[B]Independence Day Challenge 2012!!! We can all do this!!! Come Join Us!!! [/B]

[MaryMary]

Come join us on a Independence Day Challenge 2012!!! Think of the amazing things we can accomplish in five weeks!!! The rules are: No Rules! Feel free to join during any stage of this challenge!!!

Pick your own personal challenge based on whatever is important to you! and come report in whenever it suits you. Some will have a specific weight loss as a goal and some of us will have goals based only on desirable behaviors. A goal could be as simple as coming in to post .. Think outside the box. What do **you** need to keep you going?

We Can Do This!!!

[Chris 232]

Wow, 5 weeks is pretty short to make a goal for. But mine will be to join the '50lb loss club' which would be a 3 lb loss.

I could be hard on myself and make it my 1/2 way to goal which would be 55 lb total loss, so that means 8 lbs in 5 weeks, well, that would mean exercising more that just 9 minutes on the elliptical. And no cheating when it comes to eating. We'll see where I end up.

My other goal is to finally do something about those Christmas decoration boxes in the basement. Just one Box a day will have that mess cleaned up. There-I've finally said it and made a firm plan.

So it would be fun to see how we end up if everyone makes a 'I'm sure I can reach that in 5 weeks' goal. and a 'I'm making a hard to reach goal also' where we will have to be bold and strong in our programs.

PS: at my SIL bar-be-que---I think I finally weigh less than her, although she would never admit it.

[MaryMary]

For me, I want to keep doing what I have been doing with the food and adding in some exercise. Today my DH and I ventured out to a park we had heard about for years in the next town. It is called Mine Falls Park and represents 324 acres of hiking and biking trails that meander along a canal and river and pond in the center of town. It goes under the highway, offers lots of shade on a sunny day and isn't too hilly. But you feel nature all around. We probably walked about 1-1/2 miles. Not much but it was hot out. By the time we got back to the car my face was really red. I am really out of shape. A little bit at a time and I could be in a lot better shape in five weeks.

I thought about making it Independence Day or Labor Day. Even though it is five weeks, it celebrates Freedom not Work. That's what I need to remember - if I eat on my plan, I am free from the craziness I feel when I eat compulsively. I want to be free in five weeks from the thoughts of how much work exercising is. I want it to be fun. It's a stretch but I am willing.

[fefe]

I hope to have lost 20 lbs by 7/4/12.

I started Saturday, 5/26/12 at 304.

[sorenkkg]

I want to be 10 lbs down, on plan each day

[Arborea]

Thanks MaryMary for opening the new challenge.

My goals for this challenge:
I start into this challenge at 319. so 20lbs would be ideal to lose, but any loss is loss so I plan to lose as much as possible.
I plan to add more fruits to my menu so I want to find out my carb level for loss with fruits.
I want to post more often, since I got kind of lazy with that during the last challenge.
Also I want to try and find a way to keep me in control even if I start to get stressed out by something and not fall off the wagon again.

[Leo41]

Thanks MaryMary for starting the new challenge.

1. I happened to weigh this morning [no my usual day], and I'm 147. My goal for this challenge is to get down to 142-43 where I feel best. I'm glad this is just five weeks because that will focus my attention on losing, since I only lose a pound a week at most.

2. As usual, I want to eliminate my tendency to compulsively overeat. I've read that any form of 'restriction' will awaken the 'lower brain' to push the person to eat more, but there's no way I can lose weight without restriction, so I need to learn to 'overcome' that lower brain.

I'm flying to attend a wedding in California (Palm Springs) on 6 July and seeing an old friend of 40 years who I have not seen since my weight loss, so I really want to use this challenge to 'get in shape.'

[MaryMary]

Leo41 - someone told me the secret to being rid of the compulsion to overeat is acceptance. If I accept that I eat compulsively and need a plan of eating. For me it is not that I restrict but that I choose to eat healthy today based on my plan. It is all semantics I realize. For me the word restriction makes me feel as if I did something wrong. Last year when I was eating compulsively, I chose to eat differently and saw the consequences.

We all have different low carb Food plans and that is the beauty of this bulletin board. But for the most part we all battle with eating too much sometimes.

Today I get to start work late, so I plan to bring lunch and dinner to work. I will be there until 8 pm. We have a new hire starting today so the next few months will be busy.

