ANCHOR BABY

If you have had even a modest interest in the presidential primaries, especially on the Republican side... You might have heard some of the candidates speak the term 'anchor baby'.  I lifted this definition of 'anchor baby.' directly from wikipedia. 

Anchor baby is a pejorative term for a child born in the U.S. to a foreign national mother who is not lawfully admitted for permanent residence. The term is generally used as a derogatory reference to the supposed role of the child, who automatically qualifies as an American citizen under jus soli and the rights guaranteed in the 14th Amendment and can thus act as a sponsor for other family members. The term is also often used in the context of the debate over illegal immigration to the United States to refer to children of illegal immigrants, but may be used for the child of any immigrant.

Donald Trump has ostensibly been the most vocal (and radical) opponent of illegal immigration. I am somewhat horrified that he is leading the Republican field. Why are so-called conservatives rallying around this guy? Why do they trust him? The answers to these questions have thus far been elusive.

Nevertheless, it should come as now surprise to anyone that I am against illegal immigration. Honestly, I cannot understand how anyone could be for illegal immigration. I do not understand why some people think that the United States does not have the right to limit immigration.  I would argue that the United States has the obligation to limit immigration, as is the right and obligation of every sovereign nation on the planet. As you should be able to surmise, I am against those that come to this country with the idea of creating an anchor baby. I guess you can say that there is one exception and that would be my own child. Of course, my child was not an 'anchor baby' as defined above. However, my daughter did accompany me on a 5 mile walk downtown. Our hike detoured to the end of Navy Pier in Chicago. My daughter was gracious enough to pose for this photo at the tip of Navy Pier while sitting on the anchor from the U.S.S. Chicago.

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Many 'fitbitters' try to get their minimum of 10,000 steps each day.  This is said to be the equivalent of 5 miles.  I have accomplished this all but a handful of days since I purchased my fitbit on September 3, 2015. During the winter months, my step count has seldom risen much above 15,000.  This past weekend I returned to the great outdoors. Yesterday I started my day with a 10 mile walk to Whole Foods just to purchase a couple of snacks. Whole foods is approximately 1.5 miles from my home.  I turned that 1.5 mile walk into a 10 mile walk. Then I walked home. Later in the day, I walked 5 miles with my daughter. I noticed that my step count was as high as it had been for many weeks - that inspired me to spend an additional 90 minutes on the elliptical machine.  When the day ended, my step count was 45,022.  It was the first time in nearly two months that I had accumulated so many steps in one day. I am sure that there will be a few more days in the coming spring and summer days when I approach and/or surpass this number. That's the plan. My all-time daily record for steps is 75,029. That was accomplished on the day that I 'walked' the Chicago Marathon on October 11 last year.

The actual distance from the starting point (GREEN DOT) to Whole Foods (RED DOT) is only 1.5 miles. I did not walk there in the most direct way.  My trip was 10 miles, and the trip took 2 hours and 4.5 minutes.

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Your Food Diary For:

Sunday, February 21, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
steel cut oatmeal - steel cut oat meal, 1 cup	600	108	10	20	0	4
Bananas - Two	240	41	0	2	2	30
	840	149	10	22	2	34
L U N C H
Campbell's -Philly- Cheesesteak Soup	300	24	18	12	1,580	4
Jewel - Sensational Seafood Salad	285	14	21	14	720	5
Nabisco Original Cracker, 15 crackers	210	36	5	3	405	0
	795	74	44	29	2,705	9
D I N N E R
Roasted Turkey Leg, With Skin, 1 Leg	192	0	6	32	90	0
Chili Homemade - Chili	380	53	5	27	0	0
Whole Foods Classic Deli Pasta, 4 oz	220	19	16	3	390	2
	792	72	28	63	480	2
S N A C K S
DATE PIECES	360	90	0	3	30	66
Whole Foods - Banana Chips	300	34	20	2	0	20
	660	124	20	5	30	86
Totals	3,087	419	101	119	3,217	131
Your Daily Goal	6,537	817	218	327	2,300	245
Remaining	3,450	398	116	208	-917	114
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
	*You've earned 4,607 extra calories from exercise today

