The Ghosts of Birthdays Present

Post Number: 146

Review of Yesterday's Progress
     Daily PPV Used/Left: 44/25 of 69 (Goal: 30/39)
     Pedometer Reading:  - {Pedometer clip broken}
     Meetings Attended: Missed Overeaters Anonymous
     Exercise Completed: At the Y -
          Recumbent Elliptical Machine
               20 minutes & 3.12 miles @  Level 8

          Swam Laps (10 laps, 500 yards)

     M-W's Word of the Day: Cheeseparing

Murphic Entropy is proud to sponsor today's blog entry.

Already having a rough time of things? Letting yourself go just a little? We'll be thrilled to add in some additional complications. Let's take a look at Eliot, a typical example of how our services can complicate your life.

Eliot has had quite a bit of success. But something's eating him. Even he isn't sure what it is. And when something is eating Eliot, Eliot eat something. But he's chosen today to push harder than ever to make better decisions. We just had to laugh. Poor Eliot. Thinking he can control all those influences.

Let's watch as Eliot returns home. He has a set of plans in mind for his day. They are good plans. But we're going to step in and do our thing. He things that his kids will be up and having breakfast when he gets home. He's half right. They are up. He switches gears. He is adaptable after all. He calls his mom. He's supposed to visit her and it is her birthday. We'll be taking advantage of that later. He knows that his mom just might be willing to take the family to breakfast. Since no ones eating, this is an important piece of information.

He calls. Everyone wishes Grandma a Happy Birthday. Aww... Isn't that nice. And then he begins to discuss plans. Yes, she is willing to take the family to breakfast. Now is the time to hit the road. While he's just returned from the gym and is certainly ready to leave, it takes a little more time for everyone else to leave. Long enough that breakfast is no longer an option. This is just one small step in our plan to continue to push against Eliot's progress.

But before we get to that, let's look at what happens first. First, his mom needs to get bills paid. She only pays in money orders. With that in mind, he heads to the supermarket. He leaves the kids in the car because he's only getting money orders. His mom doesn't want to do any shopping. This is fine with him. Except, there are a few things that she wants to pick up for her oldest grand-daughter's bridal shower. She has several things in mind. And while she's thinking of these, she things of a few other things she needs. But she's going to keep it short.

And this plays to our advantage because his temper is a little short. His mom says she is getting one more thing. Eliot wants to get one thing on his list. They separate and agree to meet in the toy section where his mom is looking for something. Eliot grabs his one thing quickly but cannot find his mom. Eliot learns by text that his kids are acting up. He needs to get out there. And his mom has finished checking out while he was wandering around wondering what is going on. What's going on? We are! We are Murphic Entropy.

And now, the first meal of the day for the family is about to happen. His mom wants tacos. They head to Taco Bell. This turns out to be a good choice. As they drive by, Wendy's has 7 cars backed up behind the order speaker. McDonald's has 5 cars backed up behind their two order speakers. At Taco Bell, they are able to drive right up to the order speaker. That enticement was our doing as well. First, he has to deal with a time-consuming confusion of ordering for the family. Long enough that taco bell has 7 cars backed up behind him when he is finally done ordering. And since he is last, he orders the smallest looking burrito, completely missing the opportunity for something relatively healthy.

But the smallest looking burrito is not healthy. At this stage, he is more concerned with getting fed and moving on the promised drive than paying attention to what he's eating and how long it takes. That is what is motivating Eliot.

Well, there were several other issues he had to face. We weren't going to ease up at all. Here is a short list of our activities as we kept up pressure on Eliot.

1. Iguana conned Lemur into allowing him to eat something he was allergic to, allowing us to foul Eliot's environment
2. His mom needed to make a total of four trips to the supermarket. So much for not wanting to shop. You can almost see his blood pressure expand the blood vessels in his temples.
3. A little ways into their drive for his mom, Jaguar complains of an urgent need for a restroom. This throws a wrench into the process of a relaxing drive.
4. And then there was the stop by the bakery. Our only failure of the day. But we point it out to show that we are constantly working to improve our success.
5. On the final trip to the mega-mart, his mom wants to aid his exercise attempts. She requests the opportunity to purchase exercise DVDs. His kids then go nuts requesting DVDs and CDs for themselves. This is one of our most priceless moments. Here it is grandma's birthday and the kids are ending up with the presents.
6. Then there was the preparations for the Scout banquet. Eliot needed to take over making the chocolate dipped marshmallows so his beloved wife could get in the shower. While he didn't eat any whole marshmallows, dipped or not, we won't mention how many times he licked up chocolate. It would be gloating.
7. And then there was the Scout banquet itself. Another stroke of genius on our part. First, it kept him from the spiritual strength of OA. Second, it placed him around hot dogs and chips. He hadn't had hot dogs in ages. We managed to tempt him into eating one and a little more. And while he didn't actually eat a bag of chips, he nibbled enough from his kids for taste every flavor except the ranch Doritos.

