New Thing #264: Running To Time

I've written a few times before about the running I did this summer. And there's kind of a lull in Trying New Things right now, so let me tell you about what I did with my running this summer that was new.

(You'll notice the dates from the screengrab I did of my Nike app there are from mid-August. As I suspected would happen, once September hit my running regimen was severely impacted.)

The best thing I did this summer was change the way I run - instead of running for distance, I ran for time.

I've been running for a while - but in the past couple of years it had become a little more of a struggle.

Not that it became any more difficult really (outside of one injury where I think for one summer I couldn't run at all) - it just became really, really boring.

I had a path that I ran over and over. At most it would take me 3 miles...but often I would decide to pull up short and cut it after a mile and a half or two miles or so.

I had nothing holding me accountable for anything longer than that.

I don't know why it took me so long to do it, but this summer I decided to start with a 30 minute run and then just keep adding time. I went from 30 to 35, then 40. (I run roughly a 10-minute mile, so we're talking up to 4 miles or so.)

I stuck at 40 for a bit, then started pushing myself to distances I'd never reached before - up to 5 miles, and then that 6-and-a-quarter-mile run you see in that picture above.

Unfortunately, that was the high-water mark. That was August 13. Shortly afterward, I went to Florida, then back to school, and I haven't had the time to run that much since. I was hoping to write about this as a New Thing when I was consistently up over 6-mile runs.

It's really hard to find an hour when it's not dark where I can get a good run in like that these days.

If I get out I'll go a couple of miles at a quicker pace to feel like I'm doing something...but I know what it felt like over the summer when I was doing these long runs and it's not really the same.

Fall into winter is always a tough time to keep up the good work I do running in the summer.

This year it feels like a particularly tough dropoff.

But you can bet that as soon as the weather is passable - or I get a few extra hours on the weekends - I'll work to build up my stamina again.

Because now I know how to do it.

New Thing #260: An (Accidental) Night Time Walk

All right. I'll admit it.

I'm a big 'fraidy cat.

Or, more accurately, I'm very afraid of cats.

One time, when I was around 10 years old (maybe a touch younger, maybe a touch older), we took my dog for a walk after dark. It was my dad, my brother, my sister, and I. We turned a corner and there was this cat - it arched its back and hissed at us. I didn't like cats before that happened...that made me downright afraid of them.

And I avoided any possibility of that happening again.

If the sun wasn't out - I wasn't going out...for the most part.

Now, there are caveats - it's different walking around a big city (or little cities like Boston) - I'll do that at night. I know I might see a rat (or many rats *shiver*), but in cities there are more people out at night and the probability of seeing a wild animal is not as high. (Even my old neighborhood in Queens is populated enough that I've done a walk home from the subway after dark with no problem many, many times.)

I won't bore you by re-telling you stories of seeing raccoons and possums, but that's why I won't go out after dark in the suburbs - which happen to be where I currently live.

I am not afraid of muggings. I am not afraid of cars not seeing me. I am afraid of what animals I'll run into in the dark.

It's the only thing stopping me from doing early-morning runs - I want to do the exercise, but I'm afraid I'll run into tired raccoons on their way home from a long night of scavenging and intimidating people like me.

And it's exercise that brings me to write about this accidental late night walk I took this weekend.

It's also an opportunity to catch you up on some New Things from earlier in the year. I no longer keep track of my calories with the Lose It! app. But that experience has made me more aware of the balance between my calorie intake and my exercise. And I'm ultra-aware of it because I still weigh myself every morning - and I've done a good job of hovering around the same number all year. What I haven't told you about is how well I've been running over the summer - I really increased my endurance, which I'm proud of - but if I haven't had the time to run, sometimes I'd go for a brisk walk, like I did in the wintertime.

This is what I did on Saturday - after dinner, I left the house at 6:30pm and decided to try my 3-mile route. It took about an hour - I was back in the house at 7:30pm. But whereas a couple of weeks ago coming back around 8pm meant I was just getting home before darkness hit...I didn't realize how dark it was getting at 7:30 these days.

It wasn't too bad. The worst animal experience I had was on one street a young couple was walking their dog - it must have been a Great Dane, and I admit to a little trepidation. That dog was huge. I spent the few minutes after I walked past them thinking about how many ways that dog could have killed me if it was not leashed.

Other than that, though, I didn't feel the least bit threatened walking by moonlight rather than sunlight.

