Getting back on the bike... literally

Although I have tons to write about in this blog with being a new dad and how life with a newborn has affected my weight loss effort (surprisingly its been really positive), I wanted to take a moment and make mention of a personal success that happened today.

After several years of collecting dust, I got my bicycle up and running.  This entailed a little minor maintenance, which was luckily simple.  After a full day of work, I went for a short ride around Middletown.  Altogether it was a short, flat 1.23 mile ride, it was a lot of fun and only moderately difficult.  This non-scale victory will have a resonant effect, because it is not only a great milestone, it also opens a fantastic type of activity that I enjoy and fuels my thirst for adventure.

This was a big milestone for me.  Two years ago (and 50 pounds more), this wasn't possible.  I had gotten so big that it was unsafe to ride my bike and I couldn't stay upright.  In addition, my knees hurt so bad that peddling was extremely painful.  Today, this wasn't a problem!  I'm hoping that at this time next year, I'll be riding a bike in Berlin!  

The important part about falling off the wagon is... getting back on again

This blog isn't just about reporting and celebrating my successes.  It's also about being truthful about my mistakes, so that others may profit from my journey.

The past two weeks have been difficult.  Things have been busy at work and I had some major events that I was coordinating that required significant attention.  Additionally, preparation for the coming baby and another major responsibility that I'm not at liberty to discuss have weighed heavy on my mind.  These bumps in the road caused me to fail off the wagon a bit with my weight loss efforts.  I missed my last two Weight Watchers meetings and I haven't been tracking.

This journey isn't about being perfect and it isn't about beating yourself up for past mistakes.  In a Weight Watchers meeting a few months ago, I heard from a fellow member "Turn your setback into a comeback" and that is what I intend to do with this latest deviation.

My plan is to reboot and to once again focus on tracking and boasting my activity.  In addition, I will specifically schedule my next Weight Watchers meeting for next Saturday.  I'll keep you posted!

Half way to Berlin! - Two milestones in one week

Last Saturday, I had my weekly weigh-in and I came in at 299.8 lbs.  This marks a double milestone.  First, I crossed the 300 lbs mark.  Second, this weigh-in puts me at a 50.8 total lbs lost.  That is over half way to my goal of 100 lbs and puts me half way to going to Berlin!

Sometimes I like to picture my success in physical terms.  I imagine the distance I have traveled between here and Berlin on a map relative to the amount of weight that I have lost.  Since I am now at the half point, I used a website called "Let's Meet in the Middle" to show me where exactly that is.  The map below shows that I am currently in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean just past Greenland.

The first time I went through Weight Watcher, I hit this same 50 lbs mark and received a success token.  Because I rebooted my weight loss after gaining it all back, I regained this success token this week.  It's nice to feel that I've truly earned this reward again.

The Power of the Anchor

Last week at our weekly Weight Watchers meeting, we talked about anchors.  Not the heavy, iron kind.  An anchor is a reminder that helps you stay grounded and focused on your goals.  This object could be real or in your imagination.  As long as you can turn to it in your time of need.

Included in our weekly bulletin was a series of questions to help guide a member through selecting and using their anchor.  I decided to take the opportunity to make a blog post where I responded to these questions.  Here we go..... (my responses are underlined)


What's you trouble spot?  Think of a situation where you typically struggle to avoid overeating.  It could be dining out with friends, the weekly lunch meeting at work, or when you're stress or upset.

My trouble spot is when I am at work and things are very hectic, but I have not planned ahead and packed good options for the day.

How do you want to feel in that situation?  Confident?  In control of your choices?  Determined to succeed?

I want to feel calm and not stressed.  When I'm stressed or short on time, I simply grab something quickly.  If I'm calm and collected, I can think of ways to make better choices.

Now conjure up a past time when you had those positive feelings and you totally nailed it.  for instance you might have felt determination as you did your first 5K race.  Immerse yourself in that time: See what you saw, hear what you heard, and feel what you felt.

How I felt: I'm thinking back to my first year on weight watchers, specifically in the meetings that I attended.  I did very well during this time and lost almost 60 pounds.  I felt extremely confident and that I could face all the challenges ahead of me.  I saw the new possibilities available to me and heard the success stories of other members.

