Challenging week ahead

This is going to be a challenging week when it comes to getting my daily steps and exercise. For the most part, an alternative to walking isn't a big deal. I have an indoor cycle, Nordic Track skier and a weigh machine. Getting in my 10,000 steps with a week of rain in the forecast may be a bit tougher.
Later in the week I have have some serious drive time to deal with. I planning on making the time for walking on those days, but it is still a challenge.

I'll definitely be keeping the walks close to home if I find some times when it is not raining. I don't want to be too far if the sky decides to open up and dump its water on me. I don't mind walking in the rain in the summertime, but November showers tend to be on the chilly side.

It has been raining through the night. Right now it is windy, but no rain. I should probably get out there but I'm still working on my first cup of coffee. I'm sure that I'll manage to keep my daily streak intact.
No excuses -- right?
I suppose that running instead of walking would shorten the time that I am out and limit the chances of getting caught in the rain. However, at my brisk walking speed and slow running speed the difference isn't great and I'm still comfortable with the idea of walking daily vs running irregularly.

Make your week a good one!
Be well,

John <><

Walking

We are one third of the way into November and I have been doing well when in comes to daily walking. It's not been anything to get excited about, but I'm back to walking every day and have made my 10,000 steps every day -- so far.

I do have a couple of all day travel days still to come this month but am hoping to manage a decent walk on those days as well.

I've been getting a little extra work in the way of squats, push ups and some light yoga, but again -- nothing to get excited about. At this point, I am comfortable calling my daily walk (usually about 3 miles) my regular exercise and anything else is something extra.

Perhaps I'll add to my regular exercise and include some yoga a few times per week. Then I'll consider walking and yoga to be my regular exercise and the body weight stuff to be extra.
I did manage a little running last week; maybe I'll do that on a more regular basis. Then again, maybe not.

In any case, my health is good. My weight is up a little, but not so much that I'm overly concerned. I would like to trim it back down before our January beach vacation, so I will be keeping an eye on it during the upcoming holidays.

Be healthy.
Be active.
Be well!

John <><

No Excuse November

It is a foggy start to the month of November in the Ozarks, but the daytime highs will be back in the 70s for the beginning of the week. That will be nice after the cool temperatures to end the month of October.

I see that I haven't posted on my Healthy Living blog in well over a month. That is because of a relapse into the unhealthy guy part.

Actually, October wasn't a bad month -- irregular on the walking and not too concerned about a daily step goal, but it really wasn't too bad. I plan to look at November/December with a bit more attention to the details of day-to-day healthy living.

One of the things that I did in October was to work on flexibility. I'm going to continue with that and with simple body weight exercises. One thing that I've never been very good at is doing pull-ups. I'm going to be working on that in the coming weeks. I'm also going to be working on some handstand/headstand balancing. I'm not sure why I want to work on that, I just do.

And it's back to daily walks (maybe an occasional run) and a daily step goal of a modest 10,000 steps. No excuses!

Although my diet hasn't been crazy out of whack, I do know that keeping track of what I'm eating and drinking does help tremendously when it comes to controlling calories. So ... even though it is a real pain in the butt, I'm going to finish the year with the daily food log via My Fitness Pal.

On the positive side -- there is no Halloween candy left in the house and I won't be going to work this week to feast on the leftover candy that people would bring in and leave in the break room!

Be well.
Eat well.
Get some exercise!

John <><

Fast, Easy Dinner Recipe

I saw this recipe posted on Facebook the other day and decided to try it out.
It was easy to make and tasted delicious! I bought the pesto instead of making it (because making it would have made for more than the advertised four ingredients). I think that next time (and there will be a next time!) I will add some crushed red pepper for a little spicy heat.

I served it with a salad of baby spinach leaves, chopped apple, chopped walnuts, craisins and Panera's Fuji apple vinaigrette dressing. It was mighty tasty!

The unhealthy guy in me will probably try a variation using a ground beef and Italian sausage to make a patty. I'll probably pre-bake the patties for about 20 minutes before adding the other ingredients and finishing up per the chicken recipe. I'll serve 'em up on a bun for some awesome pizza burgers (adding a little pepperoni is also an option).

I suppose a more healthy person could use a veggie burger patty and make it a vegetarian pizza burger.

Let me know if you try this!
Enjoy!

John <><

One Step at a Time

It's been a good week on the health front.

In the year+ since I dropped all of that weight I managed to put a good deal of it back on. It didn't happen all at once, but as I became less watchful of my diet it slowly crept back up. Even though I did occasionally indulge in less healthy foods, I think I was mostly guilty of just over indulging. Too much of a good thing isn't good when it comes to overeating.

This week I've been paying close attention to my food amounts and have done well. I'm also getting back on the walking daily. I've managed my 10,000 steps 4 out of the last five days and plan to keep it up. I am still a believer in eating for weight management and exercising for good health. The goal is to be back under 200 pounds by 2016.

I threw together a very tasty salad to go with dinner last night -- baby spinach leaves, 1/2 a chopped apple, chopped walnuts, craisins and Panera's Fuji apple vinaigrette dressing. You should give it a try. It was delicious.

I've got another recipe I'm working on for a healthy snack. I'll post it as soon as I get it worked out. I've tried a few variations and think the next one will be my final one.

I plan on making some granola soon. I have a couple of recipes in mind. If you have a favorite that you use, please share it with me.

Be well,
John <><

Not Exactly a Grand Re-start

It's the first day back from vacation and it's been a month since I took a break from walking and running. I said that I would get back at it when we returned from Mexico but it wasn't anything in the way of a big start. I managed some walking and a little running while gone, but not much more. So now I'm back and ready to get started.

