Treadmill Desk Update

Updated 4.6.2013; Reformatted and corrected 8.10.2015
I continue to use my treadmill desk daily, though I no longer daily post my mileage on Twitter. I still walk at about two mile per hour, and usually go 10 miles or more a day. The only hiccup in my walking so far this year was a new pair of shoes. Well, not shoes, actually, because I purchased a very expensive pair of clogs rather than a pair of more traditional walking shoes.

We wound up at the high end shoe store because the bargain shoe store I'd patronized for years was no longer there when we drove into its former parking lot. So we had to quickly search the internet for the nearest shoe store. Once in the store, despite initially dismissing the notion of clogs, I fell in love with them once they were on my feet. Clogs are (per the sales women in the store) favored by chefs and retail workers who are on their feet all day. As that description fits me, and as I liked how they felt as I walked around in the store, I parted with $125 and walked out the door in a new pair of Dansko clogs. (Literally, I put my old Sketcher shoes into the Dansko box and wore the clogs out of the store and into the slushy rain of that day.)

All seemed right with the world; and then I started walking at the treadmill desk the following work week. Clogs are different from shoes, in that they force you to place your weight evenly across your foot. Clogs are also stiffer than regular shoes, and mine have 2 inch soles that do not bend, and basically forced my feet into the correct position. In my case, I had a tendency to place my weight over the outside of the foot, particularly my heel. This lead to uneven wear on my traditional shoe soles, of which I was aware, but the clogs really brought the way I walk into focus. Mostly because they, unlike the walking/running shoes I'd been wearing, refused to yield to the pressure of my feet.

As a result, my feet rubbed against the side of the clogs, causing blisters. In fact, the blisters occurred on both sides of my feet as I began to change how I walked, shifting my weight so that the blisters wouldn't continue to be aggravated. It took about a week for me to alter my step and relearn how to walk so that I was not in pain and the my feet were no longer bleeding (yes, bleeding, because although the blisters burst and the skin beneath rubbed raw I decided to keep on walking).

So do I still love my new clogs and were they worth the pain? Actually I do love them and I do think the pain was worth it. My step is altered with my weight more evenly over my feet, which is a good thing. Carrying my weight on the outer edge of my feet rather than across the entire foot might explain why I developed knee and feet issues back in my running days. Since I've altered how I distribute my weight, the clogs do not hurt, and my feet are not tired at the end of walking 10 or even 12 miles.

Weighty Matters on the Home Front

As I've continued to walk, I have continued to lose weight, though I am comfortably in the healthy BMI range now. However, the treadmill desk is no longer the only intervention I'm using to lose weight.

At the La Casa Prima, we (that is to say my husband and I) are currently following the 5:2 plan as described by Michael Mosley in the BBC TV show. I was able to watch the show on the internet, but the BBC has since removed all the videos, hence I'm not providing a link. The show is supposed to be shown on PBS in the US sometime in April.

Currently, my BMI is in the normal range, so I am not really looking to lose much weight in this effort. I continue to walk daily on my treadmill desk. Most days I go ten miles, some days more, some days less. I still try to remain on my feet even when I'm not walking, as a continuation of my Stand-Up Fitness plan.

My husband's BMI, in contrast, minimally exceeds the threshold for obese status. To get into the normal range, he needs to lose 30+ pounds. He works at a desk all day, and has zero interest in trying to incorporate more standing into his day. A treadmill desk is not an option, but even it it were, he would not be interested. But the simplicity of Mosley's 5:2 fasting diet appealed to him where none of the other suggestions or efforts I've made did.

Our 5:2

NY Times did an article about the diet on March 1, 2013 and I emailed him a link to the story. After reading it, he agreed that it might be easier to restrict calories on 2 nonconsecutive "fast" days (or as he calls them austerity days) rather than maintain a small calorie deficit continually. So the second week of March, he began the 5:2 diet. I am doing the diet as well to provide support. I am also the one with the calorie knowledge, so I am responsible for making the low calorie options on those days.

After 3 weeks, he is still at it and still willing to do it, which is a small victory. He's lost 3 pounds (as of his last time on the scale, he doesn't like hopping on it with any frequency) and that was enough progress to convince him to stick with it. My hope is that if he begins to lose a decent amount of weight he will begin to move more as well. We have a semi-recumbent bike (also seen in an article in the NY Times) in our family room, but it's tough to get him to use it. So far I've lost a couple pounds.

Mosley's book, The Fast Diet has been published in the US. As a result, there have been a few articles on fasting in the press. This article in CMAJ (which seems to be a Canadian medical journal of sorts) calls fasting the "next diet fad."

I don't know how successful as a fad will be. Not eating, or eating significantly less than typical isn't much fun for most people. But the article isn't really about the 5:2 fasting diet, but rather about plans that have you genuinely fast (as in not eat) for some arbitrary period of time each day. Brad Pilon, who wrote Eat Stop Eat, is interviewed. Pilon advises people to eat all their calories in an eight hour period, and then fast for the next 16. There are other intermittent fasting programs as well, but I have never been interested in them. In the 5:2 diet the "fast" is really just a calorie restricted day. Men are supposed to eat 600 calories, women are supposed to eat 500 calories. You can split that caloric total into 1, 2 or 3 meals. So it's not a true fast.

Further Disclaimer: I not a doctor, dietitian nor trainer. I am simply a post menopausal woman writing about what worked (or didn't) for me and mine. What worked for us might not work for you. Caveat Emptor, though I am selling nothing.

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