Virtual walk progress...

My total miles walking at my TrekDesk in January = 137!

Where do you ask did I end up when I started out virtually walking the first of this year?  I ended up just south of Eugene, OR...  When I lay out a course like this on a map, I really can see progress - like I am virtually getting somewhere!  It is fun...

Oh yeah - not that the number on the scale is a measure of everything - but the number went down by 6 lbs this month as well!

Nope...

The kitty in this picture just made me giggle...  NOPE, I don't want to walk...  I'm not going anywhere - you can't make me...  

I have had days like that, that I find myself sitting on my stool at my Trekdesk rather than up walking...  Then my body hurts from sitting and the stool, and I remember my goal for myself to walk at least 5 miles each work day, and eventually I get moving... I do it because I know I NEED to do it. I need to do it for better health. I need to do it so that I feel good that I am sticking to my goal of getting the miles in each work day. I need to do it to burn calories and fat that will help my body decrease in size. I need to do it because it keeps me active physically, which seems to engage my brain as well at work & I get more stuff done...

Walking to keep warm...

There are so many benefits to TrekDesk-ing at work...  How else could I keep warm on this wonderful morning that our heat isn't working in our office?  It hasn't worked since Friday, so the temp inside the office has dropped to 55 degrees... Brrr...  Oh, how I wished I had known that this morning when dressing, I would have added another layer to my outfit!

There was a HVAC company out looking at the system on Friday, but apparently they ran off for a part and then never came back :(...

So hear I am walking to keep warm while we wait for our industrial heater to try to heat up the place a bit more and figure out where the repair guy is...  A round about way to get me walking RIGHT AWAY on a Monday morning!  :)

Not my first rodeo...

I have been thinking a bunch the last few days about this blog and about sharing more about my weight loss journey or rather my journey to better health...

See I am like many people - I have attempted weight loss before, and needed to try again and again... In fact nine years ago after my son was born I set out on a weight loss journey and was successful in losing 117 lbs by simply moving more and eating less...  There were a lot of walk away the pounds videos and walking outside pushing a double stroller and lots of trips to the gym...  I was successful in losing over 100 lbs. But there are a few things about that trek to losing weight. I wasn't happy, I didn't feel good about it all, I wasn't thankful for each pound that was lost & I was totally clueless that it would take as much work, if not MORE work to keep it off...  That's how I ended up re-gaining almost all my weight.  While I didn't look like I had regained it all, as I have more muscle tone and definition, the scale sure said that I did...

So this time I am concentrating more on making LIFESTYLE changes that I can live with for the rest of my life...  The TrekDesk is something that I can see myself doing EVERY work day for the rest of the time that I work. And having set a goal for myself for this year at least, to walk a minimum of 5 miles a day, I feel good that I am meeting or exceeding that daily goal for myself. Then when I am able to do additional workouts outside of work time I know I am boosting my calorie burn - but yet not feeling guilty if I don't get to it, as I have done my "basic" stuff at work.

What sorts of things do I do other than my TrekDesking?   I love playing dance and exercise games on the Wii - Just Dance, Exerdance, EAS Active and Zumba games are in my library of games that don't have dust on them. They are fun and take the monotony out of how boring other exercising can be. I use the elliptical we have in our exercise room & the recumbent bike as well (though that one drives me nuts because the computer on it only lets you set it for 1/2 hour workouts & I want it to track for longer than that)...  We just got a rowing machine & I did my first workout on that yesterday while watching a movie... I was surprised that my calorie burn on that was pretty low, but I still could feel the workout in my body afterwards - so I know I was at least recruiting some muscles that I hadn't recruited recently...  I have a bike on a trainer (where you can use a road bike on a stationary stand - but Mike doesn't want me to wear out my good road bike on the trainer, so I am using a mountain bike we have and it is geared lower that doesn't allow me to get as much resistance so it is annoying)...  So that takes me to my search for an upright exercise bike... I keep watching for one at goodwill or on Craigslist to get so I can have one more thing to rotate through... Most of the things that I use at home are in my exercise room (an addition we put onto the end of our house with a bunch of windows in it - could be called a sun room in the summer)... I love this room - and I love that my daughter comes out an watches TV with me and chatters to me while I am out there as well... We are currently working our way through the Joan of Arcadia series on DVD...  I watched it when it first aired & it is her first time watching them and we love them! (WOW THAT WAS  A LONG PARAGRAPH!)

Today, I reached the lowest weight I have been in over 3.5 years & I feel good. I am proud of my accomplishment and thankful to have gotten to this point. I am excited to see lower and lower numbers on the scale - ones that I don't ever recall seeing before...

