Using a Treadmill Desk For 6 Months

May 12, 2012 | Author: Jason the Walker

(Today’s weight: 218, Total Miles Walked: 520.5)

It’s been far too long since my last update, and I apologize to any of my readers who have been hoping for more recent progress reports. There’s not really a good excuse, but my weight loss took a backslide recently, so I’ve been less motivated to talk about it. But, I’ve now been using a treadmill desk for over 6 months, although its use has decreased in the past month or so due mainly to the fact that I’ve had to work on my laptop exclusively for a while now.

So what have I been up to?

Our crazy crew in Las Vegas. And yes, that's a pink gorilla in the middle. More on that story later...

First, there was a trip to Las Vegas to drink heavily and lose some money, and I succeeded in meeting both of those goals quite well!). Then, I had different friends visit from out of town for about 3 weeks in a row, which resulted in lots of bar trips. Then, there was a trip to New York for a wedding shower which was mostly another weekend filled with beer and wine. Lastly, I was on an 8-day Caribbean cruise where pretty much the only physical activity was walking to the hot tub where buckets of beer were waiting patiently then walking to dinner for 3-5 course meals.

All of that travel resulted in tons of extra calories and very little exercise. Of course, it was all a blast, and I wouldn’t take back a single minute from any of those trips, but my body is starting to hate me for the abuse it’s had to endure.

Putting the gym back into rotation

One unfortunate side effect from using a treadmill desk has been that I’ve had almost no motivation to go to the gym or run. After a full day of walking, it’s easy to justify not working out. However, elevating your heart rate is still a very important component of any weight loss plan, so I’ve decided to go back to the gym and jump on the treadmill or ride the bike again in addition to hitting the weights.

This will require some extra motivation, of course, but I’m sure my wife will help push me along the way (even if she has to drag me kicking and screaming the whole way). She’s been on a fitness kick of her own for the past couple of months, and her efforts have definitely paid off. Not only has she gained some muscled tone, she looks great, and her motivation is apparently contagious. :)

Walking more on the treadmill desk

My wife and I with the rest of the Karaoke All-Stars on the cruise ship. Left to right: Madonna, Ricky Martin, Elton John, James Brown, and Garth Brooks

Since I’ve had to use my laptop a lot more for the past few months, I’ve been walking a lot less. This is mostly because the laptop doesn’t fit well on my desk currently, so I’ve been sitting in the living room in a comfortable chair instead.

Luckily, that work is mostly finished, and I can go back to using my desktop computer for my daily workflow again. Say hello to more walking! Even though I’ve gained a lot of my weight back, I’m scared to think how much more it would have been had I not invested in a treadmill desk.

Update on virtual walk to Chicago

I have definitely walked all the way to Chicago now, so the first leg of my journey is complete! I’ll post more about my new virtual destination and some of the sights along the way in the near future, since this is getting quite long already.

Thanks for following me, and if you’ve decided to join the treadmill desk revolution as well, I wish you all the best of luck on your own virtual journey!

A Treadmill Desk Walk Through Terre Haute, Indiana

January 23, 2012 | Author: Jason the Walker

(Today’s Weight: 212, Total Miles Walked: 320.5)

Welcome to another installment of the Office Walker’s Virtual Walk To Chicago! The past several weeks, I’ve been continuing to consume large quantities of cookies and post-holiday snacks, so my weight loss has slowed (virtually stalled, in fact), but I’ve continued to walk 3-4 days per week on the treadmill desk. My travels have taken me past a number of small towns in Indiana, including Veedersburg and Attica, but the largest of these cities has been Terre Haute, Indiana. So, you’ll be learning a fair amount about Terre Haute in today’s episode.

View Larger Map

But first, let’s discuss a few other things that I’ve been meaning to write up but haven’t gotten around to doing so until now.

Best Shoes For Walking On A Treadmill Desk

Back in late November, I purchased a pair of Reebok RealFlex “barefoot/natural” running shoes to use while walking. To be fair, I don’t know that I can call these “the best shoes” for walking on a treadmill desk since I haven’t tried everything yet, but these are certainly quite good. The interesting thing about these shoes is that they flex a lot if you take them off, but they still have a very padded sole to keep your feet comfortable.

I mentioned early on in my treadmill desk blog that I was starting to feel some arch pain in my feet from walking so much. I then tried to go barefoot, but that also didn’t feel that great over a long period of time. So, I decided to give the Reebok RealFlex model a try, and I’ve been extremely pleased with them ever since.

The cushion is great, and I haven’t felt any foot pain since switching to them. They are extremely lightweight, and they are very form fitting, so my feet don’t get cramped or sore during the day. If anyone else out there is considering using a treadmill desk, I highly recommend giving these babies a try (by the way, if you purchase anything through my Amazon link, I get a small percentage as a referral fee – HINT HINT).

Cats And Treadmills

This is Simba, obviously not very happy about his new Christmas decoration

We have two cats, and I was really excited about seeing their reaction to the treadmill. I had hoped they wouldn’t mind walking on it so that I could upload some awesome videos, but alas, they are both deathly afraid of the thing while it’s running. So, it’s a shame, but my cats and treadmills don’t seem to mix very well.

Simba (the one in the picture) doesn’t mind lying down on it when it’s not running, but as soon as that tread starts to move, he runs away and cowers under the couch. Unless he’s hungry, of course, then he stands right next to me and meows pitifully until I jump off and fill up his food bowl. Kiki, our other cat, doesn’t appear to like it very much either.

