Mr. Scale said, "219.0" at 5:30 AM. After the long day yesterday, that is not too bad. .

I got up at 4:00 AM yesterday, and then waited around until 6:00 for my weigh-in. I then updated my journal, and graph etc. on the message board, and had breakfast. Dotti and I then got ready to get on the road.

We finally were packed and ready to go a little before 10:00 AM. We then headed over to our storage shed, to pick up something we neeeded to take with us to Spokane. The storage place is real close to the mall, and so we dropped in to get one of those low point ice cream cones for the road. The ice cream stand is just inside one of the main doors into the mall, and I dropped Dot off at that door and waited in the car for her to bring them out. A couple of minutes later she came out, but empty handed. The stand was open, but the operator said that the machine takes 20 minutes to warm up, and he just turned it on.) We sadly hit the road without our cones.

As we headed east on Interstate 84 (a freeway that was named I-80N when we lived here in 1974) I wanted to stop at a Safeway that I knew of in Gresham, to get a few low point items for the trip. When we pulled into the parking lot, I spotted a Subway and decided that would be better. We each grabbed a 6-inch sub, and that settled my stomach down. I had been very hungry all morning and I needed something to eat.

We skipped Safeway and headed out on our way, entering the beautiful Columbia River gorge. The tall Cascade Mountains towered above us, as we drove through the huge cut the Columbia River had made through them. We passed the lovely Multnomah Falls, the site of our very first date, and glanced the white water careening over the brink and down 600 feet into the pool below. We passed Crown Point, hundreds of feet above us, and enjoyed the wide expanse of the Columbia River stretching out on our left.

As we progressed through the gorge, the tall and numerous pines became more and more scarce. The bare earth and rock, telling their geologic story, became visible, and finally we reached the east end of the gorge, which was plant-free and brown. The freeway entered the eastern Oregon territory, where the land looks more like the Mojave Desert than the Pacific Northwest. The flat but rolling land stretched out before us, covered in short brown grass, with scrubby little bushes sprinkled lightly across the landscape. Having lived many years in the desert, I feel right at home in this area, but Dotti absolutely hates all the brown. She has lived in Vermont, western Oregon and in Washington. She loves the green.

After 175 miles of driving we reached the I-82 cut off to take us north and back into Washington. (Both Oregon and Washington have roads that run through the Columbia Gorge, but on the Washington side it is just a highway, while on the Oregon side it is a freeway. Naturally, for time's sake, we take the freeway.)

One thing I absolutely hate about Oregon is that they have a law that you cannot pump your own gas. The gas station must supply an attendant to do the pumping for you. There are a couple of things that I really dislike about it. I used to work at a gas station way back in 1971 and I remember how I treated customers that pulled in. "Good morning Sir! What can I do for you this morning. Fill it up? Yes sir!" I then set the pump a-pumping and myself to washing the windows, all of them, without asking. When I finished that, I asked if I could check the oil level, the radiator, or the air pressure in his tires. That was for every customer that came in.

In 90% of the stations in Oregon, the idea of asking about anything under the hood never crosses their minds. And the air pressure in the tires? You might as well expect a million dollar donation to your favorite charity. Most of the islands don't even have air anymore. They may wash your windshield, but don't bet on it, and the rest of the windows will never be touched. So why are these attendants even there? Just put a pump in the tank? That brings me to item two.

If a station is busy, you may wait quite awhile before one the "helpful" attendants manages to wander over and ask what you want. Dot and I stopped at one station in the Gorge, and I pulled to the back of the building in order to check the air in the tires. I then pulled up to the pump and waited. Nobody came. It was looking kind of busy, so I left the credit card with Dotti to give to the attendant when he came, and I went to use the rest room. When I got back the "helpful" attendant had still not shown his face. I hopped into the car and we took off. I had plenty of gas to make it to the Tri-Cities area, which are located in Washington, and I wouldn't have to wait for the "helpful" attendants to pump my gas.

