Week 143 Update

I woke Mr. Scale up early this morning, and stepped on him at 04:00. He promptly said, "185.5 pounds!"

In spite of the light rain, the 45º temperature this morning is just fine for this time of year. We often have overnight lows in August as low, or lower than that.

This is the third week in a row that my weight jumped 1.5 pounds. The previous two weeks my weight went down 1.5 pounds each week. This week it went up 1.5 pounds. The thing I really liked to see this week was that my average weight (184.93) was nearly right on my target weight of 185.0 pounds.

Week's Highlights:

Dotti and I both got in some exercise this week, getting February off to a good start. We took a walk on Sunday to Subway for lunch (1.5 miles) and then after that walked over to the Safeway supermarket to pick some things up. We then walked back home from there (1.6 miles) giving us a total of 3.1 miles walked. The rest of the week I did my walking in the mornings and lunchtimes at work, and Dotti did hers in the gym.

For weight control, there was really only one point where I had some concern. On Thursday my weight suddenly jumped up to 187.0, but it came right back down again on Friday; just a water retention bubble. The rest of the week things went fairly smoothly. My average points-per-day fell from 49.14 to 44.14, or 5 points-per-day. That comes to only 35 total points, or half a pound's worth of food. Logically, I should have dropped a half-pound this week, but there are many factors involved, including the very big difference in exercise between last week and this week. I did a lot more walking this week. I am sure that my muscles, and maybe even some of my joints (which are feeling a bit sore) are holding water. That, combined with the fact that I am only one half pound away from my target, means that I am right where I want to be.

This week I passed a major milestone in my journey. Thursday was my ONE THOUSANDTH DAY! On that day, my average weight for all the days combined (including the weight loss phase and the maintenance phase) was 189.6; below my personal goal of 190. My average points for all the days combined was 40.6. My average water consumption for each of the 1000 days was 76.8 ounces or 9.6 cups.

It has been over 2000 days since my last cigarette, and I am even more proud of that. However, the cigarette journey was front end loaded. It was nearly impossible to make it through the first couple of weeks. It was very difficult for the first couple of months. It was somewhat difficult for the first 6 months, and has progressively gotten easier ever since. Today, I very seldom even think about cigarettes, and it is extremely rare that I should have any sort of yearning for one. (However, when I do, I am still very intense with my self-talk slamming the door on it. I do not ever dwell on the idea of what it would be like to have a cigarette. I just say "NO!" rapidly and with great force. The stupid thought is instantly frightened away.)

So, while quitting smoking was the very hardest thing that I have ever done, the maintenance portion of that journey is relatively very small compared with my weight control journey. I don't have any daily rituals or tasks associate with it. I just have my mental defensive wall built up, and my warning sensors in place for any stinking thinking that might try and weasel into my mind attempting to lure me into harm's way. But that is an "automatic warning system" these days, and pretty much runs itself.

My weight loss journey is nearly exactly the opposite. It was not all that tough at first. The hardest part was learning the ropes. I did have a couple of early days where I had that pit of my stomach fear that I was treading on unhappy ground, that felt very similar to the smoking quit trauma, but I found that drinking lots of water, and snacking regularly within my program, put a lid on those troubles. I had to pay very close attention each day to what I was eating, and towards making the right choices. Getting the high volume – low points types of foods into my eating regimen was important, but soon, I felt very comfortable with my eating during my weight loss journey. Compared with quitting smoking it was relatively easy. I didn't have to give up food completely! I could have some food, and in fact, I could have a lot of food and still keep my points in the 20s. I could feel full, comfortable, and completely satisfied, and that is something I never felt during the first few weeks of quitting smoking.

Being able to eat enough was very important to me, because I did not want to go through another diet. Losing weight by dieting is relatively easy. You just eat low in calories and the weight drops. But who wants to eat crumby food for the rest of their lives? Who wants to feel deprived forever? No one, especially not me! I had demonstrated that fact to myself over and over again in the past. But being able to eat enough food to feel comfortable, and to eat food I liked, and still lose weight, now that was something that I had not done before. That was something I could put on for life. And for 1000 days it has been a very comfortable fit!

