Destination Walking and Goal Setting

Photo by MoneyWalker: A European coffee shop

 

Topic:  Destination Walking and Goal Setting

The MoneyWalker is meeting weight loss/maintenance goals this year.  Jan 1, weight was fluctuating between 179 and 180 lbs. Resolution was to have weight in the 173/174 range by April 1, 2014.  Done!  April 1 scale reading equaled 173.8 lbs.  Hope the readers are meeting their 2014 weight loss goals.

The problem of reaching a weight loss milestone is continuing the vigilance of caloric restraint and exercise continuance.  The MoneyWalker keeps his walking regiment refreshed by supplementing money-finding motivation with other sources. Recently he has been experimenting with “destination walking.”  The trick is to determine worthy destinations that are within walking distance from the home base. They can be a bank, the post-office, a coffee shop, a thrift store, Costco, etc.  One example that allows the MoneyWalker to combine hobbies is “Little Free Libraries.” These yard boxes with free or exchange books are cropping up in neighborhoods across the country.  There are several in mine.  The LFL’s homepage provides their addresses and with Google Maps, I plot my walk.  The motivation comes from gaining a free book while charting 4 or 5 miles on my walk journal. 

Four or five miles logged has another important reinforcement.  I need to limit daily caloric intake to about 2300 hundred calories.  But with 4 or 5 miles, I can bump that to 2800 calories, enough so that a modest sweet tooth can be honored without crashing the weight scales.

The base motivation system for the MoneyWalker will always be the Ventral Striatum Celebration that comes from finding coins-on-the-street.  The human brain loves money, but it also enjoys short term goals such as reaching worthy destinations; double the pleasure if the destination involves free books.

With “destination walking” the MoneyWalker might soon be pushing into the 170/171 weight zone.  Take away, if you want to lose more weight by exercise, find a way to tweak your motivation system.  When walking, as they said on Hill Street Blues, “Be careful out there.”

MoneyWalker

Being a Friend

Topic:  Being a Friend

WWW friends (World Wide Web) are the greatest to borrow from Jackie Gleason.  They have helped me be a better communicator.  Without benefit of facial and body nuance they give my often irreverent comments the benefit of the doubt.  In turn, I have learned to be more careful with alpha communicating.  And they give my efforts at weight loss/maintenance full encouragement.  Also, since I am a walker, they recommend books for the walking section of my library.  They care about me!

So, as a considerate person, encourage people that are dieting or on a maintenance program.  It takes gumption to watch calories and stay physically active.  For some reason, some people tempt the dieter with fatty foods, or invitations to eat at restaurants that serve big portions.  Others diminish the efforts to stay active by making subtle but derogatory comments. 

Be a friend, encourage your friends and family members that are dieting and exercising.  They will love you for it.

MoneyWalker

Weight = 177.4 lbs. lowest in several months

Coinage found = $1.74 mostly found after it had rained all day

GPS data = 2.54 miles, 278 calories consumed (made up for the small McDonald’s Frappe).

Recycles found = one hooded sweat shirt, one two t-shirts, all being washed as I type. 

James Carville and Mary Matalan, best friends who could have predicted.

Public Accountability and Weight Loss Goals

Photo: Ms S's stair climbing accountability chart.  Each mark represents one 17 stair step, up and back.  Thus, the ten days averaged up/down steps 1,020. 

Weight: 180.2 lbs, 2.4 lbs up from last post, blame it on Thanksgiving and cruise overeating.

Money Found:  $2.19 from today’s walk, $2.45 from 12/1/13 walk.  Best find, a five quarter scatter on 12/1/13 walk.

Nike GPS app data: 4.09 = total miles; fastest mile = 17.23 minutes; calories burned = 414

Topic: Public Accountability

Public accountability is a powerful motivator for weight loss achievement.  Therefore, I’m posting my weight loss strategy and results for all to see.  Take the MoneyWalker’s challenge and follow these six accountability steps.

1.       Resume or begin weighing every day. For numeric accountability, write it down.

2.       Take a minimum of five 3-5 mile walks each day until Christmas; or, create your own distance guide but walk the distance five times.

3.       Eat breakfast each morning

4.       Resume resistive exercise program at least three times weekly (optional)

5.       Count and record calories consumed for each meal and between meals snacks.

6.       Report results of calories consumed and morning weigh-in on Facebook and Moneywalker blog for public accountability. An option is to record the data in your own journal that you share with a trusted friend or relative.  Public accountability is the goal.

MoneyWalker

Internal and External Motivation

Money truck minature from the gift shop in the U.S. Department of Engraving, photo by author.

Weight = 177.8 lbs, down from yesterday

Coinage = $1.09

Best Find = a quarter left in a newspaper vending machine

Feature Essay:  Motivation System Tweeking

TSA, aka, Transportation Security Agency, reported that $600,000 in nickels, dines, and quarters were left behind in those ugly gray baskets that we use going through Airport Security.  National banking officials report that $300,000 U.S. dollars are lost every day.  In a recent visit to the U.S. Engraving building in Washington D.C., in their 24 hour night and day operation, one billion in new U.S. bills are created; same for their facility in Fort Worth, TX.   Data like these gets the MoneyWalker’s attention. 

