Taking Wrigley by Storm, of sorts.

Cubs stink, even in winter.

Today Cheryl joined me in an ambitious walk from Wrigley Field to to her apartment. We took the Red line to Wrigley Field and then walked around the park and headed back south on Clark Street. Outside Wrigley they had a skating rink set up. It said it was open for business but do to the snow flurries there were no people out there. On the Sheffield side we saw a bar and grill there with a Kansas State University Wildcat flag up so I had to get a shot of that. The distance from Wrigley to her apartment is about seven miles. Plus we walked a mile to reach the Red line so we did about eight miles Today.

A welcome site near Wrigley.

Along the way home we stopped at several stores as Cheryl needed to take a few rest stops. It was a harder walk for her. It was good to walk along Clark since it has so many shops and restaurants along the way. We also went by the famous Moody Church, which is a very large and architecturally interesting structure. Cheryl want to go inside but we couldn't find an open door. There were plenty of doors but none of them would let us in.

We were going to go the Humane Society and look at some of the dogs and were told that they open on noon on Saturday. I thought that was rather late in my experience for you to start having the dogs available to the public. I think most pet stores I have worked at start as early as they can and stay around as long as they can too. I mean isn't the idea to get people in so the dogs can find new homes?

Famous Moody Church

Along the walk we used the John Hancock Building as a guide to our distance. I was pretty good at judging the distance to it. From Wrigley Field we are about five miles from it and Cheryl's apartment is about two miles from that so my estimates were right on target.

I have walked a total of 155 miles and I am at 8.77 percent of my goal of 1750 miles. I am at 91.72 percent of my starting weight and I have used up 24,559kcal from my walking. My heart rate average for the month of January is 132/86.

Stay on track,

Thomas

Twinkie Diet and Vandalism.

Skeptical views on many subjects.

Last night I was looking up on line the information about the Twinkie Diet that I heard about on November 18, 2010 on the podcast “The Skeptics Guide to the Universe” and they briefly touched on the results of that diet. I thought it was interesting and at the Skepticon III conference in Springfield, MO I even joked with Rebecca Watson of the Skeptics Guide about the diet while she was on stage preparing to give her talk.

Seems that It was done by an Assistant Professor at Kansas State University Mark Haub. I think that is mighty awesome considering that I graduated from K-State. But I saw that the news of the results of his experiment had reached world wide attention. I contacted Haub this morning and he said via e-mail that he was surprised by the media response. He added that, I am “not sure I want to go through the media gauntlet again, though.”

Kansas State University Assistant Professor Mark Haub.

I also asked about his weight since he published the findings. He said, My “weight was stable for 1.5 months and then increased two lbs between Christmas Eve and this morning.”

That isn't too bad at all considering the weight loss and tasty diet he was on.

Not too shabby for a diet that focuses on “junk food” as many call it. I don't think I am going to do that diet but the premise is still sound as the one that I am using. The most important factors in weight loss are calorie input and output. There were several other positive factors to the diet and you can read about them if you follow this link to CNN.

Twinkie Diet

Trailnet office on Reavis BRKS RD.

With that said, the walk Today was again 28ºF. The water is getting more frozen on Gravois Creek. Grant's trail flows along the creek most of the way. I saw near the point were the picture I took of 'JIZO” is on the bridge support the creek is more frozen than in other places. It looks like some people have taken to throwing rocks in the creek to break it up. They may not be sure if the mass of a rock from that height can break through the ice when it is so think. But I think they are just trying to cause trouble. As long as they are safe I guess it is fine.

At the Trailnet office Today I saw several vans there. I wonder if that office is a main office for Trailnet. I might stop by soon and talk to someone Tomorrow.

AAA borders Grant's Trail at Gravois Rd.

As far as on the trail I saw nine people Today. There was one guy that was parked in the Affton Athletic Association’s parking lot. He had a couple of dogs and oddly enough he parked right behind the sign that said “NO Grant's Trail Parking.” My distance was a bit longer than normal. I think that must be due to the fact of me walking around the Trailnet office to get the pictures. Plus I forgot to set my stopwatch or check the time when I started.

My blood pressure was 133/87 and my pulse was 82. That was right after I got in. According to my fitness tracker I have 7807kcal so far. That is officially two pounds of fat. That is also nearly 100,000 steps on my journey to losing myself.

It would be nice to have a guideline to estimate the additional calories, if any, my body uses due the the walking. I will research it and find out.

Keep moving on the trail,

Thomas