Week 153 Update

At 05:15, with the temperature sitting at 47º, I stepped up on Mr. Scale, and he said, “184.5 pounds!”

This week closed with Mom and Jim both back at their home, and with Mom feeling much better. She still has a many weeks to go before she will be 100%, and I still worry about her doing too much too soon, but she promises not to. We have high hopes that she will continue to recover at the rapid pace that she has been on so far.

In assessing our situation after spending two stressful weeks dealing with Mom's surgery, we decided that emotionally and financially we have been depleted to the point where we will not be able to attend our DWLZ conference this year. It was tough decision, but one that had to be made. My entire allocation of vacation time had been completely committed for the year before this emergency came up, and suddenly I was looking at being 2 weeks in the hole for vacation at year's end. Something had to give. My hope at this point is that next week we can make it all the way through without any serious emotional upheavals, because the ones we have been dealt the last 3 weeks have been more than we needed by far.

Dotti began her treatment for rheumatoid arthritis this week, and we are hopeful that it will be effective. The doctor felt that we "caught it early" giving us more hope that it can be driven into remission. In the meantime, Dotti continues to walk 3.1 miles a day with me, and has actually been improving her time quite a bit the last few nights. We may not be able to do our walk in two weeks in Spokane as fast as Tammy would like, but I think at this rate, we may be close.

Week's Journey Highlights:

I had the scale jump up a bit on Tuesday and Wednesday, as I slid back into my normal work routine. But I was able to pull it back down the next few days. My highest point day was only 48.5, so it wasn't a question of overeating when the scale jumped. I got in my water this week, and I was very happy with how my exercise went, as well as how well Dotti's exercise went. I am back on track to get my 100 miles in for the month, and I got in over 30 miles for the week!

Eating and Weight – Last Saturday I weighed-in at 184.0 pounds. For dinner that night Dotti cooked up an artichoke to go with a nice pasta dish, and some vegi-corn dogs. I have loved artichokes since I was a kid. By day's end I had eaten 48.5 points.

Sunday the scale moved up a half-pound to 184.5. We had dinner at Sweet Tomatoes and I was able to hold my points down to 42.0 for the day.

As a brief aside; I really like the Sweet Tomatoes near our house for a couple of reasons. First off the food is delicious, nutritious, high in fiber, and point friendly. Secondly, they have, without any doubt whatsoever, the best music piped in on their overhead PA system, of any restaurant I have ever been in. It is 100% classical, and it stands in stark contrast in its superiority to the music other establishments play. I have never once wished that I could get up and leave because of what was coming out of the overhead speaker. Unfortunately, I can't say the same about some of the other places we have eaten at. (Sadly, Subway is one of the worst offenders in this area. What they are playing sometimes is bad enough, but the volume they play it at has literally sent me out to my car to eat my sandwich on more than one occasion.)

Monday the scale jumped up a pound to 185.5. I knew it was not from eating too many points. So, I didn't worry about it too much. I ate 45.5 points. At work, on my first day back, I was busy, but not overly so.

Tuesday the scale jumped up another pound. I was not sure why, but I knew it was not from overeating! I was very busy at work, and spent the day working on down machines. Such days go by very quickly. That evening Dotti and I went to a diner that we like a lot. The hostess there is doing well on a weight loss program and she always seems excited to see Dotti when we arrive. I tried a turkey sandwich this time, instead of my regular roast beast meal. It all added up to 15.0 points, and I think that I will go back to my regular meal next time, but it wasn't too bad. At the end of the day my points totaled up to 41.0.

Wednesday I was still 186.5. I may have been retaining some water from the change in activity level, or perhaps there was some extra sodium in one or more of the meals I had been eating, but I knew I was not eating too much, so I didn't worry. After a much quieter day at work, I ate a total of 45.0 points for the day.

Thursday the scale dropped back down to 185.5. I think my body was beginning to acclimate to being back at work, and to the walking that I was doing. I ate 46.0 points that day.

Friday, the scale dropped another half-pound and I was sitting right at my target weight. Most of my day at work was quiet, but the last couple of hours things got really busy. Two machines went down, and at 5:15 PM, the end was not in sight. However, with some luck by 5:45 PM, I was heading out the door, only 45 minutes late, with one of the machines – with 2 problems fixed – back up, and the other one awaiting parts that were on order. Then as a bit of "Karma payback," traffic was extremely light, and I got home in about 45 minutes, on the day of the week that normally takes me at least an hour and a half to get home. In other words, I got home at my normal time for a Friday, even after working the extra time. Go figure.

