Katrina Remembered

Journal Entry, August 31, 2009: Weight = 169.8, Coinage = $3.29, 129 pennies, 8 nickels, 6 dimes, 4 quarters; Glass bottles retrieved = 8, 2 broken; Ground scores = 8, one recyclable shirt; Best money find = 29 cents including 1 nickel and 24 pennies. Recycled a box full of baby clothes discarded after a week-end garage sale in the neighborhood. Also, the MoneyWalker has finally dropped below the 170 lb threshold.

Journal Entry, August 30, 2009: Weight = 170.8; Coinage = $ 1.55, 15 pennies, 3 nickels, 5 dimes, 3 quarters.

Journal Entry, August 29, 2009: Weight = 171.6; Coinage = $ 3.67, 150 pennies, 7 nickels, 9 dimes, 6 quarters. Note, the high coinage on Aug. 29 and Aug 31 is a direct result of refining how a local car wash vacuum is searched. Received a letter from the New Orleans Friendship House for battered women and their children acknowledging $210.89 donation from the MoneyWalker, all from change and a few bills found during money walks.

Feature Entry: During Saturday’s morning walk, a large contingency of police, firefighters, and media representatives were spotted preparing for a 9 a.m. 4th Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina commemorative. To memorialize the loss of lives, a commemorative park has been created in Paupers Field, the final resting home of 108 unidentified bodies left in Katrina’s wake. More than 1000 New Orleans people drown in the flood.

The service was filled with moving prayers, lively music, and stirring speeches by our city, state, and federal leaders. It was a moving experience and tears flowed unashamedly from the MoneyWalkers. It is interesting to note that these homeless troubled souls provided a great contribution to the rich culture of our historic city as a result of their death—a must see commemorative park at the foot of Canal Street. The park, designed in the shape of the massive storm, will remind the world of the fragileness of our great treasures including the fragileness of the greatest of treasures, the person human.



The MoneyWalker

Sugar, Sugar--Remembering the Archies

Journal Entry Wednesday, August 26, 2009: Weight = 171.6; Coinage = $1.45, 30 pennies, 1 nickel, 1 dime, 4 quarters; Glass bottles = 11; Ground Score = 3; Recycled shirts = 2.
Jounral Entry Friday, August 28, 2009: Coinage = $1.55; 15 pennies, 3 nickels, 5 dimes, 3 quarters; Glass bottles = 8; Ground Scoes = 3; Best coinage find = 2 quarters and one penny found in a discarded travel case. There is was on the curb, a partially unzipped suitcase, obviously discarded. A quick peek inside revealed the change.

Feature Entry: Remembering the Archies:

Ah sugar, ah honey honey
you are my candy girl
and you got me wanting you
Oh honey honey, sugar sugar..............
You are my candy girl

While checking the drive through at McDonalds, the loudspeaker asked, “How many sugars and cremes with your coffee? I wanted to answer for the driver, “None thank you!” The American Heart Association (AHA) are social marketing experts and they have helped us avoid over consuming the two bad fats: Saturated fat found in fatty meat, ice cream, and butter; and, Trans fat, those immoral fats found in cookies, crackers, French fries, and donuts. Concurrently, they have taught us to eat the good fats like olive oil, legumes, and nuts. These champions help keep our arteries pliable and elastic while the Trans fats harden them.

Now they have added another mantra. In addition to “keep it fat-free,” they now remind us that “It’s the sugar stupid!” It was time AHA, until now you folks have been noticeably timid regarding sugar intake. About your only advice has been to “minimize” our intake of beverages and foods with added sugars.

The MoneyWalker is happy to report the change. Yes, the AHA has declared war on sugar. They now recommend that women should not consume more than 100 calories, about six teaspoons a day, men no more than 8 or 9 packs. To put that number in perspective, 2004 data indicate that Americans consumed 22 teaspoons of sugar daily, essentially 350 calories from sugar along. Most think that we have increased the intake in 2009.

Sugar is everywhere, not just in our coffee. Soft drinks and other sugar sweetened drinks are the main sources. Many whole grain breakfast cereals are high in sugar. Fat-free frozen yogurt is an enemy. Cereal bars are the enemy. Low-fat cookies are the enemy. And watch out for these Trojan horses: honey, brown sugar, raw sugar, tubinado, molasses, corn syrup, and high fructose corn syrup.

How bad is just one 20-ounce non-diet soft drink? A = 100 calories, B = 150 calories, C = 200 calories, D = 250 calories. The answer D, 250 calories in just one innocent soft drink; that is 21 packs of sugar. One Big Gulp wipes out an entire one hour fitness walk.

Folks it’s time to join the MoneyWalker and declare war on sugar. Say no to the Archies and all that sugar.

"More coffee?"
"Yes please!"
"Sugar? Creme?"
"No thank you!"

MoneyWalker

Consumer Reports on the Best of Health

Journal Entry: Weight = 172.0; Coinage = $.80, 20 pennies, 3 nickels, 2 dimes, 1 quarter; Glass bottles retrieved = 8; Ground scores = 3; Best coinage find = a dime in a graveled street parking area, one without a curb. Coins in these types of terrain are very hard to spot.

Feature Entry: I like Consumer Reports. Because they do not accept advertising, I trust their recommendations. Today I receive an invitation to receive two free reports: an issue of “Consumer Reports on Health” and a special report, “The Best of Health.” I must subscribe to receive the free material, but I can cancel after one month and owe nothing.

In the promotion materials were several interesting snippets from their health reports. One feature article was titled, “Should I Eat This?” and followed with this interesting promotion blurb:

It's not easy to know what you should and shouldn't eat. This exclusive guide from Consumer Reports brings you unbiased facts about foods that can help you lose weight, reduce stress, sleep better and still enjoy many of the foods you love. Learn how to put yourself on the track to good, healthy eating!

Stay tuned! After receiving the two issues, I will provide a review.

MoneyWalker

A Katrina Walk

Journal Entry: Weight = 172.4; Coinage = $1.45, 30 pennies, 1 nickel, 1 dime, 4 quarters; Glass bottles = 11; Ground scores = 8; Best coinage find = 2 quarters and one penny scatter on a find that should not have happened. While tooling down the right side of the street, first the sound and then the sight of a speeding car coming toward the intersection of my current position drew my attention. To avoid breaking stride and to avoid being run down, the MoneyWalker crossed to the left side of the street and out of harm’s way. Thus, I was walking in the same direction as the hurried speedster. And there they were two quarters and a penny.

Feature Entry: It is near the 4-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Is New Orleans back? Far from it! On my block along, construction companies are working on four damaged buildings. But some things are cheerful. School children are bustled to bus stops by their proud parents. A cool front lowered the humidity and many retirees were out on their stoop enjoying the early morning low temperatures. Sometimes the past reluctant hellos of folks during hotter mornings were substituted with robust greetings of welcome. So it is not just buildings that are being repaired, so are the human spirits of Katrina’s citizens.

New Orleans has many months and years before recovery will seem to approach normalcy. And change is uphill, steady if not rapid. This morning, walking with Katrina was a good walk.

MoneyWalker

Unintentional Learning

Journal Entry: Coinage = $2.05, 45 pennies, 5 nickels, 7 dimes, 3 quarters; Glass bottles = 6; Ground scores = 11; Best Coinage find = a hunch dime found along a curb that required a few steps detour from regular path.

Feature Entry: Much is written about the secrets of learning. One type of learning is unintentional learning, when we learn by simply observing what others are doing. More about this later.

Actually, learning is simple, if we practice we learn. The difficulty is in creating a desire to practice. Good teachers learn how to excite their students by structuring practice in a way that motivates students to want to practice.

Motivating students is not easy. Motivation techniques should enable students to become intrinsically motivated, to not need external rewards for practice. Intrinsically motivated students practice because they want to get better. In terms of moneywalkers, intrinsic motivation is the awareness that walking is necessary to superimpose physical work into the everyday lifestyle for good health and fitness.

However, we humans seem to be hardwired to need external motivation. Good teachers combine external motivation with internal motivation to reinforce positive practice. For the MoneyWalker, the intrinsic motivation for a sustained daily walking routine is the management of weight control and the other health benefits derived from walking. The external motivation comes from finding lost coins and ground scores, defined as objects of value other than money.

Recently the MoneyWalker has noticed that money spots such as car wash vacuum stations, fast food drive throughs, and newspaper vending machines are producing less coinage than in months past. One reason may be unintentional learning. Over and over, the MoneyWalker can be seen in the neighborhood with his more than obvious shinning reflector vest and orange billed visor checking these spots on a regular basis. Without intention, he is modeling so that others may learn from his example.

One explanation for the loss of coinage finds by the MoneyWalker is that observant customers, fast food workers, school children, and others have observed this gentleman’s behaviors and have concluded that he is finding money by searching in the moneyspots. So now the MoneyWalker may be facing unexpected competition from those that have learned, although not intentionally, to check the money spots for themselves.

As a result, to maintain a high average daily find of coins, the MoneyWalker must walk longer and use advanced techniques for finding money. These advanced techniques are not “unintentional,” rather they are intentional and are themselves a sophisticated form of learning that require extraordinary powers of concentration and focus.

MoneyWalker

Readers Digest not Bankrupt on Ideas for Losing Weight

Journal Entry: Weight = 172.8; Coinage = $1.05, 35 pennies, 3 nickels, 2 quarters; Glass bottles retrieved = 6; Ground scores = 4 (3 recyclable shirts, the last shirt as referenced earlier lasted less than an hour on the recycle pole); Best coinage find = a nickel and penny scatter on a stingy discount service station/convenience store parking lot.

Feature Entry: The On-line Readers Digest magazine features a healthy living section. This week the editors present 50+ easy ideas for losing weight. The MoneyWalker will summarize four of them with a brief critique.

Number 8 is to walk for 45 minutes a day. This is 15 minutes more than recommended from the often quoted Duke University study which found that 30 minutes of daily walking is enough to prevent weight gain in most relatively sedentary people, exercise beyond 30 minutes results in weight and fat lost. Readers Digest suggest that by walking briskly for 45 minutes a day will help relatively sedentary people lose 30 a pounds in a year without changing how much you’re eating. The Moneywalker does not place much faith in this conclusion. He is all for brisk walking and the overweight sedentary person will lose several lbs rather quickly. But as the first several lbs drop off and as the walker begins to approach the ideal body weight, those last several lbs are dropped much more slowly. I recommend an hour walk and a reduced consumption of food, especially white food and sweet food.

Speaking of white foods, number 18 on their list was “avoid white foods.” They cite scientific studies that have found that large amounts of simple carbohydrates from white flour and added sugar negatively effects our blood sugar and leads to weight gain. However, while avoiding sugar, white rice, and white flour, walkers will want to eat ample amounts of whole grain breads and brown rice. RD reported findings from a “..Harvard study of 74,000 women found that those who ate more than two daily servings of whole grains were 49 percent less likely to be overweight than those who ate the white stuff.” But be careful with correlation findings, correlation is not the same as cause and effect. It could be that the nutritious prudent were also prudent in other facets of their life including not overeating. Still the data are clear, overeating white starchy and sweet foods leads to overweight.

Another healthy habit of people that lose weight is to eat cereal for breakfast five days a week (#21.). Again, be careful with correlation studies, but the RD authors quoted studies that concluded that people who eat cereal for breakfast every day are significantly less likely to be obese and have diabetes than those who don't. Also, these breakfast diets lead to the consumption of more fiber and calcium -- and less fat -- than those who eat other breakfast foods. Ms. MoneyWalker mixes Fiber One (Bran) with Shredded Wheat (Wheat’n Bran) while I prefer Cheerios mixed with Crispex. We both use .02 milk without sugar.

Number 22 is to “pare your portions.” We totally agree with their concept, but not their method. They state at home or in a restaurant, “immediately remove one-third of the food on your plate.” We go further, eat only one-half at a restaurant and take the remainder home for another meal. For home, we like their idea of the restaurant serving, that is fill the plate from the containers before the meal reaches the table. While filling the plate, serve small portions. Mrs. MoneyWalker fills my plate and do I get mad, but smaller portions mean smaller clothes sizes.

Again, the MoneyWalker’s big four behaviors to take off weight and keep it off:

Weight each day at the same time each day and record in a journal.
Walk a brisk walk each day for one hour utilizing an external reward device.
Eat a whole grain breakfast each morning using 2% or lower milk.
Practice portion control and radically reduce white flour, sugary foods, white carbohydrates from your meals.

MoneyWalker

Black Pennies

Journal Entry: Weight = 172.4; Coinage = $.84, 29 pennies, 3 dimes, 1 quarter; Glass bottles = 4; Ground Scores = 2; Best coinage find = several black pennies near various curbs.

Today was an experimental walking day. Several new or infrequently traveled streets were exercised. Not much coinage but several pennies had turned black by a lengthy exposure to the elements. It felt good to put them back in circulation. A recycled shirt has been placed on the electric pole near our street sidewalk with this simple explanation, “Washed, please take!” I wonder how long it will last?

MoneyWalker