Week 147 Update

This morning it was 04:50 when I stepped up on Mr. Scale and he said, "184.5 pounds!" Just like last week.

It is wet outside and the temperature is 41º, but spring is not far off. We are spending less time in the 30s and more in the 50s each week now. Officially this year spring starts two weeks from today, on March 20 with the arrival of the spring equinox. The birds and the bees, and the flowers and the trees, not to mention all the people with cabin fever, are all getting set for the celebration.

Week's Highlights:

Yesterday Peaches was weighed on the vet's scale, and she was 20.0 pounds! She has increased her weight by over 8 pounds in 3.0 weeks, and the funny thing is, she looks thinner today than she did a week ago. Her back was over 13" on Tuesday when we measured her, and when she stands on her hind legs, she can reach several inches higher than she used to. She is still a beautiful puppy, but she is starting to pick up some of the adult dog characteristics.

I was looking on the web for pictures of golden retriever puppies and I found a picture at www.topgoldenretrieversites.net showing a dog that could almost be Peaches. It has some redish, almost orange highlights, and its coat is thicker, but still it is strikingly similar. Other golden retriever pictures show puppies with a lot more hair; like this one at www.topgoldenretrieversites.net. The picture at www.acclaimimages.com of a golden Labrador shows a dog that is somewhat similar to Peaches, except its ears and hair are shorter. The Springer spaniel puppy that can be seen at community.webshots.com looks less like Peaches, but there is a hint in Peaches' ears of this part of her genetic background. The Springer spaniel and the golden retriever adults both seem to have more hair than Peaches is showing at this time, but we will have to wait and see how long her hair is when she is fully grown. It already is longer than the hair of the two Labradors that we had years ago.

Last Saturday we again took Peaches for a walk on her leash around the neighborhood, and this time we walked for 1.4 miles around a loop that I had previously measured with my odometer. Once again she did very well on the leash and a good time was had by all. We had one moment that felt a bit touch and go, when this huge dog took an interest in us. He looked like he was at least part Great Dane, large and silent. He never barked and he never got too close, but he did follow us for a while. Peaches was happy to move on. Every time a dog barked from one of the backyard fences that we passed, Peaches took notice, but she was okay with it. All and all, I think it was a very pleasant outing for her. Dotti and I both wore rain coats but it really didn’t start coming down at all until the end of the walk, and even then it was not a hard rain. Peaches didn’t mind it at all.

This week at work was a lot like the week before, with paperwork and data collection dominating things, but I did get some actual machine maintenance time in (I had to actually open my toolbox a couple of times ).

The exercise area had me worried a bit when I got to Tuesday evening and I only had earned 5.54, of the 35 aerobic points I needed for the week. But I picked things up on Wednesday, and managed to reach my exercise goals for the week.

Once again all of my weigh-ins for the week were within my target range, even though I did bump up against the top of it on Friday, due to a high sodium day on Thursday. My average weight for the week was 185.64, which is less than a pound off from my target weight.

Eating and Weight –Last Saturday, I weighed exactly the same as I did today: 184.5. We ate at home all day, and it seemed like I was eating all day, but by day's end, I had only consumed 40.0 points. On Sunday I weighed 185.5. Dotti and I went to Shari's for lunch, and we split a mushroom burger meal, and in spite of eating my standard breakfast, and an evening meal, I only had 32.0 points for the day. On Monday, I weighed 184.5 again. I ate 48.0 points and on Tuesday my weight moved 186.5. Tuesday I ate low at 36.0 points. Wednesday the scale dropped a pound to 185.5. I ate 46.5 points that day, including an 18.5 point dinner at Sweet Tomatoes. On Thursday the scale moved up to 186.0. I ate 43.5 points, and on Friday I was up to 187.0 pounds. I had had to take a pain medication on Thursday night, and it is loaded with sodium. So, I wasn't surprised at the bump up. Friday I didn't take any medications at all, and I ate 43.0 points. When I came home from work, I stepped on the scale and saw that I was about 186.0, and so I knew I was okay. So, I had no problem enjoying a nice 17.5-point evening meal at Sweet Tomatoes with Dotti and LeRoy. When I went to bed last night I had already dropped back down to 187.5 pounds, and so I knew there would be no problem this morning.

Exercise – I actually earned more aerobic points this week than last, even though things weren't looking terribly well by the end of Tuesday. I still managed to earn 42.78 aerobic points -- reaching and exceeding my goal of 35 -- and to walk 16.4 miles, surpassing my weekly goal of 15.

On Saturday we took a nice leisurely walk with Peaches, around a 1.4 mile loop in our neighborhood. We took 32 minutes to walk it (22:51 per mile; 2.63 mph). It earned 1.27 aerobic points.

