Reading about Touring, Looking for info on trailers,

I'm reading The Essential Touring Cyclist by Richard A Lovett.

He describes touring and the special needs of a bicycle tourist. He has a pretty good overview of things so far though there are some things I wish he'd covered in more detail. I'm only about half way through the book so maybe he'll answer things in more detail later.

Things I'm interested in finding more about are.... trailers. BOB vs Burley. Why would one be better than the other? The prices are close. Most of the trailers I see in pictures on touring reports seem to be BOB trailers. The recumbent store I've been too carries Burley but can order BOB's. They didn't give me any really good reason why one is better than another and are happy to order BOB's if you like. Burley says they will carry more weight (100 lbs vs 70 lbs) but I'm not too sure I want to carry a lot more weight! The guy at the store said he has a BOB but it's not stable if you put more than 40 lbs in it. Another site I saw said 50 lbs was the magic number for stability at his height ans weight. I haven't seen any reports on the Burley. Does it matter if you use a recumbent trike? More stable closer to the ground? Less? And what about a tandem does the combined weight of the tandem and riders make it more or less stable? Lots to figure out. I guess not a big deal as I have lots of time.

Weigh-in tomorrow. I'm hoping for good news.

WW weigh-in end week 6 begining week 7

Week 6 ends with a 3.8 lb weight loss. Less impressive if averaged over 2 weeks as last week I only lost 0.2 lbs. Over all I've lost 18.8 lbs since 1/13/09. that drops me down to 219.4 lbs. which also means I lose 1 WW point this week. So I get 25 points per day and 35 "anytime" points for the week.

I'm also getting a nasty little virus that DD has had for a bout a week now. Her's seems to be improving a bit so I'm not looking forward to a week or more of sore throat coughing and sinus yuck. I've also been a bit dizzy (that woudlbe dizzier than normal) and a bit queasy for the last couple of days. Not fun.

What did I learn this week... Fiber and water are my friend. If you eat less things don't move as well. So yeah fiber and water, I've have to pay more attention to that.

Weigh-in day...

down 0.2 lbs. for a total of 15 lbs. I'd be kidding if Ididn't say I was dissapointed, I'd also be kidding if I said I was suprised.

Issue #1 - Eating out too often. While I can get information on nutritional values for fast food restraunts I'm betting that the production methods of these food makes the listed mutritional values inconsistant. I'm pretty sure the people at mickey D's and Sonic don't weigh and measure everything that goes in their food. And no matter how well trained it is going to vary.

Issue #2 - Quality of food. No matter how tastey I can't believe that Fast food places use the same quality of food I can at home. Most fast foods are not high in fiber or especially low in fat.

Issue #3 - Lack of ballance. I need to address the ballance of fruits and veggies, Dairy, protien and starches. I'm eating too much starch and protien and not enough Dairy, fruits and veggies. I've been using my daily points less wisely than I should.

One and two are easy. Eat at home more. Weigh measure and ballance. Number three is more work. Plan in advance. Stick to plan. Cook at home. Next week I want to see at least 1 lb weight loss.

Weigh in tomorrow....

tomorrow is weigh in. I'm hoping for a loss. I've on plan all week, though I've used more weekly points than usual. So I'm hoping for a loss. My foods this week have been a bit less healthy over all and I'd like to get back to better nutritional choices. I did find a new breakfast cereal today that is a corn bran cereal. Quaker Corn Bran Squares It has a very nice flavor and isn't at all mealy in your mouth. (http://www.peertrainer.com/DFcaloriecounterB.aspx?id=6967) with only 90 cal for 3/4 cup, 5 grams of fiber and 1 gram of fat, it is very low point and high fiber. Add 1/2 cup 1% milk and it's only 2 points. ( but remember if you double it up the fiber from the second serving doesn't count, which ups the points to 3 points plus one for the milk, It is however a very filling 4 point breakfast!)

DH is coming home from Italy tomorrow evening! I really miss him. He should be on the plane in the next few minutes. Have a safe trip home Honey.

Today was a land mark day. I put on the jeans my mom bought me for Christmas this year. In December they fit perfectly. I put my cell phone in one pocket and keys in the other and they slipped down till they were nearly falling off! Now if I can just get down to the next size I have in the closet I'll be an even happier girl. I'll wash them in hot water to see if I can shrink them a little, if that doesn't work. I think I'll get out the sewing machine and see if I can take them in. I'd hate to get rid of perfectly good jeans.

I went to big lots a few days ago and bought some bra's in a size smaller. WOW does it make a difference in the way I look to have bras that fit right! And BONUS they were brand name bras and I only spent $5 each for 4 of them! I was so not wanting to spend the big money on bras that (I hope) I won't be able to wear long. The good news is that they fit perfect on the last hooks so I will have an inch or 2 to make them smaller before I have to buy new ones again. You can bet I'll check there again before buying bras next time. When I get to goal I won't mind spending more on some really good bras.

I found this Prince Edward island bike ride planned for June 2010 It has an Anne of green gables theme through part of the ride.
http://www.nbtda.com/EventInfo.php?id=728

Weigh-in end of week 4

I lost another 2.4 lbs. That brings my 4 week total up to 14.8 lbs. I was a bit surprised because at this point the last time I did WW in 2000 I actually gained and then slowed down quite a bit. it took me 7 weeks to lose what I've lost in the last 4 weeks. I'm hoping that means that I'm more focused on staying on plan than I was in 2000.

This week we talked about set points and eating out. I wasn't really impressed. Then again I don't really eat out a lot. basically a "set point" is a points value you assign to a particular Item ( always a filling food) 5 set points for meat, 6 set points for Grains and starches and 2 set points for fruits. The logic is if you eat a reasonable portion of meat it will average 5 points. You must listen to your body eat a bit stop eat a bit more etc then when you are satisfied, you count 5 points. it may or may not be exactly right but it should be close. This is an advanced skill. You need to be able to KNOW when you are satisfied not full. If you eat 2 kinds of meat at one meal you count the set point value 2 times. so surf and turf is 10 points. If you eat rice for your starch then have potatoes you get hit 2 times with the 6 points. If you eat unsweetened applesauce for a set point of 2 you can have all you want till you are satisfied but if you have bananas you have to add another set point. Set points ate only allowed on filling foods. everything else you eat you have to estimate the points on also.

Basically Set points are supposed to do a couple of things, one make eating out less stressful, two have you listen to your body while eating out. they say you can occasionally do it at home to if you don't want to whip out the measuring cups in front of friends etc. Over all I think I'd rather just count points for now. When I'm more comfortable with listening to my body I'll think about set points. I think it would be more helpful during maintenance.

I have found another side effect of WW. My reflux is pretty much GONE! I was on major expensive meds and the reflux just wouldn't go away. We were looking at having to go farther in treatment and I was not looking forward to it. A week after I started WW the reflux went away. I quit taking the meds and it hasn't come back. I can even eat some foods I couldn't before like acidic foods like lemons. I still have trouble with fried foods but since they aren't in my diet any more and I eat less at one time I just don't need the meds any more. The weight loss probably helps too but when the reflux went away, I was down less than 5 lbs, so that's not the main thing.