In the evening, after our walk, Dotti and I played 7th Guest on the computer, solving puzzles and having fun. We had the game years ago, and worked our way through all of the puzzles. Dotti found a cheap place to purchase an XP compatible version of the game, and we are back in business. It has been so long since we played the game, we have forgotten the solutions to the puzzles. So, it is like working them out for the first time again.

I had a few snacks during the evening.

One of the snacks that I have been eating regularly, including on Friday night, is dried edamame. According to edamame.com:

Edamame is a green vegetable soy bean, harvested at the peak of ripening just right before it reaches the hardened time. The word edamame means "Beans on Branches," grows in cluster on bush branches.

It seems to be rather high in points at first (a half-cup is 5.0 points) but it is amazingly filling, and unlike something sweet, you aren't ready to grab something else right away once you have consumed it. Also it is low in sodium, and quite tasty. We picked some up at Trader Joes one time, because it looked interesting, and we have continued to buy it regularly ever since. It is also excellent on the trail as a snack when we are hiking. It really sticks to your ribs, and you don't just gobble up a lot of points in a hurry. I have found it very difficult to eat a lot of dried edamame quickly.

Back to Friday...my points came to 46.0 for the day. That led to another drop on the scale this morning to 184.5.

Exercise – It was a much better week this week for exercise! Dotti and I walked our 3.1 mile (5K) walk every day this week. I also walked each workday at lunchtime. So, my totals for the week added up to over 30 miles, and over 75 aerobic points, surpassing my standing goals for each. On top of that, I had some very nice walks with my lovely wife, and that is priceless!

Saturday, Dotti was thinking about our upcoming Spokane walk, and she was thinking about trying to get our pace to one that would get us through the 7.46-mile course in 2 hours. To complete 7.46 miles (12K) in that time would require a walking pace of 3.73 miles per hour, or 16:05 per mile. Dotti hit the pavement at a faster pace than we had walked so far, and by the time we had finished we had completed the 3.1-mile loop in 49:52, at exactly the right pace of 16:05 per mile (3.73 mph). It also added up to 7.46 aerobic points. (It is funny how numbers work out sometimes. We are focusing on 7.46 miles, and earned 7.46 aerobic points. We were shooting for something under 50 minutes per mile, and came up with exactly 49:52, giving us the precise pace that we needed to hit the 2 hour threshold for the 7.46 miles.) Of course that was on fairly level ground, and the Spokane walk is going to be with some appreciable elevation changes, both up and down, but especially up; for their "Doomsday Hill." However, it was nice to see that we could do the pace for 3.1 miles steady anyway.

Sunday we walked the same loop in 54:04, taking it a bit slower. We walked hand-in-hand the whole way and our pace was 17:26 per mile (3.44 mph). Still it earned 6.56 aerobic points, and I had 6.2 miles in the bank, with 5 more days left to walk.

Monday I set out on my own at lunch, because my walking partner was busy and I didn't think we could get time together to walk. I had my GPS out while I walked, and I completed 2.4 miles in 34:40 (14:27 per mile, and 4.15 mph), but as I came to the end of my loop, I spotted my walking partner heading out on his walk. I caught up with him and we continued on for another 1.3 miles. So, I ended up doing a total of 3.7 miles, and it took 58:12. That gave me an overall average pace of 15:44 per mile and 3.81 mph. That was good for 9.41 aerobic points.

Dotti and I did our 3.1-mile walk in 54:39, once again holding hands and walking a slow pace. We took 17:38 per mile and walked at 3.4 mph. It added up to another 6.44 aerobic points, and brought my totals for the week to 29.88 aerobic points, and 13.0 miles.

Tuesday I was on my own for the entire walk at lunch, but I still didn't do a very fast time. I walked 2.0 miles in 32:04. That was a pace of 16:02 per mile and 3.74 mph. It earned 4.48 aerobic points.

In the evening Dotti and I walked our 3.1 miles in exactly the same time (15:39) as we had on Monday. So, my aerobic point total for the week was up to 40.81 and my mile total was up to 18.10. By Tuesday evening I had already hit my basic goals of 35 aerobic points, and 15 miles! And there were still 3 days to go.

Wednesday the temperature dropped, and so did some rain on my walk at lunch. My walking partner hadn't brought his raincoat and so decided against walking. I was wishing that I had worn my gloves about 0.7 of a mile into the walk. It was raining lightly for most of the walk, tapering off as came to the last mile or so. I completed 2.4 miles in 33:36, for a pace of 14:00 per mile, and 4.29 mph. I really enjoy the cool weather for walking!

