Success Feel Good (Evaluation: Week 12)

Last Weigh In: Saturday, 16 November 2013

Weight Information -

• Weight: 427.4 lbs
• Weight Change This Week: -9.2 lbs
• Weight Change To Date: -25.8 lbs
• Weight Gauge: Yay! (with a soft-spoken Ow) followed by YAAAAY!
• BMI: 66.9 (down from 68.4)
• Daily PPV: 71 (unchanged)

Current Goals -

• Number Goal - Weight: 408 lbs (19.4 lbs away)
• Number Goal - BMI: Reach a value below 40.0 (27.0 away)
• Waist Goal: Lose one more available hole in belt (currently at 9)
• Feel Good Goal: Set up the house. Get in the water with the kids
• Physical Goal: Walk upright up the stairs of my house every time
• The Y: Go to aquatics classes (3) and yoga class (1) next week
• Weight Watchers:
• Make a meal plan with the PPV's worked out for two days
• Use the paper tracker to record calculated points every day this week
• Use 50 for my daily points instead of 71 (this is lowered from 56)
• Avoid using 49 weekly points. Daily points leave 21 available every day. This is up from 15. That's 147 left over points available per week
• Attend at two meetings this week. Scheduled for Wednesday and Saturday
• Overeaters Anonymous: 
• Attend two meetings this week. Scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday
• Face up to Step 1

Additional Goals (only to be included once a month as a review) -

• Lifetime Goal: I am losing weight so I can live, laugh, learn, and love longer.
• Long-term goals: I am losing weight so that I can...
• Attend every kid's sealing: Horse (coming up in April), Asian Red Fox, Jaguar, Iguana, Lemur, and Quail
• Bike, swim, walk, play, and otherwise be active with my kids and my future grand kids
• Comfortably fit into a pair of pants that can be purchased at Wal-Mart, Shopko, JC Penney’s, etc.
• Wrap my largest belt around me twice to be able to use it.
• Intermediate goals: I am losing weight so I can...
• Stand comfortably during lectures, seminars, etc and not feel extreme pain in my ankles, knees, hips, and arches.
• Recover from long day of work in one good night’s sleep
• Handle stresses better
• Be more attractive to MBWM
• Short-term goals: I am losing weight today so that I can...
• Take charge of this part of my life today
• Abstain from compulsive eating behaviors today
• Have the warm fuzzies of today's successes available for tomorrow stresses and strains

Evaluation:

• Weight Watcher's Awards this week -
• 5% - for losing 5% of my body weight
• 25 lbs - for losing 25 lbs since starting
• 5 lb star - for losing 5 lbs this week
• Bravo - for reaching 5 laps in the pool
• Number Goals: Met my first number goal (430 lbs) and set a new one (408 lbs). Feels good!
• Waist Goal: Still comfortable and effective at 9 available holes. 10 is ineffective. 8 is uncomfortable.
• Feel Good Goal: Still working on it. The house is making progress, but it's rather slow. And since I didn't schedule the kids swim last week, it didn't happen last week.
• Physical Goal: Still need to crawl up the stairs, especially while recovering from exercise
• The Y Goal: Not only met but exceeded. Emotional victory. Physical victory is still waiting.
• WW Goal: Met all goals
• OA Goal: Met all goals

I started out fearful this week that I would lose my will power to be able to stay on track in food selection. While I did nibble a small portion of a few high-carb items (1/2 a chicken nugget, thumb-sized bite of doughnut, 1/3 of an Oreo-type cookie, etc.), I still managed to lose quite a but of weight. Proof to me that calories (as measured in points) are more vital than which categories of food are selected. It also really helped me that I didn't feel guilty or ashamed of what I did. And it also helped that MBWM was there to remind me to stay within my self-selected food choices. So the lesson of the correlation of BLTN's and weight is either that I would do even better as losing weight without the BLTN's or that I can still lose impressive amounts of weight even with minor (emphasis on minor) nibbling. The lesson of the exercise is that I still need to find my stride. My muscles are still very tired. And my joints are complaining much more than they were yesterday. I suspect that aching muscles lead to joint pain under continued exertion. And through all of this, the support system of meetings is helping, especially the Saturday morning Weight Watchers meeting with Robin. The assistance the meeting provide is emotional and spiritual support that arises from the camaraderie of shared experiences. And having kudos from MBWM really is of great assistance as well, especially the kudos and kindness only a spouse can provide, knowing me as well as she does.

Looking Forward:

• Stay on program with Weight Watchers.
• Stay on track with low carb / low fat food selection
• Keep on track with Aquatics and Yoga classes, paying attention to physical well-being to allow for extensions of exertion, such as swimming laps or taking the Deep Water Aquatics class.
• Be less fearful of regression as experienced during the move by developing structure strong enough to handle stresses

IVCUFI:
I have found the way (IV) to balance low-carb / low fat food selection with lesser BLTN's while only using an average of 41 points.

