2/26/2022 Weigh In

OK then. Hi there. It has been awhile.

In 2020, I began the Optavia program and I successfully got down to 168 pounds (yay! That's a "normal" BMI of 24.8 for me!).

I have lapsed again. Thank goodness, I've caught myself before I get back over 200 pounds, but today I'm at 190.25, which is a BMI that is "overweight," but not "obese" (the BMI number is 28.1 ... ugh). So today I start with my old friend the Diet Center's diet as described in my old Diet Center books. Diet Center has changed since I was there in the early 1980s, but the program they had then has always worked to peel the pounds off of me and it will work again ... as long as I remain accountable.

This is my accountability blog. And yes, I will share it with my therapist this time.

Weight gain is brought on by eating too many calories for my metabolism to handle. I know this. I get it. I understand that. I've known this for a lifetime. But oh, those extra calories taste sooooo GOOD going in. I love to eat. It's almost a sexual release I get from putting food down my gullet. I love to eat carbs. I love to have honey in my tea. I love cookies and buttery crackers and cakes and pies and pastries and chocolate. All that (except for cocoa powder, which has 5 calories/tbsp) has to go.

I can figure out how many calories something contains by reading the label. I know this. I get it. I understand that. I've known this since they started putting nutrition labels on food. I even know how to read a nutrition label.

I can add up the calories as compared with the nutrients each and every day. The goal is to maintain a 1000-1200 calorie per day intake of health-promoting foods. The Diet Center diet does that for me automatically and healthfully, which is why it works.

I can peel off the weight. I can avoid eating processed foods. I do not need to order pizza. I can eat protein and veggies. I can not put butter on bread. I can leave the honey jar in its place. I can make the Diet Center bran muffins (that recipe alone is worth all the money I paid to Diet Center back in the day). I can drink sufficient water. I can get a bit more active once my second hip replacement heals (until then I'm pretty much stuck with walking fairly slowly). I belong to the Y (thank goodness for Silver Sneakers), where I can swim and use the treadmill and lift weights to my heart's content. I can get my garden into shape this year (my hips will have healed enough for that by the time spring actually arrives in Upstate New York).

So. I can do all that. I can get myself down to 145 pounds (a BMI of 21.4); if I stick religiously to the program, the weight historically has come off at about 10 lb per month, which puts me at 145 in mid-July 2022. That's easy. Chicken 'n' fish, chicken 'n' fish, chicken 'n' fish. The challenge will, as ever, be maintaining the loss. Therein lies my lifelong downfall. So I need to fix that. That, of course, means I need to heal from all the emotional crap I live with and shedding the baggage. I need to get over the feeling that I'm worthless. I need to heal from the rape. I need to recover from all the bad relationships. I need to grow some self-worth. I can develop self-worth by looking at accomplishments rather than at failures (and yes, I have accomplished a lot over a lot of time, and I'm not done with that list). This year, I can develop self-worth by actually getting my private pilot's license (yes, I am learning to fly a plane ... and spending all my money in the process).

Sadly, some of my baggage can't be just dumped since the people who contributed to my emotional crap are, for the most part, dead or unreachable. But I can work to heal myself even without confronting them in person; I have a very active imagination and I can confront them and tell them of the damage they did and forgive them and release that damage in my own mind.

That's one place where my therapist and this blog can help.

Measurements. Let's get the starting point for this go-round.

	7/2/2020 Baseline	10/24/2020 Last Time	2/26/2022 Today	Difference	TOTAL Difference	Week % Lost	Total % Lost
Weight	227.75	193	190.25	3	37.75	-1.58%	15.26%
Neck	16.75	15.5	15.5	0	1.25	0.00%	7.46%
Bust	47	43	42	1	5	-2.38%	8.51%
Waist	48	42	40.5	1.5	7.5	-3.70%	12.50%
Hips	47.125	42.125	42.5	-0.375	4.625	0.88%	10.61%
Upper Arm L	14	12.125	12	0.125	2	-1.04%	13.39%
Upper Arm R	14.75	12.75	12.5	0.25	2.25	-2.00%	13.56%
Mid-Thigh L	21.5	19	18.5	0.5	3	-2.70%	11.63%
Mid-Thigh R	22.5	19.25	19	0.25	3.5	-1.32%	14.44%
Calf L	15.25	14	14	0	1.25	0.00%	8.20%
Calf R	15	14.25	14	0.25	1	-1.79%	5.00%
Total Body Inches	245.125	218.5	215	3.5	230.5	-1.63%	10.86%
Inches Lost	0	26.625	30.125	3.5	14.625	11.62%
BMI	34	28.5	28.1	0.4	5.9

8/8/2020 Weighing In With Measurements (HTML table coded here)

Yesterday was 212.25; today I weigh in at 212 even! Little bit by little bit....