I started using ****** this weekend to write in the meal plan that I eat everyday. It helped me wake up to see the kinds of food I was eating and how they breakdown. I decided to have different kinds of veggies that were lower in carb. So instead of having pumpkin and wheat germ at night, I had a larger raw salad and green beans. I bought some 2% Fage yogurt as an experiment instead of draining my own whole milk yogurt. I really couldn't't tell the difference other than mine is drained a little more so it is thicker.

The reason for the experiment was that I realized that I was getting 1700-1800 calories a day and even though I don't calorie count, I realize that without exercise that is the amount a woman eats who is maintaining. The only place I could see in reducing the carbs were in the sweet veggies and wheat germ. It is the only grain type product I eat. I use flax seed meal but that is nearly all fiber. Anyway, the scale is moving ever so slightly.

If I had a goal for the next five weeks, it would be to get to 190 lbs. so I need to pick up the pace of walking,etc and sweat a little.

Welcome everyone!

[Leo41]

Hi Mary, Mary-

Thanks for your insights, but I really don't think of myself as 'restricting,' but my body does. That is, since I'm post-menopausal and also hypothyroid, I lost eating <1000 cal a day--averaging about 800-900. And I only need about 1,100 cal daily to maintain. So restricting my eating is a necessity, and, as I've learned from my reading, the body rebels--especially after a significant weight loss, as I've had. That's why so many people re-gain.

I don't overeat daily, or even weekly. But at times, I begin to experience a 'temptation' to have something sweet--which I know is a 'trigger' for me, and the next thing I know I'm eating up a storm. Fortunately, it's confined and never exceeds a single day. When this happens, then I have to do 'damage control.' Oddly, I never experienced this during my weight-loss journey, and I thought that the tendency had disappeared with the weight. Now I know it will be with me always, and I need to learn to control it.

The best help I've had is reading Brain Over Binge in which the author talks about how to deal with our 'lower brain' that is urging us to compulsively overeat. I've been gradually getting better at identifying the temptation for what it is and not allowing myself to be 'seduced' by it. But it's an ongoing challenge.

[becky7474]

Originally Posted by sorenkkg

I want to be 10 lbs down, on plan each day

Me too.

[sorenkkg]

well hey, I'll start us off-- I lost about a pound so far this week. I was 248.6 and now I'm 247.x (something... I had some scale confusion (In that I thought I had gained, and got ticked off and decided to ignore the number... and then remembered that I wrote my last ticker number *wrong* and that I in fact lost a pound and a bit... and had to guess at the decimal number after the fact).

Anyhoo-- I don't think I'll be able to claim much net loss for May, since I went down, and up, and now back down again, but I feel I'm on the right track for this challenge!

re: planning and control.

I've proven to myself time and again that I can't do without it. It's not just my personality-- which tends toward list-making in times of stress; I do much better with food, on both my higher and lower calorie days, if I can plan the food out in advance.

I can take an odd day on my own-- if I go into the office, and wind up out at lunch or something-- but generally, I find I'm very comfortable using my tracking/planning app (online and on my mobile) and it's helping tremendously.

I think you need to find what works for you-- some can keep track in their heads, and learn what a T or an ounce or a cup looks like, or just know how many carbs are in X piece of food.

I think the key is learning about ourselves, what works, what doesn't, and enjoying the WOE that you choose.

( did I get preachy? I didn't mean to, I just get excited by the collective spirit to make stuff happen! )

Soren

[Leo41]

Hi Soren-
I don't think you're 'preachy' at all. In fact, planning is essential to my weight management--and always has. I'm always telling people how essential it is to plan ahead and be prepared. However, I always feel guilty when I read the posts here about how people weigh and measure and then track with online programs.

I do almost all my planning 'mentally' (which is how I work in general), and I rely on labels or checking online with something like Calorie King for all my carb/calorie counts. I work with portions as best I can, but I never weigh or measure (except for my liquid egg whites).

This fits my temperament, and since I've lost close to 200 lbs this way and have been maintaining for almost a year, I don't see any reason to change.

I think everyone has to find what works best for that individual. I'm only explaining my process in case there's someone else like me who often feels 'guilty' for not being more 'conscientious' about tracking. Do what works for you.