All-in-all, this was one of our best days in pushing Eliot around. The clearest representation of that is in the fact that he consumed more points yesterday than he has in any single day for months. He ate more than he did in two of his better days. He claim yesterday as a victor for Murphic Entropy.

Call on us by name. We're already there, but at least then you'll be acknowledging our presence.

Murphic Entropy - Taking pride in our craft by crafting directed destruction one life at a time.

Yours in the success that will return later, hopefully later today,

Eliot

P.S.: When you really want change, reinforcement will come from your heart. - Doc Childre, Deborah Rozman and Matthew McKay, Transforming Anger

And Therein Lies the Work...

Post Number: 145

Review of Yesterday's Progress
     Daily PPV Used/Left: 34/35 of 69 (Goal: 30/39)
     Pedometer Reading: - {Pedometer clip broken}
     Meetings Attended: Weight Watchers
     Exercise Completed: At the Y -
          Recumbent Elliptical Machine
               20 minutes & 3.13 miles @  Level 8

          Swam Laps (10 laps, 500 yards)

     M-W's Word of the Day: Zeitgeber

Looking back at just this week so far:

• BLTN's Up
• ETNTM's Down
• Total PPV Up
• Exercise Up

One of these things is not like the other. One of these just doesn't belong. Can you find the one that's not like the others, before  I finish my song?

Okay, trick question. Only one of them actually belongs. There are three that don't. And therein lies the work.

I know the PPV of 30 is the value I self-selected. As it is, there is more to getting the weight loss right than getting close to that number. What concerns me is the quality of the food, not the quantity. This is especially disconcerting when events occurs like discovering that a vanilla wafers, when removed from an accidental dunk in butter, taste pretty good. Intellectually, I was going, "Ick." But not wanting to waste the cookie, I ate it. And, yes, I had one intentional repeat of the experience. After that, I had four more plain vanilla wafers. I found the butter-free delectable treat quite satisfying. It's rare the butter is around, butter being an ingredient cheesecake crust for Horse's upcoming bridal shower. With these things in the house and my tenacity is sticking to good food selections having left the building, I need to work to be physically elsewhere. In this case, ensconcing myself in my job search at the computer.

But now it's time to head off into more temptations. Today is my mother's birthday. And she wants to head to Pastry Perfection to let the family pick out treats. I won't have any trouble not picking anything out for me. Where the difficulty arises, is not nibbling off of the kids' treats. This was demonstrated to me yesterday when Asian Red Fox and I were on the way home from her seminary class. A substitute teacher has handed out chips and candy. And I nibbled on a little of each.

My concern here is that the little amounts of nibbling the wrong foods will turn into larger amounts of eating entire portions of the completely wrong foods. But I will worry about this more later. It's time to alter the kids energy level and get the morning chores done. We need to get to their grandmother's place.

Yours in the journey over the asphalt and through the concrete jungle to Grandmother's house we go,

Eliot

P.S.: I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold: Service was joy. - Rabindranath Tagore

Keep Moving Forward (But How?)

Post Number: 144

Review of Yesterday's Progress
     Daily PPV Used/Left: 37/32 of 69 (Goal: 30/39)
     Pedometer Reading:  - {Pedometer clip broken}
     Meetings Attended: Missed Overeaters Anonymous
     Exercise Completed: At the Y -
          Recumbent Elliptical Machine
               20 minutes & 3.22 miles @  level 8

          Swam Laps (10 laps, 500 yards)

     M-W's Word of the Day: Picayune
          Bloom County / Berkeley Breathed fans should recognize this word.
          Click here for a reminder in case you've forgotten.

Two days ago, MBWM received a post on Facebook that included a video. It wasn't hard to find on YouTube: Little Boy Drumming. The cosmic twist of fate in my day was that, while the video was playing I Hate Myself for Loving You, I was eating from Quail's cereal. I really did dislike eating the foods that are a poor choice for me that was meant for one of my kids. I did do a little better yesterday than two days before. I didn't fall of the wagon until much later in the day. When you fall of the good food selection wagon, the ouch doesn't happen until weigh in.

