Tag: weigh in

Weigh In 8-14-2015

Good morning, all three of you feigning interest!  I had a good week this week, and these weigh in posts are one hell of a lot easier to do if you have a good week, you know?

Current Weight:  315.8 lbs

Weekly Loss:  (-3.6) lbs

Total Loss:  (-7.2) lbs

I read an article this week talking about the optimum speeds at which to lose weight.  In general, we want it to happen as fast as possible, and we get discouraged when that doesn’t happen.  However, recent longitudinal studies have shown that the people who lose between 0.5 and 1.0 pound per week are more likely to keep that weight off in the long run than those that lose weight significantly faster.  The bigger you are, the more that number can go up (a 400 pound guy can lose 3 – 5 pounds a week no sweat without any issues – it takes a lot of metabolism to keep all of this fat tissue alive, you know), but at the end of the day you’re looking for half a pound to one pound per week.

This is the end of my 5th week weighing in, and I’ve lost an average of 1.44 pounds per week.  That hasn’t been a steady decline, but that’s the average, and that’s about right.  I really believe that my number can be more like 2 pounds per week until I get back to the weight I was at 15 months ago (around 275).  At that point, my expectations will have to align with reality.

In the meantime, this is working, as I knew it would.  Exercising 3-5 days per week and staying within a reasonable amount of daily calorie intake causes people to lose weight. Funny how that works.

Onward!

Weigh In 8-7-2015

Following last week’s vacation-delayed weigh in, I had a travel week for work that had me worried about this one.  Travel is killer for me, and this week was not all that different.  I took my stuff but didn’t go for a single run (<sigh>), though I did walk nearly 5 miles on Wednesday afternoon seeing a bunch of National Mall Memorials that I somehow hadn’t hit in the past.  And I was very conscious of my food choices, though sometimes those were more “I’m conscious that this wasn’t a very good choice” kind of moments.

Given all of that, I’m very pleased with this morning’s weigh in.  The scale said 319.4, which is a loss of 1.2 pounds from last week and a total loss of 3.6 pounds.

1.2 pounds a week will get me to a very good place, so given that this wasn’t exactly a focused week for me, I’m ecstatic.  That also tells me that I’ll lose weight much more quickly when things are on the correct routine.  That’s not exactly a goal, but I know it is reality.

I know the posting has slowed down with the travel, but expect more this weekend / next week.  Several things to talk about.

Onward!

Weigh-In 8-2-2015

So – not a great week.  Vacation happened.  <sigh>

Was supposed to weigh in on Friday, but because of a couple of travel days it didn’t happen until today, Sunday.  Since last Friday I gained 2.8 pounds, for a total loss of 2.4 pounds.

Two things happened.  This vacation was not one of those relaxing vacations.  26 people in the house, nearly half of which were children under the age of 6.  Including two of mine.  And this vacation is food heavy.  I did a good job staying within my points until Wednesday, which was my day to cook.  Chili dogs threw might right over the edge.  So food was a problem.  And though I brought all of my running stuff, I never did go for a run.  The baby got off schedule, and we struggled sleeping.  These, of course, are just excuses, but they were enough to keep me off-kilter.

We got home last night around 5:30 after two hard days of driving.  I intended to run this morning, but just didn’t get it done.  It would be easy to get discouraged, though that would be a huge mistake.  Routine will return, and with it a return to normalcy.  This week involves travel for work, too, so it’ll get harder before it gets easier.

I can handle the routine weeks, but I struggle to handle the non-routine weeks.  Next step is to figure out how to cope.

Onward.

No Weigh-in on Weigh-in Day

Fridays are weigh-in days.  Except today.  Vacation has been good, though the last couple of days have tested my Weight Watchers point limits.

BUT – today and tomorrow (Saturday) are travel days, headed back to Florida.  At my normal weigh-in time I’ll (hopefully) be a few hours into a several hour drive.  Overnight in Florence, South Carolina, and then back to Celebration on Saturday.  I will do a makeup weigh-in on Sunday.

