HEADING TO LOMA LINDA: DAY ONE
After 26 days in Bisbee (where did the time go??), we checked the tire pressures, cranked up the engine, and took off this morning on the first, short, leg of our three-day trip to Loma Linda, California. As always, we left with smiles on our faces - getting underway that is FUN, no matter how much we have enjoyed our stay.
Today's drive was only 2 1/2 hours, 135 miles, from Bisbee to Catalina State Park (read our review and see photos here), on the northern edge of Tucson. This is a favorite campground of ours, and at 2700' elevation, it is much cooler here at night than it will be as we head further west. The short day gave us time for a visit to the nearby Trader Joe's, and a walk around the campground as the sun set and the temperatures cooled down.
To stay decently fit (and eat more), Odel and I try to walk 10,000 steps a day - and we are pretty successful at it. Odel wears the pedometer, and I figure my short legs get at least as many steps as his long legs. Since I got back on Weight Watchers, though, my exercise priority has shifted.
When I first joined Weight Watchers around 10 years ago, I was on the "Points" program: I got to eat 20-25 points worth of food each day. It amazed me then, and it amazes me now, how LITTLE food that is!
The point system has been reorganized a little since then. Now I get to eat 20 points worth of food each day, and have a "bank" of 35 more points that can be used during the week for eating out, splurging, or simply eating a tiny bit more each day - essentially the same 20-25 points per day, presented a bit differently.
And then there are "activity points". Get active and you GAIN points, which can be traded one-for-one for food. Our usual 10,000 step stroll (a moderate pace) is worth 4 points: 8 oz of wine is my favorite trade, or an ounce of tortilla chips and fresh salsa, or maybe a little muffin or a couple of cookies for dessert. I'll tell you, it has re-energized my walking to know I can earn a decent sized glass of vino to accompany dinner!
Getting back into WW has sucked up all of my spare time... so much planning, so much calculating! Still, it is a program that I KNOW works for me as long as I don't eat more than 25 points worth of food a day. Besides, the organization and calculation appeals to me, with the special little WW "slide rule" for calculating points, the journal for tracking points... wierd, huh?
Over the past couple of weeks, I've tried quite a few new recipes - some horribly bland and flavorless, many mediocre, and some excellent, the keepers, as approved by Odel. When he says "this doesn't taste like diet food", I know it has broad appeal. I hope to get the keepers posted over the next few days of travel.
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Hi Laurie,
ReplyDeleteHow long does it take you two to walk 10,000 steps? Semms I can only manage 6000 or so in the hour I have before work in the morning.
Sue
Sue, you must walk the same pace we do. If we forget the pedometer, our rule of thumb is that we walk 1000 steps every ten minutes. We walk between and hour thirty and an hour forty-five to get our steps.
ReplyDeleteIt definitely takes commitment! We're retired and have a lifestyle that should be (well, IS) conducive to walking and we have no mobility problems. We figured that if WE can't do it, who can?
When I get frustrated by the committment of almost two hours a day to walking - or I don't feel like walking in a noisy, crowded, busy urban environment - I think of it as an investment in my health. I'm no longer investing money in a 401K - I am now investing time in my "quality of life" account. It also forces me to get up and move when I am captured by the computer. :-)
If you can walk an hour a day, and you are working, do you wear your pedo at work? Unless you don't walk AT ALL at work and don't do any stops on the way home (grocery stores are worth at least 1,000 steps), I'll bet you're close to 10,000. Walk on!