I tried holding them in place while the tread was moving, and Kiki will somewhat walk with her front paws, but her back feet just drag behind her, so she’s obviously not cut out for having her own treadmill desk yet. Simba hates it even more, and he’ll actively try to bite me until I let him go. Unfortunate, but it appears these cats are not wise to the world of physical training just yet. Maybe in time…

All About Terre Haute, Indiana

The Lovely City of Terre Haute

Now, the moment you’ve been waiting for! Let’s discuss Terre Haute, Indiana, and all of the wonderous joys that this city holds.

With a city population of nearly 61,000, Terre Haute is the county seat of Virgo County, one of the westernmost counties in Indiana. The federal death row sits in the correctional complex in this city, so not everything is sunny and happy here, but for the most part, it’s a wonderful mid-size town.

Sitting right next to the Wabash River, Terre Haute has a little bit of everything for a midwestern city. In fact, the official “Crossroads of America” is considered to be the intersection of 7th Street and Wabash Street. It’s centrally located between a number of metropolitan cities, including Indianapolis, Cincinnati, St. Louis, and my first major walking destination, Chicago.

History Of Terre Haute

William Henry Harrison founded Fort Harrison just outside of the city now known as Terre Haute

(Note, most of this information exists on Wikipedia, so I’m relying on the “truthiness” of the Internet masses for accuracy…) Terre Haute was founded shortly after the construction of Fort Harrison, the famous fort constructed by then-future-President William Henry Harrison. In 1812, the fort was defended from a Native American raid which was fueled by the British, who were apparently still upset that their little colony had rebelled a few decades prior.

As the colonists continued to venture westward, the area previously occupied by Native Americans became settled more and more, resulting in fairly rapid growth in the Terre Haute area. Steamboats and riverboats navigated the Wabash River, making Terre Haute a commercial hub for the growing midwest. The Wabash and Erie Canal grew to become the largest man-made canal in this half of the globe, further fueling expansion and commercialization.

In 1852, a railroad line connected Terre Haute to Indianapolis, making rail traffic the largest source of travelers to the city instead of the canal. The ease of transportation to and from the city brought further prosperity and commercial traffic.

However, with the easy river access, the city’s “red light district” grew and developed a bad reputation (or good, depending on the point of view of the visitor). The 1950s saw the city described as “Sin City” by a major magazine at the time. It wasn’t until the 1960s that Terre Haute made a serious effort to clean up its image and revitalize the waterfront area.

Today, Terre Haute is home to a number of large industrial and commercial operations, including the first factory in the United States to manufacture CDs, owned by Sony. Malls, airports, art museums, music venues, and major highways now dot the landscape once roamed by the Wea Native Americans.

Wow, That Was A Long Post

I hope you’ve enjoyed the virtual treadmill desk walk through Terre Haute and its past, as well as the ridiculous picture of Simba. At this point, I’m getting fairly close to Chicago and should be there within a couple of weeks. From there, I’ll continue the route that Forrest Gump took on his criss-crossing run across America, so I’ll be heading west.

If any cities or businesses would like to be featured along the way, I’ll be happy to ~~sell advertising space~~ take a virtual journey there. Just let me know below in the comments or shoot me an email. Until then, Happy Walking!

Virtual Walk Past Farmersburg, Indiana – Treadmill Day 38

January 3, 2012 | Author: Jason the Walker

(Today’s Weight: 213, Total Miles Walked: 248)

Happy New Year! I’ve been slacking a bit on updating this site, due mostly to laziness, but also due to the fact that I’ve had a lot of time off from work and haven’t walked much since the last post. However, today, I’m going to guide you through my virtual walk through Farmersburg, Indiana.

I’ve managed to consume a huge amount of holiday treats, thus reducing the accumulated weight loss a bit. That’s alright, it happens every year, and I didn’t expect this year to be any different.

I hope everyone’s holidays were great and exceeded your expectations. I have no complaints about mine. We didn’t get to see all of the immediate family, but we’ll be visiting the rest of the bunch within the next month or so. It’s always nice when your family understands that the actual day of a holiday doesn’t matter and that being able to flex a schedule around is no big deal.

Virtual Walk To Chicago

After some discussion, I’ve decided to make my posts a bit more detailed about the cities that I’m virtually walking through. I’ve tried to figure out where to take this blog long-term. I think people would get bored with a bunch of posts that just said things like “I walked 10 miles today!”, “Yay, this treadmill desk is great!”, and “Check out the view from my window again today!” So, here’s my updated map for roughly 248 miles worth of walking.

View Larger Map

All About Farmersburg, Indiana

Here's what the Farmersburg Bank looked like in the late 1800's. To be honest, it looks the same now. Even the people are dressed the same!

Today marks my virtual journey into the lovely town of Farmersburg, a small community of nearly 1200 people just south of Terre Haute, Indiana. 1200 is even smaller than my hometown which had around 2100 people. The entire town is less than 3/4 of a square mile, so it really is one of the “blink and you’ll miss it” type of places.

As I was virtually walking past Farmersburg’s North Central High School, I noticed that the fightin’ Thunderbirds were practicing for a big basketball game. Good luck, guys, go get ‘em! The school has an 87.5% graduation rate, which I believe is above-average these days. So, congratulations to the North Central High Thunderbirds for maintaining high academic standards!

By the way, tomorrow is Spaghetti w/ Meat Sauce day in the cafeteria, so someone please make sure to eat an extra Texas Toast for me!

Somewhat off-topic, here’s an interesting and lengthy tale about a Farmersburg native who fought in World War II, Jim Nickless.

That’s really all I can tell you about Farmersburg without taking a trip there myself. I hope it has inspired you to take a visit to this quaint little town and see all that it has to offer. If you have been to this town yourself, I’d love to hear more about it below in the comments section. Educate us!

Office Walker