[iminit4me]

So I'm more like Soren. I absolutely HATE the thought of measuring and weighing. I calculate in my head, but since I'm doing induction, it's fairly simple because most of my food is almost all no-carb. However, since I didn't have a loss during my second week, I'm thinking that I need to cut back on my quantity. If I feel hungry, I'll have a piece of chicken, a leftover hamburger, a hard-boiled egg, half an avocado, a dozen olives. I know the calories add up and I've added exercise to my daily goals. But I obviously need to cut back. So......
My goals are to keep up the 2.5-mile walks 5x week, cut back on portions and lower my intake of low-calorie drinks, i.e. aspartame. Weight loss: a minimum of 10 lbs.

[iminit4me]

So I'm more like Leo41. I really HATE weighing and measuring. I haven't even taken my OWN measurements yet. I judge by my clothes, my rings, how I can stand up from the couch without pushing myself up and almost knocking it over backwards. I'm VERY disappointed that I didn't lose any more weight during my second week, but I know I have to cut back on the calories. I don't binge, but I do eat too much. I stay on plan, but the portions have to shrink. Appetite has always been my big problem. I can eat half a baked chicken and two cups of broccoli for dinner, and be hungry in two hours! Soooooo....my goals for Independence Day are:
To keep up my exercise regime of 2.5 miles, 5x a week; cut back on low calorie drinks, i.e. aspartame; to eat smaller portions four to five times a day and nothing in between; to lose a minimum of 10 pounds.
I love reading everyone's posts so much - so very inspiring. Hope I have some success to report next week (I'm a Monday weigher). Thanks everyone!

[iminit4me]

Sorry about the other post. It looked like I lost it when I tried to edit it, so I wrote another. I meant to say I'm like Leo41 instead of Soren - Miss Organization. I WISH I could be so organized.

[Leo41]

iminit4me-
I know exactly what you mean about appetite! I can (and have) gain weight eating less than 10g carbs a day, simply because ketosis doesn't affect my appetite much (just takes a little 'edge' off). When people post how they 'used' to be able to eat half a pizza, I chuckle because if I allowed myself, I could eat an entire large pizza--easily.

To lose, I had to consciously count calories. In a way it made my 'eating' a lot easier because I planned the day's food in advance so insure that I'd stay within my limits. I still do that, and I find that as soon as I 'relax' a little and stop counting, I start gaining.

It's tough, but it is what it is, and it's the only way I can manage my weight.

[sorenkkg]

InIt-- I thought that's what you meant LOL

organization-- it's a blessing and a curse... I can be a bit OCD about *some* things (but not all), so learning balance is a big thing in my life. All or nothing is most people's coping strategy-- like, if it can't be perfect, then I'm not doing it at all (hello, house cleaning!)

I had a pretty good LC day--

lc toast with tuna, olives, and cheese (tuna melts. and yes, I like some sliced olives on there )

100 cal bag of popcorn (about 20g net, YMMV)

shirataki noodles with 1oz of cream cheese, parmesan, and a bit of butter-- YUM!

Dinner-- planning for korean style beef shortribs (ours are cut a bit thick, but yummy anyway-- been marinating them for 2 days). Grilled asparagus and/or fennel-onion slaw.

Dessert (maybe) a square of 86% chocolate.

I this WOE!

[Piekinns]

Thanks for starting the challenge MaryMary.

I will take my vitamins/supplements everyday ( I am terrible with this )

[Arborea]

Good morning everyone
I think I might just have lost my mind but I just got up (it's 6 am over here) had my morning tea and since the weather looks nice and since I found out that it's only 3.5 miles (yay for google maps) from my door to my parents house (I always thought it was more) I decided to simply walk there today. I have done a fair share of 2 mile walks so 3.5 seem manageable.
My brother and I are going to fix my old bike up today so maybe I'll even cycle the way back, if we get finished in time.This kind of unusual for me but I'm actually looking forward to this.
Food's been nice yesterday. I made a cauliflower-broccoli-mushroom-tofu-casserole for dinner. I will have the leftovers today, while my BF's having pizza.

Soren - Your dinner is making me hungry! Otherwise I can totally relate to you on that control thing. I have to keep track of what I eat otherwise in the long run I will gain.

Leo - Same here with the ability to eat a whole pizza thing! I sometimes think that I'm the only one, but it's good to know there are others

To everyone new and let's do this!

[cindym]

Happy Tuesday ~ My goals for this challenge.

1. Comfortably fit into the black dress pants.
2. Mow front lawn 1 x per week and walk 2 x per week.
3. Gratitude journal every day.
4. Drink more water.
5. Plan eating.
6. Journal before eating something high carb.
7. Print and read goals many times during every day!

All is good ... I have been doing really well. I mowed the lawn on Sunday and walked on Monday :-)

Tomorrow, my DD is moving and I am sure that I will be walking lots.

MaryMary ~ Thank you for starting the challenge.

Chris ~ Congratulations on your success during the last challenge

FeFe

Way to go Soren ~ Your food sounded YUMMY :-)

Leo ~ Great goals and how is the hand?

Becky

Arborea ~ 3.5 miles Woo Hoo !!

Piekinns ~ Which vitamins and supplements do you take?

Iminit4me ~ Love the name.

Okay time for sleepy time tea and bed!

[Chris 232]

Like Leo, I don't weigh food nor measure. I've been on this LC diet so many times, I don't have to look up the counts of anything. I mainly stay on induction-with avacado, broccoli and--- and some chocolate/pecan nut cheats. I never feel full either, so a whole pizza would be so tasty. Several weeks ago, we had pizza, and I took only the topping off one slice-wow was that a difficult meal.

What has abeen working for me lately is one total fast day a week, with drinking lots of water, tea, and one diet soda. I watch the clock-and say -God help me, only 3 more hours to bedtime. Yesterday was specially important, with today being my last weight in for the month.

Arborea---I remember as a kid, I used my BLUE Sears (a store in USA) bike all the time. When I got married I left at my mom's, who threw it out. 14 years later, I bought a bike at a garage sale for $2-used it for 20 years. It finally needed lots of $ repair, new seat, tires, petals. So I threw it out. Now my balance is so awful, I doubt I could even ride a bike. Yard work is my exercise of choice. I so enjoy the fresh vegetables from the small garden and the beautiful flowers.

So lets stay with the group for the next 5 weeks, even if we are not doing well. We only offer encouragement and support, no critism, no rejection--so please stay with us.

[MaryMary]

Hi everyone,

Arborea, could you share your recipe for the tofu casserole you made? My daughter is vegan and always looking for ways to make things for her when she is here.

I am reading the posts everyday but don't know what to write,

I wish I didn't have to weigh and measure like most of you. The first couple years on Atkins I didn't and I lost the first 100 lbs, but then I went into a very long plateau. In Atkins books he said you will know when to stop, but I could eat 4 eggs with lots of sautéed vegetable and 1/2 lb cheddar cheese mixed in for breakfast. I would be stuffed but I couldn't stop. So I re-read his books and still couldn't figure out how much was enough and how to create a balanced approach. It was around that time that South Beach and The Zone were coming out. So I looked into them and stumbled across the food plan I use now. I knew I needed some structure because I would still think about food all day long.

Have a good day everyone.

[Leo41]

Mary, Mary- I went into a very long plateau (almost a year) after I lost my first 80 lbs, losing and gaining the same 5 lbs--which fooled me into thinking I was actually losing. I finally realized that this indicates we no longer have enough of a caloric deficit to lose. That is, my 'smaller' body needed less food after I'd lose that weight, but I was still eating the same amount from habit.

When Dr. A wrote that people would "know when to stop," I think he was fooled by the vast majority of people who have a 'normal' appetite regulator. In some of us, whether due to a lifetime of obesity and 'food issues' or a bodily dysfunction of some sort, there is no 'stop' switch. I can eat almost endlessly if I allow myself.

The only way I managed to lose the rest of my weight was to stay low carb (the only thing that keeps me from being constantly hungry) and also restrict calories. I figured (by trial and error) how many calories I could consume and still lose, and I planned my day around that number. After a while, I could feel that my body was totally satisfied with the amount I was eating. It's my 'head' that told me (and still tells me) that I should eat more. It's a constant battle to ignore that 'head voice.'

[iminit4me]

Hi everyone! Had a good day yesterday. Instead of walking, my sister and I mowed and bagged lawn at our parents' house. It's vacant and we're having a tough time selling it. So much additional care goes into keeping it looking good. Anyway, we worked on it for three hours straight, so didn't feel like walking after we finished. Was so dirty and tired when I got home, all I ate was a bowl of diet jello. Couldn't bear the thought of cooking, even though I had everything ready to put together a meatloaf. That's on tonight's menu. Any thoughts on making it special? I'm wondering how it would be to grind up hot pork rinds and add those in place of bread crumbs. I'll be checking out the recipe section for ideas.
Mary Mary - I've heard other people talking about the "head voice" and appetite. I try to tell myself I shouldn't be hungry, but my stomach growls and I feel the water go all the way down to the bottom of my stomach. I even try to con myself by saying I love the feeling of my growling stomach because that means it's eating my fat. I know I'm just waiting for someone to say to eat all I want as long as I stay under 20g and eventually I'll lose the weight. I've always been one to take the easy way out and, when it doesn't work, I quit. That's why I'm still where I am today. I'll get this figured out. You are all a great help. I love that I found this website and all of you!

