Week 144 Update

I let Mr. Scale sleep in 20 minutes longer this morning than I did last week. I stepped on him at 04:20, and he said, "185.0 pounds!" Right on target!

The temperature is exactly the same as last week at 45º. After several days of blue skies and sunshine, it has returned to rain, just so we would remember where we are.

Week's Highlights:

Dotti and I got a new puppy this week on Monday. We are calling her Peaches. (She is ¼ black lab, ¼ spaniel, ½ golden retriever.) She was born on December 23, just in time for Christmas Eve. She was 6 weeks and 6 days old when we picked her up and took her home, and she turned our lives upside down. From morning till bedtime, and on through the night, things have changed as a result of having Peaches here. The world is her oyster and she is exploring every square inch of it she can get to.

It was only the first night that she actually kept us up much. The last couple of nights she slept all the way through the night without fussing or having any "accidents." We have appreciated that very much. She does tend to chew and we are working on that problem by providing some chew toys, and by spraying tempting surfaces with "bitter apple," which Peaches then avoids.

Peaches has a personality all her own. She is a funny mixture of quiet subdued restraint, and exuberant puppy. The vet marveled at how easy going Peaches was when she was being examined and given her shot. (When Dotti arrived a bit early, all the ladies working in the vet's office were fussing over Peaches while waiting for the time for the appointment to roll around.)

The vet guessed that Peaches might weigh 70 pounds when fully grown. That is a pretty good-sized dog. We are determined to have her well trained long before then. As with human children, if you don't train them right when they are little, you will really have a terrible time of it when they get bigger. Form good habits early and they will pay off the rest of their lives. So, we have a full puppy agenda for the next year or so.

My exercise turned out better than I expected it to. My morning routine was disrupted this week dealing with Peaches and getting her outside when I woke up and then having her under foot, as I got ready for work. I ended up not getting online to post, and up until Friday, I left for work too late to get in a morning walk. Still I did some walking each day at lunch and I even got a walk in on Sunday before the workweek started. By week's end I had reached my exercise goals!

For weight control, I was pretty much on track all week. I had one 51 point day, but the rest of the week I ate at 45 or below. My weight bounced up to 186.5 on Tuesday, but the rest of the week it was 186 or below. My average weight was 185.5, and that is within a half pound of where I want to be.

Today marks the end of my 144th week. That is 12² weeks, or a dozen dozen weeks. The time just keeps scooting by.

My back this week has nearly returned to where it was before I hurt it last May. I had been dealing with some back pain for years. It was why I gave up my bowling league several years ago. In fact back pain is was what trigger my visit to the doctor that ended in having my gall bladder removed. I did a fair amount of lifting this week, and I found that when my back aches I can alleviate much of the pain by stretching in certain ways. It has cut down on the need for medications, which I feel very good about. Also, I think that the seat in the new car I am driving supports my back better, and it keeps my back from aching so much after a long drive home.

Eating and Weight – I started out this week weighing 185.5. I had weighed 184.0 the day before, and had only eaten 42 points, so I knew I was in good shape. We ate at Sweet Tomatoes for lunch (16.5 points) and then Dotti cooked up a nice pot roast dinner in the evening (7.5 points). I did some snacking through the day and ended up by eating 51.0 points. On Sunday the scale dropped back down to 184.0. We had a fairly quiet day on Sunday. I had to help a customer over the phone to fix a problem with his machine. I also had to help another customer get a part that was coming in from the factory. But it was all done over the phone. I had my normal breakfast, but with an additional cup of coffee, and then two smaller than normal meals for lunch and dinner. Even after my snacks for the day, I only ate 37.0 points for the day.

On Monday the scale moved up to 185.5. Dotti and I went over to pick up our new puppy right after work, and we decided to eat after we got Peaches home. The guy who gave us the pup lives very close to where my customer site is, in other words, it is an hour drive home from there. Dotti drove over in the afternoon, and then we both went to pick up the dog after I got off work. We then made a caravan of two cars on the drive home. We decided to go straight home first, and then eat afterwards. Poor Peaches had some trouble with the car ride, and she had lost her lunch out of one end and her breakfast out the other by the time we got home. So, before we could eat, we had to make things right for Peaches. The car carrier was scrubbed out, and laid down with a clean bottom covering, and Peaches had her first bath. (She was great throughout the whole thing.)

