WALK ON

I guess in recent weeks I have adopted the song, Walk On, by the band, BOSTON, as my personal anthem. I am amazed at what I have accomplished in the past two weeks. Two consecutive weeks walking 100 miles. Unlike my earlier marathon walks from hours spent on a treadmill seeing and experiencing nothing other than than the four walls of the fitness room, these days I am seeing my hometown, my state, my country. I am discovering city, county, state and national parks that I never knew existed. I am discovering waterfalls and rock formations in the unlikeliest of places. I have walked into deep gorges and walked up ski slopes. I am discovering that walking is a viable mode of travel. I am discovering that walking is one of the best workouts one can do, as the human body was well designed for this function. 

Walk On ends with these words.  

Walk On
There's no turning back
Walk On
Get your train on the track

For me, there is no turning back. I have long left the couch sitting, TV-watching, potato chip eating, fat slob blob that I was. I have got my train on the track. Walk on.

The weather in Chicago on Friday was highly un-cooperatvive for any kind of lengthy urban hike. I did manage to walk nine miles from three separate outings just running some errands. I (mostly) dodged the rain.  I carefully kept my calories well below 3000, as there was no vigorous hike to balance a higher consumption.  It was a good day, in a string of good days.

It is 'fun' to remind myself that I was 309 lbs on December 24, 2014. No matter how far I let my weight slip backwards in recent months, I was always able to say to myself, "At least I am still down X pounds from where I started." That kind of rationalization, is useful for a short time, but it is precisely what leads to a person gaining back every pound lost. I know this, I was that guy.  Around the time that my high schooler was starting kindergarten, I went from 300 pounds to 220 pounds.  As I gained back the weight, I could always say, "At least I am still down X pounds from where I started." This self-soothing statement loses its punch once you have regained 70 of the 80 pounds lost. "At least I am still down 10 pounds from where I started."

About three months ago, I had once again begun to veer down this path of failure. During the time that I dealt with my hernia, I had reached 241.9 lbs on May 7.  And now you know what I was saying to myself as my clothes were becoming impossible to squeeze into: "At least I am still down 67 pounds from where I started."  

Renewed effort has paid off. This morning, I weighed myself, as I have done each Saturday since December 24, 2014.

221.1 lbs

I lost another 2.6 lbs this week.
In the past four weeks I have lost 7.9 lbs.
In the past eight weeks I have lost 10.8 lbs.
In the past twelve weeks I have lost 17.9 lbs.
In the past thirteen weeks, since I ballooned up to 241.9 lbs, I have lost 20.8 lbs.

I did get my train back on the track.
There's no turning back.
Walk on.

Earlier this year, I was derailed.

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These days, I am back on track

Your Food Diary For:

Friday, August 12, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Kroger - Grits, 2 cup	200	42	2	4	680	2
Maltomeal - Honey Nut Scooters, 3 cup	360	72	5	9	630	27
	560	114	7	13	1,310	29
L U N C H
Read - 3 Bean Salad	300	65	0	5	1,500	40
Okami - Surimi Roll Sushi	320	52	10	6	640	12
Dark Chocolate Chip Chew Granola	130	27	2	2	80	11
	750	144	12	13	2,220	63
D I N N E R
Shrimp - Fried (Medium), 6 Shrimps	150	7	8	12	295	0
Codfish	100	0	1	22	74	0
Cream Corn, 0.5 cup	100	22	1	2	360	8
Fried Chicken Breast	320	9	16	33	1,100	0
	670	38	26	69	1,829	8
S N A C K S
UNSWEETENED BANANA CHIPS	200	19	12	2	6	1
YOGURT PRETZELS	310	46	0	3	293	31
	510	65	12	5	299	32
Totals	2,490	361	57	100	5,658	132
Your Daily Goal	3,598	450	120	180	2,300	135
Remaining	1,108	89	63	80	-3,358	3
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 1,668 extra calories from exercise today

If every day were like today...   You'd weigh 201.7 lbs in 5 weeks.

