Week 145 Update

At 05:20 I stepped up on Mr. Scale and he said, "186.0 pounds!"

The temperature was at 42º, down 3º from last week, but unlike last week, the ground is dry, with a good chance of continuing that way all day!

Week's Highlights:

We had some rain early in the week, but the last couple of days have been beautiful. The drive home last night was in perfect weather. I even had my sunroof open for part of the drive, and the sunset was spectacular!

Peaches, our new puppy, is growing in high gear. The vet weighed her last week at 11.9 pounds, and this Thursday she weighed 15. On Sunday she had weighed 13.5, so she is growing fast. On Tuesday (she was born on a Tuesday, so we are doing her weekly measurements on that day), her back stood just over 12 inches tall. She seems to be visibly growing from day to day. What a bundle of energy she is, and she sure knows how to make a man feel welcome when he comes home from work!

I had a busy week at work. Starting Wednesday one machine took up all of my time. We had to pull the process chamber apart and rebuild the components, and that is a major undertaking. We didn't get it back up for testing to get it ready for use again until Friday evening. I was on my feet pretty much all the time the last three days of the week, with a lot of squatting, standing, and lifting. My fingers were all swollen in the evening from extensive amount of wrench turning that I did during the day. My left knee was complaining some, but not enough to keep me from walking.

I was able to surpass my goal for the number of miles I walked during the week, and for my aerobic points earned. It has been many years since I have been able to exercise this regularly, and I am really happy that I have been able to stay with it. (I am dreading spring when all the pollen will come out and will no doubt make me suffer for my walks, but I have dealt with that before, and will cross that bridge when I come to it.)

As we have grown used to Peaches, and worked our morning schedule around her a little more efficiently, I even made it in early enough for some sort of walk on 4 of the days this week! In the future, as Peaches gets larger, I think I will be doing my morning walk at home taking her with me. Then in the evening, Dotti and I can take her for another one, and Dotti may take her for another during the day sometime. So, we will all be getting more exercise in and enjoying our new pet at the same time. And golden retrievers love to play running games, and fetch. So, I can see an active future for us all.

On the weight control front, I felt really good about my weight on every day but Friday morning. But I knew that bump up to 188.0 was merely water weight. I have not been eating out of control at all this week, and my points never broke 50 for the entire week. With all the extra activity I expected to move up a bit and so, while not happy with it, I was not surprise. My average weight for the week was 185.93, which is less than a half pound up from last week, and it is less than a pound over my target weight. I'll be happy to take that any week.

Eating and Weight – On Saturday, I weighed 185.0 pounds; my target weight. I ate 49.5 points that day, including a nice lunch at Sweet Tomatoes. Sunday morning I weighed 184.0 pounds. I ate 45.0 points that day. Monday I was back at 185.0. I ate 39.5 points, and on Tuesday the scale moved up a pound to 186.0. I think that was at least in part due to the exercise I had on Monday. I ate 42.5 points, and on Wednesday the scale dropped a half-pound to 185.5.

We went to our favorite diner that night, and I had my roast beef dinner, with mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli with melted cheese on the side. It was only 17 points, and it was delicious! I now have the gravy on the side, and the salad dressing on the side, but I am reminded of the meals I loved most in the past when I eat there, and it is now all OP. I love being able to completely enjoy what I am eating, and come away filled to satisfaction, and still be eating exactly where I should be for points. It feels like cheating, but it isn't!

By day's end on Wednesday, I had consumed 46.0 points. On Thursday I weighed 187.0 pounds. After two days of good exercise, which had to be consuming some calories, and eating well within my normal range of eating, this did not worry me. I had been on my feet all day on Wednesday at work – that was in addition to the walking that I did – so there was some water retention that I could visibly detect. No problem. I ate 44.5 points on Thursday, and Friday the scale bumped up once more. Thursday had been a nightmare of activity at work, with one of the biggest problems that we normally see with one of the machines. We were going from start of shift to end of shift, full tilt boogie all the way. Lifting, squatting, kneeling, up and down, back and forth for at least 8 solid hours. And I had even taken a short 1-mile walk before it all started. My fingers were swollen, and my joints were all aching, along with the muscles in my arms and legs. (Fortunately, my back was not a major problem during all of this.) So, once again I was not worried about what the scale was saying. In fact I felt so good about where I was at, last evening after dinner, I sat and watched a movie based upon a Charles Dickens story with Dotti, and had some popcorn. I ended up eating 40 points for the day, and this morning the scale came back down to 186.0.

Exercise – I did just about the same for aerobic points this week as I did last.

