Week 150 Update

I was in Eugene, Oregon, and very much worried about the health of my mother when I awoke at 06:00 and stepped up on Mr. Scale. He said, “184.5 pounds!”

Yesterday was a mad dash to hurry up and get into rush hour traffic and wait. I got a call from a lady, who had a voice that I did not recognize right away, at about 14:00. She started off by calling me by my first name. Only businesses and a few family members call me that. I verified that I was the one she was trying to reach and she replied, “Are you driving your car?” I knew this wasn’t going to be good news. I was instantly hit with the fact that Mom was supposed to be going in for cardiac testing that day, and I suddenly braced myself for the worst. Fortunately, it was not the worst but it was bad. Mom, I was told, has some serious blockages on the blood vessels connected to her heart. She was in route to Eugene where they were going to perform emergency bypass surgery.

I called my boss and told him that I was leaving immediately. I told my customer the same thing, and packed up my laptop and ran for the door. I was obviously not all together composed at the time because I left the power cord for the laptop back on my desk, which I didn't discover until I opened up my computer bag in the motel room. I am surprised I didn’t leave the whole computer bag, considering my state of mind. After numerous attempts, I finally got hold of Dotti, who had had her phone turned off because she was in a hair appointment when I received my call. She headed home to start packing. I was able to speak with my Mom on the drive home and she sounded like she was in good spirits, and at that time she was still in the hospital where the angiogram was done, awaiting the ambulance ride.

I made it home, and we loaded up the car and finally got on the road about 16:00. The freeway was a parking lot, and the hope of actually being at the hospital to welcome Mom when she arrived went up in smoke. We finally made it to the hospital sometime after 19:00 and had already spoken with Mom in her new hospital room as we were approaching Eugene. (Cell phones are wonderful inventions!)

When we got in to see Mom, we found that they were not planning to do the surgery until Monday. From the way her condition was described to me, I found that to be appalling, because of the tremendous amount of blockage that she has. However, the doctors feel comfortable with waiting and that if anything should change, they will be on top of it soon enough to get her into surgery immediately. I am not happy with that arrangement, but there is not much that I can do.

Week's Highlights: It is difficult to concentrate on much besides my Mom’s situation, but here goes.

This week I was really clicking on exercise. I once again went over 26.2 miles for the week, and even more importantly, I went over 100 miles walked for the month! I think that is the largest number of miles that I have walked in a single month since leaving boot camp in November of 1973.

At the same time as I was doing so much walking, I didn’t use any anti-inflammatory medications during the week. So, my average points went back up to close to 50 points per day.

Eating and Weight – Saturday, I was on the low end of my weight range at 183.5 pounds. Dotti and I headed off for our 6.7 mile hike after I ate my normal 5.0 point breakfast, and did my weekly update. It was 75 miles of driving each way to get to Silver Falls and back, which took 3+ hours on the road, and the hike itself took just over 3 hours. So, it had been over 8 hours since breakfast before I finally ate a meal. On the trail I had a great snack that Dotti found at Trader Joes, called Dry Roasted Edamame. A half-cup is 5.0 points. It is dry and crunchy, and you can’t just shovel it in like peanuts or cashews, you have to chew it for a while. It is filling and tasty. It took the whole hike before I finished the half-cup bag. It was evening by the time we got back to town, so we stopped at Sharis and had dinner. I had half a burger, some vegetable soup and some fries. It all added up to 20 points in the end, and the points for the day came to 52.0

On Sunday, my weight held steady at 183.5. I didn’t get in any exercise that day, and I ended up putting away 45.5 points during the day. Monday the scale had moved up to 184.0. I ended up walking over 9 miles that day and ate 44.5 points, including a meal at Sweet Tomatoes in the evening. Tuesday the scale held steady at 184.0, and after walking 5.1 miles, my points ended up coming to 41.5. Wednesday the scale once more said 184.0. I walked over 5 miles again, and ate 50.5 points. Thursday, the scale fell to 183.5 points. Not only that, but our Tanita scale had shown me at 182.5. So, I knew I needed to move it back up a bit. I ate 59.5 points that day. On Friday the scale was back up to 184.5. Normally, I would have attempted fine tune things on Friday and see if I could zero in on 185 the next morning. However, the roof caved in on me when I got the news about my Mom. I had already walked a couple of miles at lunch before I found out, and I had already eaten my normal 5 point breakfast and 15.5 point lunch. When I got the call in the early afternoon, there was only one thought on my mind: get to the hospital. I drove home, and we hit the road without anything to eat. We did grab some snacks for the road, but hadn’t thought about dinner. I ate some rice cakes for snacks, and then about halfway down on the trip, we stopped at a Safeway and bought some readymade sandwiches at the deli. By day’s end I had eaten 53.5 points. That brought me to my weigh-in weight of 184.5 for this week.

Exercise – First of all, Dotti and I took a nice 6.7 mile hike around the Silver Falls http://www.dottisweightlosszone.com/CFHC/silverfalls_06_21_03/silverfalls.html . trail. I wore a new pair of boots for the first time, and wasn’t sure how well they would do. (I carried a pair of tennis shoes with me in my backpack just in case the boots trashed my feet.) As it turned out the boots worked really well, and I didn’t have any blisters on my feet after the hike.