I did some digging around in different places that I have tracked my weight over the last 10 years & found some interesting, and scary info... I found that I was at my highest weight when Matthew was conceived and I carried him all the way through at my highest weight!  That is amazing to me that I carried him 40 lbs heavier than I am now... Oh, my poor body with all that weight and trying to grow a baby!

I found some of the low points in my weight - I hit my 100 lb lost mark on 4/4/2004!  Ahh the past is the past & I just look back and try to learn from it...

• It can't be a temporary diet and exercise program, it has to be a way of life, changes in eating habits and exercise that I can live with forever
• I am eating differently this time - with the concepts that I learned during my last continuing education class for my Personal Training Certification - I did a Nutrition Certification class from Venice Nutrition - that focuses on balanced eating - balancing your carb/protein/fat intake each time you eat so that your blood sugars remain in balance that allows your body to release stored fats to be burnt. I feel so much better eating like this, and feel it is something that I can continue on for a lifetime.
• Part of the above mentioned eating plan is eating every 3-4 hours and having the same amount of calories at each time - so it is several mini-meals throughout the day... I have been eating like this for several months now & it works well...
• There is a "balance" between nutrition and sleep and exercise and supplements (is your body getting everything it needs?)
• I log my foods into BodyMedia - as I wear one of the BodyMedia armbands (similar to the bands that the contestants wear on the Biggest Loser) and keep an eye on my overall percentages of fat/carbs/proteins throughout the day that way.  And the armband tells me how well I did on calorie burn throughout the day as well. All valuable knowledge - especially as I lose weight - it should be interesting to see if my burn decreases as my body gets smaller.
• 3500 calories = 1 lb - but a 3500 calorie deficit does not necessarily mean that you will lose a pound, if that was the case, I would have been at goal weight a long time ago! Unless your body is in "balance" like I learned from my Nutrition class, your body will not have released fats to burn which will result in a pound lost...  It is all very interesting stuff... The person that came up with this theory - from Venice Nutrition also has a book called Body Confidence - I have been meaning to read it & I have it on hold at the library to pick up and read...  I will share more of my thoughts on what I read there on here as well... As this system seems to make soooo much sense... :)

Well this is a long enough post about my thoughts and some of what I have learned about weight loss in my previous rodeos... (LOL)

A Trek towards Mexico

So if I walk at least 5 miles each work day this year - I will log 1250 miles... and 1250 miles from my zip code of 98661 will land me just inside of Mexico - and if I really a lot more miles on average, then I might even end up clear down in Cabo San Lucas!  We will see... I plan to update my progress on a map between here and there once a month... Should be fun to see how far I progress each month...

Hope you will check back and see what progress I have made towards healthier living and a TrekDesk virtual trek to Mexico...

My TrekDesk must haves

My day at work TrekDesking is not possible without a few Must Haves...

• Water bottle - I drink over 100 ounces of water a day & must have my water bottle at arms reach 99% of my day!
• Fan - While using my TrekDesk at work, I walk about 2MPH that doesn't make me all sweaty like an hour of Zumba class would, but my temperature does get elevated, in which I counteract with a fan - it is on a shelf at upper body level & I turn it on and aim it at myself to keep myself cooled down a bit.
• Music - I have an I pod that has a bunch of music on it that I either put headphones on to listen to (when I am not on phone duty) or play out through the speaker dock when it is just myself and my assistant in the office (and she loves to listen to the music too...)  The music allows me to drown out other conversations that can be going on in the office that I don't want to get distracted by.
• Walking Shoes - having had larger than average feet, I am accustomed to not wearing heals or fancy stuff like that, but I can always be found wearing a good pair of walking shoes - I use Brooks Addictions - as they are designed for people that over-pronate (their feet roll inward while walking) and provide some of the best support I can find. I track my miles on my shoes so I am able to make a decision on when it is time to rotate into another pair of shoes as well. Did you know that a pair of shoes can still look good on the outside, but be worn out on the inside?  It's important to keep track of for the health of our feet!
• Layered Clothing - For the same reason as I list the fan above, I list layered clothing, so that I have the option to wear a jacket the first part of my day, but then shed it when I get warmed up, and be cool enough that I am not roasting...

There you have a list of my must haves for walking at my TrekDesk - I am sure there are more things that I would miss if they were suddenly gone, but that is the basics...

Walking to where?

So my goal for this year is to walk at my TrekDesk at least 5 miles per workday, I will walk my 100th mile this year today - so it seems I am on track so far for the year. I have talked before about it bugging me when a coworker mused about me not really walking any where, and I vowed to just reply that I am walking to better health...

