A FEW MORE THINGS
YOU MIGHT ENJOY
|
 |  |
|
WEEK 422
Week Ending June 17, 2009
Weight Watchers Goal
(the top of my normal weight range)
200.0 pounds
|
Week 422 Update
|
|
| Weigh-In Date: | 06/17/2009 |
| Weight: | 210.5 |
| Body Mass Index: | 26.31 |
| Average Daily Points: | 32.43 |
| Average Weight for week: | 211.36 |
| Miles Walked for week: | 0.00 |
| Miles Walked in 2009: | 83.25 |
| Pounds +/- for this week: | -2.5 |
| Pounds lost total: | 29.0 |
| Pounds From Personal Goal (185 lbs) | +25.5 |
Week's Data
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
Saturday |
Sunday |
Monday |
Tuesday |
06/10/09 |
06/11/09 |
06/12/09 |
06/13/09 |
06/14/09 |
06/15/09 |
06/16/09 |
|
213.0 lbs
|
212.0 lbs
|
211.5 lbs
|
213.5 lbs
|
211.5 lbs
|
211.0 lbs
|
209.5 lbs
|
|
28.0 pts
|
36.0 pts
|
32.0 pts
|
28.0 pts
|
33.5 pts
|
36.0 pts
|
33.5 pts
|
|
|
|
|
|
CONTROL PANEL
GRAPH |
FUTURE
GRAPH |
60-DAY
GRAPH |
90-DAY
GRAPH |
1-YEAR
GRAPH |
|
|
It was 5:55 AM when I stepped up on Mr. Scale and he said, "210.5 pounds!"
Naturally I am very happy to see a 2.5-pound loss following on top of the 3.0-pound loss last week. I am not finding it too difficult to stay close to my point limit, but I am having trouble remaining below my upper limit. I ate 227 points this week, and with my upper limit of 31 points per day, I should eat no more than 31 x 7 = 217 points for the week. Of course 10 extra points for a whole week is not very much; it is more the principle of the thing. I want to eat within my proper range of points, but I keep blowing it.
The problem is planning, or actually, the lack of it. I have a breakfast that is set in concrete, the same thing every day, and it comes to 7.0 points. However, after that, I never know in advance what I will be eating for sure. If I could set lunch into a solid routine like I have breakfast, it would help a lot. But dinner is the big deal. I really need to work on a way to put that part of the day into a repeatable routine.
Most days it isn't a question of sitting around wishing that I could eat something that I am avoiding, but rather I get hungry and eat because I haven't had a meal yet, and not being much of a cook, I throw something together that is almost okay in points, and fills me up. I can't count on anything solid for point-count from day-to-day, and this is something that is correctable. If I can just bridge the gap between knowing what to do and actually doing it, it would be great. 
My Weight Commander Control Panel Graph from May 27 on, looks like a textbook case of what I would want my Journey to look like on paper. This week, and the 6 days preceding it, I had only one daily weigh-in that was above the average line of Solid Squares on the graph. As a result the solid squares are falling sharply, and that is a very good sight to see.
The four week's data on the left of the panel shows that I am finally overcoming that 3.5-pound gain of 4 weeks ago. Next week that value will fall off this page and, if I can have another good week this coming weigh-in, it will be a string of losses, without a large gain to wipe them out.
On the right side of the panel my weight today is 7 pounds less than what I weighed 30 days ago. That is a good sign for sure. I weigh 5 pounds less than I did 60 days ago, and that shows a happy trend. I see that 90 days ago I weighed a pound and a half more than today. That is not much of a change,but at least I am trending downward now in something more than just a little fluke fluctuation. My ship is sailing in the right direction, and if I can just hold it on this course, I will be okay.
A year ago, I weighed 3 pounds less than today, but that is within striking distance now, and my WW goal of 200 pounds is 10.5 pounds away. The way lies before me, all I have to do is walk it. But that really has always been the case. The real issue is getting my head to accept the mission, or to embrace the quest, of walking that path without being distracted this way or that.
