Woke up a little later than usual today at 6:45. I must have needed some extra sleep. I rubbed the sleepy from my eyes and stepped up on the scale, wondering what sort of mood he might be in this morning and he said, “229.5.” Finally a number in the 220s. It has been quite a while since I have seen that. Yesterday, I put on the same pants that I had worn when I gave my talk at the conference, and I found that I had to have my belt snugged up a bit, or they would fall down. They now can slip right passed my hips and hit bottom if I don't stop them.I also noticed that my belt is now pulled in a notch, from where it was when I started. To look at myself in the mirror I don’t see anything very different but small things have obviously been happening.

As I begin day 16, I look back over the 15 OP days that have just passed and I wonder what was the matter with me before. I am not suffering or struggling. I am not going without. I was probably hungry more often before I started than I am now. Not probably, I was definitely hungry more often before. I was eating a large number of cough drops every day “for allergies” (which have been no worse since I gave up the cough drops), and now I have something OP, and much healthier, to eat instead. I focus on food more now, but it is in a clinical, “count and measure way,” more than the hunger and rummage way I used to eat. I seldom get terribly hungry now. I feel satisfied nearly all of the time. Nothing goes into my mouth without my knowing what the point value is, and that value being written down in my journal. It is very much like getting into the car. That seat belt goes on first thing after I sit down. I don’t have to think about it. It is a habit. Now, the write-it-down habit is in place. I have my “steno pad lite” with me at all times, if I don’t have my full sized journal available. And then when I get home, I transfer the data from the portable one to the main one.

Yesterday was a great day! Dotti and I went to the Oregon Zoo. We walked around continually for 3 hours in the morning, looking at all the animals. We did skip the insect house, since that is not Dotti’s favorite part, but we got around to most of the other animal areas. It was a fairly cool morning; not quite jacket weather but almost. We did keep moving, and that kept us fairly warm.

Around noon, after all our walking around, we took the (35 minute round trip) train ride that runs from the zoo over to the Washington Park, where there are some flower gardens. We did not stop and visit the flower gardens, but instead stayed on the train to complete the loop. The track, ran back into the woods, and it looked like we were going right through the heart of the forest for quite a ways. It is amazing that we could be so close to downtown Portland, which lies just a few miles away, and still be looking at such a heavily forested area. The train's motion caused a cool breeze, and the trees provided a lot of shade, and so Dotti got a little cold. Darn it, I had to put my arm around her to keep her warm. Lucky me!

After all that walking, and a lot of it was up and down hills, we were pretting tired. But we still went over to Costco to pick up some Romaine Hearts (lettuce), and other items. Then it was back home and onto the computers for a while. We both ended up in chat, which is fairly rare for me, and then later we watched a movie together. When it was bedtime, I definitely slept well.

As for eating yesterday, when all was said and done, I had eaten 27 points.

Looking back over the last 15 days, these are the daily point totals I ate: 24.0; 26.0; 27.5; 29.0; 26.5; 26.5; 24.0; 27.0; 29.0; 25.0; 26.0; 26.0; 27.0; 30.0; 27.0. The total number of points that I have eaten over the last 15 days is 400.5. The average number of points that I have eaten over the same period is: 26.7. My allowable point range is 26 - 31. Since 28.5 is the midrange for me, I am eating 1.8 points below my midrange and 0.7 above my low end.

Dotti tells me it is time to go to the gym. More tomorrow.

15 days OP and a lifetime to go.

-Al-

239.5/230.0/200/WK-2

I slept in again. I didn’t get up until 7:00 AM today. I think that the overcast sky helped today. It is dark and in the low 50s for the temperature. When I got up, I stepped on the scale first thing (a new habit I have developed somehow over the last couple of weeks) and it said, 228.5 pounds (which is 103.6 Kg, or 16.3 Stones -- according to Dotti’s Unit Converter program). That is 11 pounds less than when I started.

Yesterday, Dotti and I had a some fun with drinking water and we each ended up drinking 144 fluid ounces. (Using Dotti’s Unit Converter program again, that is: 1.125 gallons, which is *** 9 pounds *** of water!) The only downside to this is that it seems like I am spending more time in the bathroom than in the living room.

Dotti and I went to the gym and played a good hour of racquetball. We were both tired at the end. The rest of the day was mostly quiet and relaxing. We watched the movie The Magnificent Seven before going to bed for the night.

I ate a total of 26 points yesterday, including 2 points worth of popcorn for the movie. So, that brings me to day 17, with 16 days behind me OP.

Things I learned yesterday:

...Watermelon is 2 points for 11.4 ounces.