Weigh In 7-24-2015

Good morning to the one or two of you that might actually see this!

Friday mornings are my weigh in mornings – and this morning, I weighed in at 317.8 pounds, which is a 4.2 pound loss from last week and a total of 5.2 pounds.

Which is outstanding.  I needed to see a week work to keep up the motivation – and this week worked.  I had a very good week in terms of my food consumption and exercise.  In particular, I have been for 5 runs since last Friday, which is the best extended stretch of getting out there I have had in over a year.

Quick note on weigh in timing:  I chose Friday very deliberately, and that is a Weight Watchers thing.  If you aren’t familiar, Weight Watchers works on points – they assign a point value to everything you eat and drink, and you are given a daily allotment of points that you are supposed to stay within.  You can eat whatever you want, but you have to stay within those points.  On top of that, you are given a weekly allotment of “cheat” points – best I can tell, this is 49 points for everybody, regardless of what your daily allotment is.  That 49 points can be used any way you want – you can go over your daily allotment by a little bit every day, or you can save it up and blow it out on one big meal.  The rule is that you can’t save up your daily points – use ’em or lose ’em – and when you run out of those extra points you’re pretty constrained.  Crucially, your points reset on your weigh-in day.

I find it much more difficult to stay within my daily point total on the weekends, for a lot of reasons that are probably obvious enough I don’t need to discuss.  So most of my 49 points winds up getting used between Friday dinner and Sunday dinner, with Friday dinner and, believe it or not, Sunday breakfast being the two huge weak spots. When I first started WW, I was using a calendar week and weighing in on Sunday morning.  The problem with that is that all of that my perception of weigh-ins was that they were being skewed.  And so I was depriving myself needlessly or feeling very guilty about things even when I stayed within my points.  Also, if I had a slip up during the week and was very low on points, I was finding it hard to keep it reined in on the weekends.

By weighing in on Friday I get rid of almost all of that psychological crap.  And, for the record, I know that is all psychological.  Over time, this comes out in the wash.  However, managing my energy is a big part of this process, and this way I just don’t have to spend any energy worrying about tonight’s perfectly legal dinner unduly impacting tomorrow morning’s weigh in.

Anyway.

Progress is good!  I feel great, and this is just the kick in the ass I needed.

Onward!

Weigh in 3-2-2014

I’m back.

Weight:  276.0lbs

Weekly Gain / (Loss):  +2.8lbs

Total Gain / (Loss):  (-51.4lbs)

February absolutely sucked.  I mean, it sucked enough that my wife and I have solidified the decision that we’re going to move in the next couple of years so that we can limit the number of similar Februarys we have to go through for the rest of our lives.  Snow and freezing rain and sickness and cabin fever and you name it and February sucked.

OK – got that out of my system.

March is here, and brings with it hope.  And slightly warmer weather.  I ran yesterday, and I got my long run in today, and in both cases I wore shorts.  Shorts!  Also, with those two runs, I’ve now run in March about 30% of the miles I ran in February.  On March 2nd.

Did I mention that February sucked?

OK – the half marathon is two weeks from yesterday.  I’m not prepared for it, and though I still intend to PR I won’t be as prepared for it as I’d like to be.  However, these last two days of running have given me a shot of confidence that I badly needed, and I’m now feeling positive about the half.  It’ll be a big event, and I’ll get my shirt and a medal and hopefully a PR … and it will be fun, which, after all, is the point.  And then after, when the weather has begun to be consistently warmer and more runner friendly … then I’ll start bearing down to absolutely hammer my May half marathon.

Also – I’ve begun to get my food in-line as well, and increasing miles helps.  I’ve got some work travel coming up in the next couple of weeks, which is always hard.  BUT – I’m motivated, and I’m determined.  This weight plateau has been fun, but this isn’t where I want to land.  I still have 50 pounds to lose, and it is time to jump start this.

Come on, spring – we’ve missed you.