I don't know if I'll make a habit out of it, but I could see myself doing it again - maybe even getting out before the sun is totally up and going for a run. I like the idea of starting outdoor exercise in the dark and finishing up when it's light.

Just not on garbage day.

That's when the raccoons are out.

New Thing #229: Home Gym

I don't want to beat a dead horse (who would? what kind of sicko beats a dead horse? a dead anything, come to think of it?), but I haven't belonged to a gym this year. As a result, I've needed to show some discipline inside the house in order to get workouts in.

Now, understand - home is the place I stayed when I didn't want to go to the gym when we belonged to the gym.

So you see the problem here.

But I bought a couple of elements to add to what I already had here and I think I've done a pretty good job of maintaining a workout schedule, gym or no gym.

The picture above gives you an indication of what I'm working with.

I've told you about the kettlebell, and I've had those dumbbells for years. Not pictured, there's an ab roller and a big bouncy ball that my wife has had for years that I use occasionally as well.

But this is about the new stuff.

And after I got some sports store gift cards for my birthday, I added the medicine ball, the jump rope, and that yellow resistance cord to my collection.

I use the medicine ball for work on my abs. I don't have a full understanding of how to use a medicine ball, but I have a much better idea about it than I did with the kettlebell. I've only scratched the surface of the resistance cord, I'm sure. I use it for my arms, mostly, but I'm sure I can do some leg stuff with it as well.

I haven't had much opportunity to use the jump rope yet, since it's a strictly outdoor piece of equipment and the other stuff is for the indoors, but I like having it. Someday I'll bring it with me on a bike ride, find a quiet place where no one is around to laugh at my jump roping ineptitude, and work on my jump roping.

Storage is a problem right now - I don't have a designated spot for the workout equipment. Right now I leave everything pretty much out in the open in the same area as a lot of my daughters' toys. In practice, this is not ideal, because I realize there could be a trip and fall and knocking a head into a kettlebell situation happening...but psychologically, the equipment is right in front of the TV, so if I'm sitting watching TV and doing nothing else, I can lift some weights at the same time.

And my daughters have so far proven responsible around everything. But if I'm not using things for a while I'll move them out of the way.

I always thought having a home gym meant I would have the luxury of a spare room where I had some benches and some serious workout equipment - like what you see at the gym but in your own home.

Turns out, a bunch of small workout equipment in the same room as your kids' toys can do the trick just as well.

New Thing #223: Kettlebell

Remember when I told you that we canceled our gym membership? Well, contrary to popular belief (lying - there is no popular belief in this department...not even unpopular belief), I have not let myself go.

In fact, I've spent a good deal of my limited free time this summer exercising.

I'm running a lot.

I've biked a little...but not in a while. I've kind of gotten hooked on the running.

When I'm around the house, I've done some basic weights exercises - and I even bought a kettlebell.

I have to admit to you that I had almost instant buyer's remorse with this kettlebell. I bought it because I thought if I lifted this heavy object I'd really build up muscle or feel more muscular or something like that.

Also, it's my favorite color!

But then I looked up on-line what to actually do with a kettlebell, and it seems like the more popular kettlebell approach is to have two slightly lighter kettlebells, one for each arm, rather than the one heavier one. (Which, I guess it's important to note here, is labeled as a "Competition Kettlebell", which I did not realize at the time of purchase. I really messed this one up. But who knows? Maybe I'll discover a new career. Where I can competitively kettlebell. Or something.)

No matter, I made do with what I had.

I lift it.

I swing it.

I lift it again.

Sometimes I lift it while I kind of do sit-up things.

I feel like I'm doing stuff to my core or something.

The important thing is I'm making an effort. Right?

It's not the ideal piece of exercise equipment that I thought it would be. But it's not bad - I am using it and I'm exercising.

And I haven't hurt myself using it - which is maybe the most important thing.

It's also not the only exercise-related New Thing I've done this year. I'll be telling you more about the others later in the week.

New Thing #221: Running By The East River

The house where I grew up (and where my parents still live) is in Astoria, Queens, a mile-and-a-half from the East River. Or the West River, as we called it where I grew up. (Not true. But maybe we should have.)

I know it's a mile-and-a-half because I checked my Nike app when I ran there from my parents' house last Friday and it was just about exactly that distance.

It had been a long time since I spent any time down by the River...but it's as beautiful as it ever was.