Turns out, finding money is highly motivating.  This morning, I met Ned, one of the Dukes of MidCity  New Orleans. At 6:30 a.m. he was checking a catch basin on Canal and Carrollton for paper money.  As I  walked by without prompting or overt signs of interest, Ned told me he recently found $10 dollars, he was obviously looking for more.

Motivation is a tricky concept.  Being motivated to sustain the healthy habit of a daily constitutional walk by finding money is what, external motivation.  But why walk in the first place unless driven by the internally drive to remain healthy. 

Somehow in our society we have made one of these concepts a pejorative term. If we admit to being motivated by the quest for money, prestige and/or power, we are somehow less admirable than when we are motivated by the need to achieve, to be our best.  Truth is, we are all motivated by both internal and external motives and both can be counter indicated if carried to extremes.

So my advice is to unapologetically use both sources of motivation to achieve your goals of a worthy BMI (body mass index) and a body/mind free of symptoms of ill health for the rest of your life.  The MoneyWalker constantly examines his motivation program for effectiveness so as to be able to sustain his walking and resistive exercise regiments. The introspection is necessary to frame his thoughts concerning the effectiveness of all the ways he utilizes internal and external sources of motivation.  If something isn't motivating, change is indicated.

MoneyWalker

Glory Walking

photo taken by owner's iPhone

 

Today's Feature: Glory Walking

 

Today’s walk was a glory walk although the MoneyWalker is not sure what that word means. The great professional golfer Ben Hogan exasperated his driver and caddy by stopping at backwater golf courses for a round of golf. “Why?” asked his driver.  “For the glory!” responded Hogan. Once, while playing racquetball for with three friends, I blurted out, “We will play for the glory of it.” I’m not sure if I knew what I was saying. It occurred after my partner and I had just won two of three games from our standing doubles competition which mean we were “champions for the day.”  The losers challenged us to play a fourth game but my partner said no, “We are already the champions,” then my blurt.

photo by owner's iPhone

 

The confusion lies in the dual definition of glory.  One stream of synonyms include renown, fame, prestige, honor, and praise.  Ben Hogan had high renown and honor for winning major golf tournaments but he wasn’t talking about this type of glory.  He was talking about the type of glory that comes from taking pleasure in the game of golf, or to delight in just playing the game. 

It was this second meaning that produced the racquetball blurt, it wasn’t about being the champion, it was about the game and yet another chance to match my technique against a worthy opponent.  It was the chance to play the game, not the potential for victory that provided the glory.

Now we can talk about glory walking. Usually, the MoneyWalker finds motivation for sustaining his daily walks by finding coins that others have somehow loss or left behind.  The motivation for glory walking comes from the walk, not the money.  Today’s walk was with family members; it followed the old track bed of the historic Washington and Old Dominion railroad; fall blooming flowers lined the walk-way; there was a rippling stream and scenic bridge to be crossed; the air was fresh and slightly nippy; and there was a pace that invited meaningful conversation. 

It was a glory walk.

MoneyWalker

 

I've got You Under My Skin Incentive System

Weight = 176.6  Need to move into the 175s.

Coinage = $2.39  A great coin day.

Best Find = a six-quarter scatter in a parking lot, very rare.

Photo = from iPhone

Feature: One Month Review of the MoneyWalker’s Token Incentive System for a Resistive Exercise (RI)Program ®

Over the years, the MoneyWalker has started many resistive exercise programs only to discontinue the work after a few sessions.  The reasons, perceived boring use of time combined with the hard work involved in moving the resistive weight loads.

This start-up, now one month old utilized a scientifically designed Token System to keep me engaged. The basis for the system is to tap into our basic need for external reinforcement and rewards.  For each of the completed ten workout RI stations, a token is placed on a token chart (see photo).  Thus participation is the focus of the incentive system.  Each successful work-out garners ten points.  However, performance is also rewarded, but less so.  The RI program utilizes an 8-10-12 repetition and an ever increasing “load” formula.  For example, I started with 8 repetitions of 65 lbs of weight for a bench press RI repeated twice—a two set program.  After ten days of monday-wednesday-friday RI work-outs, I was able to add two repetitions so that the 65lbs was lifted 20 times to earn the token rather than 16 times.  A careful examination of the photo shows a five token cluster in the extreme right column.  These tokens were based on the performance improvement.

Now the good part, after earning 100 points (note the broad dark line) I rewarded myself from the redemption category for 100 points.  From the several rewards, I selected a Jersey Boys CD by the original Broadway cast—hit it maestro, “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.” 

I`ve got you under my skin
I`ve got you deep in the heart of me
So deep in my heart, you`re really a part of me (baby, Ba-baby)
I`ve got you under my skin

So far, so good!  The full incentive system is explained on the Aug 10, 2013 post.  For now, the token system is working, the habit is"getting under my skin."  (Lyrics by Frankie Valli)

The MoneyWalker

January is Motivation Month

January is motivation month as many of us resolve to do better, especially to lose weight.  Two behavior change resolutions come to mind, eat less and exercise more.  Dieting aside, how do we sustain an exercise habit “after the thrill is gone?”  Cognitive neuroscience provides one answer.  We will wade out into the weeds for a moment and then come back to reality.  The exercise mode of choice is the daily walk.