I wanna run but I crawl back to you...

This so describes my relationship with food these last few days.

That is why today has to be even better.

Yours in the struggle to keep on keepin' on in a forward-type direction,

Eliot

P.S.: How Does a Sailboat Work?

Symbolic Gesture of Hope

Post Number: 143

Review of Yesterday's Progress
     Daily PPV Used/Left: 34/35 of 69 (Goal: 30/39)
     Pedometer Reading: - {Pedometer clip broken}
     Meetings Attended: None Scheduled
     Exercise Completed: At the Y -
          Recumbent Elliptical Machine
               20 minutes & 2.60 miles @  8 resistance

          Swam Laps (10 laps, 50 yards)

     M-W's Word of the Day: Solatium

The day started out great except that I had the song Busy Prepositions from Schoolhouse Rock stuck in my head. Why couldn't it have been The Shot Heard Round the World, I'm Just a Bill, Mother Necessity, or Interjections? Exercising at the Y went well. Even while reading/listening to Start Strong. Finish Strong., the song stuck around. And the day continued to be quite good. And then I goofed the food again around lunch time. Well after lunch was over, I remembered my idea about reviewing my blog for added strength, motivation, and insight. Because of this slip in food and forgetfulness, I chose to step aside from the family and concentrate on networking. I am contacting all the people I know that either are engineers or work with engineers. This effort is in the hopes of networking into a contact within a Boise company that has a wonderful chemist position open.

One of the most interesting abbreviations in a job title that I came across yesterday was: Beneficial Use Reconnaissance Program (BURP) Environmental Technician. It involves hiking and camping, so I won't be applying for this position. Other than that, it seemed like a great position. And I am sure burping around the campfire is common.

In my own life, I need to make a motivational attitude more common. I did that symbolically this morning. I purchased a can of Pringles several days ago. I had eaten maybe a quarter of it. I would only nibble two or three chips at a time. And since it was in my car, those nibbles only happened while I was in the car. This morning, I threw them away while walking into the Y. A symbolic gesture of hope.

Yours in the hope of a new day reborn in a string of good days,

Eliot

P.S.: While driving home, I saw a vanity plate that I had to comment on.

Vanity License Plate: GOT C4

It might be a question (GOT C4?) or a statement (GOT C4!). Punctuation makes all the difference. But the 20 year old original source of this of thousands of spin offs is being retired according to this article at NBC Nightly News.

Is It Permissible to Sashay on Sunday?

Post Number: 142

Review of Yesterday's Progress
     Daily PPV Used/Left: 23/46 of 69 (Goal: 30/39) {Fasting}
     Pedometer Reading: 2595 {At approximately 1 pm when the clip was discovered to be broken}
     Meetings Attended: None Scheduled
     Exercise Completed: None Scheduled

     M-W's Word of the Day: Sashay

There was a slow start to Sunday. There was much to do on this particular Sunday, so while the slow start felt good, it needed to change. And change it did. At the point in time where there was one hour until it was time to leave for church. At which point, action possessed all those concerned. Most of my kids, however, weren't concerned.

I am concerned more about my eating today. That fast went well. It felt good. And then I broke my fast. Normally, breaking my fast is 8 - 12 PPV. Today, it was 23. That was thoughtless. Eating enough to make up for the lost meals defeats one of the purposes of the fast; the process of forgoing lesser concerns (food) to obtain higher desires (spiritual assistance of one form or another). Eating all that food isn't the proper way to break a fast. Chalk another one up to the a series of poor decisions motivated by compulsion, exhaustion, and stress.

To understand how I got here and how I have been better able to handle these types of issues in the past, I am going to start a new project. I'm even going to retroactively include it in my goal descriptions and evaluations that were posted on Sunday. I am commencing a review of my journaling in this blog. Somehow, I was able to do better. I'm not saying I didn't slip up. I didn't slip up for this long of a period of time before.

To start my review, I scanned for the purposes of this blog. This is the results as reminders of motivations described in the blog so far:

• Accountability - This one is going well.
• Recreational Writing - This is enjoyable
• Uplifting Historical Review - Starting this now
• Develop value for the reader - Returning to this one later when the articles restart
• Develop a readership - Need to provide more emphasis behind this one

I am hoping the review will provide encouragement to overcome compulsion, mental renewal to overcome exhaustion, and smiles to relieve stress.

