Friends, Support, Encouragement and Fun

Most people would say friendships are an important part of life. I disagree with this statement. I believe friendships are an essential part of life. I don't see how anyone can function without a strong support system of friends. My wife and I are blessed in the friendship category. Just the other day, we were marveling over the fact that we have so many close friends. I would like to take this moment to thank all of our friends for their support, encouragement and fun you bring to our lives. I hope that we return to you the quality of friendship that you share with us.

I would compare friends to the relationship a woman has with shoes. You can never have too many shoes and you need to have particular shoes available for each occasion. Some shoes will work for multiple occasions, but seldom does a shoe fit for all occasions.

I have some friends that play golf, some that like to hunt, some that are in to cycling and some that are in to Triathlons. I have friends that like fine wine and some that prefer a cold brewski. I have friends that get emotional and friends that don't. Depending on my mood, I may choose to call on different friend today than I did yesterday. However, don't assume that because I have a lot of friends that I take them for granted. Nothing could be further from the truth. I cherish every one of my friendships and I don't toss around the word "Friend" loosely. I don't spend time with people I don't trust or that I just don't like.

It's not surprising that I spend most of my time with friends that are in to cycling and Triathlons. It only makes sense that I spend most of my time with friends that enjoy the same things I enjoy. Over the years, I have traveled the world and made a lot of friends. I have been told I make friends easily. Out of all of my friends, over the years, I have found that cyclist and triathletes make the best of friends.

These people are amazing! There is something noble about a person who can share the fun of riding your bike like a kid again and suffer with you for hours when you decide to push your body to the limits and still give you a smile. It is hard to hide your true personality when you are drenched in sweat on a hundred degree day climbing a huge mountain in a strong headwind.

Several of us headed over to the Mighty Mite Triathlon in Forrest City, Arkansas last weekend. One of my great friends, Brent, rode with my wife and I. We were staying with a friend, David, whose parents lived nearby. David is a one of kind guy. David is in his early fifties and has been doing triathlons for twenty-three years. He is full of knowledge and will bend over backwards to help a friend improve. Our club refers to him as "The Jedi Master". We are all his loyal subjects that aspire to use the force as he has learned to use it over the years.

Brent is one of my closest friends. He is one of those shoes that works for many occasions. It is not very often that we go an entire day without speaking to each other. We balance each other out in several areas. Brent is doing a similar weight loss program. We have been an encouragement for each other through this process. I attribute a lot of my success to him.

Brent and I have an addiction to competition. To say we are competitive with each other would be a huge understatement. Weight loss, golf, cycling and triathlons, to name a few, hold a high level of competition for us. Triathlons win the prize for the most competitive event.

I met Brent while visiting a church with some relatives. We quickly figured out that we were doing the same triathlons. An immediate friendship was born. We have been competing against each other in triathlons for a couple of years now. Brent has always had the edge on me. He usually kicks my butt by five minutes or more. That is a severe butt kicking when you are talking about a race that last less than an hour and a half.

For the first time in two years, I had him nervous. I had lost twenty pounds since our last Tri and I was fast. I had gotten the better of him on a couple of rides recently, and I could see the concern on his face. As of today, I have lost twenty-four pounds in five weeks. I have a lot of friends to thank for their encouragement.

We arrived at the race site a bit over two hours early. There were two transition areas, thirteen miles apart, getting there early was a must. This race has a beginners division for people who have done three or less races. I like to walk around the transition area and see if any newbies need any help. I was having a great conversation with a guy who was doing his first Tri. A guy with a deep voice walks up behind me and ask if he could rack his bike by mine. I turn around and I am looking at the guy's chest. His name is Dave and he is six feet ten inches tall. This was his first triathlon and he was a bit nervous. I saw him after the race and he was out of his mind with joy. He was now hooked on triathlons and couldn't wait to find anther one to do. This is another example of the great people that are surrounding this sport.

Brent and I have a habit of talking trash before an event, and man was I pouring it on. I was very confident in my weight loss. Brent was not talking much trash, which is completely out of character for him. The weight loss had him nervous.

