An article in the Daily Journal of Commerce...

March 19, 2012 At treadmill desk, woman logs 1,038 miles and loses 40 pounds By JOURNAL STAFF Photo courtesy of TrekDesk [enlarge] This $479 desk is designed to fit any treadmill. Cindy Mayhak of Vancouver says she has walked 1,038 miles — in her office — and lost 40 pounds since getting a treadmill desk. A company called TrekDesk, which makes the treadmill desk Mayhak uses, said she won the free desk through its Movement Revolution contest. The desks cost $479 and are designed to fit any treadmill to create a height-adjustable workstation. Mayhak said she either walks or stands most of the day, and does not have a traditional desk. She works as a job cost accountant with Paul Davis Restoration in Vancouver. The company repairs property damaged by fire and water. During a phone interview while she was on her treadmill, Mayhak said, “We're designed to walk and move. Right now I'm walking and putting stuff in a spread sheet and talking to you.” She said walking at work forces her to concentrate more and that makes her more productive. Mayhak decided to get a treadmill desk because she found it so difficult to get exercise with a 90-minute daily commute and three children to care for. She keeps a steady pace of two miles per hour. Her goal is to walk five miles a day but she often walks between five and eight miles. On busy days she is at her desk longer and has logged as many as 10 miles. Mayhak said she wears business clothes and tennis shoes at work. She only gets off the treadmill to get supplies, take a restroom break or to eat lunch. She doesn't like to eat and walk. She supplied her own treadmill, which she bought for $100 at a Goodwill store. Her husband added an extra fan to keep the motor cool. Maykak said her boss was skeptical at first that she could do it but now he's a believer and said he might even replace the treadmill for her if this one breaks. TrekDesk said more than a dozen people have won free treadmill desks through its Facebook contest. Steve Bordley, CEO of TrekDesk Treadmill Desks, said the company wants to educate Americans about the health and productivity benefits of movement, regardless of their age or body type. For information about the contest go to www.facebook.com/trekdesk. Copyright ©2012 Seattle Daily Journal and djc.com. Comments? Questions? Contact us.

Hi...

A new picture at my Trekdesk...  It's a mess because it's busy for me at work right now... :)  But time out to take a picture should be good...

I love that I found 3 new blouses that are smaller to wear (I am not liking wearing the baggy stuff anymore...) at a thrift store for $10 yesterday...  I am wearing one cute black top in this picture - but it doesn't show up so well at this angle - and because it is black...

I spoke with someone on the phone today from the Journal of Commerce in Seattle about my experience using the Trekdesk... It was fun to share my thoughts with them... Will be interesting to see what they publish...

I don't have much else to chatter about right now - I just keep walking... :)

A changing image...

During Zumba class I spend 45-55 minutes looking in a mirror while doing a bunch of sometimes silly moves, but getting my body moving and burning up some good calories!

Know what is strange to me? What I see in the mirror...  My shape has changed so much - it is hard to believe... 35+ lbs lost & I look so different! I hope to lose another 35 or so, and can't really imagine what I will look like when I get there...  Sure I have pictures from when I lost weight before, but I was a different person then - I wasn't conscious of the need to plan to make changes for LIFE...  I look at my pictures at my lowest weight and I don't see a happy person - I just see a smaller version of myself, but there isn't happiness radiating out of me...  I am very happy with life and the progress I have made & it shows in pictures now... And I love that...

When talking with another gal that I have sort of been mentoring with healthier choices, I was telling her it is more about feeling better and being healthier than what the scale says... Don't worry and fret about that... It is about all the little choices that you make and how they add up to a healthier, new and improved you!

Virtual walking progress...

134 miles walked in February at my Trekdesk

271 total miles walked so far in 2012 - the dotted line shows how close I am to the border with CA

These maps show how far I have gotten in 2012 on my virtual walk... Amazing how much I am learning while mapping these out...  Oregon is a pretty long state!  I can't even imagine how long California will be!!!

And when we look at things relative to one another - the scale went down 5 lbs in the month of February as well!  That makes a total of 35 lbs lost since January of 2011.  Slow and steady...

How far would you go for your lunch?

