Steve's Blog Spot

Still at it, although I had plateaued for the longest time! The secret? I gave up alcohol for Lent!
I don't think that's the only thing, as I have lowered the calories a notch or two, and have added new activities - hiking and contra dancing - to my walking/workout mix. But water instead of alcohol was quite the change for me!
But, since I quit the bottle way back on Ash Wednesday, I have started losing again, and I have now broken through a new threshold - I weigh less than I did three years ago, when I quit going to the gym. I had also plateaued then, and had been unable to break through a certain weight point.
Tallying it all up so far, results for the last 12 months:
Weight Loss: 45 lbs
Waist Inches Lost: 6+
Miles Walked: 975
Cholesterol: 104 (target <200)
Triglycerides: 98
BP: 126/76
So, I guess things are working! However, I really am only getting started, rather than winding down. I plan on losing another 30+ pounds, which I think will be more difficult, but would get me into …

New job, new activities, still walking.
I have been most remiss in maintaining my blog. I've just had a lot of things going on!
In early January I joined a walking group that gets together on Wednesday evenings. I thought it would be a great diversion from my solitary, routine neighborhood walks. They walk routes from 3.5 to 4 miles, around the downtown area, along the Reedy River and the zoo. They are a wonderful, diverse bunch of people, sorta like all my Corvette friends! I look forward to their weekly company and our occasional dinners afterward, sorta like my Corvette friends.
As in most groups, there has developed a core of people who are the real heart of things, sorta like my Corvette friends, so after several discussions, we have taken up mountain hiking on Sunday afternoons. We started by going to Paris mountain, and have since included hikes at Jones Gap, Caesar's Head, and portions of the "new"/under construction Swamp Rabbit Trail. These hikes tend to be qu…

Once upon a time there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work. One day he was walking along the shore. As he looked down the beach, he saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself to think of someone who would dance to the day. So he began to walk faster to catch up.As he got closer, he saw that it was a young man and the young man wasn't dancing, but instead he was reaching down to the shore, picking up something and very gently throwing it into the ocean.As he got closer he called out, "Good morning! What are you doing?" The young man paused, looked up and replied, "Throwing starfish in the ocean." "I guess I should have asked, why are you throwing starfish in the ocean?" "The sun is up and the tide is going out. And if I don't throw them in they'll die." "But, young man, don't you realize that there are miles a…