Guess My Weight, Win a Secret Prize
I’ve been on the road now for nine days, more or less (I was back home for the weekend). Here are some interesting statistics about my trip:
- Number of days during which I have stuck to my eating plan on this trip: 0
- Number of times I have exercised during this trip: 3
- Number of times I have weighed myself since beginning this trip: 0
- Number of belt notches I have had to let out since beginning this trip: 1
So here’s a story problem:
“If a Fat Cyclist goes on a two-week-long business trip where he eats every meal at a restaurant, doesn’t have time (nor facilities) to exercise, spends several hours of each day snacking to keep himself awake while driving (a sedentary position), and occasionally goes on evening eating binges to drive away the boredom of being alone in yet another hotel room, and if, furthermore, that Fat Cyclist weighed 162 pounds before leaving on that trip, what will the Fat Cyclist weigh at the end of this trip (i.e., this Friday)?”
The three closest-to-correct answers get a cool Fat Cyclist-labeled item currently under development (value: $15), the item being something which I have not announced yet but am definitely excited about.
In case of ties, earlier entries win.
PS: I am going to be having very little time to post during the remainder of this week and next week. So if you’ve ever thought to yourself, “I have a story/observation/witty piece of fake news that should go in Fat Cyclist,” now’s your chance. E-mail me your story. If I think it feels like something I would write, I’ll post it. If I don’t post it, however, just remember: it’s not you. It’s me.
Comment by Eufemiano Fuentes | 03.13.2007 | 4:13 am
166.4, most of it being mayo weight. which is pretty much like water weight, except its like mayo. ie: The fat hasn’t completely hardened yet, and you still have two or three days to reverse the re fatting process before it takes hold. I would expect any weight to come off quickly if you act fast.
On a serious note, that is why running is a good thing while travelling sans bike. You can bust out a run whenever you have spare time and all you need is shoes really. And shorts too. And gloves and hats and tights in the cold, etc.. but you get the picture.
Comment by Geoff | 03.13.2007 | 4:24 am
168.2
Comment by 3rs | 03.13.2007 | 4:42 am
170.0
Comment by HighwayMunky | 03.13.2007 | 4:49 am
166.
When i was driving all the time i would get lots of fruit in the van to keep me going. Chewing gum too makes you feel fuller.
Comment by JEB | 03.13.2007 | 5:04 am
167.7
Comment by Weean | 03.13.2007 | 5:10 am
All those times I’ve gone away on business, and NOT weighed myself before and after because I didn’t want to know the answer. I’m kicking myself now, I tell ya.
I reckon I’d struggle to put on more than a kilo a week, but that excludes weekends. Weekends give you more time to snack, but less coffee breaks with complimentary biscuits (cookies), and more time to look around the (hopefully) exciting city you’re stuck in. Ohh, but then you don’t have to rush the breakfast buffet because you have that important 9AM.
I would guess 166, but that’s been done, so I’ll go for 166.2
Can you have decimal fractions of a pound? 16 ounces, right?
Comment by Al (female) | 03.13.2007 | 5:11 am
I’ll go the optimist route and say 165.5
speaking of “story/observation/witty piece of fake news” I’ve tried emailing you once or twice and never got any response. I know I’ve been lurking here since 2005 and only recently came out of the woodwork but sheesh. Any ideas?
Comment by Weean | 03.13.2007 | 5:12 am
Wait, no! 2.2 pounds to the kilo, I’ll go for 168.
I hereby revoke my 166.2
Comment by Rusty Cogs | 03.13.2007 | 5:22 am
I have you pegged at 167.8.
1 belt notch = 3.4 pounds (it’s a proven fact, published and peer reviewed) : )
Comment by Age Grouper | 03.13.2007 | 5:29 am
165.5 pounds Sometimes I don’t gain as much as I think I would; hopefully that happened to you.
