Day 224- National Parks

Day 224- National Parks

I love national parks. They are a great resource. Where else can you learn, explore, and/or be in nature all for free or near free.

Last Saturday, Christine and I went on a hike in one of the 23 national parks in Washington DC, the C&O Canal. We hiked for about 2.5 miles and then turned around and hiked along the Capitol Crescent Trail.

We also took the ranger led mule boat ride for $5 each, we got an amazing tour of Georgetown by canal. All in all, we got exercise, fresh air, sunshine, an educational boat ride and saw amazing things for less than $20 including transportation and snacks.

Next week, we are planning a trip to Rock Creek Park for a hike and a picnic. And our house is planning a trip to Greenbelt Campsite for a house camping trip.

You can find out where your local parks are located by going to nps.gov or by googling your local state park service.

Day 189- Urban hiking

Day 189- Urban Hiking

Well friends, it has been a month--a whole month since we were last together.

No, I had not forgotten about us. I just needed a wee vacation to get myself all together again.

General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association was in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and so I took the train down there and then slowly made my way back up via Greyhound.

It gave me a lot of time to see these fair states of ours with a lot of time to think, and read and reflect.

The highlights of my trip were walking around strange cities and seeing what I can find.

Some call this "Urban Hiking" or "Urban Exploring". It is the process of hiking through a city instead of nature. It is one of my favorite hobbies. It is a great way to get to know a city, have some exercise and it is free--or mostly free.

There are two schools of thought when it comes to urban hiking. One is the pre-planned route. Doing a little research of the city beforehand can show preplanned historical walking tours, art crawls, or architectural tours. Boston, for instance, has the Freedom Trail, a historical walking tour of Revolutionary Boston. Washington DC has Heritage Trails sprinkled throughout the city. Philadelphia has a walking tour of the Mural District. Chicago has a walking tour of the Art Loop. Or you can plan your own. Sarah Milstein gives the following advice on planning an Urban Hike for friends:

Plan your route, and — this is going to sound crazy — assume you’ll go a mile or maybe two an hour. With a group, you’ll move a lot more slowly than you expect. We usually aim for about five miles (www.gmap-pedometer.com is good for figuring out distances) and include about six points of interest and two takeout food stops.

The other school of thought is the just-show-up school. That is what I did for my trip through the South. For both Savannah and Columbia, I just showed up. While approaching each city, I would ask my neighbors on the bus if any one could recommend sights in the city to see. I kept a budget of how much I was expecting to spend in each city for food, drinks, and souvenirs. Then, I went to the visitor's center and picked up a map. I would then just walk. I would walk up and down streets looking at buildings, gardens and art galleries. I went to brew pubs to eat and would ask the locals who worked there for highlights. And I would just walk. I saw great things. I read every historical plaque I could find and absorbed the cities.

Some highlights of my trip include:
Paula Deen's Restaurant- The Lady and Sons
The Mercer-William's House from Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
The Unitarian Universalist Church of Savannah--Location where Jingle Bells was written
The South Carolina Statehouse and the Vista Arts District
The South Carolina Holocaust Memorial
The Memorial to the inventor of modern day gynecology

After a week of walking and exploring, I burned off 5 lbs from my waistline and took nearly a hundred photos.

It was a great week. And I have urban hiking to thank. So, head out into your city and see what you can discover.

Weightloss Without a Gimmick

Day 31- Weightloss Without a Gimmick
At Thanksgiving, my Mom said that she wanted new family portraits taken for Christmas. We went out to the Riverside and had several shots taken. Looking at the pictures afterward, it
was undeniable, I had gained weight.

I wasn't exactly sure how much I had gained since we don't own a scale. But pants I had bought just six months earlier stopped fitting. And my dress shirts just didn't hang on me like they used to.

The last straw was on New Year's Eve. My beloved peacoat did not close. It wasn't even thinking of closing. It was way too small for me by a good two inches.

I knew what I had to do. Loose some weight.

Growing up, I didn't have the most healthy relationship with food. Which is often the case with Middle Class Americans.

When money got tight, I would cheer myself up with eating out. Which made money tighter. Which would stress me out more. Which meant more eating out.

Plus, since giving up being a vegetarian, I stopped being intentional about what I ate and when.

So all that laziness and stress left a big old gut and some puffy cheeks.

I am not going to let that happen again. So this is what I have done to get my eating ritual back into shape.

1. No More Eating Out- What I mean by no more eating out is actually: No more eating out everyday. Preprocessed foods tend to have more fat, more sugar, more salt, more everything! Plus, they are way bigger than they need to be. So, instead of going to Chipotle, I make a burrito at home, which is about 1/4th the size. 1/4th the cost. 1/4th the bad stuff. Instead, I eat out once a week. And I give myself a budget-$7 a week.

2. Track every calorie- With all those gimmick diets out there, it is no wonder people are confused about what to eat. Good Carbs, Bad Carbs; Medeterranian, South Beach, Scandinavian. There is a simple way to lose weight and feel good. Eat less calories than you consume. thedailyplate.com is a great way to track your meals and exercise. It tells you how many calories you can eat in a day and then how many you have left to eat today. It then subtracts your exercise for the day and then gives you handy charts, marking your progress. I learned those $8 chipotle meals I was eating everyday was the equivalent to what I should have been eating in a day and a half!

3. Exercise according to my needs- I don't have a subscription to a fancy gym. It doesn't fit into my time or financial budgets. But, I do walk the route to and from work almost every day. That is an Hour and a Half of walking a day. And since I don't have a lot of time and I am out of shape, I don't make myself work out more than five minutes a day.

4. Snowflake exercise- The other day, I introduced you to the idea of snowflaking your debt away. This is snowflaking your way into health. Everyday I have a series of good old fashioned exercises: situps, pushups, jumping jacks, etc. Everyday, I add one more than the day before. I get a little bit stronger each day and I can see and feel concrete growth.

5. Water- Water is the ulitmate energy drink. It keeps hunger at bay, it makes you feel refreshed, it keeps you energized, it flushes toxins. Instead of the four cups of coffee I have been drinking at work, I have my morning cup and then keep a pint glass constantly full. Refilling the glass also gets me a way from the computer and phone.

Pretty easy. Its all about the small steps toward success, not the big leaps. Already, I am feeling better and my clothes fit me again. and seeing the concrete success means I am motivated to keep going without getting discouraged.

Comptence Highlight of the Day-Completing 30 pushups!!!! Something that seemed impossible a month and a half ago.