Greetings from the bike! It’s been a while since I’ve pounded out a few thoughts on the ye olde iPhone keyboard while sweating to the indies (rock, that is). And so I figured today would be as good a say as any!

Bike talk time is 2:58.

WTF. They’re BLASTING Jesse McCartney’s “Beautiful Soul” right now. I thought this was supposed to be “power hour” with “loud music” and “explicit lyrics”. Boo. Cue the Eminem in my earphones.

There. That is much better. Eminem is such an angry old man. That anger translates well when trying to burn a few calories.

In case I haven’t had a chance to brag to you, my magic digits these days are 214. Yep. 214 pounds is where I’m currently at, down from 235 at the end of November. The goal is still 29 pounds away when I get to 185 (and I WILL get there!) People (don’t) ask me “John, how’d you do it?” The answer is simple – a highly disciplined diet, working out 4-5 times a week, and routines.

The food was an easy thing to fix. Yeah, there is still dinner out with friends, but I’m smart about it – and I do build an occasional cheat in to my food planning. I also graze at work – lots of almonds, fruit twice a day, and portioned, pre-packed lunches. (Yep – they have a little more sodium than I’d care to get in one serving, but it’s the portioning that matters most to me.)

The thing I realize (and it is a sad realization) is that to keep the momentum up, I’m probably going to have to shake everything up again going to a new level of routine, hard work, and discipline. But I think I’m ready.

Bike talk time is 15:20. (Yes, I’m a slow iPhone typist.)

Speaking of food, two of the guys from Frozen have embarked on something that is in my list of “100 things” – going veggie. @dejong and @selfreflexion have been solid on the veggie front for some time now. I have to admit, I’ve tried veggie stuff a few times with various results. Yves Mexican ground round is sweet for tacos. But what turned me off the veggie train were a couple of veggie burgers I picked up about 2 years ago. It was like eating paste. Not good.

All that said, the guys swear by extra firm tofu. Hmm. Might have to find an excuse to use it.

Bike talk time is 21:02.

Remember that episode of “The Office” where they’re participating in “Michael Scott’s Dunder Mifflin Scranton Meridith Palmer Memorial Rabies Awareness Pro-Am Fun Run Race for the Cure”? I always have visions of Andy Bernard in that episode whenever some hardcore guy gets on a treadmill next to me at the gym.

Bike talk time is 28:30.

There are now dolls in the image of President Obama’s daughters? That is reeeeeally disturbing.

On that note, I’m going to wind things up. Coming up on cool down time here and I plan to enjoy the ride.

Later!

+J