Sustaining the exercise response involves rewards.  Given that most exercise including walking is perceived by the body as hard work, right away walking is negatively reinforced.  Unfortunately for many of us, techniques that produce positive reinforcement have a short shelf life, i.e. walking with friends, nature walks, novelty, varied walking routes.  Friends are unreliable; nature walks lose their novelty; and there are only so many ways to vary walking routes.  Worse, early success in weight loss too quickly plateaus.

What does neuroscience say?  Purposeful responses (such as a long walk) are tied to reward mechanisms by neurotransmitters called dopamine.  The most prominent target for the dopamine stimulation is the ventral striatum (VS), one of the evolutionarily primitive regions of the brain.  Some have called it the reward center of the brain.  Using fMRI scanners, neuroscientists can measure how stimulation effects the ventral striatum, and since the  VS wants to be stimulated, higher brain centers feel a sense of pleasure when the VS is positively stimulated.  Not surprisingly, novelty is one very powerful VS stimulator.  So is acquiring money.

The reason that most motivation programs fail is related to the goal of expectation and that is the problem in using novelty as the basis of a motivation system to sustain the habit of walking.   Scientific studies using fMRI scanners have shown that when reward is entirely expected on the basis of the preceding cue, the neurons do not respond to the reward.  In terms of novelty and walking, once we have seen the interesting sights a few times, the neurons stop exciting the ventral striatum; same with friends, same with varying the route.  The brain says, “I don’t give a darn, I’ve seen that already.”

First, applaud the ones with a strong sense of intrinsic motivation.  They can continue their walking program because it’s the right thing to do.  But those folks are not the ones that are making New Year’s resolutions to lose weight.  For the rest of us we need to develop a motivation system that keeps the ventral striatum happy.  For me, it is the endless thrill of finding money left behind.  In different amounts and in different places, it is always waiting to be found by the vigilant walker.

The MoneyWalker

Free Range Walking

Free Range Walking

Today’s walk involved honoring a promise to one of my friends from the “brotherhood of the street.” I had promised to take him a “ground score.” We want say what, only that it had a $6.00 value, it was legal, and he needed it. Some information in the brotherhood is proprietary.

He sometimes stays with family in an address about two miles from the MoneyWalker’s house. The walk to his house sounded like a good diversion, so off I went without concern for my usual monetary hot spots; finding loose change was not a priority.

After depositing my gift, left subtly on his front porch, I found myself in an urban conclave. Streets were in disrepair and hardly used. Several houses have been vacant since Katrina and untouched. The curbs were littered with trash. In short,there was an apparent disregard for typical city norms.

And then, there they were, a full flock of chickens coming from a large grassy yard and then spread far up curbs along the street. There must have been 30 birds including two or three baby chickens. They were forging along the deserted street looking for bugs and grasshoppers without regard for anything but their next score. What was striking was their obvious level of contentment, and their beauty. Someone had decided to allow the chickens to freely follow their bliss, to go where nature leads. And there was a rooster or two that seemed to be standing guard. You could see them periodically glancing upward, perhaps looking for hawks or owls, or maybe an unleashed dog.

The urban chickens provided a brief epiphany. It reminded me that my highly purposeful walking episodes need not be so scripted; that a specific narrative need not be followed. On this walk, much like the free range chickens, I had been free to go where nature lead, to follow my bliss. It felt good. I could see now that my walks had become too predicable, that my walking narrative had become too narrow; that I was becoming bored.

So, I am adding "free range walking" to my motivation portfolio. Join me.

MoneyWalker

Current weight = 175.2 lbs

Money found on current walk = $.82 grubs

An App for Those That Need External Motivation

Feature Entry: An App for Those That Need External Motivation

Here is what Carolyn See of the Washington Post said about law officer Sunderson: “He is still sick-in-love with Diane, who’s married again, and he’s a compendium of bad habits, but he walks every day and somehow keeps his life in balance.” It seems that many of us are a ‘compendium of bad habits.’

Another bad habit is related to exercise and the store front fitness centers in your neighborhood. January is their busiest time of the year for these usually worthy entrepreneurs. We gain weight, we repent, and then we join a fitness center. The centers charge a non-refundable minimum membership fee and a length-of-time contract, three months minimum due at signing. Joining is not the bad habit, regular attendance is. Too many people join, attend a time or two and then lose interest or motivation to continue. Then at the end of the year, we purchase new clothes, one or two sizes larger than the year before.

Want to change the cycle? Harvard behavioral economists may have the answer. Professor Sendhil Mullainathan teaches that people are more motivated by “immediate consequences than by future possibilities.” Two of his students moved from theory to practice and created a rapidly growing company based on an app that works off of their customers iSO phone (think iphone, ipad, ipod, and others). The company??? Gym Pact!

http://www.gym-pact.com/

Gym Pact works with local fitness centers. When you sign up, you make a commitment to exercise a certain amount of time. If you skip your workout, you get fined $5 a day. The money goes into a user’s pool and at the end of the week, surplus dollars are given to the people that honored their pact. When the exercisers checks in to their fitness center using their iSO phone, Gym Pact confirms your presence via the GPS. The money is handled through credit cards and PayPal. In their beta test, 90% met their pact requirements.

It is that simple: “When you sign up, you make a commitment to exercise a certain amount of time.” There are four simple steps: 1) join, 2) set your pact, 3) check in at your gym, and 4) get rewarded.

Somewhere, in some dimension, B.F. Skinner has a big smile on his face. Go ahead, check out the Gym Pact url listed above.