By this time it was getting late. After getting Peaches settled into her "crate." We made a quick run to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner. By day's end I had eaten 44.5 points. Tuesday morning, after being awakened several times by Peaches, who was ready for a potty run, the scale took a jump up to 186.5. I had a light dinner that night, and at day's end I had eaten 36.0 points. On Wednesday, after a much better night's sleep, I weighed 186.0 pounds. I ended up eating 45.0 points and on Thursday I held steady at 186.0. (Peaches had remained quiet all night long, and our sleep had appeared to return to normal again.) I ate 44 points, once again, including another dinner at Sweet Tomatoes this time with LeRoy. Friday morning I weighed 185.5. I ended up eating 39.5 points yesterday, and this morning I was right on target at 185.0.

Exercise – I didn't do quite as well this week as I did last week. But I am very happy with how things ended up.

After resting on Saturday, I took a 2 mile walk on Sunday, out to the Target parking lot and back. It took 26:51 (13:25 per mile, 4.47 mph) and was good for 5.95 aerobic points.

On Monday I walked 2 miles by myself at lunch, in 27:04 (13:32 per mile, 4.43 mph) for 5.86 aerobic points.

Tuesday my walking partners were available at lunch and I walked 2.4 miles in 40:00 (16:40 per mile, 3.60 mph) and that earned 5.24 aerobic points.

Wednesday, only one of the guys could make it, and we walked 2.4 miles in 41:34 (17:19 per mile, 3.46 mph). That was good for 4.91 aerobic points. By this time, with only two days left, I had earned 21.94 aerobic points for the week, 13.06 from my goal of 35, and I had walked 8.80 miles, 6.20 miles from my goal of 15. If I just did my normal lunch walk for the last two days, I was going to come up short for the week.

As it turned out, on Thursday, both of the other guys got tied up, so I walked alone at lunch. I walked a partially different route, using a path that had a road all the way beside it, so that I could use my car odometer to check the distance. It was still 2.4 miles, and I walked it in 32:26 (13:30 per mile, 4.44 mph) which earned 7.25 aerobic points. (The faster speed really makes a difference!) That left me 5.81 aerobic points short of my week's goal, and 3.80 miles short. I was going to need something extra on the last day to make my goal.

On Friday, I hit the ground running, figuratively speaking, when I got out of bed, and I was on the road early for the first time all week long. I arrived at work 40+ minutes early, and that gave me time to do a 2.4-mile walk, and so I did. I was moving along in the 38º air at a good pace and it took me 30:49 (12:50 per mile, 4.67 mph) to complete, which gave me 7.81 aerobic points. That put me two aerobic points over my goal of 35! However, I was still 1.4 miles short from walking my 15 miles for the week. All I had to do at lunch was take one of my normal 2.4-mile walks, with my walking companions, or by myself, in order to reach my goal, no matter what speed we walked at.

As it turned out, the other guys were tied up for lunch, so I set out on my own. I originally planned to do a 2.4 mile walk, but I reached a point where I could go one of two ways, either to do the 2.4 mile loop, or to do a 3 mile walk. I felt like walking so opted for the 3-miler. I did the 3 miles in 41:17 (13:45 per mile, 4.36 mph) and that earned another 9.08 aerobic points!

I noticed that I was fairly consistent with my speeds on all my walks where I walked alone. On the road from home to Target I walked at 4.47 mph. On the 2.4 mile loop I went 4.44 mph, and 4.67 mph (I rushed that one because it was in the morning before work), and on the 3 mile route, I went 4.36 mph. The various routes and terrains didn't make too much of a difference on my pace.

So, for the week I ended up with 46.08 aerobic points, 11 over my goal of 35. I also got in 16.6 miles, which cleared my goal by 1.6 miles. Even with the puppy distractions I managed to reach my exercise goals for the week.

Water – I did better with my water this week. I drank at least 6 cups each day and I averaged drinking 58.29 ounces (7.2 cups) per day. That is in the middle of my minimum goal range of 6-8 cups per day.

Week's Evaluation – I am very happy with how this week went. I weighed 186.5 or less every day, and I averaged 185.57. I would be happy to take that every week. I got in my exercise, and I exceeded my goal for aerobic points and for number of miles walked. For water I was in the middle of my goal range per day. I hope that I can do as well next week!

2 years, 278 days OP; a lifetime to follow.

-Al-

6 '3" 239.5/185.0/185±2/BMI:23.12/WK-144
GRAPHS: Weight Loss/Year 1 Maint./Year 2 Maint./Year 3 Maint.
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