From: wvenable@attunga.stats.adelaide.edu.au (Bill Venables)
Newsgroups: alt.support.diet
Subject: Re: getting back on track
Date: 4 Jan 93 15:48:46
Organization: Department of Statistics, University of Adelaide
NNTP-Posting-Host: attunga.stats.adelaide.edu.au
In-reply-to: jsl+@pitt.edu's message of 3 Jan 93 19:32:27 GMT

>>>>> "John" == John S Lundberg <jsl> writes: 

John> The Thanksgiving-New Years period was not the highlight of my
John> diet/exercise program.  I suppose I could call forth all kinds of
John> explanations but none really hide the truth: I slipped, and badly; the
John> question is whether I'll fall or be able to get back on track.  I have
John> to wonder if I had really learned what I thought I'd learned or if I
John> was just kidding myself.  I thought I'd turned a corner but I guess
John> motivational geometry has a few wrinkles I haven't yet mastered.

Well you've faced up to it, so you're halfway back on track already.  Noone
fully masters "motivational geometry" because it's a very personal, very
ephemeral sort of thing.  :-(

John> Oh well.  Back to basics, I guess.  I'm still far ahead of where I 
John> was in June, but just not where I want to be.  In roughly 4 months
John> I'll be 41 and I just don't have time for this BS anymore.  Time
John> to lace up the Nikes and go for a walk.  

I took a big step before Christmas and invested in an up-market mountain
bike.  It was rated to carry a rider + carry bags package of 270 kg (595
lbs), so it should carry me without too much trouble.  I have a bike track
running more-or-less all the way from my front door to work, about 10 miles
each way (mostly downhill on the way, but *groan* uphill on the way home) so
I get to ride by the river, through parklands and well away from busy
traffic all the way to and from work.  Without this track I would never have
considered buying a bike.

I have had it about three weeks now and I ride to and from work about every
other day.  It was a bit touch and go at first, since it is a very strenuous
business and there was no really guarantee I would persist, but now it's
truly marvellous, and I can't recommend it highly enough.  I'm slow as all
hell but what the hack?  I'm getting faster, my bum (= ass in USAse) is no
longer all that sore all the time, and with 21 gears even I can just about
climb up walls with the damn thing.  On the other days I still go walking,
about 90 mins, morning and afternoon, with some hill climbing in it, and 30
mins at lunch, but the bike riding days are both more plesant and I am sure
more effective exercise days.  I just can't stand stationary exercisers,
BTW, I need to be going somewhere and seeing things as I do.

Over the break I managed to keep up the dieting without too much trouble
(sorry John!) but I did do a few things like replace some of the duller
vegetables with exciting stuff like hearts of palm or artichokes.  Whoopee.

Anyway, here's the punchline.  Between Dec 24 and Jan 4 I lost 4.2 kg (9
lbs).  I have never *lost* over this period before, so I am (*really* sorry
to say, John!) very happy about it.  This makes it a total of 53 kg (117
lbs) off since Aug 24.  I'll be 49 next month, so I am now ready to stick my
neck out and say that by age 50 I will be rock steady at my target, which I
suppose is about 90 kg (~200 lbs).  I was last that size when I was a
teenager.  That means 43 kg (95 lbs) to go, (yes really! :-( ) so I am now
only just over the half way mark.  I fully understand that the hard part
starts when I get there and try to keep it off, but I am very confident that
the bike will be a big help when I get there.

My best wishes for the New Year to everyone, and my most sincere thanks to
you all for helping me get this far.

--
___________________________________________________________________________
Bill Venables, Dept. of Statistics, | Email: venables@stats.adelaide.edu.au
Univ. of Adelaide, South Australia. | Tel: +61 8 228 5412  Fax: ...232 5670
From: zornow@hpcc01.corp.hp.com (Claudia Zornow)
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 17:42:22 GMT
Subject: Re: Step Aerobics (Was Re: a question or two.)
Organization: HP SSD R & D