Quick catch up note for the weekend. On Friday, I took my mom and my wife up into the mountains to see the aspen trees changing color. We ended up eating lunch in Breckenridge. I had a Thai salad with peanut sauce. I had an opportunity to review our Breckenridge - Frisco ride from last weekend. Wholly cow, now I see why we got sore. It's real far and very hilly before you get to Frisco.
On Saturday, I just hung out with the family and kicked back. I also had to replace my cleats on my cycling shoes because they wore out. I guess that's okay considering I have over 400 miles on those shoes. Anyway, cleats are cheap. I'm ready for my next ride which should be Tuesday to and from downtown Denver.
On Sunday, I watched the Broncos win on a completely heads up phantom play. A win is a win. It may have been even funner watching Cutler and the Bears lose. I was never a Cutler fan. Too much of a baby and not a very good team leader. I wouldn't be surprised if he blamed Sunday's loss on his line and receivers. After the Bronco game I took, or should I say, Jeff took a training drive around Denver to Boulder and back. I prefer to train them in huge chunks so they have a chance to drive on highways and neighborhoods. He is 18 and he should have his license in a month or so. Sooo, no cycling or gym for three days. I'm a little freaked out about it, but one good session in the gym on Monday will make up for it. Oh yeah, I weighed in at 317 again. We'll see how I can buckle down for the rest of the month.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
My Vegan Chimichanga and Spanish Rice Recipes
Christopher's Vegan Chimichanga's
Combine...
2 cups of black beans
2 cups of pinto beans
1 cup of diced yellow onion
4 table spoons of finely crushed garlic cloves
1/2 cup of green chili (add more to spice it up)
1 1/2 cups of roasted tomato's
1/2 tablespoon of sea salt
2 teaspoons white pepper
Try to drain mix as well as possible. Hot oil doesn't like water.
Put about 1/2 cup or less of the mix into the center of the flour tortillas and fold carefully. I like to spread it in a line and fold the sides and roll the top over to make a nice leak resistant burrito. Heat olive oil until you can take a tiny piece of tortilla and make it bubble (fry). Then lightly fry both sides until they are tanned; not burnt. They will brown up as they cool anyway. Serve with Spanish rice (see recipe below), mixed salad, and vegetarian refried beans. Goes good with Corona with lime or a dry Chardonnay (without sulfides). Makes about 18 chimichanga's.
Easy Spanish rice...
Take 2 cups of brown rice and fry it in olive oil until the rice is well fried to dark brown. Add a can of roasted tomato's (don't drain) and 1 1/2 cups of water. Add diced green chili to taste. Stir occasionally and let simmer for 30 minutes. Makes about 5 to 6 cups of rice.
Combine...
2 cups of black beans
2 cups of pinto beans
1 cup of diced yellow onion
4 table spoons of finely crushed garlic cloves
1/2 cup of green chili (add more to spice it up)
1 1/2 cups of roasted tomato's
1/2 tablespoon of sea salt
2 teaspoons white pepper
Try to drain mix as well as possible. Hot oil doesn't like water.
Put about 1/2 cup or less of the mix into the center of the flour tortillas and fold carefully. I like to spread it in a line and fold the sides and roll the top over to make a nice leak resistant burrito. Heat olive oil until you can take a tiny piece of tortilla and make it bubble (fry). Then lightly fry both sides until they are tanned; not burnt. They will brown up as they cool anyway. Serve with Spanish rice (see recipe below), mixed salad, and vegetarian refried beans. Goes good with Corona with lime or a dry Chardonnay (without sulfides). Makes about 18 chimichanga's.
Easy Spanish rice...
Take 2 cups of brown rice and fry it in olive oil until the rice is well fried to dark brown. Add a can of roasted tomato's (don't drain) and 1 1/2 cups of water. Add diced green chili to taste. Stir occasionally and let simmer for 30 minutes. Makes about 5 to 6 cups of rice.
September 10th, 2009 - Vegan Chimichanga's!
This morning I weighed in at 316 again. Remember the extra reps I did at the gym Wednesday? Well, my triceps do. I definitely did not want to ride my bike today. I was running out of time and it was very hot out, but I went anyway. I rode the 12 mile thigh master. Ouch.
I love to cook. Probably a contributing factor in my weight problem. On Tuesday I made chili relleno casserole (part vegan; most regular). My own recipe. Easy dish and the family always loves it. However, tonight I may have created my very best culinary recipe ever! I read some recipe's online, but they either seems lacking or they were way too hard, so I invented my own vegan chimichanga's. I tried to think of good "meaty" vegetables that wouldn't need cheese. I thought... something with black beans, garlic, and onion. Sounded great in my head, but the finished product rocked! I took black beans, pinto beans, diced yellow onion, crushed garlic, diced green chili, and roasted tomato's wrapped in a flour tortilla and lightly fried. I also made some regular chimi's adding chorizo and cheese, but the vegan chimi's were far better. I served them with vegi refried beans, salad, and spanish rice with more of the roasted tomato's. Yumm!
