I've come to the realization that I need to post blog entries more often.

We'll see how it goes. Let's see what's new.

Weight loss: I'm down to 160 and my waist size is 29".
Hiking: I'm doing this much more often and have a trip to Feather Falls planned for January 1.
Family: Christmas was great, the kids had a blast. I have pictures, haven't put them online yet.

This post was mainly to test to make sure it still worked. Since Blogger recently changed their interface, and the site recently changed hosts, I wasn't so sure. Watch for more detailed posts later.

If you care, anyway . ;)

When I checked the mail today, I found that the Foursquare Church magazine called Advance has finally published my photo! Kim Sedlak from our church wrote an article about herself and her faith, and Advance had me do a photo session with her family. One photo from the session accompanied the article.

Here's the header from the cover.


And here's the page with the article & photo.


I'm extremely happy the way it turned out. I'm hoping it will bring about more opportunities. We shall see.

I just got back from my weekend camping trip, took Friday off. With the proper planning, I ate just as well as I do at home while gone. Lunch on the way down was in a restaraunt, and lunch away from camp was at one as well.

On Sunday morning I even jogged. The "hiking trail" (just a half-mile loop) was up to the top of a hill and back down, which really got me out of breath. After 5 minutes I had to stop, in the end it was 15 minutes. But on vacation? I think that was pretty good.

Back to reality, I got back to the exercise routine. My computer-generated workout got upped a level the past few weeks, but with the weather being cooler outside (71 degrees at lunch), I went ahead and did the increased workout.

So for the first time yesterday, I jogged 50 minutes! I'm used to 30, and those last 20 were LONG. Nevertheless, I did it, and the rest of the day felt fabulous. Today's jog will only be 20 according to the workout, but I'm still amazed at myself. 50 minutes would have been an eternity a year ago.

The best part in was weigh-in this morning. I've hit 167 pounds, which comes to 60 pounds lost! It should be interesting at my aunt's funeral tomorrow, most of my family hasn't seen me since prior to the loss. I'm VERY happy with it.

As many of you may remember, I recently moved into my sister-in-law's old house. Along with the house, we inherited a ton of trash and junk that she left behind.

In and among the junk, I found a 1986 Compu$erve booklet. Explore with me.

If you join Compu$erve, you too can have hair that won't move in the wind. Heck, it won't move if you're upside down. The only downside, of course, is all your spreadsheets will print on a 9-pin printer. Just make sure you never pull the sprocket holes.


If you can read the text, these are the computers that are compatible with Compu$erve. Check out the one above the Apple //c, it looks like a VCR. Glad they have a wide range of compatibility.


It's actually interesting how much the office has changed in 20 years. In 1986, the computer would only be referred to occasionally, and was relegated to the credenza in the back. Today, this guy would be buried by the computer. I do have to question the BLACK walls, though.


Ah yes, the plane trip. I wonder what the guy by the window is thinking. "6 hours on a plane with a moron who does nothing but surf porn all day."


Anyway, I thought they were funny and had to share. Cheers. :)

Two months since my last posting? Can I say I've been busy? No? Aw, crap.

Anyway, today marks the beginning of another 6-week weight loss cycle for me. I'm still at 175, the last 6 weeks I lost a paltry 2 pounds. But that doesn't bother me too much, since the trend is still an overall downward slope.

Now for the interesting part. Wednesday will be exactly one year to the date that I started Lean For Life. It's a good time to look back.

6-28-05
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Height: 5' 6.5"
Weight: 227 pounds
Waist: 41" approx. (40" pants were too tight, 42" too big)
Shirt Size: XL/XXL (XL could be pushing it depending on the brand)

Exercise is an interesting thing, I was a tad stubborn out the door. I didn't even begin for another month, on 7-25-06. My goal was to do 10,000 steps a day; walking one mile on 7-25, I had only reached 5500 steps. So the next day I increased it to two miles at lunch, which took me 49 minutes.

6-26-06
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Height: 5' 6.5" (hey I didn't grow or shrink)
Weight: 175 pounds
Waist: 32"
Shirt Size: M

Exercise: haven't done it yet today, but weekdays I jog 30 minutes on the treadmill with 5 minutes cooldown. After the 30, I've jogged 2.5 miles at 5mph, according to the treadmill. Lately I've started lifting weights, although without any real guidance. That's going to change shortly, but for the time being I'm doing 3 sets of 10 reps, 3 different exercises, on the machine here at work. That averages 10 to 15 minutes.