I really love it down there. It's called "Shore Boulevard" now...I think when I was growing up it was just 18th or 17th Street or whatever number it actually is.

When I was old enough to drive it was a destination to show people from out of town. And it's not like I spent a whole lot of time there, so I'd build it up in my mind as the best thing ever, and I'd forget about whether or not it lived up to expectations between visits.

It does live up to expectations. I love the sightline - there's the Hell Gate Bridge, the Triboro (sorry...I mean RFK) Bridge, and midtown Manhattan is visible down a ways.

Now they've also repaved it so there's a bike path and a running path where there used to be just a railing and some sidewalk.

I've never actually exercised down there. I ran on the Boulevard once - but further north, on 20th Avenue, I think. It was for a 5K I ran, probably when I was at the end of high school or home for summer from college. I was not in tremendous shape. I had a donut that morning before the run. The only thing I remember distinctly about that run is when I threw up the donut at the corner of Shore Boulevard and 20th Avenue.

And that was my last memory of running down there before last week. I'm in pretty good shape right now. (I don't want to brag, but I've really worked - and succeeded -  this summer at increasing my stamina.) So I was able to take in the view, and appreciate the fact that I wasn't gasping for air a little less than two miles into my run.

I ran down 21st Avenue to the river, then cut back through Astoria Park and ran back on Ditmars Boulevard. It was nice for a couple of reasons: One is that it was a very different route for me than the streets of Framingham - which is always a big thing for me to spice up a run - and two is that I just love being able to do these things in New York. I miss that city.

Oh. And there was a bonus good thing about this run:

I didn't even throw up.

New Thing #219: Nike Vapor Earphones

For my birthday my brother got me some new earphones, which I desperately needed. I had been rotating through three pairs I had gotten for free within the past year or so - they seemed to be a popular free giveaway in the 2012 calendar year. (I think I got one from my health care provider, and my dad gave me a couple of others that he got at some giveaway.)

The old saw "You get what you pay for" rang true - the free earphones would quickly fray - visibly or invisibly.

Sometimes the wire would come apart, and sometimes the music/podcasts would simply stop coming through one of the ears, indicating a loose connection under the wire covering. (I could sometimes get it to work in stereo by fiddling with the spot where the earphones connect to the iPhone...not ideal for when you're running.)

Anyway, the orange earphones you see there are the latest ones that broke - and after I told my brother I needed new earphones, he got me the white ones you see there.

It's taken me a month to write about the Nike Vapor earphones because I needed some time to live in them a bit.

Especially considering I have weirdly shaped ears.

I don't know if this is the case for everybody or just me...ear buds don't fit into my ear too well.

And these Nike Vapor earphones, well, they're weird because they're kind of upside down. Instead of hanging down out of your ears, they kind of stick up out of your ears...you can see what I mean in the picture here:

At first I thought they were disastrous - I could barely fit them into my ears and the bud actually hurt my right ear on my first run.

Then I realized you can adjust the ear fitting every which way.

Look at that picture - there's a gray connection that comes up out of the ear bud and hooks over the ear - see it? That thing folds out, twists around, and raises up and down.

The only thing that's inflexible at all is the bud itself. Which I still occasionally have trouble fitting into my right ear...but usually I can get the buds in there comfortably enough.

I might have to eventually try the new ear buds Apple designed, which they advertised, if I remember correctly, during the NFL Playoffs this year. I had a problem with the ad, though, because the narrator of the commercial makes it sound like it was our idea to come up with ear buds that don't quite fit our ears...not theirs. I finally found the commercial on YouTube....judge for yourself:

New Thing #199: White Nike Dri-Fit Shirt

I have this exercise shirt that I love. I bought it last year - I had a gift card that I spent on some sporting equipment, including a running shirt and some shorts.

It's a yellow Nike Dri-Fit shirt, and I got it at Dick's Sporting Goods.

This year, I had another couple of gift cards to Dick's that I was given for my birthday, and I bought some workout equipment. (More on that another time.)

I saw the shirts and had enough money left over after my purchases to get one.

As you can see, I went with the white.

Here's something you may not know about me: I have slight sensitivity issues. They've abated over the years, but they're still there a little bit. (For example: As a kid I hated turtlenecks. I still don't seek out a turtleneck if I have a choice, but I can now wear one without feeling terribly uncomfortable. Also, when I was a kid I hated the way certain tags felt on my neck, and this is still true. Similarly, if a shirt has too sticky of a logo on the front or the back - that bothers me too.)