... Egg Beaters makes a great fried egged sandwich. (The one thing in the world that I ever cook.) If you use PAM in the skillet, and 70 point bread, you can have an open faced fried egg sandwich for 2 points. A little salt. A little pepper. MMM-MMM good! I had two of them.

...cup of strawberries, and a tablespoon of sugar, is only 2 points and mighty good!

So far, this journey has been so much nicer than my quit smoking journey. As I quit smoking, I was suffering and struggling every day. I was eating to try and get me past the urges to smoke, usually the sweeter the snack the more it helped. I was merely trading one bad habit for another, knowingly. But the new bad habit was somewhat less destructive so I made the tradeoff. Now that smoking no longer has me in its grip, I do not have those terrible gut wrenching, urges that felt like my stomach was being eaten from the inside out by a monster. Now, I have a hunger nudge, and something to placate it with, that is OP. I do not suffer and strain. I enjoy learning the ropes, and writing down what I am eating. It is organized, pleasant and even fun. I do not want each day to be over with as quickly as it can be, so that I can be rid of the horrible urges that waking presents to the nicotine addict. Now, I look forward to the entire day as a potential delight, with no fear of losing control and running amok. Even if I should find that I went over points, it would be nothing like having a cigarette would have been when I was quitting. I know that I can undo whatever damage I could possibly do in one day, with a sufficient number of additional days of eating OP. There is a safety net. It the knowledge that success is doable, and that I have the tools within my possession to do it. Mentally, that knowledge releases me to be free and happy. I am free to be guiltless for mistakes, and unconcerned about whether or not success awaits me. I can choose whether it does or not. I can choose to be OP or not. My body’s uncontrollable urges no longer plague me as they did with smoking. I would rate my current discomfort level for eating at roughly the same level as my current discomfort level for not smoking. On occasion, a cigarette still smells really good. I have to tell myself, “NO!” and walk away when that happens. (That happened to me on Saturday at the zoo when Dotti lit one up.) For eating, I have a moment, here or there, where I have to remind myself that what I will eat must be OP. But for both of these two problem areas the stress level, the level of psychological compulsion, created from my bodily cravings are so small, when compared with the urges that I endured when I quit smoking, that I so far have had little or no difficulty dealing with them.

The danger here is to become overconfident. I am defending myself against that error. I learned a hard and terrible lesson with smoking. I quit for 5 years and then started up again. It took me 2 years before I quit again. Now I realize that I can step into that pit at any time if I do not remain alert. The same danger exists with the weight loss journey. I will never “get well.” I will forever remain someone who must remain OP, or else I will allow my weight to creep right back up to where it was. Once that fact is accepted, it makes life much easier.

This brings me to my attitude. There is no need to curse the universe, simply because it does not meet your expectations. Such curses are ineffective, and provide no satisfaction. Instead, accepting the universe as it is, and using the properties of what is there to make things better for yourself, and others, will provide satisfaction, self-esteem, and even joy. Each person has his own set of circumstances. He can either work with that set, or he can fight it. The first leads to progress, the second to frustration and unhappiness. We have all either known personally, or read about, people who have had tremendous challenges in their lives. The quadriplegic, the mother who was born with no arms, and many other people who struggle with a set of circumstances that is very different from what the normal individual has to deal with. And yet, so many of these challenged people are HAPPY! Why? Because they accepted their circumstances as their starting point. Cursing and feeling sorry for themselves was definitely justified, but it was useless and counterproductive. They figured this out, and leapt passed that trap. They went on to create happy and fulfilling lives. What a priceless treasure that experience is. If only we could take that knowledge, that attitude, which these special humans have within themselves, bottle it, and distribute it to all the rest of us who have it so much easier than they did, so that we could be as happy as they are. I will spend the rest of my life dealing with the underlying smoking addiction that lies ready to embrace me at any time. I will also spend the rest of my life facing the eating challenges that my set of circumstances includes. What I must do is accept my set of circumstances. Once I do this, a door will open through which I can walk into a whole new world of personal peace and health. What I picture is a world where the sun will be shining, upon the green hills, backed by distant snow capped mountains, and a waterfall splashing into a blue lake beside me. Life may not be as perfect as that, but you can be that happy wherever you are, with the right attitude. As I said, if only we could bottle it up and hand it out.

16 days OP, a lifetime to go.

-Al-

239.5/230.0/200/BMI:28.8/WK-2

Today is a work day and so I have to get up a little earlier. So, I crawled out of bed at 5:30 AM and went to have a talk with Mr. Scale. He said, “229.0.” I sure do like seeing those 220s numbers instead of the 230s! Last night, when I went to bed, and with my pjs on, I weighed 235. Once again yesterday, I drank 9 pounds of water (144 oz.) and overnight I got rid of several pounds of it, to get ready for my “quality time” with the scale.