In the evening, I remembered the lesson that I had learned at lunch about the gloves. Dotti wore her raincoat, and I wore my Columbia jacket and we set out on our 3.1-mile walk. With the cooler temperatures, and with our hands free, to swing our arms, we did the walk in a faster 53:23, for a pace of 17:13 per mile and 3.48 mph. That is close to 3.5 mph, which is not a bad pace at all. It earned 6.70 aerobic points, and at day's end, I was up to 54.39 aerobic points, and 23.60 miles for the week. The next goal I was shooting for was my 26.2-mile "marathon" distance. I was getting close.

Thursday at lunch, the skies were cloudy, and when I started out on my walk, there were a few raindrops falling. The temperature was still quite cool and I assumed that my walking partner would once again not be walking, so I headed off on my standard loop. Just as I hit the 1-mile mark, here he came, heading in the opposite direction. It had taken me 13:30 to complete the first mile. That was a pace of 4.44 mph. I told him that if he were willing to walk back the 1-mile route that I had just walked, I would turn around and walk with him. (I wanted to get in at least 2 miles for my walk.) He said that was no problem, and so off we went. We came to the 2-mile point at time 35:09 on my stopwatch. That came to an average time per mile of 17:35, and a pace of 3.41. Still, it earned 3.82 aerobic points and added a couple of miles to my total, making it 25.60, and bringing it closer to my "marathon" goal.

Dotti was ready to walk when I got home, and we walked in the cool temperature at a pretty good pace. We completed our walk in 53:08, for a rate of 17:08 per mile, and 3.50 mph. That earned 6.75 aerobic points, and moved me past 26.2 miles to 28.70 for the week, and sent my aerobic points total to 64.96.

Friday, my lunchtime walking partner and I started out together on a walk for the first time this week. We did a 2.33 mile loop, and it took 44:07, for a rate of 18:56 per mile (3.17 mph). It was good for 4.05 aerobic points.

In the evening, after the busy ending to my workday, I grabbed something quick to eat before heading out on the walk. Dotti and I then set out at a pretty good pace, and finished the 3.1 miles in 52:41. That means that we took 16:59 for each mile, and were moving at 3.53 mph. So, for our last 3 walks together our pace was right around 3.5 mph. With Saturday's 3.73 mph, I think our walking speed is just fine for working our way up to our Spokane walk. If Dotti's medication does the trick, she may be able to pick her pace up even more. And she is usually really good at keeping her walking pace up on inclined surfaces. So, while we may not make the 7.46 miles in 2 hours, it is not impossible that we might.

After 7 days of walking, I ended up with 75.85 aerobic points, and I had completed 34.13 miles. That exceeded all my weekly goals. For the month so far, I have earned 125.36 aerobic points, which puts me easily within reach of my overall monthly goal of 150 aerobic points (35 per week x 4.28 weeks in April). I also have walked 53.5 miles so far. That is 53.5% of my monthly goal of walking 100 miles, and I have completed only 53.3% of the month. So, I am right on track for that goal, especially when you consider that I didn't walk at all the first 6 days of the month.

For the rest of the month I will need to average 3.32 miles per day in order to reach 100 miles. If Dotti and I continue to do our 3.1-mile walk each day, it will almost take care of the remaining 46.5 miles needed all by itself. After walking the 43.4 miles with Dotti, I will only need an addition 3.1 miles at work to top 100 miles for the month.

Water – I only drank 4 cups of water on Saturday, but I got in at least 6 cups on every other day this week. I averaged drinking 57.14 ounces (7.1 cups) per day, which is in the middle of my minimum range of 6 to 8 cups per day. I am happy with that.

Week's Evaluation – A good week. My weigh-in was within a half-pound of my target, and my average weight for the week was within half of a pound of my target. I averaged eating 44.57 points-per-day, down by 5.86 points. But that adjustment was easy to make, and my weight stayed pretty much where I wanted it to be. I averaged drinking enough water, and reached and exceeded my exercise goals of 15 miles, and 35 aerobic points, as well as my goal to hit 26.2 miles for the week. I am on track to reach my monthly goals for exercise as well. I definitely consider this week a success.

2 years, 341 days OP; a lifetime to follow.

-Al-

6 '3" 239.5/184.5/180±2/BMI:23.06/WK-153
GRAPHS: Weight Loss/Year 1 Maint./Year 2 Maint./Year 3 Maint.
                Success Story/ April Exercise