* Made 10% at 215.5 pounds on 7/14/01
† Goal is 200 pounds.
Week’s Data
Day
Date
Weight
Points
Water
Miles Walked
Saturday
08/23/2008
206.5
30.5
6 cups
0.00
Sunday
08/24/2008
206.5
37.0
6 cups
4.20
Monday
08/25/2008
206.5
32.5
9 cups
0.00
Tuesday
08/26/2008
206.0
36.5
6 cups
2.00
Wednesday
08/27/2008
207.0
30.5
6 cups
0.00
Thursday
08/28/2008
205.0
24.0
6 cups
0.00
Friday
08/29/2008
206.0
26.5
6 cups
0.00
Week 380 Update
It was 6:17 AM when I stepped up on Mr. Scale and he said, "204.5 pounds!" This leaves me 4.5 pounds into the overweight category now. However, I and down 10.5 pounds from what I weighed at the start of the month, and that is a very good thing.
My Weight Commander graph is working hard to push that mountain off the left side of the graph, and I will not be sad to see it go. I seem to have broken the plateauish line of 206.5 daily weigh-ins, and the number each day is moving around again. Fortunately, with one small exception, those numbers are now bouncing below 206.5 and not above it! Another exceedingly good sign is the fact that, since the end of the first week in August, the hollow squares are almost all at or beneath the solid squares, and the solid squares are therefore trending downward.
The four boxes on the left show that for each of the past 4 weeks I have shown a loss! On the right side of the Control Panel is some more good news: this week's weight is lower than my weight was 30, 60 AND 90 days ago! While it is 1.5 pounds higher than it was one year ago, if you remember last week, I was 9 pounds over my weight on the same date in 2007. In other words, I am almost back in the game to be where I was a year ago. If I can continue what I am doing right now, I will reach the point where my current weight will be better than it was the year before. My overall trend for August has been very good, and I am quite happy with it.
My current Maintenance Graph shows a very steep drop in my weight since August 2nd. I just crossed my old "Weight Upper Limit" and am heading down towards my old "Personal Weight Range." I am now 19.5 pounds above 185.0 pounds, which is my current Goal Weight. I have made a good start, but I still have a ways to go to get down to my goal, and then the real journey will get going in earnest. I want my graph for 2009 to look very much like the one I had in 2004:
It is up to me whether or not that happens. But what about the immediate future?
The Weight Commander future graph shows a gradual decrease weight—about 1.5 pounds per month—over the next 90 days. The result of that would be my weight dropping to around 202 by the end of September, and 201 at the end of October, and to just under 200 pounds, the upper limit of my Normal Range, by around Thanksgiving.
Now would be a good time to differentiate between what I will be satisfied with, and what I would expect. The two are often connected very closely. I remember working for a company one time where rather than knocking themselves out to meet their customers' expectations entirely, they aimed at lowering those expectations. (This can be a problem that field service can run into, after an ethically challenged salesman has been hard at work promising faster than the speed of light delivery when you have a 24 hour travel time minimum from your warehouse to the customer site, or some other massaging of the truth into a lie, in order to gather in a sales commission.)
If you expect to get something, and you get something different, especially something of far less value in your eyes, satisfaction tends to be replaced quickly by dissatisfaction, and even anger. That is why if you expect to lose X amount of weight, and lose far less than that, even showing a gain perhaps, your expectations will probably lead you into frustration and dissatisfaction. If this going to happen to you, it is best to have far lower expectations—ones that you can easily meet as long as you remain on program. E.g., if you expect the wheel of your car to fall off and it doesn't, you are very happy. If it does fall off, it is what you expected, and not much of a shock.
If you can view your expectations more in the mold of a hope rather than as if you were going to buy your groceries and pay your rent on the results, then if you don't meet them, you can still be satisfied with the results, as long as they have come at the end of a week of being on program. Last week I lost one-half pound, and frankly, I expected to lose more than that. But I was satisfied with it nonetheless, because I knew I had done well with my eating. I know there are many factors that can enter in to what the scale says. However, either I ate in a reasonable way or I did not, and that is the key. I did, so I was still satisfied despite falling well below my expectations.
This week, I was expecting to lose about the same as last week, but would not have been surprised by either maintaining, or by losing a whole pound. Instead I was surprised to see a full 2 pound drop. I am confident that I am doing well on my program right now, and as long as I hit my eating mark, I know my weight will ultimately be okay as well.
Back to the original point: I expect to lose 1 or more pounds per week. However, I will be satisfied with less than that. If I have some maintain weeks mixed in amongst a lot of half pound losses, I will be satisfied with that, though disappointed as well. I will say to myself, "I hoped for more, but that is okay." And I will mean it. I am just happy to no longer be out of control with the winds of fate pushing me this way and that, and my never knowing when I was going to overeat or to do well. I feel much better about how things are going today, and I hope that will continue.
