mandysee_mandydo: (Default)
To accompany the photos and video on Facebook, I decided to blog about our experience walking through the woods to go grocery shopping.

We packed Ian's stroller with water and a snack for him, the usual baby stuff, my purse, and a folding shopping buggy that we have, covered the stroller with a bug net, and set out toward the schools. We knew there was a way into Langdon Park from there that would get us almost immediately onto the Heritage Trail, which leads right up to Hatch Plaza along the Baker River, across the river from Tenney Mountain Highway. It was a beautiful day for a walk and we had plenty of time to walk the woods and determine if it was even a possibility with the three of us and a stroller.

Walking to the schools was easy, since they are a block away and the road is paved until the beginning of school grounds. We walked the dirt service road through the athletic fields and past the old ski jump until we got to the trail by the ball field that led down to the field where we could get to the Heritage Trail. Until the field we were entirely on trails and roads.

Once at the field we found we had to walk along the edge of the field where a "path" had been more recently mowed and wasn't as tall as the rest of the grass. I found myself glad I was wearing long pants and long sleeves! We followed the edge of the field until we reached the trail that was clearly marked with the brown Heritage Trail marker.

The beginning of the trail was wide and well maintained. It was very easy walking and we enjoyed the relative obfuscation of the forest and the sights and smells of nature even if accompanied by the sounds of the highway across the river from us. A little while in we came to a chain link fence with an opening wide enough for pedestrians and bicycles to pass but not much larger. The stroller fit through with no trouble, though it was a bit muddy. As we progressed further and further along the trail, the path became narrower and narrower until it was a thin line through high ferns and grass. On the narrowest of the path we had a little trouble with the stroller but it wasn't impassable. Eventually we came out at Hatch Plaza and went on our way shopping.

We had a very light lunch and drinks before leaving Hatch Plaza and heading home via the streets, mainly Highland Street. For those unfamiliar with Plymouth, Highland Street is one of the main roads in town that goes up a huge hill and then back down it. It connects downtown at Main Street (US Route 3) with the businesses on Tenney Mountain Highway (US Routes 3A & 25) and was once itself US Route 25 many, many years ago before the state built the section that runs along the Baker River up to Highland Street.

We walked up the hill, but instead of going back down Highland Street to where it intersects with ours, we went down the road leading to the schools so we could cross through and come out a block away from our home on the other end of our street. We stopped at the high school to sit at a picnic table and rest since the hill was a bit tiring. We enjoyed the company of some nuthatches in the tree next to us and then we continued on to home. For the trip back, we had bought a block of ice to keep the perishables cold.

The trip by road was 1.6 miles according to Google Maps. Looking at the map and eyeballing the trail we took, I suspect the trail was probably around 1.25 - 1.5 miles. Either way took us about an hour to walk, but we did stop to rest on the way home. I know I've walked the roads to just before Hatch Plaza in about half an hour by myself at a steady clip. The woods didn't have the hill, since it followed the river around the base of the hill. We had some downhill first getting to the trail, but not much, and then a little uphill at the Hatch Plaza end. While the roads were certainly not overgrown with vegetation, I think with some care to the trails the woods could prove a far more enjoyable walk to Hatch Plaza without the bother of walking uphill only to go back downhill.

We only walked for a small amount of groceries, so walking was fine. If we were shopping for more, I would certainly want to bike Route 3 to Tenney Mountain Highway and then along the highway to Hatch Plaza. I've done that bike route many times and, with a couple of bikes and a bike trailer, I think we could all go shopping together with the speed and convenience of biking over walking while still not using fossil fuels, which saves us money and reduces our carbon footprint. In the winter I see the trail being a better option if we wanted to snowshoe to get groceries no matter the amount because we could just load them onto a sled and drag it. The challenge would be to find a way to safely bring Ian with us.
mandysee_mandydo: (Birth of Venus)
I've started walking again, beyond just the walking everywhere now that we're back in town. My weight loss is stalled so I need to kick it back into high gear. I also decided tonight that I would start doing ab crunches again and was surprised that I was able to do two sets of 25 reps. Not too shabby considering it's been months since I even attempted any ab exercises! My walk yesterday was from the office up to the schools and then home. Tonight we walked all the way across campus and back, which took about 45 minutes. I think if I can get back in the habit of walking at least 30-60 minutes a day, add in three or four days of doing ab crunches, and then maybe throw in some other aerobic exercise I'll be well on my way.