I love to cook. Probably a contributing factor in my weight problem. On Tuesday I made chili relleno casserole (part vegan; most regular). My own recipe. Easy dish and the family always loves it. However, tonight I may have created my very best culinary recipe ever! I read some recipe's online, but they either seems lacking or they were way too hard, so I invented my own vegan chimichanga's. I tried to think of good "meaty" vegetables that wouldn't need cheese. I thought... something with black beans, garlic, and onion. Sounded great in my head, but the finished product rocked! I took black beans, pinto beans, diced yellow onion, crushed garlic, diced green chili, and roasted tomato's wrapped in a flour tortilla and lightly fried. I also made some regular chimi's adding chorizo and cheese, but the vegan chimi's were far better. I served them with vegi refried beans, salad, and spanish rice with more of the roasted tomato's. Yumm!
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
September 9th, 2009 - Health Care Insurance
It's really quite simple to me. If I didn't have insurance, I would be dead; seriously. My family needs health insurance. Last year, we spent more than $30,000 on premiums, deductibles, co-pays, and, in many cases, our contractual obligation to pay 20% on most procedures. This year we will pay more. I would love to spend that money on a new house. Only through the grace of God and very good friends have we been able to keep our insurance. With my extensive laundry list of current and past health issues, I'm sure we would get rejected by almost all health insurance companies. The simple truth is it needs to be fixed. Someone; somehow needs to fix health care as soon as possible.
With that being said, my weight today was 316 pounds. I'm getting back in there! I wanted to go for a ride or at least do some incline training here in our very hilly neighborhood. The day got away from me, but I did manage to workout for an hour or so. I increased some weights and added an extra set of 10 reps to each station. I'm not sore now, but my arms and torso felt like jello when I left the gym. Tomorrow I will ride somewhere.
With that being said, my weight today was 316 pounds. I'm getting back in there! I wanted to go for a ride or at least do some incline training here in our very hilly neighborhood. The day got away from me, but I did manage to workout for an hour or so. I increased some weights and added an extra set of 10 reps to each station. I'm not sore now, but my arms and torso felt like jello when I left the gym. Tomorrow I will ride somewhere.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Tuesday September 8th, 2009 - Lipid test
This morning I weighed in at 316 pounds. I have some ground to make up, but, now that my head is in the right place, I not to worried about it. This morning I had an appointment with the lipid technician; doctor? Anyway, I thought my cholesterol would be down because of my vegan diet. Much to my surprise, my bad cholesterol was slightly elevated from the last test. Not bad; just elevated. She said my elevated cholesterol was probably caused by my liver, not my diet. Something about family history. Nonetheless, I'm back on low dosages of Crestor. Go figure.
It's just like I say; it's the whole picture, not just fat loss. Thanks to my leukemia (ish) platelet counts and bad health history, I still have a lot of doctors watching just about everything in my body. Other than the chronically low platelet count, I feel as healthy as ever, but that won't stop me from getting checked. No more surprises.
It's just like I say; it's the whole picture, not just fat loss. Thanks to my leukemia (ish) platelet counts and bad health history, I still have a lot of doctors watching just about everything in my body. Other than the chronically low platelet count, I feel as healthy as ever, but that won't stop me from getting checked. No more surprises.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Monday September 7th 2009- Depression
Well, I often talk about the importance of mental health and the effects of depression when mixed with attempts to diet. My wife told me today that I haven't been behaving normally. She was right. I just couldn't see it myself. I let myself get depressed. I'm not sure what got me headed down the depression road, I'm just glad I found my way back before it got out of control. My depression was allowing cravings back into my mind. I didn't violate my vegan diet, but I did eat too many sweet snacks. Now I know, so I have to fix it. I know I make it sound easy, but, believe me, I have had plenty of practice.
Today, I wanted to go hiking in the mountains, but I took my wife to the movies instead. We saw two Sandra Bullock movies and I liked them, but don't tell anyone. Hope you had a nice day. I did.
Today, I wanted to go hiking in the mountains, but I took my wife to the movies instead. We saw two Sandra Bullock movies and I liked them, but don't tell anyone. Hope you had a nice day. I did.
Sunday September 6th, 2009 - Late Night
Well, you caught me. I started to watch a season 3 episode of Dexter and ended up watching two more hours. It's gruesome and interesting at the same time. I don't really watch television per say, but I do like On-Demand. I can watch what I want when I want. I also like Hulu.com for the very same reason. I don't even really know what's on regular TV anymore. I only watch my shows late at night. I aways find myself way too busy until 10pm or so.
