I Want To Believe... that this is not the end

At 7pm, July 25th I watched The X-Files the old fashioned way.... sitting down. Popcorn, candy, full fat Coke -- at last an X-File that wasn't good for me.

So that's it, the walk completed and the new movie watched. All that's left is to hope this won't be the last appearance of Mulder and Scully. And, I suppose, that I haven't made my last appearance on a treadmill!

X-Files 3? I want to believe.

It's done!

And finally, after 7 months, the truth is here.... I've completed Walking The X-Files! I watched the final episode Sunday, completing a 540 mile walk and I'm now 100% caught up on events before the release of the new movie. Take a look at my final stats on the right -- I had a weigh-in after the final walk and to my delight found I'd lost another pound in weight, so it's really true -- watching The X-Files IS good for my health!

Take a look at the video below to see how I marked the occasion.

The unseen X-File

Even before starting to Walk The X-Files, I'd seen most of the episodes multiple times. Some (like the Darin Morgan episodes) I've seen so often that I can almost recite the dialog. But there's one episode I'd never seen at all. The penultimate episode. I don't remember what happened when this episode orginally aired, I guess I screwed up setting the VCR, and although I've had many chances to watch it since I decided to wait for a special occasion. And today that special occasion arrived - after walking 199 reruns, finally it was time to watch a new episode. It turned out to be about a spooky Brady Bunch house and now, having finally watched it, I'm one episode away from completing my walk.

Walking into the final season

After a 10-day layoff for vacation, it's into the ninth and final season I go. Plenty has been happening on the walks: the final episodes of the eighth season were corkers, building up to the birth of Scully's (rather spooky) new baby.

Plenty has been happening off the treadmill too, including the first walk ever to be performed on somebody else's treadmill. While staying in Boca Raton I watched an episode at the hotel gym on my PSP. The rest of my vacation was spent on an all-you-can-eat cruise (and you better believe I did!). Fortunately some unrecorded weight loss in the rush of episodes before I left has meant that today, post-cruise, I'm still the same weight as I left - 176 lbs.

So it's into the last season, the last month, and the last 17 episodes. The new movie is in touching distance now!

The big catchup

With the movie premier fast approaching, and a 10-day vacation just about to start, I was in panic mode. Still in Season 7, with dozens of episodes to go, and running out of time.

When the going gets tough, the tough get walking. This week, it seems I've done nothing but walk on the treadmill and watch TV. On Monday I walked 5 episodes -- that's over 13 miles in a day. The next day I watched another 4. I'm now nearing the end of Season 8 and back on track.

Lots has been happening in that time. Mulder's been abducted, returned dead, and brought back to life. Scully has a new partner in John Doggett. Oh, and she's pregnant. The stories have been told in some cracking mythology episodes, but in between those has been a lot of padding where neither of the star actors appeared much, if at all. Just as well I'm watching those episodes quickly.

So I'm all caught up -- nothing to worry about right? Well.. nothing apart from the fact I'm now going on a cruise and risk putting all my lost weight straight back on. I'll be bringing the X-Files with me, just in case I feel like getting on the treadmill in between meals...

A quick stop at the FBI

Over the holiday weekend we took a trip up to New York City. To break up the drive home we stayed the night in Washington DC -- giving me just enough time to visit the offices of Mulder and Scully. Well, kinda. I got as far as the employee entrance front door, but alas visitors are still not welcome in the J Edgar Hoover Building since 9/11. Especially foreign immigrants like me!

The holiday weekend meant I walked a poultry 4 episodes this week, but I'm pleased to report the disappearance of another pound. Down to 177 now.

10 pounds lost after six seasons

The end of season 6 proved to be a landmark - 10 pounds lost on the walk. In some respects this is far from impressive. It's taken an incredible 107 hours on the treadmill spread over nearly five months, walking 377 miles to lose this weight. There are certainly faster, less time consuming ways to lose 10 pounds. But I doubt there are many that are more enjoyable.

My daily 45 minute walks are anything but a chore. I'm walking at a brisk pace (3.5 mph) up a fairly steep incline (6%) which is enough to get me sweating, but not really enough to get uncomfortably out of breath. And its a darn sight easier than jogging -- which I used to do in front of the TV -- where I'd be counting down every minute until it was over. Surprisingly in 5 months I've never woken up and thought "oh no, I've got to get on that treadmill again" because at this pace watching the X-Files episodes is the primary activity, and the walking is something that happens in the background.

Oh, and I should also reiterate that this 10 pound loss can in no way be attributed to a change in diet. I still eat as badly as ever. Yesterday I munched through a large packet of M&Ms, a chocolate bar, and drank two glasses of wine. Burgers, pizza, cheese sandwiches, ice cream -- all the bad habits remain exactly as they have been before.

Watch X-Files. Lose weight. Who knew?!