We humans communicate with symbols, either numeric or alpha. Exercisers are infatuated with numbers. We count steps taken, calories burned, distances traveled, minutes worked, and heaviness of exercise load. Recall the importance of 10,000 steps a day from an earlier post. As to work-out numbers, my exercise bicycle provides digital numbers for load, time, calories, and distance. Better models also provide heart rate numbers. This article will address numbers related to heart rate. As an experienced MoneyWalker, I know with my brisk walking pace, I will elevate my heart rate to my so-called walking “Target Heart Rate,” about 100 to 120 beats per minute. My resting heart rate is about 70. To lose or maintain weight loss, the goal of MoneyWalkers, we must elevate our heart rate from our resting heart rate so as to get a “training effect.” More on the so-called “training effect” in a later post. Exercise physiologists suggest that, at a minimum, we must exercise with an elevated heart rate for 8 to 12 minutes in order to get a training effect. Brisk walking requires much more time than jogging or swimming to gain the weight loss benefits. Beginners should strive for a 30 minute walk with a goal of one hour. To monitor the effectiveness of your walk, you will want to know two numbers, your resting heart rate and your exercise target heart rate. The Bellaonline blog, http://www.bellaonline.com/code/health/heartrate.asp provides a calculator for determining your beginning and intermediate target heart rate. I have, for my age group, a very low and healthy resting heart rate, between 65 and 70. To determine your resting heart rate, locate with your off-hand the pulse from an artery of your dominant wrist. Once located, count the pulse beats for 15 seconds, add one to the number and multiply by 4. This gives you a resting beats-per-minute heart rate. To find your target heart rate, the formula is 220 minus your age. Thus I subtract my age, 66, from 220 and derive 154. To obtain my beginning target heart rate, I multiply 154 x .60 and derive 92 beats per minute as my beginning exercise target heart rate. To obtain my intermediate target heart rate, I multiply 154 x .80 and derive 123 as my intermediate target heart rate. When I walk, my goal is to maintain an elevated heart rate of 120 for the one hour walk. Numbers are important for a MoneyWalker, especially the target heart rate.
MoneyWalker
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
money spots
Finding money is like sales, it is a matter of making the calls. This afternoon, my one hour walk gave up $1.29, 55 cents above my average. From my house in a mixed community of businesses and homes, I have identified five money destinations. Each walk takes me to a different destination. Each destination requires 30 or 40 minutes of brisk walking. Between the destinations and my home are dozens of money spots. By visiting each money spot, I average 73 cents per one hour walk. Examples of money spots include newspaper stands, drink dispensers, pay telephones, gas stations, post offices, the curbs coming and going, car washes, fast food drive-throughs, select parking lots, and banks with drive through facilities. So off I go, briskly walking from one money spot to another scanning the curbs and parking lots and then checking the money returns of the newspaper, drink dispensers, and telephones. By checking enought of the money spots, you will yield the desired results. As for money destinations, my one for today was a major service station with pay phones, drive-through car washes, and multiple gas bays. It rarely disapoints. Then across the street to a series of fast food restaurants with their parking lots and drive-throughs. Then back home checking the money spots on the opposite side of the street taken to the money destination. One big find was a quarter left in a daily newspaper dispenser and another quarter in a pay telephone change return. The curb's were especially generous giving up 49 cents. In summary, MoneyWalkers should strive to walk for 30 minutes to an end point. With repetition, identify the money spots and check each one. Return home using the same path but on a different side of the street checking that routes money spots. Happy Fitness walking.
MoneyWalker
MoneyWalker
Monday, January 12, 2009
MoneyWalker's January 12, 2009 journal entry with a MoneyWalker comment
01/12/09: Weight, 180.0 lbs; Money found, $1.75. found a dollar bill in a Shell drive through car wash. Found 26 cents in a curb "scatter" on Iberville. For the walk, more than 50 cents were curb finds. During walk, found two working lighters and an interesting discarded Christmas wreath. Noted construction for next year Christmas idea. Found a nickle encrusted in asphalt. From curb, located a nail and brick and picked the nickle free.