Brent is a great swimmer and was in the first wave. I started in the second wave that was five minutes back. The gun sounded and they were off. I watched Brent get off to a strong start. I knew I would lose a couple of minutes to him on the swim, so I had to prepare to hammer the bike and the run portion.

I had a good swim and jumped on my bike. I felt like a rocket coming out of the gate. This was a hilly course and would give me an advantage. I have never rolled through a bike course as easily as I did this day. I pushed myself hard, but it felt almost effortless. I racked my bike and started the run. It was hilly and it was hot. Brent is a good runner, so I had to continue to push. About a mile into the run, the Jedi Master passes me. He started five minutes behind me and is not a very good swimmer. Needless to say, he can hurt you on the bike and run.

The course had a very sick sense of humour. At the two and half mile mark, you have to run past the finish line and make a loop. I can't explain to you how hard it is to see the finish line and not be able to stop. I made the turn and thought I was going to throw up. I had never pushed my body and mind this hard. I knew Brent was already at the finish line counting down the clock to see If I come in more than five minutes after his time. I gave it my all and pushed hard to the finish. My lovely wife was waiting for me. Brent was right behind her shaking his head. He was sure I had beaten him by close to two minutes. I waited for the official time, and sure enough, I had beaten him by one minute and forty-five seconds. I had my first victory!

Brent and I bet steak dinners on the races. Coming into this race, I owed him two dinners. I now owe him one, and I plan to get that one back at the Lake Degray Tri festival in August. Brent was very happy for me, but very upset that he had lost. He hates losing! Naturally, I started talking trash. Its was payback time for two years of defeats.

Monday morning I made a trip to the local Flower shop. I picked out several black balloons, a smiley face, Get Well, and Thanks for you support balloon. I had them tied to a stuffed duck and delivered to Brent's office. On the card, I said "Sorry for your loss, but I plan to give you another one soon".

How does anyone make it in life without good friends?

Disturbing Behavior

My wife and I have an arrangement that helps me control my taste buds. Anytime she eats something I find tasty, I get a kiss so I can taste the flavor. This has worked very well, especially with chocolate. Chocolate has a strong taste, even it is received second hand. This has also worked well with other foods.

Last week was one of those work travel weeks. My coworker, Steve, and I had to visit one of our satellite offices. It was a six hour round trip, so there would be lots of nibble time in the car. Riding in a car is one of the worst situations for dieting. I am the type of person that needs to have something to drink and to nibble on while I drive. Since limited diet drinks are allowed, I can satisfy the liquid cravings. I have found that a small bag of pretzels can subdue my need for snacking. There is a bit more sodium than I need, but it will have to do. However, none of this helps when the passenger can eat anything they desire.

Steve and I headed back on Friday. We made the normal out of town stop to fuel up and load up on caffeine and snacks. I love convenient store food! Call me crazy, but the greasier the better. As usual, this store had plenty of pizza happily baking under the heat lamp. I took one glance and ran to the car with my pretzels and diet soda. Within a few minutes, Steve was in the car and we were on our way. As I took a drink of my soda, I noticed Steve unwrapping something. You guessed it, he had some pizza. I silently watched as took bite after bite. I looked at him with a pitiful look on my face. "Dude, you wouldn't do me a big favor would you?". He almost fell out the car when I told him how my wife and I handle that situation. We had a good laugh. No, I would not have kissed him for a taste of pizza. If he could have guaranteed me that I could have a full slice and it was calorie free, we would have had a situation on our hands.

This was a great week that ended with some disappointments. Our cycling group had planned a huge ride followed by a picnic. If there are two things our group can do, cycling and eating would be at the top of list. We did a very hard ride before the picnic. I am sure most everyone, including myself, decided not to eat much before the ride. That would somehow make us feel less guilty about what we were eating after the ride. I had already decided I was going to eat a hamburger. No cheese, no mayo, just burger, bun and ketchup.

I won't go into a long description, but I may have had more than one burger, hot dog, cheese dip and maybe a cookie or two. I actually switched to celery sticks in a desperate attempt to fill this black hole of an appetite that was taking over my universe. I finally regained control of my senses and backed away from the buffet line.