MoneyWalker

Photo by Richmond College Fitness Center

Altruistic Walking

Altruistic Walking

The MoneyWalker is intrinsically motivated to sustain his walking habit because he has internalized and accepts the scientifically demonstrated values of walking e.g. weight management, emotional energy, avoidance of premature memory loss, cut the risk of heart disease, and reduce the chance of type 2 diabetes. There are more. However, walking is not necessarily a strong ally of intrinsic motivation. The steady routine can lead to boredom and walkers’ burn-out. One cure for walkers’ burn-out is altruistic walking, a fence straddler it turns out on the motivation internal/external continuum.

How so external motivation as a tenant of altruistic behavior? The research of Alberto Oliverio, a genetic and molecular biologist, leads him to believe that one of the important motives of altruism and moral judgments is grounded on the principle of reciprocity. In other words, we expect to be treated as we take care of other people. Neuroscientists including “evolutionary psychologists” are now able to probe deep into the brain lobes and learn much about behavior, much of it traced to evolutionary sources. Interestingly, the area of the brain that fires neurons during selfless behavior is the same area that fires during selfish behavior and with the same intensity and duration. For the ancients, success in the survival game might have been just as dependent on being a helper as being helped.

As a near daily walker, opportunities for altruism abound. For example, during a Christmas morning walk, the MoneyWalker found a Louisiana drivers license. It belonged to a Mario with an Hispanic surname and included his address. My first thought ran to selfishness; not my culture, dump the card. Then selfless behavior kicked in and I sought to find his telephone number from the address. No success. I then remembered that an Hispanic work crew had been renovating a building behind the curb where the license was found. Later, finding the crew at work, I stepped into the building and was greeted with coolness by one of the workers (not his culture group). Not deterred, “Do you know someone named Mario?” as I showed him the license. He exclaimed in a loud voice to one of his co-workers, the one that seemed to be the boss, “Mario, come here, look at this (In English obviously for my benefit.)” One look told me the license belonged to Mario. “Thank you, Thank you”, he repeated over and over; “You have made my Christmas!” And his joy helped make mine.

Now will someone help me find my cell phone, it must be out there somewhere!

Happy New Year everyone.

Remember the big four resolutions for weight lost: Weigh every day and journal the results; eat a healthy breakfast; walk 10,000 to 15,000 steps a day; and practice portion control.

The MoneyWalker

Recent money success: Found a $20 dollar bill during last Sunday’s walk. It, like all found money goes into the charity bag.

Recent weight gain/loss: Up two pounds from the Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Year’s holidays. In the words of Governor Perry—Opps!

Celebrity walking

Feature Entry: Celebrity Walkers and Other Thoughts

The MoneyWalker is not heavy in philosophical walking, but many are. I find this thought worthy of repeating: “I'm a walker on the edge of my perception.” This could mean that walking is a good time to sort out one’s personal reality. The quote was found on an interesting UK walking forum.

What is good about walking forums is the opportunity to find inspiration from the walks of others and to record your own insights. Wendy Bumgardner, author of Walking sponsored by NYT About.com sponsors a walking forum as one of her blog features.

Many celebrities are avid walkers. A few quotes follow:

Who: Laura Leighton, star of Melrose PlaceWhy she walks: "When I hit a fitness rut, I call a friend to meet me for a walk. It always helps to make exercising a social opportunity!"

Who: Campbell Brown, CNN anchorWhy she walks: "I used to go to the gym, but now I put Eli, my son, in his stroller, and we go power walking for an hour. When I skip it, I'm dragging all day."

Who: Art Garfunkel, singer/songwriterWhy he walks: "Walking is very primal. You begin to see how it works the body. It's wonderful for breathing, and it tones up the physical self." Garfunkel actually walked across America in the '80s and '90s, though he did it in pieces that wound up totaling more than 4,000 miles. It took him 14 years and 40 separate trips!

Who: Sarah Chalke, star of ScrubsWhy she walks: "I've always loved being in the fresh air. It's so therapeutic and relaxing and healing being outside. I like to go hiking with my dog, Lola. I walk wherever I can. I'll take it over driving any day!"

Who: Brooke Shields, actress/model/mom of twoWhy she walks: To reenergize when the life of a working mom wipes her out. "When I'm exhausted, exercise is the only thing that reinvigorates me. I'll make appointments with people to go hiking and meet them at the base of a hill."

Social walking, dog walking, fitness walking, charity walking are all excellent sources of finding motivation to sustain a healthy walking habit. For the MoneyWalker, I use all of these methods but have found that the thrill of finding money during my walks works best for me.

Not a walker? Today is a good day to begin. Who knows, maybe you will rub shoulders with Brad Pitt.

MoneyWalker

Today’s weight = 175.8 lbs, +
Money Found since last post = $27.70 or average of $2.52 over eleven walks

Calisthenical Walking: Achieving a Serotonin Buzz Naturally

Photo by Joe McGorty as depicted in a blog by guardian.co.uk

Feature Entry: Calisthenical Walking: Achieving a Serotonin Buzz Naturally

The MoneyWalker is having a great time reading Ammon Shea’s Reading the OED, one man, one year, 21,730 pages. Shea selects interesting words for brief comments. His selected word calisthenical is simply defined as “addicted to exercise.” Calisthenical walking is the second entry from Shea’s book.

