Meridian Kessler: Washington Blvd.

I had company on my walk yesterday on Washington Blvd.; Janie was nice enough to join me.

She had mentioned the other day that Washington Blvd. is one of her favorite streets in Indianapolis because of the older, stately houses and their large, well-maintained yards. And I would agree. They just don't build houses like these anymore -- and no, those so-called McMansions aren't in the same league. Sure, they're big. And they have some rather imposing features. But while they're nicely built, compared to the vinyl villages that are springing up like dandelions in the spring, there isn't the obvious craftsmanship that there is with "nicer" and even "standard" houses built in the first half of the 20th century.

Yesterday's walk went from just south of Kessler (5900 block) to 49th St.. We then walked over a block and went back up Pennsylvania, cut over to Delaware, and then over to Kessler before turning back on Washington. I don't know the exact distance we covered, but I do know that we walked for an hour, on the nose. Since we weren't walking especially quickly, I'm guessing that we covered three miles.

Three miles is a pretty good distance, especially considering that I had cut the grass an hour or so before that. By the time we got back to the car, my knee was a bit sore and I was quite hungry. I was reasonably good, though -- for dinner, I had a quarter-pound burger with cheese and no bun, corn on the cob, and half of a Little Debbie Nutty Bar...about 600 calories.

Yes, I do give in to junk food occasionally, but as long as I balance it with healthier food and beverage choices, it won't hurt me. Calorie intake is the most basic element to weight loss and maintenance. As Jillian Michaels, from The Biggest Loser, would say...calories in, calories out. As long as my overall meals' calorie counts aren't in excess of what I burn through exercise, along with mere existence, I won't gain weight. If my daily intake is 1800 calories, and I do an hour walk a day at 3-3.5 mph, I'll lose weight at a reasonable pace. And if I don't feel "deprived" -- which is how I do feel when I try to cut out sweets entirely -- I won't go overboard when I do indulge in treats.

Another friend that's been quite helpful: Splenda. I can now drink Kool-Aid, thanks to Splenda's Quick Pack envelopes. Add one envelope to one package of unsweetened Kool-Aid mix, and you can make two quarts of Kool-Aid...without any added calories. With a cup of sugar, you add 80 calories per 8 oz. serving.

I'm already contemplating my next neighborhood walk. Since yesterday's walk covered just a few streets in a rather large neighborhood, I will probably need 2, maybe even 3, more walks to cover all of Meridian Kessler. I do like variety, though, so the next walk will probably be somewhere other than MK. But I'll surely return before the end of the summer.

Warfleigh

My apologies for not keeping up with posting to this blog. I'm still walking…I promise!

My most recent jaunt was to Warfleigh, a neighborhood just west of Broad Ripple. That walk, which I took this past Tuesday, was 3 miles and included just about every street in the neighborhood as I went up and down the streets until I had walked for an hour.

I've always liked that neighborhood because of its mix of upscale and more modest (but still very nice) houses, and because of the variety of styles that residents use in landscaping their yards. There were quite a few stone retaining walls separating the yards from the sidewalks below – one of my most favorite features, and sometimes I wish I had the kind of yard to do that. And, of course, plenty of perennials, all well-chosen and nicely taken care of. Unlike the yards in Geist, which were pretty obviously done by professional landscapers, these landscapes are largely designed and maintained by the homeowners themselves. And there's a sense that the people who live in this neighborhood are just as proud of their gardens as they are of their houses…and that they truly enjoy what they have.

On the days I don't get out and walk, chances are it's because I've done plenty of work in my own yard, with my own gardens. Gardening is a great way to get exercise; it burns calories, builds muscle, and is an aerobically efficient way to stay in shape.

Unfortunately, it can also be a good way to get out into those elements that contribute to allergies. I've just gotten over a week and a half of coughing, hacking, sneezing, and sniffling. And because I felt downright miserable after each hour of walking, I've stayed close to home during this time. Now that I'm feeling better, though, I'll resume my regimen of excursions to Indianapolis's more scenic neighborhoods, followed by blogs describing them.

As for my weight, I've lost three pounds since I started this blog. While I'm a little behind the pace I had hoped to set, now that allergy season seems to be behind me, I should be able to pick things up relatively quickly.

Road trip: Prairie Duneland Trail, Portage

Owing to finals week and a trip out of town, I've been a bit lax about posting details of my walking excursions. But I'm online now....

Last week, I visited my mom in NW Indiana...which has plenty of variety in terms of neighborhoods and walking areas. Even though I haven't lived up there for any appreciable length of time since I left for college, I've had some chances to do some good walks in the area and would love to look further into some very enjoyable and educational excursions up that way.

