ANOTHER DAY OF MEGA-EXERCISE

I enjoyed the results of my efforts this week... the direction of my weight has reversed course.  After briefly landing about 230 lbs, I am now safely below that threshold at 224 lbs. There is one way that people lose lots of weight and gain it back. And that way involves making no changes when one is steering off target. Although I have not made the most effective course correction by reducing my caloric intake, I have managed to successfully mount a course correction by exercising a bit more than normal.  Yesterday, I worked out for two 90 minute sessions before taking a long circuitous 6 mile walk to meet my family in downtown Chicago. Upon return home, I spent another 90 minutes on the elliptical machine.  As I have said many times before, please don't tell me that I am nuts.  I know it.

Imagine the need to change course if piloting an aircraft carrier.  It does not happen quickly. When one is gaining weight, it takes a lot of focused effort to change direction.  

In between sessions on the elliptical machine, I managed to find the time to take 6.39 mile walk to meet my family in downtown Chicago.  As you can see I dd not take the shortest route available to me.

.

.

Your Food Diary For:

Saturday, March 19, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Quaker - Cinnamon & Spice Instant Oatmeal, 3 packet	480	96	6	12	630	33
Cranberry-orange Walnut Bread	150	26	29	2	222	0
Red Delicious Apple, 2 medium apple	190	50	1	1	4	38
	820	172	36	15	856	71
L U N C H
2 Egg Omelette With Ham and Cheese, 1 Omelette	383	2	21	32	810	2
Kirkland - Pre-Cooked Bacon, 4 slices	160	0	12	12	700	0
CHERRY VANILLA GRANOLA	240	40	7	5	60	15
Baked Shrimp Chips	260	38	12	4	460	2
	1,043	80	52	53	2,030	19
D I N N E R
Turkey - White Meat, 6 oz.	210	7	0	29	1,726	6
Broccoli - Broccoli, 1 cup	60	6	1	5	49	0
Fried Rice, 1 cup	280	48	6	8	620	0
DARK CHOCOLATE COCONUT CHEWS	400	40	28	4	50	26
	950	101	35	46	2,445	32
S N A C K S
Rice Cakes - Butter Popcorn Flavor, 7 rice cake	245	49	1	7	315	0
Roasted Coconut Chips (1/2 Bag 1oz), 1 Bag	320	30	20	2	260	18
	565	79	21	9	575	18
Totals	3,378	432	144	124	5,906	140
Your Daily Goal	7,743	968	258	388	2,300	290
Remaining	4,365	535	113	264	-3,605	150
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
	*You've earned 5,813 extra calories from exercise today

.

       Your Exercise Diary for:

Saturday, March 19, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
STAR TRAC ELLIPTICAL	92	1,536
STAR TRAC ELLIPTICAL	90	1,535
Walking	81	1,312
Walking	37	295
STAR TRAC ELLIPTICAL	92	1,344
MFP iOS calorie adjustment	N/A	-209
Add Exercise Quick Tools
Daily Total / Goal	393 / 30	5,813 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	1822 / 210	28,667 / 4,130

.

total calories consumed 3378 calories

total calories burned (elliptical) 6022 calories

total net 2644 calorie deficit

. . . . . . . . . . .   

fitbit day 199

46926 steps  

. . . . . . . ....

.



.

MapMyWALK ACKNOWLEDGES ANNIVERSARY

I downloaded the MapMyWALK app on December 26, 2014.  Yesterday morning, when I awoke I was greeted by an email from my app wishing me a Happy Anniversary.

I am so touched that my app remembered (although I am still waiting for my bottle of wine or bouquet of flowers - I just read that FedEx has been unable to deliver all their packages on time during this holiday season, so I will keep a sharp lookout today!)  The email had a link to review my 'stats' for the year.

What I remember so well about this app was that after I downloaded it, I made no effort to use it until the following April.  When I started exercising, back in December 2014, all my efforts were confined to an indoor treadmill. After a few months of 'treadmilling,' I graduated to an elliptical machine.  It was only after three months, during a visit to New York to see my Mom for her 80th Birthday did I find myself without easy access to an indoor fitness facility. On April 2, 2014 I used MapMyWALK for the first time.  I recall that  on that day I took a five mile roundtrip walk to my old high school. Still I did not start using this app on a regular basis until AFTER my return trip down from the peak of HALF DOME on October 1st.  Since that time, the app has been invaluable to me.  On the yearend stats it recorded a couple of bike rides - but during the course of the year I discovered that there was a specific app for bike riding (MapMyRIDE)  I think that MapMyWALK only started recording the hours and calories of my generic (indoor) workouts once I synced this app with MyFitnessPAL. Without further introduction, here are the stats as reported from MapMyWALK in the first year that I had downloaded the app.  I can imagine that next year, I will use the app for even more walking miles than I did this year.  At least that's the plan.

