Week 161 Update

It was 05:25, five minutes after sunrise, and the temperature was 52º when I stepped up on Mr. Scale. He promptly said, "186.0 pounds!"

I had two main themes to my journey this week. I was focused on getting in some extra miles walking, and I was struggling to get my weight back down where it belongs, especially towards the end of the week. I did manage to do both, but it was close on the latter.

One thing that made getting my weight right by Saturday a bit more difficult was the arrival of our 28th anniversary. Dotti and I were married right here in Vancouver the morning of June 10, 1976. I had to travel about half way around the world to get here for the wedding, but it sure was worth it! We celebrated the event by going out to eat, and that was on Thursday, pretty late in the week. But all's swell that ends swell. :)

Eating and Weight – As it turned out, I ended up eating exactly the same number of points this week as I did the previous week: 319.5, which averaged 45.64 per day. That is pretty close to the number of points that I had established as my maintenance level, before I started my exercise journey. So, it would appear, at least for the last couple of weeks, that whether I am exercising or not, I need around 46 points per day. However, I have seen that number move around, and even up over 50 on some weeks, so it is always in flux and subject to change. This is a dynamic process and never seems to settle into a boring status quo.

Saturday – I weighed in at 185.0 pounds. After breakfast Dotti and I headed out for our hike. On the way back home we stopped at Sharis for lunch and I had a 16.0 point meal. I ate another 16.5 points for dinner and by day's end I was up to55.5.

Sunday – I weighed 186.0. We had a nice quiet day on Sunday, and I decided to hold it back a bit and only ate 36.0 points that day.

Monday – My weight fell back to 185.0 pounds, as low as I could get this week. Also, it was back to work. I did quite a bit of walking that day (6.1 miles) and ended up eating 52.5 points.

Tuesday – I was up to 186.5 pounds. I compensated for the increase in weight by eating more. (Huh?) For dinner we went to Sweet Tomatoes, and I had 22.0 points worth of tasty dinner there. I ended up eating 52.0 points for the day.

Wednesday – The scale held steady at 186.5. I did not hold steady, but dropped my points to 40.5, in order to make sure things didn't take off on me.

Thursday – Things took off on me anyway, as the scale jumped up to 188.0 pounds. This was the day of our 28th anniversary, and I was not going to blow that for Dotti because the scale was being heavy handed. We went out to McGrath's Fish House for dinner. I even had a fairly high point dessert (a large piece of strawberry shortcake with whipped cream). The meal came to 32.0 points, and that brought my total for the day to 56.5 points. All I could say about that was that I was happy it wasn't an 80 point day.

Friday – The scale held steady at 188.0 pounds. I knew that the "fat was in the fire," so to speak, and I had to do something to set things right for Saturday's weigh-in. I altered my lunch from the normal 14.5 points, to a mere 6.0 points. (An orange, an apple, a banana and two turkey sandwiches did the trick.) For dinner I had 9.0 points, composed of very light food. By day's end I had consumed 27.0 points. I also drank lots of water (15 cups) throughout the day. When I was heading for bed I stopped and checked the scale. It said 189.5. I knew I was carrying a lot of water with me from all that I had drunk during the evening, so I was fairly optimistic that I would be okay for my weigh in today. This morning the scale had dropped to 186.0.

I am going to strive to keep things under control all week this time, rather than trying to rein in the galloping horse at the end of the week.

Exercise – Things were good on the exercise front this week. I got in some walking every single day, and I exceeded all the goals I had set for myself for the week. Those included getting in at least 30 miles of walking, and my standing goal of earning a minimum of 35 aerobic points per week. For the longer term, I am striving to get at least 100 miles in for the month.

Longer still, I am striving to bring my average miles-per-month average for the last 4 months to 100. In March, I walked 109.7 miles. In April I did 111.0 miles. In May I fell off to 63.4 miles. That brought my 3 month total to 284.1, 15.9 miles short of the 300 miles it should have been to get my desired average. So, in June I need to walk at least 115.9 miles to bring up the 4-month average to 100 miles-per-month.