I've started reading Gender Outlaw by Kate Bornstein (thanks [livejournal.com profile] sk_brainstorm  for loaning it to me!) and so far it's a very easy and interesting read. I like her point of view regarding gender fluidity and breaking the gender rules. There are little things here and there that bug me, but nothing major, and I'll probably go into those a little more once I've had a chance to finish the book.

Tomorrow is the employee picnic at work. Free lunch! Woohoo! And it won't be ramen or grilled cheese or corn meal mush. I have mixed feelings about being able to spend $30 on a week of groceries for two people. The revelation in this is just how much the free market attitude has dire consequences on our nation's health. I'm not unconvinced that our nation's obesity problem doesn't stem at least in large part from speculation on commodities. Sure it's easy for poor people or even lower middle class people to scrape by and live on the cheap, but don't expect people living on the cheap to eat healthy. It just isn't possible. The cheap stuff is all processed foods that can be mass produced and come in conveniently stackable packaging that facilitates bulk shipment of vast quantities of product. The healthy stuff (which doesn't really come from local farms but gets shipped from all over the country and world) isn't as convenient to ship. Fuel goes up in price, bringing food with it, leaving those scraping by to eat whatever fits within the stretched food budget. This means pastas and noodles and sandwiches are the menu: in other words, lots of empty, processed, refined carbohydrates with little in the way of lean protein or healthy fats to accompany them.
mandysee_mandydo: (Birth of Venus)
There was a time when I couldn't eat salad without drowning it in dressing. Now when I have dressing it's as much as or less than the serving size. For the past week or so, though, I've neglected to bring dressing with me to work and have been eating my salads plain. Oddly enough, I've come to not mind it and maybe even enjoy it.

And it seems I'm back in the swing of walking daily. So far in the past week I've only missed going for an extended walk on Monday, and even then I did some walking.

I'm starting to get used to GIMP. I've been using Photoshop for... holy crap almost ten years now! So it's a slow process. I'm still struggling to find my favorite features but I'm getting there.
mandysee_mandydo: (Birth of Venus)
Last night at the weight loss support group I found out we're having a weight loss contest betwen 3/24 and 6/2. Whoever loses the biggest percentage of their weight in that time wins a rather big prize package. I'm not so much concerned with the package (though it would certainly be nice!) as I am in having the extra motivation to keep losing. I signed up for the contest. I'm already getting motivated. This week I've walked two days: Sunday and today. My goal that I set with my health coach was to walk three or four days a week and I have yet to keep that promise. This week will be the first week. I can do it!

It's time to end the stagnation and start losing weight again.

Exercise

Oct. 15th, 2007 06:57 am
mandysee_mandydo: (birth of venus)
It seems it is already time for me to revise my exercise strategy. It is only now light enough to safely walk outside at 7:00 am. The trouble with that is it is too late at this point to walk because if I do, I won't have time to shower, dress and prepare meals for the day before work. Either I will have to walk later in the day or find some other exercise to do. Oh well. Adapt and adjust. I'll make it work! :)
mandysee_mandydo: (Default)
Here's another quick update while I wait for files to upload.
  • In the past week I lost another eight pounds and have tightened my belt another notch. Three more notches to go before I have to buy a new belt! ^_^
  • The new diet is working out well, if only a bit confusing. Some of the materials the dietitian gave me seem to contradict each other and what we discussed.
  • The morning walk is also working out well. I still enjoy it! :)
  • Our portions are A LOT smaller now so we're saving money on groceries. That's always a big plus.
mandysee_mandydo: (birth of venus)
I haven't weighed in yet, but when I put on my belt this morning I got to move up two notches. Yay! This is the same belt that when I bought it was a little tight at the loosest notch. Now I'm at the third in! ^_^

Fall Hikes

Sep. 21st, 2007 11:20 am
mandysee_mandydo: (birth of venus)
Autumn is two days away (trust me, I know!) and I'm starting to get an itch for some fall hikes. I'm thinking easy hikes like West Rattlesnake, Wachipauka Pond and the Peaked Hill Pond trails. Anyone interested in hiking these and maybe others in October and November?

