Week 52 Progress Report: The Year in Review

Tomorrow will be the anniversary of this program. Since I don’t have tomorrow’s weight, which won’t be that much better than today’s (I’ll explain), I’ll use today’s to discuss the year-end progress. However, let’s start off with the week-ending stats:

Starting Weight:	208.8
Original Target*:	209.0
Adjusted Target:	207.0
Actual Weight:	210.8
Loss/Gain:	+ 2.0
Total Loss:	91.8
% of Goal:	66.2%
Avg. Loss/Wk.:	– 1.8
*Original target calculated from a starting weight of 302.6 lbs. and an average loss/wk. of 1.8 lbs.

At an average loss rate of 1.8 pounds/week, I should have lost 93.6 pounds — and I might have come much closer if I hadn’t broken down while bowling last night and had a basket of French fries. (They’re so delicious when they’re fresh out of the fryer! But they turn into complex sugars almost the minute they hit your mouth.) As it is, from being at one point 19 pounds under the line to 1.8 pounds over the line takes the shine off of an accomplishment that’s otherwise still praiseworthy.

Week 48 Progress Report: Start Your Day Right

Greetings! First, the week-ending numbers:

Starting Weight:	216.0
Original Target*:	216.2
Adjusted Target:	214.2
Actual Weight:	212.0
Loss/Gain:	– 4.0
Total Loss:	90.6
% of Goal:	65.4%
Avg. Loss/Wk.:	– 1.9
*Original target calculated from a starting weight of 302.6 lbs. and an average loss/wk. of 1.8 lbs.

And now for the Month 11 ending numbers:

Starting Weight:	212.8
Target Weight:	202.0
Actual Weight:	212.4
Loss/Gain:	– 0.4
Avg. Loss/Wk.:	– 0.1

Essentially, then, Month 11 was a wash. However, it could have been much worse: I could still be hovering around 215 – 216. That it ended a wash was because I got back on the program last week. As of this morning, I weighed 211.6, despite a large dinner and forgetting to log my bedtime snacks. The way my weigh-ins fluctuate, it’s not inconceivable for me to weigh in at 209 or slightly less by Monday, which would put me under the monthly curve and undo the last of the holiday excess.

An Episode of Weight-Loss Infidelity

Happy New Year! — as belated as this is.

The good news is, if I stay on top of things from here on out, I’ll still be able to make 164 by August 1, my original goal date. The bad news is, I won’t hit 196 by my birthday, and probably not by Feb. 11 … just not enough time left.

Yeah, I put on weight for Christmas.

I stopped tracking my intake. And I found it hard to start again. I lost some of it after Christmas morning, only to put it back on for the new year. Since New Year’s Eve, I’ve been hovering between 215 and 216.4. Three weeks ago, I was 13.8 pounds ahead of my original plan. As of Monday, I was only two pounds ahead. As of this morning, I’m 12.8 pounds over the monthly goal line.

Yesterday was the last straw: For reasons I can’t quite remember, I made a ham and cheese omelet sandwich. Seven hundred and ten calories, which I didn’t think about until I got around to logging my intake. When I finally crunched the numbers and saw the result, I said, “Okay, that’s enough! Get back to your program, Layne!” Sometimes, you just have to get mad at yourself to get over yourself.

Month 10 Progress Report: Some Observations on Turkey

Okay, it’s a couple of days late. Just some things happening around the house that have disturbed my routine, but I’m adjusting. Here are the month-end numbers from Nov. 11 to Dec. 11:

Starting Weight:	217.6
Target Weight:	207.1
Actual Weight:	212.8
Loss/Gain:	– 4.8
Avg. Loss/Wk.:	– 1.1

I ended up 5.7 lbs. above target. Much of this I discussed in the last couple of weekly progress reports. I’ve accepted that I won’t be under 200 by Jan. 1; but if I stick with my current budget, I can get under 202.6 by Jan. 11, which would be 100 lbs. lost in 11 months. If, after that point, I return to my beginning calorie deficit, I can get under 200 by Jan. 19 and under 196 by Feb. 4.

