Confusing-- Google Maps to The Rescue

Major changes have been happening in Jerusalem the past decade or so, and now hardly a week passes with another road being dug up resulting in changes in the bus routes. And when all this is complete, Gd willing I will live to see and enjoy it (it's no secret that I'll be 77 in a few months), we'll have more lines of the lightrail and changes in even the most veteran bus routes.

We don't have a car, so our transportation is public transportation. We can't trust that the bus routes we've known for decades haven't changed, so I check Google Maps when planning my trips in Jerusalem. 

When you open the app, you're asked to write your required destination and verify your "starting point." Then it gives you three basic options, private transportation, public or hoofing it- yup, walking. Each route option gives a time estimate, and walking-- including walking to/from the bus will offer routes. So, don't panic. Just click Google Maps.

Shiloh is Quiet, But War Stress Still Strong

For over three months Israel has been fighting for its very survival against Hamas, such a cruel terrorist army/people that makes the Nazis look almost kind. 

We haven't heard any sirens. In Shiloh, we don't have to run into shelters; actually we don't have any. Newer homes were build with shelters, and some people who enlarged their older homes now have shelters, too. But in my neighborhood, there are few; certainly none that we can reach within a minute or so.

I stick to my routine of taking a nice morning walk, weather permitting, of course.

And I photograph what I see, afterwards making a collage on the phone's photo-editing app.

I try to keep myself sane. Staying home listening to the news isn't healthy. I'm trying to study even more Tanach/Bible than before. In addition I've been crocheting and going to a mosaics class.

Many neighbors of all ages are serving in the army and local security, family, too. Prayers for all. Just trying to stay sane and healthy. How are you coping?

Corona Lock-down Tips: Keeping Fit, Even if You Can't Get Out

Life in the Corona Lock-down, all the restrictions we're now living in, makes keeping fit much more difficult.

Yesterday I took two "walks" to keep up my general fitness. Since, like most everyone, I can't really estimate how many steps and distance I've walked at home*, I rely on two pedometer apps on my phone.  You can see their icons on the screenshot to your right.

The pedometers I use are free. One is more sensitive than the other. They each have a purpose, and I keep the phone on me all the time, except when it's charging.

There are two ways to find icons for your phone:
1- google play store and "search" free pedometer
2-go into "chrome" or whatever you use and just google "free pedometer"
Match up the icons with those on my home screen.

On the bottom there's the icon on the far left, showing two feet. It's very simple to use and sensitive enough to most walking around the house. And Gd willing when this lock-down is over, it shows a realistic amount of steps when shopping and in museums etc.

There's another pedometer app on the second row, far right with one foot. This pedometer, even at its most sensitive is less so. I like that it shows me how much "serious walking" I've done.

After installing a pedometer, you have to personalize it. Go to "settings," and add whatever info they ask. The most important is "pace distance." You can check the accuracy of that by counting your steps as you walk and check that the app has the same number. "Sensitivity" can also be adjusted. You may need to tweak here and there. I uninstalled one, since it was horrendously inaccurate. The app on the bottom of my screen is more sensitive. I generally try to turn it off when in a car or bus.

Please tell me how you're managing. Is this helpful?

*I turned on facebook live for company. You can join in. Here are the recordings.

Living in The Corona Virus Lock-down

This is something I wrote on facebook and think it really should be here, too:

Keep a grip on reality in the corona virus restriction/lock-down world: Unless you've been ordered by the medical authorities to keep strict quarantine, staying home and being sedentary is more dangerous for your health than going outside and taking a solitary walk.

You can even walk with one or two others, as long as you strictly keep your distance. Only in crowded places would a mask be advisable, and apparently, they aren't all that useful.

I'm lucky to live in a relatively rural community, where it's pretty easy to find an empty road for walking or running.

So walk with headphones to talk on the phone or listen to music, radio, lecture or an audio-book. Or, like me, turn on facebook live and talk to the world.