One place in particular that I like -- where I took a 3.5 mile walk last Tuesday -- is the Prairie Duneland Trail, which runs SW-NE from Hobart to Chesterton, a distance of just over 10 miles. I've ridden my bike the entire length of the trail, and there are some especially interesting sights toward the trail's eastern end, which isn't nearly as populated an area. But since I was on foot this time, I limited my journey to a stretch running from Swanson Rd. to Airport Rd. in Portage. This stretch has a mix of prairie grassland and parks/subdivisions, and not surprisingly also has a fair amount of foot and bicycle traffic, particularly on weekends.

Further to its credit, the Prairie Duneland trail has several informational signs -- each of which provides a few interesting details about the area's topography, vegetation, and land uses over the years. Several hundred years ago, the area was covered in swamps -- and even further back in time, it was part of Lake Michigan. After the lake receded and after the swamps were drained, settlers came into the area and established farms. Today, a few old barns remain here and there, and there are large-ish expanses of prairie grassland. But much of this area has been taken over by subdivisions. It seems as if every time I visit this trail, there are at least one or two new subdivisions that I hadn't seen the last time.

Subdivisions or no, this is a great walk for the simple reason that there's a lot to see. And the Prairie Duneland Trail is a wonderful example of a rails-to-trails project that connects individuals and small groups, as well as entire communities. There are plans to connect the Prairie Duneland Trail to the Oak Savannah Trail to the west, which runs from Hobart west to Griffith, and also to the Calumet Trail, which runs near the lake to the east. It would then be theoretically possible to walk, jog, or bicycle from the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore to Griffith -- a stretch of 25-30 miles.

Geist: Admirals Pointe, Admirals Sound

Since I knew it was going to rain today, I did my walk yesterday instead. Since an errand took me in that direction anyway, I walked in a subdivision next to the Geist Resevoir. I chose this subdivision at random...though I did notice that it had both sidewalks and some hills.

Of course, a view of the water's always nice, too....

Yesterday's walk was 3 miles -- at the lower end of my range, but the hills made up for whatever I might have "missed" by not walking further. It was a bit windy, as well, so I also had that kind of resistance to work with. Not surprisingly, I was pretty tired once I got back to the car.

Actually, I'm pretty tired now, since today was spent putting down mulch and beginning to calculate final course grades for my students. But I did promise myself I would record each of my neighborhood walks here.

As for this particular area, it was indeed a subdivision rather than a neighborhood. Generally, I'd like to stick with older areas that are considered "neighborhoods" as opposed to the newer "subdivisions"...but I do want to mix things up on occasion with these walks. And where better for that than Geist?

Geist is considered one of the more "exclusive" areas of Indianapolis/Lawrence/Fishers. Yes, there are some gorgeous houses and even prettier views of the water. And yes, there were plenty of trucks belonging to landscaping companies and other maintenance-oriented businesses in the neighborhood; these folks have plenty of money to hire someone to do both major and minor home-related tasks. But somehow, Geist didn't seem especially "exclusive" to me on this particular day. There were people walking their dogs, playing with their kids, and walking or jogging for exercise. Just like they would anywhere else....

Actually, my mind was more on lunch than on my surroundings. I ended up eating a bowl of Campbell's Beef with Country Vegetables, one of my favorite lower-calorie, lowfat soups. Besides being tasty, it's quite filling -- essential for an afternoon of grading. One of my downfalls in the past has been huge, high-calorie, high-fat meals, in the name of "energy" that I needed to tackle responding to student writing. In my grad school days, it wasn't uncommon for me to eat a Quarter Pounder with Cheese value meal from McDonalds because I "needed it to get through those papers". And if I were to be interrupted for more than an hour, I "needed" to eat something else because I had "lost the stamina" that I felt I had to have to "get through those papers". You can see where I'm going with this (and, of course, where my weight went with this)....

One of my old finals week traditions was to make a double recipe of beef stroganoff. Extra steak...extra mushrooms...extra sour cream. It certainly got me through the week...but I now shudder to think of just how many calories I was taking in with each meal. As for this semester's finals week, I'm going to cook a little ribeye pork roast in the crock pot. Low in calories and very low in fat. But not at all low in taste, not with the spice rub that I'm going to put on it. That pork roast, along with some rosemary potato wedges, will hit the spot...without blowing my diet.

Best of all, I really won't feel like I'm depriving myself of anything. Herbs and spices are easy...and actually fun...to cook with.