Measurements today (hey; it's Saturday):

	7/2/2020	7/31/2020	8/8/2020	Weekly Difference	Total Difference
Weight	227.75	213.75	212	1.75	15.75
Neck	16.75	16	16	0.00	0.75
Bust	47	44.5	44.5	0.00	2.0
Waist	48	45.5	44.5	1.00	3.5
Hips	47.125	45.5	44.5	1.00	2.625
UpprArm-L	14	12.75	13	-0.25	1
UpprArm-R	14.75	13.5	13.5	0.00	1.25
MidThigh-L	21.5	20	19	1.00	2.5
MidThigh-R	22.5	21	19.25	1.75	3.25
Calf-L	15.25	14.75	14.5	0.25	0.75
Calf-R	15	14.75	14.75	0.00	0.25
TotalBody	245.125	231.25	227.5	3.75	17.625
InchesLost	0.00	13.875	17.625
BMI	34	31.6	31.3	0.3	2.7

Yeah, I'm happy with that.

Next goal: Get the BMI under 30!! At that point, I will no longer be "Obese Class I"! I will simply be "Overweight." That will happen at 202 pounds. I have 10 pounds to go for that goal. Should be there by the middle of September at the latest.

7/20/2020 Weighing In

217.5 again today. Well, that's fine; I ate an extra fueling (110 cal) yesterday, plus three celery sticks, on top of the required intake. Perhaps I should not have eaten the extra fueling. But today is another day and another chance to Do Good.

You know what I'm looking forward to? I'm looking forward to going to see my doctor for my annual physical next year and weighing 145-155. How's that for a goal? It'll be July before I get in to see him, so I have a whole year to lose the weight. Stick with Optavia's low-calorie diet for that long ... the weight will come off.

7/7/2020 Weighing In

Huh. I guess I didn't write in my blog yesterday. Well, yesterday I was at 223, down from Sunday's 224.25. Today I'm at 222.25. So ... water weight is gone (and my poor toilets have been flushed enough to prove that); I'm starting to show the slow fat burn now. Sigh.

 I drank my full quota of water yesterday; haven't had nearly as much difficulty with that as I expected to. Of course, the result of that is that I'm spending piles of time sitting on the throne. But that's ok; no one deserves a crown more than do I.

 I've discovered that if I'm sitting around doing nothing but watching TV, I am hungry; if I'm busy doing something productive, I'm not. The cause of hunger = boredom!! I shall use that.

 My first goal, of course, is to break 220. When I do that, I shall give myself a mini-reward. Perhaps a new audiobook....

7/2/2020 Weighing In - With Measurements

Well. It's been awhile. And, of course, I've gained weight in that while.

Today, which would have been Jim's and my 9th wedding anniversary, I weigh in at 227.75. My stats are (in inches and pounds):

	07/02/20
Weight	227.75
Neck	16.75
Bust	47
Waist	48
Hips	47.125
Upper Arm L	14
Upper Arm R	14.75
Mid-Thigh L	21.5
Mid-Thigh R	22.5
Calf L	15.25
Calf R	15

And that is my new starting point.

I'm trying something new: psych support and group support with a program called Optavia; it uses a regimented 800-1000 calorie-per-day food plan. Diet Center has worked for me for a long time, but I find I need the active support of others to keep me on the straight and narrow. So here we go again. Let's hope this is the last time. My 9th wedding anniversary seems like a good day to start this journey. Jim would want me to get and stay healthy.

At least I didn't yoyo back up to my 3/17/17 starting weight of 256!! But I was on the way; my clothes are starting to not fit well, and that will NOT do.