It is difficult to understand the emotions I felt the next few minutes. I felt defeated, lazy, disgusting, and severely depressed. I had to weigh in the next day and I was sure I just put back on the entire seventeen pounds I had worked so hard to lose the last three weeks. I decided to take a walk to the restrooms that were about fifty yards away. The group was laughing and having a good time so I am sure nobody saw me. If they did, I must have looked like a puppy who had just been kicked by its master.

I am not sure if it was the food or the fact that I was so upset, I became very nauseous. I stood in the restroom and hoped I would get sick. It then occurred to me, if I did vomit, most of the stuff I just ate would disappear. It would almost be like it never happened. You know, I could just use my finger to induce the action.

Holy crap, did that thought just run through my head! Have I lost my mind? Never in my life have I had this type of thought. I quickly left the restroom and rejoined the group. I did not want to be left alone.

Bulimia is a serious condition. I had no idea that there were two types of Bulimia. There is "Purging" and "Non-Purging". The purging thought scared me, but I think I am more worried after reading about "Non-Purging". This a condition where the person uses excessive exercise or fasting after a binge to offset the caloric intake.

After much reading, I decided I am not in either of these categories. I can't tell you how much this episode bothered me. When we lose weight, we feel better about ourselves in so many ways. We want to lose more weight and we want to lose it fast. No one can be strong all the time. You have to give yourself a break or even consider it a reward for being strong up to that point. Reward yourself sensibly and get back on track. Eating disorders are common and are very dangerous. If you feel you have a disorder, get help!

I was very nervous stepping on the scale the next day at the clinic. To my surprise, I still lost six tenths of a pound that week. I had not ruined my progress, all was not lost. I have recovered and hope that will be the weakest moment I have throughout this process.

Something else has been off the last few days. Until today, I couldn't put my finger on it. I have been pulling my socks up every hour for the last few days. I had no idea weight loss would affect how your socks fit. This weight loss process is an adventure. I can't image what happens next.

Mind and Body

The mind and the body are truly amazing. Independently, the body and mind can handle an enormous amount of stress. Combine their efforts, and they are far stronger and more capable than we can imagine. In order to truly accomplish your health and fitness goals, your mind and body must work together.

My mind and body made the connection during the middle of week two. Week two started out rough, but ended with a bang. I lost 4.6 lbs in week two. I am in the middle of week three, and have lost a couple more pounds. I have lost just over 15 lbs in less than three weeks. To say I am happy would be an understatement.

My clothes are now hanging off of me. The mirror and the scale are becoming my friends. I no longer want to pick up the scale and throw it through the mirror. However, that progress was not what brought my body and mind together. It was my bike that brought harmony to my world.
For those of you who don’t ride, weight is the most dominating factor in cycling. You can train hard, be genetically gifted and still get your but handed to you by the person that weighs just five or ten pounds less than you. Before I started this program, I outweighed most of my club riders by fifty pounds. Sure, I had a ton of power on the flat parts of the road and the sprints. When the road tilted upwards, I drifted backwards. I would lose valuable seconds and even minutes on the smallest uphill. Not only did I lose time, I would lose a greater percentage of energy than everyone else.

Thursday night is our hill training night. We shorten the route and reduce the speed in favor of punishing our legs with a steady dose of climbing. I am normally dropped shortly after we start the first climb. The group assembles at the top of the climb and patiently awaits my arrival. It is very disappointing to be the last person up the climb.

Just a few days before, I had a great ride. I was zooming up hills and felt very light on my bike. I was looking forward to the hill training. We turned the corner and started the climb. I had already decided I was going to put in some extra effort. We hit the climb and I punched the accelerator. Much to my surprise, my body responded in a way I wouldn’t have imagined. I was with the front group and stayed with them through half of the climb. It felt amazing! Halfway up the climb, the low calories started to affect me and I slowed a bit. We had ten people on the ride and I finished fifth. That was a stellar performance in my book. The thoughts of that moment were only overshadowed by one other thought. "What was this going to feel like twenty-five pounds lighter?"

It was that moment my mind and body made the connection. I no longer felt like a slave to a controlled and low calorie diet. I was now on a mission of great magnitude that needed my full attention and efforts. There is no longer room for self pity, anger or depression. This was no longer about a diet; this was about a lifestyle change that would have a profound affect on my life.