My Weight Commander Future Graph has me under my 200-pound upper limit, putting me into the Normal range, before my birthday in August, and by the autumnal equinox, I could be within 10 pounds of my personal target weight of 185 pounds. I was very happy with last week's Future Graph, but this is slightly better. What is exceptionally good to see is two graphs in a row that are fairly close to each other, instead of seeing one good one and one bad one, or huge variations between their projections, either good or bad. These last two have not only projected good results, but they have matched fairly closely.
And I have had three Future Graphs in a row projecting a loss, albeit the third one back was not a large loss. Still that is great when we consider that the 4th one back projected me running up to 229 pounds by my birthday! The change has been truly profound. Still, it is just a start.
My Weight Commander 60-Day Graph looks very promising. If you pick any point on the graph prior to this week, and draw a line that passes through that point and today's weigh-in point, it will have a downward slope. And if you pick one of the high points along the way, including just a couple of weeks ago, the slope is very sharply downward. I finally appear to be changing this graph to show motion in the right direction.
As with the previous graph the Weight Commander 90-Day Graph can produce a downward slope by drawing a line through any point of data from before this week through today's weigh-in point! That is good news. It shows that for the past couple of weeks I have been focused on doing the right things, and all that maintenance time is being rewarded.
If I had completely given over the past few months, instead of having a brief excursion up into the 220s, I would have been plowing through the 230s and headed towards, or into the 240s. As it was, I held a loose hand on the reins and did what I could. Now, it is like a "virtual loss" of 20 pounds or more, that I don't have to lose in order to get where I am now. Certainly, remaining on track the entire time would have been better, but it could have been far worse.
My Weight Commander 1-Year Graph, shows the world that I live in. Gravity pushes backwards, trying to drive my weight up and I have to fight to work against it. If I quit struggling for a moment, up the graph goes again.
This graph is almost the reverse of the preceding ones, in that you can pick almost any point before today, and certainly any point before the start of April, and draw a line through it and today's point and have an upwards slope, and for most points, a very sharply upwards moving slope.
Still, despite having enough curves to make Marilyn Monroe jealous, the graph is contained within less than a 30 pound total spread (no pun intended). The absolute numbers remain the same; I am 10.5 pounds over goal today, and 25.5 pounds over my personal Target Weight. If I can continue on my present course, by the time I reach Thanksgiving, I can even turn this graph around, and make it so all points will produce a downward slope through my weigh-in for that day. If I can hold my course until next April, the graph will look like a downhill ski slope on the advanced trail, and not like a sine-wave, suffering from noise pollution. While I am dreaming, hopefully the day will come when I can pull a year's graph into a small 5-pound range around my Target Weight. At least I will give it a try. (Shut up Yoda! I am not a Jedi. )
Wednesday marked the 33rd anniversary of the day Dotti and I, drove across the I-5 bridge from Portland into Vancouver, Washington, and to the Clark County Courthouse to buy a marriage license. We then walked straight across the street to a wedding chapel, that has since been turned into a bail bond office, and stood before a pastor, and were pronounced man and wife. Dotti's mother, twin sister and little brother Rip were present for the ceremony.
Our original wedding plans included a ceremony in May, with church, flowers, and the works, but the world situation caused the Navy to cancel my leave home, and trashed our plans. Dotti, being Dotti, loaned her wedding dress to her brother's bride to use in their wedding (which, as things turned out, occurred 9 days after ours) and she couldn't get it back for ours.
The whole thing seemed a preview of coming attractions for us, because we have often found that spontaneity has ruled our lives, and for sometimes better, and sometimes worse, it has made our life together interesting. We have proved that you don't need a big fancy wedding to have a successful marriage. It is the commitment, not the ceremony, that makes a marriage sing and dance. And I wouldn't change a thing, because Dotti is the most incredible woman I have ever known, and her free spirit, bubbly personality, and giving heart make her what she is: the woman I love more than life itself.