When you are working that much water through your system, the time of day you weigh becomes important. Yesterday I weighed at 7:00 AM and today at 5:30. That much time can make a difference of a pound or maybe more in what I weigh. So, I am very happy to see that I weighed only 0.5 pounds more today than yesterday, and that I am still in the 220s.

Dotti and I stayed home yesterday. The only real exercise I got was to clean my study, which really needed it. I had been using Dot’s main computer all weekend, while she used her laptop about 10 feet away. Finally yesterday afternoon, I cut a path to my own computer and fired it up, grabbing some of my email from my other accounts. I was way behind. But I did some catching up while listening to a 3 CD set that we just bought from Costco, of the “Kingston Trio’s 36 Greatest Hits.” That sure did take me back a few years.

The total for my 17 th day OP was 26.0 points. I seem to be comfortable right around 26 to 27 points on the weekend. Weekdays, seem to present a different challenge, and I think they can vary in points a little easier. Some days, I don’t eat my lunch at all because I work right through my lunch hour. Other days I am famished, and I eat it all, giving me more total points at the end of the day.

Dotti cooked us up a 2 point omelet yesterday, with “egg beaters” and no fat cheese. It was great! I could tell that it was not exactly the same as the normal real egg omelet, but then again, it was not that far off, and it is something that I could develop a taste for very easily. It was far closer to being a “real” omelet than skim milk is to being whole milk, and I made that switch okay. Today I don’t even like whole milk anymore.

When we were at the conference, just after it was over, Jim and Tammy, went with Dotti and I to Trader Joes in Seattle and did some shopping. We picked up some Espresso Beans (6 pieces = 1 point) which we are still eating. We also got some “Chocolate Meringues” that look (and taste) like they should be about 4 or 5 points a piece. But you can eat 2 of them for a point, or 4 for 2 points. During the day I had 2 points worth, and they sure were good.

Well it is off to face day 18, a Monday that falls on Tuesday this week.

17 days OP, a lifetime ahead.

-Al-

239.5/230.0/200/BMI:28.8/WK-2

Woke up around 5:40 AM this morning, and had my daily communion with the scale. It said, “228.0.” Which I was happy with.

Yesterday was interesting because it was the first day where my points limit actually felt inconvenient. Along about 7:00 PM I was busy typing away a rather long piece of correspondence to a particularly disagreeable chap, who had emailed me a couple of days ago, unrelated to anything on this web page or board. It was going well and I was having a good time, since I rather enjoy debate on occasion. But I came out to the kitchen, looking for a snack, and I looked at my journal and realized that I only had two points left for the day. That was a new one on me. I normally have several points to spare at 7:00 PM.

I went through a list of things that I might have for 2 points. I could have 4 Chocolate Meringues, which would be very tasty and would probably do the trick, but they are very sweet, and just might make me hungrier later on. I could have some Espresso Beans, 12 of them actually, but I didn’t need more caffeine at that time of day. I wasn’t up for a fried egg sandwich, and finally settled on a 2 point bag of Jolly Time Healthy Pop popcorn. I never even finished it before bed. I just kept nibbling a few kernels here and there as I continued to type. I didn’t finish the rough draft until after 10:15 PM and there was still some pop corn left at the bottom of the bowl. (Also that type of popcorn has very little oil and so it was easy to keep my hands clean for the keyboard.)

I felt good about that, because I was at a point where I had to make a good choice, but I did not have to suffer. I ate my full 31.0 points for the day, but I stayed OP.

Since I was at work yesterday, I did not drink all the water I normally would at home. I only ended up drinking 48 ounces. Of course I was not up and down during the night quite as much last night.

This week is a short week, after the holiday, and then Dotti and I start our 25 th anniversary celebration vacation. It should be a great time, and we are looking forward to it. Taking walks on the beach for exercise in the morning and getting comfortable, in front of the fireplace at night. It sure sounds good to me. For eating we will load up on low point snacks and food items for meals. (Did I hear someone say rhubarb?)

I expect that both Dotti and I will be doing a lot of typing too. We both have a ton of Internet work to get done. Dotti will be doing some reorganizing of her web page material, and I have a few projects of my own. It is fun sitting with the laptop, listening to the ocean crash against the shore, a fire blazing away in the fireplace, and your mind working on that next keystroke. The ocean breeze, wafts in the aroma that only the sea can carry, and reminds me of my days at sea: the moonlight streaming across the water, that stretches for thousands of miles around you no matter where you look; lines of dolphins reaching out as far as the eye can see in either direction, leaping along beside your ship as it cuts through the water; waves breaking over the bow of the Destroyer, as it heaves and rolls, making its way boldly on a stormy night; these and many other memories are brought to mind with that special smell, carried along on the same breeze as the seagull’s call. In the evening, Dotti and I can stand on the balcony and watch the sun sink slowly into the sea, and remember how lucky we are for having 25 wonderful years together as man and wife. It truly doesn’t get any better than this.