Oh ... goals. I need to lower my LDL and to get to 150 lb. Preferably within the next year.

1/13/2020 Weigh In

216, down 2.5 lb from 1/5's 218.5.

Down 2.5 lb in eight days ... YESSSSSSS!!!!!!!

I made an appointment for my annual physical last week. I thought the physical was due in March, but no; it's due in June. In fact, it's on the very last day of June. I thus have another five months, rather than three months, to peel weight off.

I therefore have a Goal: Get to 190 lb or below by the date of the physical. Surprise the bejeezus out of my doctor. That's 26 lb in five months. Yes, I Can Do That.

Here's the Plan for today:

Today's Plan
8:30 Doxycycline, water (I have sinusitis)

10:30 Vitamins, water

11:00 Bran pancake, strawberries, water

1:30 Chicken, spinach salad, water

3:30 Wasa, water

5:30 Wasa, water

7:30 Chicken, spinach salad, water

8:00 Apple, water

9:30 Yogurt, water

11/1/2019 Weigh In

216.0. After losing 2.5 pounds in two days, no change is no surprise.

Today is the Measurements Day; it's the first of the month. Here we go:

	10/6/19	11/1/19	Month Difference
Weight	229	216	13
Bust	46.5	46	0.5
Waist	47	45	2
Hips	46.5	44	2.5
Upper Arm L	13.25	13.25	0
Upper Arm R	14	13.75	0.25
Mid-Thigh L	22.5	21	1.5
Mid-Thigh R	23	22.75	0.25
Calf L	15	14.75	0.25
Calf R	15.5	15	0.5
Inches Lost	243.25	7.75	7.75

I'm down 13 pounds and 7.75 inches overall. In less than a month. There's a WIN!! The next milestone is 209 lb ... that will be 20 lb gone. The goal after I hit the 209 goal will take me to 199 ... and I'll have to move the heavy weight on the scale! But I have seven pounds to go from where I am now to get to 209. Well, all I need to do is Follow The Plan. Easy enough.

Today’s Plan:

Pre-breakfast: Lemon juice, vitamins
Breakfast: Bran pancake, strawberries, water
11 am: 5 minutes on NordicTrack, water
Lunch: Fish, salad, water
2 pm: Wasa, water
4 pm: Wasa, water
5 pm: 5 minutes on NordicTrack
Dinner: Chicken stir-fried with bok choy, water
7 pm: 5 minutes on NordicTrack
7:30 pm: Apple, water
9:30 pm: Yogurt

10/30/2019 Weigh In

217.75, down 0.5 lb from yesterday’s 218.5! Yeah!! It does work!! WIN!!!

The tricks, of course, are to (1) actually reach my goal weight, and (2) actually maintain my goal weight once I’ve reached it. I have never persevered long enough to actually hit my goal. Ever. In my entire weight-loss history (and that history is extensive) I have never once gotten to goal. So: here’s the challenge. I will reach my goal of 160 lb within one year. It’s on my calendar.

After I reach my goal, I will do monthly challenges to maintain that goal weight. But let’s reach it first.

Today’s Plan:

Pre-breakfast: Lemon juice, vitamins
Breakfast: Bran pancake, strawberries, water
10:30 am: 5 minutes on NordicTrack, water
Lunch: Chicken, salad, water
1:45 pm: Wasa, water
4 pm: Wasa, water
5 pm: 5 minutes on NordicTrack
Dinner: Fish, salad, water
7 pm: 5 minutes on NordicTrack
7:30 pm: Apple, water
9:30 pm: Yogurt

10/8/2019 Weigh In

225.75, down 1.25 lb. from yesterday's 227.0.

YES!! 1.25 lb lost yesterday ... I'll take it.

And I woke up this morning not hungry. Yes, I can easily eat, but I'm certainly not ravenously hungry. I rather like the two cheats I had yesterday (an extra piece of fruit and 1/2 C plain nonfat Greek yogurt with almond extract, Stevia and cocoa powder); they seem to satisfy the hunger. I shall keep them for the moment.