Calisthenical walking can be likened to the so-called runner’s high or to achieving a “serotonin buzz.” Serotonin is the workhorse of a constellation of brain processes commonly known as the pleasure response. The short lesson--exercises such as running, jogging, and brisk walking trigger the secretion of serotonin which results in a feeling of euphoria.

now for the bad new, did someone whisper the word sugar? Yikes, could it be that sugar also stimulates the creation of a serotonin buzz? More about the interloper tomorrow?

MoneyWalker

Notes:
Found Money Update since last post = $36.23 over 16 walks for average of $2.26 per walk

Average weight over the 16 walks = 173.3 lbs.

A Corporate Walking Program With Promise

Joan Lunden a member of the Walgreen's Walking Program Board of Consultants.

Feature Entry: A Corporate Walking Program With Promise

One of the MoneyWalker’s blessings is the freedom of non-dependence on prescription drugs, perhaps the result of a lifelong fitness program. But a minor skin cancer flare-up sent me to a neighborhood Walgreen prescription counter. While waiting, I noticed an announcement of a new program, “Walk with Walgreens.” It is a program that rewards you for walking. It allows the walker to log his/her progress and provides financial incentives for the bother. The program has a fun centered and goal setting focus.

Walgreen’s goal for the program is relatively simple: “To get more of us walking more steps, in more places than ever before.” Their corporate altruistic incentive is to help American to achieve a higher level of health and happiness and improve the environment in the process. Walgreen has put together an impressive list of advisors and not surprising goal setting is high on the list of their recommended motivation plan. Here is their basic instruction:”Just set a goal, then log your daily steps here (meaning your on-line Walgreen space). In no time at all, you’ll be receiving rewards and coupons from our partners for doing what you already do.” Their comprehensive motivation system also includes testimonials and walking tips from fellow walkers including celebrities.

The MoneyWalker has joined the Walgreen’s walking program and will provide updates in future blogs. Find out more by following

http://Walgreens.com/walking

Journal Entry: Current weight and money found

Current Weight = 173.2 lbs

Money found since last blog =$17.26 from nine walks, an average of $1.92 a walk

MoneyWalker

Phone APPS and Weight Loss

The Iphone

Feature Entry: Phone Apps and Weight Loss

To understand this blog entry, you may need a brief crash course in social networking terminology. A smartphone is a personal computer that is contained in what formerly was a cell phone. An app is an application that you can download to your smartphone for a nominal amount of money and are often free. Since the smartphone was invented a couple of years ago, there are apps for everything imaginable including weight loss/weight maintenance assistance.

The National Weight Loss Control Registry of Brown University is making good use of the app for food tracking. The Registry has already established that by keeping a personal food consumption journal, your chances are doubled for weight-loss success.

Here is the rub. As my Anthony Trollope friend Dolly Longestaffe likes to say, “It is such a bother.” But food journaling need not be that difficult. It seems the behavior need not be connected to counting calories—just a quick notation of what has been consumed seems to do the trick.

However, with smartphone apps, you can have it all and avoid the excessive “bother.” Just download an app and it allows quick and painless logging of food and exercise information. A bonus of the app is that it also counts the calories and exercise expenditure. Moreover, the selected app gives immediate feedback as to your weight loss and calorie goals. Available apps include Lose It!, My fitness Pal, My Net Diary, Daily Burn, Calorie Counter by Fat Secret, and SparkPeoples app.

Most of these are free are cost just a few dollars a month. They are customizable and some will establish a daily calorie budget for you—how cool is that? Also, the apps help you establish a community forum for support and questions and most provide motivational testimonials (social networking.) My blogs are filled with comments concerning the value of “personal accountability.” The app lets you know if you are meeting your goals, and if not, why not.

It turns out that we lose weight differently. We all have a nutrient specific RDA—computer speak for recommended daily allowance. For those that like competition for motivation, the app provides an internal motivation device which helps the weight loser/weight maintainer focus on “beating” a personalized daily calorie goal or “outscoring” one’s RDA.

Apps have built-in help for setting your RDA. A general rule is to multiply your goal body weight by 10 for sedentary folks and by 12 if you exercise regularly (exercise 3 times a week); or by 14 if you exercise moderately three to five days a week; and by 16 if you exercise intensely five to seven days a week. Most apps help you with this by asking a series of intensity/frequency/intensity questions. Caution, many of the programs overestimate the calories burned, so experiment with your own exercise routine.

My factor is 16; thus my caloric goal is 2310 calories per day. So why was my morning weigh-in five pounds heavier than my weight goal? Simple according to the app, I am consuming more than my allotted RDA. Solution, up the exercise regiment or cut back on the calories. I guess this is bad news for those late evening raids of the ice cream bucket.

MoneyWalker

What's A Farthering?

Portrait of the late Anna Massey, the British actress that recently died. Ms. Massey played Edith Hope from Anita Brookner's Hotel du Lac. Massey also was featured in a BBC production of Anthony Trollope's The Way We Live Now. Both Brookner and Trollope are in the MoneyWalker's Hall of Fame for their frequent reference to characters that take long meaningful walks.

Featured Entry: What's A Farthering?

