HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

No, it's not my wedding anniversary...That's still about three weeks away.  No, it's not the anniversary of my decision to change my life and quit the couch potato lifestyle...that's still nearly four months away. No, it's not the anniversary of my climb up to the peak of Half Dome in Yosemite Park...that's still about one month away. It is the anniversary of the day that I turbo-charged the change in my life and purchased my fitbit. During this first year... Sept 2015 through August 2016, I have been counting steps... I am aware that there is about one person on earth who might care about this. That person being me.

In the first year that I had this fitbit, I accumulated 9,012,198 steps. 
I had two months when my step count was over one million.
I had one month when my step count was under 200,000.
My average steps for this first year was 24,690 steps per day.
I earned my 'sneakers badge' (10,000 steps) 342 times.
I earned my 'cowboy badge' (50,000 steps) 22 times.
I earned my 'classics badge' (25,000 steps) 171 times.
I failed to earn my 'boat shoe badge' (5000 steps) 23 times.
I earned my 'volcano badge' (500 floors climbed in one day) once, on Half Dome.
I earned my 'genie shoe' badge (75,000 steps) once, the day I walked the Chicago Marathon before taking an additional hike in the evening that same day.

SEPT 2 - SEPTEMBER 30

OCTOBER 1 - OCTOBER 31

NOVEMBER 1 - NOVEMBER 30

DECEMBER 1 - DECEMBER 31

JANUARY 1 - JANUARY 31

FEBRUARY 1 - FEBRUARY 29

MARCH 1 - MARCH 31

APRIL 1 - APRIL 30
(HERNIA INJURY, SURGERY)

MAY 1 - MAY 31
(HERNIA RECOVERY)

JUNE 1 - JUNE 30

JULY 1 - JULY 31

AUGUST 1 - AUGUST 31

.

And now...back to our regular programming....



After an appointment in Mishawaka, Indiana, I headed towards Chicago and stopped at Indiana Dunes. As always, I parked my car at the visitors center. This time I was searching for the Little Calumet River Trail which I had not yet hiked on any of my previous visits. At one point, I lost the trail and it was a while before I 'recovered.'  I never worry too much as my MapMyWalk application always tells me where I am and which direction I need to go to get back on track. 

.

Your Food Diary For:

Thursday, September 1, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Mccain - Steel Cut Irish Oatmeal	600	108	10	16	0	4
Fiber One - Chewy Bars - Chocolate	90	17	2	1	80	5
	690	125	12	17	80	9
L U N C H
Power Bar - Protein Plus 20g - Chocolate	210	25	6	20	200	12
Subway - Footlong Turkey Breast on Wheat	560	92	17	36	1,890	11
Sage - Red Delicious Apple, 2 medium apple	190	50	1	1	4	38
	960	167	24	57	2,094	61
D I N N E R
Aladdin Food - Garlic Shrimp	250	14	7	31	664	0
Spaghetti - Spaghetti Noodles	221	43	1	8	1	1
Baby Spinach - Baby Spinaches	20	3	0	2	65	0
Campbell's - Condensed Tomato Soup	180	40	0	4	960	24
Quaker - Chewy Choc Chip, 1 bar	100	17	4	1	0	7
	771	117	12	46	1,690	32
S N A C K S
Generic - Twix Ice Cream Bar, 1 bar (3 oz)	250	28	14	2	75	23
	250	28	14	2	75	23
Totals	2,671	437	62	122	3,939	125
Your Daily Goal	3,569	446	119	179	2,300	133
Remaining	898	9	57	57	-1,639	8
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 1,639 extra calories from exercise today

If every day were like today...   You'd weigh 191.3 lbs in 5 weeks     

.

       Your Exercise Diary for:

Thursday, September 1, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
10 MILE HIKE	146	1,750
Daily Total / Goal	146 / 30	1,750 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	595 / 210	7,784 / 4,130

.

