Time For A Walk!

Are you sitting at your computer? Me, too!
Time for a walk!

Keep walking!

New Year, Haiti & U2

Incredible Events.

How many hurt or killed in Haiti?

I expected to share how things are going for me in 2010 and now I definitely have to say that things are fantastic when compared with what people are going through in Haiti right now.

Whatever your orientation, please send out your thoughts and prayers for the people of Haiti and all the rescue workers, medical personnel and anyone who is helping this poor country. If you can't help directly, send what money you can.

As for me, I am exactly where I was weight-wise on the morning of December 31, 2009. But, I feel good as I've been doing lots of time on the elliptical trainer at the YMCA.

This weekend I'll be away and give more detail when I get back.

I've found the U2 song, "40", to be helpful right now. Click the link below or on the title of this post to hear their version of Psalm 40.

U2's 40


So far I have walked* 79.5 miles in 2010.


Keep walking!

Las Vegas

Marianne and I are in Las Vegas at a Starbucks on Tropicana Boulevard because the internet at Emerald Suites Cameron doesn't seem to be working. We got a deal throught Priceline.com and it's nice for $49 a night - just like a little apartment across from The Orleans. Someone told me that their 1-3 No Limit Holdem game in the afternoon is the toughest in the world. I won $99 while relaxing the other day. Who knew?

It remains to be seen whether or not I will play in the World Series of Poker Main Event even though I won a satellite tournament earlier in the week. (It's complicated and I expect that most would be bored by those details.) I have walked 8.5 miles since I've been here which is easy to do in the casinos and much less so out in the heat. I can't believe my wife and I are in Las Vegas for the 4th of July!

More details soon...

Keep walking!

Friends Help

About an hour ago I got off the phone with my Wednesday 9am Warrior Group. We met at a James Ray seminar a month ago and we check in with each other every week in order to keep on track with our goals, stay positive and encourage one another. Because I have been focusing so much on my son's graduation, the graduations of friends' children (who are young adults now!) and the changes at this time in our lives (as well as attempting to win a seat in the World Series of Poker), I have not been walking as much as I have been in the past. I'm changing that. Today.

This morning Mayra, Donnie, Critter, Kevin and I were together again on the phone and as we were saying goodbye I promised to walk a mile right after the phone call. I did and just got back a few minutes ago. I took the dog and killed two birds with one stone. Because I had a little extra time I took Mellow across the street to play with a dog who was there fetching a ball. Her name was Maddie and I got to know her owner, Brad, a little bit. He and his wife are new arrivals in the neighborhood. I recommended Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad, Poor Dad somewhere in our conversation about graduation and jobs and the world economy and having more than one stream of income. He said he'd check it out. Because I ventured out into the world I was able to meet and connect with someone new and have a little unhurried time. There are more reasons than exercise to take a walk. For those of you concerned about productivity, I also listened to a message on my mobile phone and rescheduled an appointment with Michael Tarighati, my dentist.

A friend of mine has figured out that he likes some of what he calls "adhoc time". He likes having time where not everything is scheduled. He has also figured out that he can't have all his time be adhoc time if he wants to continue making money at his job! His solution is to schedule in his adhoc or free, unstructured time. Sounds like a good solution. What do you think?


I have walked 297.25 miles in 2009.

A Funny Thing Happened After Three Miles

Yesterday we got a brand new President, Barack Obama. Did you know you can use lots of occasions to make a new start or start a new habit? For me, it helps to have some familiarity with the new habit and since I've been walking more intentionally for a year and blogging about it, walking early in the day is now like an old friend with lessons to teach me. As I said, yesterday we got a brand new President. Today is his first full day in office. Using that new beginning as my inspiration, I decided to start something new. I'm walking early and this morning my dog and I walked nearly 3.5 miles before 6:15 a.m. and then I came back and checked my online networking while I ate a nice breakfast my wonderful wife made.

On Facebook I noticed that Mark Labberton had accepted my connection. He is a man of faith and he writes about it and speaks about it. I Googled him and found a recent post I urge you to check out - The Lima Bean Gospel. Even if you are a critic of the church you will find some agreement there. He says some things that should light a fire under those who follow Jesus and maybe give some verbal ammunition to critics of the church.

Keep walking!


I have walked 93 miles in 2009.

Getting Back Into The Swing

My wife, Marianne, and I arrived back home from The Bahamas late Sunday night and I'm finally feeling relatively normal. Yesterday I was feeling the after-vibe of Paradise Island and I turned off the radio and was singing in my car as I drove to pick up Mellow, our dog. A few hours later the tiredness hit me like the proverbial ton of bricks and it was a chore to visit Trader Joe's last night.

Following an email notification from my brother-in-law as well as a high school friend, I finally started to connect with some people on Facebook, so now you can find me there, too.

I have walked 72 miles in 2009.

Disneyland Christmas Present

Today we are going to Disneyland which is a major part of our son's Christmas present. We will pick up our son's girlfriend in about an hour and then we're off! Yes...I will be walking and I'll let you know what the pedometer says. Did the temperature in the car really read 39?

Keep walking!

On Being Tired

Yesterday I was really tired after many hours of activity and pretty long days at the end of the week. Just being over the cleanse and walking more did help. Some might wonder "Why not more energy?" We do have a capacity as humans and I was running up against it. So how did the cleanse and the walking help? Before the cleanse, if I had gotten this tired, I would probably have been in a grumpy mood.

You can even honestly say that the grumpy mood would be my responsibility, and you'd be right. But what made it easier for me was to have the better circulation benefits from walking and so much of the "crud" cleansed from my body. When I have the toxins built up and I'm as tired as I was yesterday, it doesn't feel good at all. With my body cleansed I was simply tired. Very tired, yes, but it was a more gentle kind of tired. I was either way less grumpy or not grumpy depending on which family member(!) you ask. That's a big benefit in my book.

Keep walking.

(BigManWalking has walked over 1000 miles in 2008.)

Walking Before 6 AM

Today I got a good start. I got a good night's sleep after visiting Dr. Tarighati yesterday who filled three cavities. I was really impressed with how smoothly it went and I was surprised when he told me it was all done. I was expecting the same amount of time for each tooth. I told him that he's impressive. One Motrin was all I took after the anesthetic wore off and I slept right throught from a little after 10 until a little after 5. Today that area seems normal except there's no pain like before. No wonder I was in a good mood so early!

My dog, Mellow, and I got 1.5 miles in and I came back and made breakfast. Mama was happy.