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Your Exercise Diary for:

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
Walking, 5.0 mph	125	2,101
Walking, 4.5 mph, very, very brisk pace	27	378
Walking, 4.0 mph, very brisk pace	72	901
STAR TRAC ELLIPTICAL	62	1,415
STAR TRAC ELLIPTICAL	30	52
MFP iOS calorie adjustment	N/A	-240
Daily Total / Goal	317 / 30	4,607 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	1156 / 210	18,053 / 4,130

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total calories consumed 3087 calories

total calories burned (walking, elliptical) 4847 calories

total net 1760 calorie defecit

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fitbit day 172

45022 steps  

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This is from the Navy Pier website:

U.S.S. CHICAGO ANCHOR

This 8-ton anchor installed on Navy Pier in 1995 was from the U.S.S. Chicago, the third ship to bear the name Chicago. Funded by the citizens of Chicago and completed in 1945, U.S.S. Chicago was classified as a heavy cruiser and later converted to a guided missile cruiser. She saw action in World War II, Korea and Vietnam and received several commendations before she was dismantled in 1984. In August 2012, former sailors who served aboard the U.S.S. Chicago and reconnected through social media, came to the Pier to restore the ship’s anchor back to its original color.

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CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE MEDICAL KIND

The oddest thing about me using Close Encounters of the Third Kind as the inspiration for today's blog is that I have never seen this 1977 movie directed by Steven Spielberg.

I have however, seen the actual 'Devil's Tower' in Wyoming where the finale of this movie takes place.

Summer 2011.  A rare photo of myself on vacation.  Vacations were not rare.  That I would want to be in a photo was rare. In 2011, I might easily have still been 30 pounds or more away from my final 'destination' of 309 lbs, three years later in December of 2014. I did not look as horrible back then as I would three years later, but the direction of my weight gain was already wildly out-of-control.  And things only got worse from that point.

After my 'wellness exam' on Thursday,  I received an automated email from my doctor's office detailing my office visit, The email included the specific blood work tests that were ordered as well as parts of my medical history.  The part of this email that I enjoyed the most is reproduced below:

Within 366 days, according to this chart, I had five 'CLOSE' ENCOUNTERS with my doctor.  The most recent encounter is at the top of the chart and the most distant encounter is at the bottom.  As you can see, my beginning weight was listed at 313.8 lbs.  You have seen my write all year that I stated my journey at 309 lbs.  At the doctor's office, the weigh-ins take place while clothed, so I subtracted the weight of the clothes that I was wearing to calculate my original starting weight.  For some reason, my home scale has been consistently wrong.  My scale always shows me about two pounds HEAVIER than the doctor's $2000+ scale.  The funny thing is, the doctor has told me more than once that I am the ONLY patient who 'complains' about this.  He claims that most of his patients complain about his scale showing them to be a bit heavier than their home scales.  I have always been a bit different. This chart is enjoyable to me, as it 'proves' without a doubt that my weight loss journey was real. (I realize that my photographs offered some very solid proof as well)  But here it is in black and white (actually gold and black).  On December 24, 2014 from the perspective of my doctor, I did weigh 313.8 lbs with a morbidly obese BMI of 42.0 and an elevated blood pressure. And there it is too, my readings from the same doctor's office, on the same $2000+ scale, 365 days later: 213 lbs, BMI 28.5 and a solid, healthy blood pressure.  It was while discussing the change in my BMI (body mass index) that my doctor had remarked on Wednesday morning, that I was his hero.  Perhaps 'hero' was a bit much - but I did get the idea that he thought I was some kind of inspiration. I intend to continue to inspire myself. I think there is still some room for a downward direction in my weight. I would like to see what 200 lbs feels like. And perhaps even a smidge lower than that.  There is no rush to get there. My biggest challenge will be to drop some weight or stay where I am. I just cannot allow myself to go backwards!

