Saturday, August 13, 2016

WALK ON

I guess in recent weeks I have adopted the song, Walk On, by the band, BOSTON, as my personal anthem. I am amazed at what I have accomplished in the past two weeks. Two consecutive weeks walking 100 miles. Unlike my earlier marathon walks from hours spent on a treadmill seeing and experiencing nothing other than than the four walls of the fitness room, these days I am seeing my hometown, my state, my country. I am discovering city, county, state and national parks that I never knew existed. I am discovering waterfalls and rock formations in the unlikeliest of places. I have walked into deep gorges and walked up ski slopes. I am discovering that walking is a viable mode of travel. I am discovering that walking is one of the best workouts one can do, as the human body was well designed for this function. 

Walk On ends with these words.  

Walk On
There's no turning back
Walk On
Get your train on the track



For me, there is no turning back. I have long left the couch sitting, TV-watching, potato chip eating, fat slob blob that I was. I have got my train on the track. Walk on.


The weather in Chicago on Friday was highly un-cooperatvive for any kind of lengthy urban hike. I did manage to walk nine miles from three separate outings just running some errands. I (mostly) dodged the rain.  I carefully kept my calories well below 3000, as there was no vigorous hike to balance a higher consumption.  It was a good day, in a string of good days.

It is 'fun' to remind myself that I was 309 lbs on December 24, 2014. No matter how far I let my weight slip backwards in recent months, I was always able to say to myself, "At least I am still down X pounds from where I started." That kind of rationalization, is useful for a short time, but it is precisely what leads to a person gaining back every pound lost. I know this, I was that guy.  Around the time that my high schooler was starting kindergarten, I went from 300 pounds to 220 pounds.  As I gained back the weight, I could always say, "At least I am still down X pounds from where I started." This self-soothing statement loses its punch once you have regained 70 of the 80 pounds lost. "At least I am still down 10 pounds from where I started."

About three months ago, I had once again begun to veer down this path of failure. During the time that I dealt with my hernia, I had reached 241.9 lbs on May 7.  And now you know what I was saying to myself as my clothes were becoming impossible to squeeze into: "At least I am still down 67 pounds from where I started."  

Renewed effort has paid off. This morning, I weighed myself, as I have done each Saturday since December 24, 2014.

221.1 lbs

I lost another 2.6 lbs this week.
In the past four weeks I have lost 7.9 lbs.
In the past eight weeks I have lost 10.8 lbs.
In the past twelve weeks I have lost 17.9 lbs.
In the past thirteen weeks, since I ballooned up to 241.9 lbs, I have lost 20.8 lbs.

I did get my train back on the track.
There's no turning back.
Walk on.



Earlier this year, I was derailed.
.
These days, I am back on track
Your Food Diary For:

BREAKFAST Calories
kcal
Carbs
g
Fat
g
Protein
g
Sodium
mg
Sugar
g
Kroger - Grits, 2 cup 200 42 2 4 680 2
Maltomeal - Honey Nut Scooters, 3 cup 360 72 5 9 630 27

560 114 7 13 1,310 29
L U N C H
Read - 3 Bean Salad 300 65 0 5 1,500 40
Okami - Surimi Roll Sushi 320 52 10 6 640 12
Dark Chocolate Chip Chew Granola 130 27 2 2 80 11

750 144 12 13 2,220 63
D I N N E R
Shrimp - Fried (Medium), 6 Shrimps 150 7 8 12 295 0
Codfish 100 0 1 22 74 0
Cream Corn, 0.5 cup 100 22 1 2 360 8
Fried Chicken Breast 320 9 16 33 1,100 0

670 38 26 69 1,829 8
S N A C K S
UNSWEETENED BANANA CHIPS 200 19 12 2 6 1
YOGURT PRETZELS 310 46 0 3 293 31

510 65 12 5 299 32
Totals 2,490 361 57 100 5,658 132
Your Daily Goal 3,598 450 120 180 2,300 135
Remaining 1,108 89 63 80 -3,358 3
Calories
kcal
Carbs
g
Fat
g
Protein
g
Sodium
mg
Sugar
g
*You've earned 1,668 extra calories from exercise today
If every day were like today...   You'd weigh 201.7 lbs in 5 weeks.



       Your Exercise Diary for:

Cardiovascular Minutes Calories Burned
Walking 4 miles
53 780
Walking 3 miles
45 520
Walking 2 miles
28 368

   
Daily Total / Goal 126 / 30 1,668 / 590  
Weekly Total / Goal 1034 / 210 10,507 / 4,130             


.

No comments: