Wednesday’s Word of the Day – Change
Believe it or not, this is a new WWotD video! Don’t expect a typical SBS video though, this one is different. More subdued, more introspective, more erratic than normal, yet the message is important.
Log My Loss
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Weigh-in, Measurements, and Goals
This last week it has begun to hit me that the fresh tomatoes and peppers I love so much are waning to an end. I had several small tomatoes with meals today and they are slowly losing that great flavor I crave. Our mild peppers are almost gone; however, the hot peppers are still producing well. I truly approach fall with mixed emotions. I am not a fan of the heat of the summer, but I sure do miss the produce. The one glimmer of hope for me with regards to fresh food is apples, which are just now beginning to come in season. Mmmm!
I have two goals for the upcoming week. Get back on track with eating, and get back on track with exercise. Sounds simple, doesn’t it?
As I wrote yesterday, I expected to gain today, and honestly, I am getting what I deserve. While I haven’t done bad all week, I have really just held it to maintenance levels. Add that on top of a bad Sunday last Sunday and the gain today makes sense. I had hoped it would not be as much as it is, but honestly it has been that high since Monday morning of last week. So what is the number you ask? I gained five pounds, which puts me back at 198. For those of you who have really good memories, you will note that I have either weighed 198 or 193 each of the last five weeks. Odd, isn’t it? As for the measurements – they weren’t too bad. I gained a tenth of a percent in body fat, putting me at 20.9%. My BMI went up 0.7 to 28.4. My neck went up an eighth of an inch to 16.625″. My chest decreased a quarter inch to 44.125″. My stomach increased 0.75″ to 40.5″. My waist decreased an eighth of an inch to 37.625″. My thighs decreased 0.375″ to 22.125″. My calves remained the same at 16.25″. My biceps increased by half an inch to 13.25″. Last, my forearms increased by a quarter inch to 12.125″.
High Ropes, Falling Weight, and More
What a weekend! As I wrote on Thursday, I had a leadership training excursion this weekend to a high ropes course. It would have probably better been explained as a COPE course. COPE meaning Challenging Outdoor Personal Experience.
The COPE Course is the kickoff retreat for a ten month local leadership development program. Approximately 30 people (29 for our group) are selected from the region to attend this training on an annual basis. The training focuses on developing leadership, exhibiting needs in the community, and building relationships. I’ll have to say, there could hardly be a better way to build a bond with 28 other people in a short time than the COPE Course. I went in only vaguely knowing two people in the group, and I left feeling like I have many new acquaintances and several new friends.
I am not going to give the specifics of the training, as it would diminish the value of the experience to you if you were to ever attend a similar training. I will say we spent a significant time building trust in each other, something I tend to struggle with. We also worked on our problem solving skills, and we learned a great deal about how we tend to begin to work out solutions without fully understanding the problem or the options and resources we have available to us. Very eye opening. Our team really took this to heart though, and by mid-morning of day two we were working together like clockwork.
The crux of the weekend, at least for me, was the challenges in the air. I will have to say, I really thought we were going to do more in the air, but honestly, we did enough to stretch me and many others in the group. The two that really pushed me were the telephone pole and the zip line.
The telephone pole went against everything I have in me. As I have shared with you before, I am absolutely terrified of heights. I wasn’t going to willingly let that stop me though. I got in line early, and I ended up being number three. I convinced myself that I would not look down. While there was a ladder for the first 10 feet, the rest was basically large staples sticking out of the pole. I climbed up the 24 foot pole and made it almost to the top, then I began to feel the sway. GULP! I moved on up and reached the top staples. At this point there is nothing for my hands to hold on to, and my knees are above the top of the pole. Now realize that we were protected through safety ropes the whole time, but that didn’t mean a whole lot to me at this point. 
I then tried to get my foot on top of the pole, but my harness was so tight I was worried I didn’t have the flexibility, and I knew if I tried and couldn’t get my leg up, then I would fall. I finally convinced myself that I was going to be able to do it. I raised one leg up, then I used my hands on that leg to support myself as I raised my other leg up. As I stood tall I raised my hands in a “V” and yelled VICTORY! as I lost my balance and fell from the pole. Yes, there is a picture of my hands in a “V”, but it didnt’ snap until I had already fallen, so there is no pic of me on the top of the pole. And no, I don’t have the pics yet, but I am told they are coming.