Little Calumet River Trail is located in the town of Porter in Porter County within the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and is connected to the Bailly Homestead and Chellberg Farm Trails. To access the trails from US 20, turn north on Mineral Springs Rd. go ½ mile then turn left on Oak Hill Rd. another ½ mile, and then another left on Howe Rd. Parking is available near Bailly Homestead on the left and further down is additional parking to the right where the trailhead is also located.

.

YOU CAN HAVE YOUR CAKE AND EAT IT

It is a commonly held belief that one cannot have their cake and eat it. Although not recommended, it can be done.

One can eat cake and lose weight although it is not the most effective pathway to a thinner waist. 

SATURDAY IS WEIGH DAY.
I stepped on the scale with some anticipation that I would like the result...
...I did.

224.8 lbs

This past week I dropped 2.4 lbs.

This means that I am back down 84.2 lbs from the 309 lbs where I started on Dec 24, 2014. Perhaps much more meaningful, and certainly more recent... I am down 17.1 lbs since I 'mini-ballooned' back up to 241.9 lbs on May 7, 2016 during my recovery period from the hernia surgery. My progress in the past 3 months, has been slow and very steady. I am very pleased with my current weight loss trajectory downward. My recent weight loss in the past three months looks like a chart of the Obama economic recovery. Bad for recoveries. Good for weight loss..

.

This chart for the past three months only shows a weight loss of 15.2 lbs.  That is because the first week of this recent history in my personal weight trajectory was a 'up' week when I topped out at 241.9 lbs on May 7th. From that point on, it's been nearly all downhill. 

I don't know whether to be shocked that I did so well this week, losing 2.4 lbs or be shocked that I only lost 2.4 lbs this week.  I just checked my blog, and I 'discovered' that I walked 84 miles in the past seven days. If you checked my blog for the past seven days, you would see that I had some high calories days to match this physical output. Long gone are the beginning days of this lifestyle change when I was consuming less than 1000 calories per day for three consecutive months.  Back then, I was losing nearly one pound per day.  That lifestyle was completely unsustainable, and it was never my intention to sustain it. A lifestyle of walking ten miles per day may also be unsustainable as I get older, in fact, it might be unsustainable as the days get shorter and and the days get colder. Hopefully, once my physical activity drops I will be able to 'tweak' my calorie intake down without too much difficulty.  It is true, that I do feel that I have 'earned' the joy of eating probably a bit more chocolate and sweets than I should when I am so wildly active. But you know what?  I like being active. I like chocolate. I like losing weight. And I like looking at myself in the mirror these days. I guess one could say that at this time in my life: I can have my my cake and I can eat it. (too) 

.

from wikipedia...

You can't have your cake and eat it (too) is a popular English idiomatic proverb or figure of speech. The proverb literally means "you cannot simultaneously retain your cake and eat it". Once the cake is eaten, it is gone. It can be used to say that one cannot or should not have or want more than one deserves or can handle, or that one cannot or should not try to have two incompatible things. The proverb's meaning is similar to the phrases "you can't have it both ways" and "you can't have the best of both worlds."

Many people misunderstand the meanings of "have" and "eat" as used here but still understand the proverb in its entirety and intent and use it in this form. Some people feel this form of the proverb is incorrect and illogical and instead prefer "you can't eat your cake and have it (too)", which is in fact closer to the original form of the proverb (see further explanations below) but uncommon today. Other rare variants use "keep" instead of "have". Having to choose whether to have or eat your cake illustrates the concept of trade-offs or opportunity cost.

* * * * * * * * * * 

.

I have lived in Chicago for nearly a quarter century and I only 'discovered' the Indiana Dunes this summer. Last night was my third visit to this natural wonder. I was returning from Amish country in Ohio and I was determined to get in a hike before I returned home. The Indiana Dunes are only about 45 minutes away when traffic conditions are cooperating. There is much to explore that I have yet to see. I will be returning to the Indiana Dunes many times in the future.

.

.

From where I parked my car,  I had already walked seven miles to finally get to Lake Michigan. On a clearer day, the skyline of Chicago would have been visible just peeking over the horizon.

.