,

When I left the home today, my plan was to go and buy some socks at the Columbia Store on Michigan Avenue.  I detoured first to Navy Pier, then Northerly Island, then Chinatown.  I never did get to the Columbia store.  When I returned home, I had walked 17 miles. Perhaps today I will make it to the store to buy some some thick white socks...

,

Your Food Diary For:

Saturday, December 26, 2015

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
steel cut oatmeal - steel cut oat meal, 1 cup	600	108	10	20	0	4
Malt O Meal - Honey Nut Scooters, 90 g	360	72	5	9	630	27
	960	180	15	29	630	31
L U N C H
Pampa - Canned Asparagus, 1 cups	30	4	0	4	680	0
Deli Ham - Ham, 4 oz	120	1	3	24	920	0
Chinese Almond Cookie, 1 cookie	100	11	6	1	20	0
	250	16	9	29	1,620	0
D I N N E R
Stuffed Pork 1 cut pork chop w/ stuffing	368	23	22	19	812	0
ORGANIC BABY SPINACH, 255 g	60	0	0	6	195	0
STRAWBERRY VANILLA GRANOLA	275	44	9	6	66	17
	703	67	31	31	1,073	17
S N A C K S
WHOLE FOODS DRIED MANGO	126	32	0	2	1	23
WHOLE FOODS YOGURT ALMONDS	220	22	14	4	20	19
WHOLE FOODS - NATURAL WASABI	138	22	3	5	276	2
Chinese Almond Cookie (two big cookies)	460	52	26	4	90	17
	944	128	43	15	387	61
Totals	2,857	391	98	103	3,710	109
Your Daily Goal	8,558	1,070	285	428	2,300	321
Remaining	5,701	678	187	324	-1,410	212
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
	*You've earned 6,628 extra calories from exercise today

.

       Your Exercise Diary for:

Saturday, December 26, 2015

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
STAR TRAC ELLIPTICAL	90	1,596
Walking, 5.0 mph	193	3,503
MFP iOS calorie adjustment	N/A	1,529
Daily Total / Goal	284 / 30	6,628 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	1497 / 210	23,772 / 4,130

.

total calories consumed 2857 calories

total calories (90 minutes elliptical, walking) 5099 calories

total net calories 2242 calorie deficit

.....................

fitbit day 115

45115 steps

,

It is a real blessing that I find different types of exercising enjoyable.  For a while there, I was exclusively strapping on my backpack and walking (and walking and walking).  Months had gone by and I was afraid that I might have lost my ability to have a good workout on an elliptical machine and/or that I might have lost my ability to enjoy such an endeavor.  Both premises were proved to be untrue.  There are of course, pros and cons of both types of workouts - and it is terrific that I can find enjoyment from both.  

,


THIS IS A PAIR OF BEFORE AND AFTER PICTURES (Lincoln Park Zoo)
The first picture is before my daughter had her first birthday.
The second picture was taken 13 years later!

2002

.

December 26, 2015

The photos were taken at the 'Farm in the Zoo' at the Lincoln Park Zoo.  The 'egg' appears to be in the need of a washing or painting or something.  I think it was new in 2002 when the first photo was taken.

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.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

 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

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  

Saturday net calories 1006 calorie defecit

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Chicago Skyline on a beautiful blue sky sunny day. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

fitbit day 38

38161 steps

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

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...  

ALL MILES ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL

From the trail head at Yosemite, there is a sign that indicates that the hike to Half Dome is 8.2 miles.  Simple math means that from this particular sign, the roundtrip is 16.4 miles.  On Sunday in Chicago, I took a walk.  I walked for 225 minutes (three hours, forty five minutes) and I walked 16.53 miles according to MapMyWalk application.  I was walking a brisk pace... I stopped ever so briefly to snap a few pictures and once to tie by sneaker laces.  The application indicated that I burned 3104 calories.  This was a real workout.  I really did travel 16.53 miles.   The Fitbit recorded that I ascended a total of 21 floors.  This contrasts with the 563 floors that the Fitbit recorded at Half Dome. 

CONCLUSION:  All miles are not created equal!

As all people who understand geometry know - The shortest distance between two  points is a straight line.  My goal yesterday was not to travel the shortest distance from Point A to Point B.  In fact, my goal was to take the longest possible route to get from anywhere to anywhere else.  My goal was to log miles.  I was successful.  When this 225 minute walk was completed, I had travelled 16.5 miles.  My average pace was 13:36 minutes per mile.  This was not a simple walk in the park.  This was a genuine workout.  Ironically, it was a walk in the park.

.

