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

8/24/2020

Ouch! It's been awhile since I posted anything. That does not say I haven't been keeping track of weight, though; I'm down to 206 pounds as of today! BMI is 30.5, which means I have only 0.6 BMI points to go before I am officially classed as "Overweight" rather than "Obese." I am indeed looking forward to that! I'm cancelling my gym membership, though. I've been keeping fit during the COVID shutdown, and I will continue to do so. I have TRX straps, I have a NordicTrack, I have a garden that needs perpetual weeding, I can do this!

8/10/2020 Weighing In

Well!! On 8/8, I was at 212; today, I'm at 210.25!! I'm loving this!!

I have no idea why this is true; I went totally, completely off the rails yesterday. I pigged out with a whole box of bars (there are seven bars in a box), a pancake, penne, and chicken. The bars, penne and pancake each have 110 calories; the chicken is about 250. That's about 1500 calories. Well, I spent the day being full and indulging my nibbles. I'm back on the straight and narrow today, reinforced by the 1.75-lb loss that will not continue if I keep eating like that.

1.75 pounds gone since Saturday!! YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

8/6/2020 Weighing In

I didn't weigh myself yesterday, but the day before yesterday I was at 213.25. Today, I'm 212.25!!! Another pound gone!!!! Little bit by little bit, the fat is disappearing.

I do eat well on this plan. A pancake on most mornings, a bag of crunchies many days, cookies and brownies and even soft serv ice cream ... peanut butter or chocolate soft serv ice cream ... all part of the Optavia plan. Of course, these things are foods from Optavia (which is a MediFast program), and they are high protein low carb low fat foods. But they taste just like the real thing!

I do get the munchies, though I cannot claim real hunger, between so-called "fuelings." Distraction works wonders at those times. Get busy doing something other than watching TV ... in other words, get my brain off of food ... and I actually forget to eat! I have to time the intervals between fuelings and set an alarm to remember to put food in my body!

So. I'm happy. And I have more energy. My sciatica, while it's still there, is reduced most days. I can get out into my garden and yank weeds easily. I could do housework ... not my favorite chore ... if I choose to do so.

8/4/2020 Weighing In

Well, I'm down to 213.25 today (and yesterday ... the day before yesterday I was at 213.5, and the day before that I was at 213.75). It's going down ... far more slowly than I'd like it to.

Gotta love what the weight loss is doing to my BMI, though; I started at 33.6; I'm down to 31.5. That's still "obese," but "overweight" (the next category downward) starts at a BMI of 29.9, so I'm getting out of the "obese" category, which is great, Great, GREAT!!!!!

Some of the plateau, of course, has to do with the "cheating" I've done. Yesterday was my first non-cheat day since Friday (today's Tuesday). I desperately need to get OUT of the house in the afternoon, and I desperately need to stop munching at bedtime. Those are my downfall times. And it's just habit. I am, however, drinking far, far more water than I ever did. It helps to make a pot of mint tea and use that as water flavoring ... then drink through a straw!

I can't garden today; it's raining. So maybe I'll just go for a car ride to a mall and walk the halls for an hour or so this afternoon. I'll also use my TRX straps and my NordicTrack. Hey ... I have them; I need to use them.

Onward!

7/31/2020 Weighing In With Measurements

213.75 today, for the fourth day in a row. Nothing like a plateau to encourage continuing on the quest for health.

Anyway, today is the day for measurements.

	7/2/2020 Baseline	7/24/2020 Last Week	7/31/2020 Today	Weekly Difference	TOTAL Difference	Week % Lost	Total % Lost
Weight	227.75	216.5	213.75	2.75	14	1.27%	6.15%
Neck	16.75	16	16	0	0.75	0.00%	4.48%
Bust	47	44.5	44.5	0	2.5	0.00%	5.32%
Waist	48	45.5	45.5	0	2.5	0.00%	5.21%
Hips	47.125	45.75	44.5	1.25	2.625	2.73%	5.57%
Upper Arm L	14	13	12.75	0.25	1.25	1.92%	8.93%
Upper Arm R	14.75	13.5	13.5	0	1.25	0.00%	8.47%
Mid-Thigh L	21.5	19.75	20	-0.25	1.5	-1.27%	6.98%
Mid-Thigh R	22.5	20.5	21	-0.5	1.5	-2.44%	6.67%
Calf L	15.25	14.5	14.75	-0.25	0.5	-1.72%	3.28%
Calf R	15	14.75	14.75	0	0.25	0.00%	1.67%
Total Body Inches	245.125	231.75	231.25	0.5	13.875	0.22%	5.66%
Inches Lost	0	13.375	0.5		-13.875
BMI	34	32	31.6	0.4	2.4

Not as encouraging as the last few weeks, but that's ok. The general drift is downward, and I didn't measure myself in the same clothing or at the same time of day as I've been doing for the last few weeks.

And 14 pounds gone in a month ain't half bad!!!!

7/27/2020 Weighing In

Yesterday was 215 even; today I'm at 214.25!!

