Following a Rabbit

Wanted to get my 10,000 steps today. After leaving a friends house in South Austin I stopped at the Hike 'N Bike trail around Town Lake at the edge of downtown. I decided to do about a 3 1/2 mile loop-- from the Pedestrian Bridge under Mopac to the Pedestrian Bridge at Lamar Boulevard. I've done it before. Today the temp hovered around 35-40 degrees and had to be dressed more warmly. Nothing like a brisk walk to raise your body temps to comfortable levels on a cold day.

I went about halfway. I began on the north side of Town Lake, on the downtown Austin side of the river. My pace was falling off. The inevitable slacking off occurs after you've walked about a mile. But then suddenly I noticed an older woman, that is somebody about my age. I could see her blue jacket-- a thermal style jacket-- and detected she was moving at a brisk pace. This was my rabbit, the strong walker capable of pushing my pace to a good level. I got about 30 yards behind her and stayed there for the final 1 1/2 of my walk. She never faltered. She didn't move her arms very vigorously, not the power walking style I have adopted. So she generated that brisk pace, my guess is she goes about 4 MPH, mainly with her legs and by being in good shape. We both ended our walk at the same place-- and my final tally was 54 minutes to cover that approximately 3 1/2 miles.

She helped me out but being a strong walker and a role model. You can keep doing this stuff well into your older years. I got about 7-8,000 steps added to my tally.

Exercise, Diet and Blood Sugar

About 1 1/2 years ago, my physician called my house. That's reason for alarm right there. He told me my numbers were pretty good generally "but you're pre-diabetic."

"What?" I caught my breath. Apparently my A1C had moved past the recommended range and was around 6.6. I never thought of myself as diabetic. Didn't know what to attribute this situation to-- sure I like to eat alot, but I've always been fond of exercise and have pretty decent cholesterol numbers. "Give me a chance to get my numbers down, please," I requested.

My physician agreed to give me some time to lower my numbers and I think I got them down to an A1C reading of around 5.8. I felt like I had some control of the situation.

The next year I went in for the annual physical, not thinking overly much about A1C. Another call from the doctor with the results. "You're diabetic!"

"What the hell?" I thought-- but just kept my mouth shut.

"I'm recommending you take a diabetes class," he said. I heaved a sigh of relief. Any class sounded better than getting on meds. I went to a class afforded by Seton Hospital. But the other cool thing, I get a Glucometer from Blue Cross. They showed me how to use the deal at diabetes class. You stick your finger with a tiny lancelet and press the drop of blood to a test strip.

Miracle of miracles-- I got some insight into my dietary habits. I have fondness for carbs, bordering on addiction, and I like rich fatty foods-- like mayonnaise and ice cream and croissants. By checking my blood glucose on a daily basis all the culprits were revealed. I started moving away from foods, like bread, I thought I never could do without and got really focused on my pedometer and my Fitbit.

10,000 steps a day proved to be a great guideline for getting the blood sugar down. I went back to the doctor and my A1C was down to 5.9. He seemed happy with that and I was elated! And my friends have noticed I've lost weight.

Oklahoma City's example (read "Fit or Fat"-- by Covert Bailey)

Listened to the TED radio hour today and heard Mick Comett, the mayor of Oklahoma City, talk about his campaign to help the entire city lose weight. It's worth checking out:

• http://www.ted.com/talks/mick_cornett_how_an_obese_town_lost_a_million_pounds?language=en

Mr. Comett's speech is interesting. He talks the effort made to transform Oklahoma City from a city designed primarily for the automobile to a pedestrian-friendly environment. He realized human mobility, rather than car mobility, was the key to making a more fit city. And it worked! Oklahoma City has moved up the ranks of healthy cities. And young people are attracted to moving there. Maybe Kevin Durant should be the poster child for staying thin. Unfortunately, losing weight does not guarantee you will instantly gain Durant's basketball skill or annual salary. But it's a start.

If you are interested in a classic in the annals of fitness, exercise and good diet, I want to recommend Fit or Fat, a nifty book written by Covert Bailey in 1977. Bailey explains the interesting process whereby your body becomes a more efficient burner of fat.

Bailey asserts a good diet breaks down as follows:
1/8-- protein
2/8-- fat
5/8-- carbohydrates (these are good carbs, rich in dietary fiber)

A blogger named James Lupori wrote about Covert Bailey's book on April 5, 2012. 

Here is the link to Lupori's piece:

<http://jameslupori.com/?p=179>

 And Lupori summarized a few of Bailey's ideas (see below).

1) Exercise. If exercise were a pill, it would be the most widely prescribed medicine in the world.
2) Diets don't work. Exercise is the bottom line behavior for weight management.
3) When you exercise, remind yourself, "I'm building fat-burning enzymes."