Comment: My walks begin at 6:45 a.m., the time when sufficient sunlight allows money to be spotted. I check the weather report and dress accordingly. Formerly, I recorded the steps using a pedometer, a devise that attaches to your body and automatically counts steps. These devices became popular after fitness experts deemed that adults should walk 10,000 steps a day to maintain fitness. The ones I bought were inexpensive and the data were unreliable. Yet, I wore them long enough to estimate 2000 to 2500 steps for each 20 minutes of fast walking. I also do not register the time of my walk. When I started walking, I walked 30 minutes out and 30 minutes back. Now I simply mentally note the time and walk to my predetermined end point which remains about 30 minutes out. My walks average between one hour and 1.15 hours. In the above journal entry, I used the word "scatter." A scatter is a multiple coin find. When I find one coin on the ground or floor surface, I always look for other coins. People often lose coins in multiples. I once found a scatter of 7 quarters. It was outside a bar with pay poker machines. I also note "groupings" in my journal. Perhaps by chance, but it is not uncommon to find money in groups. Find a dime, and often in the same block of the walk, another coin is found. I call that a grouping when the coin finds seem to be unrelated as in a scatter. While the MoneyWalker looks to find money, he also finds other useful items. The MoneyWalker never buys pencils, ball point pens, or cigarette lighters for my smoking friends. I also pick-up miscellaneous hardware items for my shop. Items include bolts, washers, car-wash supplies, etc. My journal entry also indicates specifically where money is found. Finding currency is very rare, so this morning's entry indicated that I had found a one dollar bill inside of a drive through car wash--very strange. We will revisit many of the ideas posted in this journal entry comment using stand-along posts.
The MoneyWalker
Comment: My walks begin at 6:45 a.m., the time when sufficient sunlight allows money to be spotted. I check the weather report and dress accordingly. Formerly, I recorded the steps using a pedometer, a devise that attaches to your body and automatically counts steps. These devices became popular after fitness experts deemed that adults should walk 10,000 steps a day to maintain fitness. The ones I bought were inexpensive and the data were unreliable. Yet, I wore them long enough to estimate 2000 to 2500 steps for each 20 minutes of fast walking. I also do not register the time of my walk. When I started walking, I walked 30 minutes out and 30 minutes back. Now I simply mentally note the time and walk to my predetermined end point which remains about 30 minutes out. My walks average between one hour and 1.15 hours. In the above journal entry, I used the word "scatter." A scatter is a multiple coin find. When I find one coin on the ground or floor surface, I always look for other coins. People often lose coins in multiples. I once found a scatter of 7 quarters. It was outside a bar with pay poker machines. I also note "groupings" in my journal. Perhaps by chance, but it is not uncommon to find money in groups. Find a dime, and often in the same block of the walk, another coin is found. I call that a grouping when the coin finds seem to be unrelated as in a scatter. While the MoneyWalker looks to find money, he also finds other useful items. The MoneyWalker never buys pencils, ball point pens, or cigarette lighters for my smoking friends. I also pick-up miscellaneous hardware items for my shop. Items include bolts, washers, car-wash supplies, etc. My journal entry also indicates specifically where money is found. Finding currency is very rare, so this morning's entry indicated that I had found a one dollar bill inside of a drive through car wash--very strange. We will revisit many of the ideas posted in this journal entry comment using stand-along posts.
The MoneyWalker
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
How to maintain weight loss
New Years is a great time to begin a walking program to lose weight. But how can you successfully keep unwanted weight from returning? Research has shown that people that have lost weight and keep it off have three practices in common. All eat breakfast, weigh every day, and exercise. So besides walking five days a week, I eat a healthy breakfast of cereal, fruit, and orange juice, and weigh each morning. Each morning, clothsless and emptied, just after waking, I weigh and enter into my MoneyWalker journal. My scales present read-outs in fractions of lbs. This morning it read 178.8. My goal is 175 and I try to avoid 180. Be aware that weight will vary due to factors other than weight loss or gain. Water retention is one example. Yet, I like the psychology of daily weighing. Why do all that walking only to let one donut undue all the effort? Scales are sensitive to eating binges. What follows is a recent entry to my MoneyWalker journal: "12/20/08, 179.0; 86 cents total find; .42 at Rally's drive through, .15 in TP/Entergy (Note: TP means Times Picayune Newspaper stand at Entergy Corporations regional office on my walk route); .11 from curb. Also found a working flashlight." In summary, to lose weight and keep it off, each day weigh, eat breakfast, exercise, and place results in daily journal.
