Marshall Wolff/Metrowest Daily News staff

I was interviewed this past Friday for a series of articles in the Metrowest Daily News on rising fuel costs. The newspaper also sent a photographer to take some pictures of me getting ready for my bike commute.

My parents came up for Mother’s Day, and to visit my kids school (on Monday). We went out to the playground and we had a great chat while watching the kids play. I mentioned that I was interviewed for the paper, and being that today was Sunday it should probably be in it. Then we went out to Fresh City for dinner. After our meal we stopped by the little coffee house section, where they had the newspapers and took a look. Everyone was shocked when we realized, right there on the front page, was a big color picture of ME. The article continued on an inner page, and there was another picture of ME.

That was very exciting, so we went to Ben and Jerry’s to celebrate.

• Consumers shudder under fuel spike

Thanks go out to Aaron Wasserman for interviewing me and writing the article, Marshall Wolff for taking some great photos (including the one included here) and the Metrowest Daily News for publishing it.

Carl sent me this one:
Former Slacker: 7 Horrible Truths About Dieting and Exercise

Some highlights:

• Losing weight is hard — It’s hard work.
• Exercise is an inefficient way to lose weight. — You would have to run an extra 2.5 miles, almost 30 minutes, to burn off the 280 Calories found in one Snickers bar [ I burn 7 points per hour with high intensity exercise, a 2 oz. snickers bar is 7 points (1 hour), a king size 4 oz. is 13 points (2 hours) - Ben ]
• Fad diets all rely on denying yourself something — This leads to a feeling of deprivation, and the associated high failure rate — Just eat less food overall.
• You don’t have any genetic predisposition — Widespread obesity is a relatively recent phenomenon — You also don’t have a low metabolism — You just learned bad eating habits, and you’re more sedentary than your ancestors.

Read the whole posting

My buddy Google Reader sent me these great links today:

• Jon’s Blog: The Four Best Ways to Sit at Your Computer
  I’ve been thinking about bringing a yoga ball to work to sit on, except all my friends will make fun of me even more. You guys suck chat.
• CNET News.com: Gates keeps close eye on kids’ computer time
  My wife and I limit how much TV and computer time our kids get. We try to keep the TV between 30 and 60 minutes a day. Computer is usually about an hour a week for our older, nothing for the younger. Truthfully, we only let them watch that much TV because we need to get stuff done dangit! And when the TV is on they are focused on it, and not pouring out the legos and mixing them with playdough.

I’ve been having an issue with my hands getting really dry, I’ve only started noticing this the last couple winters. I think it may be due to the rise in popularity of anti-bacterial soap, that combined with the fact that I have to wash my hands so frequently. Last night I started to read the responses to this question:

Help my dry hands! | Ask MetaFilter

The amount of comments to this question were enormous, a lot of redundancy – “I know this has been said before, but I better say it again just in case you didn’t read it above.” Here’s what I learned:

• Keep hyrdrated – drink more water
• Consume more Omega-3s, tablespoon of flax seed oil per day (this reminds me that when we used to have a dog, we’d give him a fish oil pill daily to help keep his coat silky)
• Put lotion on where it’s needed, on the backs and knuckles of the hands – skip the palms and fingertips.
• Use some alternative lotions, more natural products or “goo” instead of lotion. Bag balm, Eucerin, oatmeal stuff, etc.
• Go to sleep with lotion on, perhaps even with gloves on
• Use milder soap/cleanser (less harsh, moisturizing, baby soap, shower gel), stay away from heavy-duty anti-bacterial stuff or anything with alcohol

The comments I really didn’t like were things like:

• See a psychologist about your OCD – too much handwashing. I’m sorry, but people like me (IE – with kids) don’t wash our hands for fun, we do it because we are hygienic. I wash my hands thoughouly with soap and water: after going to the bathroom, after changing a diaper, after working with food (like raw chicken or eggs, etc), after working with chemicals (cleaning solutions, gasoline, etc), after doing “dirty work” (lawn mowing, car repair, etc.), and before eating.
• Only wash your hands after using the bathroom, and only use a quick rinse without soap. Holy crap that’s disgusting. I’ve noticed this at the office – makes me feel like throwing up. I’ll never shake those people’s hands!