I LOVE it when weight just peels off like this!!

I'm doing well. Yesterday, I avoided the midday munchies by going OUT from 2-4 ... gardening, Walmart (I needed locks for my backyard gates 😒). I had two soft serve meals, which were REALLY GOOD; I didn't need the BBQ crunchers, but I think I'll have crunchers tonight; I ended up eating a sirloin tip tartare last night.

I'll go out again today, at least into the garden. Maybe I'll go for a a walk by the river.

The one thing I really have to deal with is the sciatica. It's a real ouch much of the time. It interferes with moving around. Not moving had it feeling better; now that I'm moving again, it's irritated and hurting again. I'll give the chiropractor a call.

7/26/2020 Weighing In

Yesterday was 215.5; today is 215 even. That's half a pound, which is great! I'm down well over 10 pounds since 2 July!!

I get hungry in the afternoons, so my Optavia Coach and I came up with the tactic to distract myself. Do something other than sit starting at 2:30 pm and going on until I either (a) am no longer hungry and/or (b) have to eat again according to schedule (that would be 4 pm). It works ... to a point. The "something other" has to be active ... pulling weeds is one option. Going for a walk is another. Exercise on the NordicTrack or the TRX straps is a third. Gardening is the best option. Today I will weed-whack my overgrown yard and maybe start to dig the hole for my patio!

But winter will come ... sooner than I want it to ... and then I'll have to find distractors inside. Putting the pennies on the steps is one; that needs to be done, as does putting tiles on the ceiling in the entryway. Before I lay the pennies, I need to paint the spindles and bannister. I'm tired ... TIRED ... of Guinevere's colors!! And then I need to patch and paint the walls in the living room and the entryway.  I have selected a lovely shade of gray that will set off the reds and blues in the living room; that gray can easily carry over to the walls in the hallway.

But, meanwhile, I'm happy with the weight loss. And I feel good, too.

7/22/2020 Weighing In

217.0 this morning. Down half a pound. Okay; I'll take it. Less is good.

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.

7/19/2020 Weighing In

217.5 today. No change from yesterday.

That's no surprise; I ate well yesterday. A friend took me out to eat; that was the first time I've eaten anywhere but home since the COVID19 lockdown started on 12 March. The lunch was DELICIOUS; I had a chicken salad (5 ox breast meat and salad greens) with this scrumptious house dressing ... pesto, lemon juice, olive oil. Gotta try that one since I can have salad dressings with Optavia.

That was midday. I generally have my lean&green in the evening. It did not work well to have it at midday; I was hungry and ended up eating an extra fueling. And that was after stopping, challenging and choosing. So I will today have my lean&green at 6:30 pm like I'm supposed to do.

7/18/2020 Weighing In

Yesterday was 218.75 ... today is 217.5! Down 1.25 pounds! Yeah!

Oh ... and I've now lost 10 pounds in just over two weeks! That's a milestone! Yeah!

7/17/2020 Weighing In - With Measurements

I didn't get the chance to even get near my blog yesterday or the day before. The day before ... enh ... I weighed in yet again at 219.75. But yesterday ... yesterday the scales tipped at 218.75. As they did today. 218.75 today, too.

I started this weight loss two weeks ago today at 227.75. In two weeks, I'm down 9 pounds! That rate is not likely to continue, since ... ahem ... several of those 9 pounds I lost in the first couple of days while detoxing. But it's encouraging to see the tonnage falling off.

I like this system. Optavia is apparently associated with MediFast (the same people who designed MediFast also designed Optavia). Optavia borders on being a very low calorie diet, or VLCD ... one eats 800-1000 calories per day ... at the weight-loss stage. I did a VLCD years ago, in the late 1990s, that pulled a ton of weight off of me. But then I started law school full time at FPLC with easy access to Brian-the-Chef's scrumptious soups every day and yoyo'd right back up. So I know I can get it off. My challenge is ... has always been ... keeping it off.

But I'm not there yet. I'm still getting it off. One step at a time.

I have this new weight app on my phone that will easily track my weight daily (yay!). Then it will show me graphs and analyses and all that stuff. This weight app tells me that my ideal weight is 144.5. So okay; that's my new goal weight. 144.5, here I come. I ate my way over that weight when I was in junior high school, so this will be good.

Measurements.

	7/2/2020 Baseline	7/12/2020 Last Week	7/17/2020 Today	Difference	TOTAL Difference	Week % Lost	Total % Lost
Weight	227.75	220.25	218.75	1.5	9	0.68%	3.95%
Neck	16.75	16	16.5	-0.5	0.25	-3.13%	1.49%
Bust	47	45	44.5	0.5	2.5	1.11%	5.32%
Waist	48	46	46	0	2	0.00%	4.17%
Hips	47.125	45.5	44.5	1	2.625	2.20%	5.57%
Upper Arm L	14	13.5	13.5	0	0.5	0.00%	3.57%
Upper Arm R	14.75	14	13.75	0.25	1	1.79%	6.78%
Mid-Thigh L	21.5	19.75	20.125	-0.375	1.375	-1.90%	6.40%
Mid-Thigh R	22.5	21.75	21	0.75	1.5	3.45%	6.67%
Calf L	15.25	15	15	0	0.25	0.00%	1.64%
Calf R	15	15	15	0	0	0.00%	0.00%
Total Body Inches	245.125	235.5	233.375	2.125	11.75	0.90%	4.79%
Inches Lost	0	-9.625	-11.75	-2.125	11.75
BMI	34	33	32.3

Yeah. I'm a happy camper. I lost an overall 2.125 inches this week (11.75 inches overall!!), and I'm down a total of 3.95 of my weight and 4.79% of my body measurements! And I LOVE that downward drift of my BMI ....

