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SpokEasy

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Caving In

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I’m always caving in, one way or another. When I have hard efforts planned, I cave in too readily when the lactate burn sets in. I find myself caving in too much when it comes to my diet, too. When I plan the next day’s meals, it’s too easy to plan for too little. Then I get hungry too soon, and wind up buying M&Ms, or cookies. Or I just decide, I! Don’t! Care! and grab whatever is closest! That’s what happened last night. I had gotten  too hungry; and I was grouchy; clumsy; and felt very depleted. And what I went for was high-carb stuff! Among other items, I pulled that Sport Shake from the freezer and ate it like ice cream! This morning I had a “recovery“ drink before going out to ride. A gear-up drink, perhaps? Post-ride, I ate rather more breakfast than usual; yet I was hungry again by 9 am! I’m glad I had some granola bars at my desk for such emergencies; but before lunch break rolled around – you guessed it – I was hungry again! I ate some of the prunes I had with me, to hold me over; and during lunch break I bought a Clif Builder’s bar to fill out my lunch. It didn\’t keep me from getting hungry again before afternoon break time; and before I left work for the day, I was hungry yet again! That left me caving in for the third or fourth time today; and I ate a GU-Gel before riding home. For tomorrow, I\’m planning an early run to the supermarket; and tonight I must make my shopping list. AND I\’d better eat a pretty substantial meal before heading for the store. If I don\’t, I\’ll be caving in and buying stuff I don\’t need!

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Survival

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Survival of the fittest. Surviving Monday at work. It\’s uphill work, isn\’t it? Getting through a long Sunday ride seems like a matter of mere survival when I\’ve got a strong headwind, and I\’m getting tired. Weekday morning rides are about merely surviving the miles when it\’s cold and windy; and don\’t get me started about foggy mornings! Keeping the prediabetes diet going often seems like barely hanging on day after day. Planning meals and snacks day by day is sometimes tedious. I\’ve also noticed that, what seems like a lot of food on paper, often isn\’t enough! This is a bigger problem on days when I have to work on site. I often get hungry between meals; and I run out of the snacks I brought to work with me. Then I\’m too likely to turn to high-carb junk! Today, in fact, I lost it big time. What can I eat that will fill out my calorie needs, but is 1) not high in carbs; 2) not high in fat; and 3) low in cholesterol? Not to mention inexpensive. If this is so hard when I work on site three days a week, what will it be like when the pandemic is over; and I have to work on site all week? Preparing all these lunches is time-consuming; it\’s tiresome lugging so much food along; and if I buy lunch, it\’s much harder for me to keep my eating plan under control. Today I took a crack at survival without buying a Diet Coke at work. I drank a small one before I left home; and took along green tea to drink at work. It didn\’t provide the caffeine kick I\’m used to. Survival in this case didn\’t last until 9 am!

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Uncanny

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Doesn\’t it seem uncanny, the way things pile up on you? Or, to be honest, not so uncanny. I keep bringing home the canned goods much faster than I use them. It can also seem uncanny the way prepping the next day\’s meals eats up so much time! For this morning\’s breakfast, I planned black beans with corn tortillas. Sounds like a simple, easy-to-prepare meal, right? It\’s not so simple when I have to open the can of beans and rinse them; and then get them stored in the fridge. Tuna for lunch isn\’t so simple, either, when I don\’t want plain old tuna fish. I had to drain the tuna; and then I chopped up a scallion and a bit of red bell pepper. I also wanted a bit of mayonnaise and a little lemon juice in the mix; and had to cut the lemon and store what I didn\’t use in a jar. As part of my lunch, I planned carrot sticks with lemon/fava bean dip. That meant I had to measure out the dip and put it in a small container; and as to the carrots, I had to clean up a two-pound bag of them! All that took about an hour, especially as I had to wash dishes to clear the kitchen counter before I could even begin. This is why I like to prepare a work day\’s lunch the night before. Even if I don\’t go out on the road bike, there isn\’t time to do all that and eat a proper breakfast in the morning. Things are apt to continue this way. My weight is down where I want it; but if I let the meal planning/prep slide, I\’ll be back where I started. Seems uncanny, doesn\’t it?