So today, I thought I had all my ducks in a row, planned ahead and got outside to start up the car to let it warm a bit to clear off the windshield...  Put the dogs out in their pen. Gave goodbye hugs to Matthew and Jenna. Dropped my high schooler off at the bus stop and headed off to work - 8 minutes ahead of my usual time for all of this stuff...  Little did I know that I would end up being at work 20 minutes late...  Why you ask?

Well I got about 13 minutes away from home when it dawned on me that I didn't have my lunch...  The thought crossed my mind of trying to just stop out and get lunch... but when you eat a certain amount of calories every 3-4 hours - and those calories are in balance (protein/carbs/fat) it isn't that easy to just go pick up lunch...

I have stuff measured out in portions in ziploc containers like I have at the top of this post, and it is all planned out. I generally eat the same thing everyday during my time at work - and I like that... I like that it is consistent - it doesn't get boring to me - it just "works."

So I made the choice to return back home and get my lunch...  It made me be later at work than I wanted to be, but it is all ok - it worked out...  I survived... Work survived even with me getting there a bit later than usual...  And I think it was worth it...  For me going to the store to try to get replacement lunch, or to fast food (there are a *few* things out there that are balanced through a drive through) is just more temptation than I want to buy stuff that I don't need...

I am not seeing weight come off as much as I had hoped... Slow and steady is good, but I am thinking about where I could work things a bit more - and realizing the evenings have sort of been a "free for all" who cares that it is supposed to be 3-4 hours between eating - I have just been grazing...

So I am going to set a short term goal to eat my afternoon snack 3:30ish, have dinner at 6:30ish and then bedtime snack at 9:30ish... And not an endless supply of this and that - thinking it is ok if I just have "a little."  Well a little of this and a little of that can add up, and while I may be logging the calories of what all the "littles" are - I am not keeping my blood sugar in check and I am keeping my body from releasing stored fats and burning them through the evening and the night...

Here's to making the right decisions...

Nice article about my TrekDesk walking...

http://www.accountingweb.com/topic/technology/fit-and-focused-accounting-professionals-discover-trekdesk

I love how well written this article is... :)

A new low...

As of this morning - I am the lowest weight I have been in over 4 years... :)  That makes me feel pretty darn good...  It is only downhill from here - with the numbers - but not with the work/lifestyle that I need to keep up with to keep seeing results and maintain what I have worked so hard for...

This lowest weight is 34 lbs lower than 1/24/2011 when I recommitted myself to trying to get healthier and 44 lbs lower than my all time high...  While I am not comfortable sharing my actual weight on an open forum - the actual number on the scale isn't really the point - the numbers on the scale relative to each other are what matters to me - how much of a change I have been able to make in those numbers while making healthier choices.

I picked up a new-open-box scale yesterday at goodwill (people buy stuff at Target, open it - return it because they didn't like it and then Target donates it to Goodwill because the box/package is not in resale condition)... I got a scale that retails for $50 for $15 at Goodwill...  The other scale that I have been using is frustrating for me... I can get on it first thing in the morning and it will say one number, move the scale on the floor a few inches and it will say another number... Still later (after sitting at the computer for 10-15 minutes in the morning) I can step on it again and see another totally different number... All of these numbers are +/- 3-5 lbs of each other...  Yes consumption (of water and food) and time of day can cause numbers to fluctuate through out the day if you weigh yourself in the morning vs at night - but we are talking a maximum of 15 minutes apart and sometimes just a few seconds apart!  This has been annoying to me - and yes my husband had a simple suggest of just weighing ONCE on the old scale and then I would never have any concern about varying numbers... (Funny guy...)

So finding another scale was nice... I got on it several times this morning (like I used to do on the other one) and it was consistent every time I got on it...

Know another interesting thing about it?  It reads my weight as being 7 lbs lighter than the old scale...  I am not ready to record myself as having just lost an extra 7 lbs overnight - but I sure like the number it had on it!  It is below another threshold I had for myself that is exciting...  A few more days seeing that number and I think it will become "reality" for my mind...

I think I will switch over to the new scale totally as of the first of March - and just make notes for myself that I did - so I still have a valid amount of weight lost (back to the numbers relative to each other) for February and then for March using the new scale...

Fun, Fun, Fun...