That's it for now. Thanks for caring. ;)

It's been over a month since my last blog entry! Sorry about that, moving really threw me for a loop.

Yes, we've moved to Olivehurst. Yay! It's not too bad a place, and it's finally becoming ours.

Oh, I've hit 50 pounds lost now. Now for the fun part: I went to my church's Men's Retreat this past weekend.

Now, normally this in itself wouldn't be post-worthy, but they had a lot of activities. These particular ones I hadn't planned on doing, it just sort of happened. I can tell you this: there is no way on earth I would have even tried this a year ago.

You've seen these before, I'm sure. Usually they're used as team-building exercises. This one is the "leap of faith".


This is the ropes course.


Finally, the zipline.


Please ignore the flab that got exposed on the way down. :P

I finally figured out how to use the Lifecycle today. Is there a reason they can't have the instructions be a little more specific?

After doing the 5/5 thing on the treadmill for 35 minutes, I did 10 on the bike. I would have done more, except my butt keeps slipping off the seat. I tried lowering it, but I still have the same problem. Not sure how to avoid that from happening.

If I continue to have the same problem, I'll just have to do the treadmill longer. It seems to be getting a bit easier with the jog, so maybe extending it 10 minutes or so is in order.

Also, while jogging it seems like I'm not going all that fast. I'm doing what I physically can, I don't want to overdo it, but looking at myself in the mirror it still seems like a fat guy shuffling around. Not really, but that's my internal perception.

At least I was able to watch an entire DS9 episode today. :)

The 2006 Explore Yuba Sutter Visitor's Guide has finally been published. Last year's was published in November 2004. I sent my final images to them in August of last year, but they didn't publish until a few weeks ago.

At any rate, here's how it turned out. Last year, I had one picture published; this year, three. I had hoped I would be on the cover, but they chose someone else's motocross picture over mine. No big deal, this is great exposure.

So here's the cover. It's not my image.


Here's the first page with my image, page 28. Ducks alongside Ellis Lake in Marysville.


Page 29. I drove to Spenceville specifically to shoot people outdoors for the Visitor's Guide, when I ran into two people riding horses. They were gracious enough to let me photograph them, and I told them if they got into the guide, I would send them a copy. They were, and I will.


Finally, page 34. From the 2005 Bok Kai parade.


I'm pretty satisfied with the way it turned out, but I probably would have picked different images. But I'm not the editor!

If you'd like to view the pictures in their context with full-size pages, you can. I scanned all 4 pages to PDF format, which can be downloaded here.

Two days in a row jogging; boy, who would have thought in high school that the thing I hated the most would be something I'm actively trying to do at 36.

I think that's what part of the problem was. Growing up as a geek, not fitting in, people making fun of me for my lack of athletic ability. It caused me to therefore dislike activity, to the point of not doing it. You know the rest.

I suppose being 80 pounds too heavy is better than going Columbine. That may sound like an excuse, but really it's not. I had a difficult time growing up, as did we all, and in my case, it was all related to not being good at athletic activities. Little League? They forced me to quit because I wasn't as good, and then made fun of me for quitting. Jr. High Basketball? The same thing.

I was even interested in track when I was in high school, but was scared to death to even try. So what did I do?

I dug into computers. Computers, where you sit in front of a keyboard for hours a day, days on end, week after week. Computers, where you can make $ and gain weight at the same time.

No more. I'm tired of it. Today I did 35 minutes on the treadmill, alternating 5 minutes walking at 3.5mph, 5 minutes jogging at 5mph. It's still not great, but it's better than I was a year ago. I'll get better. Watch me.

It took most of the weekend, but my doomsday prediction came true: I was up 2 pounds this morning, 190. Scale be damned: I jogged on the treadmill today!

Yes, you heard me right, jogged. Not the entire time, but still a jog/walk. I was using the treadmill's programmed setting for "jogging 3 miles", but when walking it was 2mph. After the pace I've been walking every day, 2mph is a snail's pace. 2mph is the pace I walked when my daughter was learning how to walk...

The programmed jog settings were a fast walk! So I upped that as well. When the treadmill switched to 2mph, I'd set it to 3.5. When in jogging mode, the treadmill switched to 4mph, but I changed it to 5.

