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?!

Movie time

And so finally, in between seasons 5 and 6, I got to walk The X-Files movie Fight The Future. This marked my longest time on a treadmill -- 2 hours and 4 minutes, where I covered over 7 miles and burned 1,200 calories. Not bad work for a movie watcher. I did take two breaks: one for a water top up, and the second when, after 100 minutes, the threadmill decided I couldn't possibly still be using it, so switched itself off. I nearly flew backwards into the wall behind me.. quite a shock I can tell you.

Speaking of movies, the second X-Files movie (which I'm walking towards) now has a name: I Want To Believe. This is of course a tag line from the famous UFO poster in Mulder's office. I'm trying to avoid all the juicy details about the film, I want my first viewing of it to be a complete surprise. But it sure is tempting to search the internet for the latest movie news!

Falling behind, falling weight

A succession of trips away has led to a Walking The X-Files feast and famine: several days without a single episode, followed by multi-episode days as I desperately try to catch up. On a recent business trip to Las Vegas I even loaded some episodes onto my PSP so I could continue the walk from the hotel gym, but the $25 gym fee firmly put me off that. So overall I'm a couple of episodes behind, but there's still plenty of time to catch up. And another pound has disappeared too, giving me a total weight loss of 8 pounds so far.

Episode-wise, things are moving along very strongly. A great season four told the story of Scully and her struggle with cancer. I'm now nearing the end of season five, a season in which Mulder no longer believes in aliens from outer space, in contrast to Scully who does become a believer. All good fun, and I'm just a handful of episodes away now from the first X-Files movie.

Season 3 ends; 200 miles walked

And so with a bang (from a gun in a fast food restaurant) season 3 comes to an end. It's possibly the best X-Files season, certainly the best so far. It has been a Darin Morgan fest with 3 (and a half if you count Quagmire) episodes from my favorite writer. It's also been the season on my favorite informant, X who comes to an sticky demise at the start of season 4.

The best episode of them all was the final Darin Morgan effort, Jose Chung's From Outer Space. It's a confusing episode, and this must be probably my tenth viewing of it. But Jose Chung is very very clever. It's a parody of The X-Files, ridiculing the characters and situations from previous episodes. That was all the more obvious to me as I've been watching the episodes back-to-back. Plenty of shows have parodied The X-Files, but none have done it better than The X-Files itself.

Today marks my 200th mile (well 199.1 so far), and also the loss of another pound. Six pounds lost now from watching 3 seasons -- all without any other changes in diet and exercise.

The missed day

On February 16, it finally happened. My first day without walking an X-File. In my defence a day off seemed appropriate. Mulder and Scully had just completed their famous three-parter with the Anasazi tribe that saw Mulder locked in a box car and apparently burned alive (only, of course to have escaped somewhere in the summer hiatis between seasons 2 and 3). Since then I've skipped another day too, but I'd doubled up the day before, so guess that's OK.

The last few weeks have seen The X-Files at its peak. Some of it's most celebrated and popular episodes have now come and gone: two more double bill episodes focusing on the mythology (in addition to the three-parter I mentioned earlier), and two more wonderful Darin Morgan episodes. This was the time when everybody was talking about the show, its ratings were sky high, and the characters Mulder and Scully were never more popular. It's great to see it all again.