Week 194 Update

For some stupid reason, I woke up at 2:50 AM, and couldn't get back to sleep. So, I stepped up on Mr. Scale and he said, "186.0 pounds!" It probably would have been a bit lower if I had waited a couple more hours, but that is okay.

Saturday - This week started out on a very high note, with a fun trip to the coast for Dotti and I. Saturday morning, after my weigh-in of 185.0 pounds, we got the car packed, and we got on the road. The drive out to the coast was a very pleasant trip. Our only point of "excitement" was following behind these two slowpokes for a few miles. We finally hit a passing lane and got around them. Other than that, it was a smooth and trouble free trip.

Once we checked into the motel, and unloaded the car, Dotti and I walked a little over a mile to get to the "downtown" area, where all the shops were. Dotti snapped this picture of me in front of the City Hall building, and it gives you an idea of how small this town is. Our GPS is hanging around my neck, so we could track our distance walked. The raincoat was for "just in case," but it didn't rain on us. It was 59°, and a heavy coat was not required.

Some of the shop owners really tried to create a fun environment by using these bright colors. Inside there was quite a selection of interesting things to browse through. Outside, we noticed this interesting signpost. From various sides it had listed San Francisco 652; Seatle 226; New York 2509; Boise 530; and North Pole 1596. (The last is probably referring to North Pole, Alaska, since we are over 6,000 miles from the real north pole, and sitting halfway between there and the equator.) It is fun to put your location in perspective that way. My place of birth is about 400 miles south of San Francisco, putting this sign a little over 1000 miles from there. Dotti was born in New York, and so her birthplace was 2500 miles away.

While visiting this little shop called "At the Beach," we were discussing buying this blue-eyed hula dancer lamp, in celebration of LeRoy's home state of course. But we couldn't figure out where we would put it. There was a smaller version also, but we just don't have room for another lamp in the house. Darn!

The walk back was nice, but we were getting hungry by this time. While Dotti fixed our dinner, I stepped out onto the balcony and took this picture. The path to the water cuts right through the beach grass, and then drops down through a mini-canyon through the dune. Watching people walk by, it looks like they sink right into the grassy landscape as they work their way down to the shore.

In the evening we had the fire blazing right up until bedtime. With the cool sea breeze coming in through the door, the fire's heat made a very nice balance, and created an atmosphere that was very relaxing. Dotti caught this image of the dancing flame.

By the end of the day, after having lunch at Subway, then our very nice steak dinner, and my snacking, I had eaten 51.0 points.

Sunday - In the morning we awoke to a beautiful rainbow to the west. The orange of the sunrise is reflecting off the clouds and the sea grass If you look closely, you will see that the rainbow is actually a double rainbow. (That is twice as much gold, if you can find the ends of both. )

I weighed 187.5 first thing Sunday morning.

Alas, the trip did have to come to an end, and we were all too soon on the way home.

When we got home we had some of Dotti's great Tortellini Soup for dinner, and I finished off the day eating 51.0 points.

Monday - I weighed 188.0 pounds. I had eaten a good deal less on this weekend than I had the previous two weekends, and so I was not too concerned. I had taken in more sodium than usual and knew that I was not putting on fat weight.

I have a pocket audio recorder that I use from time to time, and on Monday I used it to describe parts of my drive in, and my walk. I am including a few details that came from that recording in the following description.

I had the hardest time waking up. I was groggy and tired. That feeling persisted. I got out the door later than I wanted to. I got out about six twenty-two. I like to be out by 6:15 if I can, trying to get to work in time for a walk, with a little extra time added in over and above that.

It was 35° when I left home with clear skies. I could see the bright moon overhead and the clear skies stayed with me until I hit the Sylvan Hill. I got out of the tunnel and was heading up the hill and the moon was very close to full and it looked like it was sitting cradled in a little crescent of pine trees up on the top of the hill. They were surrounding the bottom of it, although it was sitting above them, not being touched by them. It looked like a sign it was so bright. And as I went on, it altered the position of the moon, and the pine trees crept up and silhouetted themselves in front, and finally covered it up completely, as the hill overcame the moon.

Then, as I dropped down into the Tualatin Valley, I hit a really dense patch of fog, and it stayed with me the rest of the way. I made it to work with just enough time to get in my 3.17-mile walk, but it would be cutting it closer than I like to. I set off walking at 7:14 AM.

Walking in the fog was eerie. The buildings… the trees…the street lights shining through the fog, silhouetted the trees, and they crept out of the fog as I progressed, and then they disappeared into the mist behind. The headlights suddenly appeared and grew brighter. Taillights passed off into the distance, engulfed by the mist. From the point where I can normally catch my first good view of the airport, I instead saw a blank wall of mist. Even the top of the short hill right in front of me was gone, captured by the fog. Visibility was very low.

