FIRST TEN MILE HIKE IN NEARLY A MONTH

Yesterday I completed a ten mile urban hike in Chicago. Two things have conspired against me to hike this much distance in recent days. I have been much busier with work, seeing customers and the cold weather has just seemed far less amusing. Yesterday, the temperature was above 40°F and seemed much warmer. Perhaps going forward, more and more of my longer walks will be restricted to the weekends until daylight and warmth return.

Your Food Diary For:

Sunday, January 21, 2018

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Hy-vee - Oatmeal - Apples & Cinnamon	660	138	9	18	750	36
	660	138	9	18	750	36
L U N C H
Oki Sushi - Tuna Roll Maki With Avocado	350	45	8	28	0	0
Oki Sushi - Spicy Tuna Maki	400	40	16	21	0	0
	750	85	24	49	0	0
D I N N E R
Brioche Burger Buns, 2	320	50	8	10	420	10
Hamburger patty, 2	560	0	44	38	150	0
	880	50	52	48	570	10
S N A C K S
Met Rx - Chocolate Cookie Dough	400	58	6	31	167	28
	400	58	6	31	167	28
Totals	2,690	331	91	146	1,487	74
Your Daily Goal	3,836	479	128	192	2,300	143
Remaining	1,146	148	37	46	813	69
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 1,906 extra calories from exercise today

DEER GROVE TRAIL

After calling on a customer in Lake Zurich, Illinois it was time to find a trail. I found the DEER GROVE TRAIL in the DEER GROVE FOREST PRESERVE. Trailink.com describes the trail this way:

The Deer Grove Trail is one of several great Chicagoland trails located in properties of the Forest Preserve of Cook County. Deer Grove is the oldest of all the Cook County preserves. It's comprised of rolling upland forest interspersed with wooded ravines and wetlands. The Deer Grove Trail affords views of all these natural features. Its western section is through dense forest. Much of its eastern section circles a large wetlands area.

Deer Grove actually has two trail systems: The paved trail for pedestrians, cyclists and cross-country skiers; and an even longer unpaved trail for hikers, mountain bikers and equestrians. 

.

I criss-crossed the park for nearly 3 hours and used both the paved and unpaved sections of the park. It would have been disappointing if I had not spotted at least one deer while in DEER GROVE - not to worry - I did spot exactly one deer (and a small foot long slithering snake) When I was finished, I had logged 12 miles. I drove home to have dinner with my family. After dinner, I wanted to go out for a snack. I headed to Mariano's Grocery Store which is beautiful upscale store in our neighborhood. A normal person might have chosen this path to get there.

The direct route would have been 1.3 miles to get to Mariano's and according to google maps should have taken 26 minutes to walk there. I did not choose the direct route.

My route to Mariano's for an after-dinner snack was 11 miles and my travel time was 2 hours 32 minutes.

This was approximately mile 7 of my eleven mile walk to Mariano's Grocery Store

Your Food Diary For:

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Omelette - 3-egg Omelette With Cheese	425	0	21	28	650	2
Generic - 3 Sausage Links	250	3	22	10	612	0
	675	3	43	38	1,262	2
L U N C H
Whole Foods - Corn Pudding	195	22	9	7	435	10
6 oz Blackened Whitefish	300	6	20	28	1,232	0
DARK CHOCOLATE GINGER	250	43	10	1	7	37
	745	71	39	36	1,674	47
D I N N E R
Nathan's - Beef Hot Dog, 2 Hot Dog	300	2	26	12	820	0
Butternut - Enriched Hot Dog Bun, 2 bun	220	42	3	6	440	4
CHERRY VANILLA GRANOLA (3/4 cup)	300	50	9	6	75	19
	820	94	38	24	1,335	23
S N A C K S
Sobe Coconut Water - Pacific Coconut	160	42	0	0	220	40
Fresh Pineapple Chunks, 8 oz	112	28	1	1	0	16
Sushi - Salmon, 6 piece	336	49	10	20	0	0
	608	119	11	21	220	56
Totals	2,848	287	131	119	4,491	128
Your Daily Goal	6,661	832	222	334	2,300	249
Remaining	3,813	545	91	215	-2,191	121
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 4,731 extra calories from exercise today

If every day were like today...   You'd weigh 172.2 lbs in 5 weeks .

       Your Exercise Diary for:

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
12 MILE HIKE	198	1,872
11 MILE HIKE	153	2,035
Daily Total / Goal	351 / 30	3,907 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	1067 / 210	11,735 / 4,130

I know that my 'walking' and hiking have been somewhat 'excessive'. Right now I am on fat-burning mode. I seem to have almost 'endless' energy and desire to walk and walk and walk. My incentive? Every step I take takes me further away from this:

This was me during the summer prior to my decision on December 24, 2014 to change my life. I have no desire to see this guy ever again. THIS GUY IS GONE.  GOOD RIDDANCE! All that remains from the guy in this photo are the glasses and the 'Glenn Beck' cap. (I saved the belt too, although it is impractical to use it.)

Stairway to fitness heaven

Once used by tobogganers, Swallow Cliff steps provide a tough but rewarding workout

I just made an appointment to visit one of my customers in Lockport, Illinois next week.  Before ending the conversation I was asked about my exercise routine.  I let my customer know that I am in training to hike Half Dome in October and that I have been climbing stairwells in tall buildings.  I was told of an outdoor set of stairs at a no-longer-functioning toboggan run at a Forrest Preserve Park in Palos Hills, Illinois.  Apparently this incline is 'only' 125 steps. The stone steps are not exactly all the same height (which allegedly makes this just a bit more challenging.) The folks that come to exercise here, will go up and down multiple times.  I  will consider exploring this either before or after my June 11th appointment in Lockport.

On Wednesday afternoon, I wrapped up my 'show' schedule (for a while.)   I packed my bags and left Shipshewana, Indiana and returned to Chicago.  Once  I returned, after a short break, I used the fitness room in my building for my daily workout.  I am slightly amazed that I managed to NOT miss a day while I have been criss-crossing the country the past week or so.  My healthy eating has suffered a bit, at least my workout regiment survived.   I have been telling myself for the past few days that I need to return to a caloric consumption much closer to 1000 calories/day than 2000/calories per day to reverse the direction of my weight in recent days.  TODAY,  THURSDAY SEEMS LIKE A GOOD TIME AND PLACE TO START (AGAIN.)

WEDNESDAY MENU

breakfast   three apples, oatmeal, three sausage patties                                  910 calories

lunch         deli roast beef slices, deli turkey slices, deli ham slices

                  tomato, three apples, deli slice swiss cheese                                 665 calories

dinner       Turkey & Cheddar Lunchables, two pears                                     464 calories

total calories consumed 2039 calories

calories burned
stair climbing from ground level to 25th floor          80 calories  (4 MINUTES, 7 SECONDS)
8:00PM elliptical machine             32 minutes        507 calories
stair descending from 25th floor to ground floor       20 calories  (2 MINUTES, 55 SECONDS)

total calories burned 607 calories

MONDAY NET CALORIES   1432 CALORIES