A Positive Spin

Tonight I burned 1,158 calories in 1.5 hours of spin. That's a new record for Cycling Me. When I started spinning in March/April of 2006, I could burn 1,300 calories on a good day, but as I got conditioned to spinning, and then started riding outside, the numbers started dwindling. Now I'm lucky to break 1,000. I knew it was going to be a good one today though, because MarkTheSpinInstructor's music was awesome, and I was maintaining a heart rate of 170. That's over 92% of my HR max, and, according to my lactate threshold test results is one beat above my climbing anaerobic threshold (AT2) range, which itself is higher than flat anaerobic threshold (AT1) due to greater muscle recruitment. I must have hella free radicals in my body right now.

Fortunately, I'd pre-prepared and packed (with ice) a chocolate milk so that I could have it within 30 minutes of the class; it came in quite handy, and I'm tres impressed with myself, especially since it enabled me to take advantage of the legal diet loophole that allows me to consume traditional chocolate milk (i.e. that which contains refined sugar) as a post-workout recovery drink only, and at no other time. I am a Chocolate Milk Strategist.

About the diet: My mom's a certifiable certified diabetes educator, so I know a bit about food and diets. Here's an example of mom recounting a conversation with a newly-diagnosed diabetic patient at the office:

Mom: So tell me what you eat every day.
Patient: Not much. A piece of toast in the morning. A banana.
Mom: Well that's obviously not all you eat. You're fat.

Well you can't expect a diabetes nurse to sugar coat things. And I've gotten off track. The point is: I know it's of very little consequence whether something is sweetened by refined sugar, brown sugar, unrefined brown sugar, honey, or maple syrup. It's all 15 calories per teaspoon, and the reality is that it all makes you fat. However...it's a great way of limiting consumption. Instead of coke, I'll drink diet cancer in a can. Instead of eating the freshly baked banana bread that Harriet brought into work yesterday, I'll crankily eat my stupid f*cking salad. Instead of drinking 4 chocolate milks a day, I'll strategically consume one, at a time when it is most likely to be optimally metabolized and not stick to my fat ass. So this just might work. I'm a little concerned about the baby shower I'm throwing for Marla, though. Chocolate has been established as a major theme on the Evite. Ah well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.