Losing Fifty's Next White Mountain Hike
I'd like to try Mt. Liberty in the Franconia Range, date to be determined, but not before 2/27/2010.
If you want to come along, e-mail 020655 [at] gmail [dot] com.
By “life beyond 25″, I mean beyond 25 pounds lost. Down another 0.8 this past week, after a weekend of not being particularly well-behaved when it came to food. So, I’m very happy with 204.2. During the week, I was as low as 203.0, which was sort a weird moment. I lost 2 pounds in 4 days – really? No, not really. That’s why I only do an official weigh-in once a week.
I was really hoping to get a hike in this week, but it looks like next week is the earliest I’m going to be able to work that out. I have the hike and route planned, now I just need my life to let go of me long enough to get out there. In the meantime, I’m working on how to burn more calories during the 50 to 70 minutes I have at the gym in the morning. I managed to burn about 1400 calories this morning, combining time on the tread climber with the incline trainer.
I’ve started a new blog devoted to peakbagging (climbing to the summit of) the 48 4,000+ foot mountains in New Hampshire. I want to hike them all at least twice – once in whatever season, plus once in winter. For me, there’s something about blogging that helps me stay focused on a goal.
I’ll be playing with formatting and themes for a while, but I’ve already imported my hikes from this blog that are on the 4,000 footer list.
At long last, I weighed in at 205.0 this morning. Halfway to the goal: 25 pounds lost, 25 pounds to go. That took me about 6 months.
Things I changed to get this far:
- Breakfast. I was a McDonald’s regular, consuming a fat-laden 500 – 800 calories 4-5 times a week. Now I eat oatmeal or grits, 200 – 300 calories.
- Vending machines. I rarely buy any snacks from the vending machine anymore. If I do, I stick with pretzels, and avoid chips and candy most of the time.
- Eating out at lunch. I usually eat leftovers from home now. I still eat lunch out maybe once or twice over a 2 week period. Eating out at lunch usually means too many of the wrong kind of calories. Eating leftovers usually means a controlled number of calories, in my case of generally healthy meals.
- Dinner portions. I don’t eat as much as I used to at dinner.
- Late night eating. I rarely eat anything late at night now. The occasional 100 calorie bag of popcorn or an apple, maybe a protein bar. It was not uncommon for me on a Friday night to put down most of a family size bag of Doritos during the evening and into the wee hours of the morning while watching TV, then going to bed. That’s about 1,300 fatty calories sitting in your gut doing you no favors.
- Exercise. I get a meaningful cardio workout 3 – 5 times a week, roughly an hour long, usually burning 800 – 1200 calories. My current favorite machines are the tread climber, incline trainer, and stair climber. If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you know that I also hike in the White Mountains, my nuclear weight loss option. Hiking up the side of a mountain with a pack burns calories very well, plus offers a sense of accomplishment that the gym does not.
All that said, I still eat chocolate, pizza, and other such “sinful” foods. I just don’t eat those kinds of things as much or as often. I do not think of myself as “on a diet”; it’s all about moderation. I am changing my eating habits into a way of life that I can sustain for the long haul. Same thing with the exercise. I don’t exercise every day, nor is every workout quite what I wish it was. Over time, my workouts have been getting more consistent and effective, though. I don’t beat myself up if I miss a workout, nor do I fret if the scale doesn’t move as much as I’d hoped in a week. I just keep at it.
Notable results thus far:
- Down a pant size and a shirt size. I should say more like a size and a half. Large shirts are pretty roomy now, and my 36″ waist pants are starting to experience that droop requiring a grab ‘n’ yank at the belt every once in a while.
- I have a jawline. My face was round before. Now I have a chin and a jawline…sort of neat. That makes me look younger.
- Stairs are no longer an exertion. Stairs could wind me before, embarrassingly easy. No more.
- I don’t get winded tying my shoes. Okay, another embarrassing admission, but simply sitting on the bed and bending over to tie my shoes would cause me to run out of breath. No longer an issue.
- Okay, this is not a good thing, but I have skin breakouts from time to time, something I have rarely grappled with in my life. My theory is that as my body burns off fat I’ve been storing for years, that the toxins stored in the fatty tissue are causing my skin to breakout. I totally made that up out of my own brain, so if you’re some sort of medical scholar rolling your eyes at me, you’re probably entitled.
- Other people can see I’ve lost weight. I don’t talk much at all about my weight loss (except on this blog). Nonetheless, people have noticed.
- I get cold more easily. Presumably, this is because I’m not carrying so much insulation. Coupled with this, I don’t sweat as much when going around the office work day. Pit stains are gross under any circumstances, and I’m glad to leave them behind with the excess weight.
Last point to make is that I easily have another 25 pounds to lose. As far as I’ve come, looking at myself in the mirror, it’s plainly evident that I have far yet to go. 50 pounds was not an unrealistic goal. I’m not “skinny”, nor would you look at me and say that I’m “fit”. Truly, we’re at a halfway point only. That’s not to say that I’m not happy with how things have gone so far – I’m definitely happy! 25 pounds is a lot less weight beating up my knees, and I feel better both physically and mentally. So far, so good – but there is indeed still a ways to go.