One stress that has been relieved is the location for Horse's bridal shower. I has been scheduled for March 1st for better than 6 weeks. And we only reserved a location yesterday. It wasn't for lack of trying. But MBWM pulled it off with a little input from me.

And now my body needs the proper exercise input. I am off to the Y. This is my last week, after all. I will miss the Y. But I don't see how there is any way for me to afford

Yours in the brighter future that will come from historical review,

Eliot

P.S.: I know you have been pining for the answer, but, yes, it is permissible to sashay on Sunday.

P.P.S.: One must be an inventor to read well. There is then creative reading as well as creative writing. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Divine Intervention / Death to Doritos (Evaluation: Week 26)

Last Weigh In: Saturday, 22 February 2014

Weight Information -

• Weight: 366.6 lbs
• Weight Change:
• This Week: -3.0 lbs
• To Date: -86.6 lbs
• Weight Gauge: Good Thing I Didn't Break My Stride (Much)
• Body Mass Index: 57.4 (down from 57.9)
• Daily PPV:
• Assigned: 69 (unchanged)
• Personal: 30 (increased by 2)
• PPV This Week: 
• Used: 184 out of 483
• Not Used: 299 (61.9%)

Goals (Description / Evaluation) -

• Chronological Goal: No longer obese in 2014 / Well on my way. Latest projections for leaving behind morbidly obese using:
• The last 16 weeks of data: Between July 15, 2014 and July 19, 2014, an increase of 6 days
• All 25 weeks of data: Between August 22, 2014 and September 4, 2014, unchanged
• Employment Goals
• Make at least 5 networking contacts each week. / Not a good networking week. Still found leads on my own.
• Apply for at least 5 positions each week / Applying for positions is time consuming but I am hitting this one and then some. Several applications were found this week in my field of chemistry.
• Prepare for my interview on Tuesday. / Interview went great. Follow-up conversations went well. Awaiting outcome.
• Weight Watchers Awards this Week: None *sigh*. Almost asked for a bravo for getting back to the gym.
• Blog Review: Given the extended duration of a deficit of motivation, I am rereading my journaling to quicken my spirit, empower my resolve, embolden my emotions, and educate my intellect. / Starting this week. Thankfully, I have a smartphone that will allow for opportunities to review when time is short or unexpected opportunities arise regardless of location. I have already place a tile on my start screen.
• Number Goals: Overall direction is exciting. Long-term quantity is thrilling. Weigh-in this week was both exciting and confusing. 
• Weight: Next three hurdles are as follows
• 20% Weight Loss at 362.4 lbs / 4.2 lbs away
• 100 Pounds Lost at 353.2 lbs / 13.4 lbs away
• Transition off of Kimkins at 350.0 lbs / 16.6 lbs away
• BMI: Reach a value below 40.0 (morbidly obese) / 17.4 away
• PPV Not Used this Week: 287 PPV / 299 PPV - Beat goal by 12
• Waist Goal: Lose another available hole in the belt until I need to switch to a new belt. / Belt is comfortable and effective back at 3 available holes. 4 is somewhat effective. 2 is uncomfortable. Replacement belt has already been secured.
• Feel Good Goal: Consistent practice of my meditation and relaxation techniques / Meditation went well. Continuing review and research of meditation. Started some simple relaxation techniques. Still haven't tried the relaxation audio files I downloaded.
• Physical Goals: 
• Walk upright up the stairs of my house every time using the railing only for precaution. / I still need to mountaineer my way up the stairs. Asian Red Fox pointed out that I am coming up the stairs quickly.
• Tie my shoes unassisted anywhere. / I cannot tie my shoes without physical aids but it is getting easier. I didn't need any personalized assistance this week.
• 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 painful exertion. This would negate any lasting value to the bath. Don't want to try to get out when wet yet.
• The Y: Swim laps four days next week. Use the recumbent elliptical machine ahead of swimming. I am going to set my alarm for 5 am for next week. / Tough work getting back to the Y. Exercising felt good but recovery took longer. Last week at the Y. My goal is to hit all 5 weekdays.
• Alternative to the Y: I need to research further for options outside of the Nampa Rec Center and Axiom. / Still attempting to determine the best methods of cardio that are within a distance I can afford to drive to. This one will probably have to wait until I have a new job.
• Exercise without the Gym: Locate workouts options that don't involve a gym. / I didn't explore this at all this week. This will be the only option after next week. I need to get to library to check out and try a couple DVDs.
• Weight Watchers:
• Use the paper tracker to record calculated points every day this week. / I have tracked for 18 weeks. The only day I missed was Christmas. Go me!
• Increased available PPV at 30 for my daily points instead of 69 as assigned by WW. / I am hoping the combination of increasing the daily points and being refocused this week will help me have a more stable week in my food selection.
• 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 atrocious. But I'm not going spend all that much time worrying on my numbers this week. This week has been an aberration. Cancelling this one. I have enough to track in life. I suspect that variations aren't as relevant to weight loss success, overall happiness, and achieving satiation.
• Avoid using 49 weekly points. Daily points leave 39 available every day. That's 273 leftover 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. And while I didn't schedule anything over this meeting, life did. Since this is a recurring theme. I may need to switch days.
• Overeaters Anonymous: 
• Attend two meetings this week. Scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday. / Made this one. Need to keep it up this week.
• Perform moral inventory for Step 4. / Didn't work on this one. Want to read more, write more, and explore more.
• Never Ceases to Amuse Me Blog: Journal 300 out of 365 days. / Journaled 53 of 53 days so far this year.
• Reading Materials - Self-assigned reading assignments
• What Color is Your Parachute? - Continue reading this week / Read various portions while researching different aspects of job searching this week. Need to start at the beginning and read forward.
• This is How to Get Your Next Job - Read this week / Read for interview. Want to wrap it up this week.
• Start Strong. Finish Strong. - Read Chapter 4 / Read much of Chapter 4, still reading while working out.
• AA Big Book - Read Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 of the AA Big Book. / Read more of Chapter 5.
• Some books I want to read soon but don't have time but want to read right now:
• WW Find Your Fingerprint
• The Doctor is In
• Good Calories. Bad Calories.
• Hot Button Review
• Mental-Function - I was glad to be back to Y, but not excited. At this stage, exercising without the Y is only a hope. The mental hot button isn't really motivating me, especially after doing well at the job interview..
• Spiritual - Good week this week. The fast started the week well. Plenty of divine influences ahead of the direct intervention of the weight loss.
• Numbers-Game - No idea what my numbers are now except blood pressure, so focusing on this one. And didn't take my blood pressure much this week. Increasing blood pressure taking this week.
• Sticky Notes
• Be active for 5 minutes out of every sedentary hour
• Put down the fork and sip water between bites
• Eat more veggies
• No high carb nibbling. Kimkins separation in T-minus 17 pounds.
• Review calendar every morning
• Get to Bed! 5 AM Comes Early!!