Many of my workouts since last January were either on the treadmill, the elliptical, the stairmaster, and even emergency exit staircases.  One thing I did not do was spend to much time outdoors.  Once I rediscovered by bicycle last month, I rediscovered the joy of being outside.  So much more to see, and to experience.  Sure, it is true that it is more difficult to watch Netflix when walking outdoors - but not all of life should be experienced via subscription television.  I took a few pictures yesterday, which I felt like sharing...

It is not too likely to see a Rhino at the YMCA working out indoors - much easier to spot at Lincoln Park Zoo

It is ironic that we saw no bears in Yosemite, but I saw this one at home in Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo.

a study in black & white on the lakefront

I think strong winds and waves in Chicago two days ago stranded this fish on the beach before the Seagulls got to him.

Lakefront Trail closed?  That's gotta be a recommendation.  (A recommendation that I ignored)

I tried to explain my problems to Dr Hartley (Bob Newhart Show) - he just sat there like a statue like he wasn't listening.

The gondolas really were removed immediately from Chicago's iconic ferris wheel as planned

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  

 Sunday MENU

breakfast    double portion steel cut oatmeal                                   600 calories
lunch          whole grain rice cakes, red delicious apple, mango     575 calories
dinner        SPINACH SALAD, Chabad Holiday Dinner               944 calories
SNACK     7 L'CHAIMs                                                                 490 calories

total calories consumed 2609 calories                                                              

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

CALORIES BURNED

3 hour, 45 minute walk 16.5 MILES                   3104 CALORIES

Monday net calories 495 calorie DEFECIT

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  

fitbit day 32

31356 steps

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

FITNESS TRACKING APPLICATION - MapMyWalk

MapMyWalk is an application that I downloaded onto my iPhone back in December and finally got around to using it yesterday.  This is the description of the application lifted from their own website:

MapMyWalk is a fitness tracking application that enables you to use the built-in GPS of your mobile device to track all of your fitness activities. Record your workout details, including duration, distance, pace, speed, elevation, calories burned, and route traveled on an interactive map. You can even effortlessly save and upload your workout data to MapMyWalk where you can view your route workout data, and comprehensive workout history.

I was still visiting my Mom in Lynbrook, New York yesterday and the nearest YMCA was not very near.  I decided that a simple brisk walk would be my form of exercise for the day.  It was the first time since I started exercising that I experienced the great outdoors.  I was mentally prepared for a spring day in New York so I was a bit surprised that the temperature was 36 degrees for this little adventure.  I chose a path which mirrored the way I used to get to my high school (Valley Stream South High School.  I graduated from in 1975)   After I reached my high school I chose a different path to return to my Mom's home.   Although I don't have great faith in the calories burned reported by this app, which seem an unlikely high number - I am sure that I did burn calories as I was walking fast enough to raise my heart rate - although I don't know what my heart rate was - that's where an apple iWatch comes in handy - a product that I might consider later this month.

MapMyWalk calculated that the entire walk turned out to be 4.77 miles and that I made 9970 steps.  I averaged 12:22 minutes/mile which took 63 minutes.  The application 'thinks' I burned 1342 calories... I find that number ridiculously high.   In fact, for the entry I use in my absolute favorite app, MyFitnessPal, I will record only 1/3 of that number for calories burned which will be 447 calories.   It does not really matter what number I record... if more calories were indeed burned - so be it - no complaints here.

Dinner took place at a fabulous restaurant: FRED'S at BARNEY's (9th floor of the famous clothing store)  This was for the 80th birthday celebration of my Mom.   My youngest brother, had selected the restaurant with an eye for a place where I would be able to find something suitable to eat - as well as a cousin who he claimed can find nothing to eat 'nothing' anywhere.   I selected the Sushi grade Tuna and ordered it charred on the outside and and raw on the inside.  I substituted the couscous for an order of fresh asparagus.   As a result, I had a terrific dinner, which was extremely low calorie.

dinner: FRED'S at BARNEY'S (9th floor) Sushi Grade Tuna, charred on the outside, asparagus  350 calories

WEDNESDAY MENU

breakfast     two scrambled eggs, three prunes, two slices smoked turkey 'bacon         263 calories
lunch          gefilte fish w/horseradish, slice Manischewitz Matza, CABBAGE SOUP 262 calories
dinner         Fred's at Barney's 10 oz Sushi Grade Tuna, half-cup asparagus                 350 calories

total calories consumed   855 calories

CALORIES BURNED
9AM BRISK WALK FROM LYNBROOK/VALLEY STREAM  4.77 MILES      447 CALORIES

TOTAL NET CALORIES WEDNESDAY 408 CALORIES


These were two cartoons that my Mom had cut out of the newspaper to show me... So what to do? Add them to my blog, of course!

This was the destination of for my 4.77 mile walk yesterday: Valley Stream South High School.
I graduated in 1975, and from the outside, it looked unchanged.