Say What?!?

Typically when I think of King George, I think of King "Oil Slick" George and his administrations' ties to oil, where alternative energy is considered drilling in Alaska instead of the Middle East.

Don't get me wrong, I have posted in the past that readers research "Peak Oil", "Hubbert's Peak", "Ghawar is Dying" and such, suggesting that we need alternative energy. I do believe that the oil in ANWR is good for George's "Strategery" because we have mastered efficiencies with petroleum and our national defence depends on a domestic supply of oil. Consider that if we used ANWR oil to fuel Amercian's current driving habits, the ANWR reserves would be depleted in less than one-year.

I have written in the past regarding my "vision" of alternative energies, and the King is going to talk about how our national security depends on pursuing alternative fuels.

Today seems appropriate to revisit the "time will tell" post.

New tickers for consideration: STP, SPWR, ESLR, ENER, AND XSNX.OB (OH YEAH!!). I expect each of these to experience somewhat of a price correction tomorrow because the anticipation of KG's speach is built into the price. (Buy the rumor, sell the news.)

To restate from my previous post:

Being "green" should not have a tree-hugger connotation any longer. Being green is becoming the backbone of economic decisions that are driven by national security issues and the cost of carbon-based fuels.

Old Friends and New Motivation

I recently got in touch with a former co-worker of mine, Brent Winebarger. We worked together at Bennet's cycle in Saint Louis Park, Roseville, and Uptown in Minnesota. He was an awesome cycling partner and I have nothing but great memories of hanging out with him. He was also one of people that got me deep into cycling. We lost touch when he moved to Texas shorly after I completed my bike trip from Minneapolis to Florida in 1999. With a quick Google search, I came across his Cycling Profile. He is living the life that I am entireley envious of: surrounding by cyclists, and riding competitively.

I hope that soon I will back in shape where we can ride together the way we did in 1999, but for me that means taking it up a few notches to reach his current riding level.

The Ongoing Battle

When I first started my blog it was to track my weight loss. Through some misfiring and lack of commitment, I fell off the wagon so to speak. I have recently developed a simple and achievable routine that requires consistency and motivation. Previsouly, my workout routine included cycling to and from work. Although great exercise, I was unable (unwilling?) to continue through the holiday season and the winter.

My current workout routine is as follows:

Sunday: Weight Lifting (30 min) , Swimming (30 min) , Cycling Indoors (45 min)
Monday: Off - No Exercise
Tuesday: Spin Class (1 hour) , Cycling Indoors (45 min)
Wednesday: Weight Lifting (30 min) , Cycling Indoors (1.5 hrs) or (2-45 min sessions)
Thursday: Spin Class (1 hour) , Cycling Indoors (45 min)
Friday: Weight Lifting (30 min) , Cycling Indoors (1.5 hrs) or (2-45 min sessions)
Saturday: Spin Class (1 hour) , Cycling Indoors (45 min)

When the weather improves, I will be able to transition easily from indoor cycling to commuting while maintaining the remaining workout schedule. I have maintained the above schedule for about 6 weeks and it is becoming a habit.
One of the most valuable tools that I have been using is the FitDay website. It is crazy to see the amount of calories in food and their origin. The most remarkable food was pork ribs. Pork ribs have nearly equaly grams of fat and grams of protein. The other component is that Fat has 9 cal/gram and Protein has 4 cal/gram. This means for every 300 calories from ribs, more than 200 are from fat.

Being an informed eater really allows you to make more conscience choices in your diet.

Basal Metabolic Rate Test...

Okay, my meeting today with Cassandra was really informative. My Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) test indicated that I will burn approximately 1480 calories/day to live. That is, the amount of caloires without standing up or moving around. Now, when I took nutrition class in college, we used the Harris Benedict equation to determine the RMR. That equation is based on empirical data and is presented as follows:
66.5 + 13.8*(Weight in kilograms) + 5*(height in cm) - 6.8*(age in years) = RMR
Entering my information yields the following:
66.5+13.8*113.4+5*182.9-6.8*27 = 2362 calories/day

That is a difference of 880 calories/day. The informative component of this is used while determining the energy deficit component of weight loss. A pound of fat (4 sticks of butter) has 3500 calories/pound. Given the above information, my weekly weight loss may be be slowed by almost pounds a week. (880*7)=6160 calories.

I had to log my eating habits for a week prior to our meeting (average calories/day was 1700). Based on this logshe told me to consume more calories per day using foods based on the calorie source inserted at parts of the day that correspond with my exercie.

She gave me the simple desciption of calorie function based of the foods source:
Carbohydrate = Fuel for your body
Protein = Repair mechanism for your body
Fat = Makes you feel full

Bike is fixed and ready to ride!

I had to have the fork on my bike replaced after my accident with a car. My favorite part of this whole experience was when the mechanic at the bike shop asked me "What on earth caused your fork to bend that way?".
Spin class has been awesome. I have been going three days a week and doing indoor cycling every evening and mornings with no spin class. I have started using the following website to track my weight loss and caloric intake:
www.fitday.com
This website is really easy to use, free, and fairly comprehensive in detail.

I am going to visit Coach Cassandra tomorrow (she is the instructor of my spin class) and have my Basal Metabolic Rate tested, and to consult about "total fitness" and other health nut stuff.

Full Contact Bike Riding

On my way to the gym this morning (6:15AM), a significantly challenged individual drove his car into me. I had a headlight and two taillights on my helmet. I was east bound and this westbound a**hole was taking a left turn and did not stop until his car was directly in front of me. Whammo!...Head-on collision. My bike suffered the worst of it. I skinned my knee, but I bent my fork.

I say this fellow was challenged because he was driving a circa 1980 minivan and he was taking a turn into the Currency Exchange. Three people (that look less capable than those shaking cups full of change at me on my way to work) stepped out of the car to see if I was okay. I do not know why people are so lazy and careless to conduct business at one of these establishments. Because my bike and I were not hurt too bad, I did not want to make this fellow's life any more miserable. The guy was at a Currency Exchange, obviously he doesn't have a bank account and he was probably uninsured. I only hope I don't come across an unknown injury.