I am working on exorcising the demon that has kept me fat for all these years. I've always been heavy, and that has sat badly with a demon whose voice has been with me forever. The driving force behind that demon ... a fat-shaming close family member ... has been dead and gone for nearly five years now, and it's time to get that voice out of my head. I deserve to be fit and healthy ... even though, yes, I'm now in my 60s and have arthritis in one hip and extraordinarily tight hip flexors in both hips, so I now walk with a gimp and can't run at all. I walk, actually, like my grandmother walked ... grabbing onto solid objects as I pass them for support. That pisses me off. I never liked that grandmother much.

This is the shape I need to get out of before I go on my Grand Tour of (some of) the western National Parks next summer. Weight loss, NordicTrack, and personal trainer to the rescue!

Goals. Time to set goals. I will weigh 210 lb by Thanksgiving. That's a goal. It's achievable; not easy, but achievable. I have 1.5 months to lose 15.75 lb. It's an important goal; I'm off to England for a week right after Thanksgiving! First time in decades I will have visited London!

Long-term, 145 remains the pie-in-the-sky dream, but that is totally invisible to me at this moment. I'll do this in shorter chunks.

So. Today's Plan:

Pre-Breakfast: glass of lemon juice, vitamins
Breakfast: bran pancake made with cinnamon and stevia, water
10 a.m.: orange, water
Lunch: salad, chicken, water
2 p.m.: Wasa, water
4 p.m.: 1/2 C Greek yogurt with cocoa powder & almond extract, water
Dinner: salad, chicken, Wasa, water
7:30 p.m.: apple, water
9:30 p.m.: 1 C strawberries, water

The yogurt and the strawberries are cheats on the strict diet. I figure that if I plan the cheats, I won't cheat the Plan.

UPDATE at 10:26 pm:

I stuck to the Plan ... except for some of the times. I exchanged the timing of the Greek yogurt and the strawberries (1 cup of strawberries is less than I wanted it to be...), and I had the Greek yogurt at 8:15, not at 9:30. I am now going to bed comfortably full.

Tomorrow will be challenging since I'll be in my office all day with clients. I'll likely do the same Plan tomorrow, except I'll substitute salmon for chicken for lunch.

Weighing In 10/27/2018

202.5, down 1 lb from 10/23's 203.5.

I'm getting there. That change of the hundreds digit is in easy sight. That great day is closer than I think!!

On that day, I will have 55 pounds left to lose; the long-term goal is now set at 145.

Weighing In 10/23/2018

203.5. No change from yesterday.

And that's a good thing. Two pounds is a precipitous drop, and I cannot drop 2 pounds per day and hope to maintain either the rate or, in the long run, the weight loss. So I'll sit here for a couple of days at 203.5, eyeing that 199.75-pound goal from a distance of 3.75 pounds ...

I now weigh less than I have since I was pregnant. And that's a VERY good thing!

Weighing In 9/26/2018

207.5, down 1.25 lb from Monday's 208.75.

This is the result of the Team Darryl workout last night at the gym. That workout was hell on earth, but if it gives this result, I will gladly go through hell on earth. Actually, I paid $90 to go through hell on earth ... this team challenge lasts until mid-November ... by which time I hope to be down 20 lb from that 208.75 starting point. Let's see ... that would put me at 188.75. It will be a Great Day when I crack the 200-lb mark!!

And Darryl gave us homework. We are to find one thing to do to make the team challenge worth it. Me, I'm doing the Callanetics workout from the DVD I have. At least four days this week. I'll get it up to seven days each week by Week 3.

Oh ... I hurt today. My hip is killing me.

Hey ... I've lost over 50 lb since I started this in March 2017!! New cross-trainers for me!!!!! Yay!!!

And food is easy; just keep on with the Diet Center Reducing Diet. Easy enough.

Weighing In 9/24/2018

208.75, down 0.25 from yesterday's 209.0.

Good. It's peeling off again.

Even better. It's coming off slowly and steadily.

When it comes off slowly and steadily, the loss is sustainable, as I recently showed myself by maintaining for a year between weight-loss bouts.

Weighing In 9/21/2018

209.0, down 0.5 from yesterday's 209.5.

That works!

That rate will, of course, slow down, but I'll take it for now.

Hey, one more pound and I will have lost 10 lb this month ... that's exactly what this Diet Center diet is supposed to do.

