Some good news some bad.

More people are hitting the trail with warmer weather.

This is for a couple of days since I have been pretty busy. The good news of the start is that even though I have not been posting daily I have still been doing my walking. So far this week I have walked more than 57 miles. This puts me over the 20 percent mark for reaching my goal of 1750 miles. I have walked 364.61 miles since December 28^th. This also means I only have 1385.39 miles left to go.

Some more good news is that I have lost more than 40 pounds since I began. I hit 256.4 yesterday and that is 40.6 off my beginning weight. The bad news is that I got a new scale to replace the old spring one that I had and I found out that the old scale was off [light] by about 7 pounds. Because of this I have adjusted my starting weight from 290 to 297. It may be more because there isn't a direct linear comparison. But that seems to be fair. More than likely I was over 300 pounds. SO that is the bad news part.

The trail has really seen the number of people go up with the warmer weather. Seems that Ground Hog may have been onto something after all. I always had faith in him. Never wavered a bit. Over the past three days we have 151, 147 and yesterday there was 197 people. It is odd to see them out there. Some of the people I have seen many times and some I have only seen one time. But there are only about four or five I have seen even in the coldest weather. I am so glad I started when it was cold because I have a feeling the heat is going to wipe me out. I am already in shorts and t-shirts. This is with the temperature being in the 40's and 50's.

Let's see what this look like in a couple weeks.

I am going back to Chicago for a few days to see Cheryl and will do some more walking from there. Though it has only been a couple of days since the snow has melted, there is green grass and some leaves beginning to grow on the trail. Get ready for pollen if you have allergies.

While my stomach is still pretty huge it is at least much softer than is has been in a long time. Not long ago when one would poke my belly it was hard and you could poke it in. Now it is soft and I giggle when that happens. Like the Pillsbury dough boy.Too bad I can't lose weight like how the snow melts. Or can I?

More birds and squirrels are around the trail now too. Dang squirrels.

Keep on Track,

Thomas

People are Getting on my Trail.

Yesterday there was a record number of people on the trail during my walk with 51. Today there were 37 people. This of course doesn't count the dogs and babies which have no say in the matter. One of the funniest ones was a woman that brought her bike with her to the Tesson parking area and just rode her bike to Gravois. That was only a two mile bike ride. I guess it is better than nothing at all but it seems really minor to me. I walked 10.63 miles and I thought I should have gone further.

There seems to be an issue with the livestrong.com website. I have tried several times to get on it to

track my walking and food but the pages keep going blank. I wonder if it will be fixed soon. That is a bit inconvenient.

The ducks were out Today, so were the people.

I saw some ducks in the creek near Grant's Trail near the headend at The Lodge end of the trail. They were all swimming together in their little ducky formation and quacking just as ducks tend to do. It will be interesting to see what sort of facility that is going to be built there and how that will relate to the park and fitness. I should look into what is available at the Clydesdale Park. But I think just walking up the hill is about enough activity for anyone.

It is very quiet in here in the morning.

I went to Grant's National Park for my turn around point. I was joust going to Gravois but I had to use their bathroom. When I was in there I sneezed. I guess it was a bit loud and the Park Ranger stuck his head in the bathroom to see what was going on.

I think I am going to get a scale that works Today. That will help measure my actual weight without having to guess. However, when I was up visiting Cheryl one time we went to Zannie's comedy club and the guy there was selling t-shirts that benefit dog rescues and I got one, The thing is the only size they had was large so I had to got that. I wore that shirt Today. Of course I am fat in it but I can at least wear it somewhat without it being over stretched.

According to my fitness tracker I have walked 331 miles and I am at almost 19 percent of my goal to walk 1750 miles. Just think, almost 20 percent done. Looking back it looks so easy, but looking forward it looks really hard.

I also had a large number of hits on my blog yesterday. I want to say thank you for reading and I hope that you will be returning to see me become successful on my journey to a better me. I couldn't do it without you. Well I could and I am.

Keep on track,

Thomas

First Month of Walking Done

Water Under the Bridge

Commuters make their way to work this morning walking over the River.

Today marks the first full calender month of walking that I have done continuously. This also marks some additional milestones. I walked more than 200 miles now. And my blood pressure continues to stay in the normal range and I am still averaging more than 1000kcal used per day. Plus my weight continues the downward trek.

