Bachelorhood

Welp, my wonderful and beautiful bride has left me.  For a week, anyway.  She is up at the best place in the world: Camp Castaway in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota with Young Life.

Here's the deal though, and I'll do my best here not to be overly dramatic.  When Kelly leaves... I pretty much fall apart.  I mean, at least in regards to any semblance of discipline and responsibility (perhaps not my strong suits, to start).  I stay up late, I don't put stuff away, I waste inordinate amounts of time with superfluous and oftentimes completely avoidable tasks.

I ... I don't know... I am just generally irresponsible.  Maybe I've come to depend too much on her as a guide for typical adult responsibility, and I'm left thinking "free pass" when she's gone?  I don't know.  What I *do* know, however, is that bad discipline spells disaster for good eating.

Yesterday, even when she was here... she was out finishing up some work at the office and I saw that she had purchased some candy for girls in her cabin.  That's nice.  But then my eye caught something... the XXL bag of peanut butter M&Ms was open.

Oh dear.

If it had already been opened then certainly no one would notice a few more M&Ms missing.  Knowing full well that they were meant for girls in her cabin, I then proceeded to essentially steal from high school girls, and eat somewhere between 12 and 75 (it's hard to keep track, really) peanut butter M&M's.

resistance is futile

When she discovered my transgression, at some point during the ensuing scolding, she said something to the effect of  "you better blog about this and embarrass yourself!"  Done. (wwwwooorrrrth it)

Also, last night we had all the leaders over for a send-off dinner.  I ate far too much pizza (and chips).  And yet, there were still leftovers.  Today I had a plate of Cheetos for lunch.

Yup.  A plate of Cheetos.  I meant to make a grilled chicken salad.  But then I saw the Cheetos from last night, and ate a couple.  Then I thought "these are so good... I should have a small serving", so I poured a few out onto the plate that was meant for the salad.  But it didn't look like quite enough... so I poured a few more... then a few more.  And before long, I had a plate of Cheetos.  Then I ate them all.  (while watching Shark Week)

I felt so guilty that I didn't even allow myself to have anything else from lunch.  Great... so zero nutritional value there.  Also, then Browning came over and had left over salsa verde from Los B's... so I ate that with some chips for pre-dinner.  Yup, a banner day here at the ole Nicholas house.  I need to get rid of all this food around me (feel free to come by and pick some up).  That's my only hope for control.  This is a cry for help.  Food: F

The only good news from today from a fitness perspective was my run this morning.  It ended up being a little shorter than I wanted because of the heat.  But, I ran at a good 8:15 pace for about three and a half miles.  That is my previous race speed for a 5k, but today it was good as just a "good regular run" speed... not "easy" but definitely not at my limit.  It feels good to be improving.  Distance 3.4 miles

And the magic number... 204.2 lbs

Keep on Truckin'

Oh hi there, I didn't know you'd been sitting and waiting... for a month.

I'm not really sure what can be said about that lapse.  I mean, I didn't post for a month.

And yet, life goes on.

First things first.  I have been staying active, and probably been eating healthier than the last few months, too.  The hard work seems to be paying off and I *have* seen a solid decline in weight since I last posted.  So... yeah.  That's good.  I've officially crossed the "30 lbs lost" milestone (never to look back), and Last Friday I was on the cusp of an unofficial "40 lbs lost" benchmark.  That's a lot of weight.  For the official record, here are my last 5 Fat Friday weigh-ins...

• July 1 - 214 (last posted)


• July 8 - 209.6


• July 15 - 208.6


• July 22 - 202.4


• July 29 - 203.6

steady progress... mostly...

Some really good progress there... still more to go.  The current goal is to get below 200lbs before school starts on August 22nd.  Other non-weight related news from July includes:

• I ran a new 5k PR a couple weeks ago.  23:54 - which is slightly better than 8 minute miles... which is sort of a big deal for me because that's been a goal/plateau.  So, yeah... that's been good progress, too, I guess.


• Knee pain has been better (or, more accurately: less often and less severe)


• Kel and I have two kids from China staying at our house for the month


• I sold my bike, Vincent.

And that about covers it (without a single item seeming out of place).  On additional item... yes, I sold my bike, but also... I got a new one.  This one is not light and fast, but it's big and tough and will carry all my stuff.  It's the Surly Long Haul Trucker.

shown here with all the trimmings: fenders, rear rack, frame pump, brooks saddle, and crank bros pedals

So you might notice that this bike is significantly more... errrr... functional than my last rig. The plan is to commute with it to Wheaton Academy this fall.  (that's 15 miles a day, plus whatever I add on weekends... not bad for staying active, not to mention biking to work is awesome).  The Long Haul Trucker (as evidenced by the name) is also ideally suited for long self-supported tours... which might be a possibility in the future (more on this later).  It's also a steel frame, which means durability and longevity.  I'm planning on this being my bike for a long time.

FFF: printed on the chainstay: "fatties fit fine" ... it means big tires (up to 45mm), but I like to think it also means riders

Anyway, I'm excited about the practicality (once I have panniers, I can take most things most places with just my bike) and essentially replace my car... at least until it gets really cold.

Just another way to fight the fat...

Belly of the Beast (Dumpster Fire)

Well... this is the last full day of being at camp with Kelly.  If you're wondering how, as a staff spouse, I did not find/make time to update this blog with more frequency (something I had planned to do)... I don't have a good answer or excuse for you.  I could say that I've been spending too much time serving others, or intentionally building community, or diligently reading/studying potential lesson plans for next year... and while there is some truth to each of those, I think the real reason is whatever else I've been doing, updating this blog just hasn't been that high on my priority list.  And that's okay.

(History will later show that it's easier to keep a regularly updated blog in the horribly depressing late winter months of February and March while living in Chicago than in the beautiful summer time of Northern #PureMichigan)

One other thing that has been keeping me busy has been working out.  No, really.  Here is some proof:

As you can see, (and if you can't... 21mi bike, 22mi bike, 10mi bike with 2mi run, rest day, 34mi bike, 20mi bike, 3.5mi run, 5mi run, 54mi bike, 27mi bike, and 10k run) I've been keeping busy.  Including a 10k run today (which I honestly feel pretty good about... my legs don't feel good about it, but I do).  Distance: 10k 

So, what do I have to show for my efforts?  I've had solid workouts for 10 of the last 11 days... and yet? 

Yes, that's right.  A weight GAIN on Fat Friday.

And what can account for this cruel and ridiculous twist in my fitness narrative?  My complete lack of personal will power, of course!  The really tragically embarrassing part of this debacle (and I'm not sure if "debacle" is strong enough, we are beyond "debacle" or "train wreck"... and might be moving into "dumpster fire" territory... as in "my nutritional situation is a freakin' dumpster fire".)  It's not like I'm gorging myself at every meal.  Many days I've had a healthy breakfast (oatmeal or something similar) and a carefully well portioned lunch, and skipped desert at dinner... only to throw back half a pizza and an ice cream Sunday at 11:30pm at an Assigned Team party. *sigh*

See what I mean?  Dumpster Fire.

Anyway, all my hard work has been summarily negated by my utter lack of nutritional discipline.  So sad.  Food: F

And the weigh-in?  214 lbs.  (although, after my run I posted a 210.8... but that's not the deal.  I weigh first thing in the morning... not after I've sufficiently dehydrated myself to near the point of death).

Hopefully I'll get back on track once I'm home... I'm hoping to make some significant progress in July (and feel off to a good start with the 10k)...