I started this journey on 3/14/2017 weighing 256 lb; in 3 more pounds, I will have lost 50 lb! I shall reward myself for that accomplishment with a new pair of cross-trainers.

The next 10-lb goal will take me down below 200 lb; that's a MILESTONE ... an absolutely magic number. I still need to figure out how to celebrate that one. I've already paid for the trip to Egypt, so that's not the reward. I'll figure it out.

Weighing In 9/7/2018

I missed writing here yesterday; I weighed 212.0.

Today, I’m down 0.75 lb, weighing in at 211.25.

I joined Darryl’s Team for a weight-loss/body transformation challenge at the gym. It’s a 10-week challenge that will get my achy old body moving more than I do, and will increase my membership level to the max for the duration. I weigh in there on Tuesday morning. In 10 weeks, I should, theoretically, be down 20 lb. That’s the goal; that and deleting some of the pain in my hips....

Weighing In 9/3/2018

I'm at 214.75, down 2.25 lb from yesterday's 217.

This rapid loss is lovely, but it's all water at this point. I've been peeing approximately once every 15 minutes. That will end, and water will stabilize, and weight loss will go to losing fat, which is much slower than is losing water.

I'm getting a late start today; it's 11 a.m. and I haven't yet eaten anything. Gotta go eat before I shake the house down!

Bran muffin
Water x 4
Apple or Orange
Wasa bread slice

That will bring me up to where I should be in the day ... oh, and it will fill me up.

Lunch today will be yesterday's chicken with apple (I cooked 2) with a large leafy salad. Snack will be another Wasa bread slice and another piece of fruit. Dinner will be a large leafy shrimp salad and another Wasa bread slice. Snack is a piece of fruit. And the ever-present water will be on tap for all eating sessions.

Weighing In 9/1/2018

It's been a year and two days since I last posted here. I've done a decent job of maintaining my weight for that year; I'm at 218 pounds this morning, having pigged out on sushi yesterday (thanks to my brother who came to hang out for a couple of hours and took me to lunch) and pizza and ice cream for the last two days (my brother had nothing to do with those). Last time I posted, on 8/30/2017, I was at 212.75, and I will be there again very soon.

I'm still going to the gym at least once per week, and the same personal trainer is still kicking my butt. I think that's how I am maintaining my weight, quite frankly.

It's time. I'm done maintaining. Today I restart the old Diet Center weight loss routine, and I become answerable to this blog again. It's called "accountability."

The goal is to lose 50 pounds (putting me at 168 lb) by the time I go to Egypt in February. It's the healthy thing to do. Eventually, I'll go down another 20, and that will be my final goal weight. Imagine my weighing less than 150 ... haven't been there in decades.

I'll post measurements as I start the Reducing Diet on the day after tomorrow, then again on the first day of each month.

Weighing In 6/26/2017

224.5, down 1.75 from yesterday's 226.25.

At least the travel weight is coming off quickly. Yesterday's egg/grapefruit day contributed mightily, but obviously I cannot do that more than twice per month and those two days must be separated by at least two weeks. I shall indeed eat right today!! Smoothie for breakfast, smoothie for lunch, Wasa bread for snacks, fish for dinner. And lotsa lotsa water.

I seem to have stabilized this month. On 1 June, I was at 226. Over June, I've lost only 1.5 lb. That's ... not acceptable. So, I shall continue the stabilization for another week, then on the 4th of July, I shall start over with the conditioning diet and kick-start my body into weight-loss mode again. I WILL weigh less than 200 lb for Christmas, and less than 160 for my college reunion in May!!!!!

Weighing In 6/9/2017

223.75, down from yesterday's 224.

Little bit by little bit ....

At this rate, I'll likely not be at my goal weight by next May, but I'll be reasonably close to it. And that's okay; I'm doing this healthfully and properly. 1-2 lb/week is the recommended loss rate. Next May is about 45 weeks away, so if I continue to lose only l lb/week I'll at least be less than 200 lb by then. In fact, the MAXIMUM weight I should be is about 178. That's well below 200 lb. I actually have a figure at 178. So that's the goal for my Smith reunion. 178 lb. Then continue on until I get to my actual goal -- 30 lb less than that.