Next to super finds (fifty cents are more in one location); the Moneywalker enjoys finding ecological ground scores. Ecological ground scores are any item that has been thrown away or hopelessly lost but has value. If it can be recycled, repaired, or repurposed the item is lugged home, cleaned, repaired, and prepared for the MoneyWalkers’s semi-annual charity yard sale.

With admiring interest the MoneyWalker is happy to pass along the story of Kemila Slade of the New Bern, N.C. Pink Sapphire Ladies Club. While walking with fourteen other members of the Club for the purpose of picking up trash along Neuse Boulevard in New Bern, Slade spotted a farthing. A farthing is a now obsolete British coin, their lowest denomination and worth .25 of an old British penny. In the 13th century, a farthing had the strength to purchase a 2 pound loaf of bread. But due to 20th century inflation, the farthing became worthless and was officially declared no longer legal tender as of Dec. 31, 1960.

Ms. Slade’s farthing was minted in 1730. The farthing was not “uncirculated” but was in good condition. Experts speculate that someone accidently threw it away. It took Ms. Slade’s careful observation to resurrect the farthing from permanent obscurity. A non-profit North Carolina organization called Keep NC Beautiful sponsors a semi-annual “most unusual litter” contest. The Slade farthing won first place which included a $250 prize. Numismatists indicate that the coin is worth about ten bucks.

The take away is that walking is not only great for maintaining and building good health, by adding ecological walking to our motivation scheme; we can help our world be a better place.

MoneyWalker

Will Walking Make You Smart?

Diane Keaton's Personal Library

Feature Entry: Will Walking Make You Smart?

It is probably true that bloggers enjoy reading the blogs of others. One of my favorites is Psyblog.com.uk. Their recent entry was “7 Simple Ways to Improve Your Memory Without Any Training” The key word is simple because most memory enhancers required quite amount of mental energy. We will not bore by describing the seven ways but a few of their labels include:

Write about your problems
Look at a natural scene
Say words aloud
Meditate
Predict that you will remember
Use your hands or other gestures while trying to remember something
Move your body up when recalling a positive thought and down for a negative

Now here is a clincher for improving your memory. According to Psyblog,”Probably the best way of improving your overall cognitive health is exercise. Studies regularly find that increasing aerobic fitness is particularly good for executive function and working memory.

Randomized controlled trials in Neuromolecular Medicine have shown that exercise improves cognitive function across the board and is superior to computer programs designed for brain training, drugs, nutritional supplements and meditation. Walking and other aerobic forms of exercise have been found to be particularly good at enhancing executive control processes including planning, recall, and working memory.

Psyblog also said that “Exercise is also thought to encourage the growth of new brain cells. In the past scientists always thought that neurogenesis - growing new brain cells - was impossible in humans. New studies, though, have shown that we can grow new brain cells.”

How about just resting on the couch—not good. Sedentary living leads to cognitive deterioration. So, want to live longer with a higher quality of life, start a walking program.

Now what was I saying?

Moneywalker

Discipline and Losing Weight

Photos from the blog of Henry James, March 31, 2010

Discipline and Losing Weight

The last blog featured the role of external motivation systems for weight loss. This blog demonstrates how intrinsic motivation can be used as a basis for losing weight.

Recently, Harry Chapman of Dallas, Texas was featured in the Times-Picayune, the MoneyWalker’s daily newspaper. Harry, always fitness conscious throughout his 30s, was shocked to realize by his late forties he had a 44 inch waist line. With the stress and responsibilities of his job, he lost time for exercise and was overeating. Moreover, all his life quality indicators were trending in the wrong direction.

First he determined to change his behavior by focusing on health rather than losing pounds. He opted for intrinsic motivation to develop a plan of action. He also sought encouragement from significant others. The plan was to exercise six days a week and follow a calorie restricted diet. Two years later he had lost 100 pounds.

Harry’s advice to is to take action with what you can do. For him it was swimming. He supports small realistic goals. Harry’s first goal was to move from lane 1 to lane 2. Lane 1 of his 50 meter pool was for the really slow swimmers. Harry could just make one length of the 50 meter pool when he started. With discipline and consistency he slowly moved up lanes until he reached lane five, the lane reserved for his club’s fastest swimmers. He now belongs to the Dallas Aquatic Masters Swim Club and competes with other masters. Says Harry, “Find a regiment and stick with it.”

Now the bad news, Harry warns that just because you are running, or walking, going to the gym, or swimming; and you are doing everything right in terms of exercise, there is no guarantee that you will lose weight. It is the “eating aspect” that is the most important, not the exercise he cautions. Harry’s final advice is biting but true: “The battle is at the table.” “You cannot work out enough to overcome overeating.“

MoneyWalker

Developing a Motivation System for Weight Loss and Exercise Continuance

Is this you on December 31, “I am going to lose 30 pounds next year and look great for my 25th high school reunion?” January 1, you make the resolution. On February 1 you lose five pounds, but on March 1, you have gained back seven.

If so, you need to examine your motivation system. Motivation to achieve difficult goals usually requires a “system” of reinforcement behaviors rather than just one end-all be-all motivation device. There are two sources of motivation—intrinsic and extrinsic. The drive connected to intrinsic motivation is “to be a better healthier person;” or, “responsible people keep their weight under control so as to look their best and avoid lifestyle diseases that come with being overweight, and I am a responsible person.” Examples of extrinsic drives are money, rewards, recognition, power, and even tokens.

