A FEW MORE THINGS
YOU MIGHT ENJOY
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WEEK 439
Week Ending October 14, 2009
Weight Watchers Goal
(the top of my normal weight range)
200.0 pounds
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Week 439 Update
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| Weigh-In Date: | 10/14/2009 |
| Weight: | 205.5 |
| Body Mass Index: | 25.69 |
| Average Daily Points: | 26.86 |
| Average Weight for week: | 207.07 |
| Miles Walked for week: | 12.00 |
| Miles Walked in 2009: | 162.25 |
| Pounds +/- for this week: | +0.5 |
| Pounds lost total: | 34.0 |
| Pounds From Personal Goal (185 lbs) | +20.5 |
Week's Data
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
Saturday |
Sunday |
Monday |
Tuesday |
10/07/09 |
10/08/09 |
10/09/09 |
10/10/09 |
10/11/09 |
10/12/09 |
10/13/09 |
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205.0 lbs
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209.0 lbs
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207.0 lbs
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204.5 lbs
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207.0 lbs
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209.0 lbs
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207.5 lbs
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26.0 pts
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23.5 pts
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32.0 pts
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26.0 pts
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30.5 pts
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25.5 pts
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24.5 pts
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CONTROL PANEL
GRAPH |
FUTURE
GRAPH |
60-DAY
GRAPH |
90-DAY
GRAPH |
1-YEAR
GRAPH |
2-YEAR
GRAPH |
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It was 6:25 a.m. when I stepped up on Mr. Scale and he said, "205.5 pounds!"
I am never happy about a gain, even of a half-pound, but they happen. This week had some interesting aspects to it for my Journey, and they all came together to produce these results. When I compare my average weight last week (207.14 pounds) with this week (207.07 pounds), at least I am not really creeping upwards, and that is the important thing.
A lot of this week was overshadowed by the injury I got on Tuesday last week (October 6) in the batting cage. While I got hit by a pitch on my inner upper right thigh, that was only nuisance value. It hurt, turned black and blue, etc. but it didn't really interfere with my life much. However, the ball I fouled off my right shin, just above the ankle, gave me fits this week. And it progressively got worse as the week wore on.
I walked 3 miles on Wednesday, without too much pain. I also walked on Thursday and Friday, but on Friday it was starting to hurt quite a bit. I rested on Saturday and Sunday, and Dotti offered to walk with me on Monday, Columbus Day.
I was in a lot of pain, and I would have skipped walking on that day otherwise, but I try never to miss an opportunity to walk with Dotti. So, I used several Ace bandages, to wrap and cushion the bruised area and the ankle, which had by this time turned a nasty shade of purple on a line along the bottom of my heel. I took my hiking stick with me to lean on, and we set off. One hour and forty-seven minutes later we arrived home, and it had gone pretty well I thought. (My normal 3-mile pace takes around 50 minutes to complete the course, so this was a very slow pace.)
But that evening, my ankle was killing me. I was to the point where, whenever I got up out of bed, the blood rushing to my ankle stabbed at me with sharp pain. If Dotti were not sleeping in the bed beside me I would probably have let off a yell. I would get up on my tiptoe for my right leg as I hopped along on my left foot. There was nothing for it, but to wait for the ankle to acclimate to the new flow pattern for the blood. And if I had to get up in the middle of the night—and I did—it was just as bad as when I finally got up for the entire day: so I could “enjoy” this process several times a day.
On Tuesday, after the walking stick walk, I was on a cane, when we went to help Jamie with getting into her new apartment. I was there for the paperwork and was able to get up the stairs to have a look around, but Dotti was stuck with the actual moving help. Fortunately, Jim and Tammy, LeRoy and another friend of Jamie's showed up to help as well, so it worked out okay.
This was seven days after I was originally injured. It turned out to be a lot worse than I thought it would be. Well, no more walking until that ankle gets better! (This sort of thing really makes me feel old, and I don't like it a bit.)
Needless to say, with all that pain, I took plenty of Ibuprofen this week, and I am sure that pushed the scale up for me. That is one more reason that I don't feel too badly about today's weigh-in.
One more thing happened on Monday that I will be a long time forgetting. I hadn't called Mom up in a couple of days, so I decided I needed to touch bases with her. I got a hold of her in the morning and we talked for over an hour. I felt I had done my duty and I hoped she felt better having heard from me. Then, in the evening, the phone rang and I saw it was Mom. I was worried that something might have happened, since she called back so soon, and so I answered the phone quickly.