Now pick your anchor.  Anything that reminds you of that feeling - a gesture, word, or object - will work.  Perhaps the 5K medal you were awarded at the end of the race?

My anchor is my 33rd Degree Masonic ring.  This object reminds me of my hard work and brings me confidence.  It reminds me of new possibilities and of the successful brothers that I know.  It helps me to remember that I can overcome the challenges before me.

Make the positive connection: Look at your anchor (or think of it if it's not a physical thing) and call up those good feelings.  Keep doing it, and over time it'll become second nature.

How is this working for me:  Very well so far.  I always wear my ring, so it's always on me.  When I face a challenge that I need to face, I rub my ring between my fingers.  I have used it to fend off the wicked candy bowl that coworkers leave in the beak room and to fight the urge to pillage the snack cabinet in the office.

Finally, practice using it as defense!  Imagine the challenging situation, then wield your anchor - and focus on the feeling that helps you make good-for-you choices.  Rehearse often so anchoring is automatic and helpful.

Tips from members and my leader:  Make the anchor something visual that you can always turn to when you need it.  One member recommended her weight-loss chart on your WW phone app.

The past two weeks

The past two weeks have been a little packed and I haven't had a chance to write an update.  Although, I fell off the wagon of writing a positive thought publicly each day, I made it a point to focus on this internally, which was very successful.

As for my other goals, here's a quick look at how I did:

• Track my Weight Watchers PointsPlus each day. - Mostly successful.  I did have 2-3 days where I didn't track each day (because of the Memorial Day weekend and multiple events).  However, I still made good choices and didn't fall off the deep end with what I ate.
• Schedule a specific time to get activity every other day and keep to this schedule. - Successful.  I have continued walking almost ever day and have found specific times to go out and get active.
• No cigar smoking during the workday. - Mostly successful.  I have significantly decreased my cigar smoking, however I did have two days last week where I went out for one during the workday.  I'm going to refocus on this goal and attempt to scale back even more this week.
• 7000 steps per day - Successful.  I have been meeting this goal consistently and on days where I schedule extra activity, I can get into the 12,000-15,000 step range.  Unfortunately, my pedometer somehow reset itself and I lost all my data :(

These efforts continue to produce good results.  At my weigh-in on Sat. 5/24, I lost 1.6 lbs.  At my weight-in on Sat 5/31, I stayed the same, which isn't a bad result after a holiday weekend with several events.

Weekly Weigh-In - Saturday, May 17th

I had another good week at the scale this week on Saturday!  I weighed-in at 3.6 lbs down for a total of 45.4 lbs.  It looks like my focus is continuing to pay off :)

"7000 Steps a Day" - Weekly Goal Wrapup

Last week, I set the goal of walking 7000 steps per day and recording it via my Pedometer.  I was not strictly successful in meeting this goal.  The main problem I had was that mid-week I became ill due to side effects with my new diabetes medication, Victoza (I'll write about that soon), which left me resting for a few days.

Although I did not meet my per day goal of walking 7000 steps, I did manage to average 8828 steps per day, which was over my daily goal.  This was mainly due to having a very active day on Sunday, when Illa, some friends and I went down to New York City and did a lot of walking.

Here's a breakdown of my daily progress:

Day	Steps	PointsPlus
Monday	10041	6
Tuesday	12195	7
Wednesday	222	0
Thursday	4994	2
Friday	3682	1
Saturday	6433	3
Sunday	24231	17
Total	61798	36
Average	8828	5

I also set the goal of sticking with my previous weekly goals.  Here's a recap on how they went.

• Track my Weight Watchers PointsPlus each day. - I tracked every day except for Wednesday when I was feeling very ill.  (Partial Pass)
• Schedule a specific time to get activity every other day and keep to this schedule.  - I set and kept activity on Monday, Tuesday and Sunday.  Unfortunately, being sick also made this difficult.  (Partial Pass)
• No cigar smoking during the workday. - I didn't have a single cigar during the workday all week (Pass)

Although I had a few bumps in the road this week, I tried to stick to my goals as well as I could.  I'm not going to let these hurdles stop my continued progress.  I found this quote today that should help me keep focused:

"The game has its ups and downs, but you can never lose focus of your individual goals and you can't let yourself be beat because of lack of effort."  -  Michael Jordan

Weekly Weigh-In - Saturday, May 10th

I had another good week at the scale on Saturday.  My efforts continue to pay off and I lost 1.6 lbs!  Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to stay for the full meeting again, because of a Masonic commitment.