In Kennewick, Washington, one of the Tri-Cities, and home of the world famous Kennewick Man, we stopped again. It was about 2:30 PM and it would be the last chance that we would have to find a Subway before reaching Spokane, and we had nearly 3 hours of driving ahead of us still. So, we grabbed another 6-inch sub, and then stopped at Chevron and filled the tank. (Attendants? We don't need no stinking attendants!)

The rest of the drive was uneventful, though still brown right up until we got close to Spokane. The higher elevation increases the precipitation level in the Spokane area and so it is green, more like the western part of the state.

By the time we got there I had eaten enough of the regular meringues to make up two point's worth (5 pieces) and 4 sugar-free hard candies for another point. That brought me to a total of 21 points by the time we arrived at Jim's and Tammy's house. There, I had 4 tomato sandwiches for dinner (3pts) and later Jim, Tammy, Dotti, the four girls, and the two grandsons, along with yours truly, all loaded our two vans and headed out to McDonalds for an ice cream cone (3pts).

We all laugh about this particular McDonalds, because when Dotti was in her losing weight mode, during her journey, we had all gone to this very McDonalds for the very same thing. When we got there, the ladies handed Jim and I our cones, and then suddenly the ice cream cone machine had broken. Dotti was ready to take the walls out of the building and let the roof fall in on it. Last night when we all got out of the vans and Dotti was talking about something with Tammy, I said to her, "Hey Dot, they don't have any ice cream!" She looked around with eyes that said, "Oh no, not again." And then she realized I was pulling her leg.

So, for my total yesterday, I ended up eating 27.0 points, well within my range. That, even after having 4 meals, and several snacks. I thought that was pretty cool.

For water, I drank 24 cups or 192 ounces (12 pounds). I was up and down last night several times, but after all that, when I got up for good this morning, I was still in the 2-teens and smiling.

Today is the first day of July, and we are with our best friends. Tammy says that she has a 3 mile course laid out for walking and hopefully we can get some exercise in this week. We are all set for racquetball at the gym as well. I brought my 32 ounce drinking glass, because it really makes drinking water easy, and am looking forward to a great week. I might even have some pictures to put up before we are done.

50 days OP, a lifetime to follow.

-Al-

239.5/218.0/200/BMI:27.0/WK-7/Weight Loss Graph

Mr. Scale said, “219.5” this morning.

I woke up tired and sore today. Yesterday evening Dotti, Jim and I all went down to the gym and we played racquetball. We rotated through, rather than playing “cut throat” (all 3 at once). We played for an hour and a half and that gave each of us about an hour of playing time. I had a good workout.

We then went back home to eat dinner, followed by a 3.1 mile walk, that Tammy has mapped out. Dotti, Tammy, Jim and I walked that at a pretty good clip, and I was very tired after that. I slept well last night.

My breakfast was standard for 5 points. I had 2 turkey sandwiches for lunch, with two meringues for a total of 4 points, and then had a new recipe for dinner that Tammy and Dotti whipped up called Zesty Cheese Ravioli for 6 points. We stopped for a McDonalds ice cream cone on our walk, and that added another 3 points. Adding the 2 additional cups of coffee I had during the day, it brought my total up to 27.0 points.

Dot wanted me to mention that the Zesty Cheese Ravioli recipe came from a book called “Two’s Company,” which she bought at Flo’s recommendation. (Thanks Flo!) It was delicious.

I drank 80 ounces of water yesterday.

My hands feel a bit puffy this morning from all the exercise yesterday, so the scale reading being up a bit is no big deal. Yesterday when I got home from racquetball the scale said, “217.0.” I liked seeing that.Dotti has been saying all along that our scale reads a couple pounds higher than the scale at her Weight Watchers meeting does. Well, Tammy has a nice scale that also reads a couple pounds lower than our scale. We have our scale sitting on a board, on top of the carpet. For my weigh-in on Saturday, I am going to move the scale and board onto a solid, uncarpeted surface. As it is, I can step on the scale several times and get several different readings. I take the one that comes up the most often for my journal weight for the day.