As I have mentioned before, I have used Excel to create two predictive columns in my Journey Spreadsheet. The first takes the difference from what I weighed 14 days ago, and today and figures the average change per day, and then extends it out over the next 90 days. This column has 190.43 in it for today. So, if I do what I have done the last 2 weeks on the scale for the next 90 days, I will be down to about 190. I would really be happy with 190 by Thanksgiving! So, I like what that column is saying.
The second predictive column in my spreadsheet uses the data from my running 14 day average column to figure what sort of change that column has seen, and then it extends that out into the future for 90 days. I tend to think this one is more reliable, because it is based on more data, and data that is less susceptible to a single weigh-in fluctuation. Averages will flatten out big jumps and that should keep to a minimum, wild "speculations," or erroneous skewing of the line by a very high or low—and obviously out of the ordinary—weigh-in. This column has 188.66 in it. Last week it had 188.88 in it; so, it is holding pretty steady. (The other column, on the other hand, had a big swing from 182.29 last week to the 190.43 this week.)
The three predicting methods, Weight Commander, and my two Excel columns have me under 200 pounds by Thanksgiving, and the lowest one has me at under 189 pounds! So hitting my goal by Christmas is not out of the question, and since I start a new maintenance graph two days after Christmas, I may be at my goal in time for that. I would like that very much! On the other hand, if I am into the 190s and still trending down, that would be okay too.
For a brief rundown on my week…
Saturday
My 57th birthday, and no surprise party. However, we did pick up Vikki (Purplenorseman on our Message Board) from the airport and began a week of fun and visiting.
I came right up to 30.5 points at the end of the day. My upper limit is 31 points, so I just snuck in under the wire.
Sunday
The three of us met up with Rip, Dotti's younger brother, for a 4.2-mile round trip hike to
Punchbowl Falls on the Eagle Creek Trail in the Columbia Gorge. We all had cameras, and there were a lot of pictures taken that day, beginning right here in the parking lot, just before we actually started to hike.
We soon found ourself climbing above Eagle Creek, which was down the canyon wall below where
Vikki, Dotti, and Rip are standing out on the precipice. We had clouds that kept coming over us and then leaving. There was rain predicted for the day, and it showed up later, but not during our hike!
The cliff edge was close and the drop was a long one, not one you would expect to survive if you went over. So, it felt odd not having a rail along the edge. But the view was really nice!
You can easily miss Metlako Falls as you are going up the trail. There is a little trail that runs off to the right of the main trail, and it is marked by a wooden sign that isn't really easy to spot, nor to read once you do spot it. But it is definitely worth the side trip to see.
I was having trouble seeing the falls behind the group at first, until I found a little spot up a bank that made everything work. Rip was thinking that his head might be in the way and so he ducked.
The vegetation is thick, and will be until fall sets in and drops the leaves off the trees. Still we can see most of the falls here.
In 2005 on May 29, LeRoy took this hike with Dotti and I, and here is picture of my son and I standing on this same spot. My boots were 3 years newer then, and as a matter of fact, so were LeRoy and I.
Three happy wanderers, on the trail. One of the things I like about my current walking stick is that the knob on the end can be unscrewed and there is a monopod mounting for my camera. I don't use it often, but it is nice having it available.
Vikki is sporting her Canada shirt for the China Olympics, and it naturally includes Chinese characters beside the roman letters, the latter of course you recognize, or else you wouldn't be reading this.
Dotti and I are wearing matching Alaska shirts, which we picked up on our visit there earlier this year.
After reaching the falls, we stopped and had lunch, in a little spot we found off the trail, where there were some logs for sitting. Food always seems to taste better out in the forest. I had 11 points worth of sandwiches, chips and juice.
When we got back to the car, Dotti went over to a little spot near the parking lot where she could pull off her boots and soak her tired feet. She sure looks like she is enjoying the feel of the cool water! She took off her hat and soaked it too, so she could cool down her head, as well as her feet.
On the way back home we stopped by Multnomah Falls, and there were some booths set up and a multitude of people. I don't believe I have ever seen it so crowded. Rip and I dropped Dotti and Vikki off at the Multnomah Falls Lodge, so they could start working their way through the gift shop, while we tried to find a place to park. We really took the scenic route, starting from the Columbia Gorge Scenic Highway, out to the freeway heading west. We turned around as soon as we had a chance and headed back to Multnomah Falls to see if we could park in the freeway parking lot.
That lot had traffic backed up all the way into the freeway! So, we kept right on going and got back onto the Scenic Highway and completed the loop as we returned to the falls. At the falls we finally found a place to park and walked over to catch up with the girls.
Our final stop in the Columbia River Gorge was at Vista House at Crown Point. Looking east, here is Vikki's smiling face with the beautiful Columbia River running behind her, up the channel it has been working on for quite some time.
