Starting Day 4 of the 7 Day Diet

Wow.  This time this diet is kicking my butt.  I remember being starving on day 1 and hating day 4, but I don't remember feeling so tired.

I've only lost 3.3 lbs this time.  I feel like last time I lost a bunch up front and then slowed down as we add back in the protein, but ended up losing 8-9 lbs total.  I'm not sure that's going to happen this time.

I feel pretty bad.  I made sure to do this on a week when I don't have court so that I wouldn't be over-exerting, but boy, this is rough.

Today is the banana and milk day.  This is actually the first time I'm eating bananas since the last time I did this diet - that's how bad today is.  Not looking forward to it.

Daughter number 3 already lost the weight she needed, so she bailed on the diet yesterday.  Hubby, Daughter number 2 and I are still hanging in there.  Hubby is losing the most weight (which he says makes him feel fat because "everyone knows it's the fattest person who loses the most"  lol).  I've learned that men just seem to lose faster than women regardless.

Hopefully I'll feel better today with the calories I'll be eating.

If you can't find the diet I posted last time, here it is:

Feeling Better.

So, my husband had a theory as to why I've been feeling so awful the last 2 weeks.  He thinks it's because I'm doing too much exercise and not eating enough (not just not enough protein, but not enough period).  I told him that was crazy because I'm GAINING weight so clearly I'm eating too many calories.

Still, I didn't ride the bike at all yesterday and this morning I only rode for 30 minutes.  I feel so much better today!  I think maybe he was right after all!  I did get on that bike and immediately went straight back to my 50+ minutes every day of the work week.  At the same time, I cut back on my calories and started eating healthier (but less) AND added in the bowflex.  And after just one day of not doing the bike at all and today only doing 30 minutes, plus eating a real dinner last night (I made stuffed pork chops, scalloped potatoes and green bean casserole), I actually lost 2 lbs and feel more alert and happy than I've felt in two weeks!

I think I jumped in too fast.  I tend to do that.  I also need to really be better about my salt intake.  I have a feeling a lot of the weight gain I've had has been due to the salt content in my food.

At any rate, I feel alive today.  So much better to be in the land of the living!  I'm still tired, but I don't feel as exhausted as I've felt the last few weeks.

Another problem is portion control.  I didn't need to eat that entire pork chop last night, but I did.  It was stuffed with spinach and shredded, smoked gouda cheese - delicious!  But I should have eaten about 1/2 of it (it was a very thick pork chop).  I did well with the scalloped potatoes and the green bean casserole - just a daub of each, but enough to get the rich, decadent enjoyment out of it.

I also slept an hour longer last night.  I get about 4 hours of sleep and last night I almost reached 5 hours!

I have started listening to the subliminal weight loss stuff again at night as I fall asleep.  Maybe it really does help you sleep better...I'll keep you posted on that.  I'm never really sure about that kind of thing, but I'm willing to give it a shot.

I will update soon!

Checking In

This week is going well so far!  Well, except that I've gained a pound ... but I feel like that happened last time I got serious about weight loss, too.  It fluctuates up a bit before starting to go down.  At least I hope that's what it's doing.  I am assuming it is water weight and given that we ate a Mardi Gras dinner last night (to celebrate since I was out of town on the actual Mardi Gras), I'm sure that had something to do with it.  Even though I was very good with portions.

At any rate, I have ridden the bike each morning this week and I can sure feel it!  I also started back on the bowflex, and I can feel that too!  I need to figure out when Hubby and I can do our yoga together - I'm very excited about that.  But today I've got to deal with court preparation, doctor appointments and school closings, so I'm trying to find some time to work it in.

It feels good to be DOING something again.  I feel so much better about myself when I'm working towards getting healthy.

Tonight I am having the Campbell's Italian Wedding soup which is very satisfying and very tasty, but low calorie.  I know it's not the greatest as far as salt content, but one thing at a time.  I'm going to try and make the meal early - that seems to be a key in losing weight.  And then somehow stop myself from snacking.  My trick for that is to doodle while watching TV.  Keeps my mind and hands busy.

I just wanted to report how good it feels to be taking affirmative action again.  One day at a time!

It's Hard to Do Alone - And That's OK

I've been stuggling.  Part of it has been the influences around me.  I'm a pretty weak person (I think that's been established) and it doesn't take much for me to say "OKAY!" to an offer of brownies or eating out ... I'm pretty good if no outside influence comes up, but a complete disaster with any amount of temptation.

