Pedestrian lifestyle fitness in full effect on the streets of Philadelphia

I relocated a little more than a month ago from Albuquerque, NM, to Philadelphia, PA. With the move came a dramatic shift in lifestyle. I traded in my truck for a sturdy pair of shoes, a mountain bike and a transpass. I'm finally living the pedestrian life, and I couldn't be happier! I mean, what's not to be happy about? By changing from a motorized to a pedestrian lifestyle I've already lost nearly 15 pounds!

I get tons of exercise just maneuvering through my day-to-day life. I ride my bike to work at least twice a week and other days I take the subway - which means taking several brisk walks and at least six flights of stairs.

Getting around on foot - walking, taking stairs and biking - is fit fun!

Living in a city like Philadelphia, you get a lot of exercise on stairs. For example, I live on the third floor of a row-home; the kitchen is on the first floor and the laundry room is in the basement. On a regular morning I take about 8 flights of stairs (up and down) before I even get out the front door. If I do laundry before work, that adds another 9 flights. Also, I take the stairs at work and anywhere else I go - no elevators or escalators for me!

I get a lot of exercise biking, too. On my Tuesday commute, I ride seven miles round trip to one of my teaching gigs and four miles round trip to another gig. I also ride my bike to go to the grocery store - Trader Joe's is another four-mile trip. Plus, I'm riding more and more on the weekends. I started with 10-mile rides for fun, then upped that to 15. Last weekend I did a 20-mile bike ride, and this weekend I'm planning to do between 25 and 35 miles. I'm posting about my bike rides on my blog Man of Merit and plan to begin posting more about bike commuting at MyLifeInMegalopolis.

Scene from my morning bike commute - South Philly to North Philly

On top of all this "lifestyle" fitness, I go to the gym a couple of days a week for strength training. I had not lifted weights for several months and was shocked at how weak I felt on my first few workouts. But I'm getting stronger with every workout, so I'm sure I'll be back up to where I was a year ago within the next month or so.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention - I'm still hiking! This is by far my favorite activity, and I try to get out to the Wissahickon Gorge at least once every week for a hike of at least five miles. This weekend I'm planning on doing the 8.5-mile Yellow Trail. And once a month my goal is to get to a regional state parks to enjoy longer, more strenuous hikes with some moderately significant elevation gain. (I record my adventures on these and other hikes on my blog, HikeyHikey!)

Well, there you have it: I'm more active than ever before, and for the first time in my life the majority of my exercise comes from changes in my lifestyle. I love being a pedestrian in Philadelphia, and look forward to reporting to you soon about further weight loss success. Thanks as always for reading! Staying accountable to my #fitfam helps keep me in line and on track with my goals.

Check out my progress as a Philadelphia pedestrian here.

Brian Schwarz is an award-winning journalist whose career was derailed by super obesity. He fought his way back to health - losing 165 pounds in the process of his "fit-life journey". A professional communicator by trade and activator by nature, Brian's personal mission is to inspire others live their fullest lives. Follow Brian on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Back in Philadelphia - 5 years later and 150 pounds lighter

The last time I lived in Philadelphia, I gained 75 pounds. This time around, I hope to lose 75. I know it's going to take a whole succession of healthy decisions every step of the way to make that happen. But that's okay, because I'm all about living MyFitLife2Day (and every day)!

When I left Philadelphia for sunnier shores five years ago, I weighed somewhere around 420 pounds. And I was miserable. A year later, I began a new phase of my life, which I fondly refer to as my fit-life journey. My fit-life journey includes choosing clean, organic, whole foods over processed foods and exercising regularly - including lifting weights, biking and hiking. Plus, remaining positive and patient throughout the process has allowed me to dramatically change not only my physical dimensions but it has also permanently altered my state of consciousness. As a result, I'm happier than I've ever been. And now that I'm back in Philadelphia, I'm ready to begin next chapter of my fit-life much closer to home.

Brian in Philadelphia, 2008, addicted to fast foods - always delivered!