Comment by MTB W | 03.13.2007 | 5:31 am
167
Comment by TheLurker | 03.13.2007 | 5:33 am
Oh I’d guess somewhere about 20 stone. :)
Comment by Jose | 03.13.2007 | 5:35 am
164.9
Comment by clydesdale | 03.13.2007 | 5:36 am
165.8. I have faith it’s not too bad.
Comment by sans auto | 03.13.2007 | 5:43 am
To stay awake while driving, brush your teeth. When is the last time you fell asleep brushing your teeth? My dad taught me this, he was a long haul trucker. He did forget to mention that you aren’t supposed to use tooth paste. I though I would use a lot (since I was going to be brushing for a good 20 minutes). Then you realize that you’ve got a lot of foam and no place to spit. If you try to spit out of a moving car two things happen. #1 half of the spit ends up in the back seat. #2 The other half of the spit ends up in a stripe down the side of your car so that everyone passing knows that you tried to spit toothpaste out the window.
You’ll weight 174 on return.
Comment by Lowrydr | 03.13.2007 | 5:46 am
I’ll give it a shot at 165.75 given travel weight exceeds home weight gain. i.e. donuts and bacon, lots of bacon.
Comment by dodger | 03.13.2007 | 5:49 am
$1 Bob! Oh, no wait, wrong game. One notch on the belt? 172 lbs.
Comment by GeekCyclist | 03.13.2007 | 5:55 am
168 even.
Comment by PedalGeek | 03.13.2007 | 6:06 am
Hrm. Based on the hard work that our beloved Fat Cyclist has shown in dropping to 162lbs, I hypothesize that his body metabolically staved off any initial attempts to gain weight due to the sudden change in physical activity. However, The law of adiposiation states that the when the metabolic threshold is crossed the ‘eldon-effect’ kicks in and immediate weight gain occurs (often referred to as ‘angering the dieting gods’ for the more spiritual in the room). This poses a severe dichotomy for accurate calculations and as such I feel it necessary to use the SWAG method of estimation to weigh (sorry…chime) in at 166.1
Comment by Lissee | 03.13.2007 | 6:08 am
172 :)
So what does everyone think about making a Wikipedia entry for Fatty? I think it would be a fabulous idea, and am surprised someone hasn’t thought of it before. I looked up ‘fat cyclist’ yesterday and there were no entries as of yet, so the tag is available. We of course would need it to be a witty, sarcastic, and intelligent sounding entry.
Dr. Botched? Sans? Al? Big Mike? Dug? Rick S. (not his real name)? Fatty?
-Liss
Comment by Lissee | 03.13.2007 | 6:09 am
oops, 173
Comment by msk | 03.13.2007 | 6:14 am
168.9
and i predict it will take another 2 weeks to get back to 162
Comment by Demonic1 | 03.13.2007 | 6:27 am
169.3
Comment by dkirkavitch | 03.13.2007 | 6:29 am
Hey Fatty,
My guess is 167.9. Which would put you among us mortals in the B7 challenge with a score of 53.
M-M-M-M-M Do-o-o-nuts…….
Comment by BotchedExperiment | 03.13.2007 | 6:32 am
I have complete faith in fatty’s ability to gain weight at a stupefying rate. It is his super power.
186
Comment by Jen | 03.13.2007 | 6:44 am
I’ll shoot the gap between Geofff and GeekCyclist and say 168.1.
MMMMMmmmmmm, grapefruit…
Comment by TeeBone | 03.13.2007 | 6:47 am
169.4
Comment by JET(not a nickname) | 03.13.2007 | 6:50 am
I’ll go with 165.5
Comment by KeepYerBag | 03.13.2007 | 6:57 am
1,748,393,294,895,455.226599335
Comment by kenny | 03.13.2007 | 7:02 am
173.4
oh, by the way. while you were gone we had great riding weather and dry trails.
Comment by Rob | 03.13.2007 | 7:09 am
169.5
Comment by GenghisKhan | 03.13.2007 | 7:27 am
164.75
Comment by BotchedExperiment | 03.13.2007 | 7:31 am
Liss, good idea. I say dug should do it.
Comment by MTB W | 03.13.2007 | 7:36 am
Lissee – good call! I second dug drafting up the entry. Of course, all fatty fans might want to add their two cents.
I guess fatty now has two amazing talents – turning purple and incredible weight gain/loss. We have a superstar right here in our midst without even realizing it. Wait until word leaks to the paparrazi.
