Rockin' the Weight Loss (Evaluation: Week 22)

Last Weigh In: Saturday, 25 January 2014

Weight Information -

• Weight: 380.4 lbs
• Weight Change:
• This Week: -5.4 lbs
• To Date: -72.8 lbs
• Weight Gauge: Rockin' the Weight Loss!
• Body Mass Index: 59.6 (down from 60.4)
• Daily PPV:
• Assigned: 71
• Personal: 28
• PPV This Week: 
• Used: 161 out of 497
• Not Used: 336 (67.6%)

Goals (Description / Evaluation) -

• Chronological Goal: No longer obese in 2014 / Well on my way but it will be a tight race. Current projection has the date for this goal at December 3, 2014.
• Employment Goals
• Make at least 5 networking contacts each week. / Making progress with digging past the surface level leads into deeper opportunities. Following up on all leads. 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 applications while expanding the network to new sources.
• Apply for at least 5 positions each week / Applying for positions is time consuming but I am hitting this one and then some.
• Weight Watchers Awards this Week:
• 5 lbs - For passing another 5 pound mark
• Bravo - For hitting the Y 5 times this week even though it meant getting up at 5 am
• 5% Star - For passing the 15% mark
• Number Goals: Direction feels incredible. Quantity feels even more incredible.
• Weight: Passed the 15% Weight Loss Hurdle
• Use Bathroom Scale at 380.0 lbs / 0.4 lbs away
• 75 Pounds Lost at 378.2 lbs / 2.2 lbs away
• Leave 71 PPV behind at 374.0 lbs / 6.4 lbs away
• BMI: Reach a value below 40.0 (morbidly obese) / 19.6 away
• PPV Not Used this Week: 301 PPV / 336 PPV - Beat goal by 35
• Waist Goal:
• Lose another available hole in the belt until I need to switch to a new belt. / Belt is comfortable and effective at 5 available holes. 6 is most ineffective. 4 is effective much of the time but sometimes uncomfortable. Suspect changing shape of tummy is interfering with regular, consistent downgrades.
• Eventually lose enough weight to use my large belt when I'm thin by wrapping the belt around me twice. / Not sure this is feasible, but it's a wonderful dream. It is a 74" belt, which would mean I would have to get down to a 37" waist. Very much a long term, distant future, nearing the finish line of the marathon goal. And I am well on my way. And it is a cool image. I would thread the belt through the first half of the belt loops, then wrap the belt around me outside of all of the belt looks, and then finish up with the last half of the last lap around me using the last of the belt loops.
• Feel Good Goal: Consistent practice of my meditation / Starting meditation this week. Starting review and research tomorrow.
• Physical Goals: 
• Put on the seat belt in my car using both straps, not one strap. / Very nearly there. Without my jacket, I can exert the strength to occasionally get it to click.
• Walk upright up the stairs of my house every time using the railing only for precaution. / I still need to pull myself up the stairs, but at least I'm not crawling anymore.
• Tie my shoes unassisted anywhere. / I cannot tie my shoes without physical aids or personalized assistance but it is much easier.
• Take a bath in my bathtub. / My bathtub is big enough, but I cannot get into or out of it when it's dry without great exertion. Don't want to try wet.
• The Y: Swim laps four days next week. Still planning on not using the recumbent elliptical machine for now. I exercise much longer in the pool and with greater zeal. I am going to set my alarm for 5 am for next week. This preference for swimming will add motivation when awaking at 5 am.  / Arrived at the Y, swam my laps, came home, all before 7 am for five days in a row. Plus, I increased my laps from 5 to 6, 7, and then 8. Heavy duty work out. And I'm feeling the work out physically as muscular exhaustion. I am feeling it emotionally as well. And it feels great!
• Alternative to the Y: I need to research further for options outside of the Nampa Rec Center and Axiom. / Still unable to locate any options (such as Gold's Gym) that aren't running into the same problems as Axiom. Ran out of ideas for this week. Need to brainstorm some new ideas this next week.
• Weight Watchers:
• Make a meal plan with the PPV's worked out for one day to serve as a fall back. / I don't know why this one is so difficult. I made a three week plan for the family. A one day plan should be easy.
• Use the paper tracker to record calculated points every day this week. / I have tracked for 14 weeks. The only day I missed was Christmas.
• Keep available PPV at 28 for my daily points instead of 71 as assigned by WW. / No problem. I have even been eating a little less than this. And the assigned points start decreasing for me after approximately 374 pounds. We shall see.
• 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. / This week was great. The range was only 2 PPV.
• Avoid using 49 weekly points. Daily points leave 43 available every day. That's 301 left over points available per week. / Nailed it!
• Attend two meetings this week. Scheduled for Wednesday and Saturday. / Missed Wednesday. Wednesday is frequently a problem. No more scheduling visits or activities anywhere near Wednesday's meeting. Saturday is always easy.
• Overeaters Anonymous: 
• Attend two meetings this week. Scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday. / Done and done.
• Perform moral inventory for Step 4. / It's going great! Having experienced personal, spiritual growth in the past, it feels good to be getting into it again.
• Never Ceases to Amuse Me Blog:
• Journal 300 out of 365 days. / I have yet to miss a day in 2014.
• Write a weekly Expansionist Knowledge article so long as employment goals have been met. / Employment goals are being met but I am spending time on the job search rather than the article writing. I hope to balance both this week.
• Reading Materials - Self-assigned reading assignments
• Start Strong. Finish Strong. - Read Chapter 2
• WW Handbook for Success - Read on
• WW Find Your Fingerprint - Read on
• AA Big Book - Read Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 of the AA Big Book. / Done. Moving on to Chapter 5 and Chapter 6
• Sticky Notes
• Be active for 5 minutes out of every sedentary hour
• Push for another WooHoo Weigh In!
• Put down the fork and sip water between bites
• No high carb nibbling. Kimkins separation in T-minus 30 pounds.
• Get to Bed! 5 AM Comes Early!!