After saying hi, and commenting on the fact that she hadn't had any indication that the phone had even rung, Mom asked me if I had called earlier in the day. I hesitated at the question. It surprised me, but I said that I had. She then said that she must have missed it because she was outside working on the blackberry bushes. (I felt like a hammer had hit me in the head.) We proceeded to have an almost identical conversation to the one we had earlier, as if it had never happened. I was in a daze for the entire call. At one point, she made the statement that she felt totally normal, and she didn't know what other people were worried about concerning her behavior. She didn't know what those others could possibly be seeing. I told her that it is things like having this conversation after forgetting you already had the same one earlier in the day. I was very gentle about the way I said that, and she went into her instant "cover up" mode, pretending like it was no big deal. But it was devastating to me. The conversation went on as if nothing had happened out of the ordinary, but it really broke my heart.
There is nothing in normal life that prepares you for dealing with Alzheimer's. Nothing! One of my good friends had to grow up with a mother who was brain damaged in a car accident and he has been very sympathetic to what I am dealing with now. I can't imagine what it must have been like for him growing up like that, because I am having a lot of trouble dealing with this as an adult.
I have spoken with others who are facing this challenge with their loved ones, and my heart goes out to them, because there is no good answer to this problem. It will take all of your resources and capabilities and then demands even more from you. What do you do if it is your spouse? One friend is facing that today and I worry about her. Will she be okay? This is too much for anyone to handle alone. If I spent a lot of time asking why this happens, I would grow very bitter. So, I don't ask. I find that helps as much as anything does.
Back to my weight loss Journey. My
Weight Commander Control Panel Graph sort of leveled off a bit this week, for the moving average (solid squares), and the daily weigh-ins are up and down erratically. I think the main cause of the high weigh-ins have to do with water retention after taking Ibuprofen and after eating high sodium popcorn etc., the night before. Still the trend is downward and with the injury this week, I don't think there is any cause for alarm just yet. 
The numbers on the left of the Control Panel show that I have a net loss of 4.5 pounds over the past 4 weeks, and that is just fine! On the right, today's weight comes in under my weight 30, 60, and 90 days ago. I am 9.5 pounds under what I was 60 days ago, and, when you are trying to lose weight, it is always good to see that.
I can't say my
Weight Commander Future Graph is something that makes me overjoyed, but it is still showing a loss projected into the future, and that is at least something. The leveling off I had this week has worked against me for this graph this week. It this were right, it would take 90 days to lose one-half pound. 
Predicting the future is always tricky, and the Future Graph is the most volatile of all the graphs. I have seen it go from projected a large gain to projecting a large loss in just a matter of a week or so. What happens on the scale during a week, or even two weeks, can be distorted by factors that have nothing to do with fat weight. Water retention is a big deal when it comes to what the scale says. If you hold on to water, you gain, and if you get rid of water you lose. But that has nothing to do with losing fat. So, the numbers don't always mean much for the short term. In time things sort themselves out and the long range trend will show what you are doing with your eating, exercise and actual amount of fat you are carrying around with you.
The Weight Commander 60-Day Graph still looks good. If you draw a line through the starting point and the ending point, the line moves right through the heart of the data points on the graph, showing this weigh-in is not out of whack with what has been going on. The line also shows a nice downward trent! 
The Weight Commander 90-Day Graph is also showing a downward trend on the latter part of the graph, and the overall direction of movement is in the downward direction as well. It does show what happens when I am paying attention (most of the time after August 1), and when I not (the time before August 1).
My Weight Commander 1-Year Graph looks pretty sad, if you judge it by where I started from a year ago. On the other hand, I have been making real progress most of the time since we moved to Spokane in April. And that is worth smiling about!
The
Weight Commander 2-Year Graph has a better feel to it, because it puts things in a bigger perspective. I am not far above where I was in March of 2008. The history this shows is depressing, but the absolute numbers today are not too bad. Just a few pounds more and I will be in the Normal Range! That is a big deal to me.
I still have a ways to go in order to reach the lowest point on this graph, and then I have several more pounds to lose after that to hit my personal goal. That means I have work to do ahead of me, but that would be true, even if I were at my personal goal. I will always have work to do, each and every week, each and every day. Holding my focus on the task at hand is a job that is never completed. I just have to remember that!
I hope my ankle heals up quickly and I can get back on track with my exercise. I am not overeating, and that is critical to my Journey. I am very happy about that! I am writing everything down, and that is good as well. I will keep my nose to the grindstone and see what I can turn out for next week.
8 years, 155 days on my journey; a lifetime to follow.
-Al-
6'3" 239.5/205.5/185.0±2.5/BMI:25.69/WK-439
Starting weight: 239.5
Target Weight Range: 185.0±2.5 pounds
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