Comment by TidusBlue | 03.13.2007 | 7:39 am
169.2
Comment by Iceman | 03.13.2007 | 7:51 am
I’m going with 163. I think this week will make all the difference.
Comment by Chris | 03.13.2007 | 7:59 am
But, have you been stashing grapefruits from the breakfast table and eating them at night?
164.7
Comment by mocougfan | 03.13.2007 | 8:05 am
168.6 By the time you get back.
It’ll be nice to have you back with us.
Comment by mocougfan | 03.13.2007 | 8:09 am
PS….Sans, that was amusing. As a dentist I recommend gargling after you brush (while driving).
Comment by Terri | 03.13.2007 | 8:16 am
171.4
Comment by Boz | 03.13.2007 | 8:20 am
169.1 All water weight, I’m sure.
Comment by Miguel | 03.13.2007 | 8:22 am
100 Fatcyclons. Where One Fatcyclon is defined as 1/100th of the Fat Cyclist’s body weight on 03/16/2007. This way I am never wrong. But in real units, I am going for 170.2 lbs. Hopefully I am way over the mark.
Comment by TimK | 03.13.2007 | 8:23 am
buck seventy and a half.
Comment by Heffalump | 03.13.2007 | 8:25 am
I predict that you will weigh…171.7 (is it legal to put plus or minus 7 lbs in there? Or would that disqualify me…)
Comment by Carl | 03.13.2007 | 8:27 am
166.8
Comment by UltraRob | 03.13.2007 | 8:34 am
I would gain at least 6 pounds on a trip like that. I’m going to guess you would gain less than me so I’m going to say 4 pounds. To make it an unique weight (at least if I’m able to read the previous posts correctly and perform math) I’ll add my lucky number 3 as tenths. That will put you at 166.3 pouunds.
Comment by Lisa B | 03.13.2007 | 8:40 am
168.5. Altho two weeks is a long time to eat like a Fat Cyclist. How much bread are you eating? More bread = more weight. Hmmm, maybe I should change this to 172.5.
Comment by bikemike | 03.13.2007 | 8:57 am
let me get this straight, if train A left the station at 4:00 and train B did not exercise for three weeks, at what point did the chicken cross the road ?
my guess for your weight is 163 no, wait, 164,165,166,163.7,165.2.
did you eat donuts and if so, what kind?
Comment by monkeywebb | 03.13.2007 | 9:00 am
Based on my own proficiency with girth enhancement I will postulate your maximum expansion upon return at 168.4. If it’s under that you’re underachieving.
Comment by runride | 03.13.2007 | 9:13 am
169.6
That’s a lot to gain, however as BotchedExperiment states “It is his super power”
Comment by FliesOnly | 03.13.2007 | 9:15 am
Well, all the “good” weights have been taken…repeatedly, so I’m going with a positive outlook. I think that before is all said and done, you will be down to 160.7 pounds by the end of the trip.
Comment by Al Maviva | 03.13.2007 | 9:21 am
154.2
You decided to lose weight to become a better climber the old fashioned way – simple starvation! You needed to shed muscle mass so you let your muscles atrophy, and boy howdy, did they ever. Unfortunately, even though you’ve lost 20 pounds, the remaining muscle mass has degenerated into blobs of flabby good that has the texture of tapioca pudding, if it were left out in the rain on a shingle in the tropics.
On the plus side of the coin, *everybody* loves pudding. On the downside of the coin, like Frank Schleck, you are now too thin to lift a fork to your mouth and eat, so you are doomed to keep starving away until you are down to 130 pounds. Again on the upside, this will help your climbing. Yet on the downside, you will be unable to pedal your own bike and will need to be carried uphhill in a plastic bag by somebody else…
Waxing serious for a moment (does Serious know you’re waxing him?) I totally feel your pain on the Long Bidness Trip blues. I just got back from one and between that and snow, am in crep shape. At first I thought running the B7 Challenge to August was a bad idea… now that Global Warming pretty much froze us half to death and precluded any riding in January and February, I’m starting to realize it was just another one of your inadvertant and accidental strokes of genius.
Comment by fishbutt | 03.13.2007 | 9:25 am
167.5
Comment by Mrs. Coach | 03.13.2007 | 9:27 am
I think it would be a conflict of interests for me to guess at this contest. I think my title makes me obligated to have absolute faith that Fatty will be strong, be dedicated, and be skinny.
