Tuesday Morning Weight Loss Check In

Did I blow your mind there? Tuesday?

After using the flu diet for a few days, and trying to cough my lungs out for a week afterwards, I will freely admit that I have been very passively dieting and exercising. I figure my "bod" needs to get well before I start beating up on it again, so there really isn't much to report. I'm still down (198.2) and am keeping an eye on my food intake, but not watching calories as much as I was.

What hideous feet. 

While I have not been working out, I have been stretching like crazy. My trainer recommended I buy a styrofoam roller and use it to stretch - man, what I have been missing! My favorite stretch is to roll my back up and down the roller, pausing where I find it tight. It is incredible, and I feel great when I am done. I also roll the outside of my thighs down the roller the same way, and it is great. Mrs. The Plano Cyclist is a great yogi, and has always stressed the value of a good stretch. I will freely admit that I haven't really stretched since I was in 9th grade P.E. and Coach Washington made us. Even then, I only did it in an effort to see up the girls shorts (and was quite limber for all of the effort I put in. Thanks coach!) During my cycling resurgence, even when I was really riding hardish, I never stretched. Now, on the other hand, I have really embraced the stretch. Even of I haven't exercised, I will still take a few minutes and do some stretching, just to loosen up. A foam roller is about $20 at Academy or Dick's, or Oshmann's, and is a worthwhile purchase of home gym equipment.

Not as ominous as this picture makes it look. 

 I generally don't encourage buying home gym stuff, because it never gets used by the average person. In this case, I make an exception, because you really should be using a foam roller to knead your muscles. In a pinch, you can use it for a coffee table as well.

How very modern. 

So what else do you have to look forward to from me this week? I plan to write up the Bikecharge system, and hope to put together a Linkdump for Friday as well. However, I have some professional licensing stuff that I need to attend to, so you may get only one or the other. I'll do my best to get you both articles, but unless you guys start clicking those ads like crazy and telling your friends to read and do the same, I can't count on this work to keep a roof over my head. I have been trying to get someone to give me a house to review, but no such luck yet.

Speaking of reviews, not too long ago, I got an email from Paul F. Pinsky, an author, asking if I would like a copy of his book, "Biking Through The Hoods" to read and personally enjoy. Since I love free stuff, and the title and premise of his book were intriguing to me, I took him up on the offer. "My audience doesn't really care for books", I told him, "no one has yet claimed the free Zen book I'm giving away, so I doubt they themselves read." I told him I would read his book nonetheless and tell my readers about it. I have cracked it open and read a few pages, and it seems well written and interesting. I will review it in toto when I finish it, but am not reading a ton right now - that licensing stuff I was talking about.