Comparing where I was at after 1000 days of not smoking, to where I am at now after 1000 days of my weight control journey, I find that I am doing much more for my weight control than I was for my smoking cessation. I journal what I eat, the water I drink, and how much I weigh for each day. I normally spend about 15 minutes a day on this task total. I post regularly on the DWLZ message board, mostly in the Men's Forum. This keeps my journey new and alive for me. I have the chance to discuss what is going on with others in their journeys and my own. I get feedback, and an opportunity to share what I have learned. It makes the journey a living process. And of course I do this weekly update to document the process, and to hold myself accountable each week. I invest a lot of time in the latter two items on most weeks. I spend several hours on most Saturdays putting together the data, the graphs and the write up for my journal entry, and during the week, and on most days I spend at least an hour to an hour and a half (some days much more) on posting. And that doesn't include the time that I spend discussing these topics with my lovely Dotti.

So, I spend a lot more time and effort on my weight control journey than I do on my non-smoking journey. One journey was structured as an intense, nearly impossible rock-climb up a vertical face, only to reach a path of very gradual slope, approaching the level, leading off into the horizon, with a cliff that could create a fall at any time, but with a guardrail protecting against it that is growing ever stronger. The other journey was laid out as a good healthy hike up a forest trail, with a good sharp incline at first, and then turning into a nice steady uphill stroll, with some great level and sometimes even downhill stretches. There are plenty of opportunities to go astray and head back into trouble, but there is a clearly marked path, and the grade has become very comfortable. Only on rare occasions do I find myself facing another tough stretch of very uphill terrain.

The two journeys have been different. Each has been a challenging experience, and I am honestly amazed that either of them actually has happened. Today I stand solidly upon ground where I am a non-smoker, and at my weight goal. I know exactly what I need to do to hold this ground, and it is only myself who can choose whether or not to give it up.

I still have much to accomplish and my journeys are not even really begun. When a smoker goes for 5 years without smoking, his risk for cancer is cut in half. When he goes for 10 years it falls nearly to that of a man who has never smoked. I am coming up on 6 years of non-smoking, so I still have 4 years to go to reach my next milestone on that journey, and then I have whatever remains of my life to find the end of that path. For my weight control journey, I have not yet been on the path for 3 years. I am just getting started. I can see the course, stretching out to the horizon, with the sunshine cutting through the clouds, and I can feel a pleasant breeze upon my face. I never would have dreamed that I would be here doing this, but I am so glad that I am!

Eating and Weight – Last Saturday I weighed 184.0 pounds. I was really happy to be on the under side of my target range instead of riding the top of it! Dotti and I were out shopping and running errands. We stopped at Sweet Tomatoes for lunch, and by day's end I had eaten 48.5 points. On Sunday the scale held steady at 184.0. I only ate 40.0 points, partly because we ate at Subway for lunch (6" sub for 6.0 points), and partly because I had a very light dinner. If it hadn't have been for some snacking my points would have been quite low. Monday the scale read 184.0 for the third day in a row. I ate a reasonable 44.5 points, but the scale moved up to 184.5 on Tuesday. I ate 44.0 on that day, and the scale moved up a whole pound on Wednesday to 185.5. That is still very close to my target weight, and well in my target range. I ate 49.5 points. That included some late eating, and some popcorn, and its associated salt. On Thursday the scale jumped up to 187.0 pounds! I reacted by dropping my points back down to 40.5 and on Friday the scale dropped back down to 184.0. That was more like it. I didn't do anything special for my day before weigh-in, because I felt fairly confident that I was okay where I was at. I ended up eating 42.0 points. I was feeling very tired last night, because we stayed up late on Thursday night visiting with LeRoy, so I went to bed early. As a result, this morning I became wide-awake at 04:00, and I weighed at 185.5 pounds.

