Making It Work! (Evaluation: Week 21)

Last Weigh In: Saturday, 18 January 2014

Weight Information -

• Weight: 385.8 lbs
• Weight Change This Week: -3.6 lbs
• Weight Change To Date: -67.4 lbs
• Weight Gauge: Making it work!
• BMI: 60.4 (down from 61.0 last week)
• Daily PPV: 71 (unchanged - changes at approximately 374 lbs)
• PPV Used this Week: 184 out of 497
• PPV Not Used this Week: 313 (63.0%)

Current Goals -

• Employment Goals
• Make at least 5 networking contacts each week
• Apply for at least 5 positions each week
• Number Goals
• Weight: (Next three weight goals)
• 15% Weight Loss at 385.2 lbs (0.6 lbs away)
• Use Bathroom Scale at 380.0 lbs (5.8 lbs away)
• 75 Pounds Lost at 378.2 lbs (7.6 lbs away)
• BMI: Reach a value below 40.0 (20.4 away)
• PPV Not Used this Week: 313 (Beat goal by 12)
• Waist Goal: Lose another available hole in the belt until I need to switch to a new belt. Currently at 5 available holes.
• Feel Good Goal: Pondering this one.
• Physical Goal: Walk upright up the stairs of my house every time. Tie my shoes unassisted anywhere.
• The Y: Swim laps four times next week, but skip working on the recumbent elliptical machine. I am going to set my alarm for 5 am for next week. This means I will be aiming for my preferred form of exercise.
• Alternative to the Y:  Need to research further for options outside of the Nampa Rec Center and Axiom.
• Weight Watchers:
• Make a meal plan with the PPV's worked out for one day to serve as a fall back
• Use the paper tracker to record calculated points every day this week
• Keep available PPV at 28 for my daily points instead of 71 as assigned by WW
• Range of PPV in past has varied daily between 6 and 18 points from goal in one week. Keep range to 4 points except while fasting.
• Avoid using 49 weekly points. Daily points leave 43 available every day. That's 301 left over points available per week
• Attend two meetings this week. Scheduled for Wednesday and Saturday
• Overeaters Anonymous: 
• Attend two meetings this week. Scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday
• Read Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 of the AA Big Book.
• Perform moral inventory for Step 4.
• Never Ceases to Amuse Me Blog
• Journal 300 out of 365 days
• Write a weekly Expansionist Knowledge article so long as employment goals have been met
• Reading Materials - Self-assigned reading assignments
• Start Strong. Finish Strong.
• WW Handbook for Success
• WW Find Your Fingerprint
• AA Big Book
• Sticky Notes
• Be active for 5 minutes out of every sedentary hour
• Push for a WooHoo Weigh In!
• Put down the fork and sip water between bites
• No high carb nibbling. Kimkins separation in T-minus 36 pounds.
• Get to Bed!

Evaluation:

• Employment Goals - Starting to get steady flow of input from 2 or 3 networking resources each week. Need to keep the network active with my feedback of gratitude and confirmation of application while expanding the network to new sources.
• Weight Watcher's Awards this week -
• 5 lbs - For passing another 5 pound mark
• Number Goals: Direction feels wonderful. Quantity felt delightful, especially with all of the high carb nibbling I did over the course of the week.
• Waist Goal: Belt is comfortable and effective at 5 available holes. 6 is ineffective. 4 is nearly comfortable. Suspect changing shape of tummy is interfering with regular, consistent downgrades.
• Feel Good Goal: Still working on it. Need to find something a little closer to home for a feel good goal that isn't mindless entertainment.
• Physical Goal: Still need to pull myself up the stairs. Cannot tie my shoes without physical aids or personalized assistance
• The Y Goal: This week was a clear miss  with only 50% attendance. Next week, I need to make getting to the Y the first priority first thing in the day.
• Alternative to the Y: Unable to locate any options (such as Gold's Gym) that aren't running into the same problems as Axiom.
• WW Goal: Still need to make a meal plan for one single day. Otherwise, I am doing good.
• OA Goal: Attended one meeting. It was wonderful. Need to follow-through on attending both meetings and Step 4.

This week's weigh in was a delight. I indulged more than I would have liked on the wrong foods. I cannot say that I didn't want to indulge, because I did indulge and I did want to and I did enjoy it. I ate more food than two weeks ago, about the same as last week, except in terms of selection, and still lost an exceptional amount of weight. Long before joining Weight Watchers, having researched dieting and partaken of the fruits of success with a LCLF diet, I had come to the conclusion, weight loss and weight maintenance is all about the calorie. Calorie is king. The longer I am on Weight Watchers, the more I think weight loss is possible on any food selection program, if the calories are curtailed. LCLF programs have the advantage of making you want to eat less be feeling full longer and slowing down the digestive track. As a word of warning on LCLF programs, stay away from carbs aggressively because the cravings that follow can be intense. The two prime advantages of Weight Watchers are (1) any food can be eaten as long as you track it and (2) there really is power in the gathering of like-minded people with similar goals, desires, and experiences. Sharing our strengths and weaknesses, failures and successes leads to more success for more people.

