No Foolin'

Tomorrow is April 1st. I'll be making some changes in my blog, BigManWalking.

Watch for the changes!

No foolin'!

Keep walking.

Fundamentals

In sports you will sometimes see a coach or a team emphasizing fundamentals. In baseball or basketball or football you will see drills of the same exercise over and over and over. Blocking, fielding ground balls, free throws, and many other exercises constitute the fundamentals of the respective games. With walking I would say that it's walking short distances. You must be able to walk short distances before you can walk long ones.

Today I'm going to start emphasizing the fundamentals (as I see them) again. Please keep in mind that I don't have any problem with walking to the point that you are receiving aerobic benefits. However, if you only count walking distance when you get aerobic benefits, you will miss counting actual work that your body is doing. Every step you take is work that burns calories or fractions of a calorie. You could say that taking one step is a fundamental of walking. For our purposes, I suggest that we keep track of quarter miles (or even eighths of a mile if you prefer) or more.

I know that approximately 500 of my steps is a quarter mile. I'm 6'2" with long legs which are normal for my size. You will probably have between 480 and 680 steps in your quarter mile. You can visit the track at a nearby school to get a close measurement. You can count your steps or get a pedometer. I recommend the Sportline that costs around $10 or so. My last one wore out because I forgot when I was in the Bahamas and went in the water with it. Otherwise I would still be using it. They don't last forever, but so far they are the best deal for the dollar I've found.

How many quarter miles can you do in a day? I just walked my dog a quarter mile and that took 7 minutes. I know you can take 7 minutes and do a quarter mile. How about 5 times a day? 10 times a day? 15? I also know that without the dog I can do a quarter mile in 4 to 5 minutes. Keep watching BigManWalking and...


Keep walking!


I have walked 133.25 miles in 2009.

Recovery.Gov

I want everyone to know about http://www.recovery.gov so as many people as possible view what the United States government is doing with the money we put into it. In fairness, some would say that we are watching what is being done with the money that our children and grandchildren will put into it, but that remains to be seen. President Clinton produced surpluses during his administration and it's possible that President Obama and future presidents will do the same by the END (when all is said and done) of their tenure. Some people assume that when the government spends money, it all goes down a hole. If we are rational (Yes, I understand that that word is my judgement, but let us agree that being rational about politics and finances is a good goal.) about examining what happens to the money that the U.S. government spends, we can follow the trail and see if what we are doing is actually stimulative. That is, now that President Obama and his team have VOLUNTARILY created RECOVERY.GOV we can visit the site and see how our money is spent.

Some are not rational about this. They simply say that government spending is bad or more to the point, they don't want the U.S. government to take money from us in order to spend. They're like young school children who simply repeat what they are taught. (Did you know very young kids can be taught to do Calculus? They won't necessarily understand what they are doing, but they can be taught to do it.) It's fair to say that all human beings are fallible and that with human beings involved in government, mistakes will be made. But that is no different than you and me in nongovernmental activities every day. And, with a government large enough there will almost inevitably be corruption somewhere among those millions of people in government and doing business with the government. However, every day on TV or the net or other media I see and hear about people who are NOT involved in government who are committing crimes and that includes the crime of corruption.

Yet there will be successes. Let's look to praise the successes and correct the mistakes. Let's not expect the government to do nothing except tax cuts. I want better transportation systems and adequate police and fire resources and head start and better public education for kids and advanced education for those who take that path. I want better doctors than the one who squeezed my son's hand and knocked him out from the pain and sent him into an apparent seizure when he had never had one before. People who expect the government to do nothing (or to hardly exist, if at all) are building a (what's the opposite of spectacular?) fantasy world that they apparently want to live in. I think what they're doing is not helpful to their psychological well-being, too, and I guess in the United States of America that is their choice. But I sure don't want them to force me to live in their fantasy world which is really a nightmare for the poor and even lower-middle class. It's a pretty hard slog for the plain old middle class, too.

Hurray for Recovery.gov!

Now back to your regularly scheduled messages...


Keep walking!

A Quick Ten Furlongs Before Breakfast

My wife and I like to go out for coffee sometimes on Saturday morning. (Actually, I have tea a lot of the time.) This morning when we got back from our time spent reading the paper and sharing a hot beverage I decided to walk the dog before I went into the house. This is a good strategy for getting more walking in. Mellow and I did a mile and a quarter (ten furlongs) before breakfast. How many times can you do that in a year? Even three times a week means 52 times 3 times 1.25 miles and that's 195 miles extra a year. That is...do whatever you're doing PLUS walk 1.25 miles three times a week and you will have walked an EXTRA 195 miles a year. You'll feel better and you will weigh more than five and a half pounds less than you do now. Six times a week (it only took me a little over 20 minutes) and you'll weigh 11 pounds less than you do. IF you changed NOTHING else! If you added in a better diet/regimen/life plan/discipline (whatever you call it) you can lose even more. Over 5 years that's 55 pounds of weight loss. Think about it.