When possible, we want to be motivated by intrinsic (internal rather than external) motivation, but it's not always possible to be internally motivated about everything. This is where extrinsic motivation becomes valuable. Good behaviors are often in competition with bad behavior. I can take my 4 mile walk or I can read on the couch. At the party, I can make healthy food choices or I can overeat foods with high sugar, salt, starch, or fat content. Motivation drives all those choices, both the good ones and bad ones. Also, good and bad motives are in competition for your will.

Motivation to behave a certain way is driven by how past behaviors have been reinforced. The reinforcement to overeat chocolate candy is because it tastes great. The reinforcement to restrict chocolate in your diet might come from wanting to maintain a recently gained weight loss goal. Or, by approving comments made by a significant other.

Motivation systems require a specific goal. The goal must be defined and what behaviors will be used to reach the goal. After the goal is set and the enabling behaviors determined, a series of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation schemes must be determined and linked together or nested. Also, the schemes will range from elaborate to simple. Especially the extrinsic rewards should be definable and tangible.

The MoneyWalker will illustrate how a motivation system works by using his own system as a working example. My new year’s goal was to be within what the American College of Sports Medicine defines as normal weight. My current weight is 173 pounds. For me, a normal weight is between 129 and 169 lbs. This number range was calculated using my height, weight, age, and gender and then placing the data into a Body Mass Index formula (BMI). My recommended BMI is between 19 and 25. Mine was 25.5 just into the “overweight” category. Thus, my specific goal is to lose four pounds.

Now that I have a specific goal, what set of behaviors am I going to use to lose the weight. The answer is to exercise regularly and practice portion control. My exercise of choice is one guaranteed to burn calories, a daily walk of four or five miles. Every mile burns 100 calories. Portion control means to eat smaller amount of foods known to cause fat storage—sugars, starches, and fats. I try to limit myself to 2200 hundred calories daily. With the exercise program, my net calorie for daily metabolism is between 1700 and 1800 calories. I should lose weight with that amount. I also will weight daily and record the weight in a journal. Although weight fluctuation is normal, upward trends aren’t. Daily weighing provides important trend data. Another behavior is to eat breakfast every day.

I have found that intrinsic motivation does not provide enough reinforcement to sustain my habit of daily walking. Also, feel-good strategies weren't helpful. Beautiful scenery didn’t work, variety of walks didn’t work, and walking with friends didn’t work--for me it was MoneyWalking. MoneyWalking is my name for finding money and other “valuable” objects while walking. Finding a piece of money on the ground is very powerful reinforcement. It supplies classic behavioral random variable reinforcement schedules. One never knows when, where, or how much money will be found during the walks. Also, MoneyWalking involves learning, the more you walk the more money you find. It is a matter of learning where people lose money.

Thus, MoneyWalking is the base of my motivation system, but many other types of motivation schemes are nested within the system. For example, I name the various types of money finds. My ventral striatum really fires hot and heavy when finding a scatter of pennies that someone just dumped on the ground. I call it a penny dump or a Benjamin dump (my son Benjamin tells me he just dumps his pennies on the curb when they accumulate in the console of his car).

Another technique is to count the money as it is found. My goal for each walk is to find one dollar are more. In the metric system “deci” means 1/10th. As I walk and find money, I keep count of the number of decis that are found. At the end of a walk, if I have found $1.29, I record 12 decis, one for every 1/10 of a dollar. While walking I am very aware of the number of decis and the fraction needed to make the next highest deci. In the above example I require just one more penny to earn another deci. Sometimes, I am tempted to add a few blocks to my walk just trying to close out the next higher deci level. Decis are like intermediate goals and serve as "tokens" I earn along the walk.

As mentioned above, daily weighing and recording the weight is nested into the system. I hate myself when today’s weight is higher than yesterday’s. Daily weighing is a great for self transparency. I weigh every morning, regardless of what splurge might have occurred the day before. A trending upward scale pattern is a grating reminder to cut back on the portions and monitor the choices.

Giving back to society is another form of external motivation nested into my system. I rehab, reuse, or repurpose hundreds of objects found during my walks. Then, ever six months, I conduct a MoneyWalker yard sale with all proceeds going to one of my favorite charities, the Baptist Friendship House for Abused Women and their Children or the University of New Orleans Homer L. Hitt Distinguished Lecture Series. Also, all the money found by the MoneyWalker is divided between these two charitable causes. There is nothing more rewarding than helping a worthy cause (and for some, the recognition that such giving bestows on the donor). “I can’t stop walking now, all those battered women and their children are counting on me.” is powerful self-talk.

In summary, if you are not meeting your weight loss goals, you might need to recalibrate your motivation system. Define your weight loss goal very specifically. Determine what behaviors you need to follow in order to reach your goal. Select a powerful base extrinsic motivation reward system, one that has the passion to sustain your behaviors. Combine your base motivator with secondary motivators to amplify the reinforcement. Be sure to include intrinsic motivation as a critical part of your system. Effective motivation systems are not easy to establish or follow. And worse, there are counterproductive motivation systems operating within you that compete for your willpower. Yet, a well conceived motivation system is a critical part of your weight loss and exercise program.

Remember, a happy walker is a regular walker.

MoneyWalker

Is Walking A Key To Happiness?