South Florida was a great place to shed the excess weight, because I was able to exercise outdoors year round. Then, being exposed to the hills of New England while living outside Boston ignited in me a healthy passion for hiking. I followed that passion out west - to Albuquerque and then to Palm Springs. And while I was beginning to feel I would never again be able to find happiness without having access to those massive mountains and endless miles of trails in my backyard, I've realized now that life is about more than the individual pursuit of happiness.

For me, happiness is about being able to share my life and my passions with those I love - my family and my friends. Since I was raised in the Mid-Atlantic, went to college in Pennsylvania and summered on the Jersey Shore, Philadelphia is at the heart of it all. Being here, I feel I've found a central spot, a place that allows me to be myself while giving me a greater sense of being at home.

While you won't find Philadelphia on any lists as a great hiking mecca, there is hiking here. Most locals aren't even aware there's any hiking nearby, but there is an amazing park system here - the largest urban park system in the United States. And the jewel of Fairmount is a 7.5-mile gorge carved by a fish-stocked creek called the Wissahickon. I went exploring in the Wissahickon as soon as I got here a little over a week ago, and I've started blogging about it on my hiking blog, HikeyHikey.

Brian on a recent hike along the Wissahickon Gorge Orange Trail

I hope to find an apartment near the Wissahickon Valley Park, possibly in Roxborough, Chestnut Hill or Germantown, so I can hike here several times a week. I will be joining a gym so I can continue swimming and lifting weights regularly, too. Also, I'm on the lookout for local establishments with grab-and-go foods that feature organic, all-natural ingredients. This way, I'll be able to fuel my healthy lifestyle even when I'm not able to cook and pack my meals and snacks in advance. So far, I haven't found any, but I've been told they're out there, so I'll continue my search and report back any findings.

Well, I'm off to take my pups for a walk. They're loving that we've adopted a pedestrian lifestyle here in Philadelphia - and so do I. It's the healthiest thing for all of us! Tomorrow I'm planning to go for another hike in the Wissahickon. And later this week, once I get my bike fixed, I'll be heading out to explore some of the Schuylkill River Trail, a paved trail that follows the Schuylkill River north well into the suburbs.

Feeling melancholic as I inch toward my goal

I haven't blogged for a while, mainly because things have been going well and I've been content with my progress. But today I'm struggling a bit. Tonight I ate a lot more than I should have, mostly because I've been feeling a bit sad. I've been focusing so much on my weight loss that I haven't been keeping up with my friendships. I've gone through a major lifestyle change in the past few months, and for the most part my friendships have been maintained over a restaurant table. This has been going on for the better part of a decade, and now I find myself eating alone most of the time.

Another possible cause of my meloncholy mood is that my weight loss has really been slowing down. Fortunately it hasn't stopped, but I'd become accustomed to at least a three or four pound weight loss every week and this week I only lost two. I'm down to 331, and even though I've come so far I still see the long road ahead and get bogged down in worry. Will I be able to do this? What's the permanent damage I've done to my body for having been so careless with my eating? These thoughts are so discouraging, and when I spend time alone they invade my thinking relentlessly.

I'm planning to go to Philadelphia in four weeks to get my cat Ciggy from a friend's house where he's been staying since I moved back to Miami at the end of last summer. I'm so excited to have my baby Cig back with me, and I think Remington and Diego will be glad to have another play buddy around the house now that I'm working out of the house again. My current short term goal is to reach 317 pounds by the date of my trip north. This would mark a full 100 pounds down from my max weight and 85 pounds on Nutrisystem. I want to wow my friends and family, and I'd really like to take advantage of the cheaper clothes prices while I'm in Pennsylvania (and also take advantage of the fact that there's no tax on clothes, either). It'll be fun to go shopping with my mom at the outlets in Lancaster, but I hope I can fit into regular XXL shirts by then. Right now I fit into Ralph Lauren XXL, but I want to be able to fit into Haggar shirts by then, since there's a great Haggar outlet there and I really need some new shirts for work.

Well, this has been a rambling blog I know, and I'm usually much more succinct with my blogging. But I had these things on my chest and just needed to get them out. I don't even know if anyone is reading this, but it doesn't matter. The process is cathartic and usefull in helping me inch toward the staggared goals on my path toward achieving a healthy and sustainable weight.