So at 3.5mph walking pace and 5mph jogging pace, I actually went for 35 minutes. That amounted to 284 calories burned, which smokes the 192 or so I was burning with walking alone.

Eventually I want to work my way up to jogging the entire time, and for an hour. We'll see how long it takes to work up to, because this is fine.

And thank goodness for the Sci-Fi Channel. I was able to watch classic Battlestar Galactica while working out. Geek paradise!

When I came into work this morning I had a message from my boss that he had sent at 2:30am... he and his wife were on their way to the hospital so she could have her baby. She finally had it at noon today.

The boss being gone is always a good opportunity to have Mongolian BBQ for lunch, so we did... I tried, really tried, not to overeat, but it sort of happened.

Now, my overeating wasn't anything bad, it was just a general "I ate too much" thing. My carbs for the day aren't over, but I just have a feeling the 188 that I've been at the past few days will be 190 by morning.

Saturday's my church's Men's Breakfast, and again, I know I'll be good. But now I'll spend the rest of next week trying to get back to 188! And next week is the 4th week of regular weight loss, then two weeks of metabolic adjustment.

So in the end it's looking like for this particular 6-week period once over (3 more weeks) I'll have lost 2 pounds. WHOA! I know, I know, there's 3 weeks left, but still. I need to get back on track.

The van's in the shop today so I commuted with a couple people. I wasn't able to get soda this morning, so I turned my daily walk into a trek over to AM/PM. Same distance, but slightly different view.

3/4 of the way back it started raining, and I was only wearing my polo shirt. Well, pants too. And underwear. And of course, shoes.

It was a nice change of scenery though. I'm back down to 188, which is great, hopefully I can maintain the momentum... AND, I haven't had any sugar today. So I'm happy.

Greg

On March 29, 2003 I hiked to Feather falls, and wrote about it here. It wasn't the most pleasant experience of my life, because I took on something I wasn't prepared for, either mentally or physically. I weighed close to 250 pounds, and took my camera gear with me.

I repeated it with a buddy on July 4, 2003, but again, I had a rough time due to my weight, and being out of shape. That particular time, I was also dealing with just being diagnosed with diabetes, and not being sure about things like sugar crashes. I had one on the way back from the falls that day, and didn't realize that by eating even a small amount of sugar, I would have been fine.

Why am I mentioning this? Well, on Saturday, after just shy of 3 years, I went back to Feather Falls, and this time it was a much more pleasant experience.

Interestingly, it snowed the night before, so the white stuff was everywhere at the trailhead. I almost didn't even drive in because of all the snow. Once I saw a small car come out though, I knew I wouldn't have a problem, and in I went.

The trailhead temp was 46 degrees. I went in and noticed the difference right away. I weigh less, I'm in much better shape, and the time went by much faster. I had the same amount of camera gear as my trek in 2003, but didn't have a problem at all. When I got to the footbridge at Frey Creek, I took some pictures.

This is from underneath the footbridge.


As I was shooting, two women came across the bridge. I think the temp at this point was 42, but I really didn't feel cold. Good thing I didn't wear my jacket, like I almost did!


After about 45 minutes of shooting I went on down the trail. When I got to the 2-mile marker (which indicates 2 miles from the trailhead, not 2 miles from the falls), my thoughts were completely different than before. On the other trip, all I could think of was nursing my poor blistery feet. This time, all I could think of was my prior trip and how different this was.

At the lookout for Bald Rock Dome (see my entry for that hike here, I met up with a couple in their mid-40s. We had a chat for a bit, they told me they had just started hiking to get in shape and were having difficulties. I told them about my previous trip, and about how perserverence can get them to where they want to be. They're probably a bit farther along than I was, actually.

When I reached the fork a half-mile before the falls, I rested and drank a little water. It's also interesting to note that I hadn't drank much at this point. The couple I met earlier came up the trail and I joined them.

At the view of the rivers, I shot some pictures for my church, named oddly enough, The Rivers (funny how that works).


Once at the falls, I sat down, relaxed, and ate lunch. I chatted with the people at the top as usual, and watched the idiots at the top of the falls. In this picture, you can actually see the memorial plaque that mentions a boy scout in the early 70s who fell over the falls.


Here's a view of the falls themselves. I didn't take the trip to the top this time, since I was running short on time as it was. I think this was 2:30pm.


Finally, here's a slightly different view, showing snow on the peak behind. I had hoped for some snow at the falls level, but this late in the day it had probably melted.


