Week 400 Update
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| Weigh-In Date: | 01/10/2009 |
| Weight: | 200.0 |
| Body Mass Index: | 25.00 |
| Average Weight for week: | 200.93 |
| Miles Walked for week: | 0.00 |
| Miles Walked in 2009: | 0.00 |
| Pounds +/- for this week: | -0.5 |
| Pounds lost total: | 39.5 |
| Pounds From Personal Goal (185 lbs) | +15.0 |
Week's Data
Saturday |
Sunday |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
01/03/08 |
01/04/08 |
01/05/08 |
01/06/08 |
01/07/08 |
01/08/09 |
01/09/09 |
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200.5
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201.0
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203.5
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200.0
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202.0
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199.5
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200.5
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I wanted to lose weight. Stop me if you have heard this before.
One day, somewhere in the early 1990's,
the chair I was sitting in at my desk at work broke, and as my boss was helping me move it out of my cubical, so I could bring in a replacement, he said to me, "Why don't you lose a little weight?" I didn't tell him at the time, but I had already thought of that…many times. But thinking about it, or even desperately wanting it, doesn't make it happen.
The "AL ON A DIET" graph shows that I was spending most of time wishing I were thinner, and some of the time struggling hard to lose weight, only to have it come right back on after I "finished my diet." As you can see, I spent nearly all of my time well above the 200-pound line, and therefore, well into being overweight.
In 1990 and 1991 I was flirting with 230. In 1993 through 1996 it was 240. For some reason, 240 scared me enough to make me pull back every time I brushed up against it, but I was still fighting that battle in 2001 when I began this journey.
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| 1st DWLZ Conference in 2001 |
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| Dotti with the men |
Dinner with friends |
Giving my talk |
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My Journey…
As I look at the track my weigh-ins have left on the following graph I am happy to see that since I began my journey, while it has been anything but perfect, I have been in the normal range for most of the time, and even when I have crossed over into the overweight area, I have generally been less than 10 pounds overweight, and have continued to strive to hold on to control of some sort.
On the upside, I set out to lose weight, and walked right down to goal. I held steady at my goal weight for all of 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005, without any serious bumps in the road. Then in the middle of 2006 something bounced me out of my groove. Perhaps it was changing jobs. Whatever it was, all at once I was no longer in focus as I had been. I stopped doing the things that I knew I needed to do in order to succeed, and, here's the tough part to explain, I didn't care! At least I didn't care enough to fix the problem. I suddenly felt too tired to deal with it all. Mentally, something had grabbed on to me and tied up my resolve and drained my energy. While I have continued to struggle along, that is exactly what I have been doing ever since. Before it was a walk in the park, but no longer.
I am happy that I didn't give up completely! Today I am still down 39.5 pounds from where I started, and that is worth celebrating! So, I will enjoy my success, while at the same time, I will take a hard look at what happened in 2006, and see if that is correctable. I think it is, especially since I can put my finger on a possible cause. When you know what causes a problem it is far easier to fix it than if you have no idea and are at the mercy of the problem.
I know that one of the big changes that happened at that time was that I was no longer taking a lunch in to work. All the way along, up until 2006, Dotti made my lunch every morning and put it in a lunchbox cooler for me to take to work. That stopped around April of 2006. I am not as good at making my own lunch as Dotti is. 
Dotti likes to joke that she can't cook, but she can. She never dreamed in her fantasies of being a gourmet chefess, but she has made some delightful meals over the years that showed her often hidden talents. (Before we both started our journeys, Dotti often made her special pizza, and it was "to die for." I still miss that, but it was so high in calories that we simply had to lay it to rest. 
)
Another change in my life was that I was no longer spending 2.25 to 2.5 hours a day on the road commuting to and from work. Those hours found me eating an incredible number of cough drops every day, because they replaced the cigarettes I used to smoke during those stressful drives, and they suppressed my appetite, for an acceptable number of calories. I could pretty well eat all I wanted without going over my allotted points. That also helped to keep my appetite in check when I came home for dinner, because my blood sugar was up a bit and I wasn't famished when I came in the door in the evening. Of course that was a huge contributor to all the dental problems I had as well. (I didn't fully understand the way the process functioned until it was too late to help.) Today, I seldom eat a cough drop for "food" or a "snack." I use them most often today for coughs, as they were meant to be used.
My activity level dropped in 2006 as well, and I am sure that was another contributing factor. So, I'm left with finding a:
- way to have a solid repeatable daily lunch
- healthy snack replacement for the cough drops
- way to boost my activity level.
Since moving down to Tiller, lunch has gotten a lot more repeatable on our "normal" days. We are running into issues still when we go to town, but we are trying to limit those days down to 1 day a week. And when we go to town, we are striving to do better at picking good choices for places to eat.