However, my hubby is getting motivated himself, so I've got a partner now!  He started his work out plan yesterday and we've agreed to try and encourage each other in the face of adversity.  I'm hopeful again.

I've been in this vicious cycle where I don't feel well, so I eat poorly (things that make me feel great for an instant) and then I don't feel well, so I eat poorly ... you see what I mean.

So, I need help.  And now I have my hubby on board, so I'm hoping to get myself together!

I'll update as we go!

So Hungry!

So, I guess my body has gotten used to eating goodies all holiday season.  Now that I'm eating "right" again, my body is saying, "What the heck??!  Where's the FOOD?!"

I was so hungry yesterday!  I managed to eat small snacks - some popcorn, some almonds, a small can of tuna (only 90 calories!) but I still felt hungry ALL DAY.  That's one of the bad things about working from home - the kitchen is right upstairs ...

At any rate, I still lost weight last night.  I just wonder what the loss would have been if I hadn't snacked all day.

Today I will try better.  I did not ride the bike this morning, though.  With the cold weather, I had to make sure I drove the kids to the bus stops this morning so my schedule was whacked.  However, I have decided I will try and work out on the bowflex this afternoon - I'm needing to start back on the strength training so maybe that will make me feel better about not riding this morning.  That's if I can get my files ready for court for tomorrow and Monday.  But I will make a vigorous attempt!

My new aria scale also measures my body fat, which, frankly, is not a very pleasant number to wake up to each morning.  But that was down this morning, too.  Not by much, of course, but any downward movement makes me feel like I've accomplished something.  Like the starving yesterday was actually worth it.

I know this phase will pass.  I remember being hungry before.  My body just has to get used to having normal sized portions again of healthy food.  I'll get there.

It's a New Year

In some ways I am so thankful the holidays are over!

The kids are all back in school and things are returning to a routine.  I rode the bike this morning - though could only do 28 minutes.  I guess I have to work back up to the hour + that I used to do.  It felt so good to be back on track.

I've got my weekly chart ready to log in and am journaling my food and activities.  I got a new fitbit aria scale for Christmas and it's already logging my weight and body fat each morning.  I had my daughter help me yesterday with my measurements so I can keep track.  I also have the meals for the next two weeks planned out and I made breakfast muffin-omelets for the whole week for my two younger ones and myself and froze them.  Those should provide us all with good protein and should be much healthier than the store bought breakfast things we normally do.  It was a lot of hard work getting it all done, wrapped and in the freezer, but I'm hoping it will be worth it!

I wonder what it is about a new year that makes us all so gung-ho again.  It's like as the clock ticked past midnight on the 31st, I somehow became rejuvenated and ready to start fresh again.  Happens every year.  It would be nice to have that happen throughout the year, but I'm not sure how to get that excited feeling of DOING something and MOVING FORWARD at any time other than the new year.

I did a lot of planning over the holidays and have a new 2015 year planner which is broken down by month.  I'm hoping to get a lot of cleaning done this winter and if I don't plan things in, they don't get done.

I'm feeling hopeful again!  I am going to take things one day at a time and see where it takes me.  It would be nice to have lost a good chunk of weight by our 30th wedding anniversary.  I'll definitely work on it!

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and are ready to get back on track as well!

Consistency

I'm trying to keep up the journaling because it makes me acknowledge my progress and keeps me consistent.

I am down to 192.8 this morning.  So up 2.2 lbs from the 7 day diet from Hell (oh, did I say that out loud?), but not too shabby considering all they talk about the diet on the internet which said it wasn't real weight loss.

I've been eating fruit as my snacks and have been eating dinner and stopping there.  My using art while watching TV seems to be working at keeping me out of the snacks after dinner.  Doodling keeps my hands busy so I don't think about food.

Last night for dinner we had boneless pork ribs (grilled - the weather is perfect for grilling as it is finally cooling down!), lima beans and baked okra.  I did end up eating 3 ribs rather than 1, but I felt satisfied after dinner and didn't eat snacks.  I even had some wine while I cooked and I still dropped some pounds.

Edging closer to those 180s!

I did not get to the bowflex yesterday.  I have GOT to get back into the habit again.  I'll work on that.

Meanwhile, I feel pretty good!  Being consistent with my food intake is doing the trick!

