CompuTech007

A little bit about me...

In 2007 I had a TIA mini stroke which scared the heck out of me. I was probably 285 lbs or better at the time. I had high blood pressure and back problems including core stability issues mostly related to my very sedentary lifestyle. The doc said, "you could have a major stroke within a year if you don't do something". Ok, well I started to change my lifestyle slowly, eating late at night stopped, trying to get a good sleep/wake routine and to hike more on trails and take walks. I couldn't hardly tie my own shoes I was so fat and out of shape. I started visiting a chiropractor for about a year 3 days a week to get my back, back in shape. I purchased an elliptical trainer which I used for about 4 months, it helped but I couldn't quite get in the routine of 20 minutes minimum a day for the aerobic benefit. I also started to watch what I ate and when. I wasn't getting great results but later on in 2007 I had a sleep study done and was diagnosed with moderate to severe sleep apnea (wasn't breathing on the average of 6+ minutes per hour with some pretty low oxygen levels) and was put on a CPAP machine in October. The CPAP machine has been quite an adjustment but with places like cpaptalk.com I've come to learn how to live with it. I still don't sleep with this thing all night but that's improving slowly.

Early 2008 I was still on blood pressure medicine but started to cut my pills in half since I was feeling pretty well and my blood pressure numbers were coming down a lot. But in late February I was starting to get dizzy spells. I told the doc and he said, "come in and see me..." long story short I was taken off the bp med as my blood pressure had come down to the 120s over 70s. This mostly due to the CPAP machine I think and loss of weight.

April 2008 - Being involved with the Boy Scouts of America as a scout leader, I went on a camp out where we had a bicycling rodeo and later a short bike hike. I had not rode a bicycle since maybe the early 1980s and was very out of shape for this. I decided to go out and buy a new bike so I could ride in style, ha ha. Well the joke was on me as over the last four months I've worked up from struggling with 5 (took me one hour to ride) miles in April to riding an average of 70 miles a week solo and with a bicycle club at least once per week (Thanks Akron Bicycle Club!).

My current health status as of August 22, 2008 is:

weight 238lbs
BMI 34% (ehh yeah this sucks)
Blood Pressure 120s/70s (This is great)
resting pulse 55-58 (does it get any better?)

I feel much much better as you may imagine but I know that I have a long way (weigh) to go. My weight goal is 225 by the end of November but the doc says, "hey how about 185 lbs". I think he's full of crap and looking at those stupid charts too much.

Plans for my bicycle fitness...before winter sets in I would like to ride 100 miles in one day. In 2009 I plan on bicycling in the Livestrong Challenge in Philly Pa.

Sorry for the ramble.
Cheers!


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--update 01/20/09---
Been on a plateau for a couple of months but recently started loosing again (slowly)
My 6 month goal is to weigh 200 by June 2009, we'll see how it goes. :)

--update 03/17/09--- adjusted my calorie intake to allow 500 additional (1 lb per week) to see if this might help me get off the plateau.

Starting to think that the Doc's recommendation of dropping down to 185 might not be unreal after all.

Red letter day - March 14th, 2009 - rode my first 100km (62.12 miles) metric century!

April 1, 2009
Broke another record - 2008 October max miles 283, March 31, 2009 max miles 530! And to think April 2008 I could hardly get 6 miles in under one hour. Weeee I love this!

April 12, 2009
Climbed a 1 1/2 mile high hill that averaged 14% grade. This was on my list of to-do goals. I had rode down this hill (state route 82) before and hit speeds above 43 mph. I never thought I'd be able to get up this thing. I stopped one time about 3/4ths of the way up to catch my breath for about one minute but resumed climbing. :)
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Jan 06 230#
Jan 13 229#
Jan 20 231#
Jan 27 230# (hmm, something budged a bit) RHR: 53 Avg

Feb 03 231# (hamstring 01/23 no training 2 wks now) RHR: 56 Avg
Feb 10 230# started recovery cycling on the trainer, still nursing my hamstring
Feb 17 230# Rode outside yesterday, 34.6 mph on the flats! Feeling better
Feb 24 233#

Mar 03 232#
Mar 17 231#
Mar 24 229# finally broke 230! -- RHR 49 bpm! w00t :)
Mar 31 229#

Apr 07 229#
Apr 14 229#
Apr 21 228#
Apr 28 228#

May 05 228#
May 12 228# (RHR 47 wow!)
June 9 227# it moved yea!
June 23 226# RHR 48
July 05 226# RHR 46