(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!

(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!

(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!

(Today’s Weight: 210, Total Miles Walked: 199.5)

For the past two mornings, I’ve weighed in at 210, which is a weight I haven’t seen in a few years. It’s such a great feeling when you start seeing real results from a new activity. After 31 days of using a treadmill desk with no other dietary changes, I’m now down 8.5 pounds.

Graph of weight loss since first building the treadmill desk

Under Desk Treadmill Update

I managed to saw off the upright bars finally, so the treadmill now slides all the way under the Fredrik standing desk. I no longer have to worry about kicking the plastic piece at the front the treadmill, as I’m walking a bit further back on it now. Thanks again to my brother in law for lending me his reciprocal saw.

I sawed off the upright bars to slide the treadmill further underneath my Fredrik standing desk

I first built my DIY treadmill deskon October 19th, and I’ve walked on it for a total of 31 days as of yesterday. After walking 199.5 miles, that’s an average weight loss of one pound every four days, or 23.5 miles per pound (can you tell I’m sort of a numbers person?).

Does this mean that you would need to walk 23.5 miles to lose a pound yourself? Most likely, no. With this treadmill desk experiment, I’m very intentionally not changing anything else about my diet. I still eat as much as I want and drink copious amounts of good beer on occasion. If you are wanting to start a weight loss program, there are plenty of ways to speed up the weight loss by controlling your diet. I’ve just chosen not to do any of those things myself.

Update On Virtual Walk To Chicago

Here’s the latest map of my Virtual Walk To Chicago, where I pretend that every mile I walk on my treadmill desk is one step closer to the windy city. I’ve apparently just walked past the nice little city of Washington, Indiana.

View Larger Map

From reading the Wikipedia page for Washington, Indiana, I’ve learned that the city has a population of 11,380 people, and median family income is $37,713. They seem to have a very nice courthouse as well, judging by the pictures. So, hello lovely citizens of Washington! I hope you all waved back as I passed.

I hope everyone enjoys reading this treadmill desk blog. Please let me know below in the comments if there is anything else you’d like to see on this site, or anything in particular you’d like me to discuss.

(Today’s Weight: 211.5, Total Miles Walked: 178.5)

I know when I’ve tried to lose weight in the past, I generally over-think the problem and start searching around all over the net for tips and tactics. The truth is, the magic formula is ridiculously simple: Calories in must be less than calories out. In other words, if you want to know how to start a weight loss program, you either need to become more active or eat less. Or both.

Tips For Starting A Weight Loss Program

Track your progress, although it doesn't have to be every day.

One big thing that helps me is to keep daily tabs on my weight. I don’t let daily fluctuations bother me, because it’s not that hard to gain 3 or 4 pounds overnight if you had a huge dinner or are carrying a lot of water weight. But, it helps to monitor the trend over time. Also, measure your waist, hips, neck, legs, and arms just to get a good starting point idea.

Don’t tell anyone your ultimate goal! Studies have shown that revealing your target weight to a friend or blog is actually detrimental to achieving it. This seems counter-intuitive, but it is true. You can announce short-term goals if you’d like, but I don’t recommend it. Know the goals yourself, maybe write them down somewhere private, but don’t tell anyone else!

Weight Loss Program – Calorie Monitoring

Keeping tabs on your calorie intake is also a great way to know how much you need to cut back. If you sit behind a desk all day, it should be obvious that your body doesn’t need a whole lot of calories to stay at your current weight. I used to think that because I was 6 feet tall, I could easily eat 2500 calories per day and not gain anything. Well, after I hit 220 with that philosophy, I realized that was probably a bit too high for my metabolism.

One thing I noticed is that I could generally eat fine during the day, but whenever I went to the bar with my friends, my beer intake would skyrocket the overall calories. This led to an entire week’s worth of “eating right” being canceled out in a single night. Lower your soda and alcohol consumption if you aren’t planning on greatly increasing your activity level, and switch to drinking more water.