I made it back to the van around 5pm. I didn't have to walk in the dark, but even if I had, I had a flashlight this time. It helps to be prepared, doesn't it? Anyway, thanks for reading, the hike was fun. I'll be doing it again very soon. For the rest of the pictures, go to http://www.thechances.com/gallery/FeatherFalls030406/.

The candy came out yesterday.

It wasn't too bad yesterday, but today I found myself eating at least three bite-sized pieces, in addition to the 5 or 6 peanut M&M's from early this morning. It all adds up! I gotta work on that self-control.

Now about that walk. I'm at 34 1/2 minutes for a 2-mile walk, which is great for me. When I started, it was 50 minutes, so I've improved tremendously. Today, about a mile and a half in, my stomach started bothering me. When I stopped I couldn't believe how much it slowed me down... 36 minutes! I did the duty in the restroom and have felt fine ever since.

It's supposed to stop raining this weekend! Perhaps I'll get to fit some hiking in. That'd be nice, but we'll see what the family's doing.

Enough of this for now. :)

Due to the heavy rain yesterday, I was stuck walking the treadmill at lunch. I have no problem walking outside, I generally walk 2 miles at lunch. But on the treadmill? I may as well be having my teeth drilled, TV or no.

But I did it anyway, for the good of weight loss. Today? Thanks to the high winds from the storm last night, the sky was clear enough that I didn't have to use the treadmill at all! Today's walk was easy.

Oh, and as of yesterday morning, the stats are:

Start: 227 lbs
Now: 188 lbs -
------------------
Total lost: 39 lbs

Only 13 pounds to my initial goal of 175!

Greg

Wow, three months of no entries, and now, two in one day! I should have posted the one about the Buttes last week, so I guess I'm bad.

Yesterday I took my son, Gregory Jr. to Big Bald Rock as a short hike. It's located above Lake Oroville, here in Northern California. It's a pretty unique place for this area, a giant piece of volcanic rock that you can walk around. It's easily a half square mile in size.



For a 4-year-old like Gregory, this was paradise. He loved climbing around, while at the same time being afraid of the incline. It was funny watching the contradiction go 'round and 'round in his head.


While up here we did some geocaching. One we weren't able to find, but we found three. The third one was a tad nasty, the container wasn't sealed enough, causing mold & mildew. Needless to say, I didn't even sign the log.


I bought a little hiking/camping kit for Gregory for Christmas, which came with some binoculars. He used them here, but they aren't very useful. Using them, you see exactly what you saw without them. What they do accomplish, though, is teaching Gregory how to use such tools without breaking the real thing.


This was Gregory's favorite formation. He spent a good 20 minutes climbing on it.


He climbed in, out, around, on top of, and beside it. I called him Gregory the Explorer, but he said no, he's just Gregory.


If you want to see the rest of the pictures, you can at http://www.thechances.com/gallery/BaldRock022506/. Thanks for looking!

Last Saturday I had the opportunity to hike through the Sutter Buttes on the Middle Mountain Foundation's Ridge Trek. I recommend this to anyone who hasn't been! It was a pretty leisurely hike for half the way, but the second half was a bit of a chore. In fact, the second half was optional, in the event people felt they couldn't make it to the top.

On the way in, we passed through Bragg Canyon, learning about the history of the Buttes and their geology.

This was also a bit of a dream of mine. After many years of my father telling me of his time hiking (illegally) through the Buttes when he was young, I was finally able to do it on my own. I wish he was still alive to go with me.

At the beginning of the hike, we saw an old manmade well and a small workshed of sorts, built out of stone. I believe this was a late-1800's structure.


Some of the trees were in early blossom. The guide said that by the April wildflower hikes, these blossoms will not be here.


This view is looking toward where we came in. The pond in the middle is a manmade reservoir that was built in the 60's. Many deer and geese get their water from this reservoir.


The beginning of the final ascent. As you can see, it was pretty steep. National Geographic Topo listed it as 12% grade.


We rested at the top of the first crest. Sadly, I don't have pictures beyond this point, as my camera's battery died. Incidentally, I'm replacing it ASAP!


If you're interested in taking this or other MMF hikes, visit their website at http://www.middlemountain.org/. They are wonderful to work with. I plan on going on a more of these hikes as time goes by.

Finally, if you'd like to see the rest of the pictures I took, you can at http://www.thechances.com/gallery/SutterButtes021806/.