10/24/2020 Weighing In

It's been awhile since I posted here, but I've been busy following the Optavia 5+1 plan. Here are the numbers (numbers don't lie):

Data Point	7/20/2020 Baseline	8/8/2020 Last Time	10/24/2020 Today	Difference	Total Difference
Weight (lb.)	227.75	212	193	19	34.75
Neck (in.)	16.75	16	15.5	0.5	1.25
Bust (in.)	47	44.5	43	1.5	4
Waist (in.)	48	44.5	42	2.5	6
Hips (in.)	47.125	44.5	42.125	2.375	5
Upper Arm - L (in.)	14	13	12.125	0.875	1.875
Upper Arm - R (in.)	14.75	13.5	12.75	0.75	2
Mid-Thigh - L (in.)	21.5	19	19	0	2.5
Mid-Thigh - R (in.)	22.5	19.25	19.25	0	3.25
Calf - L (in.)	15.25	14.5	14	0.5	1.25
Calf - R (in.)	15	14.75	14.25	0.5	0.75
Total Body Inches	245.125	227.5	218.5	9	234
Inches Dropped	0	17.625	26.625	9	11.125
BMI	34 (obese)	31.3 (obese)	28.5 (overweight)	2.8	5.5

So. I seem to have been doing well. All I need to do now is keep it up!!

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.

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.

7/20/2020 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.

7/17/2020 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.

Weighing In 7/13/2020

The weight is dropping down again ... yesterday was 220.75, today is 219.75! A full pound! And I'm at less than 220! YES!!!!

I celebrated breaking 220 lb yesterday with a brand-new pair of comfy-but-cheap pajamas. One must celebrate the mini-goals.

Today is Monday; I have my coaching call with my Optavia coach this morning. I texted her on Saturday, whining about the plateau. Well, today there is Progress to report 😎

I had my two-egg-yolk spinach omelette last night (best meal in the world, a spinach omelette); tonight I shall have chicken and cooked spinach for my Lean and Green meal. I've got the water thing down, I think; 20 oz of flavored water in my Glimmerglass jug with lid and straw 5x/day seems to do the trick.

Weighing in 7/12/2020 - With Measurements

Well. It's about time. I spent nearly a week at 222.25; today I weigh 220.75. That's 1.5 pounds!!

This is the oddest weight-loss program. I eat about 1000 calories per day (that's not the odd part), but exercise for the first three weeks is entirely discouraged (that's the odd part). So I'm not moving much right now. This, of course, dovetails nicely with my usual inertia; I'm not fond of exercise. But even yard work ... my yard is seeing the neglect right now, so I'm eager for the next two weeks to go by so I can go out and trim the verge.

I've been drinking AT LEAST 100 oz of water per day, which has me visiting the bathroom often. And I've been following the meal plan. I did cheat yesterday with 10 raspberries I harvested yesterday.

The program also asks for measurements one week in. I didn't measure on Friday, but I did today. And I've lost 9.625 inches in 10 days!! That's exciting!! Who knew??

	07/02/20	07/12/20
Weight	227.75	220.25
Neck	16.75	16
Bust	47	45
Waist	48	46
Hips	47.125	45.5
Upper Arm L	14	13.5
Upper Arm R	14.75	14
Mid-Thigh L	21.5	19.75
Mid-Thigh R	22.5	21.75
Calf L	15.25	15
Calf R	15	15
Total Body Inches	245.125	235.5
Inches Lost	0	-9.625

And my BMI went from 34 to 33 ... in one week!

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.

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.