I am down to 205.4, so 206 for the record books. I am very happy doing 1,000 calorie burn workouts 4 or 5 times a week, first thing in the morning, and eating reasonably during the day so as to run a consistent calorie deficit. For right now, it’s working. Let’s hope I can finally break through the 205 barrier finally next Monday.
Gaiters vs. Crampons in an Epic Battle: Osceola + East Osceola via Greeley Ponds Trail 02/15/2010
Today, I hiked the 7.6 mile round trip up East Osceola and Osceola peaks via Greeley Ponds and Osceola trails from the trailhead off the Kancamagus Highway. The first 1.3 miles is a gentle grade up Greeley Ponds trail. All the stream crossings were simple – no trouble when the water is frozen. At 1.3 miles, the Osceola trail heads up towards the East Osceola peak. This is a steep and arduous ascent, some of the steepest terrain I have ever hiked in the White Mountains. I’d come around some corner, and peer up at another little section, and just laugh. Okay…catch my breath…here we go.
The ridge is pretty well protected by trees, but the wind still got through from time to time. There were views, but I had to work for them, following lookouts and peering through trees. The day was so overcast, that there just wasn’t much to see anyway.
East Osceola is a non-descript peak. In the snow, I could have walked right by it and not even known there was a peak there. There was no sign, although according to the books, the summit is marked by a cairn. What with all the snow, I didn’t see any cairn anywhere. From East Osceola, the trail dropped (steeply at times) into a col with a steep ascent back up to the summit of Osceola. Again, disappointing views today because of the cloud cover, but I took a number of pictures nonetheless.
I wore full crampons the entire hike, which cost me a 2 inch gash on one of my gaiters. That happened while negotiating a drift up on the ridge; I’m pretty sure the gaiters lose that battle every time. I saw perhaps 8 other hikers on the Osceola trail. I’m guessing it was 50/50 either full crampons on snowshoes with serious traction folks were wearing. I met a nice couple from New York who were just starting on the NH 48 4,000 footers, and were planning to do Tecumseh the next day.
Here’s a series of pictures from the Osceola summit. I hear it’s a quite a vista on a clear day, which today sadly was not.
Final shot…looking back down Osceola trail.
Down 0.8 pounds this week to 206.2. That’s after Monday-Thursday 1,000+ calorie workouts done “fasted”, meaning first thing in the morning before breakfast. I took Friday off from the gym, opting to take advantage of my company’s new work from home policy, and thus did not work out, since my gym is located near work but almost an hour from my house.
Today, I did a 7.6 mile hike with over 3,000 feet of vertical gain that took me about 5.5 hours…a good workout by any standard. Tomorrow, I plan to be back at the gym. I’d really like to FINALLY break in the 205 area this week.
I’m hoping to add to my list of winter 4,000 footers by tackling Osceola and East Osceola on Monday. Apparently, it’s a tough hike. My wife was able to do it without too much trouble, but I know this trail has a reputation because of the steepness. I think that means I get to burn a lot of calories. 
Quick note – I didn’t lose or gain at all last week. I am going to the gym weekday mornings now, and am able to get in ~1,000 calories burns on the cardio equipment during that time. I am having to adjust my eating schedule a bit, because after the morning workout, I feel like I could eat anything and everything. Several mornings into the new routine, and the crazy appetite is calming down a bit, where I can eat more normal breakfast of 200 – 300 calories and feel okay. I still feel the urge to graze as the morning wears on. Work keeps me very busy though, so I can’t say as I have much idle time to fixate upon food.
I got to the gym all of once, and it was way too cold for hiking (never minding that it wasn’t my turn anyway). My work schedule was insane this week – just no time for working out. I ate reasonably, but still managed to pick up a pound. I think a bit of that might due to “dinner on the grounds” at church, a rare event where I ate more than normal for a Sunday. But the real issue was not getting to the gym.
So…to remedy work getting in the way of gym time, I’ve rearranged my schedule. Now, I’m going to go to the gym first thing in the morning. The idea here is to get the workout done before work gets in the way. There’s another potential benefit – that of “fasted cardio”, the idea being that cardio workouts are most effective at fat burning on an empty stomach. How will that work for me? I’ll tell you in about a week.
I dropped to 206 even this week, probably leaving a pound on Mt. Chocorua, which I’ll blog about a bit later. When I get to 205, that’ll be halfway to my goal of 50 total pounds lost. I’m happy with the way things are going. I’m eating better, but not fanatically. I’m exercising, but not to the point of obsession. The weight is coming off, slowly and steadily. This works for me, and hiking is a big part of that. I’m really looking forward to warmer weather, when I can hike more, taking the family with me.