Now, I’ve never been a huge vegetable guy. In fact, if you ask my mom, I think I refused to eat veggies for pretty much my entire childhood. After discovering good Chinese stir-fry, I started getting used to them, and I have since learned to truly enjoy many vegetables.

The great thing about fruits and veggies is that they are generally lower in calories than a “snack bar” or most other processed foods, and they tend to fill you up faster, primarily due to higher fiber content.

You may want to consider trying other low-calorie foods such as the so-called zero-calorie noodles to see if that type of trick works for your body. Not everyone enjoys them or can get full from them, but it can’t hurt to try.

Weight Loss Program – Increased Exercise

Not everyone is able to install a treadmill in their office to use every day (unfortunately). But, everyone should be able to squeeze in some extra walking each day. Park further away from the store or office, take the stairs instead of the elevator, or just go for a nice relaxing walk in the woods.

It’s amazing how much more active your brain becomes when you are physically active during the day. I used to sit at a desk non-stop every day, but after only 28 days of walking 3-8 miles per day, I’m down 7 pounds.

Weight Loss Program – Other Motivation

I mentioned earlier to track your weight and measurement progress often, but for some people, that can be a big de-motivator. If you get discouraged when you see the scale swing back upwards a few ticks, then perhaps it’s better to only weigh yourself every few weeks or even every month or two. But, write it down and put a date next to it. Over time, you’ll see that the trend is headed in the right direction.

Once you’ve hit a short-term goal, give yourself a treat. No, not a food treat, but do something that you’ve been meaning to do for a while. If you can afford a small vacation, take it. Or, go to a sporting event. Just do something to tell yourself “thank you”, and then think about how silly you look when your friends or family see you talking to yourself.

Speaking of friends and family, having a “weight-loss buddy” is a great idea, too. When I lost all my weight the first time around (years ago), it was largely due to a small wager among some friends in my office. Whoever lost the most weight over a period of 4 months was the winner, and we had an official weigh-in once per month. This kept us motivated since we all ate lunch together most of the time, so we could encourage each other not to overeat.

Bottom Line On How To Start A Weight Loss Program (Without a Treadmill Desk)

As I said, the magic formula of weight loss is easy: Do more stuff, and eat less calories. But, that is much easier said than done.

Hopefully some of my advice will help you if you’re struggling with shedding some pounds. Become more active, eat smarter, drink less, and you’ll reap the benefits. And remember, you can lose lose weight walking!

(Today’s Weight: 211.5, Miles Walked: 158.5)

After 24 days of walking while working, I’m still happy to report that everything is going quite well. I weighed in at my lowest weight so far this morning (well, yesterday morning… I’m typing this quite late). And that’s even after a few massive Thanksgiving holiday meals! Interestingly, the treadmill desk revolution is spreading, with my dad jumping into the game with his own DIY treadmill desk.

My Dad’s DIY Treadmill Desk

Side View

His approach is markedly different from my own treadmill desk, but it’s still just as effective. His primary goal was to get in some more physical activity while working on any at-home business he needed to handle, plus while playing games. He’s tried regular treadmill walking while watching television or movies, but he found it to not quite be engaging enough to take his mind off the fact that he was exercising.

Keyboard and Mouse Tray

His reports so far have been very positive. He’s been able to focus on playing games or work on spreadsheets for up to 2 hours at a time while walking, which is a lot more than he was ever able to walk on a treadmill in the past. I’m not sure what speed setting he used, but any movement is certainly better than sitting behind a desk!

Front View

His approach to the do-it-yourself treadmill desk setup was to place a 32″ monitor on a shelf on the wall, and he built his own keyboard and mouse tray that rests firmly at the top of the grasp bars. This seems quite sturdy and is a much cheaper alternative to buying a standing desk or an adjustable height desk. He really seems to enjoy it, so I’ll try to keep tabs on how often he’s using it and report regular updates.

Great job, Dad, I’m proud of you!

Other Treadmill Desk Rumors

My boss informed me a few weeks ago that he’s strongly considering grabbing a treadmill for his own office desk. He made the switch to a standing desk over the summer, and that action was one of the primary motivators for me setting up my treadmill desk in the first place. He currently owns a standing desk very similar to the IKEA Fredrik model that I am using. So, sliding a treadmill under the desk should be very doable.