[Arborea]

Hey guys.
Dinner's in the oven.
I made that 3.5 mile walk this morning. I felt great afterwards. Unfortunatelly when I arrived I couldn't get my bike ready, because my mom had to take the car, because my youngest brothers had school called and the teacher wanted a word with her as soon as possible. Seems like he hasn't done any homework for the last 4 weeks ( he's done that before but never for such a long time and not in every class), and when the teacher wanted him to give my parents a note about it which they would have to sign he had said that my parents wouldn't sign those anyway. While it is true that my mother had in fact told him that she wouldn't sign those notes anymore, my dad would get all the notes from school to sign, because she can't bear it anymore to be the one to always tell him what to do and punish him. She was really upset when she came home, and said that the teacher informed her that he might not make it to the next grade. It's really disappointing... I mean he is only 14 years old, but I had thought that he would at least put a minor effort into school, or at least not lie to his teacher or my parents. I'll call my mother tomorrow and see how things ended up today when my dad came home. I'm sorry if I bothered you with this, but I just had to get this off my chest.

Iminit4me - I sometimes wrap meatloaf in bacon or I add some hard boiled eggs

MaryMary - I used 1 lb of broccoli florets, 1lb of cauliflower florets (maybe you want to microwave it for a bit depending if you like it firm or soft), 10 big fresh sliced button mushrooms, covered with 10 oz of smoked tofu (finely chopped) and 2 cups of tomato sauce (like a bolognese sauce, maybe use more if you feel like it) s&p and some basil and/or oregano. I had it in the oven at 350° for about 45 minutes. I also had added some feta cheese between the veggies that is not vegan but isn't really needed. It made 4 big servings with 23 carbs/17 net carbs per serving (which is okay if you're not in induction and/or this is all your veggies for the day). Pretty easy.
I'm getting a vegan gluten-free recipe collection from a friend soon, if I find something that is LC compatible I'll try to think of you.

Leo, MaryMary &Iminit - I know that voice too, and I cannot rely on that stop effect. At the moment it's going quite well, but there will be times when my head will tell me that I will have to eat this or that and maybe something more of whatever crosses my path. I usually try to ignore the voice, sometimes it stops sometimes it won't. In that regard I found this group really helpful.

[sorenkkg]

Arborea-- I might have missed an intro before, but what's up with you in Germany? I get the impression you're American and just living there? Yes? No? Do tell, b/c I didn't think your whole family was there (I guess I made up stories about everyone in my head LOL )
Sorry about your little brother-- sounds like something is going on with him, might need more digging into?
******
I don't always have something to say either
**********
But I can attest to the the OMG THIS IS DELICIOUS I MUST EAT JUST A BIT MORE voice... on the plan I'm doing now, I'm really working on what is real hunger, what is the voice, what is TV advertising (wow, do I watch a lot of Food TV shows... not so much anymore!)...

and sometimes, on my WOE, even if I am legitimately hungry, I don't eat (I'm doing JUDDD, so every other day is very limited calories). You'd think this would set of bingeing, or eating too much on the other-other days, but so far, I'm ok. I'm really counting all my calories (and carbs too) and learning a LOT about how much it takes to make me full, when and what I should eat vs. what I like to eat, etc.

I really love the support of this group, all these different voices from all over the world!

Oh-- and if anyone wants them, I have some size 22 stuff that I'm going to give away-- I'd love to send to a good home though most is pretty nice/new, so if you're interested/curious, let me know. Some pants (khakis, black work slacks), jeans...

Soren

[Piekinns]

OMG THIS IS DELICIOUS I MUST EAT JUST A BIT MORE voice


This is so hard! It is one of the fundamental things to learn how to overcome on my woe. One thing that works for me is to eat whatever it is that is so OMG THIS IS DELICIOUS I MUST EAT JUST A BIT MORE at every meal until I don't want to see it again for a while. For me it is usually cheeseburgers I ate them for 3 days 2 meals a day last week.