Some Days Are Just Perfect: Winter Hiking Mt. Chocorua via Champney Falls & Piper Trails 01/23/2010
I hiked the very popular Mt. Chocorua on Saturday under clear skies and temps in the 20’s. Champney Falls and Piper trails were very well packed out from top to bottom. The last bit to the summit is bare rock, over which I wore crampons to get comfortably to the top. Many others were wearing crampons, but there were those who made it up on microspikes. I tried microspikes, but changed to crampons as I just wasn’t getting the bite on the ice I wanted. I didn’t see any point in leaving the crampons in my pack, when they were there for the wearing. The traction offered by the crampons was outstanding, I must say…nothing like it, especially when you need a toehold on ice and snow going up a steep grade.
The summit was clear all the way around – views as far as there was to see. Mt. Washington and the Presidential range were the standout peaks, majestic white against the blue sky and surrounding darker peaks.
I took the loop trail that takes you by Champney and Pitcher falls. I happened upon 4 ice climbers, who were all nice folks willing to let me watch them do their thing and talk to me about the sport. All and all, it was a perfect day outdoors.
And without further ado, the pictures…
Presidentials from Champney Falls Trail
This and several more shots from the Mt. Chocorua summit…
And now for the ice and ice climbers…
I picked up Black Diamond Contact Strap crampons and a Black Diamond Raven Pro ice axe at Expensive Mountain Stuff today. EMS was having a sale, and I’m thinking Chocorua might be very icy at the bare, exposed summit. So, I’m prepared. I have an ice axe for self-arresting if I fall, and full crampons to make sure I don’t. Man, I love buying gear…
One of those days where I’m just exhausted, more than I think I should be. I didn’t sleep well last night, due largely to caffeine consumption during the day. I don’t drink caffeine but on rare occasion, and I paid for it. The Panera dark roast coffee was good, really good – don’t get me wrong. But I’m not going to get to sleep that night, pretty much a guarantee.
The work day was stressful as usual. I’m a “working manager”, in that my employer is transitioning me into a full-time management position. During the transition, I have to still be the sort of quality network engineer that made them want to put me in a decision-making position to begin with. So, I get to do all the bureaucratic sorts of things required of a manager, while still doing engineer stuff. I bounce from meeting to meeting, phone call to phone call, instant message to instant message, even talking to people in meatspace when folks wander by my cube. Lots of interaction with other people, often having to bounce from subject to subject, “changing gears” at a moment’s notice.
I didn’t have time to get a meaningful lunch today, so I horked down some oatmeal. By the time the end of my day rolled around, all I wanted to do was work out. Today, I spent all my time on the tread climber, the miracle machine for burning calories. I set the machine as high as it goes, which is 4.0 mph with the treadles on “max”. Total workout of 35 minutes, plus a 2 minute cool down netted a calorie burn of 710 – much of what I had eaten to that point in the day which included 200 calories of grits, 210 calories worth of protein bar, and 360 calories of oatmeal. Sprinkle in a few chocolate covered pretzels and miscellaneous, and I was at about 250 calories for the day consumed by the time I left the gym.
The ride home was slow and miserable, with horrible weather blanketing NH. Snow and slush was it, poking home at 50mph instead of the normal highway speeds. My wife, heavenly cherub that she is, was just finishing up cleaning the snow out of the driveway with the shovel and snowblower. I couldn’t have been more pleased. I didn’t want to clear snow in any way whatsoever, especially since I was out there for 2.5 hours yesterday moving it from the prior storm.
So what did I learn today? Mostly that a lack of food kicks my tail at the end of the day. I should have eaten lunch. Caffeine is bad for me…somehow knowing that doesn’t stop me from ingesting it on some days. Here’s hoping this all turns into some weight loss by next Monday. There are no get-togethers I can think of this week where I’ll be facing more food than I should eat, and weather-permitting, I’m hiking on Saturday. I hope to sneak into the 205’s by Monday.
I didn’t get to hike this week, so no “nuclear option” relating to my weight loss. I am down to 207 even, though, so a net loss of four tenths for the week. I’m hoping to get out on the trail next Saturday, weather permitting. We’ll see how it goes.
Last week I was 209 even. This week 207.4, thus 208 since I round up. I had to move the scale around a bit to get a realistic reading. I appreciate that the scale’s trying to help me out and all, but I just knew that the 206.6 reading I got first two tries wasn’t right. Anyway, 208 is heading back in the right direction after a badly behaved holiday season.
On a side note, my wife and I are fans of Food Network’s Alton Brown. He appears on his own quirky show Good Eats, and hosts Iron Chef America. We just watched a recent Good Eats episode where Alton discusses how he lost 50 pounds. The show is not an in depth diet plan, but Alton does give a lot of useful pointers without being preachy or displaying an unattainable body. He just changed his diet and lost weight. He knows a lot about food, so it was for me a mesmerizing watch. I still have it on my DVR and will probably watch it a few more times. Alton stressed discipline in eating, and also shifting from energy-dense foods to nutrient-dense foods.
I found the Good Eats program “Live and Let Diet” on YouTube in 3 sections. I don’t know if these are up on YouTube with Food Network’s blessing or not, so my apologies if you find the links are dead.
Alton Brown / Good Eats / Live and Let Diet / Part 1
Alton Brown / Good Eats / Live and Let Diet / Part 2
Alton Brown / Good Eats / Live and Let Diet / Part 3
