Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Urban Hiker Girl Is Now In Utah!

Urban Hiker Girl has gone suburban! Though I don't have my Utah driver's license yet, as of 7pm last night I now live in Utah.

Due to thunderstorms today I decided to do my walking indoors this afternoon at the fitness center of my new apartment. There's also a universal weight machine that I gave a try. It felt good to get hot and sweaty from a good workout and not just from walking through the Seattle humidity for a few minutes.

As the weather here improves I look forward to exploring the area on foot. I'll be sure to post pictures.

I'm going to keep this entry short today as I don't have internet in the apartment yet so I'm using the shared computer in the clubhouse lobby, which is due to close soon; just wanted to give you all a quick update that the Urban Hiker Girl is alive and well, but now in Utah!

Keep walking, my friends!

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Determination for Life

Wow! I stumbled across someone else's inspirational journey via a Facebook link today. While I don't completely support some of his methods for weight loss (and FYI- neither he nor I are medical professionals, always consult your doctor for weight loss advice), his story is inspirational and he does have some good points.

Here's an excerpt of something he said that I felt grateful for.
"Determination for life: hopefully all this helps motivating you. No matter how impossible it feels...just know that you can do it! Trust me: I used to think that I was "big boned" or it was "God's plan" for me to be big. That's a blatant lie. Your identity should be found in living a disciplined life (which embodies making Christ like choices that effect every area of your life: mental, physical, spiritual)."

Now, go read the rest of Ben's story here: How Ben of Sidewalk Prophets Shed 120 lbs.

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Walked 4.7 Miles for Tape

Tuesday, while packing boxes, I ran out of packing tape. Usually we have several spare rolls because my mom likes to send little goodies in the mail to my niece and nephew, but after a quick search I found none. No tape. Fortunately, it was close to dinner time so it was a good time to call it quits.

I had planned to stop at the Uhaul store on my way to dinner and Bible study on Tuesday evening, but in my excitement to get there early (or on-time, as opposed to having been late the last month) I completely forgot, and, of course, everything was closed on my way home at 9:00pm. So, Wednesday morning as I got up and did my upper body weight training exercises I planned my walking route to include a trip to the store for tape and the grocery store for lunch.

Both the tape store and grocery store are about 1 mile due south of my home. I wanted to get more than a 2 mile walk in, so, strapping on my backpack to carry home my supplies in, I headed out. I walked west, then south/southeast to arrive at the stores. I picked up six rolls of tape (not gonna run out again, baby!) and a salad, yogurt, and banana for my lunch and afternoon snack. I was feeling good and ready to go.

When I got home I thought that I'd may be walked about 4 miles, but upon checking my GPS tracker it said I had walked 4.7 miles. I walked 4.7 miles to get tape for packing boxes. Go me! I felt great and I could enjoy frozen yogurt with my friend Lisa that night without feeling guilty that I might go over my calorie goal for the day. (In fact, I counted 1 cup of frozen yogurt, 2 T of hot fudge, and a scoop of peanut butter cup pieces and I was still under my calorie goal for the day. That was pretty exciting, too!)

Monday, July 7, 2014

The Dog(s) That Started It All

For the Fourth of July weekend I was asked to dog-sit some of my favorite pets- the dogs that started it all, Casey and Rudy. It was back in December of 2013 that I walked those boys every day for a mile or so and I thought to myself "I feel good doing all this walking," AND "I want to eat better, fuel my body with better food, because walking makes me feel better." So, one night after getting back from our daily constitutional, I sat down and started working on my plan. And so it began....

The family had lost to cancer the cat they had and so on July 1, I went to meet the new cat, Diego. Casey eagerly greeted me at the door, but Rudy was not in sight, "Perhaps he's in the backyard," I thought to myself. Sadly, I discovered on inquiry, that Rudy's cancer had come back, and that combined with his incontinence that came with old age, caused them to choose to put him down in early June.
Snuggling with Diego and Casey.

I felt a moment of sadness for the loss. Rudy was a big old Husky whose tail was always wagging and he always looked like he was smiling. But, he was always having accidents and never seemed to be able to settle down comfortably. Poor old Rudy; I'll miss him.

But, Casey was still there and very, very happy to see me. And Diego was just a cute little fur ball, full of the energy of a 2 year old kitten. And for four days I got to walk with at least one of the dogs that helped get me started on this journey. I'm gonna miss "my" animals. (Anyone in Sandy, UT need a dog-sitter?)

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Celebrating Me

It's important to celebrate little milestones along the journey. When I passed the 200 pound mark I celebrated ME by doing something that would help me feel good about myself. I got my brows waxed. Ok, so the actual process isn't fun, but the results of that process are the prize.

What are some ways you celebrate your milestones? Please share your ideas in the comments!

Celebrating making it past the 200# mark!