You can do it!
Sorry FC, 173.8.
Comment by Den | 03.13.2007 | 9:27 am
167.3
The notch comment could be tricky, you may have justed upped it one when you hit 162.
Comment by ming | 03.13.2007 | 9:31 am
171.5.
you have to admit, it feels good
Comment by Mark W | 03.13.2007 | 9:32 am
I would go outrageous and modest at the same time and say 160. :-)
Reasoning is that muscle is heavier than fat so you loss some muscle and gained some fat therefore become lighter.
Comment by Badder | 03.13.2007 | 9:58 am
165.4
Comment by Eljimador | 03.13.2007 | 10:25 am
168
Comment by regina | 03.13.2007 | 10:26 am
167.1 travel!yuk!no bikes! good luck road warrior.
Comment by Jan | 03.13.2007 | 10:29 am
You want to hang out, drink beer, eat doughnuts, and party with the ladies? Why didn’t you just say so. I’m retired, I got all the time in the world.
167.1
Comment by Lissee | 03.13.2007 | 10:45 am
Wahoo! Go Dug! Let us all know when you have the Wikipedia blurb posted. … What’s that you say? Dug doesn’t know he’s been drafted to write yet? Oh… so Dug, consider this as being alerted. We breathlessly await to see what you write.
-Liss
Oh, and don’t forget to get some good one liners from Fatty, so it sparkles and shines with his usual wit and wisdom. :)
Comment by tigermouth | 03.13.2007 | 11:23 am
My guess is you will weigh 170 lbs.
I can empathize. My parents visited for a week, which for some reason meant I didn’t have to stick to my diet. I went from 157 to 162.5.
Next week I go to India for a week of business. Then a couple weeks later I go to China for two weeks of vacation. I’m scared what my scale will say by the end of April.
Comment by Fish | 03.13.2007 | 11:27 am
165.25
Comment by DOM | 03.13.2007 | 11:38 am
169.9
Do they have Reese’s cups and peanut butter M&M’s in Texas?
Comment by windbreak | 03.13.2007 | 11:38 am
169.3875 plus or minus 1/10000th.
I keep having the song lyric
Food can be your friend
Or food can be your foe.
But if you eat too much of it
off the edge of the single track you’ll go!
or something like that.
Comment by Stephanie | 03.13.2007 | 11:43 am
167.35
Comment by Amit | 03.13.2007 | 11:51 am
My vote is 165.4
Comment by Sophia | 03.13.2007 | 12:29 pm
I have faith in you.
162.0
That and all the higher guesses were already taken…
Comment by LMouse | 03.13.2007 | 12:33 pm
Everyone is forgetting about the scale pixies, Fatty. When you get home, you’ll hold your breath and inch onto the scale. You’ll be delighted to find that you dropped ten pounds on the trip. You’ll be walking on air, telling everyone how your new improved metabolism and muscle mass just burned those extra calories away. You’ll be so smug, there will be no living with you.
It won’t be until a week later that the pixies will allow you to see your actual weight, which will be somewhere around 180. Don’t scoff. You know how they work. It’s happened to me many times.
Comment by jill | 03.13.2007 | 12:43 pm
164.5
Comment by Mike | 03.13.2007 | 12:56 pm
171
Comment by Karst | 03.13.2007 | 12:57 pm
167.5
Comment by Mike P | 03.13.2007 | 1:13 pm
167.4
Comment by snafu | 03.13.2007 | 1:46 pm
171 o-mi-god-can-that-be-right? pounds
Comment by Dave | 03.13.2007 | 2:19 pm
166.7 Restaurant food is good, and plenty of it!
Comment by LanterneRouge | 03.13.2007 | 2:33 pm
Okay. Carry the two… I make it 169.8 pounds. Why is there always math? They told me there would be no math!
Comment by Jeff | 03.13.2007 | 2:37 pm
You’ll have gone over 170, but will weigh in at 167.33 due to a couple of days of only greatfruit at the end of the trip. Your TT change will be more interesting I bet. Jeff
Comment by mbonkers | 03.13.2007 | 3:05 pm
Man, the one training day I have, and it’s on a time sensitive entry day.