Even longer still, I want to bring up my average miles-per-month for the entire year of 2004 to 100 miles per month. At the end of May, I had walked 397.2 miles for the year. That put me 102.8 miles short of my goal for the year. I had 7 months left for the year at that point. So, if I divide 102.8 by 7, I get just under 14.7. So, I need to walk, on average, 114.7 miles per month for the rest of the year, in order to bring my average up to 100 miles per month for the entire year.

Saturday – Dotti and I did a 3.5 mile hike at Lacamas Park. There was only a 200-foot elevation gain, but it was a good hike nonetheless to get our ourselves back onto the trails again. We didn't do the hike fast and so it didn't earn many aerobic points but we were tired at the end, and so we had definitely gotten some exercise. Our time was 2 hours and 20 minutes. We walked at a slow pace, and we stopped to enjoy the scenery and to take a lot of pictures along the way. That added up to only three-quarters of one aerobic point, meaning that the cardio workout was not as great as the workout that our legs got while hiking the 3.5 miles. That was not a problem as we knew we would be walking a lot more during the week, and doing much faster times. In the meantime, we were very satisfied with our hike.

Sunday – Dotti was not feeling well, so and I did our standard 3.1 mile (5K) evening walk by myself. It took me 40:44 to complete the walk. I averaged 13:08 per mile (4.57 mph), and earned 10.05 aerobic points.

Monday – I got to work early enough to do a 1-mile walk in the morning. I walked at a relatively slow pace and completed it in 15:37. (3.84 mph) It was good for 1.84 aerobic points. Even though that was more than twice the number of aerobic points that I earned on Saturday's hike, I certainly did not get anywhere near as much exercise. It was just that my heart rate was up for the entire walk.

At lunch I walked 2 miles in 29:37. That was an average rate of 14:49 per mile (4.05 mph), and it earned another 5.10 aerobic points.

In the evening, Dotti and I did our 3.1-mile walk in 52:57, averaging 17:05 per mile (3.51 mph), and it earned 6.78 aerobic points.

At the end of Monday, I had walked 12.7 miles for the week, 41.1 miles for the month, and had earned 24.5 aerobic points for the week. So far, so good.

Tuesday, I had a meeting at our office first thing in the morning, so I couldn't walk. At lunch I did 2.0 miles in 28:09, averaging 14:04 per mile (4.26 mph). The temperature was only around 70º, but the humidity was up, as it had been all week so far, and I didn't feel really enthusiastic about moving up my speed any faster. It was still good for 5.52 aerobic points.

In the evening, Dotti and I decided to try something different for our walk. We needed to go by Safeway, and instead of driving, we walked. It was 1.4 miles, and even having to wait for stoplights, it took 25:53 to get there (18:29 per mile, 3.25 mph). That was good for 2.14 aerobic points. From Safeway, we walked on to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner. That was a 0.65 mile walk, and took us 11:05 to complete, including the time wasted getting back across a major road, etc. (17:03 per mile; 3.52 mph). Even that short walk earned 0.99 aerobic points.

After dinner, we walked back home. That was a 1.89-mile walk, and it took us 33:03 to complete it. (17:29 per mile; 3.43 mph) We earned 3.59 aerobic points as well.

So, for our evening walk, we went (1.4 + 0.64 + 1.89 =) 3.93 miles, and earned (2.14 + 0.99 + 3.59 =) 6.72 aerobic points. That was 0.83 miles longer than our normal walk, but, because it was slower, it earned fewer aerobic points than normal. It was a really nice change of pace.

Wednesday, once again work tied me up in the morning, as I had to run by the office to pick, up a part first thing. So, couldn't walk then. At lunch I walked 2.0 miles in 31:40. (15:50 per mile; 3.79 mph) The humidity was up and I just focused on getting the walk it, not in going fast. I earned 4.57 aerobic points for the walk.

In the evening Dotti and I did our normal 3.1-mile walk. With the high humidity, we felt overly warm, and kept our speed down as a result. It took us 54:47 to complete the walk (17:40 per mile; 3.40 mph), and earned 6.42 aerobic points.