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Out of Sync

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My Garmin has been out of sync. A while back, I needed to re-enter my heart rate zones for some reason; and I didn\’t do it quite right. I wrote the zones that I use on a piece of index card, which I taped to the road bike\’s handlebars. I refer to the card while riding; and I saw that the zone readings the Garmin\’s screen gave me were out of sync with the zones on that card! The heart rate reading I was seeing on the screen would correspond to Zone 3 on the card; but the zone reading on the screen would be 4! I can\’t get an accurate idea of my workout that way; so after this morning\’s long ride I re-did the zones online. I hope they get into the Garmin as it\’s recharging; if I need a Smartphone to sync, then I am sunk! Today I put in 31.30 miles, but as usual was quite the slowpoke: I averaged only 10.82 mph. On the way home, the wind was NE at 12-13 mph; with gusts of 21-23 mph. I feel like such a weakling when I\’m plodding along against the wind; and other riders whiz past me like I was backing up. I\’m too lazy to dig out my old cycling journals to look up previous rides in similar conditions. If I did it, I just might find that I\’m a little better at riding against the wind. Today I tried a new recovery drink: Sport Shake Vanilla Power. As perhaps you can guess, this was a salvage-store find. It\’s too high in carbs to have regularly; but it was a nice change from chocolate. Gosh, did I just say that? Something must be out of sync.

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I Need SS Anonymous

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I need SS Anonymous; SS as in salvage store. I just can\’t seem to keep myself out of there! Despite my having plenty of stuff already, I rode to that place again today. I enjoy seeing what I can find; and besides, the pandemic isn\’t over yet. I still haven\’t shed the \”suppose there\’s suddenly a big shut-down\” mentality. On top of that, time flies; and hurricane season will be starting before I know it. I say again and again, the time to prepare is before the season begins! I took the trailer again, so I could use the cooler; and I\’m glad I had the cooler. I found a pound block of medium-sharp cheddar; and Laughing Cow Lite. This time I decided to get a pack of turkey franks. There wasn\’t any hummus that I saw; but I found some kind of fava bean dip, and got some to try. Naturally I hit the grab-bag bins, and today I made up a large bag. I didn\’t fill it completely; but even so I got 33 items for five bucks. Alas, most of it is candy; such as M&Ms Hazelnut Spread. I rationalize such purchases by rationing out such goodies. I still had several packs of those hazelnut M&Ms; and I bought them months ago. Now I have to make space for this new load of stuff. That gets trickier as time goes on, and I continue to add to my hoard. Thus I need SS Anonymous! All this talk about food is making me hungry. I think I\’ll go heat up those turkey franks; and plan tomorrow\’s ride.

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365 Whey Protein

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365 Whey Protein Powder has long been my go-to product for recovery drinks. To me it\’s too expensive to use daily; but I enjoy it after my Sunday long rides. I also like to have it after a weekday morning ride that includes \”force\” exercises. The catch: this powder seems to take a long time to dissolve into liquid. If I had a blender, it might not be a problem. As it is, I mix it up the night before I plan to use it; and let it sit in the fridge. I\’ve tried using 365 Whey Protein Powder in dairy milk; and in almond milk. Both are good; but if you\’re watching calories and/or carbs, almond milk is lower in both. Incidentally, I keep getting hungry too often during the day lately. And then I eat junk! I thought it might help if downed a protein drink in the morning; but it didn\’t seem to. Maybe I need a pint of it instead of a half-pint? If you want a non-dairy alternative to 365, you might like to try Purely Inspired. I found it in the salvage store a week or two ago; and I think it\’s good. (I would — it\’s chocolate, after all!) Purely Inspired is vegan friendly; and has no cholesterol. Whichever protein powder you choose: enjoy!

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Change of Seasons

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It\’s the change of seasons; I can really see it. I no longer finish my morning rides in pitch darkness; and in fact I now need to put sunblock on my face before I set out. It just won\’t do to get sunburned in March! Or any season, for that matter. Of course that will end temporarily when we switch to Daylight time. I\’ll be getting back home in the dark again! But it won\’t last long. The river has begun to rise. No alligator sightings so far; but I might see those glowing, amber/orange eyes any day now. We\’re feeling the change of seasons in our weather, too. The Big Freeze is fading into the past; and it\’s starting to feel more like Spring. We aren\’t in the clear yet, though. Saturday and Sunday nights it will get down to 47 degrees; but it looks like I might soon be able to put the warming packs away for next Winter. We might get rain tonight; but tomorrow it\’s supposed to be clear. That\’s good news for the trip to the salvage store. I hope I find refried beans this time; and hummus. Sunday should be clear, too; and I aim to get in about 30 miles. Wind from the NE, though, at 10-15 mph. Headwind on the way back home, as usual. Today I changed tactics a bit; and did some \”light in the saddle\” efforts. Earlier this week my legs didn\’t seem to be \”there\”, and I didn\’t push it. I still need a simple name for this riding technique; and maybe I\’ll call it \”unclimbing\”. I\’m using climbing technique; but I\’m not climbing!

