Dog Gone... Mac Made A Difference
Last Saturday my son Eric dropped Mac off to spend some time with Cindy and I while Eric and his girl-friend Jynifer went on a short vacation. It was Valentine's weekend and who were we to let a little dog-sitting get in the way of Cupid.
I've always thought of Mac as a dog with, shall I say, high energy. He's excited, curious, playful and all those things that have caused me to prefer smaller and calmer pets. (You don't have to worry about a wildly wagging tail knocking things off of furniture if your dog is only 10 inches off the ground and has a 4-inch tail like our Westie, Chloe).
After exploring the house, running the stairs, and sniffing his cousin Chloe, Mac settle in to his new surroundings. Until I showed him his leash. That's when I discovered that Mac loved it when I gave him the chance to take me for walks.
That's right. I thought I was taking him, but soon found out that he was a faster, stronger, and more persistent walker than I am.
The proof is in the numbers.
Last week I walked every day. My total steps for the week was 115,718 which covered slightly more than 56 miles and burned 27, 436 calories. (Thanks for keeping track Fitbit).
When I look back, I see that during the four days that Mac was with us my steps really added up. Nearly 34% of my steps for the week were taken during the first two days that Mac was with us. We went out several times each day of the weekend and he pulled me along at a much improved pace. My four day total during the time Mac was here added up to 69,997 steps - an amount that is 5-6% greater than any other four-day stretch since beginning my Fitbit tracking last Christmas.
Now that Mac has returned home I don't have a walking buddy asking me to get up off the couch and go for yet another walk. This morning, I almost gave myself the day off. And then I thought about Mac. If he was here he wouldn't let me get away with that. So out the door I went. Bundled up, but without the tug of a leash in my hand. I may need to go get a Mac fix once in awhile. I'm sure he'd like to take me for another walk.
February goals.
Exercise: 13,000 steps per day (or more) - Great week. Averaged 16,531 steps.
Exercise: Meet FitBit Challenge of 100,000 steps each week. = 115,718 steps last week
Weight: 285 pounds (or less) - Made it! About 282.5 this morning.
Weight: Record and track all food eaten: About 90% last week. Missed a few meals.
Weight: Drink 32 oz of water per day: Better! Met this goal 6 days & averaged 46 oz.
Sleep: 6 hours 15 min per night - Met goal 4 of 7 nights. Averaged 6 hrs, 28 min night
February 23, 2014
