TimbukTOO Team Room

[brick1101]

Hi Teammates!!
I'm getting ready to catch my train to NYC in a couple hours. Plan on doing my erging at the Vanderbilt Y for the duration of my stay. Will not have computer access so those meters won't be posted till my return next week....
Plan on wearing my Utilikilt all over Manhattan!!! Watch out New York City!!!!!
ROW TEAM!!!!!!

[The Blacksmith]

200

[damselfly]

Hi Teammates!!
I'm getting ready to catch my train to NYC in a couple hours. Plan on doing my erging at the Vanderbilt Y for the duration of my stay. Will not have computer access so those meters won't be posted till my return next week....
Plan on wearing my Utilikilt all over Manhattan!!! Watch out New York City!!!!!
ROW TEAM!!!!!!

Uh, I could be wrong about this, but won't that be kinda cold this time of year?!?! Make sure to pack your goose-down undies!!

[markman]

I'm looking forward to passing the 150k season and 500k lifetime today as long as I can do more than 7,500 meters!

[The Blacksmith]

Winter hasn't even begun here yet-it's not cold yet-I'm 110 miles north of the city-calling for 3-5" of snow tonight. Guess I should have put the plow on the truck

[damselfly]

It was pretty cold here last night -- mid-40s I think... Nice today though -- almost 70. Had a nice trail run today in a tank top and shorts. Ahhhhh....

I dunno about $200, that seems a little over-reaching! Why not keep $100 and just be great over-achievers? People are going to start getting more busy and more (non-rowing) commitments as we get closer to the end of the month. Just my $0.02. Failing that, $150 is my vote.

Mark, congrats on the milestones!! (I happen to know that you did in fact beat 7500 meters today... ) Way to row!!!

[BoB/335]

I need 6622 to cross over the 500,000 lifetime mark. (Actually I rowed on and off for a number of years before I ever knew about this site. Probably at least a hundred or two hundred thousand meters unaccounted for)

[markman]

I need 6622 to cross over the 500,000 lifetime mark. (Actually I rowed on and off for a number of years before I ever knew about this site. Probably at least a hundred or two hundred thousand meters unaccounted for)

You and I are pretty much in the same "boat" as it were I managed to get around 8000 meters tonight so I'm just over 500k. We'll see how the rest of the month goes. Hopefully I can get another 50-60k in before the end of the year.

Mark, congrats on the milestones!! (I happen to know that you did in fact beat 7500 meters today... ) Way to row!!!

Thanks! I was feeling a little sluggish tonight but I hung in there and finished the session. Hopefully the tickle in my throat doesn't get any worse.

Time to get some beauty sleep!

[The Blacksmith]

Nothing wrong with being overachievers And we end up in the same place anyway. Did 5k in 21:40 this AM-I'll see what it costs me later today-hopefully it won't change the pain thing in the wrong direction.

[The Blacksmith]

I forgot to add, I've been having difficulty getting motivated to exercise. Just one of those I'd rather sit and watch the tube than get on the rower-ugh. Usually time passes pretty quickly (rower is parked in front of the TV) , but it's been just dragging-especially today-at least I got 12k or so in I guess it's the old "this too shall pass"-but never quickly enough.

[BoB/335]

Just read this post in the "Individual Challenges" thread:

We're well into it by now - I'm at 55K. I had a thought during those hour-long rows: What if everyone that completes the Challenge matched C2's donation? For 200K, that would be a mere $6, and the $30,000 goal would be easily obtainable. I'm going to do it. Pass the word.

[BoB/335]

"12k or so"???? Is that too little???

Here is a motivational pep-talk. Sorry if this is a repeat from a prior post. I thought the other day that I should write this and wasn't sure but I see now that everyone can always use some help in the motivational department. Sorry in advance if this is a little long.

I am 54 yrs old (as of Nov 22) 6'2 and 194lbs. (now) My family history is $&8t. Father had a heart attack at 50 and died of a massive stroke at 52 (1979). Mother had a stroke at around 72 died of Vascular Dementia 3 years ago at 77. Hardening of the arteries and vascular disease on immediate both sides along with some uncles, aunts and cousins.
Younger brother had massive heart attack 5 years ago at 45 yrs old. He flat lined and they brought him back after over 20 minutes. Mother was borderline diabetic and her brother had it bad and took him in the end.

I have had a cardiologist for a long time. I had palpatations as a teenager and pre-mature atrial contractions and much later on pre-mature ventrical contractions. These all seem to be "electrical signal problems" and of no-where the concern of what "plumbing problems" are (which are the blood flow in ateries and the "pump" itself)

I was "diagnosed" diabetic just over 2 years ago but I suspect it went on longer than that. I took it "semi" serious (I digress: because of my father, I took exercise and weight "semi" serious most of my life and "everything in moderation" was the mantra I followed) With the diagnosis of diabetes, I started watching a bit more of what I was eating and was on 500 mg Metformim 2X per day. As I cheated I upped the Metformin another half 2X per day. At some time I started exercising and lost a few pounds and was able to drop back to a single 500 2X per day. (while still cheating a bit because the exercise was burning it up)
Don't know how long the exercising went. Maybe 3-4 moths (as usual) and "something" came up that stopped the motivation. Of course some of the weight came back on and with that my glucose numbers went back up and had to up the Metformin back up a half. This went on for some time. I was still "cheating" in the eating department and before I knew it I was at two 500 mg Metformin twice a day in order to keep my glucose numbers at a "decent" level.