Jim, Tammy, and their oldest daughter have all commented that they can clearly see that I have lost weight in my head and shoulders area. However, since I am wearing 38 inch pants now, instead of the 44's I was wearing before, my stomach still looks fat relative to my waist. So, even though most of my loss has been in the area from just below my ribcage, down to my mid thighs, the loss does not jump out at you as it does in my face.

We are having fun, and staying OP! Dotti has her weigh-in this week (probably today) and she has worked hard to get back down a couple of pounds from our trip to the beach. I think she is there and ready to weigh right now. I am really proud of her. Since I have known her, she has never looked so in charge of her life and her eating, as she has for the past 3 years. She has that air of confidence that I love seeing in her face.

Well, its time to go off to face Monday, and see what kinds of fun things there are in store for us.

51 days OP, a lifetime to follow.

-Al-

239.5/218.0/200/BMI:27.0/WK-7/Weight Loss Graph

I got up on Mr. Scale at 5:00 AM and he said, “218.5 pounds.”

I had no idea what to expect this morning. Yesterday was a crazy eating day. Breakfast was normal, with an extra cup of coffee thrown in to make it 6.0 points. Lunch was a bit light with only 4 points, for 2 turkey sandwiches and two chocolate meringues. I was at 10.0 points going into the afternoon. During the afternoon, I had another cup of coffee, and 5 standard meringues (over a period of several hours). That added another 3 points, bringing me up to 13.0 points. That was pretty average for going into the evening. It was a bit lower than normal, but close. Then, just before dinner, Jim and I got an invitation to go play racquetball with his son-in-law, at 7:00 PM. Well, you can’t eat a big meal and play racquetball on top of it, and then after a real heavy workout I have no appetite. Dot slipped me a LUNA bar before racquetball (3.5pts) for energy, and I am glad that she did! I don’t like to eat late anyway, and it was 9:00 PM before any opportunity to eat was available. So, I blew it and I didn’t eat anything else. I only ate 16.5 points yesterday. (Dotti and Tammy both chewed me out just before I went to bed. ) I guarantee that I will do better today. First off, there is no way I am going to play racquetball today. After 2 days in a row, I am very stiff and sore. Also, I am set on eating in my range today, and I will eat all 3 meals.

I didn’t even drink my water yesterday. I had 7 glasses (56 ounces) and not much more.

When we first decided to go play racquetball again, I was not really sure whether I was going to be up to it or not. I was a bit sore from the day before, having played racquetball and then following Tammy’s quick pace around her 3.1 mile path. When I got to the gym, I made sure that I was good and warmed up before I tried anything strenuous. I did not want to pull a muscle or strain anything. I was tired, but it went well. I got a good workout, had a lot of fun, and didn’t get hurt, even though Jim’s son-in-law is in his early twenties and had me running around some. I got plenty of exercise, won all my games and had fun. What more can you ask from a trip to the gym?

I got some things done on the computer yesterday, including getting the picture of Dotti and Tammy up on the web site. With all the kids and grandkids that are running around Jim and Tammy’s house it keeps you on your toes. It is a lot of fun!

Today, I am going to meet a friend of mine from high school. I haven’t seen him since 1975. We were very close friends for my high school junior and senior years. Then 5 years after I graduated, he and his wife came to my “going away” party that Dotti threw for me in 1975, when I left Portland on “permanent change of station” orders, that led me first to Great Lakes, Illinois, and then on to Augusta, Georgia, for some electroncis schools, and then to Diego Garcia, in the Indian Ocean. Little did I know, when we were at that party, it would be 20 years before I would make it back to Portland, or that it would be 26 years before I would see my friend again.

It is pretty cool. Last week I got an email from him out of the blue. It just happened to be the week before I was making a trip to Spokane anyway, and he just happens to live here. Well, I can’t put here all that is going through my mind right now, but I am hoping that this is going to be as much fun as I think it will be!

I am going to eat in my range today. That is my number one eating goal!