But that's the best thing about these shirts - they are among the most comfortable shirts I've ever worn. I don't feel them around my neck, which appears to be my highest-sensitivity area. (Interestingly, the white shirt feels tighter around my waist than the yellow one. Not a big deal, just interesting. I only notice it when I wipe the sweat from my face with that part of the shirt while I run.) The tags on this shirt are not on the neck.

I don't know that I've ever had a wicking shirt. But I think these are wicking - they're a light material. I also don't know how they work - the tag says they keep you cool even in the heat. These do that, but they certainly absorb the sweat - they get sopping wet during my runs.

I saw the display of these shirts on my way into Dick's earlier this week - they were $22, which I thought was a pretty good price for these shirts. I made a mental note to come back if I had gift card money left over. When I did, there was only one problem.

I've written before about my inability to make decisions. There were so many colors to choose from. All shades of orange, green, black, white, blue, red, and gray. I narrowed it down to a royal blue (my size wasn't there in light blue) and white, and texted my wife. Her advice was exactly what I was thinking - if I wanted the better color I should get blue, and if I wanted it to be cooler I should go white.

I'm sure the 90-degree temperatures outside affected my decision, but I couldn't get the idea of a 'cooler' shirt out of my head. That's why I went white.

I'm getting to the point where I have a pretty good rotation of comfortable running shirts, which is good for me. I'm not below stopping a run because my shirt is giving me discomfort.

The way I see it, $22 is a small price to pay for a shirt that I love...and one less excuse not to exercise.

New Thing #180: Jamba Juice

I guess there was a part of me, deep down in my subconscious, that was missing my alma mater after spending time at my wife's reunion. Because last week I had some time to kill between doing some work at school and needing to be back at the school to pick up my daughter from day camp.

So I decided to spend that time near Boston University, going for a run along the Charles River.

And as I drove there I developed a plan which worked out so well for me it's almost unbelievable.

I left work at about 12:30. I intentionally didn't bring anything for lunch, figuring I'd grab something near BU after my run. But as I drove from Belmont to Boston I couldn't think of anything healthy enough to not negate the workout I was driving all this way to do.

My mind kept coming back to burgers and pizza - two of my favorites, for sure, but not what I was really in the mood for on this particular afternoon.

I thought about what I would be having if I was doing lunch at home, and my mind went to smoothies. It was perfect - I convinced myself then and there that somewhere on BU's campus was going to be a smoothie place (you know, catering to the health-conscious college students) where I could grab something healthy after my run.

I kept an eye out as I looked for parking. Nothing. I walked to the Esplanade and looked up and down Commonwealth Avenue where there might have been a place. Nothing.

I ran from behind Marsh Chapel, down about a mile to a turnaround point, and then ran back until I exited near the School of Education. (I give these specifics for the BU readers. They'll know what I'm talking about.) I walked up a part of Commonwealth Avenue I hadn't checked out before...still nothing. Then I crossed the street in front of Warren Towers, and lo and behold, in the last place I would have expected to see one, there was a smoothie place.

It was a Jamba Juice, which I had never been to before. As much as I fully expected to find a smoothie place, I was taken aback when I finally did. This little storefront is located on the ground floor of one of BU's signature dorms. When I was there it was a little sandwich/bagel/coffee place, and I think it has also been a burrito place. It has never been a recognizable franchise like Jamba Juice, as far as I know.

I looked at the menu, but I wasn't really registering what I was seeing. I feel like I settled - I wish I had a chance to re-order. My smoothie was fine, but it was nothing extraordinary. I want to go back and get something a little different from something I could easily create at home.

I ended up having an "Orange C-Booster" smoothie. It was essentially a fancier, thicker orange juice. It's advertised (right there on the menu!) as a Vitamin C and zinc boost as well as an antioxidant boost, and it's made with orange, peach, and banana. (On this day 'peach' served the same purpose for me as 'avocado' on a food menu - it looks so good to me that whatever I ordered had to have that in it.) It was refreshing enough, and it held me over until dinner time, and I did feel healthy having it. So it served its purposes.

The smoothie was 350 calories. They sell 3 sizes of smoothie - "sixteen" (16), "original" (22), and "power" (30). I had original and I'm not sure I needed anything bigger.