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Your Food Diary For:

Sunday, December 27, 2015

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Fruit - Medium Apple, 2 Apple	190	50	1	1	4	38
Generic - Chinese Almond Cookie (One Big, 90g Cookie), 2 large cookie	920	104	52	8	180	34
	1,110	154	53	9	184	72
L U N C H
Earthbound Farm - Baby Spinach, Organic, 3 oz	20	3	0	2	65	0
libby's - Sweet Corn, 1.75 cup	210	32	5	7	700	25
Generic - Chinese Almond Cookie (One Big, 90g Cookie), 1 large cookie	460	52	26	4	90	17
	690	87	31	13	855	42
D I N N E R
EARTHBOUND FARM - ORGANIC BABY SPINACH, 85 g (approx 3 oz, two cups)	20	0	0	2	65	0
libby's - Sweet Corn, 0.88 cup	105	16	3	4	350	12
Dyna Sea - Imitation Crab Stick, 2 pieces (85)	90	15	0	7	350	2
	215	31	3	13	765	14
Totals	2,015	271	86	35	1,804	128
Your Daily Goal	3,504	438	116	176	2,300	131
Remaining	1,489	166	29	141	496	3
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
	*You've earned 1,574 extra calories from exercise today

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       Your Exercise Diary for:

Sunday, December 27, 2015

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
STAR TRAC ELLIPTICAL	92	1,620
MFP iOS calorie adjustment	N/A	-46
Add Exercise Quick Tools
Daily Total / Goal	93 / 30	1,574 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	1590 / 210	25,357 / 4,130

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total calories consumed 2015 calories

total calories (92 minutes elliptical) 1620 calories

total net calories 395 calories

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fitbit day 115

14884 steps

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Although, I did manage a 92 minute session on the elliptical yesterday... Considering how little else I did, it felt like a day off from working out. I am aware that this statement is ludicrous. 

CROP CIRCLES

I found this explanation of CROP CIRCLES at the wikipedia.com website

A crop circle or crop formation is a pattern created by flattening a crop, usually a cereal but incidents have been recorded for rapeseed, grass or vegetation such as fields of thistle, blackberries and reeds. A commentary in The Guardian noted that "it is still open to dispute whether some are caused by natural phenomena or all created by human hand," but crop circles, as Taner Edis, professor of physics at Truman State University puts it, "all fall within the range of the sort of thing done in hoaxes." Although obscure natural causes or alien origins of crop circles are suggested by fringe theorists,^[there is no scientific evidence for such explanations, and human causes are consistent for all crop circles.

The number of crop circles has substantially increased from the 1970s to current times. There has been almost no serious scientific study of them. Circles in the United Kingdom are not spread randomly across the landscape but appear near roads, areas of medium to dense population, and cultural heritage monuments, such as Stonehenge or Avebury, and always in areas of easy access. In 1991, two hoaxers, Bower and Chorley, admitted to creating many circles throughout England after one of their circles was publicly certified by a notable circle investigator, as impossible to be made by human hand.

Formations are usually created overnight, although some are reported to have appeared during the day. In contrast to crop circles or crop formations, archeological remains can cause cropmarks in the fields in the shapes of circles and squares, but they do not appear overnight, and they are always in the same places every year.

There was a time in my life when I was fascinated by crop circles.  When I was in my early teens, back in the 1970's, I think I did used to think that the source of these mysterious formations found all over the world might be the work of aliens.  Please understand that at the time, I was young and much more naive than I might be today.  It was somewhat of a disappointment to learn that these amazing pieces of weird art could be made so easily by simple humans overnight in a farmer's field.  