Here’s some links for you:

• Wikipedia: Hand washing – “To maintain good hygiene, hands should always be washed after using the toilet, changing a diaper or tending to someone who is sick; before eating; before handling or cooking food and after handling raw meat, fish or poultry. Conventionally, the use of soap and running water and the washing of all surfaces thoroughly, including under fingernails is seen as necessary. One should rub wet, soapy hands together outside the stream of running water for at least 20 seconds, before rinsing thoroughly and then drying with a clean or disposable towel. After drying a dry paper towel should be used to turn off water and open exit door. Moisturizing lotion is often recommended to keep the hands from drying out, should one’s hands require washing more than a few times per day. “
• WebMD: Search on Hand Washing – some good results like, “Many Skip Bathroom Hand Washing,” and, “2 Out of 3 Americans Don’t Wash Hands.” Gross!
• WebMD: Dry Skin and Itching

Weird Al rocks. But that’s not what this post is about. Its also not about the fact that I’m fat, which, at 11% body fat now – I’m officially not fat. About two years ago I weighed 205. I was officially ‘obese’ according to BMI. Over the course of 5 months, I went from obese, to overweight, to normal. Yay me. And my friends wonder why I put flax seed oil and beans in my oatmeal (and bike 3,000 miles a year). Here’s all about fat:

• WebMD – Types of Fats
• Good Fat, Bad Fat: The Facts About Omega-3

Saturated Fats
Solid at room temperature, raise bad cholesterol. Red meat, milk/dairy. Poultry is less saturated, fish has the lowest amount of saturated fat. Also found in coconut and palm oil (used in “non-dairy” stuff). Should account for no more than 10% of your daily calorie needs.

Hydrogenated – Trans Fat
This is where the saying, “fresh from our chemical laboratory direct to your home,” came from. This is where nice unsaturated fats are chemically altered (saturated with hydrogen) to be solid at room temperature. Increases the shelf life, raises bad cholesterol – as bad as saturated fats. You have absolutely no need for this, none at all, zippo, stay away, warning warning, etc . – 0% of your calories.

Unsaturated Fats
Liquid at room temperature.

Monounsaturated are found in vegetable oils like canola, olive and peanut. May help lower bad cholesterol, while keeping the good cholesterol high. Omega 9 (oleonic acid) is found in olive oil, and is a good replacement for Omega 6. Up to 20% of calorie needs.

Polyunsaturated fats are found in vegetable oils like safflower, sunflower and corn, and in seafood. Decreases both good and bad cholesterol. Omega 3 are heart and brain healthy polys, walnuts, coldwater fish, flaxseed, broccoli, cauliflower, cantaloupe, kidney beans, spinach. Omega 6 can have a negative effect when not balanced with Omega 3s – eggs, poultry, cereals, veg oil, baked goods, margarine – but they are essential. No more than 10% of calorie needs.

Total Fat
The amount of fat (all types) in your diet as a percentage of calories, should be 20 to 35%.

So, eat healthy please. Exercise. You can enjoy your food without it killing you. You may need to re-train your taste buds a little, but eating good just makes you feel so good.

For the last couple years I’ve been on this health kick. Our local family network hosts a presentation every other year by Dr. Dana McPhee. I would say his view points could spark quite a controversy – for example, he states that cows milk is for cows – which I pretty much agree with. We are the only wacked-out mammal that drinks the milk from another mammal – but, I still buy skim milk for me and my family – only buying soy milk as a treat (yum!). Dr. McPhee says something to the effect of, the protein cows milk contains actually leaches the calcium from your bones and outweighs the calcium that it contains. However, the main point I took from his presentations have been to look for the keyword, “whole wheat flour,” and to avoid, “enriched flour,” when evaluating bread products.

