Steve Bargelt

Progress Report

Today's numbers: 253.2 pounds. 23.3 BF%. 59 pounds of fat. 194.20 pounds of lean stuff.*

Back in September of 2003 I started a new job and I bought several new pairs of dress pants. Size 44. Today I noticed that my size 38 pants are loose! When I drop 5 more pounds, I'll try on size 36 pants. Then if I fit into size 36s a shopping spree will ensue and some charity will get all of the 38s!

Over the past week or so I've also noticed that my stomach has a bit (a tiny bit) of definition to it. NOPE no abs showing through... not yet but it is much less of a big round blob. Hard to explain but I do see a difference in my body. I still have a long way to go but seeing progress is nice. This is serious motivation! I love it.

*Yes the BF% comes from a bathroom scale impedance measurement that has questionable reliability. I know this. It is just a rough number.

posted @ Thursday, August 16, 2007 3:37 AM | Feedback (2) |

2007.5 Personal Goals

I realized a few weeks ago that I had never written down any goals for 2007 and I certainly never expressed them in a public way. So here goes (I sent this as an email to several of my friends a couple weeks ago - I've updated the list a bit since then):

• Weight: 228 by 12/31/2007. Start of 2007: 261. Current: 253.2. 25.1 to go. The biggest challenge here is that I need to lose 25 pounds over Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas but very achievable at only 1.38 pounds per week. Why 228? Well is sounds better to me that 230 or 225.
  • Continue to track my daily food intake at TheDailyPlate.
  • Continue to buy new clothes and throw out the old baggy stuff!
• Ride the STP in one day: Done. DNF - which sucks but I'm proud of my 150-mile effort.
• Ride the Dam2Dam, 50 mile version. Nice easy ride that is for a great cause. Yes I'll be hittn' y'all up for donations soon!
• Take a track-riding class. The last class that I can take is Sunday, August 12th from 1PM – 5PM. Anyone else interested? $50, rental bike included. This will make you a better cyclist even if you have no intentions of track racing. This goal is already in jeopardy since it is this late in the season. If I don't get this done this year it will be a top goal for next year.
• Compete in at least one night of track racing in 2007. Obviously this is in jeopardy since it depends on the above goal.
• Get better at riding hills. Yes I do realize that as written this goal is not measurable but I wanted to get it out there. The biggest thing I'm doing to achieve this goal is trying to lose weight. Once I'm down to 228 I'll devise a training plan for increasing my hill-climbing skills and write some specific goals. I guess a specific long-term goal would be that I want to do this ride http://www.secondsummertours.com/Maui-Original.php in February of 2009 - who's with me?
• Continue weight-training 2 or 3 nights per week. I've really been slacking on this one. I need to get back at it (right, B?!) Addendum - I think I might break down and join a gym. The home gym in the garage has served us very well for over two years but we're reaching the limits. I can push the stack on many of the exercises and the machine really does limit motion and the variety of exercises we can do. I'll keep my dumbbells and swiss ball for days when I just cant make it to the gym.
• This coming fall and winter I will train specifically for improving my track-riding skills (sprinting, etc.). More to come on this. Rob and Fred are devising a training plan and I will just borrow from them or maybe even train with them. I'm not expecting to become a pro track racer (maybe a 2010 goal!) but I think that it will keep winter training interesting. Much more interesting that "ride more miles on the indoor trainer. Blah."
• Commute to and from work on bike at least 5 times before summer is over (28+ miles one-way)

That's it, not much. Mostly just want to lose weight. Surprise, huh? I have to do it. I'm tired of being fat. I really am. So now I really want to kick ass and lose weight. I'm pretty good at this cycling thing and I don't want to wonder how good I could be if I was in the same weight range and the guys who regularly kick my ass. So to all of you... feel free yell at me... or better yet just say "228" when I try to bail on a workout or when I want to eat just one more slice of pizza. In some ways it boils down to this... I figure that if I stick with this cycling thing I'd better start looking better in spandex!

posted @ Thursday, August 16, 2007 3:16 AM | Feedback (0) |

TightCuts: Best. Haircut. Ever.

Inspired by this article in Tacoma's Weekly Volcano I've been looking forward to making an appointment at TightCuts. Today I finally took the plunge. I made an appointment for a lunch-time cut. Setup couldn't have been easier - there were many time slots available.