I don't know what to do to replace the snacks yet. This is a holdover from my smoking days, and a search to replace those cigarettes. It has been nearly 11 years since my last cigarette and I still miss them.
My activity level has already gone up a lot from where it was in Vancouver. Just having breakfast requires a walk down and up the stairs, and many times a day there more of those little trips. When the office is finished I will be walking out there every day, and I hope to have more of a "normal workday" feel to my job than it has been up until now. (It is hard to separate work from life, and there is always work to be done. I miss having a workday that comes to an end, so I can enjoy free time, etc.) Now that we are in a caregiving mode, beyond being successful on our journeys, organizing our day will be critical to holding onto our sanity as well.
With two coats, and a pair of baggy pants on, I still look thinner than I did this time in 2001. I no longer look at myself in a full length mirror and think that I am a fat man who really needs to lose weight. I am still in need of minor adjustments, but I have held on to most of the benefits of the major work I did in 2001.
I have invested these past four hundred weeks in my health. While I am not exactly where I want to be, I am healthier, and more energetic, and far more comfortable with doing my daily physical tasks today than I was 8 years ago, when I was still in my 40's and not pushing on towards 60 so effectively. Would I do this again? Just watch me!
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CONTROL PANEL
GRAPH |
FUTURE
GRAPH |
60-DAYS
GRAPH |
90-DAYS
GRAPH |
1-YEAR
GRAPH |
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Twenty-eight hundred days ago I first stepped up on Mr. Scale for my journey, and he said, "239.5 pounds!" Today, 400 weeks later, he said, "200.0 pounds!" I may have averaged only 1 pound lost for every 10 weeks over my journey, but I am proud of every one of them.
Before I started my journey, my wish was to be 200 pounds or less. I would have liked to be closer to 190, but I would have been very happy to be where I am today. So, I am content, even with all the twists and turns my Journey has led me through.
Now that we are not running off to Vancouver two times per week, my Weight Commander Control Panel Graph shows a nice change: I'm trending downward again! It is about time! Hopefully I can continue that trend for a while.
How sweet it is! 
Finally, I have my
Weight Commander Future Graph moving downwards towards my personal goal, instead of the other direction. If I can follow this track, I will be in the low 190's when the 8th anniversary of our first DWLZ Conference rolls around. That would be okay with me.
My Weight Commander 60-Day Graph says that for the past 60 days I have remained below 205 pounds. The vast majority of the "area under the curve" falls below 200 pounds, and this goes along with what I have already said; I need to get my sharp focus back to get down to my personal goal, but I have not totally lost control either. I am straddling the fence between being in my "Normal Weight Range" and being "Overweight" It is far better than being 40 pounds on the wrong side of the fence, as I was when I started, but it isn't optimum.
My Weight Commander 90-Day Graph is a little scary, because it shows an upwards trend, that only falls off at the very end. But, at the same time, most of the weight data points are falling below 200 pounds, and that is a very good thing!
My Weight Commander 1-Year Graph looks far more promising, because, even with the recent upswing, I am in very good shape to tackle going for my personal goal, rather than simply drifting upwards and hoping it doesn't go to far, as I did last year.
This week we got The 63nd edition of Dotti's Newsletter out, and on time (the 5th of the month).
We also got the office part of the new building painted. Dotti and Mom started working on the walls and ceiling, and I helped Dotti finish with the ceiling. The wood stove is in and works well, although my load of wood isn't here yet. The floor is being laid down, and should be finished this weekend. The main thing left is the electrical hook up and I have no idea why the electrician is dragging his feet so much. He could have it ready to go already, but he disappears for days without a trace. He is supposed to be here on Monday, and hopefully will get things moving along. (The whole project was supposed to be done on December 15. We appear to be a little late, since the other half of the building still needs a lot of work, and the office half isn't even done yet.) With the answers I get from the local tradesmen, I sometimes feel like I moved to "Green Acres."
Dotti and I are now officially Oregonians, since, as of Friday, we have our Oregon driver's licenses. It was painful giving up our Washington driver's licenses and our Washington plates. We love Oregon too, but we have lived in Washington for a number of years, and have lived there in the past; and also, Vancouver is where Dotti and I were married back in 1976. So, it is hard to say goodbye.
Well, another week in the box, and packed away, and that brings the count to 400. Now, it's time to start a new one.
The Journey ContinuesI'm starting my second 400 weeks today!
7 years, 243 days on my journey; a lifetime to follow.
-Al-
6'3" 239.5/200.0/185.0±2.5/BMI:25.00/WK-400
Starting weight: 239.5
Target Weight Range: 185.0±2.5 pounds
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