When we got home, and we had finished our "Instant Tacos" (a taco salad style meal), Dotti and Vikki came out of the kitchen with my birthday cake! It was an angel food cake, and a Cool Whip and pudding concoction on top that was delicious! The cake was only 7.0 points, and I had a large piece too! The entire meal and cake was only 15.0 points. It did put me over for the day, by pushing my points up to 37.0, but that was only 6 points, and I could recover from that if I paid attention for the rest of the week. And the cake really hit the spot!
Monday
Dotti and Vikki had a day together and I worked on my computer most of the day. I did fine for my meals for points, holding them to 20.5, but I snacked too much, eating 4 bananas and some chips. After I added in my coffee as well, I was up to 32.5 points, a point and a half over for the day. Back to back days over points was a bad thing. I needed to do better on Tuesday, but I didn't, because we went to the Zoo and it cost me. However, I did significantly better than I had been doing at the zoo the last couple of times! Elephant Ears (fried bread) and fudge were my downfall on those visits, but not this time! I didn't go anywhere near either of those things.
Tuesday
Today we made a trip to the Oregon Zoo. We are frequent visitors to the zoo, and in case you missed it before, here is the Zoo video I made a few months ago:
Inside the zoo, I said, "Okay, ladies…please give me your most serious and dignified pose." And this was the result.
Vikki really likes the railroad, and so we had to get a picture of the railroad crossing! And with the two lovely ladies flashing their smiles, it is clear that this sign never looked so good before!
You are here! At least that is what we are supposed to be pointing at. I seem to have lost my direction after looking away. I guess I am pointing towards Vikki's hand, so you will know to look where she is pointing.
Dotti and I wore our matching Alaska shirts to Multnomah Falls, and our matching Multnomah Falls shirts to the Oregon Zoo. We may not be in sync with our locations for our apparel, but we are certainly in sync with each other.
If you look at the top of this page, you will see that my "The Journey Continues" picture shows me on the same vehicle that Vikki and Dotti are on here. It is actually a tricycle that a trained elephant used to use in an act. It has lots of extra room on it.
While at the zoo, I got some Reese's Pieces from a quarter machine, twice. They amount they dispensed was more than I had expected the first time. The second time I just went off track. By the end of the day, I had eaten 36.5 points. That made 3 days in a row where I was over points.
Wednesday
I was at home again while the ladies were out shopping and sightseeing. I was in better control of my eating, but I didn't eat really low. I just barely hit under my limit by eating 30.5 points. It was a step in the right direction.
Thursday
We had a big day scheduled. We were going to watch the play "The Phantom of the Opera." Our intention was to go downtown early, park and then walk around to the various locations we wanted to visit. However, it didn't work out that way. Instead we left later than planned, and had to drive to all the locations, and that made for some traffic stress. But it all worked out okay. We got a visit in at Powell's Books, and that is always enjoyable. After parking in the garage not far from the theater, we stopped at Subway for dinner. With that nice OP dinner, I came in at only 24.0 points for the day, and that was good to see!.
We got to the theater in plenty of time to get settled in and to watch the show. Dotti's restless legs syndrome struck early on, and she had to get up and move around, and it made it harder for her to enjoy the show. We all moved after the first act, to some vacant seats off to the side and out of the way of others, so Dotti could get up and down as required without a problem. Other than that, the show turned out to be everything that we hoped it would be. The singing was excellent! The costumes and sets were very good too. It was all very well done!
After the show we walked to the parking garage where the car was waiting for us up on the 8th level. We then ran into a very long, slow moving line, just to get to the down ramp on level 8. Dotti's legs wouldn't let her sit still while we waited for the cars to move, and so she decided to take the elevator down to the street level and wait for me there. Vikki joined her and I listened to my astronomy lectures while I was waiting for things to start moving. Finally some of the lower levels must have started to clear out, because we at least started moving…slowly, but at least the car was moving as often as it was stopped and that was a big improvement. I found Dotti and Vikki around the corner when I exited the garage and all was well.
Friday
Dotti and Vikki did some more driving around and sightseeing together, and I got some things done in my office. I ended up getting so busy that I missed my normal lunch time, and ended up eating a single meal for both lunch and dinner combined. I didn't snack that much during the day either, and so only ate 26.5 points for the day. That helped move my average points-per-day, for the week, down to 31.07, which is very close to my upper limit of 31.
I hope to improve two things this upcoming week: 1) improve my eating, to keep each day under my limit; and 2) get a lot more exercise.
7 years, 110 days on my journey; a lifetime to follow.
-Al-
6 '3" 239.5/204.5/197.5±2.5/BMI:25.56/WK-381
Starting weight: 239.5 New (returning to my original) Target Weight Range: 183.0 lbs to 187.0 lbs
However, we did pick up Vikki (Purplenorseman on our 