Weigh-in / Long Run – 2/2/14

Disappointing weigh-in, but I was expecting it … this has been a challenging couple of weeks.

Weight: 278lbs

2 Week Gain / (Loss):  4.6lbs

Total Gain / (Loss):  (49.4lbs)

Weekly Mileage:  13.38

First quick thing – I HATE dropping back under the “50 total pounds lost” threshold.  Hate it.  And will get it under control.

I’m not going to spend the time here in this post talking about why the last two weeks have been challenging.  I could trot out a whole list of reasons excuses that I haven’t been running and eating well, and whine about how hard it is.  And, lets face it … it IS hard.  Which is totally what she said.

But instead, I want to focus here on the very encouraging things that happened in the last two weeks:

  1.  After allowing myself the sad about not running the full marathon, I finally embraced the idea of PRing the hell out of the Rock ‘n’ Roll USA Half Marathon in March.  Many many minutes will come off of my half marathon PR, and this makes me excited.
  2. I went a week and a half without doing a single run … and then put together 4 straight days at the end of that stretch saying “eff it” and doing runs way outside my comfort zone.  Including a 3-miler in 3 degree (Fahrenheit) weather.
  3. My 5-mile long run on Saturday morning was very strong.  Not only did I feel good, but the run was a strong negative split – I got stronger as the run went along.  Also, a 5-mile “long run”, after I’ve been doing 15 and 16 mile long runs, was just the thing to get me mentally enjoying this again.
  4. Today I ran a 5K that was also MUCH stronger than anticipated – only 16 seconds off of my PR on a very hilly course.  I’ll have a race report up later this week, but I could not have been more pleased with how today went.
  5. This weekend had two straight days with highs in the 40s.  I know the groundhog saw his shadow today, so I don’t want to get too excited – but come on, spring!

For giggles, I went and looked at my running log for February 2nd of last year, 2013.  It turns out that I ran 3.1 miles (I won’t call it 5K unless it is an official race – which is a comment that will have my non-American readers rolling their eyes … but, hey, what’re you going do?), and I did it in a 13 minute and 42 second per mile pace.  Which right now seems glacial.  But, in my notes, I put the following quote:  “Did not seem that fast.”   THAT fast.

Amazing how far you can come in a year.  And I’m feeling that momentum building again.

Lets go have a great week.

Weigh In / Long Run – January 11

Lets just get right to the answer for this week:  I took a zero mile week, and though I stayed inside my Weight Watcher’s points, I’m not doing a weigh-in this week.

I guess I was incubating a cold or something last weekend when I did my (brutal) 15-miler.  Because almost instantly I got a nasty cough and basically headed straight downhill.  I decided to rest for a couple of days and then pick it back up … and try to get my long run in … until I woke up on Thursday morning for my run.  I basically went downstairs, called in sick, came back upstairs, and passed out.  This makes me quite nervous, since the marathon is only like 9 weeks out … but this WAS a scheduled recovery week, and being able to hit the last 8 weeks healthy seems more important than these actual miles.  So I made the active decision to just rest.  Between that and the sickness, I won’t believe anything the scale tells me, so I’ll do the weigh-in next week.

I’d rather now spend my time talking about something positive.

I did feel a bit better today, though it was a nasty and rainy day outside.  My poor 2-year old, who has also been under the weather, is finally well enough to be feeling cooped up … and it is a nasty January day and he is stuck inside.

So we pitched my backpacking tent in the dining room. It was amazing.

Lunch in the tent...
Lunch in the tent…

He was running around yelling “This is fun!  This is fun!”  He put all of his books in there and we basically had to force him out for naps and baths and stuff.  

But I also began to notice something about me.  The last time I used this tent, pitching it was a real chore.  Getting in and out left me nearly out of breath.  I couldn’t get comfortable inside … though it IS a two-man tent, and I was only one (very large) man.  This time, though, it wasn’t bad.  I was able to go in and out pretty effortlessly.  And I was able to have a great day playing with a two-year old and not obsessing about my weight, or my breath, or … anything.  Just doing it – completely doing it.

