1000 Miles This Year!

This morning I logged my hours at Lime.com. I had high hopes starting out this year for walking and for how helpful Lime.com would be in keeping track of my mileage. My opinion of Lime.com is that it is too cumbersome. Sometimes it takes too long to open a page and sometimes the page comes up blank. I sent them an email a long time ago and haven't seen a response. I recommend keeping track of your miles, but somewhere else.

Now, the good, no, GREAT news. After checking my records at Lime.com, I'm pretty sure they will confirm that I went through the 1000 mile mark for the year on Thursday, December 11, 2008! Yes! I feel good about that and we will celebrate at some point, but not by eating! Part of the reason I am walking and keeping track is to encourage you. Of course, it's good for my health, but I really, truly want to inspire you to walk more. Or, if you are exercising regularly and more ambitiously than that, you can add walking and that can allow you the opportunity to slow down and appreciate your surroundings and your life. You can walk 1000 or even 1500 or 2000 miles or more in a year. Some of you may have to start with 250 miles in 6 months. Others will be fine with more than that. You can do it. You can do it. You can do it. I did.

Keep walking!

Five Miles Before Three

I took the dog after my last post inspired me (See? I inspired myself. Big Man Walking motivates and inspires!) and we walked about 3 1/2 miles which brought today's total to just over 5 miles. We just kept going a little bit more and a little bit more and walked the neighborhood in all directions and I made sure Mellow had plenty of water when we got back. I found I had some time and took advantage of the situation. I am walking. You can walk. Please walk today. No matter what.

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I found some books and a CD on walking at BooksaMillion.com. I have ordered from them successfully half a dozen times since the beginning of November. Great prices. Free shipping orders over $25. Follow these links to buy them now!


Walk Away The Pounds by Leslie Sansone - Click on the title of this post. Otherwise click on the title of the book or CD.

The Essential Walker's Journal
Leslie Sansone

Absolute Beginner's Guide to Half-Marathon Training
Heather Hedrick

Walking: The Complete Book
Jeff Galloway

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Walking For Health


Running and Walking for Women Over 40
Kathrine Switzer

The Step Diet:
Count Steps, Not Calories to Lose Weight and Keep It Off Forever
James O. Hill

The Healthy Heart Walking CD:
Walking Workouts for a Lifetime of Fitness
Rita Moreno

I have listed the first author where more than one is listed by the website and did not list the author of "The Idiot's Guide".

Oh yeah...walking helps you feel good

I was feeling a little out of it earlier this evening at my sons's soccer game. I had some dental pain and decided to watch the game while walking outside the perimeter fence. In just a little while my mind was off the pain and my son's team was seven and one.

Last year I wrote an article about the negative mood swing possible when you put certain substances in your body.
Click to view my mood article.

Pushing four miles before dinner

This is day seven of my walking new year. Nearly four miles walked and the sun hasn't gone down yet. Tomorrow I look at the scale and no matter the result, I still have 51 more weeks to go in 2008. How did I get started down this path?

I just decided that I really need to make health more of a priority and walking is something 99% of us can do. So, if I can do it, you can do it, too. I sit a lot and I can feel a huge difference because I'm getting up and walking at least a few times a day. Maybe that's my metabolism getting in gear...

I also know that I'm about 90 lbs. heavier than I was when I met my honey, Marianne, in the 80's. I thought of myself as "husky" from a fairly young age. I don't think you could call me slender after about second grade, but that husky label was a disservice. Even wrestling my freshman year in high school I thought of myself that way, but really, that wasn't close to where I'm at now and many people probably thought I was in fine shape. I kept thinking of myself as heavy until I made it really come true.

Our son, Stuart, will be in college in August or September of 2009 and it will be great to be in much better shape by the time he graduates from high school. We've talked about him being an old man and me being an old, old man in our rocking chairs someday and I would like to be there when that happens.

While I was thinking about New Year's resolutions, my brother was going to the hospital late New Year's Eve with pancreatitis and he was there for days. He's only 51, but he was in incredible pain. I know he can do better, but he'll have to restrict his diet and at least walk on a regular basis. No beer for a long time, if ever, if he wants to make sure that pain doesn't come back. I'm almost 45 and I want to be in a lot better shape when I get to 46, let alone 51.

My honey wants me to be around for a long time, too. And, as someone who enjoys public speaking, this journey will give me more to talk about. Last but not least, I do care about people having better lives, so if I can write about this and some of you find it encouraging enough to make positive changes in your lives, I'm doing more of what I'm supposed to do while I'm here.

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Starting with this post, I'll include a link that I find important or interesting "underneath" the title of the post. Take a peek or ignore it - your choice. Click today to find one of the most important designers in the world. William McDonough is helping us design a more living, livable and lasting world. He's also involved with the Make It Right Foundation, which is helping New Orleans build houses the right way for a healthier planet.