ANOTHER DAY 2000 CALORIES (DAY 79)

In general, a 2000 calorie daily consumption should be very compatible with some weight loss when combined with the level of activity that I have recently maintained, that is hikes averaging 7 miles per day.  However, that level may be harder and harder to maintain as the temperature drops and it gets darker earlier and earlier. Still, 2000 calories is still not exactly overdoing it for a guy who currently weighs 235 lbs. I should try to cut back more if I want to lose more weight which I do. At some point, I am going to have to master maintenance. This is not easy.

IT'S DIET NOT EXERCISE

If you look carefully over my left shoulder in this photo you will see a lion sitting atop a rock in the Lincoln Park Zoo in a 'selfie' that I snapped yesterday during a 9 mile urban hike.

Here is a closeup of the same lion. This time I flipped the phone around and used the better of the two lenses.

I have never thought about it before yesterday. Why are not all zoo animals wildly overweight? How much exercise is this lion getting. When was the last time that this lion got to really 'stretch his legs' and zip around at 30 mph across a tall grass field chasing a pack of zebras? Only one thing must be keeping him looking fit and trim. Diet. I am 'guilty' as anyone who thinks that calories can be erased by exercise. I suppose given enough activity there is some possibility of that, but the stubborn truth is that the best way to lose weight or keep weight off is to reduce calories. The formula is simple. It's just not easy. I know that I have been over-eating this past week and that I have been especially generous 'rewarding' myself with chocolate in various forms. I was not shocked when the scale indicated that I am back up to 225.1 lbs. (Still down 85 lbs from the day I started this weight loss journey)  I just need to do better. I will continue to exercise as that brings its own rewards. I just need to ratchet down the eating. That's the plan. I suppose a plan can never fail if you don't have one. Still, it is always better to have a plan.

Yesterday my physical activity was augmented with a 97 minute session on the elliptical machine .

Here is a rather petrifying reminder that summer really is over, and that Halloween is just around the corner.

Your Food Diary For:

Friday, October 7, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Great Grains Cranberry Almond Crunch	420	82	7	10	230	24
Quaker - Grits - Instant - Original, 5 packet	500	110	0	10	1,550	0
	920	192	7	20	1,780	24
L U N C H
Fried Okra	300	24	10	3	210	3
Fried Shrimp	100	4	0	42	0	0
	400	28	10	45	210	3
D I N N E R
Ground Beef Buritto, 1 Buritto	675	0	32	42	0	1
Taco Bell - Hard Shell Taco	510	36	30	24	930	3
	1,185	36	62	66	930	4
S N A C K S
Hersheys Dark Chocolate Bar	500	28	38	9	100	11
	500	28	38	9	100	11
Totals	3,005	284	117	140	3,020	42
Your Daily Goal	4,718	590	157	236	2,300	177
Remaining	1,713	306	40	96	-720	135
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 2,788 extra calories from exercise today

       Your Exercise Diary for:

Friday, October 7, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
9 MILE URBAN HIKE	124	1,683
STAR TRAC ELLIPTICAL	97	1,082
Daily Total / Goal	221 / 30	2,765 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	530 / 210	7,627 / 4,130

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THE STREETS ARE PAVED WITH GOLD

Today's question: Have you ever heard that in America that 'the streets are paved with gold'?  Now as everyone knows this is not quite true. Most streets are paved, but that sticky tar that practically melts in the hot summer sun is hardly golden. But there is gold in them thar streets. Apparently there is a lot of loose change just waiting to be discovered.  I have decided to stop and pick up every coin I see, even pennies, just to keep a running accounting of how much money is just lying around in the hot sun.

During a walk in Janesville on July 12th, I found one quarter.
Three days ago in Dayton, July 20th, I found 22 coins.  two dimes and ten pennies.
Two days ago I
 found one penny.
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I guess if I walk enough places, and walk far enough, I will find enough money to finance some new sneakers. What a great hobby I have - it's a hobby that pays for itself.  There are a lot of roads in America - It makes me think about the unknowable.  I wonder how many millions of dollars in coins are currently just lying around on our streets. Maybe our streets really are paved with gold after all.

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This was lifted directly from wikipedia
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"London streets are paved with gold" is a saying that came from the 19th century story of Dick Whittington and his cat, loosely based on the 14th century Lord Mayor of London, Richard Whittington. The saying, which expresses the idea of a "land of opportunity", is partly ironic, since Dick Whittington found when he went to London that the streets were in fact grimy and poverty stricken. The second irony was that with persistence, belief, and luck, Whittington was able to become successful.

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from an anonymous 1900's immigrant:

I came to America because I heard that streets here were paved with gold. When I came I learned three things:
first: streets in America are not paved with gold;
second: streets in America are not paved at all;
third: I am expected to pave them.

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SATURDAY IS THE DAY I STEP ONTO MY SCALE.
This morning I checked in at 227.2 lbs.
Down another pound from last week.
Lots of progress from my 'disastrous' weight of 241.9 lbs on May 7 (In fact, May 7 was eight days after my hernia surgery when I had just completed the most inactive week of my life)

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Your Food Diary For:

Friday, July 22, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Smucker's - Concord Grape - Jelly, 1.5 Tbsp. (20g)	75	20	0	0	8	18
Gordon Food Service - Peanut Butter, 1.5 oz	260	10	22	10	200	4
Hostess - Classic Wheat Bread, 4 Slices	280	54	3	10	580	10
Thomas' - Cinnamon Raisin Bread, 2 slice	160	32	2	4	250	14
Raisin Bran - Post, 1 Cup	190	47	1	5	230	19
	965	163	28	29	1,268	65
L U N C H
Bento Sushi - Spicy California Roll	680	128	14	14	2,380	32
	680	128	14	14	2,380	32
D I N N E R
Subway - Footlong Turkey Breast on Wheat	560	92	17	36	1,890	11
Kellog's Special K - Protein Meal Bar, Chocolate	170	24	5	10	170	15
	730	116	22	46	2,060	26
S N A C K S
Organic - Milk Chocolate Toffee Bar	500	52	27	7	68	43
	500	52	27	7	68	43
Totals	2,875	459	91	96	5,776	166
Your Daily Goal	3,076	384	102	154	2,300	115
Remaining	201	-75	11	58	-3,476	-51
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 1,146 extra calories from exercise today

If every day were like today...   You'd weigh 214 lbs in 5 weeks.

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       Your Exercise Diary for:

Friday, July 22, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
MATRIX TREADMILL	97	1,235
MFP iOS calorie adjustment	N/A	-89
Daily Total / Goal	98 / 30	1,146 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	909 / 210	6,477 / 4,130

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Friday was about as inactive a day as a human being can have that is not hospitalized.  By the time I returned from Cincinnati at 9:45PM, my step count was closer to zero than 10,000. I had spent the entire day with a customer from 9:30AM until around 4:30PM, and then drove home for five hours. As soon as I arrived at home, without wasting any time, I quickly changed into my workout clothes and hopped onto my elliptical machine.  I successfully went over 10,000 steps by the time midnight had struck.

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07122016 ICE AGE TRAIL 25 CENTS
07202016 DAYTON TWO DIMES, TEN PENNIES
07212016 Cincinnati, one penny