My activity today was 90 minutes of mowing and yard work, a couple of miles on the bicycle (to remind myself that the hills around here kill me) and an easy 1 mile after dinner stroll with Chris.
Like I said, no big deal.

I still have another hour or so left of yard work for tomorrow and an evening baseball game to watch so I'll get some stationary cycle time. I'm going to get a walk in tomorrow after my morning coffee and may try for a little road work cycling just to build up some strength and endurance.

Diet wise, today was a good day. I'm going to watch the intake a bit more closely for the coming weeks, both for quality and quantity. I'm going back to drinking more water. It is more difficult to keep to drinking water at home than when I was working. I generally had a couple of half liter bottles each work session. Now I just don't think about drinking water during the day and so I drink a lot less between meals.

My step counter is just a few steps short of 12,000 for the day. I'll go ahead and get that in but will be happy with a 10,000 daily step goal for a while.

It's hard to believe there are just over 100 days left in 2015.
Let's finish well!

Be well,
John <><

Back on the fitness track...

So day one of the return to fitness was an easy day. I managed 45 minutes of light work on my Pro-Form XP indoor cycle while watching the St. Louis Cardinals make a comeback victory over the Nationals. I followed the ride with some light stretching and called it a day. I'll probably do more of the same tonight (makes me feel better about sitting and watching the game) along with some circuit training on the Weider weight machine and with some dumbbells.

Next week's workout will prove to be more of a challenge as we'll be travelling. I'm sure that I'll manage with walks, short runs, body weight exercises or something. Going to try to keep at it everyday with something--even if it's only a 30 minute walk.

Yesterday was a pretty good food day, as well. Diet shouldn't pose too much of a problem next week. Dietary discipline is easier for me than motivation for exercise.

Although I've never been one to exercise with a partner, it is nice to know what others are doing and to encourage each other through contact on social media fitness apps. I have a few friends on RunKeeper and am often encouraged (and amazed) by their steadfast running routines. I think that I'm the only walker in that small group so I am probably less of an inspiration to them than they are to me.
I spoke with a former co-worker yesterday that has started walking and taking the stairs at work. That's also a good motivator for me to get back to walking. I think I'll get out for a short walk today -- maybe just 2-3 miles.

I know I'm not going to be anybody's posterboy for fitness and health. I'm just trying to be a little better at living today than I was yesterday.

Be well,

John <><

September

It's September and I am happy to put August in the history file. I took the month off from walking and running to let my heel recover from a minor bruise of strain. I hadn't intended to be completely idle, but with very few exceptions, I was.

So...
Back to tracking walks and runs on RunKeeper.
Back to tracking meals on MyFitnessPal.
Back to being health minded all of the time...
...even on our Mexican beach trip.

I haven't set daily step goals or walking/running distance goals because of the week+ long vacation, but I am planning on some daily fitness activity...beginning with today.
Life goes on.

John <><

I've Changed My Mind ...

The reality of a journey that takes you from poor health to good health (or at least to better health) is that you have to change how you think about everything.

You can begin with a better diet, but real success is going to take much more than just a better diet.
True health and well being is an all encompassing attitude. If you are eating better but your life is filled with stress, you will still be exposed to the negative effects of the toxins produced by a stressed out person.

The body produces a steroid hormone called cortisol to help us deal with stressful situations. But when we're faced with a constant influx of this hormone, we end up causing our bodies a lot of negative side effects. Too much cortisol, too little sleep and little or no exercise will severely limit the effectiveness of healthy eating.

I found that I was allowing a lot more garbage into my mind than I was into my body. Not only was it necessary for me to stop eating so much junk, it was also necessary to avoid certain negative people, negative news casts, junk internet reading and Facebook posts and a host of other toxic material that was shaping my psyche. Just as cutting out the junk is a first step in changing your diet, cutting out the junk is also the first step in changing how you think and moving towards better mental health. The next step is finding good stuff to consume in place of the negative stuff.

A good food diet, an adequate amount of sleep, some physical activity and positive input all combine to bring about a healthier you.

So yes...
in order to be a healthier me, I've had to change my mind.
I've had to change my mind about a lot of things.

If you want to be a healthier you, perhaps the place to begin is to change your mind.
Healthy living is more than diet and exercise. It is an attitude; a way of life.

Be well,

John <><

Off Track

I know that more disciplined people find ways to maintain their dietary restrictions through all types of events and obstacles. I'm not one of those people.
Oh, I have been and still can be, but I am not currently one of those people.

What that means is that I'm facing another weekend of indulgences. This weekend a family reunion. Last weekend a short getaway with Chris. The weekend before UFC Chicago and Cub baseball.

The truth is -- there is no way that a week of discipline can balance a weekend of indulgence. Add in my taking a break from walking or running and I've managed to gain about eight pounds in the past few weeks. So......

AFTER this weekend, it's back to seriousness. No more messing around (until someone says. "It's buck brat night at Hammond's field! Wanna go?").
Discipline at buck brat night is only getting two!

Temps are cooler. Heel is about the same, maybe a little better. We just purchased half a hog so we need to cook at home more. There is a great amount of fresh produce available from farmer's markets. Everything is in favor of eating well and exercising.

Not setting any goals for August has been a mistake. I'm going to finish the month with more dietary discipline and then hit September pretty hard. I'm even going to stick to a decent diet through our vacation.

It's too bad that I struggle with the whole healthy living thing. I know that for some it is just a way of life. For me, it's more like a dream. I really have to fight the urges to indulge (or to over-indulge). Eating has always been about pleasure; not about nutrition. That is such a tough thing to break away from. I know that eating for life and enjoying what foods you eat can be balanced. It's just a struggle for an old, fat guy.

And so the struggle continues...

John <><