A rare beautiful winter morning in downtown Chicago.

This morning I walked through downtown Chicago and went north on Wells Ave. I took this into the Lincoln Park neighborhood to where Wells ends at near Clark St. and the Zoo. Then I walked west a bit and then headed back south. I went past Clybourne then made my way over to Orleans. Then back over the Chicago River and back to the apartment. All this took about two and a half hours and was almost seven miles. The sky was nice and clear Today so I took a picture of the river as I was crossing. I really like seeing the blue sky for a change. It wouldn't be a bad deal to see it more often for sure. Right, Mr. Blue Sky?

Mr. Blue Sky returns over the Merchandise Mart.

Also on my way out I took a picture of all the commuters walking to work from the Metra station on Madison. It is so interesting seeing the people rushing to get to their buildings and all dressed in black for the cold weather. I stand out as I am wearing a light gray sweatsuit. But I think everyone else looks funny. When I made my way over to Wells I was walking and listening to my iPod looking at the sidewalk just following the person in front of me and we headed out into the street and she stopped right in front of me. I almost ran her over. That would have been my first pedestrian accident. I wonder if you have to call the cops for one of those? Anyway I had to grab her arms to move use her to help me stop. I bet she thought I was some creepy guy. Well then why did she follow me for five blocks.The neighborhood seems rather pleasant. I wouldn’t mind living there. I wonder what the rent goes around there or if they are all condos or homes.

I did see a lot of dogs and a lot of dog traces in the snow. I hope it was from a dog at least. Plus I saw a few pet shops. The deal with most of them in that neighborhood is they are too small. But they certainly need a pet photographer in the area.

Losing Pressure

I am very pleased with my results thus far and very pleased with how my blood pressure is getting under control. Actually Today was the lowest the my diastolic pressure has been to date. So now the focus is on keeping on the journey and reach the goal. It will be really nice when am in the 250s again. That should happen sometime next month.

Don't forget to donate blood if you can. We always need blood donations. Click on the link on the top left side of my blog to find a Red Cross donation center or go on line to find a place to help. Remember that blood can only come from you and it can help up to three people every time you donate. Plus you get cookies and juice when you go. Plus it may be you or a family member or friend that needs your blood in an medical emergency. Plus you don't even need all that blood.

Stay on track

Thomas

Warmer Work Day and Windy Casualty

Chicago Skyline from Shedd Aquarium.

Today I had my iPod all charged up so I could actually go the distance and know how far I walked. I did go a bit further than I did yesterday but not by that much; only about a mile further I would say. So that means I should add about 4000 steps would be about right. My total steps Today was 17, 014. This is my greatest distance since I began walking again. That is, walking as a means of weight loss.

On an important call.

That reminds me, since I began doing the tracking last March I have walked more then 333 miles. 113 miles of that has been in the past three weeks so the previous amount is not that important. But to reach my goal of 1750 miles I have to walk more then 3.5 million steps. I have reached 6.51 percent of it Today. I guess that is right. It just seems the number is growing faster than I am “un-growing.” But that is 93.49 percent left of my goal. So I guess it isn't as much as it seems.

The first stop Today was at Cheryl's office. We went by Harpo Studios again. The building looks nice. I like the art deco style that is has. After that we went to Cheryl's office. On the way to her office there is a area where several food distributors are located so the street gets a bit filled with parked and moving vehicles. On the way out after Cheryl got to work the snow started to fall again. But it didn't last that long.

The lake wind took me down Today when I hit some ice.

I have my first injury. I was walking the path around the Shedd Aquarium and the wind off Lake Michigan was really coming in and I hit an icy spot and it blow me down. Right on my knee cap too. I have also notice that foot traffic greatly diminishes after you cross Michigan Ave. From there to Lake Michigan there are very few people out walking. I am getting a bit sick of these drivers that don't think they have to stop for pedestrians. I gave a couple of them the “number one” sign.

Hurt Knee

Also I find saying “excuse me” when walking doesn't seem to get anyone out of your way but a good bark does. Everyone wants to see a dog I guess. So they turn to look and it is me walking toward them and they move. Yesterday was not too bad walking since it was Martin L. King Jr day. I guess why so few people where out and about. However, people were out enough this morning enough to make up for the difference of the prior day.