This year, as it turned out, once again we had a postponement, but it was by choice, due partly to Weight Watchers, since that is the day of Dotti's meeting, and she has been doing incredibly well on showing up for her meetings! So, rather than mess with that success, we chose to celebrate on Thursday instead. And we had a great day!
As we were driving east on I-90, on our route to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, I spotted what looked like whitewater, perhaps a waterfall, off to the side. I took the next exit, which turned out to be Post Falls. When we pulled into the park there, it started looking mighty familiar to us, and sure enough we had been there before!
Walked over to the dam and I took this picture of my sweet bride of 33 years in front of the falls coming over the dam.
Next we swapped places and Dotti took this picture of me. It was a bright sunny day, but it wasn't very hot at all, which was great!
When I checked through our old pictures I found that Jim and Tammy had brought us to Post Falls back one year ago, in June of 2008! I took this picture of Dotti then, and I have used this picture often as my wallpaper on my computer desktop. I just love seeing Dotti smile like that!
It was pushing 100° when we stopped in 2008, and we really felt hot. The falls looked especially cool that day.
One of the interesting things about hydroelectric power is the fact that it is really solar power behind it, as the water in the ocean is evaporated by the sun's heat, and then the water rises into the air to form clouds that later drop rain onto the land, to form rivers that flow back to the sea. The sun drives the giant conveyer system that transports tremendous amounts of water all over the globe to water our plants and fill our lakes and rivers. Power plants like the North Channel Dam harness some of that solar created flow to convert it to electricity for mankind to use.
Dotti really loves Red Robin, and so I took her there for our anniversary dinner. She got to pick the restaurant, and I got the privilege of dining with the most beautiful woman on earth. After 33 years of marriage, it still feels like our honeymoon. Thank you Dotti!
We really had a great day together! We drove around Lake Coeur d'Alene for a bit, and had a wonderful time visiting with each other. Sadly, the day had to come to an end, but it is one I'll remember!
Friday I decided that I had had enough of the "mulched" grass clumped up on the lawn. It didn't seem to be settling in very much. So, I put the bag on the mower and started picking it all up as I cut the grass this week. It was a big project. That bag filled up in a hurry, and then I had to dump it into a large plastic bag and do it again. I could get about 3 mower bags into one of the black plastic bags.
It was slow going, and I was really getting warm by the end. I covered my arms, face and neck with sunscreen, and it kept me from burning, but I think I was overheated by the time I finished.
I was all done with the front yard and about half done with the back yard when I took this picture. The uncut portion still has the clumps of mulched grass visible on it.
At the halfway point, I had 3 bags filled and I was working on a 4th. (It was the one beside the mower in the previous picture.) When I was all done, there were 6 bags of grass lined up here.
After I was done, I took a picture of the backyard from our basement window. The clouds had come along, but too late. I could have used a little shade earlier.
Sunday we got together at a local park for a birthday celebration for our niece and nephew: Kadee and Cameron.
We stopped by Jim and Tammy's place, so we could follow them over to the park.
Here Tammy (Nana) is helping grandson Hunter get dressed for the party.
Grammy Dotti is getting a precious hug from our little Hunter. How sweet it is!
And here is the birthday boy, Cameron! He is looking so grown up these days. It is hard to believe that it was last century when he was born, and he is now 10 years old! You can tell he is much closer to his teens than his toddler days! But it doesn't seem like a whole decade could possibly have gone by since he was born. Still, it has.
1999 Photos |
|
|
|
|
Cameron in
Mamma Caudy's
Arms |
Tammy
and
Jim |
Dotti
and
Al |
Tammy
and
Dotti |
|
Now, where are you going to find two cuter smiles than these two? Our little nephew Brady is one photogenic child, and Dotti of course sparkles when she smiles. I love this picture!