When I was out last night for a walk I saw young people running for fun and fitness and others walking in small groups. Physical exercise brings on "happy hormones," which prevent depression.

Gd willing we'll survive this, too.

Benji Lovitt keep the jokes going.

IFL Football Season Began With A Win For The "Lions"

I still don't believe I did it. I walked to the Kraft Family Sports Campus. No, I didn't walk from Shiloh; I'm not insane. I walked from the Shmuel Hanavi Junction, which is where Eshkol Boulevard becomes Bar Ilan Street. I could have taken a bus part way, to the Har Chotzvim Industrial Zone, but that wouldn't have saved me much time. It's less than half the way. I checked with Google Maps.

I had gotten rides to previous games, and this time there didn't seem to be one. Besides that, I had the time. Most of the way was flat, and I even stopped off at one of the commercial buildings in Har Chotzvim Industrial Zone to try out the public toilets, which I'll have to write about in my Pishers' Guide series. When you go to the Kraft Family Sports Campus, which is near Ramot Junction, by car it seems far away. The road is off of a highway, and you have to be on the correct side of the road, or you have a long detour.

Even with all my walking, I got to the football field with time to spare. The players were still warming up. Soon the stands filled and the game began.

The Lions were ahead the entire game, though they mostly scored in the first half, if I'm not mistaken. There are many changes in players from last year, so it'll take time to really show their potential. The next game should be tougher, but it was a good season starter. The score was 31:15.

Yaala "Big Blue!" Let's have a fourth championship season, Gd willing!!

One of The Bonuses of Walking

Like most walkers, I walk to keep fit, lose weight etc. And besides having to periodically buy comfortable walking shoes, which should be worn even if you don't walk much, it's free. Yes, unlike most other sports, fitness methods, classes, pool memberships etc, walking doesn't require an expense.

OK, maybe you'll need a sunhat and sunscreen, but many sedentary people have those for lying the sun and floating on rafts, cruising etc.

So, besides the frugality of walking, there's an added bonus, views, sunsets, sunrises etc. Last night I scheduled a walk with a friend, so I'd see the golden sunset. All it cost was a few calories, and I wanted to lose/spend those anyhow.

Trying To Analyze Pedometer Results

Just a few minutes ago, I sent a picture of yesterday's pedometer reading and complained to my walking group about how little I had walked. I hadn't even reached 12,000 steps.

But when I take a good look, I can see that I had three periods of real walking.

Granted, they weren't terribly long, but there's more serious walking in those periods than in some days which have more impressive numbers. The Pedometer record for yesterday calculated/sensed one hour, forty-seven minutes and forty seconds of activity, though most of it was just walking around inside. The three straight lines which I've circled are my actual walks outdoors.

Indoors, I walked up and down a few flights of stairs more than once. So if you add the stairs to the outdoor walking, I guess I had close to an hour of physical activity, which isn't all that awful. Now, if I could only find a way to "delete" the dessert I had last night at a neighbor's Sheva Brachot*.

*Sheva Brachot: Post wedding party, which can take place during the week after a wedding.

19,492 Plus Steps Yesterday, Fitness & Pedometer Tips

I post many of my "steps" on my instagram page,  shilohbatya

Actually, by the time I went to sleep around midnight, I had reached 19,542 steps. Yes, that may be a record number of steps for me. I use the simple "pedometer" app on my phone to keep track.

Except for when my phone is charging, I have the phone on me, so every step counts. My rationale for that is that since every sip, taste or bite of a food counts for adding calories, then we shouldn't be shy about counting those steps, whether to the laundry room, refrigerator or even the loo.

When you're setting up* your pedometer, make sure that it's sensitive enough to count all those very short "walks." Once after a few hours in a museum, I discovered that although I had done a lot of walking, my pedometer had ignored most of it, since they were short walks from picture to picture, exhibit to exhibit.

I know that the 10,000 steps a day benchmark has been pooh poohed as not very significant, but that's not really true. Once you start keeping track of your steps, you'll discover your own personal benchmarks, and for many people, davka, 10,000 steps is a good number to aim for and later top.

