Week 142 Update

It was 05:00, 37º, and like last week, it was overcast, with rain showers in the forecast, when I stepped up on Mr. Scale and he said, "184.0 pounds!" That is two weeks in a row that I have dropped 1.5 pounds. Or if you prefer, I have dropped 3 pounds in the last two weeks. It is nice to be below 185.0 for a change, instead of fighting to stay under the top of my target range.

Week's Highlights:

Last Saturday Dotti and I purchased a new Toyota Corolla for only a few thousand more than we had paid for our Corolla back in 1992 back in Massachusetts. The trade in was not quite up to the difference but it was close. Dotti did most of the "leg work" through the Internet. After putting in all the info for the type of car we were looking for – with what features – she got back a couple of quotes from different dealerships, and then she set up an appointment for us, all from her laptop. When we walked onto the lot, we were directed to some cars that matched what we were looking for, picked out one, test-drove it, and had it purchased in very short order. It was easily the most painless car purchase that I have ever gone through! I have been driving the car this week to work, and I think we made a good choice. Dotti is driving the van now, which has 109,000 miles on it. I feel better about that because she is in a bigger vehicle and safer on the roads. Also, we hope to nurse a few more years out of the van, and Dotti's driving requirements are less demanding than my daily commute to work.

Happily, I have found that the Corolla is nearly as comfortable to drive as the van had been (and since I am in the car at least 2 hours every workday that is important), and it takes a lot less gas to drive. I feel that the brakes on the smaller car will not be taxed as much as the van's brakes were, driving on the back mountain road that I take every day on the way home. (We have had numerous brake jobs done on the van over the last few years!) A bit of serendipity; the new car has an outdoor thermometer built in that is fun to monitor when I drive from one part of town to another, and as my elevation changes as move over the varied terrain on my commute. This time of year it can be very nice knowing if it is 31º, 32º or 33º outside, to determine the odds of running into ice on the roads. (For the second DWLZ conference we rented a car for the drive to St. Louis that had an outdoor thermometer built in, and it was interesting watching the temperature change as we went across the Rocky Mountains. It moved through a wide range of temperatures throughout the day.)

Wednesday Mom and Jim headed down to Roseburg, moving Jim from the Rehab center here, to one closer to home. It was a bit scary since Jim was not physically able to get out of the car on his own, and they had no wheelchair for him should an emergency come up. Dotti followed them down as far as Eugene (just over 100 miles) where Jim's Niece would be taking over as "emergency escort" to assist if required, and to provide a cell phone for emergencies. (Mom and Jim live in an isolated area with no cell phone coverage available, so they don't own one.) When they arrived at Eugene Jim's regulator failed on his oxygen supply and there was a mad scramble to get him another one, as he was gasping for breath. Fortunately they were able to locate one for him, and he was okay. The procession continued south, while Dotti came back home. As of last night, Jim is doing fairly well, although he has had some congestive heart issues and they are clearing the water out of his system this weekend. Mom reports that he is doing his physical therapy, which is a very good thing.

Dotti picked up a cold this week and she was down for the count on Wednesday afternoon, through Friday morning. She felt a lot better yesterday afternoon fortunately. I was ill also on Thursday. I felt like I had a 24-hour bug, as well as some stress related problems. It was a very trying couple of weeks that we have just passed through. I felt a bit better yesterday and was able to make it to work okay.

On the weight control front, this week was the easiest that I have had in quite some time. The reason was that I didn't take any anti-inflammatory medication for the entire week. I was able to use Excedrin where I needed pain relief, but I relied mostly on back exercises and stretching to relieve pain. It worked pretty well! As a result, the water retention disappeared and my weight fell a pound and a half, even thought my points-per-day average jumped up from 39.43 to 49.14. (That nearly brought me back to my normal 50 points-per-day that I was eating before the back problems set in.) My average weight for the week dropped from 186.36 to 184.50, which is nearly 2 pounds! The only day that I ate below 40 points was on Wednesday when I was beginning to feel ill.

It was a bad week for exercise, thanks to being busy early, and ill late in the week. Hopefully next week will be better.

Eating and Weight – Last Saturday I weighed 185.5 pounds. I ate 41.5 points. On Sunday the scale fell to 182.0. July 16, 2003 was the last time that I had weighed that low! I ate 52.5 points, partly by adding in some peanut butter at dinner, and a Very Berry Sundae (5 pts) at Costco. On Monday, I weighed 184.0. I ate 63.5 points, and the scale moved up to 186.5 on Tuesday. I figured that I would test the waters and I ate 56.5 to see what would happen. The scale held steady on Wednesday, but I was beginning to feel ill, and I only ate 37.5 points, and the scale dropped to 186.0 on Thursday. I was feeling very bad most of that day, and I ate a conservative 44.0 points. On Friday the scale dropped to 182.5. I felt very confident that I would not weigh too much for my weigh-in on Saturday, but I was a little concerned that I might come in low. I was fiddling with my eating all evening. When I was getting ready for bed, I noticed that I was still a bit low on the scale for the nighttime, and so I had a 3-point snack. I finished up the day with 48.5 points, and this morning I was at 184.0 pounds.

Exercise – This week was terrible. I was busy all weekend, and then on Monday and Tuesday I was working at a different customer location than my usual, and I was very busy those days. I didn't get in any walking at all. On Wednesday, I was back at my normal working site, and I took a 3-mile walk at lunch, which I completed in 44:02. That is a slow time for me, averaging 14:41 per mile or 4.09 mph. And at the end I felt lousy. Normally, a nice walk like that makes me feel better, so I could tell something was not right. Thursday I was ill and not able to go to work. Friday, I was still not 100% and I skipped my walk. So, for the week I only earned 8.26 aerobic points, which was well under my goal of 35.0. I only walked 3 miles, also missing my goal of 15 for the week. Well, at least I left room for improvement.

For the month I wanted to get in 35 aerobic points per week. Since there are 31 days in January that makes 4.43 weeks (31/7). So, to meet my goal I needed to get 4.43 x 35 = 155 aerobic points. I only ended up with 119.5, which was 35.5 short. If I had of had a good exercise week this past week, I would have at least been close.

I also, wanted to get in 15 miles per week this month. That would be a total of 4.43 x 15 = 66.5 miles. I only got in 45.2 for the month...21.3 short. Again, if I had a good week this week I would have been close.

Water – I did fairly well on my water consumption this week. I drank at least 6 cups every day except Saturday, and I averaged drinking 51.43 ounces (6.4 cups) per day. That is within my minimum goal range of 6-8 cups per day.

Week's Evaluation – I have mixed feelings about the week. I was very happy with the weight control aspect of my journey this week. I was not straining or struggling to hold the scale back. My exercise was not good at all this week. I will have to strive to do much better next week. I came up short for the month as well, and that is something I will have to focus on next month. For water I am quite satisfied with my consumption. Saturday was the only low day, and I did have other fluids that day besides water. Overall I consider it another successful week, with room for improvement next week.

2 years, 264 days OP; a lifetime to follow.

-Al-

6 '3" 239.5/184.0/185±2/BMI:23.00/WK-142
GRAPHS: Weight Loss/Year 1 Maint./Year 2 Maint./Year 3 Maint.
                Success Story