Zee’s Status (6/11/12)

Status: Working on it
Quote: “Success is dependent upon the glands – sweat glands.” ~Zig Ziglar

For the last couple of weeks, I’ve actually been doing a good job.  OK ok … full disclosure:  I have forgotten to count every single calorie recently.  And while that’s a big no-no, at least for me, it’s obviously not the reason why I think I’m on the positive side of this healthy lifestyle.

I’ve been working out!

It all started with Saturday morning walks with Suze and another friend.  During these walks, we go about 6 miles or more.  My first time walking with the group was near Chesapeake Beach (some of it was on the boardwalk) and we walked 6.20 miles.  We started in Chesapeake Beach, walked into North Beach and headed back.  The picture here was taken during that walk.  (More Pictures on Facebook)

The first walk wiped me out, and because of it, I promised myself to really develop a workout routine so that I would eventually build better endurance.  No matter what, I want to continue to do these walks.

The benefits are awesome:

• Getting outside, enjoying nature, and seeing the sights
• Enjoying time with some really good friends
• Loading up on that oh so very important Vitamin D (Sunshine!)
• Easiest and least expensive way to exercise

Recently, Suze and I headed over to the Merkle Wildlife Sanctuary, to hike their trails and check out the scenery.  While I wasn’t totally prepared (nature can be quite alarming and Suze had to coax me through a couple of times), I did get into the swing of things and really enjoyed my time there.  We saw a woodchuck, a lot of birds, a fawn … or deer or something (it was too fast for the camera), a bunch of frogs, and more.  Check out Suze’s status for more. (Photos in Facebook) If you enjoy hiking and nature walks, then I recommend checking out Merkle or your local nature trails.

We walked a total of 6.18 miles, following all three of the trails.  The park’s trails did not have a high level of difficulty (no real steep hills to climb), but the terrain still offered enough that you felt like you completed a workout in the end.

I’m looking forward to more of these walks, and will share more pictures of the sites as we go along.  In the meantime, I’d like to throw out some questions and get some feedback on outdoor exercising:  Are you a runner or walker?  I’d like to hear your story on how you got started in exercising outdoors.  And if you never go outside, I’d like to hear about that too!