About Fogdog's Weight Loss

Don't Focus on the Goal...

If you've followed this blog you know that I've struggled for many years with improving my health. I've finally reached a point where I've managed to maintain a small amount of success. Now it's time to take the next step, but I believe it requires a new way of thinking.

Instead of trying to get healthy, why not shift focus toward learning how to build healthy habits instead. Follow me as I try to teach myself how to Engineer healthy habits that will allow me to take my health to the next level. Let's see where this experiment goes!

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Day #83 - End of Month Results and a New Challenge

It wasn't until I started putting my numbers into my spreadsheet that I realized this was the end of my first month of tracking my weight loss.  January and February were all about smoking and drinking; March was all about the weight (and no smoking and drinking too).

This morning I was pleasantly surprised to see another 2.5 pound loss for the week.  I started the month at 348 and finished at 337... A very respectable 11 pounds lost so far!

I also tallied up my second week of scores on my "healthy living index".  My first week I scored 6.4; this week I scored a 6.9.  A little improvement, but more importantly, consistent with the previous week's score.

This month I really have felt like I've turned a corner.  I feel like I'm heading into spring and summer firing on all cylinders and I'm starting to get excited about what I might be able to accomplish... I think I might be starting to believe!

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So now I need to turn to a new challenge for this week.  Unfortunately, Mrs. FogDog did not do so well this week posting a gain of 1 pound.  For the month she lost a respectable 3 pounds... a good pace for someone who only needs to lose about 40 pounds.  From the moment she got off the scale I could see she was discouraged.  She ate well all week, but last week she lost a bunch of weight and my belief is that her fluctuations are more about water.  Like I said she lost 3 pounds for the month.

Anyway, this event presents us with our first challenge... Staying the course.

This has been our pattern for as long as I can remember: We start eating healthier and we start losing weight.  Then one of us has a "bad" day and finds an excuse to do "bad" things (remember my trip to Chinese buffet this week?).  Usually we recover, but the from that one of us has a "bad" week and gets discouraged.  That person then proceeds to "drag down" the other person because misery loves company.  The other person joins in the spiral downward,  and a bad week for one then turns into a second bad week, but this time for two.  From there it just all falls apart and we end up back where we started and depressed.  Mind you, all of this happens on a subconscious level, it's not intentional sabotage.  One begins to sink and it becomes a convenient "excuse" for the other to follow behind.

So my new challenge for this week is to help Mrs. FogDog stay the course.  I need to not give her any excuses for having a second bad week.  I need to help her understand that the number from this week doesn't match the effort.  From a percentage-wise she's lost 2% of her weight where I have lost 3%.  She only weighs 160 and wants to get to 120.  that's less than a pound each week to hit her goal within a year.  My personal belief is that she should only weigh in once each month but you know how it is, especially when you have a husband dropping several pounds each week, you want to see results and it's hard to stay off the scale.

So this week we are going to break the cycle.  If I have to I'll be strong for the both of us and help her get past her discouraged feelings so that next Saturday she sees a better number.  We are both aware of the pattern which is the first step to beating it. 

Stay Strong!

7 comments:

  1. Nice job FogDog! That's what I'm talking about! Constancy always pays off, one way or another. I'm also glad to hear your starting to believe in yourself because I believe in you!

    I know exactly what your saying about the Mrs. That is exactly why we have yo-yo'd over the last few years. We usually do good for a week or two and then there comes that one night, where everything has gone wrong during the day and your aggravated and tired and you decide to grab fast food and veg. One day leads to the next and one of us will drop off course, usually me, and the other will follow suit and before you know it, were right back where we started. It happens every time.

    But this time there is something different. My wife and I are pushing each other. Right now she is pushing me more than I am pushing her, but there will come a time when I know she will drop the torch and, God as my witness, I will pick it up this time and not just fall with it.

    A one pound gain is not that bad for a week. I know it's hard when your other half is shedding weight but everyone's body is different. Stay the course and I am positive that one pound will come back off. It's great you're there for her and it's also great both of your eyes are open to the issue and are ready to take it on. I'm proud of both of you!

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    1. Thanks FM. You're right a pound gain isn't all that bad, especially after she lost 4 pounds the week before! She's losing weight at a good place, it's more the psychological part about gaining weight that causes her struggle. In the last 4 weeks she's lost weight twice and gained weight twice but ultimately she lost 3 pounds over the month.

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  2. Way to go FD! Keep working hard like Yall have been...it pays off!

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    1. Thanks Alati. I can't believe you wrote "Y'all". I knew Fat Man was from the south, but I didn't have you pegged as a southern gal.

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  3. I actually weigh in every day. This has shown me that I can fluctuate 2 pounds from day to day. It is a rare week that doesnt send up at least a pound twice, but even though it zigzags the trend is downward - but not two pounds a week (maybe one). This is why I weigh in everyday - because I know I would be SO discuraged to see a gain after a week of hard work! And looking at my weight graph I can see the this would happen approcimately every second time even if the trend is downward. Tell your wife that. (I am 171 going on 150, starting at 190 - just to show when this fluctating level can happen.
    Well done so far!
    Anne

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    1. Thanks Anne. She gets it; but it's still frustrating to see fluctuations. I've weighed myself daily before; when I'm doing well, my weight would hold steady for about 5 days and then drop dramatically in the last 2. It all depends on the person. Thanks for reading.

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