Don't get me wrong, I really am walking to better health. I feel better physically, mentally and all around when I walk each day at work. But lately I was thinking it might be neat to keep track of where I am towards the goal for the year...  If I walk 5 miles per workday 50 weeks of the year (accounting for days off here and there) I will log at least 1250 miles for the year. I started to try to look up a location 1250 miles from 98661 - but didn't find anyplace exciting to walk to that is that far away...  Something tropical or at least with beaches would be neat, so I am going to continue thinking and looking for a place to virtually walk to.

Comment with any ideas that you may have :)

I miss my TrekDesk

We have had a bunch of snow - more than I have seen since the winter of 2008 (when we ended up with 36" of snow)...  I pride myself in always figuring out how to get to work no matter what the weather brings...  Today put that to a halt - at least about getting into the office to work...  I have been working from home which has been working pretty well... 

I started out at a computer that was connected to a printer, as I needed to get some stuff printed out, but after an hour of sitting in front of the computer to work - I was in pain - there were two choices left, stop work and just putter around in the house, or move to my "makeshift treadmill desk" in our exercise room... I chose the latter (remember my post about CHOICES yesterday??)  This is MUCH better than sitting in front of the computer, but I still miss my TrekDesk... for many reasons...

My makeshift treadmill desk - better than sitting, but nothing like my TrekDesk

See how small my work surface is? (this in comparison to the TrekDesk that is so much larger!)

Why I miss my TrekDesk...

• The TrekDesk has adjustable height - which allowed me to make it be just the right height for me ergonomically to be able to type and use the mouse without fatigue.  (My fingers keep falling to sleep at this desk because I am not adjusted "just right")
• The TrekDesk has an alcove for me to stand in, so that the work surface surrounds me - allowing for lots of stuff to be on my work surface & an arm's reach when I need it. 
• The TrekDesk work surface is 72" x 32" - allowing for me to have all I need on my desktop, not having to do a balancing act and have to stop the treadmill to get what I drop on the floor.
• The TrekDesk accessory cups that hold my pens and pencils are missed as well - right now I could use a highlighter, but will need to get off my treadmill to go get one from elsewhere, as there is no storage place on my makeshift desk to keep a highlighter...
• Soon enough (hopefully tomorrow) I will be back at work using my favorite desk --> my TrekDesk, until then I leave off with a few views out the window of where I am working today...

View out the window at the snow

Another look out at the snow...

Choose to walk...

I found this cute stamp online & it made me think about the choices I make each day related to my Trekdesk-walking...

• I choose to walk at my TrekDesk while I work. 
• I choose to press the start button my treadmill each day to start my walking to better health. 
• I choose to restart my treadmill each time I have pressed stop to get off for whatever reason - getting information that was not available to me at an arm's reach, to use the restroom, to refill my water bottle, to do filing or whatnot
• I choose to keep moving while talking to someone that comes into my office - my coworkers are used to me walking while I work, I am able to carry on a conversation with people while I am walking, so there really is no reason to stop to talk to them.
• I choose to keep moving while I am on the phone - most people don't even realize I am walking while they talk to me on the phone - the only time that I make the choice to stop is when I know that I can't print legibly enough to take notes from a phone conversation while I am walking - sometimes I will just use a notepad on the computer and type the notes into it & that makes it easy to just keep walking...
• I choose to live up to my goal for myself to walk at least 5 miles each working day at my TrekDesk while working. There are days that I have to push myself to make that choice to get going, but once I get going, I feel so good about it, and before I know it I have met and exceeded my daily goal for myself!

There are so many choices we can make each day to take steps towards healthier living - my TrekDesk walking is literal way that I take steps each and every day towards feeling better and being more productive.

Stretching

With my extended recovery period from plantar fasciitis, I am learning different things I can do to try to keep myself from having further injury. One of those is stretching... I have never been one that takes the time to stretch before, during or after a workout, unless it is part of a class that I am doing - and I haven't been to a Zumba class since July!  :(  (hoping to change that this week - we will see - who knows with the winter weather we are getting right now)

Anyhow I digress... When I was at physical therapy this week I asked about what stretches I should be doing after my day of Trek Desk - ing...  He suggested the following (in lieu of ones that I would need to be on the floor to do...)

Holding foot and getting a good stretch through my whole leg

Seated stretch that has you leaning over as far is comfortable and feeling a stretch through your leg

Seated or standing next to a table surface that I can get my leg up onto and lean over to feel a stretch through my leg

  He said most of these give a stretch that starts up in the hip - as the pain I feel in the bottom of my foot is related to muscles being tight all the way up to my hip...  (amazing stuff!)