The hike took a total of 3 hours and 5 minutes, and we averaged 27:36 per mile (2.17 mph). Since this is the first hike of the season, I didn’t feel bad at all about the time. It was good for 6.86 aerobic points.

On Sunday I took a break and didn’t do any walking.

Monday I wanted to get things going. I had two goals that I was eyeing for the week. First off I wanted to get in at least 26.2 miles once more. Secondly I wanted to break 100 miles for the month. So, I got in to work an hour early and I headed off on a 4 mile walk. I completed the walk in 53:32 (13:23 per mile and 4.48 mph). That was good for 12.93 aerobic points. At lunch, I had two different walks grafted together to make one. I started out walking with my walking partner. However, he had a meeting that he had to get back for the start of, and so he could only walk for about 20 minutes or so. We covered 1.12 miles in 21:37 and he headed back in for his meeting, I then continued on for another mile which I completed in 14:23. Combined, my walk added up to 2.12 miles in 36:00 minutes. It averaged 16:58 per mile (3.53 mph) and earned 4.37 aerobic points. In the evening, Dotti and I took a 3.1 mile walk, that we finished in 1 hour and 24 seconds. Our time averaged 19:29 (3.08 mph) and it earned another 5.45 aerobic points. For the week I was sitting in pretty good shape already. I had already walked 15.92 miles, and earned 29.61 aerobic points. With my basic goal for the week being 15 miles and 35 aerobic points, I was almost there, and I still had 4 more days to walk.

Tuesday I realized that by just walking my normal lunch walk and my evening walk, I would reach all of my exercise goals for the week and the month. Since my leg muscles and my knees were feeling a little achy, I didn’t want to overdo it. So, even though I arrived early enough to do a walk before work that morning, I didn’t actually walk then. At lunch, my walking partner had an appointment so he couldn't walk. I went out and did 2 miles, shortening my walk because we had machine issues and I didn't want to be late getting back from lunch. The walk took 28:06 and I averaged 14:03 and 4.27 mph. That earned 5.54 aerobic points. When I got home, Dotti was ready for our walk and we did our 3.1 miles (5K) in 57:33, averaging 18:33 per mile (3.23 mph). At the end of Tuesday I was up to 21.02 miles for the week and 41.07 aerobic points. That exceeded my basic exercise goals for the week. But of course the “marathon” distances was still out there waiting for me.

Wednesday, when I looked out the window about an hour before the time for my lunchtime walk, it was raining so hard that I couldn't see very much out of the window. But my walking partner and I set out anyway on our walk, and fortunately, only a few drops fell during the whole thing. We walked our standard 2.33-mile walk without getting wet. It took 43:01, and we averaged 18:27 per mile (3.25 mph). That was good for 4.24 aerobic points. In the evening Dotti and I bundled up a bit for our 3.1-mile (5K) walk. The temperature was down a bit, and the wind was blowing, while the clouds were threatening. The driveway was wet when we headed out. However, once again only a little rain fell during our walk, and that was only at one point. It took us 55:25 to do the walk, averaging 17:52 (3.36 mph). That pushed me over the 26.2 point for the week. (Actually to 26.45.) So, I completed this “marathon” in 5 days. I was still a bit short on my very last goal for this week: reaching 100 miles for the month. I was over 95 miles by this time, and that was getting me within striking distance!

Thursday it was raining and my walking partner decided to skip the lunchtime walk. At one point in the walk I thought it might lighten up enough to where I would cast a visible shadow, but it didn’t happen. All I could see was my reflection in the water under my feet. It did rain most of the way, but it was a light rain and I didn’t wet. The temperature was down, so the raincoat added some needed warmth for the walk. I completed 2.4 miles in 35:16, averaging 14:41 per mile (4.08 mph). Dotti and I decided to take a break from our walk in the evening. That left my totals at 28.85 miles and 58.02 aerobic points for the week, and 98.26 miles for the month. Friday would be the day!

Friday I didn’t walk in the morning but my walking partner and I walked our 2.33 mile walk at lunch. We completed it in 42:23, averaging 18:11 per mile and 3.30 mph. It earned 4.36 aerobic points and put me over 100 miles for the month!

Because of the emergency with my Mom, that ended my walking for the week, but I ended up with a total of 31.18 miles, and 62.37 aerobic points for the week. I also reached 100.59 miles for the month. I was very happy with that!

Water – I did pretty good on my water this week. I got in at least 5 cups everyday, and I averaged 60.57 ounces (7.5 cups) per day. That is on the high end my minimum range of 6 to 8 cups per day. I am very happy with that.

Week's Evaluation – Looking at my journey, and setting aside the emergency situation that came at the end of the week for a moment, this was a very good week. I averaged 49.64 points per day, but my averaged weight was 184.0. So, I was eating right where I needed to be. My exercise was as good as it has ever been since I started my journey, and has fitted in well with the rest of the month. I not only went over 26.2 miles, but over 30 miles for the week, and I went over 100 miles for the month. I feel very good about that. My water consumption remained up and the worst I did all week was one day where I only drank 5 cups. Other than that it was 6 or more each day. I think that week 150 was definitely a success!

2 years, 320 days OP; a lifetime to follow.

-Al-

6 '3" 239.5/184.5/180±2/BMI:23.06/WK-150
Weight Loss Graph/Year 1 Maint. Graph/Year 2 Maint. Graph/Success Story