It was 39° at this time, but the ground felt really slippery under me. I knew it couldn't be frozen. But it was definitively slick and wet. Also, on Sunday I had replaced my walking shoes, after who knows how many miles walked on them. (For this new pair I am noting that they are starting just after I walked 103.77 miles for the year.) That may be a factor in why the ground felt so slick.

As I made my way through the first of two pedestrian tunnels that I would be using, I looked out the end of it, and there, in the mist, were quite a few geese standing by the pond just beyond the tunnel exit. There were about 8 of them immediately visible, and as I exited, a couple more came into view off to the side. Then, on the pond, near the fountain spray, there were quite a few more of them swimming, that I could just make out.

The sun was not up yet, but there was some light to the sky. It was not pitch black. I passed by a large building that has accumulated years of time as a never-having-been-occupied structure. It was standing empty and dark, as if hiding in the fog.

The streetlights wandered off into the distance, each one marking its spot, the string going off farther and farther away. The trees were casting three-dimensional shadows--black streaks in the orange-lit fog--visible from the branches all the way to the ground. It would have been an excellent setting for a spooky picture.

Pulling even with, and then passing, the unoccupied building, I could see through its large blank windows in the front and dimly out the windows in the back. It was all dark. However, the opposite widows were significantly lighter than the building’s empty interior, which was pitch black.

A sign approached that was indirectly, but brightly lit. It marked the entrance driveway for one of our customers. It stood its ground in the mist, while a string of headlights approached from around the corner behind it. The windows of the facility that is organizationally, though not physically, attached to that sign, were lit up in the distance, and looked as if they were hanging unsupported in space. However, I looked closer and I could just see the outline of the rooftop through the dark fog.

Turning I saw that there were 3 sets of double lights, appearing like headlights, shining brightly from the top of an tall invisible building at the airport. They looked like they were just hovering there, like UFOs.

I passed by a "potential driveway," where the existing sidewalks and road form all the makings of the beginning of a side road, but the asphalt only goes about 5 feet off of the main road and then stops, and progress is there halted with a dead end sign, crossed with orange hash marks. Right behind that sign it looked just like the earth came to an end; consumed in the never ending mist. Nothing was visible beyond that point.

Looking back, I saw a cafeteria, but just the windows of it, not the structure to which they were attached. There was a lone lady visible walking across the floor of what appeared to be an otherwise empty room. Across the street, there were some blue lights that had just become visible over at the airport, marking the route of safe ground passage for the planes.

My path next ran down the hill ahead, but it was completely invisible beyond perhaps 100 yards. When there were no cars on the parallel road, it looked like the path just went away. When the cars return, I could see where the path was once more.

1.25 miles later...

It was clear that the sun was on its way up. It was not actually visible yet, but the sky was growing much lighter. The mist was growing brighter, but not thinner. Some of the streetlights had clicked off by this time, but the ones that remained on did not appear as striking as they had earlier. They weren’t quiet as eerie in the mist. However, now the trees had become the predominate feature, and they marched off to disappear into the misty distance. Visibility had not increased much from when it was very dark.

With just under two-thirds mile to go, I checked my watch and noted that I had just enough time to make it. The corner up ahead was completely lost in the mist, and I was heading into the home stretch. I had my heavy coat on and my gloves, my cap and scarf. I was all decked out for warmth, even though it was 39° when I started. Normally, if I error in one direction or the other, it is towards over-dressing for the weather rather than under dressing for it.

I finished the walk with 3 minutes to spare...a little closer than I like to cut it. I did the walk at a 13:46-per-mile pace (4.36 mph), because I was in a bit of a hurry. Considering that I was warmly dressed, and that I was talking on the recorder for part of the walk, that was a fairly fast pace for me. In fact it was the fastest sustained pace I had all week long.

I was busy at work, and didn't have time to take a walk at lunch. So, I took at 3.05-mile walk when I got home. I felt tired and my stomach did not feel very well. I ended up eating 41.5 points for the day.

Tuesday - I weighed 185.0 pounds. We had high broken clouds when I left home, but when I arrived at work it was heavy fog once more. When I set out on my walk, it was 36°. The fog was nearly identical with how it had been on Monday.

Work was fairly quiet, and at lunch I was able to take a walk. It was 50°, but felt a lot colder to me. I didn't grab my scarf, and after I started walking I was wishing that I had. I snapped the chin piece on my hood and that helped. I felt tired but not really bad.

When I got home, Dotti asked if I wanted to walk to Red Robin for dinner. Normally I would jump at the chance, but I was not feeling very well by that time and had to decline.