Hoping by remembering to do these off and on throughout the day & at the end of my walking day, that I will keep things "happier" in my hip on down & avoid future injuries... As this walking for better health is a way of life for me, I can't imagine working any other way anymore!

Why do I Trekdesk?

A view from the "deck"...

Why do I Trekdesk?

• Improved health - any increase in activity improves one's health. Being able to walk while I work, rather than sit at a desk allows me to get in more activity WHILE I am working. When I had to sit out for a week or so due to increased foot pain - it was torture mentally and physically to have to sit in a chair all day long. Even when I don't feel like walking (gasp - it does happen from time to time!) and end up perching myself atop a stool at my Trekdesk - my body doesn't like that - it is usually most comfortable when I am standing or walking...
• Personal efficiency - I commute 90 minutes each day, which cuts into my family and home time. Being able to walk at work and get in the bulk of my activity/calorie burn in for the day WHILE I work, allows me to be more efficient at home. I can opt to not do something after dinner, or I can - but when I am able to Trekdesk during my workday, I don't feel bad if I don't get something else done in the evening (exercise wise)
• Professional efficiency - I am more productive when I am walking... My mind thinks better & I concentrate more on my tasks that need to get done while I am walking at work. There have been many studies done that back this up - our bodies are designed to move - not to be sedentary, so naturally if we are doing what they are designed to do, our brains will work better while in motion...
• Personal challenge - I have set a goal for myself to try to walk at least 5 miles a day at my Trekdesk every work day in 2012 - I find that facing that challenge each day is encouraging and I walk to prove to myself I am up for it!
• Feeling good - when I get my walking done at work, I feel a sense of accomplishment... it's like the ultimate multi-tasking - getting your work done and getting a work out done for your body at the same time - I feel good to have gotten it done.

Walking my way to better health...

To incline or not to incline

A view of my trekdesktop surface...

So everyone knows that we burn calories walking on a treadmill - no matter if you are walking 4MPH for a workout, or 1-2MPH while working...  You may ask yourself, how could I burn more calories while working?  (Yes, I just said that - how can I burn MORE, not just enough to be burning more calories than just sitting at work - but thinking of ways to burn even more...)

INCLINE - that is the answer... While some of the treadmills that are specifically designed for walking at work don't have an incline feature, if you are using a traditional treadmill under your desk, you have the option to Incline...  Walking at an incline burns more calories - you don't have to do it the whole time that you are walking at work, but just 5 minutes here or 5 minutes there - or I like to watch the mileage and do 1/2 mile of incline at a time.

I am recovering from  plantar fasciitis  (most likely from my training for and doing my third marathon last summer) - so I limit the amount of time that I do the incline in a day (as I am supposed to stick to flat surfaces most of the time), or at least listen to my body while I am at incline and make sure that I am not making my foot "mad," and adjust accordingly...  In the last few days I have added incline off and on throughout my walking time at work - and I see it add up in my calories burnt at the end of the day (I wear a Bodymedia armband that helps track my caloric burn each day) - and I feel the difference in my body that it has worked a bit harder...  You see I have gotten to a plateau & am needing to find ways to change things up a bit to try to get past that spot - so in combination with changing a bit of the stuff that I do in the evenings, I have been trying to figure out how to change things up while I walk...  Increasing the speed isn't really an option - 2MPH seems to be my max and still being able to function doing my work tasks, but incline - I can do that for 1/2 mile intervals at a time with no problems...

Walk this way...

So when there is a slow day at work, where time just creeps along, I have a hard time starting back up the treadmill any time that I stop...  But man, when I get it started again, time goes a bit faster...

Yesterday I was working on a project and told myself I would walk 2.5 miles and then break my day up to go run errands... The 2.5 miles went really quickly - even varying the incline of the treadmill off and on, so when I got to the 1/2 way point of my goal, I decided to go for 3.33 miles (when my treadmill is at 100 minutes and stops...)  But I got to that point & was far enough in my project that I didn't want to interrupt progress - so I kept working - and before I knew it, I was at my 5 mile goal for the day!  That's what I like!

Saw this image today on someone else's blog - and it made me think of my co-worker's almost daily comment/question - "where are you walking to today?"  The question bugs me, like pointing out that I am constantly walking in place and not going anywhere... Which really shouldn't bother me, as if I was just walking on a treadmill (or rather a dreadmill) in my off time, not working at the same time - it would be more bothersome to not go anywhere...