Bleason
Bleason
Monday, January 5, 2009
MoneyWalker
January 5, 2009
The goal of MoneyWalker is to provide assistance to individuals who want to improve their physical fitness using the unique technique of Money Walking. Walking is a recognized method of developing and maintaing cardiovascular fitness and for losing weight. Walking is not as efficient as jogging, but it is less harmful to the ankle, knee, and hip joints of the body. Walking for fitness is a good daily habit that can be pursued by most individuals regardless of age and weather conditions. Positive habits are difficult to establish and easy to break. Boredom is one of the main reasons people site for breaking the habit of fitness walking. At first, the novelty of walking is sufficient. But after awhile, for many, the sameness of the track or neighborhood scenery results in low stimulation and low motivation. Many walkers just quit and lose the promised benefits of the daily walk. Thus, this blog will share my secrets of Money Walking as a means of preventing boredom and the loss of mental stimulation. The secret is simple. Money Walking substitutes an external reward as the primary reinforcement mechanism. Intrinsic rewards are noble; who shouldn't be motivated by the rewards of better health, weight loss, and psychological well-being. But for many of us, we need more tangible rewards. Therefore, this blog will coach you to use money as a more permanent and lasting motivation to persevere in the healthy habit of walking. Not elegant, not mature, not academically acceptable; Money Walking is simply addicting. The rules of Money Walking are very simple. Walk a minimum of one hour five days a week. The initial pace is self-regulating--walk as fast or as slow as your comfort level allows. Some may want to obtain a physician's opinion before embarking on a walking regiment. Clothing should be easy fitting and layered for cold climates. The outside garment should be a reflection vest. Yellow and orange colors provide maximum attention. Training shoes with a good platform and arch support is highly recommended (about $100 dollars for a decent pair of walking shoes). And finally, as you walk, learn to scan and focus on the pathway just in front of your steps. Remember safety is the first rule. Remain vigilant for cars, bikes, and other pedestrians. You are scanning and searching for dropped coins and currency. You will be amazed by the amount of money people drop and leave on the ground. (Note: The above writing is in third person, but sometimes I will use first person to provide personal comments.) I average seventy-three cents a day for a one hour walk. My largest find was $25.00, a wad of two tens and a five. (More about ethics later.) My strategy is to walk street curbs and parking lots. My goal is to briskly walk three or more miles in the one hour period. Strategies include finding coins dropped in the curbs; coins left in coin return slots from telephone stations and newspaper dispensers; coins dropped in drive throughs at fast-food chains, banks, and drug stores; and money left at car-wash cubicles and vacuum stations. Because I live in an open neighborhood with a mixture of businesses and residentials, the above sources of monetary locations are plentiful. I sometimes drive a short distance to "virgin" territories to improve my chances of money finds. The "addiction" comes from the finds, not the monetary value. In future posts, I will include entries from my journal about the monetary and other material things that have been found on my walks. Also, because I have extensive background in matters relating to physical fitness and wellness, I will provide helpful tips related to health and physical fitness. For now, the time is to get started and establish your own MoneyWalker habit.
Bleason
The goal of MoneyWalker is to provide assistance to individuals who want to improve their physical fitness using the unique technique of Money Walking. Walking is a recognized method of developing and maintaing cardiovascular fitness and for losing weight. Walking is not as efficient as jogging, but it is less harmful to the ankle, knee, and hip joints of the body. Walking for fitness is a good daily habit that can be pursued by most individuals regardless of age and weather conditions. Positive habits are difficult to establish and easy to break. Boredom is one of the main reasons people site for breaking the habit of fitness walking. At first, the novelty of walking is sufficient. But after awhile, for many, the sameness of the track or neighborhood scenery results in low stimulation and low motivation. Many walkers just quit and lose the promised benefits of the daily walk. Thus, this blog will share my secrets of Money Walking as a means of preventing boredom and the loss of mental stimulation. The secret is simple. Money Walking substitutes an external reward as the primary reinforcement mechanism. Intrinsic rewards are noble; who shouldn't be motivated by the rewards of better health, weight loss, and psychological well-being. But for many of us, we need more tangible rewards. Therefore, this blog will coach you to use money as a more permanent and lasting motivation to persevere in the healthy habit of walking. Not elegant, not mature, not academically acceptable; Money Walking is simply addicting. The rules of Money Walking are very simple. Walk a minimum of one hour five days a week. The initial pace is self-regulating--walk as fast or as slow as your comfort level allows. Some may want to obtain a physician's opinion before embarking on a walking regiment. Clothing should be easy fitting and layered for cold climates. The outside garment should be a reflection vest. Yellow and orange colors provide maximum attention. Training shoes with a good platform and arch support is highly recommended (about $100 dollars for a decent pair of walking shoes). And finally, as you walk, learn to scan and focus on the pathway just in front of your steps. Remember safety is the first rule. Remain vigilant for cars, bikes, and other pedestrians. You are scanning and searching for dropped coins and currency. You will be amazed by the amount of money people drop and leave on the ground. (Note: The above writing is in third person, but sometimes I will use first person to provide personal comments.) I average seventy-three cents a day for a one hour walk. My largest find was $25.00, a wad of two tens and a five. (More about ethics later.) My strategy is to walk street curbs and parking lots. My goal is to briskly walk three or more miles in the one hour period. Strategies include finding coins dropped in the curbs; coins left in coin return slots from telephone stations and newspaper dispensers; coins dropped in drive throughs at fast-food chains, banks, and drug stores; and money left at car-wash cubicles and vacuum stations. Because I live in an open neighborhood with a mixture of businesses and residentials, the above sources of monetary locations are plentiful. I sometimes drive a short distance to "virgin" territories to improve my chances of money finds. The "addiction" comes from the finds, not the monetary value. In future posts, I will include entries from my journal about the monetary and other material things that have been found on my walks. Also, because I have extensive background in matters relating to physical fitness and wellness, I will provide helpful tips related to health and physical fitness. For now, the time is to get started and establish your own MoneyWalker habit.
Bleason
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