       Your Exercise Diary for:

Friday, August 12, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
Walking 4 miles	53	780
Walking 3 miles	45	520
Walking 2 miles	28	368
Daily Total / Goal	126 / 30	1,668 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	1034 / 210	10,507 / 4,130

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200,000 STEPS

Finally, after 9 weeks, I have logged a week of 200,000+ steps. Most normal fitbit people are happy if they can get in their 5 miles per day, which translates to 10,000 steps per days which further translates to 70,000 steps for a week. I am not a normal person. I have never been accused of being a normal person. Normal people do not allow their weight to crest over 300 pounds as I had as of December 2014. I have always been a person who goes a bit overboard. At least when one is going overboard with regard to fitness activity there is far more benefit than harm. I am a person that is likely to take 10 mile walk before breakfast or after dinner, or perhaps spend more than two hours on fitness equipment. A person that does this can 'easily' rack up 200,000 steps within a 7 days week. I just completed my second week of full recovery from the hernia surgery. It is with great personal pleasure that I was able to exceed 200,000 steps this week. I am the master of dubious achievements. Surely there are worse things that one can do with their time.

Finally, after a 9 weeks, I logged a week of 200,000+ steps.

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For one week that ran from Sunday May 29 thru Saturday June 4, I logged 201,931 steps.  It was the first time that I have logged that many steps in 9 weeks.  During most of those 9 weeks, I was injured or recovering from my hernia surgery.

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BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Cream of Rice - Hot Cereal, 1 cup	160	36	0	3	0	0
Egg, whole, cooked, poached, 3 large	215	1	14	19	446	1
Butterball - Bacon Style Turkey, 4 slices	140	2	12	8	600	0
Sweet & Salty Trail Mix, 62 g	320	30	20	8	110	22
	835	69	46	38	1,156	23
L U N C H
Taco Bell - Crunchy Taco Shells	160	21	7	2	0	0
Breaded Pork Chop, 2 Chop	472	18	30	31	510	2
Earthbound Farm - Baby Spinach, Organic	20	3	0	2	65	0
Oyster Crackers, 28 crackers	140	22	4	2	120	0
Crab - Imitation	80	14	0	6	450	3
Sliced Beets, 1/2 cup	40	8	0	1	250	6
	912	86	41	44	1,395	11
D I N N E R
Turkey Pot Roast, 9 oz	390	9	21	42	1,590	3
Broccoli - Broccoli Steamed, 1 cup	31	6	0	3	30	2
Butternut Squash, 170 g	80	20	0	2	0	4
85% Dark Chocolate, 1 bar	420	34	38	8	0	14
	921	69	59	55	1,620	23
S N A C K S
Candy Bar, 1/2 bar	95	15	4	1	45	11
Jif - to Go Chocolate Silk, 1 cup	250	18	19	5	100	14
	345	33	23	6	145	25
Totals	3,013	257	170	142	4,316	81
Your Daily Goal	4,804	600	160	241	2,300	180
Remaining	1,791	342	-9	99	-2,015	99
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
	*You've earned 2,874 extra calories from exercise today

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Your Exercise Diary for:

Saturday, June 4, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
STAR TRAC ELLIPTICAL	92	1,388
MATRIX TREADMILL	60	554
STAR TRAC ELLIPTICAL	60	911
MFP iOS calorie adjustment	N/A	21
Add Exercise Quick Tools
Daily Total / Goal	213 / 30	2,874 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	1173 / 210	15,556 / 4,130

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I started my day with a 92 minute session on the elliptical machine set to resistance '13'

It was a rainy afternoon in Chicago, so what better way to spend it than  on a treadmill for an hour?

After my one hour on the treadmill, I still had some 'gas' in the tank (although not too much) and logged another hour back on the elliptical machine with the resistance now set to '14'  (I had set the machine for a 90 minute workout - but I just didnt have it inn me...)

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GOING NOWHERE FAST

Yesterday, I had a lot of free time to spend on the elliptical machine and the treadmill.  All day long, I accumulated steps, I was getting nowhere fast.