I’ll be sure to request pictures of his setup if he does, in fact, get around to setting everything up. It’s always good to know that you’ve inspired someone to do something. I know some of my other family members have started going to the gym more often recently, and so I wish all of you luck in your fitness goals.

Remember, Motivation + Hard Work = Success!

(Today’s Weight: 213, Miles Walked: 141)

My wife and I returned from a great vacation to Los Angeles on Saturday, and we had an absolutely fantastic time. I’d never been to the city, and she hadn’t been there since she was a kid at DisneyLand. We visited friends, ate a lot of great meals, saw some cool sights and crazy people, and stayed on a 63′ yacht in Marina Del Rey. Overall, it was a blast, and I was a little leary of coming back to the real world (and continue treadmill desk blogging and walking)…

But, good things never last forever, so it’s time to get back at it. I intended to post earlier this week, but I have been pretty busy with work, so it kept getting pushed back. But, I’ve got some great pictures to post from the trip that hopefully you’ll enjoy.

Here are pictures from the vacation, and a few things for which I’m eternally thankful.

The boat we stayed on during our trip

My awesome wife steering the yacht

Us sitting on the top deck in the marina

Hollywood Walk of Fame

Chuck Norris

The Officewalker and his wife in Hollywood

Venice Canals (they look a lot nicer than this picture shows)

Us in Beverly Hills

My wife being silly

Wife being silly on Muscle Beach in Santa Monica

That we don't live in a city with this much smog

Seagulls hanging out on a rock

Mountains and the ocean - gorgeous

Partying in Hermosa Beach

And lastly, drinking from a Shark Bowl with my awesome friends

That’s just a few of the great memories from last week. It was completely worth needing to walk a few more miles on the treadmill desk while blogging.

I was a little disappointed when I stepped on the scale Monday and it read 216. That meant I had gained almost 5 pounds on vacation, but it was sort of expected. Luckily, today’s weigh-in was much better at 213. Of course, tomorrow is Thanksgiving, so there will be a little more fluctuation after gorging on delicious turkey.

So, what are you thankful for? Leave me a comment below!

(Today’s Weight: 212, Miles Walked: 119.5)

After nearly 4 work weeks of using a treadmill desk and nearly 120 miles of treadmill walking, I’m convinced that this is my long term solution for staying active. I can’t say that I’m always excited about walking when I first wake up in the morning, but once I get going, it just becomes second nature.

Using a Treadmill Desk – Benefits

The most immediate benefit that I’ve noticed so far is weight loss. I’m down 6-7 pounds from where I started last month. Most nutritionists recommend losing no more than 2 pounds per week as the maximum healthy rate that your body can easily handle, and it looks like I’m pretty close to that right now. Here’s a graph of my weight loss tracking so far:

My progress since starting this website on September 28th, 2011

The other benefit I’m targeting is eliminating back pain and improving overall health by being more active. At this point, I still feel the need to stretch out once in a while, but I don’t have any lingering back pain any more after standing still for long periods.

Current Problems

It’s not all sun and roses, though. My neck has felt a lot more sore lately, and my current theory as to why is that I’ve had incredibly terrible posture for most of my life. The joint pain at the base of my neck is probably my body trying to adjust to having “good” posture. Hopefully it will lessen over time, but if not, I’ll have to look at adjusting the monitor or keyboard/mouse height.

The foot arch pain I experienced early on is gone now, but the bottoms of my feet do still get sore from walking barefoot for longer than an hour or so. Right now, I’m walking most of the time with shoes, but I’m slowly increasing the amount of time I walk barefoot. Eventually, I’d like to walk barefoot the entire time, but I’m not quite there yet.

Update On My Virtual Walking Journey

Here’s an updated map of my walk to Chicago (getting closer!):

View Larger Map

On Vacation Next Week

There probably won’t be any updates on this site next week because my wife and I are headed to California for vacation. I’ll try to take a lot of pictures, though, and post them when we return.

