Week 132 Update

It was 03:50 this morning, and the temperature was a low 28º when I woke up and stepped up on Mr. Scale. He said, "186.5 pounds!"

This week was a busy one at work. Normally I have some time to kill during the week, where I can do some things like going online and surfing the net a bit. Not this week. I had machine problems all week and the few odd moments that I was not working on the machine, I was doing paperwork and finally an online mandatory course my company has created. The machine finally came up Friday morning, my paper work got finished by lunch, and in the afternoon I finished the course, just before it was time to head for home, to start my vacation. I guess having been busy like that will just help me to enjoy my vacation that much more!

Along with my work activities, I also got in enough walking this week to give me over 32 aerobic points, allowing me to exceed my exercise goal. In spite of that, my weight gave me fits all week long, because of the water retention from my pain meds. I have been eating lower on points, but I think it will take a few weeks of doing that before I will be able to ignore the water weight build up.

For my walks this week, I have finally had to deal with some rain combined with cold temperatures. But it has not been a big deal. I have found that by layering my Columbia Jacket, over its liner, and then putting my Navy raincoat over that, I have plenty of insulation for my body core. Then when it is really cold, I put on my ski gloves, and for my ears I put on a knit cap. If it is pouring down rain as well, I pull the hood of my Columbia jacket up over the knit cap. The hood is water resistant and so I stay dry all the way down to my knees with no problem. On one day, when the rain was particularly heavy, I did get some moisture on my lower pants legs, but it was not excessive. All and all I have been quite comfortable walking even when it rains.

My average for points-per-day for the week was 43.93. On my highest day I went 7.07 points over that average, and on my lowest day I went 5.93 points below. So, I ate within a 13 point window all week, with it's center located at 44.5 points, 0.57 points above my actual average for the week.

My average for points-per-day was 2.78 lower this week than last. It was also 6.07 below my maintenance level of 50 points. Last week I ate a total of 327 points, and this week I ate 307.5, for a two-week total of 634.5. When you compare that with the 700 points that I would have eaten, at 50 points a day for my normal maintenance, that leaves a 65.5-point deficit. That is nearly one pound's worth of points. So, while I have been fighting the scale each day, in reality I am probably a pound of fat lighter today than I was two weeks ago. The journey continues to be an interesting challenge for me.

Eating and Weight – This area of my journey was not boring for me this week. I started the week off at 186.0 on Saturday. I then ate 46.0 points. The scale moved up to 186.5 on Sunday. I ate 41.0 points, which was certainly low enough. On Monday, I weighed 187.0 pounds. I ate 44.5 points. Again that was low for me, but the scale just held solid at 187.0 on Tuesday. Clearly the scale was off on its own little path, so I ate 47.5 points. Wednesday the scale read 187.5, continuing to rise. I ate 51.0 points, and the scale gave me a start when it said 189.5 on Thursday morning! I didn't take any meds and I ate 38.0 points. Friday the scale dropped back down to 188.0 and once again I ate low at 39.5 points, which brought my weight to my weigh-in weight this morning.

Clearly the water weight is having a much larger impact on the scale reading than the eating is right now.

Exercise – This week I postponed my exercise once again. On the weekend we were busy and I just didn't feel motivated to go to the gym.

Monday, I didn't arrive at work early enough to walk, and by lunch the day had me out of the mood for walking. (Actually, I should have taken a walk anyway. It would have made me feel better!)

Tuesday my attitude was finally right, and I was eager to walk. So, I left home early to give me time. Unfortunately, it was raining, and the traffic just came to a halt. The drive in ate up nearly all my extra time, but I still arrived with 14 minutes left before I was due to be to work. I hopped out of the car, threw on my raincoat, and headed out on a one-mile walk. I knew I was going to have to hurry in order to walk a mile, and still get back in time. This path goes along beside the main road and at one point, the path drops down low enough to meet up with a walking underpass that runs beneath the road to the other side. As a result, there are two short downhill runs on the half-mile stretch that I walk out and back on – one naturally in each direction. I ran on both of those short downhills to speed things up. The walk took 13:05 (4.59 mph) and earned 2.58 aerobic points for me. At lunch I did a 2-mile walk in 28:24, averaging a slower 14:12 per mile (4.22 mph). It was still good for 5.44 aerobic points, giving me 8.02 for the day.

Wednesday I once again left early, but the traffic was even worse! The rain was just pouring down, and I just barely made it in time for work. I then had to drive back to the office to pick up a part, and when I got there it was snowing! By the time I got back to the site, and had installed the part, I was feeling pretty tired and didn't choose to walk at lunch.

Thursday, I not only left early, but I arrived early at work! The rain didn't start until I was fairly close to work, and so it couldn't slow down traffic. I put on my raincoat once again and set off in a fairly strong downpour. I got my first mile done in 13:30 (4.44 mph), and the second took 13:03 (4.60 mph). I did the third mile in 13:34 (4.42 mph). Overall it took 40:07 to do the 3 miles for an average time of 13:22 (4.48 mph) and was good for 9.46 aerobic points. At lunch I went out for another walk. This one was for 2 miles, and it took 27:29 to complete it. That was an average time of 13:44 per mile (4.37 mph) and added up to another 5.73 aerobic points giving me 15.19 for the day, and 23.21 for the week to date.

Friday, I once again was delayed by rain. While I did not arrive at work early enough for a 2-mile walk, I did have enough time for more than one mile. So, set off on a 1.3 mile walk, and completed it in 16:57, for an average time per mile of 13:02 (4.60 mph). That added in 3.68 more aerobic points, bringing my total for the week so far to 26.89. I only needed 3.11 aerobic points to hit my goal for the week. I calculated it out and determined that even a relatively slow 2-mile walk would take care of it. At lunch I walked two miles in 26:49 for an average time per mile of 13:24 (4.47 mph). It gave me 5.94 more aerobic points and at 32.83, it put me over the top for my weekly 30.0 aerobic points goal.

Water – I hit at least 6 cups every day but one this week. I averaged 62.86 ounces (7.8 cups) per day, which is well inside my target range of 6 to 8 cups per day.

Week's Evaluation – I feel this week was a success! Although fighting with my water weight, I defiantly was not overeating this week at all.

My average weight for the week (186.57) was outside of my target range, but again, not due to overeating. For exercise, once again I did not make it to the gym at all. Still I am happy with the 11.3 miles of walking (including 5 miles on Thursday!), and I reached my standing goal of 30 or more aerobic points per week. For water I daily averaged inside my water target range.

Let's see how our vacation goes now. When I woke up to a "balmy" 28º this morning it was 7º in Spokane, with a -7º-wind chill. I don't think our swimsuits will be needed on this trip. Today is supposed to be partly sunny there, and then each day after that, through Thanksgiving anyway, has a possibility of snowfall, with highs in the mid 30s and lows in the mid 20s. Well, I have my chains, and a good heater in the car. Jim and Tammy have a nice fireplace, and that, a cup of hot chocolate, and the company of our dearest friends will make it plenty warm on the inside.

2 years, 194 days OP; a lifetime to follow.

-Al-

6 '3" 239.5/186.5/180±2/BMI:23.31/WK-132
Weight Loss Graph/Year 1 Maint. Graph/Year 2 Maint. Graph/Success Story