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When I began using the treadmill for the first time after my hernia injury I was using a very low setting of '7' for the resistance.  Yesterday during my four treadmill sessions, I turned it up a one notch to '8', then '9', then '10' and my fourth elliptical sessions was set to '11'.  Slowly I am regaining my strength and stamina.
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Your Food Diary For:

Monday, May 30, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Malt-o-meal Cereal - Honey Nut Scooters, 2 cup	240	48	3	6	420	18
Frigo Cheeseheads - Superstring Cheese, 3 piece	210	2	15	15	510	0
	450	50	18	21	930	18
L U N C H
Healthy Life - Lite White Bread, 4 slice	140	32	0	10	0	6
Sargento - Provolone Deli Ultra Thin Sliced Cheese, 8 slices	320	3	24	21	613	0
Butterball - Bacon Style Turkey, 6 slices	210	3	18	12	900	0
	670	38	42	43	1,513	6
D I N N E R
Post - Raisin Bran, 2 cup (59g)	380	94	2	10	460	38
	380	94	2	10	460	38
S N A C K S
Sage - Red Delicious Apple, 3 medium apple	285	75	1	2	5	57
Nestle - Crunch Candy Bar	220	30	11	2	60	24
	505	105	12	4	65	81
Totals	2,005	286	74	78	2,969	143
Your Daily Goal	6,141	767	204	308	2,300	230
Remaining	4,136	480	130	230	-668	87
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
	*You've earned 4,211 extra calories from exercise today

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       Your Exercise Diary for:

Monday, May 30, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
STAR TRAC ELLIPTICAL	92	1,036
STAR TRAC ELLIPTICAL	92	1,113
STAR TRAC ELLIPTICAL	30	449
STAR TRAC ELLIPTICAL	92	1,309
MATRIX TREADMILL	65	602
MATRIX TREADMILL	65	589
MFP iOS calorie adjustment	N/A	-887
Add Exercise Quick Tools
Daily Total / Goal	437 / 30	4,211 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	437 / 210	4,211 / 4,130

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AS I MENTIONED, I HAD A LOT OF FREE TIME YESTERDAY. AT LEAST MY FITBIT WAS HAPPY.

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ELLIPTICAL MACHINE

It is weird that during the 6 weeks or so that I was on the 'dl' (disabled list) with my hernia problem - the elliptical machine in the fitness room of my building has been broken.  The left handle completely came off the unit.  In fact, I was the last person to use the machine before it was completely out of order.  When I returned home from Salt Lake City - with the permission of my surgeon to return to normal life - the machine was finally fixed.  One might wonder why it takes 6 weeks to fix a broken piece of fitness equipment. This downtime probably would have disturbed me much more if I had been actually affected by its downtime, but I wasn't.  Yesterday, I used the elliptical machine for the first time in 6 weeks. Since that machine uses different muscles than simply treadmilling or hiking - I think I did feel a good healthy soreness during the day while I was working. It was a great feeling. Now that summer is here - I will have any of three options available to me. Walking outdoors, treadmilling or elliptical machining. As I wrote yesterday - It is good to be back!

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Your Food Diary For:

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Egg, whole, cooked, poached, 3 large	215	1	14	19	446	1
Butterball - Bacon Style Turkey, 4 slices	140	2	12	8	600	0
Sage - Red Delicious Apple, 2 medium apple	190	50	1	1	4	38
Nature Valley Crunchy Granola Bar - Oats'n Honey	190	29	7	3	180	11
	735	82	34	31	1,229	49
L U N C H
SUBWAY FOOTLONG FRESH FIT - 9-GRAIN WHEAT BREAD ROAST BEEF (no cheese) MUSTARD, 1 FOOTLONG	640	90	10	48	1,400	14
Apples - Apples, 2 medium apple	160	44	0	0	0	32
Kellogs - Nutrigrain Bar - Strawberry, 1 Bar	130	25	4	2	117	12
	930	159	14	50	1,517	58
D I N N E R
EARTHBOUND FARM - ORGANIC BABY SPINACH, 170 g (approx 3 oz, two cups)	40	0	0	4	130	0
Tomatoes - Cherry Tomatoes	24	0	0	0	0	3
Classic Grilled Cheese Sandwich, 1 sandwich	540	46	27	25	700	2
Campbell's - Condensed Tomato Soup, 1 cup (120mL)	180	40	0	4	960	24
	784	86	27	33	1,790	29
Totals	2,449	327	74	113	4,536	136
Your Daily Goal	2,989	373	99	150	2,300	112
Remaining	540	45	24	36	-2,236	-24
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
	*You've earned 1,059 extra calories from exercise today