I'm not sure how familiar you are with Jamba Juice, but they also have sandwiches. I'm not sure if I'm in the market for a sandwich that this would be my first stop, but it's nice to know it's there.

I can easily see myself swinging by Jamba Juice on my way to Fenway Park the next time I head to a Red Sox game and grabbing a smoothie.

Maybe it'll make me feel a little better about shoving my face full of crap at Fenway if I have a smoothie first.

New Thing #178: Gatorade Energy Chews

I saw that Kevin Durant - Dwayne Wade Gatorade commercial about a million times before I watched it for content rather than story. I liked the circular idea of it the first time I saw it...and then shortly after saw it start with the opposite point of view.

Then I started ignoring it.

Then during the NBA Finals I watched the commercial and realized it wasn't just about the energy drink.

I thought I saw one of those guys pop something into his mouth.

And then I went to a sporting goods store and I saw the energy chews.

I had to at least try them.

The chews come 6 to a pack and they cost $1.99.  I went with the strawberry, since if there are flavors offered of something I haven't tried I usually try to go red for my first taste.

This was a day that I was going for a run at around lunchtime, and I figured I'd pop a chew right before I worked out. Then I read the directions.

"Eat 6 chews 15 minutes prior to exercise or competition."

I was taken aback. Before I had even read the directions I was thinking about eating all six - I wasn't sure for a second if I was just reading it the way I wanted it to read.

But no, that's what it said - go ahead and eat all six. (Six pieces is a serving size, and there's 100 calories per serving, in case you're wondering.) So I ate all six. And I waited 15 minutes, and then I went for my run.

It was a good run. I'm not going to sit here and tell you it was great because I had a handful of energy chews beforehand.

But I kind of like the idea of acceptably having a form of candy before working out.

Although, as my wife cautioned when I told her it was "only $1.99!": "Watch out - $1.99 can add up fast."

Maybe I'll just stick to the usual, free, water before I run in the future.

New Thing #171: Bungee Cords

First of all, let's make this perfectly clear: I did not bungee jump, nor will I bungee jump as part of '365 New Things In 2013'. But I did purchase two 32'' bungee cords.

I had the idea that, if I was going to bike to pick up the vegetables, I could strap them down to the back of my bike with the bungee cords.

It was a great idea.

And this post is also my way of telling you that I biked 18 miles on Monday when I picked up the vegetables.

When I bought my bike, my oldest daughter was a baby. Or a toddler. I forget. But the point is I added the rack on the back of the bike so that I could attach the little baby seat and take her for rides. I did it a few times with her, one time I used that baby seat to carry groceries, and I don't think I've used it since. Perhaps this summer I could get the 2-year-old in there. But the seat has been sparsely used.

As a result, the rack has been sparsely used as well. But I'm always aware it's there, and I enjoy thinking about possible uses for it. I know there are bags - kind of saddlebag-type bags - that drape over the rack. I might get one of those so I don't have to worry about keeping things in my pockets during bike rides. But I'm thrilled that in picking up the vegetables (and bringing back the empty box) I now have a use for the rack.

But I knew that I couldn't just plop the veggies on the rack by themselves and expect to get them home. That's where the bungee cords came in. I went to a hardware store over the weekend, almost bought the 24'' cords, followed my wife's advice and went a step bigger, and they were perfect for the size of the veggie box and hooking onto the rack.

So Monday I set out and biked the nine miles to the farm. Framingham to Sudbury is a fairly easy ride, if you follow the main roads. A couple of hills, but nothing too terrible.

Coming back, I decided to take a slight detour past the street where my wife grew up. I had biked that way before and I didn't remember it being too terrible. Well, there's a huge hill there, and that hill, coupled with the fact that I had already biked nine miles, almost did me in.

But I made it over the hill, and then I made it home. (I think Sudbury to Framingham is slightly hillier.) And I'm proud of that. I like biking for pleasure well enough, but I love when I can bike with a purpose.

(I also like when I feel like taking my bike helps the environment. Unfortunately, this wasn't exactly an environment-saving move - that day I drove through Sudbury twice, so I could have easily picked up the vegetables one of those times without doing any extra harm to the Earth.)

I'm not sure this was my longest bike ride ever. Last year I rode my bike from Watertown into downtown Boston, and that was about the same distance, but it was much flatter. So it might have been my most complex.