Today I weighed in at 319 again. It feels like I'm hitting a plateau, but that's part of the game. My your body think it's winning and then... slam; start losing more weight. That sounds pretty bizarre, but it does kind of seem like that. My plateau is about to end.
Confession: My youngest son made chili con carne tonight and I ate three bites so I could tell him how fantastic it was. Actually, it was pretty damn good. While I may have inadvertently ingested dairy that was in processed food, I haven't had any meat since the 4th of July. I don't think this one counts anyway. Although, he was the one giving me the hardest time for eating his chili tonight, but I'm sure not going to miss out on his first cooked meal.
This morning we packed up the bikes and drove up to Breckenridge Colorado to do some riding in God's country. When we arrived we walked through some street sales on ski equipment and through an Arts festival. Cool stuff, but we were on a mission. We headed out from Breckenridge to Frisco. The trip down was fast and furious. Lots of fun. We rode around Frisco for a while and thought about riding over to the reservoir, but decided to head back. You pay for going down a long slope by going back up it. Our ride was about 24 miles, but it felt like a zillion by the time we made it back to the van. My two older sons were as baked as me. I may actually wake up sore. For anyone that doesn't know Breckenridge, it's about 30 miles on the west side of the Continental Divide. Post card perfect mountains and post card perfect time today. Awesome!
Today I weighed in at 319 again. It feels like I'm hitting a plateau, but that's part of the game. My your body think it's winning and then... slam; start losing more weight. That sounds pretty bizarre, but it does kind of seem like that. My plateau is about to end.
Confession: My youngest son made chili con carne tonight and I ate three bites so I could tell him how fantastic it was. Actually, it was pretty damn good. While I may have inadvertently ingested dairy that was in processed food, I haven't had any meat since the 4th of July. I don't think this one counts anyway. Although, he was the one giving me the hardest time for eating his chili tonight, but I'm sure not going to miss out on his first cooked meal.
This morning we packed up the bikes and drove up to Breckenridge Colorado to do some riding in God's country. When we arrived we walked through some street sales on ski equipment and through an Arts festival. Cool stuff, but we were on a mission. We headed out from Breckenridge to Frisco. The trip down was fast and furious. Lots of fun. We rode around Frisco for a while and thought about riding over to the reservoir, but decided to head back. You pay for going down a long slope by going back up it. Our ride was about 24 miles, but it felt like a zillion by the time we made it back to the van. My two older sons were as baked as me. I may actually wake up sore. For anyone that doesn't know Breckenridge, it's about 30 miles on the west side of the Continental Divide. Post card perfect mountains and post card perfect time today. Awesome!
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Still Saturday the 5th - Redemption
I did take a walk after dinner after all. I took our dog Tatum and we went down the block to my favorite trail across about a mile of rolling fields. We followed the trail for a while and then ran into truck loads of dirt blocking our way. Keep in mind that it's dark out; the moon is behind clouds; and I only have a small flashlight. We climbed over the layers of dirt piles, where I fell and skinned my knee. It's just not fun until you bleed. When we finally got to the other side of the dirt, I couldn't find the trail so we went through the waist high weeds towards the far away lights from cars on Quincy. We had to carefully climb a barbed wire fence, but we finally made it to the road.
We crossed the road and found the trail that goes around Lake Harmon. Everything was fine and then the flashlight bulb must have burnt out. So now we're walking around the lake in almost total darkness. Now, I'm glad I brought the dog. We did make it to the sidewalk on Kipling and walked the rest of the way home. It ended up being an hour and a half to go about five miles. Thus, ends my adventurous exercise for the day.
We crossed the road and found the trail that goes around Lake Harmon. Everything was fine and then the flashlight bulb must have burnt out. So now we're walking around the lake in almost total darkness. Now, I'm glad I brought the dog. We did make it to the sidewalk on Kipling and walked the rest of the way home. It ended up being an hour and a half to go about five miles. Thus, ends my adventurous exercise for the day.
September 5th, 2009 "Dexter"
Stayed up way too late watching Dexter on demand. Having enough sleep helps motivate me. I started cleaning house this morning and one thing led to another and pretty soon I'm rearranging furniture, so I didn't get out and ride. Maybe I'll walk a few laps around the lake after dinner. Anything to get your heart racing. I weighed in at 318 this morning. Boo hiss. Must get my head back into the game
Friday, September 4, 2009
Friday 09-04-2009 Taste of Colorado
Today started out okay. I'm still weighing in at 317, but it's my own fault. During the day, my calorie intake is fine, but when I get to the evening my hunger sets in. I'm not so bad at dinner, but I have a horrible sweet tooth at night. Sometimes I get up around midnight or later and make myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. That's the killer. All the strenuous exercise makes my body retain as many calories as it can. When I eat late at night, I'm playing right into it's hands. My chance of weight loss is practically nil.
