If the title didn't give it away, I am not a fan of Aspartame, the artificial sugar found in many "Diet ___" products. Most notably, Coke Zero.
In a hopeless attempt to reduce my caloric consumption while retaining some semblance of both caffeine intake and flavor, I started drinking the aforementioned product. Well , I succeeded in that regard; it does taste a hell of a lot better than Diet Coke. However, 3 weeks of Coke Zero intake has resulted in about a month of what can only be politely described as "bowel distress". During this time, I'd been taking Tums in order to help calm my stomach/lower GI. Unfortunately, those tums were actually the sugar free variety, and, you guessed it, contained my new best friend, Aspartame. Even my favorite gum has f***ing Aspartame in it.
Yesterday, I went in to see the good medical care professionals at Cornerstone Medical, right across the street from the blight that is Wheaton Warrenville South High School. After relieving myself on said "educational" institution, I went in to see the Dr. She poked and prodded my stomach, noted the areas of pain, listened while I awkwardly described my symptoms, and agreed with my self diagnosis. Satan, most unclean, had transformed himself into Aspartame, and lodged himself firmly in my large intestine. It's getting better, and Aspartame/Satan is being removed from my body, bit by bit.
So, I'm back to square one. I'm taking probiotics in order to restore the bacteria culture in my digestive tract, and I'm avoiding any kind of sugar replacement substance like the Black Death.
And yes, I realize there has been a rather poor showing in terms of pictures lately, but given the nature of this topic, believe me when I say that you're better off without them. Woof.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Friday, January 2, 2009
2009 Plans.
With each new year, I'm required to come up with a list of "Resolutions" that I more than likely won't keep for more than a month or two.
So, here goes nothing.
1) Reduce my Los Burritos Tapatios intake. This shouldn't be TOO hard, as it's currently around 5 meals a week. Woof.
2) In conjunction with numero uno, I'd like to get down to 63.5kgs. Or, for all of you uncouth Americans, 140lbs. Currently tipping the scales at 144lbs, raced at 143lbs this summer. I don't really watch what I eat, but I'm not eating a pint of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream before bed every night, either. So, I think that this also relatively feasible.
3) Ride myself into the ground, and Phoenix my ass out of the ashes several times in preparation for whatever I decide are my goal races for the year. This will depend on my life situation later on in the year, obviously, and if I'm too broke or live in Australia, I won't be racing in Pennsylvania in July.
4) Tying numbers one and three together, I'd like to be a bit more fiscally responsible this year. I bought a new bike and completely rebuilt, with new components, the same bike TWICE last year. I have enough basic parts (two sets of Campy shifters and one set of SRAM, RDs for each) to get me through the season, shoes that are serviceable for both road and MTB pursuits, and will spend some money to keep myself in new cassettes/chains to keep my shifting sharp. I plan on buying a new track frame/fork, and with some cheap cranks, BB and chain, I'll be set for entry level track racing a night or two per week. With single speed and 9 speed chains being cheaper and lasting longer than 10 speed chains by a significant margin, this can only help in the long run.
5) Bicycle maintenance. The often irrational, ridiculously tall John Meyers has rubbed off on me. I will be power-washing my bicycle quite often this year in an attempt to keep it clean and running smooth. After riding with Jay and Ed in early December (or was it November?), we power-washed our bikes at the local Do-It-Yourself Carwash. Air dried them on the drive back to Jay's house, lubed upon arrival. Shifted and rolled like new.
6) Bicycle racing. Basically, I need to stop being a Nancy. If I do that, and race in an intelligent manner, the results will come. Throw enough turds at a wall, and eventually one will stick.
So, here goes nothing.
1) Reduce my Los Burritos Tapatios intake. This shouldn't be TOO hard, as it's currently around 5 meals a week. Woof.
2) In conjunction with numero uno, I'd like to get down to 63.5kgs. Or, for all of you uncouth Americans, 140lbs. Currently tipping the scales at 144lbs, raced at 143lbs this summer. I don't really watch what I eat, but I'm not eating a pint of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream before bed every night, either. So, I think that this also relatively feasible.