51 days OP, a lifetime to follow.

-Al-

239.5/218.0/200/BMI:27.0/WK-7/Weight Loss Graph

Mr. Scale said, “218.0” this morning.

Yesterday I ate 23.0 points. I had eaten 18.0 points when I checked at 10:00 PM, and so I was looking for something for 5 points, because I was not going to go under my points again. Dotti fixed me a 5 point bowl of cereal and I ate it.

For breakfast I had my 5.0 point standard. For lunch Dot made up a couple of tomato sandwiches (1.5pts), and put a cup of strawberries (1.0pt), on the side, for a total of 2.5 points. For dinner she made us a 7.5 total points, “breakfast for dinner,” meaning toast (.5pt), 5 ounces of fried potatoes (2.0pts), cheese omelet (2.0pts), 2 strips of turkey bacon (1pt), and a cup of milk (2.0pts). I had a second cup of coffee (1pt) and 5 standard meringues (2pts), during the afternoon. All of that brought me up to 18 points. And that is where I was at when 10:00 PM rolled around, and I ate the before mentioned cereal.

Yesterday my friend and I had a really fun time going over old times and catching up the new. I was surprised how much we had in common over the 26 years that we had not seen each other. We had done the same computer kinds of things, and gone through the BBS phase before the Internet became available. Anyway, I won’t go into all that here, but all and all it was a great visit!

I didn’t do much for exercise yesterday. In the afternoon my friend and I went and played miniature golf (he won by a stroke), but I didn’t do much else. My knees were aching just a bit from what I had done the previous two days, so a day of relaxation was a good thing.

I did much better on my water. I drank 16 cups of water, for a total of 128 ounces (8 pounds).

All things together, I felt yesterday was a very good day.

I have noticed that I am developing a lot of the same traits that Dotti has for weigh-in. I eat light, and don’t eat late on Friday nights. I aim for the lowest possible weight on Saturday morning. And of course I have the lightest possible weigh-in outfit. Then for the next couple of days I get back to normal, and my weight goes up, and then later in the week it finally naturally comes back down to my last Saturday weigh-in weight. And then I do it all over again for the next weigh-in. I guess it shows my eagerness to do well for my weigh-in, but it is not logical really. If I just kept doing what I am doing every day, I may not have as good a weigh-in for one week, but my average for my weigh-ins would be just as good as the one I am getting by fooling around the way I am, jockeying into the lowest possible weight for “this week.” I suppose it is like the athlete who is superstitious and wears a special sweatshirt when he plays because it is “lucky.” Obsessively worrying about this one weigh-in each week is very short sighted, and I am trying to take the long view approach. But I know I am going to keep doing it anyway.

Well, another day down, and today is the Fourth of July. Jim and Tammy are having family over and it should be an interesting day. We’ll visit, and break out the guitars for some music. It should be fun.

53 days OP, a lifetime to follow.

-Al-

239.5/218.0/200/BMI:27.0/WK-7/Weight Loss Graph

Mr. Scale said, “218.0 pounds,” this morning at 5:30.

Yesterday was the Fourth of July, and we had a fun time. Several members of Jim and Tammy’s family came by for a visit. I broke out my guitar, microphone and amp, and Jim grabbed his guitar, and we sang some songs for the group. Jim fired up his barbecue, and we also had a lot of good conversation. We were all pretty tired by the end of the day, but it was a lot of fun.

I will share one enjoyable moment we had yesterday evening. After everybody else had left, Dotti and Tammy decided to take a walk. Jim and I were still tired (and I was still sore) from the exercise we had on Sunday and Monday. So, we sat out. Part way though the course that they walked, a bit over half way, is a McDonalds. Jim and I hopped in the van and drove to the McDonald’s and bought a cone, and stood out by the road waiting for the girls to show up. I blew the calculation on the time it would take for them to arrive. And we finished our cones before they got there. So, we hopped in the van to go look for them, just as they were turning the corner and heading up the hill towards McDonalds. We pulled up behind them and started giving them a hard time, and finally offered to buy them a cone. We didn’t tell them until later that we had already had one.So, we all had a cone (Jim and I actually were having our second - but I did have the points for it!) and the girls headed off to finish up the 3.1 mile walk which was already over half done.