Another bit of good news is the continued downward progression of my blood pressure. I am getting more and more readings that are “in range” of the normal blood pressure. This is the main goal of the entire process to get my blood pressure under control. So these results are quite encouraging. Also my pulse seems to continue in getting stronger, that is lower.

Near Soldier Field, Bear hope to beat the Packers to get to the Super Bowl.

On my walk Today I made it close to Soldier Field and went around the Shedd Aquarium and the Field Museum. I was going to try to go all the way to the Alder Planetarium but I couldn't figure out how to walk there. I will look at a map and see how that path works out. From there it would be a good view of the city for a picture. Also Cheryl and I are planning on getting some tickets from the library so I can go for free.

Final thought is this; I am not so please with the warmer weather. I wish it was a bit colder so the ice was frozen solid. Less slipping that way.

Keep on track,

Thomas

Amazing! I lost 2 pounds in just 1 week!

Learn how you can too. It may sound amazing but the results speak for themselves. Yes, In just one week I went from 278 pounds to 276 pounds. And you can too! Tired of diet pills and shakes that only leave you hungry? Tired of having to watch what you eat? Want to get that weight off and keep it off? Here is the secret to my fantastic results.

But before I let you in on the True Weight Loss secret, what would you pay to achieve the same amazing results? $300? $500? $1000, for these incredible results?

Less food, more move is the key.

No way! By taking advantage of this limited time offer you can get the secret to the True Weight Loss system for FREE. That's right absolutely no charge whatsoever.

Do you hate having to watch what you eat? Having to consider the fat and calories of everything you put in your mouth? Well too bad. That is how it works. You have to eat better and modify your bad eating habits, what ever they happen to be, for good ones. Do you think German chocolate cake makes for a good breakfast food? Maybe if your an Olympic athlete training for long distance running but for most of us try a bowl of cereal or oatmeal.

Do you think a candy bar once or twice a week is “OK” for you? It is OK if you are walking the calories off. For example a bag of plain M&Ms has 236.16 kcal. To work that off you need to walk about a mile and a half extra from your normal routine. If you eat a more healthy Snickers bar you have 273.03 kcal. This requires about two and a quarter miles to burn up that amount of energy. So how much is that candy bar worth? If you have a goal of getting your weight down it is “weigh” to much.

Will you walk 2.25 miles to burn this?

Calorie Counts

My line of reasoning goes something like this. If I eat a candy bar after I walk four miles I just wiped out the effectiveness of half the work I just did. Granted the four or five miles is more than I have been doing in the past when I was still eating candy bars and higher calorie foods but now that I am focused on getting the results I need I see no reason to add to the struggle of my goal. 

Beer Calories

A beer belly is built.

For anyone that drinks a beer the results are the same. A Bud Light has 110 calories so if you were to consume one you would need to walk more than a half mile just to work off the calories? If you have a six pack of Bud Light you are looking at more than four miles to work off those calories. Miller Lite is 96 calories and so with that one you have a slight advantage but the results for a six pack comes to just over3.5 miles to burn up those calories. Of course those are the more popular light beers if you drink any others it will only increase the distance plus shots and drinks will similarly increase your distance to burn those calories.

So the secret to my Amazing weight loss is simply this. Eat less and move more. Use up the number of calories that you want to lose. Granted this is not a one to one correlation because there is the baseline metabolic rate to consider and the additional benefits you get due to the work of your body becoming more active. Your bodies increased heart rate, the increase in respiration and the digestion processes and the healing of muscles that are damaged during such increase in activity also add to the over all burning of calories by the body.

This is Grant's home at Grant's Farm. The fence in front was made from the barrels of Civil War guns.

With that said, There were only nine people on Grant's Trail Today. I hope that people have not already gave up on only the third day of the year. It was a bit colder but that is fine. The only day I didn't go out was Sunday. But Today I went ahead and walked to the Grant's trail and Reavis intersection. It didn't take much more time and it did add about another mile so I think I might go ahead and keep doing that. I hope everyone is doing well that is following this blog. It has been good to see so many people reading it so far. It has been useful to me as well to make me keep focused on my goal. So for that I thank all of you that have took the time to read my journey.

I also began tracking a new statistic on my walks; miles per hour. This is done by recording the time I start and stop. I convert that into minutes and then divide my distance by that and then multiply that to produce a miles per hour total. So far I am averaging about 3.5 miles per hour.