Still moving along the virtual walk. Took a couple days off last week because I was tired and a little sore. Back at it though. Just posting the pictures really quick this morning, and then I’ll be doing 1.1 mile afterward. I also plan to rant about The Biggest Loser in another post.
Mile 223
Mile 223.6
Mile 224.8
Mile 225.4
Mile 226.6
If you haven’t seen this week’s Biggest Loser episode, then don’t read this until you do. I’m annoyed at several of the contestants this season. Why? Because they basically quit. I’m referring to Dan, Don (twins – black team), and Irene (orange team). Both Dan and Don were missing home and missing their families. I can understand that, but you signed up for the show for a reason. You were chosen to go to the Biggest Loser ranch out of millions of contestants. I’m not sure how long the contestants are on the ranch from the first week to the last, but I think it’s about 4 months. Yes, that’s a long time to be away from your family. But again, you signed up to do it. If you’re not sure you can handle being away from home that long, think twice about applying.
A few weeks ago, Dan and Don had enough (it was only week 3 at the time), and decided (in my opinion) to sabotage themselves. They both gained 9 pounds at that week’s weigh in. My jaw dropped at that, and I could not believe it. Nine pounds…each. I’ve seen contestants gain before, but 9 pounds? My first question was how. How can anyone gain 9 pounds in one week? One pound is equal to 3,500 calories. To gain 9 pounds, they’d have to consume 31,500 calories. Each. How do you do that? The cameras never showed them eating, but they had to have eaten a ton of food when no one was around.
Here’s my problem with Dan and Don (I’ll get to Irene in a minute). If you’re that homesick, why not just walk away? Why wait to be eliminated? Why waste everyone’s time? My husband gave me that answer. They waited to be eliminated so they could still participate in the “at home” challenge. This made me even more annoyed. If you sabotage yourself (and I have no doubt they did), you should be disqualified for the at home portion of the competition. It’s the same thing with the show Survivor. Last season, two contestants on Survivor quit, but were still a part of the jury. I am so glad that Survivor put a new rule stating that if a person quits from now on, they will not be on the jury (I was angry last season about the two being allowed to stay). Anyway, back to The Biggest Loser. If you gain weight on purpose, you should be out, gone, and not allowed to come back. It may sound harsh, but that type of B.S. gets on my last nerve.
Now, onto Irene. Since Irene’s partner went home the first week, and one of the twins left, Irene and the other twin got paired up to be a team for the week. Fine. Fast forward to the weigh in. Not only did the twin (keep forgetting which one) gain 6 pounds, but Irene gained 6 also. What?!?!?!? Why did she agree to gain weight? I don’t get it. Again, if you want to go home, go home. Just leave. Don’t bring someone in on your plan to be eliminated. Why did Irene agree to gain weight? I have no clue. It makes no sense to me. I want her gone soon.
I understand this is just a show, but for a lot of the contestants it’s more than just winning $250,000 at the end. It’s about learning a healthy way of living. They want to learn how to eat right and exercise to maintain a healthy weight. Obviously Dan, Don and Irene blew the healthy eating (even if they didn’t show it, I believe they ate a lot), part of the lifestyle change. I keep thinking about all the other people out there who would love to have been chosen for the opportunity to train with Bob, Jillian, Cara, and Bret. Even Bob said that a few weeks ago when Dan and Don gained 9 pounds. He said he couldn’t help but think two other people could have been there instead.
So, that’s my rant. It bugs the heck out of me that these three people just blew it like that. I want them to lose the weight and be healthy, don’t get me wrong. Both Dan and Don continued to lose weight, and are looking good. But, it just irks me to no end that they pulled that stunt.
I don’t have a favorite contestant this season yet. I am sad that this will be the last season with Jillian Michaels in it. I’ll miss her on future seasons, but understand her reasons for leaving. I need to get used to Cara and Bret. I need to see more of how they train people. Right now, it seems to be only boxing workouts. I’m glad Bob Harper is staying (as far as I know). I always flip flop on who I would choose to train with if I had the opportunity. Bob or Jillian. It’s hard to choose.
How do you all feel about what happened on the show? Are you annoyed?
I’ve been pretty consistent the last week with my elliptical (and strength training). I didn’t take as many days off as I have been. I did take Tuesday off because I was a little sore. I added five minutes to my elliptical workout on Sunday, and I needed the break. It’s funny how just five minutes can make you sore and tired. I am estimating my distance, and I’m no longer trying to beat my one mile time. The display screen just won’t cooperate. The springs in the battery compartment are smushed. That’s OK though, the important thing is, I’m moving. I’ve been tracking my fitness consistently on SparkPeople for the last four yeas (four years in the beginning of March actually), so I know about how far I go depending on how long I‘m on. I’m doing about 1.1 miles (a little more I think, but but not quite 1.2) in 40 minutes. I burn about 370 calories in that amount of time, so that’s not too shabby. Eventually, and this is still a long ways off, I’d like to do a full hour on the elliptical. I’m slowly getting there. I’ll do 40 minutes for a few weeks and see if I want to try for 45.
I’ve had no issues for a while either. Such as blisters, ankle problems, foot problems, or anything. I do occasionally get muscle knots in my lower legs, but they’re not bothering me too much. Since my last post, I’ve gone about 9 miles. I just passed through Rockfish Gap, VA, and am now on my way to Vesvius, VA in Nelson County. Here are my current stats from the virtual walk site:
222 miles since 4/28/08
31.97 miles to Vesvius, VA, Nelson County
About 32 miles until the next town. That will take me a while. At least a month. I actually like to watch the distance shrink as I’m heading to the next town. And of course, I love the pictures along the route. Speaking of pictures, here are the nine photos for the last nine miles.
213.6
214.6
215.6
216.6
217.6
218.6
219.8
220.8
222
I didn’t see too much activity in Rockfish Gap, but I pretty much blew through it. Yesterday (the 220.8 picture) I had about .16 miles to go until I hit town. Then today, I went a little over a mile, so I think I’m past in now. Or just about past it. Looked like I went by a motel.
I’ll keep moving along and see where I end up next. Thirty two miles until the next town. I just hope there’s a little activity before that. Cars, people, buildings, something. We’ll see. Keep on moving!
I’ve been pretty consistent the last week with my elliptical (and strength training). I didn’t take as many days off as I have been. I did take Tuesday off because I was a little sore. I added five minutes to my elliptical workout on Sunday, and I needed the break. It’s funny how just five minutes can make you sore and tired. I am estimating my distance, and I’m no longer trying to beat my one mile time. The display screen just won’t cooperate. The springs in the battery compartment are smushed. That’s OK though, the important thing is, I’m moving. I’ve been tracking my fitness consistently on SparkPeople for the last four yeas (four years in the beginning of March actually), so I know about how far I go depending on how long I‘m on. I’m doing about 1.1 miles (a little more I think, but but not quite 1.2) in 40 minutes. I burn about 370 calories in that amount of time, so that’s not too shabby. Eventually, and this is still a long ways off, I’d like to do a full hour on the elliptical. I’m slowly getting there. I’ll do 40 minutes for a few weeks and see if I want to try for 45.
I know, I know, I’m slacking again. Hope everyone had a good holiday and a great New Years. I don’t intend on making any new year’s resolutions. I tend to make goals every month (even if I don’t post them), rather than look at the entire year. One month at a time is good for me. Basically, my goal is to just keep moving.
Good news is, we discovered what is wrong with the elliptical display screen. Bad news is, it doesn’t stay fixed for long. What the problem is this. The springs in the battery compartment are squished too much, and the batteries are bouncing around. When they bounce around too much, the display resets. My husband stretched the coils, and that seemed to help for about a day. It’s back to resetting every 30 seconds again. I’ll have him stretch the coils again soon. But in the meantime, I’m estimating my distance. I’m going one mile in 35 minutes. I’m probably going a little over a mile, but not much.
So, on to the photos from the virtual walk. I’ve gone five miles since my last post. Now that the weather is clear again, I should be able to get in more consecutive days, and stop taking days off for one reason or another. I’m aiming for about 6 miles a week.
Mile 208.8
Mile 209.8
Mile 210.8
Mile 211.8
Mile 212.8
Still looks nice an sunny on the VA roads. I’m about 8 miles away from Rockfish, VA in Charlottesville County. Hopefully, I can post more than once every week from now on. Bets? Keep on moving!
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