Exercise – I did much better this week than I did last week. Dotti and I walked to Subway on Sunday for lunch. This gave us the opportunity to have a good low point lunch and it allowed us to get a 1.5-mile walk in, that took 24:48 to complete. (2.94 aerobic points) After lunch we walked over to Safeway, which was a fairly short walk, and did some shopping. We then walked back home, which was 1.6 miles from Safeway, and that took 25:49 and earned 3.34 aerobic points. So, before the weekend was over, I already had 6.28 aerobic points in the bank, as well as 3.1 miles.

Monday, I got to work early enough to get in a one-mile walk. It took me 14:18, and was good for 2.19 aerobic points. At lunch my walking companions and I did our 2.5-mile walk in 38:05. That earned another 6.34 aerobic points. I was up to 14.81 aerobic points and 6.6 miles by this time.

Tuesday I got to work a bit earlier and I was able to do a 1.3-mile walk. I though the temperature was above the freezing point but on one wooden footbridge I crossed, there was a layer of ice. I fortunately didn't fall but I was surprised. (I was ready it for the rest of the week!) It took 17:30 to complete that walk and it earned 3.49 aerobic points. For lunch we did our 2.5-mile walk in 39:46. That was good for 5.93 aerobic points, and brought my total for the week up to 24.23 and my total miles for the week to 10.4.

Wednesday was nearly a duplicate of Tuesday for my exercise. I arrived at work early enough for a 1.3 mile walk (16:47 for 3.74 aerobic points), and at lunch we did 2.5 miles (40:14 for 5.80 aerobic points). At Wednesday's end I had 33.77 aerobic points for the week and had walked 14.2 miles.

Thursday, the 1000th day of my Journey, I once again did 1.3 miles (16:55 for 3.69 aerobic points) before work. However, at lunch the timing was such that I didn't get to walk with the others. So, I did a 2.0 mile walk at a faster speed (25:34) and earned 6.38 aerobic points. I was now up to 43.84 aerobic points, passing my goal of 35, and had walked 17.5 miles, passing my goal of 15.

Friday I had to go to the office first thing in the morning to pick up a part, and so I was unable to get a walk in then. At lunch, the others didn't walk because the rain had been so intense in the morning that they were concerned it would be too much. Also there were other issues going on that were pressing. So, once again I was on my own for my lunchtime walk. I got on my Columbia jacket and my raincoat over that, as I always do when there is a possible heavy rain and I set out on my 2-mile walk. As it turned out, not a single drop of rain fell on me during the entire walk. I was actually overdressed for the occasion, and I felt a bit warm. It held my speed down, and it took me 28:20 to do the walk, and I earned 5.47 aerobic points.

For the week I ended up with 49.31 aerobic points, which I am very happy with, and I walked 19.5 miles as well. All and all, it was a very good week for exercise.

Water – I dropped the ball for water last weekend. I only drank 3 cups on Saturday, and even worse, I only drank one on Sunday. On Monday I did a recover as best I could by drinking 15 cups. The rest of the week I drank 6 cups each day. I averaged drinking 49.14 ounces (6.1 cups) per day. That is just within my minimum goal range of 6-8 cups per day.

Week's Evaluation – I think this week was very good. I weighed in each day inside my target range, and on 5 of the days I weighed in on the lower half my target range. My average weight for the week was less than a tenth of a pound off from my target weight. I am very happy with that. For my exercise I exceeded my goal for aerobic points and for number of miles walked. For water I squeaked in by averaging just over 6 cups per day. That is one area that I hope I can improve on next week.

Now for the second 2000 days.

1000 and 1 days (or 2 years, 271 days) OP; a lifetime to follow.

-Al-

6 '3" 239.5/185.5/185±2/BMI:23.19/WK-143
GRAPHS: Weight Loss/Year 1 Maint./Year 2 Maint./Year 3 Maint.
                Success Story