As you may know, I'm no youngster, and I'm overweight and not in perfect shape. So managing almost twenty thousand 20,000 steps in one day is quite impressive, as is my average, which recently has been twelve thousand 12,000 or more. Friends ask me how I do it, without damaging myself.

If you look at yesterday's record, you'll see that I was on my feet most of the day, didn't walk all that quickly and only had three "long" walks. And, thank Gd, it all added up.

Below is a more "average day," and you can see that I was quite sedentary for quite a long period of time. Two long walks of about 4,000 steps each, one at a really good pace, made up for two-thirds of the day's step total. That means that I got in over an hour of good physical activity that day.

The key to my approach is to exercise in small quantities, not to strain the body at all. If you're not in good shape, from injury, age, illness whatever, it's very important not to risk injury. But it's also extremely important to maximize activity. For many, that's a very fine line.

One of my big problems is that I hate exercising alone, whether walking, floor or more aerobic exercise. Ironically, I had once been an exercise teacher, and I know what we should be doing all too well. I just need the added socializing to do it. Listening to classes, music whatever does make walking a bit better, but I can always walk longer and more quickly with partners. To help, I opened a small whatsapp group. Our aim is to walk twice a day. Almost always I'm the nudge writing:

"Anybody able to walk tonight/tomorrow morning? Please, pretty please..."

I don't always find someone, but not only does it help me, my friends enjoy it, too. Instead of chatting over coffee and cake, or not seeing each other at all, we really enjoy our friendly walks. There are people who use the walking time to talk on the phone, but to get full benefit, swing your arms and get a "headset" if you're going to have a "long distance partner." One of my walking buddies uses walking sticks to be steadier and give more upper body workout.

What do you do to make fitness more fun and doable?

*You also must get your step length accurate. A good way of doing it is to actually count ten or twenty steps in your head while walking and then check if the pedometer agrees. If the pedometer says you've taken more steps, then increase length; decrease if it doesn't credit you with enough steps.

Jerusalem Walk, Yesterday

Yesterday was Wednesday, and any Wednesday* you'll find me in Jerusalem studying in Matan. Click here for class schedule and more information.

For the past few years, my study partners/friends/chevruta and I meet early for breakfast chat and learning. Then most of us go on to class with Yael Ziegler. After that lecture, I have a break of over an hour and a half before Yael Leibowitz's class. During that time I usually, weather permitting, take a walk and buy something for lunch.

I used to bring lunch with me, but now since I sleep the night before in Jerusalem, that's more difficult. It's also such a pleasure walking around the neighborhood, the walking trail, by the old train tracks, or to Talpiyot, Emek Refaim, etc. And of course, I need and love a walk.

*except for school vacations

Too Bad The Pedometer Doesn't Count Water Exercise

As many of you know, I have my phone set up as a pedometer, and I happily show off my step count on Instagram and Facebook.

On a day like today, when it was a scorcher, real summer day, my walking partner and I walked two circuits early in the morning, and then I was home until evening when I went to the nearby pool. I exercised in the water for 45 minutes.

According to my pedometer I did a rather lazy under 9,000 steps. And no, my phone isn't waterproof.

Isn't it a bit crazy that I don't feel I've exercised if the pedometer doesn't confirm it?

Doors and Doorways in Jerusalem's Old City and Mount Zion

Early this week I met visiting family, and we hiked around Jerusalem's Old City and the downtown area. I walked a record 21,681 steps that day. They walked even more! I'm happy to say that there was no pain or aching the following days. I wish I could say that I lost weight, but I didn't, sigh.

For one of the guests, this was a first time visit to Israel. And for another we were on old stomping ground decades later.

I must say that considering all of the complaints people like to make about the upkeep, cleanliness of Jerusalem, the administration of the Old City, Jewish Quarter does a good job. I mentioned that in my recent Pishers Guide #29 about the WC near the Kotel.

