To all I wish everyone a blessed Thanksgiving.

Today, I walked three miles with Teri and my dog chip. I went over to AVC to run, and the gates were locked. They had signs on them, “closed to construction”. I have been told they are demolishing the stadium to build a new one, I am not sure of the timing of it. It may have started.

I drove over to Quartz Hill High School and used there track. It seems to be in a better condition. It looks newer and seems to be more springy.

I ran a new pattern. I ran 400m, walk 400m, then ran 1200m and walk 400m. I repeat the 1200m, 400m pattern four times. Here is my motionbased results of laps.

After the run, I came home and rode 30 minutes on my trainer with the bike. I knew I would eat and drink for our Thanksgiving meeting with family, so I needed to have done some work.

I have not been excited to post my weight loss, because it has been some gains. I have been eating too much and not walking as much as I should. I have been holding on to the same weight. I just lack the commitment to eat well. I need to find the motivation and get back on track.

Saturday, I set out to ride 60 plus miles. My GPS batteries went dead, so I do not have a map of the actual course. I do have my ped-o-meter (google map mashup) of the distance. If you look at the ped-o-meter, click on the elevation and notice the calories. It states 8,860 calories. I like that, but think it is high. I left the house at 7:45am and returned at 12:15.

The ride was without wind (nice). I rode west up Avenue H, to 110st west, back over to Avenue I to Munz Road. Last time I rode this I had to stop four times. I changed out my big gear on the cassette to a 28. So, I was able to peddle up the hill without stopping.

I got the top of the pass, and eat. Rode west on Elizabeth Lake Road. There was a small fire that the fire folks had put out. They were hanging around to make sure nothing else started. At this time, just past that I saw a bobcat or the biggest dog with cat ears. It did not let me get that close. I saw one live and one dead coyote.

 At that point, it was a climb for many miles. I did not expect it, but once over the hills, it was downhill to three-points. I really liked that area. Took the road out to Avenue D. To my surprise it was Neenach. We just planted a church there. Grace Chapel Neenach. It was a blessing to see the building. This was about 250th street. Rode to 245th street and followed it until it became Lancaster Avenue, where it turned in to Avenue I and then I am home.

When I was at the Poppy Reserve it started to rain. That was nice, we need rain.

At my friend’s Romina Avery’s surprise birthday party, I had someone take a picture of me and Teri. I noticed the difference in my weight. The picture on the left side is from the party and the one on the right is last December on mountain bike (wine tasting) adventure on a short cruise in Mexico. I noticed the difference in my face and upper torso. I am the one who takes pictures, so it is rare for me to be found as the subject of a picture.

Today I weighted in at 188.8 lbs. This is the first time I broke below the 190 mark. This means that I have lost 40lbs to date! I have been stating I lost close to 40lbs, so now I can say I lost more than 40lbs. Cool!

It has been six months from the time I started getting fit. I started on April 2nd, 2007. It seems like it is longer in some ways and seems to have flown by in other ways.

In recapping the last six months. I started at 230lbs and have almost lost 40 pounds. I have begun to walk covering hundreds of miles, hiked many local Southern California mountains, climbed Mt Whitney (14,496 ft), the highest mountain in the lower 48, and 14,252 ft. White Mountain Peak. I have started to play softball (although, we have yet to win a game). My blood pressure has improved.  I have rode my bike hundreds of miles.

To show some accomplishments, I purchased a pair of jeans yesterday two sizes smaller. My waist was 38, now I am 34!

I have been working on new goals for the next six months. I still have many resolutions still to accomplish, so stay tuned.

Today, I was surprised to be down to 192 lbs. I started at 230lbs on 4/1/7. I weighted in yesterday at 194 and Monday at 196. Wow! I started to take a supplement from a Friend Meg Kelly, she gave me MSM (Methylsulfonylmethane) for sore joints. I wonder if it has any affect? I also just started taking Acetazolamide (diamox) a prescription to aid in altitude sickness, it is a diuretic, so this may explain the weight loss.

I am climbing White Mountain Peak in the morning. It is 14,292 feet.

I have not posted my blood pressure in a while. I have been taking and journaling it. So, today I decided to post it. It is close to one of my resolutions, which is to have my pressure be at or under 120/80 and a pulse at or under 50. Today it was 119/79 with a pulse of 52. I have a small graph of my progress.

Today I reached a goal of 196 lbs! I started at 230lb on 4/2/7. This goal meets one of my resolutions. Since I am at the weight of 196 lbs and using BMI index, I am no longer considered obese (only overweight)!

I am still wanting to lose weight but have not been that disciplined. Since the goal of reaching 200 lbs, I have managed to lose only 2 more pounds in two weeks. I managed to get the scale to weight me in at 198 lbs this week. I have switched scales. I was using a medical scale, but at work there is the digital scale at work (whole pounds only) that is for legal tender. I believe it is very accurate.