I took my vitamins today. I only take a D, K2, Mag, and milk thistle daily tho I used to take many more I've stopped because I didn't see much benefit from them.

[MaryMary]

After using ****** for a few days, I was able to see how my food breaks dom and what kinds of vitamins I need to get. I need to take Vitamin D, Vitamin E, Calcium,Potassium, and Thiamin. Will these need to be separate pills or just a one a day vitamin?

[cindym]

Happy Wednesday ~ Nice to see the thread be so busy. Today was weigh day and again no change on the scale Yes, I'm very frustrated. It is time to change things but I'm just not sure how to start.

Had a fabulous busy day and then got home late from helping DD move and I thought DH had made something for dinner ... nope and I ended up eating hidden chocolate (which was found last night when I was searching for something that was lost) which I am sure will mean no movement on the scale again next week.

Oh and now my punishment is no dinner! Water, sleepy time tea and early to bed.

Sorry .... I need to get control of this pattern and I appreciate you listening.

Chris ~ Fasting once a week sounds interesting and I'm with you .... I have no clue what the feeling of "full" feels like.

Mary ~ Me too, I often don't know what to write and then other times - it is so easy. What is your food plan (and I'm sorry if you have told us before, good memory just short). That is cool that ****** tells you what vitamins to take.

Leo ~ I can only wish my "head" would get in the game! I truly have 3 or 4 good days and then 1 slip almost every week

Iminit4me ~ Wow that was a great work out. Hope you are able to sell your parents house soon.

Arborea ~ Hope things work out with your little brother. 14 is a tough age.
I've never really liked the texture of tofu but the recipe sounds YUMMY!!

Soren ~ Congrats on giving away the size 22 clothes

Piekinns ~ What is K2?

[Arborea]

I'd like to thank all of you for being so understanding. I hope we'll find out what going on in my brothers head these days....




Soren - Nah, I'm German and I've never been to the US but I have some friends there (Boston) and my uncle lives in Canada (Vancouver).
I just happened to find that none of the German message boards would fit my taste, they're either consisting of narrow minded people, that can drive you off the board really quickly if you don't speak their mind on the one board, esotherics people who happen to be doing low carb on another or those "all organic" alternative lifestylers. There are some decent people on the boards there and I used to be pretty active on one of the German boards when I had lost with low carb before, but during the last 2 years lots's of the nice people just vanished and the others stayed. I was glad when I found this board because there are so many nice people here and there is also a gluten free area which is nice form me because on German boards there seems to be no one eating lc and gf. It's either one or the other. In fact it came up when I searched for "gluten free low carb" on google
I hope none of you minds that I'm not "one of you" in case of nationality, because I feel so good since I found you and I'm eager to learn from you.
Re: voice/TV/hunger
I kind of liked the idea of digging deeper to find out which is what using juddd. Alternate Day fasting just isn't for me, we had a lot of people jumping on that wagon last spring/summer. I tried it and ended up yelling at people for no apparent reason after week 1 so I stopped. I might give it a try somewhere along the road, but right now I'm just not ready for this.
So please keep on posting what you find out along the way.

Piekinns - I'm glad that I don't usually have cravings that last long. I usually crave pizza toppings which I can usually have ready quite easily and once I've had them I'm okay for th next weeks.

Cindy - Getting change started is always hard. But it usually starts with one step, so maybe just pick one thing you like to change and just change it, and once you feel you can handle more change or you need something else to change as well, take the next step. Especially with big tasks it's always baby steps but any step will lead you to goal, even if it is a step back if the footing gets shaky. I hope it makes sense.

Chris - I'm sorry I forgot to answer on the last post. I know just what you mean. I hadn't ridden a bike for quite some time until 3 years ago, when I had to take one to get to an appointment, and I was really afraid that I wouldn't be able to ride it anymore. But as they say.. It really was like riding a bicycle First few meters were a bit unballanced but then something clicked and it was just like I had never stopped riding bikes. But I'm with you on the fresh veggie thing. Since we don't have a garden here I use our small balcony for tomatoes and some experiments on "balcony gardening". So far I have found out, that radishes will not grow well in too small containers Since I don't get to do much, I can hardly call it workout but it's fun and I'm looking forward to eating whatever those plants will give me