Today, I went to the Taste of Colorado which, in of it's self, wasn't bad, but maybe the beer was. Anyway, I don't anticipate any weight change. Even though I worked out today, my Saturday weigh in will probably be the same. Time to clamp down.
Today, I went to the Taste of Colorado which, in of it's self, wasn't bad, but maybe the beer was. Anyway, I don't anticipate any weight change. Even though I worked out today, my Saturday weigh in will probably be the same. Time to clamp down.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
September 3rd, 2009 Waiting for the real season
The Denver Broncos won their last pre-season game. It's a good thing because the last time they lost all of their pre-season games was 1960. Very fun game to watch. Can't wait for the regular season to start. This will be my first "Fantasy Football" year. I think I drafted some great players. Only Royal as a starter and Orton on the bench from the DB. We'll see.
This morning I weighed in at 317 pounds. Obviously a bounce; probably ingested too much salt. Today, I didn't really feel like a bike ride, but I rode Bear Creek Reservoir anyway. I'm getting much stronger on the inclines. Only 11 miles, but their still hard miles for me. I can just imagine how sweet it is going to be when I'm about 200 pounds. I'll be able to take anyone on. Even now I keep a real strong pace. I was able to peddle my way up to 30 mph on a flat straight away. Flying! Tomorrow, I may just hit the gym and swim some laps if they have the indoor pool open again. On Saturday I'm planning to ride around Dillon Reservoir and maybe take on some miles in Breckenridge up just on the other side of the Continental Divide. The elevation of 9,600 feet might be interesting. My normal rides are from 5,280 to 6,500 feet.
This morning I weighed in at 317 pounds. Obviously a bounce; probably ingested too much salt. Today, I didn't really feel like a bike ride, but I rode Bear Creek Reservoir anyway. I'm getting much stronger on the inclines. Only 11 miles, but their still hard miles for me. I can just imagine how sweet it is going to be when I'm about 200 pounds. I'll be able to take anyone on. Even now I keep a real strong pace. I was able to peddle my way up to 30 mph on a flat straight away. Flying! Tomorrow, I may just hit the gym and swim some laps if they have the indoor pool open again. On Saturday I'm planning to ride around Dillon Reservoir and maybe take on some miles in Breckenridge up just on the other side of the Continental Divide. The elevation of 9,600 feet might be interesting. My normal rides are from 5,280 to 6,500 feet.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
September 2, 2009 - Back to School Night BCHS
We just got back from Jeff's Back to School Night at Bear Creek HS. This is a brand new school they just completed last Spring. It is by far the biggest and most high tech HS I have ever walked... ran through. We went to Jeff's classes in order and, he was right, his classes go from the north wing to the south wing over and over. He has 7 minutes between classes. That's barely enough time. I have to admit that I am glad that's over. My knee hurts.
Well, this morning I weighed in at 315. One day late. Oh well. Today I hit the gym with fury. After my one hour weight training, I hit the virtual bike to work on some inclines. I went up hills for 7 miles. When I'm on the road or trails the dry heat keeps me fairly dry until I get home where I sweat for the next two hours, but the indoor bike had me absolutely drenched and I still had two hours of sweating. If sweating and water consumption clean out your toxins, then I must be as clean as a whistle.
Well, this morning I weighed in at 315. One day late. Oh well. Today I hit the gym with fury. After my one hour weight training, I hit the virtual bike to work on some inclines. I went up hills for 7 miles. When I'm on the road or trails the dry heat keeps me fairly dry until I get home where I sweat for the next two hours, but the indoor bike had me absolutely drenched and I still had two hours of sweating. If sweating and water consumption clean out your toxins, then I must be as clean as a whistle.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
September 1st, 2009 - Oh, so close!
This morning I weighed in at 316. One pound from my August goal of 15 lost pounds. September is another 15 pound goal month, however, now it is a 16 pound month, but oh wait! I want to see a 2 in front of my weight so bad, make this a 17 pound month. I am very motivated!
I started out the month with a 33.4 mile ride from Bear Creek Reservoir to and from downtown Denver. I flew, but I had to take a break at about 30 miles because my feet hurt. Five minutes out of the riding shoes and I cruised back home. I almost landed in the creek just before I took my break. I was just real fatigued. One raspberry trophy. Wasn't the first and won't be the last. During the ride I emptied my two water bottles and drank 3 tall glasses of iced tea when I got back home and I still lost 4 pounds on the ride. Amazing.
I started out the month with a 33.4 mile ride from Bear Creek Reservoir to and from downtown Denver. I flew, but I had to take a break at about 30 miles because my feet hurt. Five minutes out of the riding shoes and I cruised back home. I almost landed in the creek just before I took my break. I was just real fatigued. One raspberry trophy. Wasn't the first and won't be the last. During the ride I emptied my two water bottles and drank 3 tall glasses of iced tea when I got back home and I still lost 4 pounds on the ride. Amazing.
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