Your Food Diary For:

Friday, July 29, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Kroger - Grits	500	105	5	10	1,700	5
Generic - Sausage Links	360	4	32	14	880	0
Chocolate Frosted Chocolate Cake Doughnut	370	45	23	4	0	0
	1,230	154	60	28	2,580	5
L U N C H
Kroger - Yogurt Covered Almonds	300	37	19	5	27	27
Kroger - Yogurt Pretzels	300	42	12	4	90	26
SUSHI California roll	800	154	12	14	2,068	14
Krogers - Coconut Flakes	210	21	15	0	90	15
	1,610	254	58	23	2,275	82
D I N N E R
Smoked Ham & Cheese, 1 Sandwich	240	27	7	21	1,350	6
Kellog's Krave Treat Bar	200	31	8	2	115	17
Nature Valley - Crunchy Oats & Honey	190	29	6	4	160	12
	630	87	21	27	1,625	35
S N A C K S
Kellogg's - Special K	280	52	0	12	480	8
	280	52	0	12	480	8
Totals	3,750	547	139	90	6,960	130
Your Daily Goal	5,157	644	172	258	2,300	193
Remaining	1,407	97	33	168	-4,660	63
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 3,227 extra calories from exercise today

If every day were like today...   You'd weigh 202 lbs in 5 weeks     

.

       Your Exercise Diary for:

Friday, July 29, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
Walking	158	1,967
MFP iOS calorie adjustment	N/A	1,260
Daily Total / Goal	159 / 30	3,227 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	1013 / 210	13,459 / 4,130

.

JUNE DUNES

For the first 23 years that I have lived in Chicago, I managed to never even see the Indiana Dunes. Yesterday was my second visit this month. My first hike earlier this month on June 2, was 'only' 12 miles - yesterday, my total hike was 16 miles. I parked at the same place as last time, but this time I took a 7 mile detour before I even arrived at the beach. Once at the beach I proceeded a full three miles along the shoreline before I turned back into one of the trails to return to my car. The weather was completely cooperative as it was 75°F. When I started my hike at 3:30PM, my fitbit was showing less than 2000 steps, by the time I returned to my car, the fitbit registered a number north of 30,000 steps. I like hiking.

During the part of the hike that I was walking along the beach, I basically had the entire lakeshore to myself. Whether I looked north or south, I couldn't even spot another person..

.

.

.

if one is going to make a 16 mile hike, on a beach and in a forested area - this weather is ideal.

.

Your Food Diary For:

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Thomas' - Cinnamon Raisin Bread, 2 slice	160	32	2	4	250	14
Red Delicious Apple, 2 medium apple	190	50	1	1	4	38
Kelloggs - Raisin Bran Cereal, 177 g	570	138	3	15	630	54
	920	220	6	20	884	106
L U N C H
Vanilla Granola	408	70	12	8	130	34
Kar's Sweet 'n Salty Mix - Nutty Snack	270	27	17	8	110	20
	678	97	29	16	240	54
D I N N E R
Cream of Cheddar Cheese Condensed Soup	100	14	5	1	870	5
Baked Potato	216	49	0	6	23	3
Broccoli	60	6	1	5	49	0
Polish Kielbasa Sausage	298	4	26	12	998	2
	674	73	32	24	1,940	9
S N A C K S
DARK CHOCOLATE COCONUT	400	40	28	4	50	26
Wonderful - Pistachios 1oz. Bag, 1 oz	80	4	7	3	80	1
YOGURT PRETZELS	190	28	0	2	180	19
	670	72	35	9	310	46
Totals	2,942	462	102	69	3,373	215
Your Daily Goal	4,830	604	161	242	2,300	181
Remaining	1,888	142	59	172	-1,073	-34
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
	*You've earned 2,900 extra calories from exercise today

.

       Your Exercise Diary for:

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
Walking	212	3,097
MFP iOS calorie adjustment	N/A	-197
Daily Total / Goal	213 / 30	2,900 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	591 / 210	7,115 / 4,130

.

.

After my 16 mile hike in the Indiana Dunes, I was ready to sit down and enjoy this home-cooked meal prepared by my wife which I conservatively estimated to be about 700 calories.