Anniversary Weekend Results

Well, I knew I was going to put on some weight over the weekend and I did.

I am up to 194.2 lbs today.  Up 3 lbs from the 7 day diet.

I may still be holding a bit of water weight from the weekend, so hopefully that will drop a bit.  Plus, I ate well yesterday and I rode the bike this morning for 25 minutes at a fairly moderate pace.  I wanted to do the bowflex yesterday but it didn't quite happen - too many things happening after a weekend off.  Will work on doing that today.

My jeans are fitting better after that 7 day diet, so I guess it did some good AND it jump started me to get motivated again.  I REALLY want to see the 180s.

I've learned that fruit is a really good thing to eat since so many of the water based fruits take more energy to eat than you put in.  I know I'll be craving more protein as I start working out more, so I will have to keep that in mind as well.

All in all, I'm feeling pretty good!

Summary - 7 Day Diet

Thank God it's over.

I didn't lose any pounds yesterday, which is surprising as I think I only ate about 200 calories for the whole day.  If that.

It was brutal.

If I do this again, it will only be because I've reached a plateau or something.  If my husband hadnt' been doing it with me, I don't think I would have made it through.

Still, 8.6 lbs lost is a pretty nice jump start.

The worst day was the banana day.  The 2nd worst day was yesterday - the soup day.  That soup just really bothered me.  I don't know what it was - it tasted okay, but by the end of the day, just the smell of it made me want to throw up.

The diet made me very weak and very tired.

So now I have to integrate myself back into eating "real" food.  I must say the diet has made me very thoughtful about what I'm putting into my mouth.  After all that torture, I don't want to just go eat a bunch of donuts or something and waste all the pain I want through!  Lol!

Today I am really craving carbs since that was pretty much denied me for the last 7 days.   But rather than eating biscuits or processed breads (which REALLY sound wonderful right now), I think I will try a small bowl of mueslix cereal for breakfast.  Carbs, but complex ones and with minimal added sugar.  I do want to try and stay away from the sugars.  Tonight I'm going to eat a Lean Cuisine, just to have something controlled so that I don't go hog-wild.  I'm going to eat a lot of fruits today.  I found that I really do like them and I really don't eat enough of them.

I'm still not into the 180's again, which is disappointing.  But considering I started this diet at 199, that's not surprising.

Now I'm going to take it slow and try and be careful about what I eat.  I know this coming weekend (anniversary trip) will cause some weight gain, but I'm not going to deprive myself when I'm celebrating 29 wonderful years with my soul mate.  I am sure I'll consider the choices and if possible make "better" ones, but when you are drinking cosmopolitans, it's not really going to matter whether I eat the fried mushroom or broiled asparagus, though I will try and keep it in mind!

Do I recommend this diet?  I'm not sure.  It was very hard and I felt weak and grumpy.  If I had had to do anything remotely strenuous (other than the court, which was pretty rough), I might have passed out and that just can't be a good thing.

Still, if someone is frustrated and stuck on their healthy journey, I must say it's a morale booster to to watch those pounds drop off.  I do feel excited and hopeful about the future and it's made me very, very aware of what I'm eating.  So, yes.  I think I would recommend it for someone who needs the jump start.

I'm just so very glad it's over!

Starting Day 6: 7 Day Diet

Yesterday was wonderful.  I woke up early and baked a bunch of chicken.  I baked it with the skin on for the flavor and made some pieces spicy and some just salt and pepper.  OMG, it was so wonderful to eat the chicken!  I actually only ate 1 tomato even though we could have 6.  Hubby ate more tomatoes than chicken, but also enjoyed eating chicken.

I am down to 191.2 which is 7.8 lbs lost.  Hubby is down about 8 lbs.

Today is chicken/turkey and veggies.  So I've got left over chicken from yesterday (I only ate 1 breast over the course of the day and then baked a whole chicken so the kids would have a decent dinner as well).  Today I'm making a turkey for dinner - with mashed potatoes, gravy and peas for the kids.  Hubby and I will eat the turkey and have our veggies - green beans, zucchini, mushrooms and whatever else I end up making today.

This experiment has been interesting.  I have gotten more in tune with my body.  Yesterday showed me just how conditioned I am.  It was football all day and I really, really wanted to eat football food and have a drink.  Amazing at how many habits we have that affect our eating and therefore our weight.  Something to think about.