Walk always.

Keep walking.

You Can Start Over Anytime

Today is Super Bowl Sunday and we're not avoiding the guacamole and chips and pizza. Tomorrow will be a new day and a new start to the year for me. Marianne and I will go to the gym. When you fall off, you have to get back on and that's what we're doing tomorrow. Do you have goals or a New Year's resolution that's off track? Start again. It's ok. If you need an excuse, then start again on Groundhog Day. If you need permission, tell them Charlie said you could start over. Forgiveness. Grace. Look it up. It's real if you accept it.

I have walked 122.5 miles in 2009. Keep walking!

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.

Sometimes You Just Gotta Walk

Here's a little bit of an update:

I did gain weight in The Bahamas. I want to stress that the walking was effective. I'm sure I gained a pound or so LESS because of all the walking. For you skeptics, that's just the way it works. Your body does physical work and it burns calories. There is no magic (except in romance). I DECIDED that I was going to eat basically what I wanted after a couple days at Atlantis. I had never been east of Florida before and I was not going to miss out. I chose to eat more and a wider variety, knowing the consequences. I had already done a little of that New Year's eve.

Regular readers may recall that earlier on New Year's eve I weighed myself and that final weigh-in for 2008 was 112.2 kilos. I started the year at 123.2 kilos and that difference of 11 kilos means that I lost 24.2 pounds. Some (females, especially) are amazed how much weight a man can gain in a short period of time. If you're really curious, email me. I am back to "being good" with what I eat and this morning I weighed in at 113.7 kilos. That is down from our arrival home Sunday night.

New readers may actually wonder, "What are you telling us all this stuff? Do you just like to hear yourself speak(/write)?" [ Let me think...MAYbe...I did once tell a mentor that I treasure my own company! ;-) ] My hope is that by seeing what is actually going on with a real person you can be encouraged that YOU can do it, too. No matter what it is for you, you can do it. (And, for 90%+ of us, walking is something we can do and it helps our bones and our brains!) Weeks or months or years from now you can revisit my blog and as long as I'm alive and coherent (some already see this as iffy) enough to post, you will see me making progress. I know you can do it. I'm DOING it in my life right now!

I want to acknowledge our creator here. (If you don't believe, you obviously have the choice to skip ahead, but please don't stop reading this blog entirely. People who care about you want you to reach your goals and be around when you're old to do things like bounce your grandniece on your knee or teach her math and science or read Where The Wild Things Are to your grandson.) In 2007 I wanted to lose weight and I barely achieved that goal. I lost 1 pound in 2007. On December 31, 2007 I asked God for help in losing weight and getting in better shape and in 2008 I lost 24.2 pounds. (Thank you.) I also want to thank you who are reading my blog. Knowing that you're out there (especially when you comment!) means that there are some people to whom I'm accountable. That helps me and it can help you, too.

Right now I'm going to do it - some walking - because no matter what else is going on, sometimes you just have to close your mouth and stop what you're doing and saying and get out there AND DO IT! And my loyal dog, Mellow, will be a little happier. Somebody said, "Just Do It!" That's what I'm going to do. Right now.


Keep walking!

On Networking Discoveries

If you're on Twitter, get on Facebook and vice-versa. Once you're on Twitter, you can use Tweetworks. If you have a blog, all the better. I'm telling you - I'm really figuring this stuff out. Of course, you have to remember to take a break and take a walk.

Keep walking!

Thanks, AAA!

Just got off the phone with AAA, the Automobile Club of Southern California, and the call took less than four minutes. Cedar Towing should be at our house in less than 30 minutes. (If you don't have Triple A, you should. There aren't many actual shoulds in life, but it's one of them.) I guess I really am back in the real world! I'm grateful that this didn't happen to our son while we were in The Bahamas.

Keep walking!

Walk While You Can

Some of us remember high school and Bartlett's Familiar Quotations and that's where I went to see about walking quotes.



Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you.


Jesus (John 12:35b)

Twitter quote 121 http://tinyurl.com/BMW777195 at Bartleby.com

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.

Coming Home Tomorrow

We have definitely had some big fun here in The Bahamas at Paradise Island this week and, after discovering The Marketplace buffet on Thursday we have eaten there four times. More walking and pictures are in store for today. We heard from family that our son is doing ok, though we heard he's been sick. It would be nice to hear from the horse's mouth, but...

So far I have walked 62.5 miles in 2009. Atlantis, Paradise Island is one heck of a place to take a walk.


Keep walking!