Watch out, Shute! I’m coming for you…

Brian Shute. Don't you think he looks scared? I think he looks scared...

Brian Shute. Don’t you think he looks scared? I think he looks scared…

As y’all know, my usual standard for “getting in shape” involves getting my weight down so I can “wrestle Shute.” (For the uninitiated, that’s a reference to “Vision Quest,” which I love because I, too, was a high school wrestler.)IMG_3359

That means getting under 168.

Yeah, I know — I’ve set that goal before, and when it wasn’t that far away. This time, when I started working out on the elliptical and walking around town, I was up to 187, which is big for a guy with my frame. (Which is about where Louden Swain was when he started losing, since he was in the 190 class.)

But now, averaging more than 15,000 steps a day (in February, so far) and sorta kinda following a paleo diet, I’m as close as close can be.

Note my weight yesterday, at right. Remember when, in the movie, Louden strips off his shorts and blows out all the air in his lungs to pass the weigh-in (below)? Well, I’m right about at the point where a good exhalation would do it.

This morning, I was back up to 169.5. Probably that bucket of popcorn from going to see “Black Panther” yesterday. But give me a couple of days.

Then, Shute better watch out…

20 thoughts on “Watch out, Shute! I’m coming for you…

  1. bud

    This is interesting. I just finished a long walk on the Columbia Riverwalk. That plus my regular walking has my step count at 14,483. But the mileage is 7 miles even. So why is Brad getting 16,000 steps but less than 7 miles?

      1. Norm Ivey

        And probably something to do with the activity. Along the Riverwalk, you probably maintained a steady, regular stride. Getting the steps in while engaged in different activities probably leads to a more inconsistent stride.

    1. Brad Warthen Post author

      That’s what you would think (shorter stride). But the way my app counts steps vs. the way it counts distance remains a mystery to me.

      Check out these two days:

      IMG_3377 IMG_3376

      How do I get MORE steps and LESS distance?

      This is a subject I’ve actually meant to blog about, to see it y’all can ‘splain it. It puzzles me…

      1. Brad Warthen Post author

        And the proportion of steps on the elliptical versus the number walking are about the same in both cases. They’re both on a weekday, so that means my usual 45 minutes on the elliptical in the morning, and a long walk downtown in the afternoon. And it’s not like I was taking long strides one day and limping the next.

        So it puzzles me.

        It’s occurred to me that maybe it calculates distance using GPS — but if so, how is it I’m able to rack up miles on the elliptical?…

      2. Doug Ross

        I’ve been using my phone to count steps since late 2015 and what I have found is that the distance can be off by as much as 10%… I have a route I have tested with my car odometer to mark off 1 mile, 2 mile, and 3 miles and I get a varied distances on the tracker all the time.

        Best day so far this year: 30,182 steps, 15 miles. I normally do 20K Mon-Wed and then try to hit 10K the rest of the week.

        1. Brad Warthen Post author

          Now, see, I started this walking business after being inspired by Doug’s 10,000-a-day habit.

          But he won’t let me catch up with him! I’m averaging more than 15k a day in February, but he’s doing 20!

          As Jingles said every week, “Hey, Wild Bill, wait for me!” (Gratuitous Baby Boomer reference there.)…

  2. Bart

    I use my Fitbit Charge 2. Checked the distance around the perimeter of my yard – almost an acre – and it takes 9 laps to complete a mile. Then I checked the distance with my Fitbit and after 9 laps, just slightly over a mile and is consistent.

  3. Dave Crockett

    I use a free app on my iPhone called “Pacer”. It not only ties into the phone’s GPS for fairly consistent distance readings, it also can be set to call out progress as frequently as 5 minutes during specific sessions. Each day it has a summary of steps (I’m a slug at around 8000 and estimated calories burned.

    My doctor now wants me to do at least 30 vigorous minutes a day…and my new route is 1.75 miles in about 33 minute (slightly better more than 18 min./mile or better than 3 MPH). The audio urging keeps my pace up and consistent. At the end, it summarizes distance/time/rate (minutes/mile).

    1. Brad Warthen Post author

      Interesting. But since nearly 6,000 of my steps (and more in the future, as I keep stepping up my time) are currently on the elliptical, I don’t know if I want to use something GPS-based….

  4. Brad Warthen Post author

    By the way, folks, just to brag on myself a bit.

    I set my alarm wrong this morning, and didn’t get up in time to do my usual workout on the elliptical — which means I’m close to 6,000 steps in the hole for the day, at the moment.

    But even though I’ve only gone 1,934 steps so far today — a mere .68 mile — I’m still averaging more than 15,000 a day for the month of February! I’ve achieved my goal, and can now coast the rest of the day. Not that I will. But I could…

    15 plus

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