The entire place is geared towards men with dark wood, dark leather and large LCD TV's tuned to ESPN throughout. I was greeted by the owner, Don and offered a complementary beverage. Free Rockstar energy drinks - heaven. Okay the also offer Coke products... but with Rockstar on hand who cares? The magazine selection consists of GQ, Men's Health and sever other male oriented selections. No Cosmo or Vogue here. Very nice.

Marian came to get me from the waiting area and I have to say... hopefully without being too much of a pig... wow. Incredible. Amazing. Simply beautiful. It does not hurt that the standard uniform at Tight Cuts is a leather skirt, leather boots and tight white tops. Nothing trashy or tacky. Very sexy and in good taste. Marian's personality was great, she came across as intelligent and very well spoken and immediately put me at ease. I have to admit I was pretty nervous when I first walked in the door and Marian banished any fears that I may have had.

The chairs are also wonderful. They are leather and built for men, wide and comfortable with great foot rests. You guys know what I'm talking about, too the foot rests at most places is a skinny bar that feels like you will snap if you put any weight on it. Not at Tight Cuts - here you get a good, solid, metal foot rest. Excellent touch.

The main attraction... the haircut. Again I was wow'd. Marian gave me one of the best haircuts of my life. Period. Those of you who know me know that I wouldn't say that unless I mean it, I'm one picky bitch when it comes to my hair. Sure I've digressed in the last few years to a HairMasters patron... but I've hated it and always felt slimy (and sort of sick to my stomach) about it. At least 75% of the time when I leave the cheap shop I hate my haircut and go home to complete the job in the mirror with my personal clippers and then "fix" the haircut with copious amounts of gel. Marian spent the time today to get my hair right.

On the surface my preferred style seems easy (#1 guard (metal preferable) up pretty high, top finger length, blended between the two, bangs slightly longer, almost a flat-top but not quite) but I have a weird part on the left side that makes the hair stick out if the stylist doesn't take their time and tame the offending hairs. Marian, a self-proclaimed perfectionist, tamed the beast. I love it. I had almost forgotten what a good haircut can do for my mood and self-confidence. Of course it could just be the Sugar Free Rockstar talking!

Once my hair was groomed to Marian's satisfaction she prepared to wash. Each station at Tight Cuts has its own wash basin. Nice touch, no walking across the salon to the shampoo bowls. What ensued can only be described as near euphoria. I never knew that a shampoo, condition and scalp massage could feel so incredible. I had goose bumps (and in a moment of weakness actually blurted that fact out... I can bee such a dolt!) I was relaxed yet invigorated. Tight Cuts only uses American Crew products - which suits me just fine as I've been an avid user of Crew for a solid five years now. Great product. Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, out came the hot towel - straight to my face where it stayed until Marian was done rinsing the conditioner out of my hair. Then she used the hot towel to wipe my face off... a very nice touch.

When you thought it couldn't get any better it is time for the neck and shoulder massage. What a treat. Marian used Hempz Lotion (New Zeland site. I couldn't find their US web presence) to give my a very nice neck and shoulder massage. She worked a bit on desk-worker/typing knots I have in my shoulders. It felt very nice. At this point I was so relaxed that I did not want to go back to work. Lesson learned, no more lunch appointments. Next time 4:30 on a Friday.

I think it is worth mentioning that Don says he wants to try to maintain the ability for men to just walk-in which is an awesome idea. I know personally I do not think far enough in advance to make appointments for haircuts and if I do I usually blow them off. I'm more of a "shit, it's Friday and I need a haircut before the weekend." type of a guy. I hope the flexibility stays when they get popular. One more small detail the haircut runs $28. I think it is an incredible deal. I was paying $15 for just a cut (no wash) at the cheap places.

I will never go anywhere else to get my haircut. It was simply that good. So do not hesitate, do not think twice about it, make an appointment and do it NOW. Do not deny yourself this small pleasure. I don't care if you simply shave your head... go to Tight Cuts. You will not be disappointed.

posted @ Friday, August 10, 2007 9:48 AM | Feedback (4) |

Erick joins our bike gang!

A big congratulations to Erick for completing a 30-mile ride today. Way to go, bud. John does a much better job of describing the ride on his blog.

Today (8/4/07) (Erick's first ride):

...and some other rides from the past week

Thursday (8/2/07):

Broke my chain on the hill back up to my house so I decided to walk the rest of the way in my socks. Now I have huge blisters on the bottoms of both my feet. Oops. Did some sprint interval on this ride - that hurt.


Last Sunday(8/29):

posted @ Saturday, August 04, 2007 7:15 PM | Feedback (0) |