You might think I'm making too much of this. I don't really know how to explain to you how much I enjoy taking a long bike ride. Growing up I had a bike, but I don't know that I ever took it more than like, three blocks. One time in Montauk we rented bikes and went for a long ride, but I was younger. It probably wasn't more than 5 miles or something.

I like when I can walk or take my bike somewhere - to a destination, rather than just a loop for exercise. I like exercising with a purpose! And now that I have these bungee cords, well, maybe I can work in an extra chore or two on future bike rides.

New Thing #158: Bike Phone Mount

I think I got this for Christmas, because it's been sitting around for a long time and I haven't had the opportunity to use it yet. It's a mount for my iPhone that attaches to the handlebar of my bike.

Don't worry - it's not a distraction for me - I won't be getting into any accidents.

If anything, it actually keeps me more focused on riding my bike than before I used it.

I attached the mount to my bike and took my bike out for the first time this past weekend. It was great bike-riding weather.

And I was able to mount my phone and use my bike-riding app to see how long I was riding and how many miles I was piling up.

Why was this less of a distraction?

Well, in the past I'd still try running that app, but it was while the phone was in my pocket. And with the athletic shorts I was wearing, with not-so-deep pockets, I'd check my pocket about 100 times during a bike ride to make sure my phone didn't fall out of it.

Now I worry occasionally that the phone will slip out of the mount, but all it takes is one tap for me to feel how secure it is in the mount and I can continue with my ride worry-free.

It was easy to assemble and mount, as I said it's secure, and it allows me to check the time of day pretty quickly as well. (I haven't worn a watch in a long time - I rely on my phone, so this also prevents me from having to reach for my phone in my pocket to see what time it is while on a bike ride.)

I assume I could pop my iPhone on speaker phone and this would be a pretty convenient way to talk on the phone while I was riding my bike as well....but let's not try that.

That would be a distraction.

New Thing #74: No More Gym

You know how it usually goes when the new year hits: "This year I resolve to go to the gym more often." That's usually me.

And actually, in recent years I didn't necessarily need to resolve to go - I just needed to maintain my multiple times a week schedule.

We were members of the local YMCA and working out was part of my normal routine.

But last year, especially since school started in September, I just wasn't going.

So my wife and I resolved to quit the gym.

It's not the first time we've left a gym - we've been members of numerous gyms, and when we moved or found something better we've had to cancel our memberships to numerous gyms.

The Metrowest YMCA, our most recent membership, was pretty great. Especially for  a family of 5 with young kids - we had a daycare option, and my oldest took a tee-ball class a couple of falls ago.

But we just weren't using it enough.

The New Thing here is really that I've been working out at home a lot more. Along with keeping track of my weight and watching the calorie intake, I've been keeping track of my workouts. I've been trying to do push-ups and sit-ups every night, along with other, newer exercises. (Stay tuned for those. And for those skeptics out there, you're right, I haven't been doing it every night. But I've been doing pretty well.)

Those exercises, coupled with the occasional basketball game and then running once the weather gets warmer, has me feeling good about my new exercise routine.

My wife and I have talked about perhaps enrolling in another gym once the summer rolls around. We've also talked about some other New Things we could possibly do. I'm kind of excited (and maybe a little nervous) about one particular option.

I'll be sure to let you know about it when it happens.

New Thing #50: Lose It! App

I'm counting calories these days. No kidding.

As I mentioned the other day when I wrote about keeping close track of my weight - I'm not terribly worried that I'm going to become fat.

At least, very soon.

But I know there's a chance that if I keep eating the way I've eaten my whole life, my metabolism won't keep up.

So I've been doing a number of 'New Things' related to my health.

As I've mentioned, I'll roll them out periodically.

Most recently, though, I stumbled upon this app.

And now thanks to its help, I'm counting calories.

It's called 'Lose It!', and I'm sure, like '4Square' and other apps I used to use multiple times a day before I quit them, it may not last long. But it's given me some information that is bound to stick with me for a lifetime.

I've always heard the term 'empty calories', but had never really thought about what it meant. Now I have a better idea.

I've been surprised at how few calories some foods can be (like chicken) and how many others can be (like, oh, I don't know - Brownie Batter Donuts).

What I like about the app is that you enter your meals each day, and then it gives you an idea of how you're doing by week. And my wife tells me it's all about calorie intake per week, not daily.

