Physically Strong

I used to post to a separate weblog that I called "Keep Myself Physically Fit" or something close to that. I haven't added to it for a long time because I got a 3rd-party software program for my iPhone that uses the GPS receiver in the phone to track the hikes I take most days. I can even take pictures in the program and post the tracks and photos on the "Trail Guru" website. It gives me a record of where I hiked, plots it on a Google map, and adds statistics like distance, elevation gain, speed etc. The pictures are even geo-tagged so you can see where I was when I took them. The photos are a little more "dumbed down" than the largest ones that you can post on Blogger, but otherwise its been kind of fun to play with this program and website. Only trouble with it is that I tend to take the same hike day after day and so my page on the website is kind of boring. Another problem is that some days the iPhone doesn't communicate very effectively with the global positioning satellites and my recorded tracks are either spotty or located to hell and gone from where I was actually hiking.

So far, Joe Public can't see my user page although once I either perfect my entries on the thing to suite my reasons for wanting a diet & exercise blog in the first place I will open it up to all-comers and link to it from here.

On the other hand I may decide to bag the thing and take up posting to Keep Myself... again.

Overall I take a hike nearly every day except for Sunday. I've made it a habit to the point that unless I have a compelling reason not to, I kind of have to take my hike or I'm out of sorts. I go for an hour or more and get steaming pretty good most days. Especially in the snow. When the snow on the trail is alternately soft, hard, icy or crusty it's a great core workout because I never know what's going to happen when I put my foot down. I have to keep all the muscles in my legs and torso ready for about anything.

The key to consistent exercise is to find something that really floats your boat. Hiking is that for me. Somehow going up a trail--or off one--out in the sticks just speaks to the center of me. My typical hike doesn't take me out of sound or sight of the city but it's still in the out-of-doors. I can see the change in the plants, spot wildlife, smell the clean earth. I still have to go on days that it would be easier not to. But having something I really love makes it easier to be consistent.

I'm doing pretty good at eating right too. Except when I'm at home in the evening. I eat a great breakfast, eat appropriate snacks once or twice in the day when I'm hungry and usually get a healthy lunch. But our home is such a minefield of bad-food-choices in easy to get at packages that it's hard to stay straight. A little handful of cookies packs the calories of a big dinner and the sugar and fat increases hunger instead of quieting it. I think LeeAnn shops with kids in mind, not us. If I were a hermit, I might be a skinny one.