I thought the zip line would be much easier, but I was wrong. I wish I knew how high this was. My guess is 50 feet, but I could be off. I heard someone say 65 feet, but I don’t think it was that high. So, we had to climb the tree just like we did the telephone pole. Thankfully it didn’t sway like the pole, but let me tell you, it sure was a lot higher. When I made it to the platform, I wouldn’t let go of the staple in the tree until the gal helping me had me buckled in to the zip line. I was quivering. She gently talked me through turning around and facing the zip line, then I held the rope, walked to the edge, and jumped off. I don’t really remember the first few seconds like I thought I would. I know there was a five or so foot drop as you fell because I saw the others, but I don’t remember that myself. I just know that my heart was racing the whole time.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t regret a minute of this. In fact, quite the opposite. It was exhilarating. In fact, I would love to do it again. Unfortunately, it wasn’t all good. At least not the after effects. As part of one of the problem solving exercises I ended up carrying two of the gals on our team, one at a time, from one side of an obsticle course to the other – one over my shoulder and the other in a fireman’s carry. I am not going to go into the details of the why, as that would not be fair to others who might attend this in the future, but I did it to help our team through a project. While this helped us beat the typical time by over 20 minutes, I am feeling it in my back right now. Would you believe I was going back to get the guys after that? Fortunately we found more resources to use and were able to conquer the course using another method. When am I going to learn that my body isn’t as strong as I think it is?
Eating ended up being far better than I expected, and while most of the group partook of a fair share of adult beverages in the evening, I happily stuck to my bottled water. I do have a breakfast and a dinner with this same group later this week, but I think both of those meals are going to be just fine.
Now on to the weigh-in and measurements. It was really a great week with regards to this. Overall the eating was great, as was the exercise, and it paid off.
I lost a total of five pounds, which puts me at 193. I know you are going to think I sound crazy, but I really wish it wouldn’t fluctuate by this much in a week up or down. I am much happier with it going down though. My body fat percentage went up by 0.2% to 20.8%. My BMI naturally went down 0.7 to 27.7. My neck decreased 3/8″ to 16.5″. My chest and my forearms each decreased a quarter inch to 44.375″ and 11.875″ respectively. My stomach was the big loser for the week – it decreased by half an inch to 39.75″. My waist and my calves both increased by an eighth of an inch to 37.75″ and 16.25″ respectively. My thighs increased by a quarter inch to 22.5″. Last, my biceps decreased by 3/8″ to 12.75″. Not bad. Not bad at all.
I am going to attempt to repeat last week with regards to eating. Three days of IF minimum, eating only a good dinner. I also hope to exercise more, but not if my back doesn’t start feeling better.
Weigh-In, Measurements, and Goals
I guess I have to admit something. I have to admit that I am terrible at judging how I am doing when I am out of my normal environment. Perhaps it is that I am eating foods for which I am not sure of the ingredients. Perhaps I am poor at judging portions when the plates are not the same as they are at home. Perhaps it was the grazing on fruit throughout the day (even though it really was very small amounts). Whatever it was, I obviously miscalculated something last week, as I went the wrong direction overall. Here goes:
While I did not gain, I did not lose. I am still 198. I should be thankful for that, but because it was a big gain last week, I was hoping to see a reversal this week. My body fat percentage and BMI are also the same at 20.6% and 28.4. My neck increased an eighth of an inch to 16.875″. My chest increased by 7/8″ to 44.625″. My stomach increased by half an inch to 40.25″. My waist remained the same at 37.625″. My thighs increased by 3/4″ to 22.25″ (last week was a mysterious loss on the thighs). My calved increased by a quarter inch to 16.125″ My biceps increased to 13.125″, which is a half inch increase. And finally, my forearms remained the same at 12.125″.
Eating today was not ideal, and I did not exercise. How’s that for jumping right back in the game after a bad week with weigh-in and measurements? I am traveling again this week, which I am not looking forward to. I have a 6:30 AM flight tomorrow, but the airport I am flying from is in Nashville, which is 120 miles away. I haven’t decided if I am going to go to to Nashville and stay the night tonight or get up in the middle of the night and drive there then. Decisions, decisions. Either way, I have to do better this week than last week.
Weigh-in, Measurements, and Goals
Well, I really don’t want to report my weigh-in and measurements tonight. It is amazing how easy it is to regain weight that has been lost. Before I get to the results, let me say that Thursday morning I was down to 191 and very excited about this week’s weigh-in and measurements. I then went from a very motivated and on-track guy to someone resorting to food for some kind of pseudo-comfort. I cannot believe I am not stronger than this! Well, enough whining:
I gained an unbelievable five pounds this week. That is bad enough, but when you consider I gained seven since Thursday morning it really puts this in perspective. I now weigh 198. My body fat went up a whole percentage point to 20.6%. Naturally, my BMI also increased by 0.7 to 28.4.