Strange numbers in the results of two weeks ago. Even stranger numbers this last week. For the second time since I started, an increase in food consumption led to an increase in weight loss. I can't explain it, but its okay. I have upped the PPV I've assigned myself to 30. Hopefully, this will aid in many ways. I am going to try for one more week to keep the LCLF food selection going. Although I allowed myself carbs yesterday. I wanted to enjoy them instead of feeling guilty about them. And as mentioned in a previous entry, I haven't been going overboard in quantity. I've just been selecting items that are not a part of the LCLF options.

This is how the numbers for the 100 pounds weight loss key chain charm are shaping up for this week:

Weight Watchers Meeting	Weight Loss per Week for 100 lbs Lost
3/1/2014	16.6
3/8/2014	8.3
3/15/2014	5.5
3/22/2014	4.2

I am even less hopeful that I will pass the 100 pounds hurdle by the March 22nd deadline. But I know I will pass that mark. It's just a matter of time. Maybe I will have to come up with my own key chain charm for my keychain. I'll have to suggest this to MBWM.


Looking Forward:

• Keep the job search going strong and the networking stronger.
• Stay on program with Weight Watchers, especially keeping the daily points consumed to a daily maximum of 30 PPV.
• Avoid the temptation of high carb nibbles into my week except for Saturday.
• Keep on track with cardio machines and swimming laps at 5 am at the Y. Push for a complete week of 20 minutes on the Octane and 100 yards in the pool.
• Attend all meetings. Don't schedule things before them. Review calendar every morning.
• 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 staying the course while making adjustments.
CU - I have seized the road by listening to my body by loosening the reigns only a little.
FI - I am enjoying the journey by being thrilled at the weight loss of this last week.

