“To be or not to be” - Hamlet

Way #18 Embrace the B family

The B vitamin family (collectively known as the B complex)
plays an important role in the activity of your metabolism.  A
high metabolism affords two key benefits, your energy level
and your calorie consumption.  In fact, B vitamins are the
active ingredient in drinks such as "Five Hour Energy".

The easiest way to increase your B's, especially B 12 is with
a supplement.  For natural sources, focus on shellfish,
poultry, liver, eggs and and milk.  Vegans will need to rely
on supplements or fortified products such as yeast.
 
Date:  2/26/2011
Day: 57
Weight: 350.0  (-18.2)
BMI: 43.5
Miles Ridden: 368
Days to Las Vegas (Oct. 15th): 228

“Better to be deprived of food for three days, than tea for one.” - Chinese Proverb

Way #17 Choose and enjoy the right Green Tea for you

Ah, that wonder of the orient, the paver of the silk road.  Tea will help you reach your health goals and merely the ritual of preparing it will make you a better person.

Almost all green teas will help with your metabolism, i.e. more calories burned.  Just avoid the cream and sugar loaded Green Tea latte.  Choose your time of day to enjoy the tea carefully if caffiene disrupts your sleep.  And consider the blends that act as a mild laxative to help with your g.i. wellness.

Most importantly, pour two cups. 

Date:  2/22/2011
Day: 53
Weight: 349.0  (-19.2)
BMI: 43.4
Miles Ridden: 316
Days to Las Vegas (Oct. 15th): 232

“Take it with a grin of salt.” - Yogi Berra

Way #16 Salt is not your friend

When you are working to get away from processed food,
especially fast food restaurants you will naturally reduce
your sodium (mostly from salt) intake.  This will naturally
make you crave salt from other sources, for a time.
Excessive sodium is not your friend for two primary reasons. 
First is causes you to retain excess water putting undue
stress on your vascular system.  Second, is causes organs to
work harder than they need to and, in extreme cases, can upset
your electrolytes; the very workings of your body.
If your water intake is up, your salt is probably not a
problem.  The number one recommendation to deal with excessive
sodium is to remove the shaker from your table.  Also, learn
to rely on the pepper family to treat bored tastebuds. 
Finally, drive that salty snack lineup right out the door.

Date:  2/19/2011
Day: 50
Weight: 350.4  (-17.8)
BMI: 43.6
Miles Ridden: 280
Days to Las Vegas: 251

"Little Things Mean a Lot" - Lindeman and Stutz

Way #15 Root out hidden calories

You can make a beautiful 1500 calorie plan and be surprised that it supports a 300 pound body with no weight loss.  Baring medical issues, the culprit is usually hidden calories that are consumed but not accounted for.  These hidden calories can show up as:
- spreads and toppings:  butter, mayonnaise (mmmmm), salad dressing, etc.
- over processed foods:  prepped vegatables with butter and fat, muffins (despite their healthy reputation, can be 1,000 calories),  frozen yogurt (in shoppes, often equivalent to ice cream)
- mindless snacks:  especially white flour based products with undeserved reputations for being healthier choices (i.e. most pretzels and crackers)

These three categories can double your caloric intake and lead to very frustrating results.  Try some of these alternatives:
-  mustard for mayonnaise, honey or pure maple syrup for butter
-  weekly trip to the farmer's market for fresh fruits and vegatables
-  for a salty snack, consider keeping pickles around, just watch it on the salt

Just don't deprive yourself.  If your body tell you it is hungry, do something (smart) about it!

Date:  2/15/2011
Day: 46
Weight: 349.6  (-18.6)
BMI: 43.4
Miles Ridden: 256
Days to Las Vegas: 255

Lord I'm one, Lord I'm two, Lord I'm three thousand miles from my goal

Way #14 Set short and medium term goals

Long term goals have a way of getting out of focus.  Unless you are an exceptionally driven person like Mark Cuban or Bill Gates you will want to use this way to help to get to where you want to be.

 

I've had the goal of completing a 100 miles bike ride this year (target October in Las Vegas) since the beginning of this adventure.  Now I'm going to pursue the shorter range goals of averaging 5 miles a day in January, 6 in February, and so forth until I'm averaging 15 miles a day in October.

 

This happens to work out to 3,000 miles in 300 days, which I'll be tracking via a virtual bike ride across America.  Check it out at project100ways.com!

Date:  2/12/2011
Day: 43
Weight: 351.0  (-17.2)
BMI: 43.9
Miles Ridden: 251
Days to Las Vegas: 258

And he showed me a pure river of water of life - Rev. 22:1

Way #13  Water is your friend

To be honest, I've known this one since day 1, but have been putting it off because I just have a hard time following it.  But after the sins of the Super Bowl, including a week's worth of salt, I really need to follow this way earnestly to achieve my goals.

One tip for your water intake is slice up your fruit and put it in a pitcher of filtered water.  This is especially helpful if you are finding it hard to get fruit in your diet.

Rules of thumb go from eight 8 oz. glasses a day (one half gallon) to one ounce for every two pounds of body weight (two gallons a day in my case!)

The phase for hello in chinese roughly translates to "had your rice today?".  For those with wellness and weight management goals is should be "had your water today?".  Happy drinking!

Date:  2/8/2011
Day: 39
Weight: 353.4  (-14.8)
BMI: 44.0
Miles Ridden: 209
Days to Las Vegas: 262

"Gonna try with a little help..." - The Beatles

Way #12 Use a well designed supplement

Whether it's an aversion to vegetables, the dead of winter or a 53 year old metabolism, it's quite likely you need a little help for your body above and beyond the foods you eat.  A supplement should address your particular situation and be used in addition to a quality multi-vitamin.

I'm using the Monavie RVL supplement with great results.  My issues are a lazy metabolism and energy drops mid morning and mid afternoon.  In addition to acai and a host of other wellness ingredients, RVL has chromium for regulating blood sugar and green tea and black pepper extracts to boost the metabolism.

Other supplements can help with water retention, mood elevation and suppressing appetite.  Don't let a little flaw in your system threaten your dreams!

Date:  2/5/2011
Day: 36
Weight: 350.4  (-17.8)
BMI: 43.7
Miles Ridden: 181
Days to Las Vegas: 265

"...to sleep perchance to dream - ay, there's the rub." - Hamlet

Way #11 Sleep is your friend

Leave to another old reliable to come to the rescue.  After 3 nights of 9+ hours sleep, I am back to my losing ways.  Had been averaging 6 hours during the plateau.  Good thing I named this 100 ways and not 10.  I am going to need all of them.

Sleeping elevates your mood and stabilizes your metabolism.  It also reduces opportunity for mindless eating.  Studies have shown a strong coorelation between obesity and poor sleep habits.  Try exercise late in the day to enable an earlier bed time.  No time to sleep?  That's an entirely different discussion.

Date:  2/1/2011
Day: 32
Weight: 352.2  (-16.0)
BMI: 44.0
Miles Ridden: 145
Days to Las Vegas: 269