For eating yesterday, I had my normal breakfast, with a couple of extra cups of coffee thrown in during the morning, for a total of 7.0 morning points. For lunch I just had two turkey sandwiches (3pts). So, I was at 10 points when the party began. I drank water, and for dinner I had a diet cream soda (0.0pts). For dinner, I had two turkey hot dogs (2.0pts), cooked by Jim on his barbecue, along with some sour kraut, and two deviled eggs (3.0pts), some instant potatoes (3.0pts), and about a cup of raw vegetables (0.0pts). So, for dinner I ate 8.0 points, and for the day I was then up to 18.0 points. The McDonalds cones I counted as 4 points each, because they were filled up a bit more than the usual 3 point cone. That gave me 8 ice cream points, and a total of 26.0 points for the day.

I drank 18 cups of water, for a total of 144 ounces (9 pounds).

I am happy to see that I am keeping my points under my limit on vacation. My weight has not gone up, and here it is Thursday, two days before weigh-in. I don’t know how much, if any that I will lose this week, but I am quite hopeful that I will not have a gain.

Well, I am off to see what Thursday has in store for us. Our time with Jim and Tammy always goes by too quickly.

54 days OP, a lifetime to follow.

-Al-

239.5/218.0/200/BMI:27.0/WK-7/Weight Loss Graph

I woke Mr. Scale up at 5:24 AM and he said, “218.5 pounds.” Considering that I was having some drinks a little late last night that isn’t too bad.

Yesterday we went up to a place called Manito Park, and got some exercise walking around and seeing the sites. One of the highlights of the walk was a view of two swans swimming on “Duck Pond,” followed by three of their babies. Dotti and Tammy were watching them closely as the babies, one by one, crawled up out of the water to ride on their mommy’s back, covered by her wings, which were pulled back and protectively arching over the little ones.

We had a pretty good walk, going up and down hills, walking through several gardens of flowers. There was a huge lawn, cut artistically and perfectly with decorative flower beds, that were laid out in intricate patterns, but symmetrically matched from left to right. The beds were filled with flowering plants, which perfectly matched their counterparts on the other side, in both number and position. Towards one end of the lawn was a beautiful fountain which altered its pattern of spray from moment to moment and provided a cool and very welcome mist, to offset the hot dry air of a clear summer’s day. Jim had grown up in the neighborhood surrounding the park, and he kept us entertained with stories of his childhood experiences in and around the park.

We had fun walking through a greenhouse that was loaded with flowers from many different climates. I especially enjoyed the large and varied cactus display, having spent many of my childhood years living in the Mojave Desert. Tammy and Dot really enjoyed the beautiful flowers from many locations. Outside, there were other gardens that we enjoyed, including one filled with nothing but roses of different types, and we could smell that one long before we could see it. The air was just saturated with the smell of the rose.

The last garden we visited was the Japanese Garden, and it was just beautiful. I felt isolated, in the same sense as I used to at Disneyland, where the city of Anaheim crowed in around the park, but you were unaware of it, as you were lost in another world, feeling a million miles away from the Los Angeles suburb, walking behind the tall and opaque fences. The Japanese garden was sunken, well below the level of the surrounding area, and in this large fenced depression, there were walking paths, surrounded by lush greenery, and all of them close to water. There was a large fish pond, which was well stocked with brightly colored fish, and bridge across it, that we stood on for quite some time watching them. There was a waterfall, and a stream that was active but peaceful. From the gazebo, we could overlook the stream flowing into the pond, while listening to the waterfall beside us.

Back home, in the evening, we visited with each other, and had a few drinks. Of course Dot and Tammy had their “zero point” Kailua.

