Big Jim’s attempt to become Slim Jim

[boxbrownie]

Well I had a salmon salad tonight…..

[Mike Bellamy]

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Looks like you went past the end of our road in Hilton . . . . . .  

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[TheSignalEngineer]

Well done with the weight loss. Keep riding and you should make your target. Just keep it up afterwards so you maintain the new you.

 

7 hours ago, big jim said:

I’m loving the E-bike, you can see the difference it makes from the post above where the battery was flat, if I had bought a ‘normal’ bike, ok obviously lighter and more gears I’d probably have not done as many miles as I have in the last 2 weeks as it makes cycling a pleasure, I can thoroughly recommend getting one 

 

On days when the weather is OK I use my ebike in preference to the car if I have to go to my daughter's place on grandad duty. The shorter two routes are 7.6 and 7.9 miles with about 750 ft of climbing. I can do it in 34 minutes each way, the car usually taking 22-25 minutes. On summer evenings it's nice to come back the scenic route for the sunset views. That route is about 9.5 miles and climbs total about 1200 ft.

An ebike is great if you need a bit of assistance and I often use mine on routes I can't do on an ordinary bike. We have a couple of road routes we do in the Peak District which do over 4000ft of climbing across about 40 miles. I can still do distances but couldn't manage that much stiff climbing these days on a conventional bike but it's a pleasant jaunt on the ebike. 

 

When you feel adventurous and have a day to spare you may like to try this one. I do it on a conventional hardtail MTB with gravel tyres but my wife has done it on a gravel bike.

https://visitseftonandwestlancs.co.uk/cycling/cycling-routes/the-sefton-circular.aspx.

It's about 24 miles mostly flat so quite easy, although in a couple of places you have to push across the wind-blown sand at Crosby although there is a road you can use.

[Ian Smeeton]

I have to admire your perseverance and success in the slimming, Jim.

 

But I Have to ask......

 

the second bike rack, is that to fit on the front of your loco, to save the company van, perhaps?

 

More power to your elbow.

 

Regards

 

Ian

[big jim]

I’m trying to figure out if I can get the bike across the buffers on a 66 like they used to do on the old steam locos! 

[zarniwhoop]

On 10/06/2021 at 16:33, New Haven Neil said:

 

Yeah, the Burgen is the only one of those available here, so can't compare the taste!  The local artisan bread I used to eat is 30g per slice.....eek!

I haven't been following this thread, but I'm Type 1 (adjusting amount of insulin to the amount of carbs in a meal) and I can tell you that while the average amount per slice may be correct, many individual slices are quite different (usually more carbs, assuming the stated percentage is correct - I weigh the slices on my digital scales). "Best" one recently was a Tesco 'sourdough with rye and seeds'  - slices were mostly very wide and about double the claimed average, except for the tiny ends of the loaf.

[tr7v8]

Been back on a keto light since Jan 1 as there was a bit too much Jim after the first lockdown. 

Started at 120.2kg and as of last Friday at 106.4kg. The other driver was I am learning to fly which needs a class 2 medical & the Civil Aviation Authority doesn't like pilots above a BMI of 35.  Mine was close to 40 at the start. I eat a few small cheeses for lunch & a salad with either tinned fish or cooked meats in the evening. In the early days no snacking but I've been having a few chocs on Friday to Sunday evening. I track everything with My Fitness Pal app on both phone & computer.

For those with T2 diabetes I can recommend the Dr Bernsteins book. He's a diabetic doctor in the USA 7 has taken a load of people off of medication using a low carb diet. A Dr in the UK tried it as an experiment & was amazed to find it works. A mate who was a big guy was diagnosed as T2 & he used it. He has lost a massive amount of weight & is now effectively not a diabetic.

[big jim]

That last sentence is what confuses me, combined with a few other responses from people in the medical profession  

 

am I still diabetic in a medical sense or just in an official sense?
 

My blood sugar level has gone from 76 to 43 which is below the safe level of 47, I’ve lost over 3 Stone, feel the most fit and healthy I have for a good 25 years

 

anyway rode to basford hall tonight via the petrol station for a coffee! 

 

then just for fun I thought I’d see how far I walk during a train prep from the cabin to the train then along it to the back loco and back to the front, just over 1/2 mile on ballast, it all adds up!

 

got the ride back in the morning so I’m hoping it doesn’t rain! 

 

[tr7v8]

11 minutes ago, big jim said:

That last sentence is what confuses me, combined with a few other responses from people in the medical profession  

 

am I still diabetic in a medical sense or just in an official sense?
 

My blood sugar level has gone from 76 to 43 which is below the safe level of 47, I’ve lost over 3 Stone, feel the most fit and healthy I have for a good 25 years

Just spoken to wife who is a Staff Nurse & does health checks for BUPA as a day job now. Safe level is 42 not 47 and you would still be deemed close at that. 

Mine was tested a week or so ago & was 30. So you still have a way to go but still great to see you're on the right track (sorry)

[boxbrownie]

11 hours ago, tr7v8 said:

Just spoken to wife who is a Staff Nurse & does health checks for BUPA as a day job now. Safe level is 42 not 47 and you would still be deemed close at that. 

Mine was tested a week or so ago & was 30. So you still have a way to go but still great to see you're on the right track (sorry)

Up to 47 is “pre-diabetic” and not registered as diabetic with the nhs, but of course your wife is correct that below 42 is considered safe……but still needs watching.