I’m gonna guess high at 172.5 cuz you have that incredible ability to morph from one day to the next. I’m also guessing that in the next three days, it’s back to 162.
Comment by Born4Lycra | 03.13.2007 | 3:13 pm
Based on a similar recent experience – I will push you out just under 3kgs (6.6lbs) which makes you 168.4lbs. The great news also based on a similar experience is that you can drop that and more in a week. I had actually plateaued in my weight loss and despite exercising heavily (for me) in the hotel gyms while away the alcohol intake at the various functions I attended did me in. However dropping the gained weight was actually the spur to my system that saw me go on and lose more very quickly. So imagine you are on talking scales and I in my English accent with the Oz twang advise you very discretely that you are 168.4lbs.
Comment by the weak link | 03.13.2007 | 4:28 pm
192.5.
That’s my final offer.
Comment by Yukirin Boy | 03.13.2007 | 4:29 pm
168.7 – factoring those danish pastries at breakfast.
Comment by spin echo | 03.13.2007 | 5:59 pm
167 ….. all water weight and muscle, of course
Comment by kentucky joe | 03.13.2007 | 6:01 pm
165.1 (note: we slipped the maids a 20 spot to exchange your belt with a size smaller)
Comment by spin echo | 03.13.2007 | 6:03 pm
hey snafu, are you related to fubar?
Comment by Uncadan8 | 03.13.2007 | 6:16 pm
166.6
There’s just something lucky about that number; I can feel it.
Comment by Jsun | 03.13.2007 | 7:36 pm
Cool, a story problem. I am good at these.
days on the road: 9
days under eating plan: 0/
times exercised: (3)
weighed yourself: 0
belt notches: 1
two-weeks divided from family: 2/5
meals at a restaurants: 14(3)squares
no facilities to exercise: 0.0
several hours snacking: 180 minutes
driving in sedentary position(seatback setback): -1
occasionally evening (pm) eating binges: p=1 m=1
alone in yet another hotel room: 1 (h+1)
if FC weighed 162 pounds before:
Comment by Jsun | 03.13.2007 | 7:38 pm
hold on this is a long one…
FC weighed 162 pounds before:
Comment by Jsun | 03.13.2007 | 7:42 pm
well sir, the comment section won’t let me show my work, perhaps the story tally and the formula causes some kind of computer code problem
but this answer I got was 299.24
Comment by Not So Skinny Cathy | 03.13.2007 | 8:07 pm
170.4
Comment by dawn | 03.13.2007 | 9:08 pm
172. I have faith in your ability to gain back weight.
Comment by ibisss | 03.13.2007 | 11:37 pm
Of course, all the guesses have been taken. But I say 168.5
Comment by ibisss | 03.13.2007 | 11:37 pm
Of course, all the guesses have been taken. But I say 168.5
Comment by Smeghead | 03.13.2007 | 11:46 pm
167.12345
Comment by TonyK | 03.14.2007 | 12:05 am
I too wonder about the CARB’s factor, free frenchtoast, donuts & pancakes. Guessing 166.2 lbs
Comment by TonyK | 03.14.2007 | 12:25 am
Hot note to DOM, yes we do have Mars candy in TEX. (chocolate jalapenos probable… anyone?) and the whitechoc Reeses are reallygood. But try eating more chili peppers, ya know, thermal breakdown, particularly Hatch, NM. green chillies r-rockbaby!
Comment by Tim D | 03.14.2007 | 2:07 am
Fatty, I have Paris – Nice on my Sky+ (TiVo equivalent) and can burn it to DVD. Are you interested? I screwed up the end of stage one, missed the last 10 minutes. I am also hopefully recording Tirreno Adriatico.
Tim
Comment by Tim D | 03.14.2007 | 2:11 am
PS – 12 Stone 6
Comment by Big Mike | 03.14.2007 | 4:03 am
Yeah, what Al said. But with a southern accent. Not southern states accent, Great Southern Land (by Icehouse – a ballad in the truest sense of the word) accent.