On the weekend, Dotti and ran some errands, and just relaxed. I didn't get out and do any exercise that I could count. However, I remembered what a big boost I got on Friday the previous week, when I walked 2.4 miles in the morning, and then 3.0 miles at lunch. So, Monday I decided to try and duplicate the effort.

I left early for work and arrived in plenty of time to make the 2.4 mile loop. It was raining heavily, but I still completed it in 31:46. I felt that was a pretty good pace. It came out to 13:14 per mile, or 4.53 mph. (I am always happy to break 4.5 mph walking outdoors!) It was good for 7.47 aerobic points, just over 21% of my goal for the week. At lunch I was feeling good about what I had accomplished on my morning walk and was all set to continue the success. However, even with the rain pouring down, I was getting overheated very early on. The temperature was up above 50 and I had my coat on underneath my raincoat. I had to slow down. I still did the 3 mile walk, but it took 43:40 to complete. That was only a pace of 14:33 for each mile, or 4.12 mph. That is a slow pace for me, and I still didn't feel very good after the walk. I had definitely overheated myself. I did earn 8.36 for that walk, and for the day it came to 15.83. That I was happy with!

Tuesday I decided to give myself a break after overdoing it the day before. I did not even attempt to do a morning walk. I waited for lunch and I did the 2.4-mile loop in reasonable pace, without trying to push it too hard. It took 35:26 to complete, which came to 14:45 per mile (4.06 mph). It was still raining pretty hard that day, so I was wearing my rain gear once more. However, it finally hit me that I was not walking in freezing temperatures, or even near freezing temperatures, at least at lunch. So, I pulled my liner out of my coat, for Wednesday, and that helped a lot.

I arrived early enough to get in a 1.3-mile walk on Wednesday morning. I walked the 1.3 miles in 18:02. That came to 13:52 per mile, or 4.33 mph. It was closer to my normal pace. Having the liner removed from my coat was a real help. I earned 3.3 aerobic points for that walk, and brought my total miles for the week up to 9.1, less than 6 miles from my goal. At lunch I did the 2.4-mile loop once more. I did not push it at all, and it took 35:06 to complete. That was 14:37 per mile, and a pace of only 4.1 mph. I got 6.44 aerobic points for that one. The bad feelings that I had about my Monday afternoon walk were starting to wear off, and now I had completed 11.5 miles and earned 31.94 aerobic points for the week.

Thursday I only got to work early enough to get in a 1-mile walk. I completed it in 13:25, which was 4.47 mph. That was pretty well back to normal for me. It gave me another 2.47 aerobic points, leaving me less than one aerobic point from my goal. I also had walked 12.5 miles, and was only 2.5 miles from my goal of 15. I was all set. I could do a 3-miler at lunch, or a 2.4 mile loop for lunch and a short one on Friday and be done. But it didn't work out quite as I had hope that day. We had a serious problem at work that tied me up all day. I did take a break for lunch, but it was a short one, just long enough to eat. No time for walking. So, that left Friday.

Friday I arrived early enough to do a 1.3-mile walk, and I did it in 16:39. That came out to 12:48 per mile, the best pace for any walk this week! The sky was clear, and there was frost on the ground. One of the bridges had ice on the top and I had to walk carefully across it, but I still held a 4.68 mph pace the whole way! I had my coat on, without the liner, and it felt just right. This walk earned 3.79 aerobic points and pushed me past my goal of 35. For miles I was up to 13.8, only 1.2 miles from my week's goal.

At lunch I did a 2.4-mile walk, and I completed it in 32:04. That was a pace of 13:21 per mile (4.49 mph), which I was quite happy with. It earned 7.37 aerobic points, pushing my total up to 45.57 for the week, over 10 points above my goal. It also gave me 16.2 miles for the week, slipping past my goal of 15 by 1.2 miles.

Water – I just squeaked under the wire for water this week. I drank 6 cups per day for 5 days, I drank 3 on Thursday, and then 9 on Friday. That averaged out at 48 ounces per day, or 6 cups per day exactly. That is at the bottom of my minimum goal range of 6-8 cups per day, but at least it does meet my goal.

Week's Evaluation – Overall, I am quite happy with how this week went. Although I did go outside my target range on one day, it was a water retention bubble that disappeared as quickly as it came. My average weight for the week, which I believe is the best indication of how I did, was within a pound of my target weight. Once again I met my exercise goals for the week for both aerobic points and for number of miles walked. For water I at least averaged being in my goal range per day. Another week in the box, and I am all set to start the next one.

2 years, 285 days OP; a lifetime to follow.

-Al-

6 '3" 239.5/186.0/180±2/BMI:23.25/WK-145
GRAPHS: Weight Loss/Year 1 Maint./Year 2 Maint./Year 3 Maint.
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