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Cheating

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Cheating doesn\’t always involve a broken heart. I\’ve been cheating on my diet — again. Planning my meals; and adding up the calories and carbs, somehow leaves me short. Trying not to overshoot the carb count can make it difficult to get in enough calories; and I suppose that\’s why I broke down today and got a pint of ice cream! The nutritionist and nurse practitioner both said to work at getting in more lean protein; but lean protein can be quite high in carbs if it means grains and legumes. I also need to watch the cholesterol; so I want to go easy on meat, poultry, cheese, and eggs. The kind of carbs I eat matters, of course. Complex carbs, the kind found in whole grains and legumes, are a different matter from the simple carbs of candy and other sweets; and if I keep cheating the way I have been, I fear that my A1c levels aren\’t going to go down! This week I\’ve been experimenting with having a protein drink in the morning; sometimes before my ride, and sometimes afterwards. I thought the \”protein jolt\” might help keep me from getting hungry so quickly; but it doesn\’t. Is my body fighting the weight loss of the past year? They say that, when you lose weight, the body wants to get back to its pre-loss weight. I must work to keep that from happening; and continuing to ride should be a good way to do it! Incidentally, I need to get in a good ride tomorrow morning. Yesterday I felt strangely lethargic; and today I managed only a short ride. I got started late; and on top of that, I wanted to go to the supermarket. Gee, I\’m cheating myself out of my rides!

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Mush Again!

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My legs felt like mush again this morning. Sometimes they just do, and I don’t always know why. It\’s part of being a cyclist, I suppose. I didn\’t do a long or tough workout yesterday morning. I felt unaccountably sleepy on the bike this morning, too; and my lethargy resulted in a ride less than eight miles long. It’s just one of those days, I guess. You know those rides when you seem to have a headwind both going out and coming back home? That was the case this morning; and I didn\’t seem to have the energy to work hard against it. I had a good tailwind only for the last mile before the end. At least it wasn\’t raining today; and the temperature was in the mid-40s. That\’s relatively bearable after the late-February cold snap. The wind chill during those miserable days was often well below freezing! I also had to keep a careful eye on the time, because I had a COVID test scheduled for 8 am. After that, I had to go to work. Tomorrow I work from home; and that means I\’ll have time to ride to the supermarket before I clock in. It will be another chilly morning, and I\’ll have to wear several layers. Maybe I\’ll skip the road bike. I can put the panniers and trunk on the hybrid; ride some laps around the park; and then head for the store. This one opens at 6 am, so I\’ll be able to get home in plenty of time. My legs continued to feel tired all day today, so I think I better take it easy tomorrow. I don\’t want my poor limbs to feel like mush again.

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Getting Cold Feet

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Getting Cold Feet   This morning the temperature was 58-59 degrees; and it was raining. Not a heavy downpour, but more than a light sprinkle. I decided to poncho up; and I rode some laps around the local park with the hybrid. Of course my feet eventually became pretty damp; and then they began to feel chilled. I didn’t use warming packs today; and my hands got pretty cold, too. Lobster gloves would have been useful! I might have done one more lap, but decided that hands getting cold meant I’d better head for home. During the last mile on the way home, I had a headwind; and there were some strong gusts that had me shifting down to my granny gear. All in all, this was the kind of ride that makes me feel like a sissy; especially when I see joggers out there in shorts and T-shirts! I decided to walk to work. It’s a nuisance trying to lock up a bike to a rack when it’s raining. When it’s cold as well, I’ll not only be getting cold feet; my hands will get too cold. Managing those locks and keys is awkward when I’m wearing heavy gloves. Before 8 am, the temp had dropped to 49. It continued to rain on and off all day; and when I left work it was still gloomy. I’m glad the rain was very light then, because the wind was rather strong; and there were some gusts that made my umbrella hard to control. It’s a relief to be at home and in front of the electric heater. Now I can dry out and put on dry socks. I don’t like getting cold feet.

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