Who knew, the Pope is a walker. Photo taken by Sammy Sabine at 2011 New Orleans Mardi Gras.


Feature Entry: Is Walking A Key To Happiness?

The MoneyWalker, like most bloggers, follows the blogs of others. This morning I tuned into Gretchen Rubin’s award winning “The Happiness Project.” Today she interviewed Piers Steel author of the book, The Procrastination Equation: How to Stop Putting Things Off and Start Getting Stuff Done. Steel opines that “procrastination isn't tied to perfectionism or laziness, as many people believe, but rather to impulsivity. Impulsive people have trouble getting themselves to do things they don't want to do.” I suppose I can add impulsivity to initiative disorder as a reason to put off my morning walk.

Steel also promotes walking as a source of happiness. Gretchen asked Steel: “If you’re feeling blue, how do you give yourself a happiness boost?" Responds Steel: “

My strategy isn’t to pursue happiness as directly as others often do. It doesn’t work, at least for me, quite as well as I would wish. I’m more of an Aldous Huxley adherent, “Happiness is not achieved by the conscious pursuit of happiness; it is generally the by-product of other activities.” So I seek accomplishment and meaning and through these activities I find satisfaction with my life. In a pinch, however, a really vigorous exercise routine dependably burns away gloom; sore muscles reacquaint you with your body and get you out of your head.”

Thus, to use Pers Steel’s strategy to experience happiness we should focus on tasks that involve accomplishment, meaning, satisfaction, and exercise.

Steel also shares the MoneyWalker’s propensity to repurpose, recycle, and rebuild objects that are broken or discarded. Rubin asked Steel: “What’s a simple activity that consistently makes you happier? Steel:

“Fixing or building things. I’m the type of guy who likes assembling IKEA furniture. Perhaps it acts as a counterpoint to the writing [one’s regular work] I do, but there is something wonderful about holding something physical in your hands and feeling the steady progress as an object reaches completion. Even better, when my five year old son’s Christmas gift, a train he adored, broke within a few weeks, he held back a tear as he placed his toy confidently in my hands. I’ve fixed so many over-loved toys in the past. A little disassembly, a bolt to keep the piston in place, and “good as new,” as he likes say when he gets it back."

So is walking a source of happiness? It is for the MoneyWalker. He is happy when the scales report a downward trend. He is happy when he experiences the sounds, sights, smells, and social flavors of his Mid-City neighborhood. He is happy by the maintenance of a relatively thin waist line. He is happy when finding loose change or objects discarded that are then repaired and recycled. He is happy when the physician announces glowing and positive results of the latest physical check-up.

But don't take the word of the MoneyWalker, ask the Pope, his photo says it all!

MoneyWalker

Journal Entries and a Super Money Find

Journal Entries: 2/15/11 to 2/26/11

Note, be sure to note super find on 2/19/11

Feb. 15: Weight = 173.4 lbs; Coinage = $.55, 25 pennies, 2 nickels, 2 dimes; Glass bottles = 6; Ground scores = 13.

Feb. 16: Wt. = 171. 8 lbs. (yea, year low weight); Coinage = $1.23, 53 pennies, 3 nickels, 3 dimes, 1 quarter; Glass bottles = 6; Ground scores = 6.

Feb. 17: Wt. = 172.6 lbs.; Coinage = $1.42, 37 pennies, 1 nickel, 5 dimes, 2 quarters; Glass bottles = 5.

Feb. 18: Wt. = 173.4 lbs; Coinage = $2.89, 89 pennies, 4 nickels, 13 dimes, 2 quarters; Glass bottles = 14; Ground scores = 4.

Feb. 19: Wt. = 173.0 lbs; Coinage/bills = $35.89 (found a twenty, a five, and 3 ones in a wad along a curb side), 119 pennies, 10 nickels, 12 dimes, 20 quarters (16 in a car wash detailers trash can); Ground scores = 8.

Feb. 20: Wt. =174.4 lbs; Coinage = $.56, 31 pennies, 3 nickels, 1 dime; Glass bottles = 6; Ground scores = 5.

Feb. 21: Wt. = 174.0 lbs.; Coinage = $.87, 57 pennies, 3 dimes; Glass bottles = 2; Ground score = 2. Note, also found was a 1976 French franc.

Feb. 23: Wt. = 174.2 lbs.; Coinage = $1.67, 92 pennies, 2 nickels, 4 dimes, 1 quarter.

Feb. 24: Wt. = 174.0 lbs.; Coinage = $1.69, 64 pennies, 1 nickel, 5 dimes, 2 quarters.

Feb. 25: Wt. = 173.4 lbs.; Coinage = $.75, 40 pennies including one wheat, 1 nickel, 3 dimes.

Feb. 26: Wt. = 173.2 lbs.; Coinage = $1.81, 76 pennies including one wheat, 5 nickels, 3 dimes, 2 quarters; Glass bottles = 4; Ground scores = 5.

Note: the MoneyWalker submitted $120 dollars to his two charities—The New Orleans Friendship House for Battered women and their children and to the University of New Orleans Homer L. Hitt Distinguished Lecture Series sponsored by the UNO Founders Day Club.

Happy Mardi Gras and happy money walking. Look for the next feature blog on “nested motivation” and examine your own method for staying motivated for losing and keeping off unwanted body weight through exercise.

MoneyWalker