Post Number: 141

Review of Yesterday's Progress

     Daily PPV Used/Left: 38/31 of 69 (Goal: 30/39)

     Pedometer Reading: 3183

     Meetings Attended: Weight Watchers

     Exercise Completed: None Scheduled

     M-W's Word of the Day: Tangerine

     Pageviews to Date: 1893 (Increased by 97 Pageviews This Week)

While I did kill quite a few Doritos yesterday, Doritos needs to be dead to me. MBWM asked if I would pick up a few items from the grocery store on my way back from returning a DVD to the library. I asked if there was anything she wanted. She said Doritos. I picked up the common size bag. Not the smaller convenience size nor the larger party size. I should have picked up the smaller size. While I did allow myself carbohydrates yesterday, I made sure to eat small quantities. Points add up quickly with carbohydrates. The carbohydrate selections were fractions of a serving except for one piece of toast. But as the night continued onwards, the Doritos were slowly nibbled at. I never ate more than 2 or 3 at a time. I had the first nibble at about 4 pm and the next one at about 6 pm. But after that, I waited 15, 20, 30 minutes between nibbles. But I kept eating them. For several hours.

The takeaway is four-fold.

1. I need to either remove me from the temptations or the temptations from me when the evening is arriving or progressing.
2. If MBWM wants a treat, buy small.
3. If I give myself permission to ease up, I need to not go overboard.
4. Number 1 is far from new, having been a prior complaint in several posts. The rest aren't surprises. I need to have specific plans in place to help with evenings.

The good news about yesterday is that while I was returning one DVD, I picked up two exercise DVDs. They are:

1. The Biggest Loser: The Workout - 30-Day Jump Start
2. Functional Fitness starring Suzanne Andrews: Younger in 30 Days

Since there is a known correlation between exercising during weight loss and maintenance and keeping that weight off for the long-term, when the Y is over, I need to have something in place.

The understanding concerning weight loss and exercise comes from statistical analysis. If you have two pieces of numerical information and you want to see if there is a relationship between them, you can perform statistical testing. That is, does one of the pieces of information predict the other. One of the ways of making that prediction is to calculate the correlation coefficient. It is labeled r². The value of the correlation coefficient varies from 0 to 1. The better one piece of information predicts the second piece of information, the closer the value is to 1. If there is no relationship between the two, the value is 0. I wanted to see how well the amount of points eaten predicts the weight lost. The value computed by Excel is: r² = 0.22. This means that the amount of points eaten is a very poor predictor of the amount of weight loss.

What is a predictor of weight loss is keeping on with the keeping on. There are some gear changes that need to happen. One of those is showing appreciation for the divine intervention of weight loss. That is best expressed, in my opinion, by sticking to the course instead of eating Doritos in some form of self-destructive celebration. I'll be easing back onto LCLF after my fast tomorrow. This will serve to reset my thinking and actions in the direction of my past successes. I need to locate a path to at-home exercise options. The two DVDs from the library will help me determine that path.

Right now, I am on the path of heading into my day.

Yours in the excitement of the week ahead, 'cause I am gonna get it right,

Eliot

P.S.: Personally, I am always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught. - Winston Churchill

NOTES

Weight Watchers, 22 February 2014

Last Week: When Food Is Not the Answer

What were the results of the choices you make last week? How well do you handle emotional issues without food.

• Didn't come last week - I can't hear you *fingers*in*ears* La la la la la la 
• Downfall at the end of the day. Bounced on balance ball, took mind off of eating
• Lost weight (no eating high calorie foods like peanut butter in the middle of the night, just fruit and/or water)
• Sick, didn't exercise, started stress eating. Got back to the gym. "Stop the maddness."
• Avoidance eating - go off plan because I want to avoid something, last meeting helped me reconigze this eating

Don't ignore problem, don't treat problems with food.

This Week: Love Your Weekends

About 1/3 of the week is weekends, especially if starting Friday night. Don't spend 1/3 of your week off plan. Add in holidays, parties, etc., 1/2 you life is an excuse to go off plan.

What do you love to do on weekends?

• Drink
• Hang out with friends and neighbors
• Cooke / Bake
• Movies
• Date Night
• Rest
• Bike ride
• Read
• Cheating on plan
• Eat
• Attend Weight Watchers meetings
• Games with grandkids
• Sleep in
• Watch TV
• Travel

What do you have to do on the weekends?