One of the hallmark notions of Bailey’s “Fit or Fat” is that dietary fat is a real challenge in making people fat. In his PBS presentations, he was famous for saying things like: “The fat you eat is the fat you wear. ” But, in all seriousness, he spends a lot of time talking about the role of fats and carbohydrates in our bodies and how they are metabolized. Yes, indeed,  he believes that eating a lower-fat, balanced diet is the way to go; however, he NEVER says never to most foods. The main thing he emphasizes is doing aerobic exercise  several times a week which literally alters the capacity of your muscles to metabolize sugars and fats. In short, becoming “fit” takes some work.

Pushing it to the Limit

Pushing it to the limit for me, a middle-aged brisk walker, does not lead to Gatorade ads. But here's what I did. Went down to Town Lake in Austin, the iconic Hike and Bike Trail just at the edge of downtown. It's a great spot to jog and walk. A few days ago, I walked the loop from Mopac pedestrian bridge to the Lamar pedestrian bridge and realized it's a 3 mile course.

My goal for today was to walk 3 miles at a brisk rate, above 3 mph or about 16-17 minutes a mile for the entire 6 miles. I did it!

I got a bit of a shock, but in a good way after completing the first circle. Map My Run said I did the first 2.8 mile loop at an average of 9.57 minutes a mile! I did that lap in just about 28 minutes total. That's almost running, or at least jogging. On the second time around I jumped up to 49 minutes for the loop. I slowed all the way down to 16:42 per mile.  I must have gotten weary on the home stretch.

The whole walk, twice around, took me 76 minutes-- an average of about 13 minutes per mile. That exceeded my goal by a decent amount. Break out the champagne-- and the Gatorade!

Austin Hike & Bike Trail (Lady Bird Lake)

What is it about the Hike & Bike Trail, so close to Austin's downtown, that gives it so much power and benefit? You can exercise. You can people watch. The dirt path means its easy on your joints. The three pedestrian bridges (MoPac, Lamar and Congress Avenue) enable you to make a circle when you walk without encountering any traffic. You see the Austin skyline to the north side of the river. The water, Colorado River, called Town Lake brings a sense of peace. The river is wide enough to give it some substance, a real body of water.

On the south side of Town Lake you have Barton Springs and Zilker Park, the iconic place, maybe the soul of Austin. You can swim there in the 68 degree water, year around. And the people watching is maybe the best thing. All size and shapes of people, walking, jogging, biking, talking in couples, escorting their dogs, wearing every conceivable kind of clothing. Also on the south side....you pass the Zach Theatre, named after Zachary Scott, an Austin boy made good on stage and screen many years ago. And closer to South Congress, and near the fields where you get the ACL Festival,  is the famous statue of Stevie Ray Vaughn, 'cause how many cities erect statues to rock stars, especially guitar virtuosos with a rocky past that includes drug use.

Take walk down there-- and clear your head of all the stress and mental debris!

The Skele-toes Shoes

Been working out the formula of walking for fitness for over a year now. I've tried walking up and down hills, walking city streets and scooting around suburban neighborhoods with tree-lined yards.

Here's the new twist. I walked today in my toe shoes-- those funny looking things that look like feet. I walked on soft ground, around soccer fields. Lucky for me I have a large area that covers about 1 1/3 miles for a single lap around the soccer fields. I tried it with the Fila shoes.

Fila calls them EZ Slide. You kinda feel like a cartoon character because you slide your five toes into a space with only four places. Cartoon characters always have four finger 'cause it looks better. So now you have four toes. But you feel the ground under your feet. The lack of a tennis shoe changes your gait slightly. Maybe closer to a barefoot walker-- a primitive man.

I'm not endorsing any particular shoe-- just that you walk briskly and try to increase your brisk walking time as you get in better shape. Have fun!

Get Healthy Carefully

Day 37
11,229 steps

Did this walk in two stages and in two places. The first stage was with Suzi, our dog, a little black and  white terrier. We went through the neighborhood for 36 minutes. This area is not the greatest for walking but the dog adds an element of fun, wagging her tail and checking out the surroundings. Decided I needed another walk around 2:30 PM-- and went 62 more minutes, for a total of 98 minutes and 5.31 miles.

You cross a threshold when you get to the 5 mile mark in a single day of walking. You get close to 600 calories of exercise. Something happens. The expenditure of energy and movement brings a certain peace, a kind of cleansing over your body. I've heard about endorphins and that may be it. But exercising over time-- a duration of more than 1 1/2 hours-- may be a benefit in itself. You burn the calories slowly and move your body without putting your joints through extreme stress.

Jim Cramer, the stock guy from CNBC, has a book out called Get Rich Carefully. I would call this kind of exercise program, the 10,000 steps program, a case of Get Healthy Carefully.