But, I am walking, while most are sitting at work. This is a good thing - I AM walking somewhere - to better health!  While the pounds may not be coming off like I wish they would, I still strongly believe I am healthier because I walk while I work, rather than sitting. So now I have my answer to give my coworker next time she asks...

Sometimes it just takes one step to get started

I am sleepy and extra tired today for some reason...
I got to work and didn't walk to walk - I sat on my stool at my trekdesk for a bit with my music on...  A good song came on (one with a good beat) and I reminded myself of my goal of walking AT LEAST 5 miles each day... I set the stool aside and started up the treadmill... 10 minutes later I was in my groove... walking like it was second nature again...  See, all I needed to do was get up off my duff and take the first step!

The rest of the workday continued the same - each time I stopped, it was hard to get myself going again, but I reminded myself of the 5 mile a day weekday goal & pushed through...

Good day walking

I had a good 2nd work day of the year walking today - walked 9.5 miles... My feet are tired - but I feel pretty good that I got that many miles in...  More to post another time...

Treadmills

The Trekdesk is designed to fit over just about any treadmill that is out on the market. It is fully adjustable to adjust in height to allow you to have the optimum keyboard height while you are walking at your treadmill, and to span over the arms of the treadmill as well...  it is very adjustable and versatile.

Don't already have a treadmill to add your Trekdesk too?  what should you look for in a treadmill to use with your Trekdesk?  Look for one that fits your needs - if you just want to use it for your working, or if you want to use it for regular exercise as well...

Deck length:  Are you tall? Then you probably want to make sure that the walking deck is long enough to match your stride length when you are walking at a slower pace - which can sometime have a longer stride than that when you are running or walking quickly...

Motor:  Because it is harder on a treadmill motor to go for extended periods of time at a slower speed, you want to make sure you locate a treadmill that has a good motor - one that is at least 2 HP is what I would recommend. I have gone through 2 used treadmills before finding one that is "happy" with the long days at slow speeds... The first one I had the motor used to get "mad," overheating and stinking up my whole office... I would have to give it a "timeout" for awhile before it would run again.  I now use a Nordic Track Solaris that my husband found in disrepair at goodwill (it was just the incline bolt that had been sheared off inside the unit - a quick fix).  When I first got this one it was noisy - barked like a seal when I walked... That was annoying, so I tried to lubricate the belt and that didn't fix it, but then determined that it was the motor belt itself that needed replaced... It is nice and quiet now - all that can be heard is my footsteps on the deck of the treadmill...  The only other modification we have done to the treadmill is to add an additional fan in the housing next to the motor to help it stay cool...

Display: In having used two different treadmills I can tell you another thing that is really nice is having the controls up high enough that you don't have to reach under the Trekdesk surface to turn the machine on and off. The first one I used I had to lean under the desk to turn it on & to stop it - probably not the safest way to do it...  So when the newer treadmill ended up with controls that were above the desk surface - I was so much happier & find myself not waiting as long to start the machine again (after stopping to do something else) which means I am walking MORE!  In a "dream" world I would have a treadmill with a removable control module that just sits on the desktop or could mount on the wall - but then again, I might miss the cup holders and paper tray on the treadmill that hold papers and pens for me...

Timer reset:  Both treadmills I have used with my Trekdesk and my treadmill at home all stop at 99 minutes and 59 seconds... like a sort of reset. (the treadmill asking - do you really wanna keep going??)  Luckily they don't restart the miles when you restart the machine, but it can be a pain if it catches you off guard - so paying attention to where you are in that cycle, or being lucky enough to find a treadmill that doesn't do this could be nice... I am used to it now though...

That's the thoughts swirling around in my head about treadmills today...

A new year - time to blog about my Trekdesking...

So I have just finished off a good year with a total of 692 miles logged walking at my Trekdesk - that is walking while I work...

After a bit of media attention from a press release that Trekdesk put out about my progress using the Trekdesk at work, I feel compelled to share more of my Trekdesking journey this year...

So this year's journey started yesterday with a 5 mile day... Why only 5 miles? I was having a ho-hum kinda day and didn't feel like doing much but I have made a goal for myself to walk a minimum of 5 miles each working day in 2012 - hoping for more, but as I see it if I get a minimum of 5 miles a day for 50 of the 52 weeks - I should end up with 1250 miles walked at work this year - blowing last year's total out of the water...

I have all sorts of thoughts and ideas of things to share on here - so stand by and I will be back with more...

Why I Trekdesk...
What got me started?
How can I do that AND work at the same time?
Progress updates and more... probably some random thoughts thrown in there as well...

Feel free to ask questions in the comments section to let me know what you want to know more about...