[big jim]

Ride back from basford hall this morning, did well, 1/2 mile further than usual from the station but a minute quicker 

 

 

got a run to do this afternoon then work this evening but I’m going by car so can’t get a sneaky commute in 

[TheSignalEngineer]

Getting up to a good average speed there Jim. It would suggest that you are getting up past the speed where the motor cuts out.

I find that riding round a town I average about 15mph which is nearly as fast as I get in the car most of the time. When I first gave my ebike a test run I passed a particularly distinctive car (boy racer material) in a traffic queue. After passing through about 5 sets of lights and a couple of places where right turners can cause a jam he finally caught up with me on a clear stretch three miles later.

[big jim]

I’m certainly getting beyond the 16mph threshold a fair bit of the time, it’s also in eco mode which is the least assistance mode but I do go ‘turbo’ for short spurts up the hills! 

[Fat Controller]

On 13/06/2021 at 09:15, big jim said:

I’m trying to figure out if I can get the bike across the buffers on a 66 like they used to do on the old steam locos! 

The Italians have some electric locos with clearly-indicated bike compartments.......

[boxbrownie]

3 hours ago, Fat Controller said:

The Italians have some electric locos with clearly-indicated bike compartments.......

That’s a bit far for Jim to cycle to work though. 

[big jim]

Just done day 8 (thought it was 7!) of couch to 5K, today was 5 mins warm up, 8 mins run, 5 min walk, 8 mins run, 5 mins cool down.

 

looking at my current the pace 5k would take me 48 minutes but I keep forgetting to bear in mind that the training pace includes the walking warm up, 5 mins ‘breather’ walk and cool down times so once the ‘breather’ gets shorter then disappears I’m hoping to get to the magic 45 minute mark, only thing is the final run is 35 mins so I don’t know where I’m going to find 10 mins and the extra mile from! 

 

admittedly I wasn’t in the mood for a run tonight but pushed myself to do it and I’m glad I did, once I got started I enjoyed it

 

 

 

[big jim]

A pic came up on my wife’s Facebook timeline today, exactly a year ago as it’s Dominic’s birthday today

 

Edited into a ‘work in progress’ picture on the weight watchers app

 

 

Still a way to go but that’s the motivation I needed this morning!
 

 

 

Edited June 15, 2021 by big jim

[David Bigcheeseplant]

Looking good Jim, all the best runners have red minis too! pace and speed with come in time, the only draw back with getting fit and losing weight is that you need to buy a new wardrobe.

 

David  

[boxbrownie]

At this rate you’ll be getting into an 04 cab with ease 

[Crisis Rail]

Well done Jim - a job that most of us on here would like is a massive thing to lose.

 

Ian

 

 

[TheSignalEngineer]

Progress looking good from the picture Jim.

6

On 14/06/2021 at 11:34, big jim said:

I’m certainly getting beyond the 16mph threshold a fair bit of the time, it’s also in eco mode which is the least assistance mode but I do go ‘turbo’ for short spurts up the hills! 

The e-bike is certainly a technique that takes a bit of learning. I have found it best not to use the Turbo mode except for the steeper or longer hills. I use Eco most of the time and try to balance the gears and power for rhe best performance. As I use the e-bike for some long rides battery management is something I have learned to do.

Last year I took an e-MTB for a test run round Dalby Forest. When I got back to the shop the lad in there was surprised at what I had covered and still had about half of the battery left. He said that some customers would run the battery flat without doing as much.

 

[big jim]

Not weighed myself yet but I’ve just dropped my lad off at work and got my wife to drive the car back while I rode back via the towpath and Nantwich, just short of 10 miles, probably about 1/3 of it with the motor off to save battery power as I never checked it before setting off and I’d plugged it in yesterday to charge but the cable to the power pack had come out so I only had 60% charge!

 

 

again the workout app didn’t record the route, it’s got to be because the other apps are using the location so the map in the pic above is from the Komoot app that I used today 

Edited June 16, 2021 by big jim

[big jim]

This afternoon I decided to set up a 5k running route from the park and back to the house to see how far I could manage at my current level of fitness, I planned it to go 2.5K out and back and to run as far as felt comfortable then stop, have a rest, rehydrate then walk back from wherever I gave up!

anyway I set off and managed the full 5K in under 45 mins, I only dropped to a walking pace for the last climb at about the 3 mile mark before picking up the pace again on the flat, the places where the pace stopped or almost stopped was where I was crossing the main road and waiting for the crossing lights to change

 

really pleased with that, I think I might make this route my regular run to see if I can improve on the time each time 

 

 

 

 

 

[big jim]

No weight loss this week but also no gain, the scales say my BMI has dropped a bit and my muscle mass has increased through!

 

tonight’s commute involved home to the station then New St to Tyseley via the canal towpath from digbeth, much safer than the roads round sparkbrook!

 

 

 

other than the ride back to New St tomorrow and the ride home I’m having a rest day from exercise as today has been a long one with plenty of miles in on both foot and bike abs I don’t want to overdo it 

[big jim]

Broke the 150 mile mark earlier, thats 54 miles since last Friday (6 days ago) when I passed 100 miles, pretty pleased with myself for that, still got another 4 to do tonight from New St to Tyseley then another 7 to do in the morning to get home, amazing how quick it all starts to rack up 

 

 

not in work tomorrow so no return evening commute but I will go out for a run at some point in the evening, possibly do the 5k again