Except you have the take into consideration the muscle wastage versus the MasterCard diet. As highly precise physics major I contend that the exact answer lies within the following equation
FW = IW + MC – MW
where
FW is final weight
IW is initial weight
MC is MasterCard diet
MW is muscle wastage
The outcome is independantly confirmed by the slightly less scientific “belt-notch theory” that states “male persons in the middle one third of their lifespan can expect to gain exactly 7.1 pounds per belt notch”. The belt notch theory relies heavily on the belt notches being spaced according to an industry standard of 1.00 inches between notches.
Therefore (assuming a standard belt) I contend that the Fat Cyclist is 7.1 pounds heavier now than he was pre-trip for a total of 169.1 pounds.
You may save postage by waiting until the jerseys are ready and shipping my prize along with the jersey. You’re welcome.
Comment by Big Mike | 03.14.2007 | 4:10 am
go dug – you da man. If you ain’t da man, let me know and we can gang up on him. I’ve already got Al M in my speed dial. We may have to work with out Botched now that he’s hanging with the doctors down at the golf club.
Comment by spbarnes | 03.14.2007 | 7:18 am
Hey, BigMike
If you are a highly precise physics major, how come your equation has no funny constants in it? Who ever heard of a physics theory without PI or some greek letter symbol in it? Or at least some vectors? Improved version:
FW = IW + (integral)MC dt – (PI)MWF (IW)
MCF = some unitless constant depending on one’s own body response.
Integrating the MC term, since weight gain from snack consumption occurs
continuously, even when asleep.
Improved becaue it has muscle wastage as an exponential time decay factor,
dependent on the initial weight, and includes some harder maths.
Oh, and the critical ingredient. I ripped it off from you…
Comment by spbarnes | 03.14.2007 | 7:21 am
Oh, yeah…162 + 8 – (PI)MWF.
Guaranteed to be correct, as the actual value of MWF for FC will be
determined empirically.
Comment by turnonthejets | 03.14.2007 | 8:34 am
164.6
Comment by Dawn M. | 03.14.2007 | 9:13 am
I’m going with 167.9
Comment by Clydesteve | 03.14.2007 | 1:09 pm
168.1. I would have gained that much on the bidness trip next week that I just got out of, so you have to take it.
Just found your blog, linked from The Motley Fool, Bicycling Fools message board. Love it. Especially the Assos flame.
Comment by Dopey | 03.14.2007 | 1:23 pm
166.9
Comment by ktown | 03.14.2007 | 3:38 pm
166.6
how could it be any other? we started at the same weight and fatty, you are kicking butt. i need all the help i can get. of course i didn’t actually enter the wagering. it’s all in my head.
Comment by Joe Jensen | 03.14.2007 | 7:19 pm
164.49
Comment by Chris | 03.15.2007 | 7:45 am
170.3. It’s been a tough time out there.
Comment by rexinsea | 03.16.2007 | 11:41 am
The average American can gain 7-10 pounds of fat during the Winter Holidays. I know from personal exprience, business travel can be a little like Holidays with all the food and lack of activity/motiviation. Fatty has stated he is particualirly good at gaining weight.
I’ll give him the average American weight gain since he did log in 3 workouts. Therfore: 162+4 1/4 Lbs = 168 Lbs 4 Oz
For the record, business travel is why I started running. Really it’s not bad once you get used to it. Just last week I got to enjoy a very nice jaunt around Central Park in NY. If I only rode I would have just visited the crappy “health facility” at the hotel. Fatty, you may want to ‘consider’ run/walks on travel days. Just a thought.
Good luck!
Comment by Taocat | 03.16.2007 | 12:48 pm
I’m going with 168.3
Comment by deepersouth | 03.18.2007 | 7:51 am
Watching Paris Nice, which thanks to the scheduling gods and a sponsorship from Team Barloworld has been showing live in South Africa. Alberto Contador just won the overall, essentially by taking out David Rebellin on the final climb. He’s 1.75 and 61 kg (roughly 5′10″ and 134lb). Which speaks for itself I guess.
Comment by Carsisoprodol Online | 03.18.2007 | 10:26 pm
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Comment by *** | 03.23.2007 | 5:01 am
168.8
Comment by salman | 06.1.2007 | 8:13 am
167.2
Comment by salman | 06.1.2007 | 8:13 am
167.2
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