7/14/2020 Weighing In

219.75. That's a familiar number; I weighed 219.75 yesterday, too. Sigh. Well, I'll stick with it; it's SOO WORTH IT! I feel better, my sciatica is reduced (yes, I'm still on the NSAIDS, but it's reduced), and my energy is up.

It's Bastille Day in France today. That's the French version of the Americans' Fourth of July. Today, in 1789, the prisoners in the Bastille Prison stormed the prison. It was the start of the French Revolution, which caused the downfall of Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette. Happy Bastille Day!

Usually, national holidays are celebrated with parades, fireworks and crowds. Not so this year; COVID19 has cast its pall over the entire planet, stilling human celebration as we duck and cover, hiding from the virus. This has been hard on the humans, but the planet has had a respite ... in the short time we've been hunkered, pollution is down, air quality is improved, water quality is improved because the humans are staying put and not buzzing around in our fossil-fueled vehicles.

I see hope in the lockdown. Actually, I'm loving the lockdown, and I would that it would continue, but it won't; we have the COVIDIOT-in-Charge, aka the Toddler-in-Charge, who cannot listen to anyone and must reopen the country because of money money money. Newsflash: the virus does not give one flying fuck about money. It is simply looking ... always looking ... for a new host in which it can replicate and shed off to spread to other new hosts. That's the life of a virus; however, this virus' life cycle does not mesh well with human life. If we'd stay hunkered down, we might stand a chance; since we're not going to do that, we're doomed. It's 1918 again, folks.

7/10/2020 Weighing In

On 7/7, I was at 222.25. Today, I'm at 222.25.

Gotta get ahold of my health coach on this one. That's too long without weight loss. And I'm following the program to the letter.

At least I'm not gaining....

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....

7/5/2020 Weighing In

Yesterday was 226.75; today I'm at 224.25. That's 2.5 pounds yesterday ... gone! I do love the start of a weight-loss journey...

I drank 100 oz H2O yesterday.

I was hungry yesterday. I therefore ate two more "fuelings" than I was scheduled to eat. Today's plan is for five "fuelings" and one "lean and green" meal comprising eggs and spinach (I do love a spinach omelette). And I'd better go get my first "fueling"; I'm hungry, but the bed needed to be made this morning (and it is indeed now relegated to the kitties for the day).

7/4/2020 Weighing In

I love starting a weight-loss journey. The pounds roll off at the beginning, and that is what is happening. 226.75 today, down from 227.75 yesterday! The Optavia foods are actually pretty good, too. The crunches are quite filling! And all that water ... my kidneys are drowning! Sadly, it doesn't last. The weight does come off, but the rate slows and becomes erratic with time. But that's healthy and the way the body should work ... frustrating as it is.

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

1/5/2020 Weigh In

218.5, up 8 lb from 12/14/2019's 210.5.

I clearly relaxed the regimen during the holidays. The holidays are now OVER. It is time to restart the regimen. I shall tow the line.

Christmas is the death of the diet. It was last year, too. I didn't regain as much this year as I allowed myself to regain last year, but 8 lb in less than one month ... yeah, not good. I know what did it, of course. All that butter. All those biscuits and pie dough chunks. All that cream. Christmas is the Season of Fat.

Well, here we are, with those eight hard-lost pounds easily regained. It was not a problem at all to regain that weight. 

I was reading about a weight-loss theory that involves confusing one's metabolism. I am well aware that weight loss involves slowing down the metabolism; that's why losing the tonnage is so miserably difficult. But this idea sort of makes sense. Diet strictly for x days, then on Day y eat more fats. Then diet again strictly for x days and eat more fats on Day y. Then diet strictly for x days and eat more fat on the Day Y. Basically, don't let the metabolism reset itself into starvation mode.

But I'm not likely to try it. The Diet Center has served me well for all these years; I'll just keep going with that.

I got myself a set of TRX straps for Christmas and I've actually been using them. They help with my hip pain, and they're good for strengthening muscles.

Today's Plan

11:00 Vitamins, water

1:30 Friendly's for brunch (I'll have a grilled cheese and soup, which is actually not unfriendly to the Diet), water

3:30 Wasa, water

4:30 Apple, water

5:30 Wasa, water

6:30 Chicken, spinach salad, water

8:00 Fruit, water

9:30 Yogurt, water