Steve's Blog Spot

My wife and I first watched the movie, The Way , several years ago, and immediately fell in love with the idea of walking across Spain once we were both retired. Life has thrown a few obstacles in the way of timing, but it is going to happen this year. I'm not getting any younger! As an avid walker, I have wanted to do something challenging walking-wise. An acquaintance of mine walked the Appalachian Trail after he retired and that got me thinking, despite the fact that thinking too much usually leads to headaches. But 2,000 miles seemed a little much, especially combined with camping and back-packing. I'm no outdoors-man! So upon learning of the Camino de Santiago de Compostela  and that it was only  500 miles and no camping, I knew that was it! I just needed to have the time to do it. Now that I am retired, I got time! And I LOVE to walk! I'm pretty well committed now, as I have taken the first real step by snagging an awesome air fare deal. Charlotte to Madrid r/t...

Looking back, I just noticed I started this blog almost 9 years ago to the day! 9 years and 8 days. Wow! A lot has happened in that time. I remarried, and retired. I had just started walking and continue to do so today. I love it and it's great exercise! Lost weight, gained it back and have lost it all again, though this time it's staying off. My goal is another 40 pounds by year end, if I can do it without muscle loss.

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 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 ...

Check out this simple, lo-cal dessert recipe . All of 117 calories!

I hit a milestone while walking last night. I have now walked 600 miles since beginning my walking program last April 1. I needed to walk only 4.25 miles, but ended up doing 7.6! I started thinking about how far that distance really is. It's the equivalent of my house to the Mississippi river at Vicksburg, or to Tampa, or St. Louis. I am on my fourth pair of walking shoes. Perhaps I should be reed-thin by now, but I do like to eat, and enjoy an occasional - heh! - bottle of red wine. Hey, life's a compromise! If I'm not losing pounds, then I seem to be losing inches. Slowly, but surely. I have to force myself to walk over 60% of the time, but I always seem to be rewarded by something. Right now, it's the fall colors. They are amazingly rich! So, I'll keep on trucking, as it were. Go, Forrest, go!

This hasn't been exactly a piece of cake, no pun intended! I last wrote in August about hitting a plateau. Well, I have managed to break through it. Gradually. Persistently. Painfully slowly. So far, I've lost a total of 40 pounds. Please, spare the applause. I have a long way to go, no time to sit back and dwell in it. The biggest effect has shown up in my waistline - I'm down 6 inches there. I am now wearing pants that date back several years. They're still just a little tight, but once I get past them, it will require investing in some new ones. I am still eating healthier - more fruit and vegetables, fish a couple of times a week, whole grains, smaller portions - but I haven't exactly given up on certain indulgences, as in - and not limited to - a good bottle of red wine. I guess I could have lost more weight faster, but my approach was to make lifestyle changes, and look longer term. Walking has been the key. It's gotten to the point where I can't not w...

It's sucking right now! In a word - plateau. I am still sticking to my walking program - over 115 miles in July - and limit my calories to 2,000 - 2,500 a day, but the scale has stuck! However, I was expecting it, as my 75 year old fellow walking mentor, Don - the guy in my neighborhood who inspired my to get off my butt - had warned me he went through stages where there would be no weight loss, despite his efforts. (It took him 18 months to shed 60 pounds.) This seems to be supported by articles I've read on line. It seems that once you lose about 10% of your body weight, your body takes notice, and begins to try to maintain the status quo. This is logical, as eons of evolution has hard-wired into us a defense mechanism to avoid starvation. Unfortunately our bodies are still stuck in the olden days, when monster-burgers and planet-sized fries were undreamt of. But I trudge on and stay on the plan. After all, it's only been about 4 months, and it took 20 years to develop th...

for my on-going weight loss "project": Lbs. lost so far - 27 Waist size loss - 4" Miles walked in June - 70 Average length of walk - 5 miles For various reasons, I only walked 14 days in June. I generally don't walk when I have done other activities such as golf or yardwork, but towards the end of the month, I did walk in addition to those other activities. I think I've hit a little plateau with the weight loss, so I guess I'll have to increase the number of days I walk in July. My new "minimum" walk is now 5 miles, which takes about an hour and 25 minutes, or approximately a 17-minute mile. It's a comfortable length. My long Sunday walks still max at 8 miles, and those I really start to feel at the 6 mile mark. Portion control is progressing well. I went to dinner with some of my Corvette friends last Friday, and could only finish half the meal. (I did, however, managed to force down my 1/2 carafe of the house red!) In past times, I would have...

While walking, I always have my portable FM radio with me and among the stations I listen to, Charlie 106.3 FM plays a really cool, diverse mix, so it occupies the number one spot on my preset list. Well, I guess it was too good to last. It now has been replaced by a local all-talk, formerly AM radio station! What a bunch of horse hockey! I have a bunch of friends who also feel the same way. Actually, if the talk station had moved to a different place on the FM band, I would have listened to both. But now, I listen to neither one. You would think their marketing people would have more savvy. More reason to love my XM radio!

or you are considering taking up walking, a decent pedometer is great to have to track your results. I have calibrated mine with the help of a really neat Google website called Gmap-Pedometer . You can zoom in measure your walking route. I saved a few routes and compared the distances to my pedometer, then calibrated it so the distances were very close. I like to vary my route a lot, plus do some walking on the golf course (now closed until October due to their replacing all their greens), so the distance on the pedo is now pretty accurate. Rufus at Dirty Harry's Place has some very interesting comments on weight loss and walking here . Take a couple of minutes to read it. It's good.

But a little less of me. I have been sliding into a weight loss mode lately, and it's starting to have some results. I'm down about 25 lbs. and 4 inches in my waist. I'm nowhere near svelte , but it's a start. I say "sliding" because I'm taking it a baby step at a time. Back in January, I weighed in at a monstrous lard-ass 312 lbs., (I'm really being honest and open here!) and my 46" waist pants with the 2" extra-stretch waist were maxed out! I went shopping for some new pants, but the only sizes for me were in the Big & Tall department. I found that to be a bit embarrassing. I guess I could blame it all on a divorce, related stresses, blah, blah, but the reality is more calories coming in than going out. It's really that simple. It was time to do something about it. Failure to take corrective steps could not be good. I decided my first step was to start reducing my portion size. A quick retrospection of my eating habits was no so muc...