For my eating yesterday, after my standard 5.0 point breakfast, I had a second cup of coffee (1pt) and then for lunch I had my two turkey sandwiches (3points), with a cucumber (0.0pts). I then had another cup of coffee, and that brought my point total to 10.0. For dinner I had a cheese omelet (2.0pts), 2 pieces of toast (1pt), and a cup of instant potatoes (3pts). I had a couple of meringues for a one point snack, and then finally I had two ounces of Crown Royal whiskey(~3pts). That finished my day at 20 points, a bit lower than I had planned.

I was trying out Tammy’s really nice scale, and it said 217.0 this morning, which is a half pound less than what it said yesterday. I think I would go crazy if I had to rely on weighing on different scales from week to week. When good scales can show that sort of difference between them, you could show a gain when you really lost, or you could show a really big loss when you only lost a little, depending on which scale you weigh on this week and which one you weighed on last week. Dot tells me that many Weight Watchers insist on using the same scale each week and I think that is very wise. Especially for those who are easily upset with the scale showing something unexpected. Grocery store scales, which they use to weigh food that they sell, have to be certified as being accurate, and they should not show significant variation from one scale to another. I know that WWs does attempt to keep its scales accurate, but I personally would insist on using the same scale every week.

The week is fast evaporating, as all fun weeks do. We are heading back home tomorrow, with another bunch of good memories to add to the tremendous collection we have gathered over the 23 years that we have known Jim and Tammy. We are very lucky indeed to have such wonderful friends!

55 days OP, a lifetime to follow.

-Al-

239.5/218.0/200/BMI:27.0/WK-7/Weight Loss Graph

*** Weigh-in for WEEK 8 ***

Week Completed:	__8__
Weigh-In Weight:	217.5
Body Mass Index:	27.0
Week’s Average Points/Day:	22.9
Pounds lost this week:	0.5
Pounds lost total:	22.0
Pounds to go to 10%:	2.0
Pounds to go to goal:	17.5

Got up at 6:00 AM and weighed myself. Mr. Scale said, “217.5.” A half pound loss this week. I will take it. (I took my last opportunity to check what Tammy's scale said, and it read 216.0. Oh well. Mr. Scale has been good to me so far, so I will stick with him.)

We are going to be hitting the road soon, and heading for home.

Yesterday, we took a trip up to Mt. Spokane. From the top of that mountain, standing next to the giant antennas mounted there, we could see the whole area laid out before us. There were several lakes visible, and the green, rolling lowlands were breathtaking from that point of observation. There was a ski lift that ran from the very summit, down for hundreds of feet. We later drove to the other end of what is, in the wintertime, the ski run serviced by that lift. It looked like a serious path for skiers who know what they are doing.

When we got back we remembered that we had not had lunch yet, and it was getting late. So, when Dot and Tammy made a run to the store they stopped at Subway, and grabbed a 12 inch turkey breast sandwich for me, and it was smothered in point-free goodies. That filled me up and gave me a combination lunch and dinner. Before we knew it, the evening was gone and it was time for bed. I had my last gulp of water about 9:00 PM, getting ready for the weigh-in this morning.

Yesterday, I had 2 cups of coffee with breakfast, giving me 6.0 points. I had the 12” sub for lunch/dinner (12 points) and we stopped for an ice cream cone (3pts) coming home from Mt. Spokane. That gave me 21.0 points for the day.

For water I drank 20 cups, or 160 ounces (10 pounds).

I didn’t have a lot of time, or extra energy, to play around in the morning getting my lowest possible weight for weigh-in this week, so I will take a half pound loss and happily run with it. It should make next week’s weigh-in that much better.

There was something else that I noticed today, while looking at my weigh loss graph. For the rest of the way, if I only lose at the rate of half a pound a week, like I did this week, I will still make my goal of being at goal weight by the second DWLZ Conference. Realizing that made me feel pretty good.

56 days OP, a lifetime to follow.

-Al-

239.5/217.5/200/BMI:27.0/WK-8/Weight Loss Graph