today is 193 lbs.

Hopefully my metabolism is increasing so my calories burned resting increases too. I try to stay positive....I've done this before. This is the key to accomplishment--sticking to your goals and having patience.