Weight 10/6/08

Weighed 217.5 lbs. at 8:30 AM. That leaves me 4.75 lbs. above my revised goal for this date.

I believe goals should be demanding and stretch one's effort but they must be realistic. If you know in your own mind they can't be reached then they are not goals, only dreams.

Tuesday is my weekly assessment date. If I am more than 3 lbs. above my revised goal tomorrow, I'm reseting my goal again. More than a 3 lb. weight loss in a week usually requires some unhealthy practice therefore in my mind it is unrealistic. I'm also considering setting the goal at 1.5 pounds per week instead of the 2 pounds I've been using. I've lost 27 lbs. since May at an average of 1.23 lbs per week.

Weight Loss Graph 10/4/20008

Click to enlarge

Weight 10/3/2008

Weighed 218 at 8:15 AM. I seem to be at a plateau. I'm in the area of one of my ol set points. I'll discuss set points later. I haven't been following good habits with my food intake recently and I haven't been getting enough sleep. I'm behind my reset goal by 4.88 pounds but the trend is still down.

Weight Today

Well I had expected a little more loss than the 218 that I weighed this morning at 8:15 AM. But that is the problem with weighing everyday. If I didn't have the experience of yo-yo dieting throughout my life this could be discouraging. The trend is still down. I created a Xcel spreadsheet some time ago, that graphs my progress relative to the idealistic trendline of losing .286 per day(2 pounds a week). My weight is bouncing up and down above the line and I have only touched it once. (I had to adjust the line as I got too far behind last month when my wife had an operation. I didn't get to exercise and I wasn't successful adjusting my diet to compensate. Excercise has the added benefit of increasing the endorphine levels which helps control hunger. I thought I was eating correctly on average but evidently that was not so. ) I'm beginnig to think, it may be more realistic to adjust the line to 1 pound a week.

This morning I weighed 218.5 pounds. That means that I'm still 7.5 lbs above the 211 pounds that is considered obese for my height. I need to get down to 211 to be considered just overweight. Having said this I don't believe these numbers. I train with weights and walk on alternate days. I usually do some form of moderate to heavy exercise 4-5 times a week. This builds muscle and muscle is heavier than fat for a given volume. I have trained at some level all my life. I also have large bones. I'm not sure what is considered an "ideal" weight for me. However, I know it is NOT the published 178 lbs!

Today I walked 4.85 miles at an average speed of 3.8 mph (fast walk) and max speed of 4.8 mph (slow jog) and I burned an extra 494 calories according to my Garmin Forerunner 405.

My weight yesterday at the same time of day (8:00 am) was 216.5 lbs. The day before it was 216. Yesterday, I trained with weights for 1 hr. at a moderate level. I've learned not to be too emotional about these flucuations. I contibute most of it to flucuations in hydration levels and the varying size of meals the day before.

There is more I want to include in this first post but its late and I'm tired. I'll share more of my own experience and knowledge later.