In the interest of success this week, I am planning on pushing carbs back into their proper position. That position is that carbs attached to green beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, and other veggies are to be relished with delight. Foods that are basically only carbs, cereal, bread, etc, are going to have to wait for another 35 pounds. I do not think I will hit my next two number goals (0.6 lbs away and 5.8 lbs away) in one week. But I want to make the next two number goals after that (currently 5.8 lbs away and 7.6 lbs away, which is 1.8 lbs from each other) nice and easy to hit together and start out close to the mark. This is not to say that all three goals are not achievable in one week, just very unlikely. And to tell the truth, I'd really rather get the next goal and the third goal on different weeks. But we shall see. Avoiding late afternoon nibbling will be all the more difficult with my plan of getting up at 5 am all next week. Thank the Lord above for melatonin!

Looking Forward:

• Stay on program with Weight Watchers, especially keeping the daily points consumed to a daily maximum of 28 and a daily range of 24-28 PPV.
• Already added in more veggies. Need to work even more in as I adjust food selection gradually away from the strict low carb / low fat options to round out the diet a little more without allowing the temptation of high carb nibbles into my week.
• Get on track with swimming laps at 5 am.
• Hold onto the joyful feelings of this day to get me through the the times of lesser success in weight loss, the trudging through job searching, and other complications life is throwing my way.

IVCUFI:

IV - I have found the way of keeping my success on track even amid my indulgences.
CU - I have seized the road by facing the challenges of today with courage and faith.
FI - I am enjoying the journey by basking in the simple delight of ongoing success.

Post Number: 106

Review of Yesterday's Progress

     Daily PPV Used/Left: 23/48 of 71 (Goal: 28/43)

     Pedometer Reading: 5348

     Meetings Attended: Weight Watchers

     Exercise Completed: None Scheduled

     M-W's Daily Word: Ubiquitous

     Page Views to Date: 1427 (Increased by 82 Page Views)

Little Quail kept MBWM and I up late two nights ago. I had to get last night going in the right direction. And while I did get much done, there is so much more needing done. But that little matters. Getting sleep matters. There will always be more to do. At the start of my morning, I am looking forward to doing the Lord's Work that is before me today, which is much. And then crashing early. And then rising early. And then the Y. And then my work day will be truly underway. And so I will work and rest today all in accordance with my understanding of the Lord's Will. And I will be grateful for that additional time I get to spend with my family.

Yours in the work that builds lives,

Eliot

P.S.: Speaking of Quail's successful efforts in keeping MBWM and I awake two nights ago, I had to share this picture -

NOTES

Weight Watchers, 18 January 2014

This Month's Theme: Start Simple

I feel ____________ about my efforts last week

• good
• Simple Start ends in two weeks
• Finally eating to fuel body
• pleased
• Learned I eat for quantity and flavor
• Now food is portioned and lost weight
• unmotivated
• Weather (heavy fog), makes me want to curl up in bed
• Listen to better music
• Make small changes
• Overwhelmed
• Life, work, home, and new plan. Led to over indulging
• Got off of tracking, just listed the foods I'd eaten this week to get back on track, didn't list PPV.
• Cut something out to focus on more important responsibilities
• Not getting sufficient sleep. Set alarm 1/2 hour later. When feeling rested, make plans for when you're feeling overwhelmed

Get  back into common sense

Success Secret #1: Timing is Everything 

Success Secret #2: You Can't Eat It if You Don't Have It

This works both ways. For the foods you should increase for weight loss success and the food you should decrease for weight loss success

Have you ever eaten something just because it was there? How does convenience help or hurt your efforts to take care of yourself?

• Teenage daughter made whole wheat sugar cookies when she couldn't find the white flour. Stopped eating the cookie and passed it to the toddler. Didn't want to use points for something that's not enjoyable. (Yeah! MBWM said this)
• Hurt: eating things you shouldn't eat, not on program
• Help: If only thin in the home is Power Foods, then that's all you'll eat.
• Keep the good food nearby, up front, prepared to eat, etc.

Individual Writing Activity: Make Eating Healthier Easier

1. Take inventory
2. Stock up
3. Pick an "easy to be healthy" eating space

From the Simple Start grocery list on the back of the Simple Start handout or the Power Foods list in the tracker, create an Energy Palette (not a shopping list). Put check marks next to foods you already have in the house right now. Circles the foods that you should have and will add to your kitchen.

Far more likely to eat the things that are easy to get to

• Look for where you are tempted
• Don't bring in bad foods. If they are there, hide them
• Enjoy some indulgences. Eating everything that is an indulgence won't work.
• Get rid of temptations

Getting out the door is the hardest part of exercising. Feeling good is a great reward.

With the Weight Watchers approach, you can lose 8X's more than those who try to lose weight on their own. 3X's the success in Weight Watchers meetings over Weight Watchers online.