I have seized the road (CU) of exercise to push myself into better health.

I am enjoying the journey (FI) of impressive weight loss and look forward to this week's continued success.

Post Number: 43

Review of Yesterday's Progress

     Daily Points Left: 40 of 71 (Goal: 15)

     Weekly Points Left: 49 of 49 (Goal: 49)

     Meetings Attended: Weight Watchers

     Exercise Completed: None Scheduled

Today has been a good day, especially where weight loss is concerned. It hasn't been as productive as I'd hoped. But I have really enjoyed the feeling of success today. And I have even enjoyed writing this blog all this week. I still struggle against the pain in the muscles and joints, as evidenced with the frequency with which I still crawl up the stairs.

At today's Weight Watcher's meeting, the group lost 54.6 lbs of which I contributed 9.2 lbs. That means 16.8% of the weight lost was mine. It doesn't really matter, it's just nice to have nice large numbers. I especially look forward to dropping out of the morbidly obese BMI category (at 40.0). But that is still a long ways off. The next 25 lbs or next 5% will be closer. The next 25 lbs is at 403 lbs. The next 5% is at 408 lbs. And a BMI of 40.0 for me is at 255 lbs. That point in time will feel very wonderful.

During a family meeting concerning fasting and who is fasting for what, a couple of happy thoughts were expressed. The suggestion was expressed to Jaguar that she should fast to be better at obeying the family's rules. She said, "What rules?" In another instance, after Asian Red Fox had been acting up for awhile during the meeting and being disruptive, I lift a red plastic lid from a sour cream container or some such. I just started moving it around randomly in front of her. She quieted down and looked a little nervous as she tracked the lid. Finally, she said, "What?!?" I said, "I am just playing with your paranoia." MBWM added, "He is playing with your parent-anoia."

And so we come to the end of another evaluation and blog entry. If you made it this far, it was with marathon-like effort or in multiple steps. But either way, thank you.

Yours in the sweet, sweet feeling of success,

Eliot

P.S.: Nothing succeeds like success, but the direction matters. I can successfully gain weight by enjoying more food. Or I can successfully lose weight by enjoying the additional freedom of movement.


NOTES
Weight Watchers, Saturday, 16 November 2013
Put your fork down and sip water between bites.
How did your one tiny change slow down your eating?

What happened after you slowed down?

• Fuller - Didn't need to finish the meal
• Ate half of what I normally ate
• Think more about next bite, serving, course, ...
• No time left for dessert

How is this change affecting other aspects of your life?

• Life also slowed down
• Enjoyed the food more
• Enjoyed the people around you more
• Took control, of food and much more
• Less multi-tasking (distractions)

Friend and family without food. On a scale of 1 - 10, how important is food to making a Thanksgiving memorable? (5, 8 (lots), 9, 10 (lots))

What makes Thanksgiving memorable?

• Playing with kids
• Pass cooking to next generation
• Use Thanksgiving to move about talking with people
• Buy into the holiday for one day so you can really enjoy that day. There is no need to practice the holiday ahead of time by eating holiday treats leading up to the holiday.

What do you remember about last Thanksgiving?

How do the things we love about the holidays also make it difficult to stay on plan?

How do friends and family contribute to the challenge?

Make a list of things you like to do during the holidays. Here is my list:

• Play games, especially board games and card games
• Watch movies
• Go for a drive (see someplace new, see Christmas tree lights, ...)
• Family gatherings (especially if I have to drive to get there)
• Visit home models
• Test drive cars

After making the list:

1. Put a check mark next to all of the ideas that are more fun to do with other people
2. Put a star next to everything that is done without food

Make a list of those things that have both a check mark and a star. Class ideas:

• Shop
• Movie (without popcorn)
• Decorate
• Games
• Driving to look at Christmas lights
• Botanical Garden - Winder Glow exhibit
• Caldwell - Indian Creek Lights
• Meridian Nighttime Parade (Kuna has one as well)
• Ice Skating - The Village opens today (Sat., 11/16/2013)
• Skiing
• Carroling
• Snowmobiling (Snow Show at the Fairgrounds today)
• Christmas music
• Solar System walk through the park (map available at the Discovery Center)
• Bowling
• Festival of Trees - The Grove. It costs but it's worth the price of admission. Look especially for the days they are having Fantasy and Fables, when people dress up as characters from fantasy and fables. (I was unable to locate any information concerning Fantasy and Fables in the Admissions / Attractions page. But I did find a personal favorite - Interactive Train Display.)

Watch out for food pushers. How do you handle a food pusher?

• Push back
• Tell them you feel loved without the food
• Take your own food in plastic cans
• Take empty plastic containers (like margarine) to take the food with you. And then dispose of it on the way home.