Let’s see how much damage I can do to the weight loss plan in a single week of vacation…

If you have any questions or comments for me, please feel free to leave them below. Thanks for reading!

(Today’s Weight: 212, Miles Walked: 89.5)

My Treadmill Desk Workstation, rearranged

Over the weekend, I made the decision to completely disassemble the old sitting desk and move completely to the treadmill desk workstation. The office looks much nicer now (see pics!). My brother-in-law leant me his Craftsman Reciprocating Saw, so later this week I’ll be able to chop off the upright bars from the treadmill and slide it a bit closer.

I’ve weighed in at 212 for the past three days straight, so the weight loss continues! My highest weight a few months ago was 222.5, and it was 218.5 when I started this blog. So, I’m down 6.5 pounds already in less than 3 weeks worth of walking, and I haven’t changed my diet a single bit. I still have a couple too many beers at least once per week, and I’m eating as much as I ever have. Also, I’m going to the gym less than before (which is not exactly intentional). I’ve only averaged once per week since starting this treadmill routine.

Adding an extra 5-10 miles per day really does wonders. It makes sense that football players eat 5,000 Calories or more every day to maintain their optimum physical condition, since they are using so much energy. Of course, my daily routine is absolutely nothing compared to a football player, but now it’s leaps and bounds better than sitting on my butt all day.

Also, I’m now consistently walking at 2 miles per hour instead of 1.5. I found that I’m still able to type and walk (and chew gum) at the same time, so the extra speed only adds more distance during the walk.

As far as feet aches and pains, I still feel a little bit of a tingle when I first put my feet on the ground in the morning. They are still adjusting to the extra workload. But, there is no longer any stiffness or soreness like I experienced after the first week. Still considering getting a pair of “barefoot” shoes, but I haven’t fully committed to that yet.

With the office re-arranged, I now have something to look at beyond a solid blue wall. Now, I can watch cars and trucks drive by on the freeway and get stuck in rush-hour traffic. I love working from home.  :-)

I’ll be on vacation next week, so the treadmill desk adventure will have to take a week off. To make up for it, I’ll try to post a little extra this week, plus I’ll upload some pictures from the trip when I get back. Here’s an updated map of my virtual journey to Chicago:

View Larger Map

(Today’s Weight: 214, Miles Walked: 67.5)

Once again, not a picture of my own feet - you might not appreciate that

Hey there, Internet! Quick progress update today, and a few notes on my “walking barefoot on treadmill” experiment that I tried out today. Why did I do this? Why not?

Actually, I was reading up on some other people who have installed treadmill desks in their home or office, and they were discussing shoes. One guy commented that he switched to barefoot walking on his treadmill because otherwise he would get plantar fasciitis (which I mentioned I was afraid of having trouble with in an earlier post).

So, I thought it would be worthwhile to give it a shot. The verdict?

If You’re Going To Walk Barefoot On A Treadmill, Ease Into It

I thought I’d be able to walk all day barefoot (well, technically in socks), but after about an hour and a half, I started getting sore spots that felt like blisters. Luckily, they didn’t turn into blisters, so I have nothing to worry about for now. I switched to shoes, and now my feet feel mostly fine.

So, if you decide to try out the barefoot thing yourself, I suggest you take it easy at first. Walk 30-45 minutes and see how your feet feel. If they feel fine, go ahead and walk a little further, but stop at the first sign of pain.

I know I’ve read articles in the past that explain barefoot running techniques and why that is better for your joints and body than most shoes, so I’d like to think that walking barefoot is similarly beneficial. But, like anything else, too much of a good thing can be bad. Amazon sells a bunch of “barefoot” shoes, so maybe I’ll look into picking up a pair soon.

Yesterday, I walked roughly 6 miles, and today about 7. This brings the total miles walked on my virtual walking journey to Chicago up to 67.5. No change in weight yet, although this week’s diet has consisted of mostly pizza. I’m sure that’s healthy, right?

Happy (make-believe) trails!