At this point in the week I was up to 23.74 miles, getting close to the 26.2-mile mark that I always shoot for, and after only 9 days, I was up to 52 miles for the month!

Thursday suddenly the humidity disappeared! Although I got a late start for work, and didn't get a chance to walk in the morning, I was able to walk at a pretty good clip at lunch. I walked 2.0 miles in 26:59 (13:30 per mile; 4.45 mph) and earned 5.89 aerobic points.

In the evening Dotti and I walked our 3.1 miles in 52:41 (16:60 per mile; 3.53 mph), and earned 6.84 aerobic points.

Friday I started the day knowing that if I applied myself, I could, for this month, already pass up the number of miles that I had walked for the entire month of May, and it was only the 11th of June! I set to work.

I arrived early in the morning. In fact it was early enough to where I could do my 2.4 mile loop before work. The temperature was down, and the humidity was low. I completed it in 31:03, averaging 12:56 per mile (4.64 mph). That was good for 7.73 aerobic points.

At lunch, the temperature had gone up some, and I was a bit tired from the morning walk. I did 2.0 miles in 30:45 (15:23 per mile; 3.90 mph). That earned another 4.80 aerobic points.

In the evening Dotti and I did our 3.1 mile walk in 53:06, averaging 17:08 per mile (3.50 mph). It added another 6.75 aerobic points.

At the end of the week I had walked 36.34 miles. For the month I had gone 64.7, passing up the total for May (63.4 miles) by over a mile. My total for the year had been increased to 461.9 miles. To be on track for my goal of 100 miles per month (1200 miles for the year) I should be at 537.5 miles on this date. So, I am just under 76 miles short of being on target for the year. If I were to continue the rest of the month of June at the same rate that I have started it, I will have walked 176 miles for the month, and my total miles for the year will be 573.6, leaving me just 26 miles short of 600 miles, the halfway point to 1200. It would however send me well past my goal of averaging 100 miles per month for the last 4 months.

So, this week, as well as last, has given me hope that I can get my numbers up where I want them for the year. If I walked as many miles for the rest of the weeks this year as I did this week it would bring my total number of miles to over 1500 for the year. Right now I am focused on just trying to hit the 1200 miles mark for the year.

Water – I did really well on water this week. I drank at least 6 cups every day, and on 4 of the days, I drank significantly more. I averaged 84.57 ounces (10.6 cups) per day, which is well above my minimum goal of 6 to 8 cups per day.

Week's Evaluation – I am very happy with how the week went overall. I was not ecstatic over the way the scale was bumping up at the end of the week, but I was able to bring it back down. I was perfectly happy with how my exercise went, and I would love to do as well every week. I was also happy with my water consumption, and would be happy to do the same every week.

A Few Thoughts: I have been struggling just a bit lately, trying to hold my focus on my weight. I tend to let things drift, and then rein them back in at the last minute. I am into the journey for over 3 years, and while much of it is just habit today, taking up very little of my time and effort, the one area that has to be nurtured is motivation. I learned from my quitting smoking, that motivation can turn on you like a predator. I quit smoking for 5 years and then started smoking again, when things got a bit tough, and my guard was down. I was taught by that experience, the lesson that you are never "there." There is no such thing as being "home free" on a journey to control a destructive behavior. You are always on the trail of recovery, and never settled in at home. Remembering where you came from, and where you do not wish to return, is something that must be done every single day. Otherwise you will find yourself inexplicably standing on the old, and hated ground once more that you fought so hard to get away from. Today I must remember that I am not finished with the journey, and never will be. Today I must focus on the basics and keep my foot on the path. The journey is the destination, and accepting anything else will land us back in our old habits and behaviors. Today is the start of the rest of my journey, and it is truly only just begun.

3 years, 32 days OP; a lifetime to follow.

-Al-

6 '3" 239.5/186.0/180±2/BMI:23.25/WK-161
GRAPHS: Weight Loss/Year 1 Maint./Year 2 Maint./Year 3 Maint.
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