I ended up eating 50.5 points for the day.

Wednesday - I weighed 185.0 pounds. I got to work and walked my 3.17-mile loop. Though it was completely overcast, visibility was great for the first time in a while. It was damp, and a few raindrops fell, but not many.

It was a busy day at work, and I didn't really have time to walk at lunch. When I got home I asked Dotti if she was still up for the walk to Red Robins and she was! It was fun walking over. We both had a salad. While we were waiting (and it was the longest wait we have ever had for food at Red Robin) we consumed a couple of glasses of water each, and I had a couple more of iced tea. By the time we got outside to start walking home, I was chilled to the point where the 45° temperature felt more like 26°. We were about two-thirds of the way home before I started to warm up.

I ended up eating 44.5 points on Wednesday.

Thursday - I weighed 184.5 pounds. As I was getting ready to leave for work, I felt a migraine coming on, and I took a couple of aspirin. Fortunately, my migraines respond well to aspirin, and before I was 5 minutes into my drive the small symptoms that I had been experiencing were gone. (Catching it early definitely helps!)

When I got to work the weather was great for walking. It was 45° and though it was heavily overcast, it didn't rain the whole way. However, I still was feeling tired, as if I was shaking off a bug. I was busy at work, and since I had already reached my goal for the week and for the month for miles, I didn't walk at lunch. When I got home I decided to take a rest and I didn't walk there either. Dotti was tired also and she went to bed early. I worked on my laptop for a while and then did some reading, before calling it a day, after consuming 47.0 points.

Friday - I weighed 186.0 pounds. I got to work early and did a 3.17-mile loop. It was 49° and I was a bit overdressed for the walk. I was still feeling tired as I walked. On Thursday and Friday I was walking very close to a 15-minute mile, which is a bit slow for me.

I was busy all day at work, and I relaxed at lunch and read while eating. In the evening I played my guitar for a while and then laid down to read. I finished up eating 38.0 points for the day.

On my spreadsheet, I have a couple of columns dedicated to the Bloomsday Race. They show exactly what my time for Bloomsday would be if I walked it at that same pace. The pace for most of my walks would put me between 1 hour 40 minutes and 1 hour 55 minutes. There have been a few slow ones (usually walking with someone else) when the pace has been slower than that, but overall I have been happy with the results.

This week I cleared my walking goal for the week (25 miles) and for the month (111 miles), by walking 30.84 miles for the week, and 132.09 for the month. I have averaged 4.77 miles per day for the year so far, and if I continued that pace throughout 2005, I would walk 1721 miles. There are 337 exercise days left in 2005, and I still have 1167.9 miles to go in order to reach 1300 miles for the year. (Last year at this time I had 1154.9 miles to go in order to reach 1200 miles, and I had only averaged 1.61 miles per day.) I am very pleased with my start on my walking program for 2005.

With my focus being so set on walking, I have attempted to not lose sight of my weight control journey. I had two daily weigh-ins that slipped out of my target range. Monday it was a whole pound above my upper limit. However, I think that was at least mostly water retention from sodium intake. My points-per-day this week actually fell by 1.29 from last week. Not only that, but my average for points was very close to my target of 46 points for maintenance, even when I was not exercising. So, I feel comfortable with how my week went on that score.

For water I got in at least 6 cups every day, and I averaged 54.86 ounces (6.8 cups) per day. That is plenty of water.

So, after completing 1358 days of my journey, I am very happy with where I am today. My average weight for my entire journey is now at 188.4 (That average fell below 190.0, my personal goal weight, on October 30, 2003, and has continued to slowly drop ever since.) My average points-per-day for my entire journey is up to 42.1, and continuing to rise.

Much of what I do today to maintain my weight happens without thought. I have standard things that I eat for breakfast and lunch and just use common sense for dinner. If my points are low, or the scale is dropping too low, I fill in extra points with snacks, or a larger meal. If the scale is creeping up, I just pull back on what I am eating until it drops again. The hand on the steering wheel, making small corrections as required with hardly any extra thought required. If I hit a chuckhole, I tighten my grip, and pay close attention, but otherwise, I am on a relaxed journey. Routine, and habit: they make life easy, while still harvesting good results. Keeping it simple is my aim, and it seems to be working for now. Only time will tell about the future. All I can control is today.

3 years, 263 days OP; a lifetime to follow.

-Al-

6 '3" 239.5/186.0/180±2/BMI:23.25/WK-194

GRAPHS:

Weight Loss Maintenance Year 1 Maintenance Year 2 Maintenance Year 3 Maintenance Year 4 2005 Walking 2005 Walking Data

2004 Walking Data