The reason that I am discussing CROP CIRCLES today is to explain my fascination with the MapMyWalk application on my phone which records the route one takes during a walk, jog or run.  I have been having great fun, walking 5, 10, 15 and so far, once even 20 miles - knowing that this application was dutifully recording my route which I could review at the end.  I discovered that if I went a bit overboard in my route, I could create some interesting images.  Two days ago, I was in a park adjacent to Navy Pier and there were five water fountains. (although the water was turned off for the season)  I made an effort to carefully take my steps around the fountains and this is the pattern that I created:

As part of my 15 mile walk yesterday, was this detour at Milton Lee Olive Park, which is adjacent to Navy Pier in Chicago. I created these digital 'crop circles' which are only visible electronically, and only visible when viewing them on the MapMyWalk application on my phone.  My walks have been fun.  I have seen parts of Chicago that I had never really noticed before.  In fact, this entire park where I made my 'crop circles' is a place that I think I had been to just once before in nearly 20 years.  I think back to the hours and hours and hours I spent walking on a treadmill when I first started to exercise as part of my weight loss program - I was really missing out.  Walking outdoors is great fun.  Sure, you can't bingewatch a netflix TV show - but you can experience life.   When the weather gets to be too cold for outdoors walking, that will be the time to return indoors.  For the time being, netflix can wait.

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 Saturday MENU

breakfast  steel cut oatmeal                                                          600 calories
lunch        granola bar, apples, Luna Brand mini bars (2)           700 calories
dinner       Macintosh apples, banana chips, granola, date pcs    830 calories
SNACK   cacao chocolate chips, Honey Nut Cheerios               722 calories

TOTAL CALORIES CONSUMED 2853 CALORIES

MapMyWalk 16.125 miles, avg 14 minute miles,  3 hours & 45 minutes        3859 calories
The application actually showed 18.25 miles. There were some parts of yesterday's hike
where the application did not quite know where it was.  The same confusion sometimes
happens to my Garmin GPS when surrounded by tall buildings.  Nevertheless, it is easy to 
assumed that I averaged 14 minute miles, and I know that I was walking for 3 hours and 45 minutes straight... The math works out to a minimum of 16.125 miles travelled.

CALORIES BURNED 3859 CALORIES

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Saturday net calories 1006 calorie defecit

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Chicago Skyline on a beautiful blue sky sunny day. 

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fitbit day 38

38161 steps

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Two days ago, on Saturday morning, I weighed myself and I discovered that I weighed 221 lbs.  Two weeks ago, on the Saturday preceding my Tuesday flight to California for the Half Dome hike my weight was 226.8 lbs.  Since my successful summit, I have been a hiking/walking/calorie burning machine.  I have discovered a new joy in life. Simply walking with backpack strapped on me.  Walking fast. Walking anywhere. Walking to discover (and re-discover) new places right in my home town of Chicago. The Half Dome summit was October 1.  The next day was the travel day back from California.  Since October 3, I have walked/hiked nearly 100 miles according to my MapMyWalk Application:

 3 October  6.7 miles

 4 October 16.5 miles

 5 October 10.0 miles

 6 October  5.0 miles

 7 October 20.0 miles

 8 October  5.0 miles

 9 October 15.0 miles

10 October 16.2 miles

Since September 26th, I have watched my weight drop from 226.8 lbs to 221 lbs.  I am fairly certain that I will not be able to keep up this pace of walking at quite this level - but I has certainly been great fun and very rewarding.  

Today is Sunday, 11 October.  This is the day of the Chicago Marathon.  I have no interest  (or ability)  in running this course - but the time may come, perhaps next year, when I sign up for this event to walk the course.  In order to 'qualify' and officially 'finish' a marathon, one has to complete the course in 6.5 hours.  

6.5 hours = 390 minutes

1 marathon = 26.2 miles

390 minutes divided by 26.2 miles = 14.89 minutes per mile

If one can walk 4.03 mph for 6.5 hours, one can finish in under 6.5 hours...

I think I might be capable of this right now.  Of course, there is only one way to know for sure...