This has also reminded me what it feels like to be hungry.  I think we all eat for the pleasure of eating rather than when we are hungry.  Not that eating for pleasure is necessarily a bad thing - it's actually one of my favorite things to do (but then again I'm way overweight, so maybe it is a bad thing - at least in excess).

I'm posting the diet again since some people may be coming in in the middle of my experiment.  Here is what we've been following:

I will check in tomorrow!

Starting Day 4 of the 7 Day Diet

Here we are beginning Day 4 ... this is the day I have been worried about.  Bananas and milk.  Scary.

Day 3 wasn't bad at all - it was veggies and fruits.  I was pretty satisfied all day long, though I must admit I was hungry quickly after eating, but that just meant I ate more.  The grapes were probably my favorite thing yesterday, but the green beans and asparagus were tasty too.

I am down to 193.2 - that's 5.8 lbs lost so far.  Hubby didn't lose yesterday, which is really odd given how little calories we ate.

So on to bananas and milk today!  I've had one banana so far and 1/2 cup milk.  I'm comfortable right this minute and for some reason I'm in a really good mood.  I don't know if there is a correlation or not, but given that I have a long court calendar to deal with, I SHOULDN'T be in a good mood.  Then again, seeing that number on the scale, which I haven't seen in a very long time, IS pretty sweet.

Luckily I'll be in court for most of the afternoon, so I'll be distracted for most of the day!  Tonight will be difficult.  It would normally be a date night for us, but with the diet, we aren't going to do the Mexican food and alcohol, but will probably watch movies or something.  Watching movies is HARD to do without food!  Am I right?

I'll check in again tomorrow!

Starting Day 3

Yesterday (Day 2) was much easier than Day 1.  I was actually worried that I might gain weight because I felt so full all day.

The baked potato was heaven, to be sure.  We ate:  cabbage, squash, baked broccoli, green beans and our baked potato for dinner.  Honestly, I was full and comfortable all day.  Whenever I got hungry, I went and got more squash.  Tasty.  Hubby also said it was an easy day for him.

I'm down to 194.4 this morning.  Having started at 199, that's 4.6 lbs lost so far.  Hubby is down a total of 5.6 lbs (!!??).

I know it's water weight, but it sure is nice to see a number on the scale that I haven't seen for a while.  It's a great way to kick off getting back to my healthy eating.  And a cold turkey on the sugar really helps.  I have found that when I eat sugar, I eat everything.  Somehow sugar kicks me over the edge.

So today is veggies and fruits.  I still have mushrooms and artichoke hearts to cook.  I also have some turnips, though I usually cook those with bacon and butter, so I'm not sure how to cook them for this diet.  We also have baby carrots to munch on and we can eat fruit again - we still have the cantaloupe, watermelon, grapes and peaches.

Tomorrow is the day I'm dreading.  8 bananas?  8 glasses of milk?  Okay, I like milk, but I'm not the biggest fan of bananas.  Especially over ripe ones.  We haven't gone shopping for those yet since I wanted to have fairly green ones.

This is an interesting crash diet, to be sure.  So far I'm not missing the sugar or starchy carbs.  But let's be real, it's only the beginning of Day 3.

I've seen some other variations of this diet on the internet.  Some say you can eat the Day 7 soup every day.  Some say you can have beef rather than chicken.  Beef sounds pretty heavy right now, so I think we'll stick to chicken.

I'm wondering how much I'll gain back after this ends and I go back to my healthy eating.  I'm hoping I won't gain any back because I plan on getting back into the weight lifting and bike riding as well as staying away from the sweets.

My only issue (and one of the reasons I'm doing this crash thing) is that our anniversary is next weekend.  That means I will imbibe in alcohol and lots of food, but I will have had 3 days of normal healthy eating prior to that weekend, so maybe I'll be okay.

I will continue updating!

Day 2

So, yesterday (all fruit) was harder than I expected.

I ate a lot of fruit, but still felt hungry.  I ate cuties (the little oranges), apples, cantaloupe, watermelon, and grapes.  I really thought those things would be plenty to make me feel full.  Then again, it could have all been in my head!  These fad diet things make me hungry just thinking about them.

So I lost 3 lbs last night.  I'm sure it was all water weight from the horrible choices I made up in Virginia during my mother's open heart surgery.  At any rate, I'm down to 166.0.  Hubby is down 4 lbs this morning (why do guys always lose more weight doing the same things as we do?!).

Today is all vegetables.  I made cabbage and squash this morning.  So far I've only eaten cabbage, which actually is filling.  I had to steam it and I did add a mall amount of fat free chicken broth - don't know if that will kill this diet thing or not; it says we can cook our veggies, but not how we can cook them.  I know we can deep fry them or anything like that, but I'm not sure where the line is.

I have mushrooms and artichoke hearts to grill.  I have fresh broccoli that I'm going to bake crispy for snacking.  I'm allowed to have a baked potato with butter so that will be saved for dinner.

We shall see!  I'm getting nervous about the banana day.  Luckily I have court that afternoon, and it is a big calendar, so I'll be distracted for that time period.

I will keep you guys posted!!

Jump Start

I'm trying something a little different to get myself going again.

My mother's heart surgery went well, but it was very stressful and there weren't a lot of great food choices to be had for that week.  So I'm up in weight and I don't feel all that well.  Of course, I got a nasty cold while up there and it's lingering on ....

So I'm trying a 7 day diet just to get started on my path again.  Here it is:

I know it's probably not the healthiest way to go about things, but it doesn't look horrible, and I think I can do it and it's only short term ... plus my hubby is on board with me so I'll have a partner while doing it!

I'm hoping it will get me back on track and help get all the icky out of my body from the last few weeks.  

I am 199 today (I know - almost back at that big 200!!) though I know a lot of that is from the junk I've eaten and will drop back off.  I was 196.8 on Saturday, so a bunch has got to be just water weight.  That might give a false reading on the weight loss I may get from the "diet" so I will have to keep that in mind.

I will report in as we go.  I imagine it's not going to be pleasant, but since I can eat as much as I want of things on their day (mostly) maybe it won't be so bad.  Looking at it, the banana day is probably going to be the hardest day.

I will keep you posted!

Repetition = Habit

The more I do healthy things, the easier it gets.

Whenever I falter on my healthy journey, it's always soooo hard to get back on track - even when I was doing so well so easily before the fall.

But if I persevere and keep on doing the good stuff, it gets easier every day.

I've done really well for two days and that's saying a LOT because my hubby has been out of town for a week and my little one has had the flu (throwing up and diarrhea - yay) and I'm trying to get work all tied up so I can go to my parents' house to be there for my mom's open heart surgery (yikes!).  So, needless to say, lots of stress and I've managed to be good.

And today was easier than yesterday.  So I'll keep repeating and hopefully I will get back into the habit of eating right and exercising and it will be easy again!

I know I'll have some moments in Virginia with eating out - or worse - eating hospital food while my mom is in the hospital, but I'll try and make decent choices.  If I can keep it up, I know it will just get easier.

Here's to trying.  Every day ...

Willpower Success!

Yesterday was the shopping day for graduation outfits.  It was fun, and it had ups and downs.  I actually looked really good in some of the dresses, so that was a pleasant surprise!  I ended up getting two dresses for the weekend festivities.

We did eat out for lunch and I'm sure I ate way more than I should have.  But we walked a LOT and tried on clothes all afternoon, so I probably worked off some of it!

My willpower success came last night!  We didn't get home until late and I was way too tired (and my feet HURT) to cook, so hubby and the kids ordered out.  I did NOT order anything and I ate a Lean Cuisine!  I did it!!  I was able to forego that hamburger and fries and eat a better choice!  I am so proud of myself!  As tired as I was, I am really surprised I didn't just break and go with the ordered food.

I'm up .6 lbs this morning.  I'm sure a lot of it is water weight as we ate Chinese for lunch and I always have issues with water retention after that.  I hope that is what it is, anyway.

So today I feel more like this:

We'll see if I can keep it up.  

Meditation for Weight Loss?

Okay, so losing weight requires lots of energy and movement and sweat.  Grueling exercise and more sweat.

Right?

Maybe not.  A lot of losing weight is in the mind.

So, the question then becomes, how do we use our minds to lose weight?  Because, believe me, I want to use every tool I can to fight my way through this journey.

As you remember from my Tools post, I've used some of the weight loss hypnosis type apps on my ipad.  I've kind of petered out on those (and I've become stuck at this weight ... any correlation??) but maybe it's time to dust them off and get them out again.

What got me thinking about this is that I've been having a hard time sleeping (averaging about 2.5 hours per night).  Lack of sleep often leads to weight gain (for whatever reason - that's a blog for another day) and I was thinking that maybe it's because of all the chaos in my life and it keeps me up thinking about it all.  So, I decided it would be good to try and center myself.  So I listened to a podcast of a chakra meditation this morning.  I rode my bike and then did the meditation.  And I feel wonderful.  I'm energized and focused in a way I have not been in a long time.

So, maybe I need to go back to listening to the weight loss hypnosis cd.  I was losing weight when I listened to it and now I'm struggling (while not listening to it).  Maybe there is nothing magic about that cd itself, but rather the mental discipline that comes from the act of meditating. I believe that just focusing on yourself for even a brief period of time can make you stronger.  It can help you focus on what you need to do (because we all KNOW what we are SUPPOSED to do - it's just finding the mental strength to DO IT that's hard).

For me, just this morning's chakra meditation made me feel more motivated and clear.  I feel elevated somehow.  And that's just after one session!

I'm going to keep this up and I will report back on any success.  I'm really hoping I can start getting some better sleep.

Maybe this "thinking outside the box" and bringing in the meditation is what it will take to get me going again.

Maybe meditation will be where my magic happens.  Who knows?  I will keep you posted!

Tools

Tools.

Here are the tools I am using to help me lose weight.

1.  52 Weight Loss Missions - Ipad app

     I really can't say enough about this one.  It has 52 "Missions" to follow that actually make you DO things towards your goals.  It's not just a "read-it-information" type thing.  It really gives you things that you do so that you feel like you are physcially doing something to move towards you goals.

2.  Subliminal Hypnosis cd - Power Weight Loss and Self Esteem - Appetite Supression ( I listen to this every night as I fall asleep).

     Not sure if it works, but I listen to it every night.  Doesn't seem to have any adverse affects on me so far.  If it really works, then great.  All I know is that I am riding my bike every day and doing my bowflex every other day.  And I'm making smarter choices in my food intake.  Is it because of this cd?  I have no idea, but it can't hurt and it might be helping ...

3.  Body Compare - Ipad app

     This is an app where you take a before picture and then you can take pictures as you go along to compare.  It places them side by side for you and has 4 angles for you to take (front, back, left and right sides).  It's pretty cool.  It's very easy to use.  I had my "before" pictures done on 2-8-12 and I took another set today, just to see.  I can already see a difference just 19 days later.  Pretty neat tool.  Looking forward to more pictures and comparisons later!

4.  Weight Loss Brainwave - Ipad app

     This one is music/noise that you play when you are feeling a craving coming on.  Supposedly it staves off the cravings.  You can set it for 5 minutes or 30 minutes (and in between) depending on your need.  I've used it a few times in the afternoon when I'm working.  I just play it in the background.  Don't know if it really works, but it can't hurt!

5.  WebMD - Food and Fitness Planner

     This one is fantastic.  I use it daily.  It's where I log all my food intake and my exercise.  It tells me how many more calories I can eat in a day (based on what I chose as my goal for weight loss) and it tracks it all with cool graphs and stuff.  I highly recommend this one.

6.  Slim Month - Ipad app

     This one is just a daily "tip" about weight loss.  Some are interesting and some are just common sense that we all already know.  What's helpful about it is that it's a daily reminder of my attempts.

7.  My blog

     This is also a daily reminder of what I'm trying to do.  Makes me focus on my weight loss every day.  It also helps to think that I might be inspiring someone else and that what I'm going through might help other people work towards their goals.

8.  Homemade exercise log and graphs

     I have an exercise log that I can put in the amount of time on the bike and the bowflex exercises including the weights I'm using and the reps I'm doing.  I have a spot to comment so I can remember the next time if the weight was too easy or hard or whatever.  And I've also got a graph that I have printed out for each month and I fill in my weight on the days I have a chance to weigh myself. 

9.  Inspirational Pictures

     I put inspirational pictures and comics all over the house.  The ones on or near the bike really help me.  Just this morning I was having a really hard time riding and I kept looking at the pictures thinking, "That's what I'm working for.  That's why I'm doing this.  Keep going!"  And I was able to ride for 60 minutes and 14 miles today! 

I'd love to hear what other people use for their tools.  And as I find more, I'll pass them on here.  I'm open to anything and everything!  I want to make this work this time!

  Whatever works, right?