by Ethan Johnson
June 3, 2007

Another 30 days has come and gone, and as David Zinger would surely say, great strides were made. Um, because I'm 6' 5" tall. Anyway. Let's do the numbers:

Concluded cycle: May 4 - June 2, 2007

• # of treadmill sessions: Zero! (Once again, even in the face of overwhelming adversity. Seriously, I even got pelted with hail. Keep reading.)
• YTD miles walked on treadmill: 41.6 (Feb 3 - Apr 3 2007)
• (Outdoor) Miles walked during last reported cycle: 59
• (Outdoor) Miles walked during freshly concluded cycle: 75.8 (!!!!!!!!!)
• Average miles walked/time spent walking per day (MM:SS): 2.53/39:52
• Miles traveled by bicycle during freshly concluded cycle: 86.7
• Average miles biked/time spent biking per day (MM:SS): 2.89/17:13
• Weight loss/gain since Feb 3, 2007: -32 lbs (295 down to 263.)
• Number of floor exercise sessions held during freshly concluded cycle: 12 (approx. 15 minutes per session)
• Starting/current hip width in inches (sometimes called the "Texas waistline"): 45.5/43 (Loss of 2.5 inches)
• Starting/current belly width in inches: 47/44 (loss of 3 inches)

Whew! That's a lotta numbers!

In simple terms, I spend up to 1 hour and 15 minutes a day (maximum) exercising. I don't do it all in one fell swoop, and while that amount of time may seem excessive it really isn't. Remember, the least you can do to improve your overall fitness is to walk for a total of 30 minutes every day. Ideally, the walking should be one 30-minute session, but if it is broken up into smaller chunks I'd imagine that's still better than not walking at all.

For those of you who might be tempted to try "easy" diet pills, they tend to work on the principle of increasing your heart rate, thus shedding pounds. Of course, there is an appetite suppressant involved as well, and/or something that causes you to be, well, manic. Or there's the easy, free way: Walk for 30 minutes a day. I know I am beyond repetitive about this, but repetition is the key to memory. Remember this, then apply it.

After months of saying "I have got to go get a physical exam," I finally did it. I even brought some of my spreadsheet data, which blew my doctor's mind. "You're my first patient to bring me detailed data like this," she said. Since I am taking on something of a guru role, or at least someone who exhorts the benefits of walking 30 minutes a day, here are my blood test results in the interest of openness and transparency:

• Blood sugar: 89 (Normal range is 65-99)
• LDL ("bad") cholesterol: 132 (high end of "normal" is 99)
• HDL ("good"): 45 (Normal range is 40-59)
• Triglycerides: 76
• Overall cholesterol score: 192

The doctor believes that continued exercise will drive the "bad" cholesterol number downward, but just the same I am trying to focus on using olive oil more in my cooking, and avoiding eggs and butter wherever possible. I refuse to take cholesterol pills because in my mind, that sort of thing is a downward spiral of one prescription after another. I'd prefer to avoid the terminal pill-taking until it is unavoidable, such as my daily allergy pill.

And as the numbers bear out, I have stepped up (snort) my daily exercise plan. Not only do I walk farther and for longer periods of time, I also bought a new bike which is helping exercise other sets of muscles not necessarily affected by walking. I'm here to say if walking is the ladder to fitness improvement, biking is the elevator. You should see my legs. Woof. (My dog said that.)

Now, a few words of advice and caution before wrapping this update until next time:

• I am so committed to daily walking that I really pushed my luck and ended up walking during a potentially hazardous storm. My neighbor was with me and is therefore an accomplice, but the bottom line is, kids, let's be realistic in our pursuit of improved fitness. There's looking and feeling better, and then there's leaving a more physically fit corpse. It's better to skip a session than be an uber-committed exercise freak. Besides, unless you live in a rain forest or Seattle, waiting a few hours means walking on wet sidewalks but being safe otherwise. Naturally, after the scary green sky and intermittent hail, a few hours later the ground looked like nothing happened. Joy of the Texas heat.
• I do not starve myself, refuse to eat something and give myself raging guilt trips, or beat myself up for being "bad". I ate frozen custard (and violated my "no drive thru" rule) the other night, and regret nothing. I'd prefer that the vendor was more forthcoming with nutritional information, but when the mascot is a pig, and the main attraction is called a "concrete", does that say "healthy" to you? Since my exercise routine is constant, and so is the progress, I figure I can weather a cup of frozen custard.
• I say this often, and this update is no exception: See your doctor before getting hardcore about exercising. My doctor reviewed my exercise plan and my progress, and approved of my activities. Don't try to "be me" and assume that what has worked for me will automatically work for you. I feel comfortable suggesting 30 minutes of walking per day, but beyond that I don't know what your personal medical situation is and I refuse to be held responsible for any damage that is attributed to me without my full, active consent.
• I am keeping Marlena out of this, for the most part, but just FYI she is walking every day too, and she has lost a fair amount of weight. I won't speak for her beyond that. I will say that I picked up an 18 lb bag of dog food that we had laying around and I noted that we both had lost more weight than that bag of food. There's your hip tip for the day: If you wonder if the exercising and healthy eating is paying off really, when you see the same old you in the mirror every day, find something that physically represents the weight you lost. Even a bottle of soda is roughly 16oz (1 lb). That's one less pound you're carrying. It all adds up, just not miraculously overnight, no matter what load of hooey is being sold on late-night TV these days.
• Be realistic about your weight loss goals. Weight is only one of several metrics that I track. Also, despite comments about being "big boned" as the reason for one's physical appearance, the fact is there is a theoretical healthy minimum physical size you can be before we start using words like malnutrition, starvation, and eating disorders. I can already feel the outline of my pelvic bone and figure that my hip width will level off pretty soon, if it hasn't already. I did comfortably drop a full pants size, so that helps. My goal going into this was to drop two full pants sizes (42 down to 38). Halfway there!
• If you can't walk for extended periods of time Monday through Friday, try to extend your sessions on the weekend. I walk longer routes on the weekend, and at least 2 miles per day during weekdays. That's up from a half mile in the early going, on the treadmill. Progress!

Finally, I have a little something for Beth, who likes to collect sayings: "There will be days when I don't know if I can run a marathon. There will be a lifetime of knowing that I have." (Author unknown - to me.) Ever since I read that I am using that as my prod. Not that I have designs on running a marathon (or running, period), but like the saying mentioned, there are days when I just don't feel motivated to hit the mean streets and walk, or get through my floor exercise. Then I reach some sort of milestone, or receive similar positive feedback, and there's a spring in my step.

And as birthday boy Dave Rogers often says, that's probably enough for now. See you on the sidewalks! <EM>