At the Humane Society to learn about dog training classes for Chase and Izzy.
Serious punk rocker dude in dog class wearing a Profane Existence shirt. Sweet!
I seriously doubt there is any band that goes better with fall than The Replacements.
Looking to extend my AIM network via Twitter. Use AIM, @ me your username. You can find me on AIM under “jthingelstad”.
Using the MPR iPhone application to listen to Barack Obama’s speech. Thanks Damon Allison and Minnesota Public Radio for making this possible.
Too Fat, Losing Weight
I’ve struggled with my weight for a long time, my entire adult life really. In 2000 I started an intensive program working extensively with a trainer and focusing with complete obsession on my food intake. In the course of 10 months I lost 100 pounds and changed a lot. Slowly though discipline broke down and focus was lost. This chart tells the story better than words.
I’ve asserted myself and decided it was time to get back into shape before, see 2004 and 2006. Both of those attempts were quick failures.
I believe that when you are making major changes in life it is an opportune time to push some bigger changes through. If you’re disrupting things, disrupt them big. I’m at a big inflection point in my career, so I’m making it an inflection point for fitness too. On top of that I’ve noticed that my lack of fitness and excess weight has become a bigger problem than it ever was before. Perhaps showing signs of getting older, my blood pressure has crept up. In order to do fun things with Mazie and Tammy I need to be lighter on my feet.
A week ago I began to work hard on this, and I’m going to keep on working hard until I get to my goals. I’ve got a lot of work to do, and it’s going to be hard, but I’m going to hold myself accountable to it. If I pass on the appetizer or beverages at dinner you will know why. My goal is to get back below 300 by the New Year, and to reasonable fitness by next summer. If you see me attempting to be stupid, feel free to point it out. My plan to get there includes daily exercise and strictly watching food.
Wish me luck! I’m feeling great!
Joined LA Fitness
Tammy and I have had a gym membership for a while. Let’s just be nice and say that the membership was “under-leveraged”. We got pretty excited around a year ago when some construction started fairly close to our house and we found out it was going to be a new LA Fitness location. The location is much closer to our house than our previous options, and we knew that LA Fitness was cheaper as well.
This weekend we stopped in and took a tour. We were pretty impressed. They don’t attempt to have a “spa experience”. There is no water wall in the entry way. In fact, there isn’t even a towel service. But, the equipment is really great and the space is nice. Not too tight; not too distracting.
We signed up right away cutting time and distance to get the gym by 70%, and cutting our monthly fee by 70%. Win, win! We are both looking forward to getting some good use out of the membership.
First Spin Class in 4+ Years
Tonight I went to my first spin class in over four years. I was pretty nervous and joked with Tammy that we should check the status of my life insurance policy before I left. In the end though, I had a good time and got a great workout. I wasn’t able to keep up with the class which I fully expected, but I did a bit better than I expected as well.
The thing that I loved about the spin class though we’re the bikes. I’ve ridden on a number of spin bikes and even have one at home. There has been a lot of improvement in them over the years, but the new LA Fitness has these Keiser M3 spin bikes.
These bikes are hands down the best spin bike I’ve ever been on. Actually, they are the best indoor bike I’ve ever been on period. Here is why they rock:
-
The flywheel resistance system uses magnets. There are no brake pads causing uneven resistance and squealing noises. I can’t emphasize how awesome this is. Every other spin bike I’ve used makes a ton of noise, and has uneven resistance as the pad and wheel rub. Huge improvement.
-
The resistance curve is very linear. Most spin bikes give little resistance and then suddenly start increasing a lot. Not here. Plus the resistance is moved with a little lever on the handlebars. You can adjust it without even taking your hands off the bars. Huge win.
-
I love that the flywheel is in the back. It’s bad karma to a cyclist for the flywheel to be in front. Here the power and motion is where it should be, on your rear wheel.
-
They have SPD clips on all the pedals which is a must have.
-
Speaking of the flywheel, it isn’t that heavy. This is a big problem on some spin bikes, including the one I have at home. If you are spinning at 100+ RPM the momentum on the wheel is so strong it takes a few revolutions to stop. I was able to stop the flywheel on the Keiser M3 in one pedal rotation.
I’m a huge fan. If you like to cycle, look for these in your gym or bug them to get some. I would expect that the magnetic resistance system probably results in a lower total cost of ownership too since most gym spin bikes need weekly maintenance. It would seem these would have lower maintenance.
Just added the WordPress LifeStream plugin to my blog.
Just scheduled time to contest my ’no left turn’ ticket from yesterday. First available meeting with court rep was Dec. 8th.
To: Numbers.app
From: me
I suggest you work with me, and be good, or you will be replaced.
Sincerely, Jamie
Got pulled over for illegal left turn in a trap on Lyndale. 😬
Saying goodbye to nearly 5 months off. What a great, great summer it has been. Feeling very fortunate.
iWork really badly needs a Numbers.app 2.0. It’s a nice try, but needs a big boost.
Indian-style Potatoe-Spinach soup with Chicken. Yum!
MacBook Pro Battery on the Ropes
I’ve been thinking that my MacBook Pro’s battery has been especially lightweight lately. To be honest, none of Apple’s laptops do great with battery life but it’s been an especially poor contender lately. I fired up CoconutBattery to check out the state of affairs and it was shocking. I’m currently only getting 39% of original battery capacity. The battery is only sucking up a measly 2,187 mAh out of a rated 5,500 mAh.
I’m going to try a series of battery conditioning cycles and see if I can get this thing back. In January I was right around 90% of capacity and the battery has only gone through 237 cycles in its 20 month lifespan.
Time to do a cycle on my battery. Only 51% of capacity available!
At a movie with Tammy and totally excited. Seeing Burn After Reading. First movie out in months! Thanks grandma for watching Mazie!
Fun day at Minnetonka Orchards with family.
Running DVDFab inside of a Parallels VM working on a DVD. Seems to be working.