It was awesome.  I can’t wait until spring when we can go use that tent for reals.  This is why I’m doing what I’m doing – THIS is why I’m putting in the work.  Not for this week’s miles, and certainly not for whatever the scale was going to say.

THIS.

Real weigh-in next week.  Promise.

Tent Day

Weigh In / Long Run – 1.5.2014

Straight to the numbers, which are … anti-climactic

Weight:  274.8

Weekly Gain / (Loss):  0 pounds

Total Gain / (Loss):  (52.6 pounds)

Weekly Mileage:  23.58

Not totally surprising.  Food was again the culprit this week, but then again food is nearly always the culprit.  Though the goal of Weight Watchers tracking daily is working out, I don’t want to get too carried away with expectations.  This week is one of the first “normal” weeks I will have had in a long time – no travel, no holidays, relatively low-key at work.  So I have high hopes for this weigh-in next week.

The story this week was the running – set another total weekly mileage record, but I’m not that impressed with that.  I’ll be setting those weekly for the next several weeks.  The story this week was the race, which went well but not great, and the long run.  The marathon is ten weeks from this past Saturday, so we’re ramping up for it in earnest – and this week was 15 miles.

Fortunately, I generally have access to some great running trails for these really long runs.  They’re relatively flat and they remove all issues with traffic.  However, last week it snowed here a rather lot, and while the roads get plowed those trails don’t.  So I had to put together a road course for these 15 miles.  And that introduces several things that I generally don’t have to deal with – quite a lot of elevation change, traffic, and, in this case, snow.

All of that added up to a brutal run.  The half marathon split would have been a PR by about 5 minutes, so there is that, but in general I was toast near the end of this one.  And I’ve been extra sore.  This is the first time through all of this that legitimate doubt has crept in – I don’t doubt I can eke out the mileage, but I’m starting to get concerned about the 5 ½ hour time limit.  The calculators say I should be fine, but after this … well, yikes.

This is not to say that I’m quitting, or am any less resolved.  Oh, no – this is going to happen. Its just that an element of doubt has now been introduced.  This next week is a recovery week in this calendar, so my long run is only 13 miles.  That should help, and I’m just going to have to trust the training schedule.  That’s all I can do.

Looking forward to a good weight-loss story next time!

Weigh In / Long Run 12-28

So, this week happened to include a major holiday.  A major holiday typically marked by things like big meals.  And candy.  So much candy.

Weight:  274.8

Weekly Gain / (Loss):  1.0 pounds

Total Gain / (Loss):  (52.6 pounds)

Weekly Mileage:  22.37

And, given the aforementioned major holiday, this was not a surprise.  Any gain is always a disappointment, but I’m not devastated here, because I somewhat expected it.  I am clearly on a plateau – I’ve been basically the same weight, plus or minus 2 or 3 pounds, since the end of July, so five months now.  That’s mostly a food phenomenon, and I know it.  BUT – we’re through the holidays now, which makes keeping the eating under control easier … and the mileage is getting ready to ramp up.  So I’m optimistic.

On a positive note, that was a new record for my weekly mileage.  I also set a record for longest ever run – 14 miles this morning.  Overall, I was very happy with the run – the half marathon split would have been a PR by nearly 15 minutes – but the last mile was a shuffle.  What that run did for me was demonstrate two things:  1.) how much stronger I am than I was, and 2.) how far I have to go.  After mile 14, the thought of going another 12 (point 2) seems … out of reach.  Gotta keep working.

The mileage officially starts ramping up now – barring injury or something crazy, I’ll be doing 30 mile weeks within a month.  Coupled with a re-doubled focus on food intake, and I’m thinking that I can get some momentum going on the weight loss – which will make those miles seem easier.

Incidentally – I’m not a New Year’s resolution kind of guy – but look for a goals-type post coming up.  A preview – regular blogging is a goal.

Onward!