As you can see from the photos in this post, there are some very interesting doors and doorways to admire. We, a small group of women, felt very safe and comfortable walking around.

Enjoy...

Walking in Jerusalem, "Live Feed"

Recently, I find myself doing the new "live feed" via Facebook. Facebook friends get a little box/notice, and if they want, they can click and follow it. Sometimes I do it when sitting on the bus, front seat, and I have some FB friends who really enjoy joining me. When I photograph the trip, I add all sorts of decorations to make it more interesting.

Yesterday I set it up to photograph my walk, which you should be able to see by clicking  Walking in Jerusalem.

I don't know if people realized that I was photographing as I walked. But some friends did join me, virtually that is. Here are a couple of stills from the walk.

Did any of you see this?

Nu, And How's The Diet Going?

It's certainly no secret that I have been struggling with my weight for a very log time. A number of years ago, I made it a very public diet which you can find by using the search engine of this blog by asking for "public diet," "diet saga," "low carbohydrate" and other labels.

I did manage to rid myself of about fifteen 15 kilo or thirty plus 30+ pounds, most of which has stayed off ever since, but about a third, five kilo found their way back about a year ago. When that unwanted weight had reached three kilo, I went to war, but lost the battle and gained another two kilo. But about six months ago, after the pool closed, I tried a few different tricks, about some of which I have blogged.

Over 12,000 steps is pretty rare for me.
12,000 is now very common.

The first thing I did was to make more time to walk, since the pool had closed. Three months of water exercise hadn't reduced much, except that my body looked and felt better. And even the experts say that walking is better for weight reduction than swimming. I increased my daily steps, as I could see on the pedometer.

The second thing I did to lose weight was to change my breakfast. For years I had been eating a large vegetable omelet, but not that long ago I felt terrible sugar/fruit cravings as soon as I finished it. I took that as a hint. Maybe I need to eat fruit for breakfast, since the omelets and vegetables weren't satisfying my hunger.

Now, for the past few months, I have fruit, fresh ginger and goat yogurt for breakfast. I must admit that there are days when I crave cashews afterwards, so I eat a few. It's clear that I need more protein early in the day in addition to the sugar/fructose.

Another thing I've noticed, and I do weigh myself almost daily on the same scale, is that the fewer restaurant or catered meals I eat, the lower my weight is. It goes up a bit when I've eaten out. And it's lowest when all the food I've eaten has been my own home cooking.

My weight seems to have stabilized close to where it was post-big diet, bli eyin haraa, let's not tempt the "evil eye." I do have days when I eat things I "shouldn't," but there are diet mavins who actually  say that once a week or two it is good to go off the restrictions. It stimulates the metabolism to work harder and burn calories more quickly. Also, it makes the "diet" easier to live with, and that is a major trick/technique. If you adopt a diet you find impossible to live with, you won't be able to stick to it very long.

And how is your diet going?

Muddy Night Walk

After a nice amount of rain even the mud seemed to sparkle.

Sometimes Even I Wait

You may know that I hate waiting. It drives me nuts, but there are times when even I wait.

You may know that I try to walk a lot even up the hill to my house, but there are times when I wait for a ride.

Walking is great, but schlepping isn't.

Yes, there was no way that I could have safely walked home with those heavy bags.  So I waited for a ride. Within a minute a former student of mine came by. He actually needed to go in the opposite direction, but he wanted to help, and I didn't refuse the offer.

Wednesday Walking in Jerusalem

Most weeks I wake up in Jerusalem on Wednesdays. That's because I am part of a small Tanach, Bible, learning group that meets in Matan early on Wednesdays. I generally sleep Tuesday nights in Jerusalem, walking distance from Matan. It's a great way to start my day.

After our chevruta learning I go to a class, Isaiah: Prophet of Poetry, Passion and Principle taught by Dr.Yael Ziegler. After that I have a break of about 90 minutes until Biblical Politics: Challenging Assumptions About G-d, Leadership, and Land by Yael Leibowitz.

Weather permitting, I take a walk during the break

I try to keep busy.