I get a little frustrated when I can't find a comparable food to enter for what I ate (this most often happens after lunch at school), but generally I've been successful matching foods I've eaten to what's in the app's database. (Including restaurants. Much of the restaurant food I've eaten in the past three weeks or so has been on the Lose It! app, and once you find the restaurant in their choices, the whole menu is on there.)

The best thing, though, is that I can also subtract calories. There are all kinds of exercises loaded in to negate the intake. I've been taking walks, and it calculates time walked into calories burned. Snow shoveling was amazing exercise, and it was in the app. Playing the piano is in there! (As you might imagine, though, it doesn't burn all that many calories.)

I was losing weight before I downloaded the app - that generally happens from January into February since late December into January is my peak weight due to the holidays. But I'm sure counting calories has helped me avoid adding more winter pounds.

I hope to keep up keeping track into the summer, when I tend to go a little crazy on the ice cream desserts...but it's also a time I do a lot more exercising when I can run outside.

If you're looking for some motivation to count calories, too - let me know. There's also a "friend" opportunity on Lose It! I haven't used that yet, and it might take a new wrinkle to keep me invested for another 4-5 months.

New Thing #3: Ice Skating With My Daughters

I came late to ice skating. It just wasn't all that popular an activity for us growing up in Queens, New York.

It became a fun thing for me and some friends to do - on our own, without parents - in high school, and so I bought a pair of ice skates sometime in my mid-to-late teens.

And I think once or twice in college I went ice skating.

But before Wednesday, I'm pretty sure it had been a good 10 to 15 years since I had stepped on an ice rink.

The occasion was a birthday party for a classmate of my oldest daughter, and my middle daughter was invited to skate as well.

The girls were given helmets, and crates to lean against and help them balance as they skated. It was interesting to see how young kids are taught to skate. I never learned. I was a somewhat reckless teen who kind of figured it out as I went. As a result I'm sorely lacking in certain skills...but I'll get to that later.

The act of skating wasn't new for me - it was the fact that I got on the ice with my girls that was such a big deal here. They can be somewhat cautious, my daughters, and are reluctant to try something that sounds like it might be way out of their realm of expertise. (Gee, I wonder where they get that from.) But given an impetus - like the good kind of peer pressure at a friend's birthday party - they expand their comfort zone a little bit.

The jury is still out on whether they'll agree to take lessons...but it was a successful start. They've now been on the ice, and I at least have some ground to stand on if I want to take them again. "Remember that time you had so much fun skating at the birthday party...?"

As for me, it was successful on that front too. I was never able to skate backwards, but after giving it some logical thought on Wednesday, I managed to glide in reverse a couple of times. I don't know how to come to a hard stop, but I managed to fake it well enough so I didn't have to go slamming into the boards like some of the 5-year-olds.

And of course, my biggest measuring stick of how I fared hasn't changed over the past however many years since I last stepped onto the ice: I didn't fall down once.

New Thing #2: A Winter Walk

It's only new thing number 2, and I can already hear your skepticism:

"A winter walk? That's nothing new."

Maybe not for you. But it's not something I do very often...if ever.

But I did it on New Year's Day. And I didn't even intend it to be a new item in the list. But it was such a pleasant experience that it ended up becoming New Thing #2.

As you can see, the walk was kind of picturesque.

Some snow on the ground, but not enough that I couldn't walk on pavement most of the time.

It was the morning of New Year's Day, so the streets were quiet. There are no cars in this picture, and that pretty well illustrates the entirety of my walk.

I wanted to walk partly because I've been on an exercise break over the holidays and it was time to do something active, but also because it was such a nice day. Had it been a few degrees colder I'm sure it would have been a much different experience - but as it was, I actually broke a sweat on the way home.

I walked the route that I usually run, and that's what made this such a unique experience. In the spring and summer if I have a half-hour of free time I'll jog this route (or maybe half of it, stop for ice cream, and walk back) and won't think twice about it. I'll even bring my youngest in a stroller so I'm not leaving my wife with three kids back home.

But in the winter, this hardly ever happens. To be honest, the biggest reason is that usually everything is so salted and sanded that I feel like I'm destroying my shoes when I walk in the street. And I'm always afraid I'll slip on the ice if I run in the slushy, icy winter streets. But as I walked and the sun beat down Tuesday morning, I considered running.

So even though my winter walk wasn't intended to be New Thing #2, it may even result in another new thing - stay tuned to see if a winter jog ends up on the list.