Sometime late May or early June this year, my doctor informed me that I MUST get more protein in EVERY meal. It was tough to figure this out as a construction electrician and not having many options available to me BUT this was a MILESTONE in my life. Working in the protein IMMEDIATELY dropped my glucose numbers and weight started coming off almost immediately (I must not neglect to mention that I was NOT trying to lose weight) (Let me also digress to state that I normally hovered between 210-215lbs with 218 not being uncommon at many times, which isn't very heavy for my height. Highest I could remember was 222. "Best" feeling was 205lbs. and to be at a steady 202lbs was only a dream.

I got laid off from the Union July 1 and started back to the gym (I always kept my gym membership) becuase I expected not to be out of work too long and didn't want to have to "get in the groove" of work all over again. I continued to eat better, lose weight, and lower my glucose numbers and meds.

The "hard part" is keeping up with the exercise WHILE working. I managed to keep it going strong. I kept losing more weight (it became a concern after a while that I might be losing too much) and my glucose numbers continued coming down along with my meds.
Sept 24 was the last time I took any Metformin. My glucose numbers are now controlled by exercise and diet and I finally plateaued my weight loss to 194 and I feel great! Exercise is now my MEDS and I HAVE TO stay motivated. The Fall Challenge was midway and I was excited to be participating.

If I haven't lost you yet, you MUST make it through the rest of this.

I feel so great that for the first time that I can remember I went for a "routine" stress test ON my birthday. What better birthday present could I give myself than a good cardio health. Dec 1 I got the results of my echo-cariogram. No changes from 2 years prior. And my Nuclear Stress Test......................................................... showed what looked like a blockage. Can this really be??? Scheduled right away for a catheitization this past Monday showed 40% blockage in my main left artery (which they say is the worst place to have a blockage. Result is to up my cholesterol meds a bit and exercise and diet. They said I am doing a great job on the exercise and diet. It's pretty evident. So keep it up.

My motivation to exercise now goes beyond keeping my diabetes in check. It's now for my very livelyhood.

YOUR motivation (after reading all of this) is to hopefully not get to the point where I am. So get the hell up off your couch and get to it!!!!!!!!!!

[damselfly]

YOUR motivation (after reading all of this) is to hopefully not get to the point where I am. So get the hell up off your couch and get to it!!!!!!!!!!

Bravo!!!!!

[markman]

Sometime late May or early June this year, my doctor informed me that I MUST get more protein in EVERY meal. It was tough to figure this out as a construction electrician and not having many options available to me BUT this was a MILESTONE in my life. Working in the protein IMMEDIATELY dropped my glucose numbers and weight started coming off almost immediately (I must not neglect to mention that I was NOT trying to lose weight) (Let me also digress to state that I normally hovered between 210-215lbs with 218 not being uncommon at many times, which isn't very heavy for my height. Highest I could remember was 222. "Best" feeling was 205lbs. and to be at a steady 202lbs was only a dream

Congratulations on your progress! It is inspiring to see the benefits of a diet/exercise program. You have decided to take control of your health and that is a very powerful thing.

It sounds like you are seeing the benefits of a lower carb diet but one thing I want to mention, if you haven't seen/heard of it, is a move titled "Fathead". We came across it after my wife's doctor suggested she reduce her carb intake and increase protein. The movie explains very well the growing amount of research evidence that shows how detrimental a diet high in carbs can be to the body. The evidence seems to indicate that carbs (particularly wheat/grains) causes dramatic blood sugar spikes, which causes inflammation and results in plaque build-up. We watched the movie and did some more research before we essentially did a 180 degree change in our diet. We went from eating a 50-60% carb/low-fat diet to a diet that is 20% or less carbs, 50-60% natural fats and 20-30% protein. We started this in March and got blood-work for both of us just last month. The results were very positive. My wife's HDL went from 50-79, triglycerides went from 83 to 50 and LDL went to 113 from 130. My results were similar- HDL went to 85 from 66 and triglycerides went to 55 from 70.

So far we have no complaints. Our energy level is great and we both have lost some weight. I was concerned that the low-carb diet would negatively affect me on my long bike rides but after about a month of adjustment I have no problems with "bonking".

Once again, congratulations and thanks for sharing your story!

[BoB/335]

There are also reports that high protein/low carbs is also not healthy. The body needs carbs but this country is inundated with crappy carbs. The whole grains are good. It's all the processed foods that we consume that causes the spikes in blood sugar and turns to fat causing obesity. (breakfast cereals being some of the worst!) Almost everything in a package is bad.
I eat whole grain breads and oatmeal, whole grain pasta and rice. I just added more protein and cut out a lot of sugar laden products.

AFTER I obtained the success I did, I ran across a book titled "The Low G.I. Handbook" which basically explained to me why I obtained the success that I did. There is a LOT of low glycemic index carbs that are not only good for you, but also help other less desirable carbs from spiking glucose levels.

I need to find earlier lab tests but my last HDL was 66
LDL was 76
Triglycerides 46 (never been anywhere near this low EVER. Usually arond 150 and sometimes higher)
total 151
A1C 5.7

And that's with eating plenty of good carbs. I have never done an analysis of percentages of carbs, fats, and proteins. Never counted calories or carbs. Never weighed food and hope to never have to do any of that. So I can't help in that information.

Glad to see your success too!!! I have to give a lot of credit to a deliberate exercise program as an equal to the eating plan.