Week 113 Update

It was 61°, and 05:00, 33 minutes before sunrise, when I stepped on Mr. Scale, and he said, "184.5 pounds!"

I have been fighting a cough for the last two weeks (no other cold symptoms), and so I haven't felt like getting out and walking at work. Also my back was feeling pretty bad for a few days this week. So, the only exercise I got was our Coon Family Hiking Club hike. It was a good hike, and I was quite tired by its end, but I do need to get more exercise sessions in. (Dotti did a lot better than I did this week, getting to the gym three times!) Hopefully this upcoming week I will do better.

For eating this week, my total points per day dropped from 52.29 to 50.71, while I gained a half-pound. The main reason for the drop was that I was taking some medications for my back that forced the retention of water, and I adjusted my eating downward to compensate. On Saturday, I weighed in at 184.0 and then I ate 49.0 points. Sunday morning I weighed 184.0 again. I ate 43.5 points. Monday morning I was down to 183.5. To bump it up, I ate 62.0 points, with the result that the scale was up to 186.0 Tuesday morning. I then held my points down to 46.5, and Wednesday it moved down a half-pound to 185.5. I ate 46.0 points but the scale took a big jump up to 189.0 pounds. Fortunately, my back had finally started feeling good again, so I was able to abandon the medications after Wednesday night. I knew that I had been eating a bit low on my points for the week, with four of the days since Saturday being less than 50, and that meant when the water weight disappeared, I would be dropping more than I wanted unless I did something to prevent it. Also, it was Thursday, which gave me another day of adjustment if I guessed wrong. So, I ate 53.0 points. All day long on Thursday, I was running to the restroom it seemed. I unloaded a lot of water. By Friday morning the scale had dropped to 183.5. That was a two pound drop from Wednesday and a 5.5 pound drop from Thursday. Those medications are really something with what they can do to my body's water retention. And when I alter my eating to compensate, it also affects my digestive track in a negative way. So, all in all I just put on (non-fat) weight, and often in a big hurry. Luckily, it can leave in a pretty big hurry too, as demonstrated by my weight on Friday morning. Now, on Friday, I didn't want to drop any farther, but I was not mentally quite over seeing that 189.0 number the day before. So, ate some extra, at 55.0 points, but I didn't go nuts with a big day. This morning, coming in at a half-pound under my target weight, it looks like I guessed pretty close to what I needed. Another week of maintenance completed.

For water this week, on Saturday and Monday, I only had 3 cups. The rest of the week I had at least 6 and I averaged 61.71 ounces (7.7 cups) each day, which isn’t bad.

I will try to see if I can get some walking in during this week, either at the gym on the treadmill, or on the park path at work. It will be much better for me to exercise several times a week, rather than doing just one big hike.

I have journaled for 791 days in a row so far, and it usually takes less than 15 minutes out of my day. It is such a small investment to make, in order to first get my weight where I wanted it, and then to maintain my weight within my target range. Journaling is easy, and it provides good results if it is done accurately. People are willing to pay hundreds, or even thousands of dollars out of their pockets to purchase weight loss products and services, but many are not willing to invest that 15 minutes of time each day to document what they are actually eating, which makes getting what they want so much easier to achieve. How can I accurately balance my checkbook if I don't write down the checks as I draw from the account?

2 years, 61 days OP; a lifetime to follow.

-Al-

6 '3" 239.5/184.5/180±2/BMI:23.06/WK-113
Weight Loss Graph/Year 1 Maint. Graph/Year 2 Maint. Graph/Success Story