Note: My starting weight is actually 350.6 lbs.  The 341 lbs was my original starting weight, but this was reset at my highest in June of 2012.

"Scheduling Time for Activity" Weekly Goal Recap

Last week, I set the weekly goal of scheduling time every other day to get activity and to use that scheduled time.

I'm pleased to announce that I met this weekly goal last week with a slight adjustment.  I used my Google Calendar to schedule these times and used the event invite feature to invite my wife and keep me accountable.

To quantify this goal a bit, the added exercise amounted to about 26 Activity Points on the Weight Watchers plan.  This was based on averaging 3 Activity Points during each walk (M, Th, F) and a whopping 17 Activity Points on Sunday due to our baby shower, its preparation and cleanup (I used my WW pedometer to track my points).

I'm going to continue this behavior this week and schedule out my activity again.

Weekly Weight-In - Down 1.6 lbs!

I stopped by Weight Watchers on Saturday and did my weekly weight-in.  Although normally I stay for the full meeting, I wasn't able this past weekend because my family and I were extremely busy preparing for our Baby Shower.

It looks like my latest efforts are starting to pay off.  I was down 1.6 lbs from the week before.  I believe that this is a direct result of my consistent tracking and regular activity!

Making adjustments, but staying with my weekly goal

Sometimes, life (and the weather) gets in the way of our best laid plans.  Yesterday was one of those times.

Previously, I set the goal of "scheduling time every other day to get activity and to use that scheduled time."  So, I set the following events up on my calendar:

Monday - 5:30-6:00 - Walk around Indian Cove before dinner
Wednesday - 5:30-6:00 - Walk around Indian Cove before dinner
Friday - 5:30-6:00 - Walk around Indian Cove before dinner
Sunday - All day - Setting up for the Baby Shower

Yesterday, it rained heavily in the evening, so we couldn't walk around outside.  At this point I had two options, find another activity to do inside or reschedule.  Unfortunately, the cottage is not ideal for any real sort of inside exercise, so I moved the event on my calendar to tonight.  The weather should be clear tonight and we'll definitely be able to walk.

The take-home message here is that making adjustments shouldn't be an exception to your plan, it should be part of it.  I could have simply became frustrated and cancelled it all together.  Instead, I consciously adjusted my plan while still keeping with it.

Tracking Goal Recap

Last week, I set a goal that I would track what I ate for the next week based on the Weight Watchers PointsPlus program.  I am pleased to announce that I successfully completed this goal, having tracked all my food from last Monday to today.

This goal has helped me get back on track with watching what I eat and I plan on continuing it for the foreseeable future.

At my weekly Weight Watchers meeting on Saturday, I talked about this goal and the WW leader gave me a bravo sticker.  These bravo stickers are good motivators for rewarding non-scale victories, such as setting a goal and achieving it.

Inspirational people in my life - My wife Illa

I have several people in my life that have faced their own weight loss challenges and have been quite successful.  There will be reoccurring posts on this blog called "Inspirational people in my life", where I will highlight a different person and talk about their successes.  I hope that their example will serve as my own personal inspiration.  Here is my first such post:

My wife, Illa is my most important weight loss inspiration.  Both she and I, gained some significant weight while we were finishing up our undergraduate degrees due to the long hours, high stress and bad eating habits.  In 2009, I joined Weight Watchers and shortly thereafter she did as well.

Over the next year or so, she lost about sixty pounds and kept it off.  In addition to doing extremely well with program, she joined Weight Watchers as a receptionist (note:  All Weight Watcher's employees have gone through the program and have been successful).

She is a constant inspiration in my life and reminds me that I can do better and be successful, not only in weight loss, but in all elements of my life.  She also assists me directly in making better decisions with my food choices, encourages me to get more activity, and reminds/pokes me to attend my weekly Weight Watchers meeting.  Illa is totally awesome and I'm very lucky to have her around.

Illa is one of my inspirations!