• Chores
• Laundry
• Groceries
• Clean
• Plan the week
• Kids events
• Chauffeur
• Lesson Plan / Grade papers
• Mow lawn
• Yard Work / Gardening

Recap last weekends events / Circle when you went off plan

Face fun and chores of the weekend.

For the Saturday morning group, there is the danger

• I have weighed in
• It's now time to party
• I have Monday thru Friday to fix it

Went off plan. Why?

• Didn't feel good
• Valentine's candy

How do you feel Monday morning

• Sluggish
• Lethargic
• Why? 
• Emotional
• Guilty
• Heartburn
• Water retention
• Headaches
• Remorse

What do you gain when staying on plan on the weekend?

• Control
• Pride
• Self-esteem

Celebrate the good things to be able to get through the problems

How can you have fun on plan?

• Plan for it
• Cut back on alcohol
• Pick things you love to do

What needs to change about your weekend so you can feel happy and proud on Monday?

• Control by tracking
• Try not to cheat
• Better birthday party choices

Next Week: Be a Portion Pro

Argh! (And a Half)

Post Number: 140
Review of Yesterday's Progress
     Daily PPV Used/Left: 36/33 of 69 (Goal: 28/41)
     Pedometer Reading: 2452 (paused)
     Meetings Attended: None Scheduled
     Exercise Completed: At the Y -
          Swam Laps (8 laps, 400 yards)
          Recumbent Elliptical Machine
               17 minutes & 2.70 miles @ 8 resistance
     M-W's Word of the Day: Teem

Today has been a rough day. Like the last couple days, I start strong but lose resolve, and finish weak. I am eating many more points that I would like. On top of that, I don't like the food selection. If I have lost any weight this week, it will be divine intervention. I'm not so much worried about the weigh in tomorrow as I am about changing the course of this last week. This last week, the willingness to give into hunger to eat more of the wrong things has me concerned I am returning to an old trend. I am hopeful that I will determine the means of turning this around before the short-term trend becomes a long-term habit.

I am also hopeful that I can turn around my unemployment. I located five positions this week that I am well suited for. I finished all of the applications today. I hope the work on my resume convinces them of the same.

There was an unconvincing attack on my religion today. It was a strange piece of my day today and left me ruminating for a period of time just before I started notes for this entry. Since I couldn't seem to shake the thoughts, I chose to enter them into my blog. He came out of left field with low-level threats. It was strange listening to attacks that used a technique of trying to convince me of the falsehood of scientific evidences of the Book of Mormon. I don't believe what I believe because of those evidences. If they are true, they are a nice ornamentation to my faith. If they aren't true, they don't remove the foundation of my faith. And I had never heard these evidences before, so I was already skeptical of not only what the person was trying to interpret for me but also of the original information he was attacking. Consider it part of my nature as a chemist, evidences by other faithful members still require my own verification.

And speaking of verifications and recording information in my blog, I came across an interesting scientific result that I want to dig into a little deeper. It compared prebiotics (foods that encourages the growth of good bacteria in the gut) and probiotics (the addition of good bacteria to your eating selection). Prebiotics are foods like onions, garlic, and leeks. There are others, but they escape me at the moment. The three listed are among the top five choices. And garlic has the additional advantage, if eaten in quantities of four or more raw cloves per day, of reversing plaque buildup in arteries. In the results of the scientific study, probiotics were considered a good option for increasing the amount of good bacteria in the gut. But prebiotics were considered an even better option for increasing the amount of good bacteria in the gut.

My gut wasn't feeling to well last night, probably because of the dramatic shift in the food I've been eating. To help me feel better, I went a listened to a few of pieces by The Piano Guys.

• Let It Go (Disney's "Frozen") Vivaldi's Winter - ThePianoGuys
• ThePianoGuys Live at Red Butte Garden - Beethoven's 5 Secrets
• Rockelbel's Canon (Pachelbel's Canon in D) - 4 Cellos - ThePianoGuys

I took a screenshot from the second one for my P.S. The statement caused a surging bittersweet mixture of melancholy and enthusiasm. I have many skills and talents that education and experience have only added to the list. But I don't know that I know what my "art" is. Teaching? Chemistry? Being able to hear music? Setting the sails of the Authorship? And then the music swelled, the showmanship presented itself, and the rapturous delight ensued. I still don't know what my "art" is, but I do enjoy some good music.
Now it's off to Weight Watchers to face the music.
Yours in the mixture of numerous ingredients that give the day its flavor,
Eliot

P.S.: