A walk on the wild side

I’ve never seen a fat mail carrier. They must be among the fittest of all workers, walking eight or nine miles a day, every day. Regardless of the weather, they get their steps in.

I’ve been walking too. Not as much as the mail carriers, but I try to walk at least two miles a day, a habit I formed about eight years ago at the urging of my doctor, Tim Daniels. He said I could stand to lose a pound or two.

I stand just under six feet five inches tall, and at my peak I weighed 235 pounds. I thought I was about the right weight for my height. But the Body Mass Index (BMI), the yardstick for measuring optimum weight, said I was about 30 pounds overweight. Sitting at a desk all day was making me fat.

So I quit shoving so much food down my pie hole, gave up drinking two Mr. Pibbs a day, stopped wolfing a big bowl of ice cream just before bed and started walking to work, a distance of just under one mile one way.

Over about six months I dropped nearly 40 pounds. I actually got down to 194, but that didn’t feel right to me. I felt my best at right around 200 pounds and that’s where I’ve been for most of the last eight years.

Along the way my blood pressure dropped, too, with the aid of a pill or two, but over time I was able to cut back on those medications as well.

Now I really enjoy walking. But I have to have a destination. Mary likes to walk around just for the sport of it, with no particular goal. I have to have a destination. The office. Sunset Park bandshell. King’s Pointe.

Son Justin runs about five miles a day, but he’s a mere child at age 34. I’m 40 years older and couldn’t keep up that pace. Plus, I don’t think it’s fun to sweat.

Walking a couple miles a day burns an extra 200 calories, so in addition to giving my heart a little exercise, I burn off some of the Snickers ice cream bars I enjoy almost every noon.

Walking also lets me see things in life that you can’t experience driving inside a car down Lakeshore Drive at 25 miles per hour. I can wave at the neighbors, talk to the mail carrier, and follow the squirrels as they forage for nuts under the newly fallen leaves. I can watch fishermen on the lake and an occasional fish jumping out of the water off Sleepy Hollow.

Many people who wear Fitbits seem to strive for 7,000 steps a day, about four miles. The two miles I usually walk account for about 4,000 steps, but then I’m surprised how many more steps I pick up just walking around the office or our yard. Mowing our lawn measures out to about 3.5 miles.

I don’t have a Fitbit. My iPhone measures my steps and seems pretty accurate. I don’t know how it can figure out my mileage just riding along in my pocket, but it does. It also measures how many flights of stairs I climb each day. That’s also supposed to be good cardio exercise.

Of course, walkers have to be vigilant crossing streets. Some motorists will notice me standing on the corner and stop well ahead of the intersection and motion me across. That’s thoughtful of them and appreciated. Then there are the drivers who are determined to make their right turn on red regardless of who is in the crosswalk. A pedestrian may have the right-of-way, but that’s not much of an argument to the grill of a big old Buick.

This time of year is perfect for walking. The sun is out with the temps these days in the mid-70s. I walk year around. The only days I skip are in winter when the temp is under 20 degrees and it’s icy. Actually, walking in winter is really invigorating on those days when the temp is between 20 and 30 and the sun is shining.

I used to ride a bike until a few years ago after my atrial fibrillation episodes began. The doctors put me on Eliquis, a blood thinner, which helps prevent strokes but increases the chances of internal bleeding in case of a fall. Even wearing a helmet, I didn’t want to risk falling off a bike on the streets.

Enough of my meandering in this column. I will return to meandering the sidewalks of Storm Lake.