Monday, like 3 of the 5 workdays this week, I arrived at work too late to take a walk. I just couldn't seem to get out the door early enough. I just barely made it to work on time, and on Tuesday, there were 2 major car accidents, one on each of the two major freeways going across the Columbia, and traffic was really backed up. I was 15 minutes late that day. However, Monday I did get a lunchtime walk in with my walking partner. It was a great day for walking, and we even had sunshine. We walked 2.4 miles in 45:01. That was slower than normal for us taking 18:45 per mile, and walking at a pace of 3.2 mph. But it still earned 4.27 aerobic points.

Tuesday, after my late start for the day, even though the weather was outstanding, I just didn't feel like walking at lunch. Also, it was my walking partner's birthday, and he had taken the day off. (He went hiking and walked a lot of miles that day.) I sat in my car and soaked up the blue skies and sunshine, rolling back my sunroof, ate my lunch and read my book. Unfortunately, I got zero aerobic points for those activities. This left me with three more days, and I was 29.46 aerobic points, and 11.2 miles short on my goals for the week. If I was going to make it, I knew I was going to have to pick up my pace.

On Wednesday, knowing that I needed to really get going, I still didn't make it to work in time to walk in the morning. So, now it became crunch time. I had two mornings and 3 lunchtime periods left to get things done. At lunch I finally took a big whack at what was left. My walking partner was sore from his walking activities on Tuesday, and so he didn't want to take a walk, especially since it was raining a bit. I took off on my walk, and completed my 2.4 mile loop in 33:46, and then just kept right on going, and did another one. I finished the 4.8 miles in 1 hour and 8 minutes. I averaged 14:11 per mile, and 4.23 mph for the entire walk. I earned 14.48 aerobic points for that walk, which moved what I had left to earn down from 29.46, to 14.98. The 4.8 miles moved my needed miles down from 11.2 to 6.4. And, I still had 2 days left. So, I felt like I had recovered my position with that one effort.

Wednesday was the last day that I wore my raincoat this week. Although the skies remained threatening, my Columbia jacket is waterproof, and unless it really cuts loose, it is plenty of protection for me. I found that it is far easier to keep up a fast pace if I don't have that extra raincoat over the top of everything else.

On Thursday I finally made it in early enough to take a walk. I got dressed early and worked hard to get out the door ahead of schedule. Then the traffic was not bad at all, and I was able to get in 2 miles, but just barely! I had 27 minutes to work with, and that meant no dallying around. I took off at a fast walk, and I ran on the downhill portions of the path. I took 12:29 for the first mile and was nearly identical on the second, when I finished in 24:59. I averaged 12:29.5 and 4.8 mph for the two miles, and I earned 6.60 aerobic points, bringing me to 26.62 for the week so far, and I was up to 10.6 miles walked. I figured that if I did my two normal lunchtime walks, I would now be okay for the week. (They should be good for 10 aerobic points and 4.8 miles, pushing me past my goal for both items.)

At lunch the weather still looked dicey and my walking partner was still a bit sore, so I was on my own once more. I did the 2.4-mile loop in 32:30, averaging 13:32 per mile and 4.43 mph. That earned 7.23 aerobic points, putting me at 33.85 for the week. A good 1-mile walk would have given me what I need for the aerobic points, however, I had only walked 13 miles so far and needed 2 more to reach the goal for that category.

Friday, I once again arrived early enough to do a walk. This time I only had time enough for a 1-mile walk. I completed it in 13:36 (4.41 mph) and it earned 2.41 aerobic points. I was up to 36.26 aerobic points for the week, and I had that goal reached. I still needed one more mile to get to 15 for the week.

At lunch I did a 2.4 mile loop. My walking partner's wife showed up and the two of them took a walk together, and I was on my own once more. I did the walk in 34:50, averaging 14:30 and 4.13 mph. That gave me an additional 6.52 aerobic points increasing my total to 42.78, and it pushed my total miles for the week up to 16.4, exceeding my goal of 15.

Water – I did well on my water this week, getting in at least 6 cups every day. I averaged drinking 62.8 ounces (7.85 cups) per day, and that is near the top of my minimum goal range.

Week's Evaluation – I feel this was a very good week! I weighed in at 184.5 for my weekly weigh-in, and remained within my target range on all my daily weigh-ins too. My average weight was within a pound of my target weight. I met my exercise goals for both distance (15 miles) and intensity (35 aerobic points). For water I drank at the upper end of my goal range.

2 years, 299 days OP; a lifetime to follow.

-Al-

6 '3" 239.5/184.5/180±2/BMI:23.06/WK-147
GRAPHS: Weight Loss/Year 1 Maint./Year 2 Maint./Year 3 Maint.
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