And here is the beautiful birthday girl: Kadee! She was born in 2004, and here it is 5 years later already. It really does seem like just yesterday when we were holding her as a baby.
2004 Photos |
|
|
|
|
Grampa Jim
and Kadee |
Aunt Dotti
and Kadee |
Mamma Caudy
and Kadee |
Uncle Al
and Kadee |
|
|
|
|
Kadee Sleeping on
my shoulder |
Jim in 2004 |
Dotti
and
Tammy |
Uncle Al
with 5-year
old Cameron |
|
What is a amazing to me is the way the time goes by so quickly. What is today, soon is yesterday, and then it becomes "way back then." I am reminded of an old Jethro Tull lyric, "It was a new day yesterday, but it's an old day now."
In 2004 we headed over to Grand Coulee Dam and Dry Falls, and now that trip is something that happened 5 years ago. When I contemplate generally both the passage of time that has come and gone, and of that of which is to come, I am reminded of a poem I first came across in the 1970's:
The tusks which clashed in mighty brawls
Of mastodons, are billiard balls.
The sword of Charlemagne the Just
Is Ferric Oxide, known as rust.
The grizzly bear, whose potent hug,
Was feared by all, is now a rug.
Great Caesar's bust is on the shelf,
And I don't feel so well myself.
~Arthur Guiterman
|
What happens today seems new, but soon it too will be old and of only historical significance. But such thoughts feel like going into a dank old root cellar, where moist dirt, plays home to creepy crawling things and light feels out of place. It always makes one feel better when you return to the bright sunlight of outdoors.
Dotti and I enjoyed sharing the celebration on Sunday, and watching the kids at play. We may be fast becoming the past, but these precious children are the future! They are filled with energy and hope, and it cheers my heart to see them having so much fun!
Monday, I decided to have a rematch with that batting cage that had made me feel so bad last time. (Perhaps the Arthur Guiterman poem was weighing on my mind at some level.) This time, I first stopped to gather up some weapons! I went to a sporting goods store and picked through their aluminum bats and found one that felt very right in my hands: light enough to get around easily with, but heavy enough to pop the ball when I made contact. I also found a large pair of batting gloves, which would allow me to swing many times, as hard as I wanted, without building up nasty blisters on my hands, as I had at this batting cage in 2002.
Fully armed, Dotti and I headed over to the cage. I proceeded directly to the batting cages, put on a helmet and set to work, as Dotti went inside and played a few arcade games, and she won enough tickets to pay for our miniature golf after I finished.
I remembered how the 50 mph cage had humiliated me the last time, and so started out there. I paid close attention to the machine and noted that there is a light that blinks a bit before the pitch comes, and in the shadows of the tent, and lying behind the protective netting in front of the machine, a little ramp was just visible where a ball could be seen dropping down into the machine just before it was thrown at me at 50 mph. That was extremely helpful!
Just to make sure I was comfortable with 50 mph, I went through 2 sets of balls (25 balls per set), and was hitting the ball well from both the right and left sides of the plate. I was ready to move up to 60 mph!
I was fully warmed up and I had little trouble adjusting to 60 mph pitches and by splitting a single set of balls between the right and left side, I had it dialed in as well.
I had gone through 75 pitches by this time and was already getting tired, but I wanted a shot at that 70 mph cage. (The cage we went to back in Massachusetts, had an 85 mph machine. When I hit one of those balls, I felt like I had really accomplished something! But I was 14 years younger then, and I will happily settle for 70 mph for now, especially since there isn't anything faster available. )
Unfortunately, the 70 mph cage had a problem with it. The protective netting that stands in front of the pitching machine, keeps the batted balls from actually striking the machine. However, it would prevent the balls from traveling from the machine to the batter unless a hole through it were provided. That hole is circumscribed by a metal ring, normally attached to the netting all the way around. The ball then passes through the ring on its way to the batter.