-Al-

PS

I was playing around with Excel and came up with the following graph for my first 18 days. I copied it into MS Paint and dressed it up a bit. So, I thought I would put it up.

As was to be expected, the first few days, my weight fell quickly, and then after that things leveled off more.

-Al-

239.5/230.0/200/BMI:28.8/WK-2

Mr. Scale said 228.5 this morning. I woke up early this morning and worked on the computer for a while before I reached my weigh-in time of 6:00 AM.

Last night when I got home I looked at myself in the full length mirror and my pants looked really bad, because they were bagging something terrible. I already have a problem with my weight all being in a zone between the base of my rib cage down to my upper thighs. To get pants that fit my waist requires leg sizes that are way too big for mine. Now that I am dropping a bit of weight, it is making my pant legs look even baggier. So, I took off the 42 inch waist pants and tried on some 40 inch pants. They fit pretty good. So, Dot and I went through all my pants on the storage shelf, and broke out all of the 40s, and put away the 42s. There are a bunch of 38s waiting for me when I get there, and one pair of 36s from a long time ago.When I get into the 38s I will be very happy. When I get into the 36s I will be ecstatic.

For my eating yesterday I had 25.5 points, and I drank 72 ounces of water. All and all it was a pretty good day. I did not get a lot of exercise, spending the day at my desk at work for the most part.

19 days OP done, and a lifetime to go.

-Al-

239.5/230.0/200/BMI:28.8/WK-2

I woke up about a quarter to 6:00 AM and went to visit my old friend Mr. Scale, wondering what he might have to say today. He was nice to me and said, “226.5” I said, “Cool!” You just never know what your body is going to do on any given day. In the long run it is fairly predictable. If you eat right you will eventually lose, but if you sample your weight at any point along the path of that loss, it can bounce up above or fall down below the line of your average weight loss. Today it looks like it dropped down. The only downside to this is that tomorrow is my weigh-in and not today. But that is okay, I know that I can be here, and if not tomorrow, next week’s weigh-in will be just that much better.

I think it is like driving a car. When I was a young boy, I remember watching my Daddy drive the big old car. (By today’s standards it was very much a “big old car.”) His hands were always moving. But the car was going straight. I found that very interesting. I wondered why. I later found out with automobiles there are many factors involved when driving, including possible imperfections in the tire alignment, slop in the steering linkage, and many variations in the road surface. All of these have to be corrected for by small steering adjustments. The human body is far more complex than a car and road interplay. But there is one thing that they have in common: when you drive you do not continually look right over the hood of the car and down at the road ahead of you, as you drive. You look out ahead, towards the horizon. You do not drive short-sightedly, because it is difficult, and dangerous. Looking far ahead gives you a feel for where your car is headed and allows you to make small corrections to keep your vehicle directed at where you need to go. You can see traffic problems early and slow down for them. Looking down over the hood doesn’t let you see what is coming at you, and makes determining correction factors far too difficult. If the car ahead of you slams on his brakes, you are going to get to meet him to exchange insurance information, because you won’t see him in time to stop.

Weight loss is a long driving trip. We are always finding that we are drifting this way and that on the scale. We are up, down or we remain the same each day. And if we don’t keep our aim high and “Down the road” it can steer us right off the road. Losing quickly for a while can be exhilarating but then what happens when you slow down? Do you become depressed? That is short-sighted steering. Total loss, and average loss are always much better indications of progress than daily loss. They are looking down the highway and staying on course. If your average weight for a week or two is headed upwards, yes, it is time for a correction, but if they are heading down, you are doing fine and should be happy with yourself. Yesterday I was up a half a pound and today I am down 2 pounds. Neither one of those weight-ins are conclusive of what is going on. If I were “looking over the hood” yesterday I would have been depressed at the gain. Today I would be doing hand springs. I am human enough to feel those things a bit when I step on the scale, but I settle down quickly once I look at the long range average. Also, first and foremost, what sets my emotional reaction to each day is how well I remained OP. If I ate well, I am happy no matter what Mr. Scale says, because he is a slave to how I eat. He can do nothing but report what the laws of physics dictate to him. In the long run he has absolutely zero say about what success I have. Only my remaining OP or not will control that.