EDIT:
Just so others know, I've hiked all three of these and they are beautiful little hikes. The first is a VERY popular spot but the latter two are lesser known and rarely will you find more than one or two other hikers on the trails at the same time. We actually hiked Peaked Hill Pond once and when we got to the pond we were able to watch a moose and her yearling grazing and bathing on the other side of the pond for quite some time.
mandysee_mandydo: (Default)
My cankles are going away!!! ^_^ The swelling in my ankles has gone down a great deal I noticed yesterday. I can see and feel my ankle bone again on my left leg! My right leg is still worse but the swelling has gone down there, too. The splochiness is going away some, too.

I'm eating less for breakfast now. I'm down to eating only two eggs for breakfast now.

I started walking in the morning this morning before I do anything else. It feels so amazing! I think a morning walk is the way to go for now as far as exercise is concerned. I think I'll have the best luck keeping up with my routine if I make it a morning priority.
mandysee_mandydo: (captain jack sparrow)
First, I weighed in. I've lost 10 pounds over the past couple of weeks! Yay!!! ^_^

Second, the unthinkable has happened: I have overcome my fear and loathing of needles! I went in for lab work for my physical and the needle was nothing. No blacking out or nausea. I was fine. It didn't even hurt! I just sat there stunned for a couple of seconds just like, "Wow, I've been afraid of THAT all these years?!"

Third, 18 hours of fasting and I came out of it to eat an omelette and nothing else and I'm full. That is made of awesome! I am so ready for my annual birthday fasting. Piece of cake!!!

O_o

Did I just quote Dr. Shen? Oh my.
mandysee_mandydo: (birth of venus)
I'm doing real well so far on sticking to my diet. I still have some ork to do buut I'm back to smaller portions and mostly vegetables for fiber and carbs and meats (mostly lean with a little beef once a week) proteins. This morning I had a very tasty scramble with three small eggs, a couple of tablespoons of heavy cream, two ounces of four-cheese Mexican blend, a mix of sauteed red pepper, green pepper, purple pepper, onion and tomato (Oh poo! I forgot to add the jalapenos!) and topped with the homemade hot salsa we bought from a local farm yesterday.

Oh, and I finally found a bread and butter pickle I like! The same local farm was selling dill and bread and butter pickles. I bought the dill for me and the bread and butter for [profile] painted_wolf and tried one of her pickles. Delicious! :D
mandysee_mandydo: (birth of venus)
I've been doing excellent on the nutrition part of my wellness. I'm eating smaller portions four or five times a day. My meals are mostly farm fresh and unprocessed foods, which is great.

More food talk behind the cut... )

So far it has been working wonderfully. I feel more energetic, I'm not as hungry as often and I'm enjoying fresh meals and have the time to prepare them now. Now to work on getting plenty of exercise regularly!

"The Harvard Law states: Under controlled conditions of light, temperature, humidity, and nutrition, the organism will do as it damn well pleases." - Larry Wall

Good Food!

Aug. 4th, 2007 12:12 am
mandysee_mandydo: (Default)
Okay, so all my friends are blogging about food. Why not me?

This morning I made an omelet as usual and I think it was perhaps my favorite omelet ever. I had some leftover bok choy from last night so I sauteed some bok choy, celery and scallions in butter, they cooked them in with the egg of the omelet. After turning the omelet I added two slices of honey ham and two thin slices of tomato, as well as a couple ounces of four cheese mexican blend. It was huge and very yummy! :D

For lunch I ended up having a salad as usual but this time made entirely from veggies we bought at the farmstand (well, except for the celery). Very tasty! Kathy made the salads for a change (A rare occurance I can assure you) so it made lunch all that much nicer. Great jorb Kathy! :) I did get a hot dog from Bad Dawgs. It was their new Poi Dog with pineapple, pizza sauce, bacon bits and cheese crumbles. It was surprisingly tasty!

For dinner we ended up eating Chinese from Mandarin Taste. I stuck with just chicken wings and boneless spareribs because I wanted to get more protein and had plenty of vegetable earlier. I ended up also eating one egg roll.

On the drive home I kinda blew the good eating trend and got a milkshake and pastry for dessert. Still, overall it was a good day of eating mostly healthy, which has been a trend of very recent.

"Sex is good, but not as good as fresh sweet corn." - Garrison Keillor

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