Fifty-second weight progress report

This post is yet another weight progress report, continuing the previous one, part of a long series since I started in January 2015.

My weight is about where it was a year ago, though the variance may be higher this summer than last.

I’m pleased to be out of the “overweight” region, but I still have a lot of pandemic pounds to lose. I’d really like to get rid of another 16 pounds, which could take me another 9 months at my current weight-loss rate.

For August I upped my bicycling to an average of 2.3 miles/day—which is better than the previous months, but still too small—about half what I did before the pandemic. Some of that bicycling was going to Audrey Stanley Grove for Santa Cruz Shakespeare staged readings and the season announcement for 2022. This year’s staged readings were ok, but not great—both plays seemed to be in early workshop stages and needed some more rewriting.  The best of the 2019 staged readings (The Formula) is being planned as a full production (a world premiere) for 2022.

I did get in about 225k steps in August (about 7.3k steps a day), slightly up from July . A big chunk of the steps comes from doing the “secret walks” once a week, though last week’s walk did not get written up yet, because we were not able to figure out the reverse route at one point and so cut the walk short.  I walked the confusing part in the forward direction yesterday (plus some more walking on an alternate longer route home, plus walking downtown for dinner, so I got in 17k steps yesterday). I now know which trail to take, and so my wife and I will retry the walk this weekend.

Fifty-first weight progress report

This post is yet another weight progress report, continuing the previous one, part of a long series since I started in January 2015.

My weight has dropped slightly during July, but I’ve still a long way to go. I’m hoping to get back in my “target range” within four months, but I’m not counting on it.

The long-term trend is discouraging, but the short-term progress is good.

For July I’ve continued the paltry 1.13 miles/day that I had for May and June.  I did get in about 215k steps in July, well up from the 125k steps in June, but still under 7k steps a day. I need to up the exercise more, as I no longer have the bike commuting to provide baseline exercise. A big chunk of the steps comes from doing the “secret walks” once a week, though July 31 included a walk to the Audrey Stanley Grove (about 3.7 miles, since we took a Lyft to get home).

We went to see the play RII put on by Santa Cruz Shakespeare—it is a version of Shakespeare’s Richard II, reworked to be put on by only 3 actors. It was quite an impressive production—I recommend it to anyone who can get to Santa Cruz in the next month.  We’ve not see the other play (The Agitators) yet, but we’re looking forward to it, as we like both the actors in it.

Fiftieth weight progress report

This post is yet another weight progress report, continuing the previous one, part of a long series since I started in January 2015.

My weight got as high as it has ever been around the end of May, but I’ve begun to bring it back down.

I want to lose about 20 pounds still, but even 14–15 pounds would bring me back into my self-imposed target range.

I’ve now put 83 miles on my new bicycle computer, which is a paltry 1.13 miles/day for May and June.  Now that the Spring quarter is over, I’ve been trying to get some exercise (walking or bicycling) each day, and I’ve been snacking less, which probably made a bigger difference in getting me out of the “overweight” range.  I need to up the exercise more, though, as I no longer have the bike commuting to provide baseline exercise.

I ‘m still finding it difficult to motivate myself to exercise again. I did bike to the dentist and the farmers’ market yesterday, and today and tomorrow I’ll bike over to Shopper’s Corner to pick up some more cocoa and go on one of the “secret walks” with my wife (not sure which day will be which). My new lawnmower should get here this weekend, so I’ll probably mow the lawn then.

Forty-ninth weight progress report

This post is yet another weight progress report, continuing the previous one, part of a long series since I started in January 2015.

I have continued to put on weight and have been staying in the “overweight” range. This is most definitely not where I want to be, but I’ve been having a hard time motivating myself to do any exercise.

I had a couple of months when I was much heavier than I wanted to be, but holding steady, but now I’m off in a range I never expected to be.

My self-image was formed in my early years as a very skinny kid—always the smallest and skinniest boy in my classes. I weighed only 85 pounds going into high school, and only 115 when I graduated at 16. I got up to 135 pounds by the time I got my bachelor’s degree, and only put on a little weight in grad school. So up until I was 30 or so, I was extremely thin. I could eat large quantities of high-fat food (like premium ice cream) and not put on weight. My concern in my early years was being able to get enough calories to keep my inefficient metabolism fueled.

It has been very difficult to adjust both my view of myself and my behavior to match the new reality—now I have to watch how much I eat and make extreme effort to lose weight. Sitting around all day on my computer with snacks just a couple of steps away has not been a healthy lifestyle this past year.

I got a new bicycle computer 37 days ago, but I’ve only put 14 miles on the odometer: 0.38 miles/day.  I probably need to average 5 miles a day to stop gaining weight, and 10 miles a day to start losing weight (along with better control of my eating). I’ve been finding it very difficult to motivate myself to do anything physical (about the most strenuous thing I do is mow the lawn every 2–3 weeks with an electric mower).

I need to find something to motivate myself to exercise again.

Forty-eighth weight progress report

This post is yet another weight progress report, continuing the previous one, part of a long series since I started in January 2015.

I’ve poked into the “overweight” territory for the first time in my life—it is not where I want to be.

 

There is a clear pattern of New Year’s resolutions over the past few years, but this year there was not a big dip.

My exercise has been very limited, but I don’t know how limited, as my bicycle computer failed—even replacing the battery did not revive it.  I’m going to have to buy a new bike computer, I guess.

I got my lawn mowed today—well, almost.  The lawn mower failed just before I finished.  It’s different from the failures I’ve reported on before (and here and here) in that this time it tripped the circuit breaker every time I tried to restart it.  So I’ll have to take the mower apart to find the short circuit.