3) Ride myself into the ground, and Phoenix my ass out of the ashes several times in preparation for whatever I decide are my goal races for the year. This will depend on my life situation later on in the year, obviously, and if I'm too broke or live in Australia, I won't be racing in Pennsylvania in July.
4) Tying numbers one and three together, I'd like to be a bit more fiscally responsible this year. I bought a new bike and completely rebuilt, with new components, the same bike TWICE last year. I have enough basic parts (two sets of Campy shifters and one set of SRAM, RDs for each) to get me through the season, shoes that are serviceable for both road and MTB pursuits, and will spend some money to keep myself in new cassettes/chains to keep my shifting sharp. I plan on buying a new track frame/fork, and with some cheap cranks, BB and chain, I'll be set for entry level track racing a night or two per week. With single speed and 9 speed chains being cheaper and lasting longer than 10 speed chains by a significant margin, this can only help in the long run.
5) Bicycle maintenance. The often irrational, ridiculously tall John Meyers has rubbed off on me. I will be power-washing my bicycle quite often this year in an attempt to keep it clean and running smooth. After riding with Jay and Ed in early December (or was it November?), we power-washed our bikes at the local Do-It-Yourself Carwash. Air dried them on the drive back to Jay's house, lubed upon arrival. Shifted and rolled like new.
6) Bicycle racing. Basically, I need to stop being a Nancy. If I do that, and race in an intelligent manner, the results will come. Throw enough turds at a wall, and eventually one will stick.
Woah. 2009.
Having realized that it is now 2009, I feel required to look back on who I was, and the general state of society itself, in the year of our Lord, 1999.
The bowl cut had recently faded into memory. Hair gel and looking like a character out of Dragon Ball Z was all the rage. As in damn near everyone had a bottle of green goop that they squeezed half a gallon out of every morning, and used to essentially mess up damp (but not wet, mind you) hair as much as possible.
1999 also found me in a relationship. Not the worst thing that ever happened to me, but definitely not the best. This began a long streak of bending over backwards for girls/women, a habit I've kicked by simply not talking to them (women) in general.
Sports. High school sports changed my self-perception. I'm still a small POS, but as a result of wrestling/cross country/track/soccer, and now cycling, I'm fairly confident in my natural abilities, in the hunter/gatherer sense of the word.
Ninety-nine was also the year of the Y2K freakout. Everyone was worried that the world as we knew it was going to come to a grinding, screeching halt when our increasingly computerized world came crashing down around us as a result of worldwide computer failures. Microsoft, Apple, and everyone else were shitting themselves, people were re-stocking their parents' 1950's-era bomb shelters, and there was a general feeling of "what if" doom-and-gloom. Post-apocalyptic radiation aside, and taking into account the previous paragraph, I'd like to think life would treat me better than most if we were suddenly thrust back to, oh, 1200 A.D.
I can't remember too much else from 1999. Whether my mind is saving me by repressing memories, or I've simply forgotten a rather boring year in my life, that's unknown.
The bowl cut had recently faded into memory. Hair gel and looking like a character out of Dragon Ball Z was all the rage. As in damn near everyone had a bottle of green goop that they squeezed half a gallon out of every morning, and used to essentially mess up damp (but not wet, mind you) hair as much as possible.
1999 also found me in a relationship. Not the worst thing that ever happened to me, but definitely not the best. This began a long streak of bending over backwards for girls/women, a habit I've kicked by simply not talking to them (women) in general.
Sports. High school sports changed my self-perception. I'm still a small POS, but as a result of wrestling/cross country/track/soccer, and now cycling, I'm fairly confident in my natural abilities, in the hunter/gatherer sense of the word.
Ninety-nine was also the year of the Y2K freakout. Everyone was worried that the world as we knew it was going to come to a grinding, screeching halt when our increasingly computerized world came crashing down around us as a result of worldwide computer failures. Microsoft, Apple, and everyone else were shitting themselves, people were re-stocking their parents' 1950's-era bomb shelters, and there was a general feeling of "what if" doom-and-gloom. Post-apocalyptic radiation aside, and taking into account the previous paragraph, I'd like to think life would treat me better than most if we were suddenly thrust back to, oh, 1200 A.D.
I can't remember too much else from 1999. Whether my mind is saving me by repressing memories, or I've simply forgotten a rather boring year in my life, that's unknown.
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