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       Your Exercise Diary for:

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
STAR TRAC ELLIPTICAL	92	1,167
MFP iOS calorie adjustment	N/A	-108
Add Exercise Quick Tools
Daily Total / Goal	93 / 30	1,059 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	166 / 210	2,119 / 4,130

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HELLO RAZOR

My carefully cultivated wild (unshaved) appearance which was hatched over a week or so between by surgery pre-op and post-op has come to an end. I was under the impression that I was under doctors orders and forbidden to drive during the first week of hernia recovery. I admit I could not fathom why driving would be disallowed. I did discover that that that particular warning is based on the premise that a patient recovering from hernia surgery might be under the influence of strong pain killer drugs during the first week. My pain was completely dissipated after 48 hours - and I know that the absolute biggest challenge facing my recovery now will be remembering to take it easy and not to lift anything more than 15 pounds. I have made my first post op appointment with a customer to sell some buttons today. I emptied my buttons from their large suitcase and placed them in 6 individual canvas tote bags. Once I start selling my fabrics this will present some additional challenges. Fabric samples are heavy! I meet with my surgeon in 9 days. I am hopeful that some of these weight limiting restrictions will become much less restrictive. The good news is that I am back to exercising daily. I am starting where I started last year. I am spending time on the treadmill. Yesterday I was able to log 6.93 miles in a 104 minute session. The weather should be getting real good real quick and I am looking forward to to once again taking some long vigorous urban hikes. It feels very good to be pain free, as long as I remember not to sneeze, cough or sit up or sit down too quickly. Soon I will be firing on all cylinders. 

Goodbye wild look.  Pre-Shaved, Post-Op Appearance.

Hello Civilized Appearance.  Still Post-Op, but now Post-Shaved

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I would like to thank my wife Jennifer for being very helpful in my quick recovery. She answered the bell last Friday, and got me to the surgical center on time at 6AM. She stood by me as I awoke from my anesthetically induced stupor (if only all stupors were so easy to awake from - I am talking to you, America...way to go making Trump your nominee)  In addition, Jennifer has helped prepare lots of delicious meals while I have been spending more time at home than usual. I am very accustomed to eating my breakfasts at the Super 8 or some other equally uninspiring lodging - it has been much more enjoyable having a delicious freshly prepared ham and cheese omelette for breakfast.

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Your Food Diary For:

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Malt-o-meal Cereal - Honey Nut Scooters	360	72	5	9	630	27
3 Egg Omelette - Ham and Cheese, 1 Omelette	400	1	30	40	1,225	0
Sage - Red Delicious Apple, 1 medium apple	95	25	0	1	2	19
	855	98	35	50	1,857	46
L U N C H
Costco - Cheese Pizza Slice, 1 Slice	700	70	28	44	1,370	7
	700	70	28	44	1,370	7
D I N N E R
Generic - Chicken Breast, 1 breast	500	37	26	28	520	3
Wild rice, cooked, 2 cup	331	70	1	13	10	2
	831	107	27	41	530	5
S N A C K S
Apples - Apples, 3 medium apple	240	66	0	0	0	48
	240	66	0	0	0	48
Totals	2,626	341	90	135	3,757	106
Your Daily Goal	2,306	288	77	116	2,300	86
Remaining	-320	-53	-12	-18	-1,456	-20
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
	*You've earned 376 extra calories from exercise today

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Although my photograph of the treadmill display shows 99 minutes, 59 seconds - this is only because this particular treadmill is restricted to a two digit maximum on the number of minutes. After a 99 minute workout, and a 5 minute 'cooldown' the total time spent treadmilling was actually 104 minutes. It felt good to be moving my legs after so many weeks of serious inactivity.  My distance travelled was 6.93 miles.  I am happy.  My fitbit is happy.  My patched up intestines are happy.  I think in about two weeks time I will be given the 'OK' to use an elliptical machine again. And at some point, I should be able to lift more than 15 pounds.  That day can't come soon enough. Then I will be very happy.

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