So, I’ve been happily buying varieties of whole wheat breads the last couple years. I love the taste now, and can easily tell if something that enters my mouth is enriched or not. However, it wasn’t until I recently read a sub-article of a column of an article of a book excerpt in bicycling magazine. The excerpt is from, “5 Essentials for a Winning Life: The Nutrition, Fitness and Life Plan for Discovering Within.” I was hoping for more words in the title, but thats all they had. In any case, they pointed out kind of an obvious point. “…avoid products with corn syrups and HFCS [high-fructose corn syrup], and instead look for cereal, juices, pasta sauce, salad dressings, and so on that have no added sugar.”

So, I recently put two and two together, and re-examined the label of my usual loaf of whole wheat bread. Whole wheat flour, high-fructose corn syrup. WHAT THE?! I had to examine about 10 different brands of whole wheat bread at the local Price Chopper until I found the $4 loaf of organic bread – the only one that didn’t have HFCS (it had honey instead). When I got home I looked at the loaf I already had from Trader Joe’s – no HFCS, and only about $2.50. I guess I’ll be buying all my bread from Trader Joe’s now.

So, the moral is – look beyond the whole wheat flour, find the sweetener, and make sure it doesn’t suck.

More info:

• Wikipedia: High fructose corn syrup
• Wikipedia: Carbohydrate (read up on simple vs. complex – you want complex)
• USDA Food Pyramid, now customized for you
• Bicycling Magazine (couldn’t find the article online – it’s in the Jan./Feb. 2007 issue)

Fall and Winter have been a fun time so far. Ever since biking season ended and eating season began, I’ve been having fun managing my exercise and intake. Here’s the events:

• September: School started, biking went from 25-30 miles per day to 15. I did get my big bike trip in though, 312 miles.
• October: Started getting cold, stopped biking – but didn’t start my winter exercise! Halloween hit with a bang, lots of chocolate.
• November: Was able to exercise more, but still didn’t have all the kinks worked out. Then Thanksgiving – about a week of solid overeating – coffee, beer, turkey and chocolate.
• December: Weighing in a 155, I started a 21 day cleansing – no coffee, no chocolate, no beer, half the calories. I dropped 10 pounds down to 145 – just in time for the holidays. Made it through Christmas and New Years without overindulging too much.
• Now: I’ve been keeping up with exercise, at least 40 mins per day alternating biking and lifting. I’m up to 152 now, which is a darn good place to hold until next April – outdoor daily biking!

I’m starting to think about my daily bike routes to work. If I can get up and leave before 6 I should be able to go out to Worcester and back to Framingham before 8:30. I’ll probably alternate that with trips up to Maynard, and then also using my routes from last year (Berlin, Northborough, Sudbury).

With improved memory, decreased fatigue, improved mental functioning and sped up reaction time – Superben Returned on Monday with a pot of Wintry Blend coffee and banana/date breads laced with dark chocolate M&Ms.

This sudden intake of caffeine had a profound effect. It started out as a few simple shakes, and then turned into an ultra fast vibration. This vibration caused my body to become super aero-dynamic – allowing me to traverse the distance between my mug and coffee maker at light speed. Talking about light speed, the vibration also had an effect on my sight – I was able to see faster than the speed of light! This gave me super zoom vision, seeing far distances, around corners, through walls and slightly into the future.

So, in celebration of returning to the land of coffee, chocolate and caffeine:

Food/drinks and the milligrams of caffeine they contain:

• Espresso coffee, brewed, 2 fluid ounces: 126
• Coffee, brewed, 8 fluid ounces: 85
• Red Bull (8.2 oz): 80
• Coffee, instant, 8 fluid ounces: 62
• Lemon-lime soda (Mountain Dew), with caffeine, 12 ounce can: 55
• Tea, brewed, 8 fluid ounces: 47
• Cola, 12 ounce can: 37
• Dark chocolate, semisweet, 1 ounce: 20
• Milk chocolate bar, 1.55 ounces: 9
• Hot chocolate, 8 fluid ounces: 5
• Chocolate milk, 8 fluid ounces: 5
• M & M milk chocolate candies, 1.69 ounces: 5
• Coffee, brewed, decaffeinated, 8 fluid ounces: 3
• Tea, brewed, decaffeinated, 8 fluid ounces: 3
• Coffee, instant, decaffeinated, 8 fluid ounces: 2
• Tea, herbal, brewed, 8 fluid ounces: 0
• Lemon-lime soda (Sprite), regular or diet, 12 ounce can: 0
• Ginger ale, regular or diet, 12 ounce can: 0
• Root beer, regular or diet, 12 ounce can: 0

Important links:

• Faqs.org – Caffeine
• Wilstar.com – Caffeine Content Of Popular Drinks
• WebMD – Pros and Cons of the Caffeine Craze
• Ask the Dietician – Caffeine
• Ask the Dietician – Healthy Body Calculator
  My results for suggested calories:
  During my cleansing I was running: 1500/day
  Winter: 3000/day
  Biking-season: 3400/day
• Wikipedia – Caffeine

I am on day 17 of my cleansing, 4 more days to go. I checked in today at weight watchers, down to 145.8 (an all-time low). In the last 17 days I’ve lost 9.2 lbs. I’ve got 4 days left, so I expect to lose another pound or two.

In preparation for next Monday (the first day off my cleansing) I’ve already bought a big package or dark chocolate M&Ms and some Hershey’s dark chocolate miniatures variety pack. I’m going to use the M&Ms to make a few banana breads, one for the family at home, and the other to bring to work. I’ll also get some good coffee to brew at work, which will set up Monday to be a fantastic day. The afternoon is jam packed with a Yankee Swap and then a department outing to a really good restaurant.

And moving on to technical stuff:

I was able to get my Ubuntu box to backup a DVD – but I cheated. I could not get DVD decrypter to detect the DVD burner under wine. And, DVD Shrink would run under wine, but ended up locking up and killing my master boot record! I think my problem with the drive detection may be that I installed wine before installing the DVD burner, might need to refresh some configurations or just re-install.

In any case, I was able to get DVD decrypter and DVD shrink to work fine inside my WinXP vmware virtual machine. I mounted a previously ripped ISO and used DVD shrink to shrink it, then DVD Decrypter to burn it. I then used DVD Decrypter to rip a DVD to image, then shrank and re-burned.

The ripping and burning are much faster on this 18x burner than on my 3 year old winxp notebook with a 2x drive. However, the shrinking is much slower, running in a virtual machine, and my processor is a AMD ~1ghz. My notebook is an Intel ~2.2ghz. I could speed things up a lot by buying double layer media – no shrinking needed. But, double layer media are still at least three times the cost – which makes some fairly expensive coasters. Might also be faster to re-author, splitting into two DVDs – not as much compression going on, but losing menus and fancy stuff.

One of the first things I learned on weight watchers was how their point system works, and how to calculate points in my head without the “slider.” Their formula is “top secret” – although you can find it everywhere. Here it is on Wikipedia.

Their formula is:
Calories / 50 + Fat / 12 – Fiber / 5 (where Fiber is no more than 4)

My formula changes the fat divisor to 10, and the fiber limit to 5 – making it easy to remember and calculate in your head.

Example product:
Nature Valley Chewy Trail Mix Fruit & Nut Bar
140 Calories
4g Fat
1g Fiber

So, here it is:

• Take the calories, move the decimal point over by two, then multiply by two. 140 calories, move the decimal point to become 1.4, multiply by two to come up with 2.8.
• Take the fat, move the decimal point over by one. 4g fat, becomes .4. Add that to the calories = 3.2
• Take the fiber, move the decimal point over by one, multiply by two. 1g fiber, move the decimal becomes .1, multiple = .2. Subtract that from total = 3.

My calculation, done in head = 3 points.
WW calculation = 2.933, round up to 3.

Yay.