I have truly enjoyed the success of this week. I have felt the excitement of setting and hitting the food and exercise goals. But it came at a price. I was gradually more exhausted as the week progressed. Exhausted in body and spirit. The bodily exhaustion makes life more difficult. But it is tolerable when the spiritual, mental, and emotional exhaustion is not an issue. The combination of types of exhaustion made applying for work and other responsibilities more difficult. I also noticed more back pains along my spine. I suspect that this is due, in part, to not having a completely well rounded diet. Fortunately, in 30 pounds, I will completely transition off of LCLF food selections. 

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.
• Attend all meetings. Don't schedule things before them. 
• 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 weight loss that is working comfortably for me.
CU - I have seized the road by my keeping my weight loss over 3 pounds per week for the last 9 weeks.
FI - I am enjoying the journey by putting it all together, weight loss, food selection, exercise, and meetings.

Post Number: 113

Review of Yesterday's Progress

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

     Pedometer Reading: 3114 (paused)

     Meetings Attended: Weight Watchers

     Exercise Completed: None Scheduled

     M-W's Daily Word: Visage

     Page Views to Date: 1521 (Increased by 94 Page Views This Week)

The weigh in was a delight. I was sure I had lost weight but I didn't know it would be as much as it was. It made Weight Watchers all the more exciting. I definitely had a mental bounce in my mental steps for the rest of the day. It set the day in motion wonderfully. My focus yesterday was updating as much of today's entry as possible and getting a job application into Micron. The residual excitement filled my every thought and effort. It felt wonderful having the warm glow of healthful success, listening to classical music on Pandora, and tailoring my resume, cover letter, and online application to the job description Micron provided. I started the efforts yesterday. I continued them today. In all, it probably took twice as long as usual to complete this application. It normally takes me about 2 hours to tailor a resume. The Micron application took about 4 hours. Although it probably took closer to 6 hours from start to finish to complete with all of the interruptions.

One of the interruptions was for Jaguar's drawing class. I wasn't able to attend for long, but she worked hard in setting up an art studio. A few of the other children-induced breaks in the job application process were less pleasant. I resolved my way through the breaks and then returned to the work at hand. And then there were the meals. I actually wanted to eat less than I did. I knew I needed to eat a little more than was mentally desirable to keep my body from fearing it's being starved. I want this to be another good week.

And I have quite the lift to help me make this a good week. Great weigh in this week. Two easy hurdles to clear next week. A recent history of successful effort. Support from MBWM, all of our kids, my dad, step-mom, mom, and in-laws. I will need this surge of support to get through the next few weeks. I'm not too worried about this week. But I don't know much about what's coming my way in the next few weeks. I need to be prepared for the stresses and strains as much as I can. I am storing up the joyful successes and strengthening support for those days.

We shall see how those days go. This journey towards a more healthy me is both a marathon and a sprint. "The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step." (Attributed to Lao Tzu.) The next step in the journey is the one that will decide if I will reach that thousand miles.

Your fellow traveler on the journey to push past the momentary pleasure and achieve the lasting joy,

Eliot

P.S.: There is one thing in life you can have without working for it—ignorance. - Unknown

P.P.S.: I would add apathy.

P.P.P.S.: This is why the work of knowing how to care for others and then doing the work of caring for others is so well rewarded by the universal powers that be.

NOTES

Weight Watchers, 25 January 2014

This Month's Theme: Start Simple

Research shows that with the Weight Watchers approach, using meetings and our apps, people lost 8X more than those who tried to lose weight on their own.

Why does it work?

• Focus on losing weight
• Not just lose weight, also gain taking care of yourself

What gets you here out of the house on a Saturday morning?

• I'm worth it
• Save money on medical costs
• Get to enjoy future grandkids
• The pole at the meeting (miss your peeps)
• Helps have a better week
• Gets me over a rough week
• Son's track meet
• Want to get my body in shape
• Want to love myself
• Take care of my body now
• Overcome parents health issues
• I'm worth it. I'm putting me on my to do list (Yay! MBWM!)
• I'm here for me

In what ways are you thinking and acting differently since you started?

• Make things like exercise a habit
• Trigger -> Behavior -> Reward
• Exercise is more important
• Simple Start - different breakfasts that leads to less cravings and better day
• Active Link helps me looks at exercise differently. Just being busier int he day adds to my exercise routine

This week; Success Secret #3 - One Step at a Time

• Start with small changes
• Small changes within Simple Start, for example
• Easy to stock kitchen for Simple Start
• Easy to switch to Simply Filling (only Power Foods)
• Simple Start get you to Simply Filling
• Try mix and match, including Progresso soups (Weight Watchers approved with 1, 2, or 3 PPV per serving among their varieities)
• Then easy to go to PointsPlus Values
• One meal at a time

What are your simple steps?

• More exercise if machine is in the living room
• Get up and get started with the day quickly makes the 
• Add exercise in when feeling tired

How do you handle moments when losing weight feels too big job?

• Breast feeding sped up weight loss after baby arrived
• Graph of total weight loss reminds me how far I've come
• Know that I am on a journey

Write down your weight loss ultimate goal: Break below the obese mark in 2014

Write down 2 or 3 things to do this week to get to this goal

1. Keep to food selection that is working
2. Hit the Y 5 days this week at 5 am
3. Journal / Blog

What's helping you reach your goal? Became determined

"Change is not an event. it's a process" - "Switch" by Dan and Chip Heath

Saturday group lost 69.2 pounds this week.