On the positive side, in the last two days, I weighed in at 210.6 this morning, despite having lost the negotiations with myself and made a pan of peanut butter fudge. (It’s delicious, although a bit crumbly.) If I stay on top of my intake, I can make the under-210 primary goal by Monday, the end of Week 44. I do have roast turkey planned for tomorrow night, but we’re not doing all the traditional sides; that’s too much work and too many calories. Certainly, there’ll be stuffing, but the green beans will be roasted and the potatoes won’t be mashed. For sweetness, there’ll be a Waldorf salad made with yogurt. So with some self-control, the turkey dinner shouldn’t interfere with achieving the under-210 mark by Monday.

Week 43 Progress Report: Christmas Challenges

Source: Lynda's Recipe Box

First, let’s go over the week-ending numbers:

Starting Weight:	211.8
Original Target*:	225.2
Adjusted Target:	209.5
Actual Weight:	212.6
Loss/Gain:	+ 0.8
Total Loss:	90.0
% of Goal:	64.9%
Avg. Loss/Wk.:	– 2.1
*Original target calculated from a starting weight of 302.6 lbs. and an average loss/wk. of 1.8 lbs.

So yeah, I went backward, which I haven’t done since the end of September. Over the last six months, I’ve averaged about a 1.6 lbs./week loss, about 1.5 lbs./week over the last quarter. Those dates include five weeks in which I went backward, particularly the couple of weeks after I lost my mother and the week I went to the hospital (where I gained four pounds in two days, due to the “shipping backlog”). Although these numbers are a little below plan, I’m still satisfied with the results.

Week 42 Progress Update: The Unexpected Milestone

Photos © 2019 Anthony S. Layne.
All rights reserved.

For once, I may be on time! Woo-hoo! So let’s start off as usual with the week-ending numbers:

Starting Weight:	214.6
Original Target*:	227.0
Adjusted Target:	212.3
Actual Weight:	211.8
Loss/Gain:	– 2.8
Total Loss:	90.8
% of Goal:	65.5%
Avg. Loss/Wk.:	– 2.2
*Original target calculated from a starting weight of 302.6 lbs. and an average loss/wk. of 1.8 lbs.

Considering that this last week included Thanksgiving (and the thickest, densest, and most sugary slice of pumpkin pie I’ve ever had in my life), a 2.8-pound drop is fantastic. It also included a four-hour stint collecting for my Knights of Columbus Council’s charity fund, which according to my Samsung Health app meant about 9 miles’ worth of walking back and forth along a highway island. (Nevertheless, I still managed to get a slight uptick on the scale the next day, possibly due to finishing off that slice of pie.)

I started off the day a little depressed. I’d made the difficult decision to send an email to my lead agent resigning my appointment as an insurance agent and start looking for another job. It was at about 8:45 a.m. when I finally got around to logging my weight. After I’d posted it to the ticker (to your right, if you haven’t noticed it before), I looked at it and realized something I hadn’t thought of:

I have 47.8 pounds to go to reach my primary goal of 164. Less than 50 pounds.

Week 41 Progress Report: Giving Thanks On Thanksgiving

© 2019 Bitmoji.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I’m sorry I haven’t posted for three weeks. I recently went back to work as a health insurance agent, so getting my business off the ground has eaten more and more of my available time. During that period, I got seriously off-track for my 90-Day Challenge Goal; I may fall short by a pound or two. First, the week-ending numbers:

Starting Weight:	216.0
Original Target*:	228.8
Adjusted Target:	213.7
Actual Weight:	214.6
Loss/Gain:	– 1.4
Total Loss:	88.0
% of Goal:	63.5%
Avg. Loss/Wk.:	– 2.1
*Original target calculated from a starting weight of 302.6 lbs. and an average loss/wk. of 1.8 lbs.

Next, the month-ending numbers for November 11:

Starting Weight:	224.8
Target Weight:	215.3
Actual Weight:	217.6
Loss/Gain:	– 7.2
Avg. Loss/Wk.:	– 1.6

Now, as of this morning, I weigh 212.4. That’s about 1.5 lbs. over the 90-Day Challenge target line, which (all things considered) isn’t bad. The fact remains that the general trend is still downward. Even if I miss the 90-Day Challenge goal, I can still make the goal of being at or under 196 by my 56th birthday.

I’m grateful.