As it turned out, in the 70 mph cage that metal ring was only attached at the very top, and it could freely spin. When I hit a ball back against the protective netting, it would jar that ring and on the next pitch, the ball would hit the ring and fly off in some unpredictable direction.
My first concern, of course, was that the ball might be deflected only slightly and send a bean ball my way. I watched very closely for that, but fortunately, each time it hit the ring, the ball never made it anywhere near the area around me. (I was the only one there, so the cages on either side were empty, and no one else was at risk.)
I lost at least 5 pitches of the allotted 25, which never came close enough to even swing at. I lost a few more as I was studying the problem and the risk factor. But when I was ready, I hit a number of balls from the right side and then really cracked a couple from the left side.
I felt much better, and my confidence improved greatly, after having it crushed the last time I was here.
After that Dotti and I went indoors and played their miniature golf course again. I shot the 18 holes left handed and got a 45, which is a normal to good score for me on that course.
For what it is worth, I think the reason I practice doing things left handed stems from two things. In 6th grade, one of the many books I read the year I failed to pass (1962/63), was on the FBI, and in it, I found that they had trained their agents to shoot very well, and then made the men change hands and go through the same rigorous training again. That really impressed me. Secondly, around the same time, I was an avid Dodger fan, and their team had an infield that was filled with guys who could hit from the left or right equally well.
I started practicing switch-hitting young, and as it turned out, I actually make contact better from the left side. I don't know why that is, but it's true. If I were going to have to face a major league pitcher I would try it from the left side of the plate I am sure. I would have little chance of hitting the ball of course, but my chances would be better from the left side. On the other hand, if I were hitting for distance, I would probably do better from the right side.
Today, my son LeRoy tells me that I am doing him no favors to play left handed against him in most sports, because, while not truly ambidextrous, I try and practice with both hands usually. (One exception is bowling. I feel completely out of whack trying to throw a bowling ball with my left hand. Maybe with practice?) Ping pong, racquetball, basketball, and a few others, I can do okay both left handed and right handed. Batting and miniature golf/putting, I can pretty well do as well from either side. I have never tried to drive a long shot left handed in golf, and that would be another major adjustment, like bowling, and I don't know if I could do well at it or not if I had a lot of practice under my belt. I doubt that I will ever find that out.
While I may have had low score for the course, Dotti made the shot of the day! This particular hole has a hill you can knock the ball up and a hole on the top of the hill, which will feed the ball down towards the real hole. Dotti chose to go another route and the ball ended up behind the black obstruction you see in the photo. The purpose of the obstruction is to bounce the ball back towards the hole if it misses after coming out of the chute from the upper hole.
When I saw where Dotti's ball was at, I assumed she would hit a positioning shot to line up an easy final shot. But Dotti walked up to the ball and without so much as a moment's hesitation, she hit the ball over the obstruction and right directly into the hole. My jaw literally dropped! She got a well deserved round of applause from her one-man combination audience and cheering section, and we put the ball back to where she shot from so I could take this picture. I still think it was a really cool shot!
Tuesday morning I finally broke below the 210 barrier and hit 209.5 pounds! I was happy to see that, since the last time I weighed that low was March 5th of this year.
This morning, before Dotti headed off to her Weight Watchers meeting, I had to take her picture, because she looked especially nice. Yes, I am madly in love with her, and that makes me a biased observer, but this is one incredibly beautiful lady! And all mine! I am the luckiest man on the planet! 
I am moving in the right direction on my journey, and it is in my hands as to whether I am going to continue on and reach goal or not. I truly hope that I will stay the course and move back down to where I want to be on the scale. I feel positive today, and that is always a help.
8 years, 36 days on my journey; a lifetime to follow.
-Al-
6'3" 239.5/210.5/185.0±2.5/BMI:26.31/WK-422
Starting weight: 239.5
Target Weight Range: 185.0±2.5 pounds
BACK TO WEEK 421 On To WEEK 423
|
|
|