Interestingly enough, the rest of my measurements weren’t so grim. They weren’t great either, but pretty amazing considering the weight gain I had. Basically my neck, chest, stomach, waist, calves and forearms all increased by an eighth of an inch. I have never had so many measurements change by the same amount before. The respective measurements are now 16.75″, 43.75″, 39.75″, 37.625″, 15.875″, and 12.125″. My thighs decreased 7/8″ to 21.5″. I remeasured this three times. My biceps decreased half an inch to 12.625″.
While the last few days have been pathetic, today has rocked. My eating has been spot on and I walked eight miles after arriving at Boston today. I would have preferred to split the walking up over several days, but apparently everything closes at 5:00 PM every day in Boston, so this was my only chance for some of the sightseeing. I am a bit of a cemetery fanatic. I love seeing the old, old tombstones, so I had to head to a cemetery I have never been to while I was here (Copps Hill Burial Ground – the second oldest cemetery in Boston). Last time I was here I visited Granary Cemetery, the third oldest cemetery in the city. I still haven’t seen King’s Chapel Cemetery – the oldest one. It has some really odd hours.
Tonight was a real challenge for me. I had already taken care of my dinner for the evening, but the training organizer offered to buy me a really nice dinner (long story). I did not bite though. Excuse the bad pun! I still enjoyed the company, but I only had water and coffee.
The goals for the week are simple. Keep on track with eating. Exercise four days. No binges.
Weigh-in, Measurements, and Goals
This is an interesting weigh-in and measurement report. While I knew I was doing good this week, I don’t think the results reflect this right. Let me say it a different way – I didn’t expect to lose this much. That is nice for a change, isn’t it? Here goes:
I lost a whopping 4 pounds this week, which puts me at 193, or 2 pounds below redline of 195. A place I hope to never see again. I haven’t been below redline since April. My body fat percentage also fell by 2.7%, putting it at 19.6% – also a number I haven’t seen since April. All I can say is WOOT! My BMI naturally fell by 0.6 to 27.7. My chest dropped a tremendous 7/8″ to 43.625″. My stomach dropped 3/4″ to 39.625″. My waist, thighs, and biceps each increased by 1/8″ to 37.5″, 22.375″, and 13.125″ respectively. My calves were the real shocker of the week. They fell by 3/8″ to 15.75″. I usually don’t remeasure, but I remeasured them three times, and I found the same measurement every time. How odd! Finally, my neck and forearms remained the same at 16.625″ and 12″ respectively.
Not a bad weigh-in and measurement report if I do say so myself.
The news on my brother today is that he may have plateaued. This is the second day in a row where no real improvement has been seen, but there has been no regression either. The doctors don’t seem too bothered by this, although it isn’t the news the family desires to hear. Needless to say, we do appreciate it much better than a bad report though.
I am still feeling better too. I felt pretty fatigued today, which is a little odd for me. I also felt a little more congested. It doesn’t really feel like chest congestion like I have had in the past, so I am wondering if whatever it is played a role in Friday night’s events. I may never know though. I cannot get to the doctor tomorrow unless some tremendous changes to my day occur, but I am planning on having they get the documentation from the hospital so we can be ready to discuss it on Tuesday.
My goals for the week are simple again. I have to stay on target with my eating. I also intend on getting at least four days of exercise in, even if it is just a little. I have four very busy days of work ahead of me, and three after work, non-work activities going on too. If all goes well, I may take Friday off.
A week from today I will be in Boston, so I am really hoping we see some improvements in my brother before then. I will then only be home for the weekend, then I am in Oklahoma City for a week. I hope these are the last two trips for a little while. I am growing weary from all the travel this summer.
One last thing – yesterday my wife and I made homemade spaghetti sauce totally from scratch. We used our own tomatoes, peppers, garlic, and spices. The only ingredient we didn’t grow was the onions. It is amazing to me how many tomatoes it takes to make a small amount of sauce from scratch. I thing we probably had 20+ pounds of tomatoes and we ended up with 6 pints of spaghetti sauce. Honestly, it doesn’t make financial sense at all to make this from scratch. Nor does the time seem worth it if you think of it just from a food standpoint. The only two selling points are that I know where almost all the ingredients came from, and we can tailor the sauce to fit our tastes. We’ll have to think about it before we make it again.
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