Week 38 Progress Report: Travails with Leftovers

I apologize for missing last week. Frankly, it’s hard to think of a plausible excuse, other than that I’ve been obsessed with restarting my insurance business. Also, the last couple of weeks have been a little rough in the weight-loss department. More on that below; right now, let’s get to the week-ending numbers:

Week 37:

Starting Weight:	220.6
Original Target*:	236.0
Adjusted Target:	221.6
Actual Weight:	220.6
Loss/Gain:	+ 1.0
Total Loss:	81.0
% of Goal:	58.4%
Avg. Loss/Wk.:	– 2.2
*Original target calculated from a starting weight of 302.6 lbs. and an average loss/wk. of 1.8 lbs.

Week 38:

Starting Weight:	221.6
Original Target*:	234.2
Adjusted Target:	218.7
Actual Weight:	219.4
Loss/Gain:	– 2.2
Total Loss:	83.2
% of Goal:	60.0%
Avg. Loss/Wk.:	– 2.2
*Original target calculated from a starting weight of 302.6 lbs. and an average loss/wk. of 1.8 lbs.

By the monthly progress line, I was 1.9 lbs. over target; by the 90-Day Challenge line, I was 0.7 pounds over. (As of this morning’s weight, 218.4, I’ve returned to the line on the 90-Day challenge, but I’m still 1.2 lbs. over the month line.) On the positive side, I’m still almost 15 lbs. ahead of the original plan and have lost 60% of my excess. Moreover, the weight is heading back down again after a week or more of fluctuations, and I’m back within the range where I spent most of my twenties and thirties.

But why the fluctuations? Simply put, leftovers and a boss who loves a particular Italian restaurant.

Week 36 Progress Report: An Epic of Excess

Image source: Flickr

So I’m a couple of days late. My sister’s family was in town for the inurning of my mother’s ashes. More on that in a bit; first, the week-ending numbers:

Starting Weight:	222.6
Original Target*:	237.8
Adjusted Target:	220.3
Actual Weight:	220.6
Loss/Gain:	– 2.0
Total Loss:	82.0
% of Goal:	59.2%
Avg. Loss/Wk.:	– 2.3
*Original target calculated from a starting weight of 302.6 lbs. and an average loss/wk. of 1.8 lbs.

I knew that at least Saturday would be a “diet holiday” because Peggy, my sister, had found a “Tacos and Margaritas Tour” of downtown Dallas for us to try. You see, the last few trips she’s made out here, we were constrained to a very small radius of travel due to Mom’s health issues. Now that Mom, for better or worse, is not a limiting factor, she wanted to do something fun that wouldn’t require us to stay within five miles of Denton, which for all its charms is not especially noted for visitor-attracting entertainment.

And so, the Tacos and Margaritas Tour. Because tacos and margaritas.

Week 35 Progress Report: Sleep and Cookies

Image Source: Flickr

Let’s first look at the week-ending numbers:

Starting Weight:	226.0
Original Target*:	239.6
Adjusted Target:	223.7
Actual Weight:	222.6
Loss/Gain:	– 3.4
Total Loss:	80.0
% of Goal:	57.7%
Avg. Loss/Wk.:	– 2.3
*Original target calculated from a starting weight of 302.6 lbs. and an average loss/wk. of 1.8 lbs.

Note first that the adjusted target reflects a 2.3-lbs./week loss rate rather than the 1.8 lbs./week I originally planned on. As I discussed in the month-end report, I’m shooting for less than 200 lbs. by January 1 as part of a 90-Day Challenge, so the adjusted target reflects the rate at which I need to drop to make that goal. It’s early days yet, but so far, the 166-kcal cut I had to take in my calorie budget has only slightly inconvenienced me. In fact, I’d say that as well as I’ve done over the last eight months, I’ve probably hindered myself more by not sleeping enough than by overeating.

For most if not all of my adult life, I’ve been a night owl, going to bed in the wee hours of the morning without even the bare excuse of partying all night. When I was younger, this was because I most often worked night shifts, whether it was at fast-food restaurants or call centers. More and more as I got older, though, either the nature of the business I was in or pressing financial concerns demanded varying shifts, extra hours, twice a second job. At the same time, my friends and family all eventually had regular day jobs with regular hours, so my social life often demanded that I wake up after minimal sleep, often as little as 3½ hours. Not surprisingly, this meant I occasionally overslept when my overtaxed body and mind demanded it.