Yesterday, when I got home from work, Dotti fixed an nice low point dinner, and when I was done with that I had eaten only 16.5 points for the day so far. Party time! That opens up a whole world of snacks and goodies for the evening. I had a nice cup of Mocha coffee for 2.5 points and a Mr. Cookieface ice cream sandwich for 3.0 points. Then I topped it off with a couple of the Chocolate Meringues for 1 point. When all was said and done, I ended up eating 24.0 points for the day. I would have probably eaten a bit more but Dotti and I were pretty tired last night. We headed for bed early. She went to sleep and I read for a while in a Perry Mason novel, but was asleep by 10:00 PM.

I drank 72 ounces of water yesterday, which wasn’t too bad on a work day. Today is the last work day this week, and thanks to our 25 th anniversary vacation coming up, it is the last work day for a while!

This thread is getting longer so I think tomorrow I will be starting a new one and closing this one, to keep the thread reasonable in length.

20 days OP, and a lifetime to go…

-Al-

239.5/230.0/200/BMI:28.8/WK-2

*** Weigh-in for WEEK 3 ***

Week Completed:	__3__
Weigh-In Weight:	227.5
Body Mass Index:	28.5
Week’s Average Points/Day:	26.9
Pounds lost this week:	2.5
Pounds lost total:	12.0
Pounds to go to 10%:	12.0
Pounds to go to goal:	27.5

___________________________

Here it is the end of the third week and the start of week four of my journey. I got on the scale at 8:00 AM and it said, “227.5.” That is two and a half pounds loss for this week! I calculated out my Body Mass Index and it is down half a unit to 28.5. When I started I was at a 30 BMI, which is right on the dividing line between “Overweight,” and “Obesity.” 28.6 is still on the high side of the “Overweight” category, but there is just a bit of daylight showing between where I am, and the “Obesity” category now. My goal of 200 will just sneak me out of the “Overweight” category into the “Normal” range. (I am using the calculator and chart that you can find at www.wdxcyber.com/bmi.htm.) My guess is that when I get there I will want to drop down another 5 or 10 pounds, but I will worry about crossing that bridge when I am close enough to touch it.

Yesterday was another good day where I had plenty of points left to use for the evening, because I had only eaten 18.5 points by the end of dinner. By the end of the evening I was up to 29 points.

This week was good for Points, but I did not get the exercise that I would have liked to get. I am hoping that Dotti and I can get in a lot more walking the next couple of weeks, since work won’t get in the way. Exercise: Yet another advantage of vacation!

Later this morning is the DWLZ walk, and Dotti and I will be participating of course. Walking with Dotti is always fun!

So far I have dropped 12 pounds of the 40 that I am shooting for. I have moved down from 42 inch waist pants to 40 inch waist pants. I am feeling better about myself and even a bit more confident in my appearance. While quitting smoking gave me the ultimate feeling of accomplishment internally, this journey will yield external results that should be visible to all of those who know me. So much of life depends on appearances, and it will be nice to enhance that.

Surprisingly, I can already feel just a bit of a spring returning to my step. I feel better when I am walking around with my computer bag slung over my shoulder than I did a month ago. Walking down a hall, or a across a parking lot, feels freer and easier. In racquetball I am moving just a bit easier. These are subtle changes, just barely perceptible, but they are real and they are welcome!

It is work to remember to write each thing down, and to make sure that the points are known before eating something, but it is not that much work. It is doable, and for the amount of effort put out, the returns are so great that I wonder what I was waiting for before. It is great to be moving my weight down to a healthier and more comfortable range. My clothes fit better and I feel better. There is no food that I am not eating today that I miss. There are times, like last week at the Zoo with Dotti, when I will walk passed an eating establishment that is pouring out smells straight from heaven, that sing of calories straight from far below. That is when I just keep walking by, like I do when I smell an especially pleasant whiff of cigarette smoke. The funny thing is that such temptations are powerful for a moment and then only moments later they are completely impotent. They are gone from your mind, like a piece of debris in a windstorm, that flies at you, threatens you for an instant, and then is gone forever across the desert sands of time.

The next two weeks are going to be Dotti’s and my time. We are going to celebrate our 25 th anniversary and have some fun together doing some things that hopefully we will remember for the rest of our lives. Twenty-five years ago, seems like yesterday. Where did the time go? The happy years ran by us, like a merry brook, and today the taste is sweeter than ever. What lies before us we can only guess at, but we both are looking to the future with anticipation of many more happy times to come.

21 days OP, a lifetime to follow.

-Al-

239.5/227.5/200/BMI:28.5/WK-3