Surprising Progress
Today is Saturday, February 23, 2013 and it is significant because it is my son's birthday. He would be 46 years old today. Stephen, as we usually called him, although I had my own nickname for him of "Sparky", was born February 23, 1967 and died September 6, 2003 at the age of 36. When he was 14 and we were living in North Dakota he seemed to acquire an unusual odor to his breath and he was urinating frequently, so much so that I noticed it, and he had markings on his hand that seemed to not be healing. Our visit to our family physician that day revealed that he had diabetes. I informed his mother that evening and we both had the feeling of, "Oh, we caught it early." There is no early with Juvenile Diabetes, sometimes called Type I Diabetes. Juvenile Diabetes is the result of the failure of small cells (called Beta Cells) in the pancreas to produce insulin. Insulin is the hormone that allows our bodies to regulate our metabolism and use the food we consume as fuel. It escorts food into our cells and without insulin we basically starve to death with food in our system. At 14 Stephen had to begin insulin injections and remain on insulin for the rest of his life. The diabetes would eventually lead to his blindness, then kidney failure and finally, that morning, heart failure which led to his death. He died in the city of Tyler, Texas, where we had lived after our transfer from North Dakota. He is buried in Pawhuska, Oklahoma where he requested to be buried. It is near to where I live and I am able to visit his grave often. I continue to place a birthday card each year on his grave.
My weight over the last three days has had small and unexpected changes. It was like this:
February 20 191.8 lbs.
February 21 190.6 lbs.
February 22 192.4 lbs.
February 23 191.0 lbs.
February 24 189.8 bls.
Notice that on the 22nd, my weight increased to 192.4 lbs, up slightly. It is easy to have an emotional breakdown because of a reversal, think we are failing and fall into a binge. I've done that before. I used my best intellectual tools to realize that this was a temporary failing and probably not a trend. The reason I realized that was because, when I looked at my process, i.e. my plan and its execution, I had not failed. I had not changed anything there. In fact, the day before my weight increase, I had eaten little, due to my cold, and exercised well with a four mile walk so I should not have gained weight, but I did. I could look at the change as muscle mass but I don't think that was the case; I can't account for it so I won't try; I'll just accept that my weight increased on a temporary basis, stay with my program and expect a lower weight within the next few days to a week.
When I worked in the chemical industry, we had a process. For example, we would add precise amounts at precise times for ethylene, catalyst, iso-butane, hexane, etc. and physically treat it in a prescribed way over a specified time; that was process. The result of a process is a product. Our product was polyethylene plastic. A perfect process always produced a perfect product, without fail.
A program, diet and exercise in combination is a process, and if I adhere to my process consistently, the product will be me at a lower weight and a healthier weight.
And you can see that I began this on the 23rd but I have not yet completed it on the 24th as I watch the Academy Awards so I have added today's weight of 189.8 lbs.
My progress has been amazing since I have lost just over 17 lbs. in 29 days which is an average of 0.58 lbs. per day, about 9 oz. each day. All of that is the result of following what I have learned mostly from "Good Calories, Bad Calories" and the program I have designed for my own use. The major key has been eliminating the evening snack from my day. And I have been very tempted a few times to give in to something and have a snack of, perhaps cheese, olives, a chicken breast. It would be something that would not produce a negative insulin effect, something with less than 5 grams of carbohydrates. But I've been good. My only exceptions have been just a cup of hot green tea or coffee, sometimes with a spoon of honey if I really want or need that taste.
My goal was to reach 190 lbs. and to begin running then but I had actually begun to run earlier, just lightly, about a quarter of a mile. Last week I had a very bad cold (head/chest cold) and I kept walking, dressing warmly and some of that was in snow and ice, some in a bit of rain. Today was sunny and bright with wind, 55 degrees F. I wore leg tights, a shirt and a jacket with gloves and a good pair of running shoes. I ran 1/4 of a mile and then had a problem with my music so I stopped and fixed it and walked a 1/4 and then ran a full 1/2 mile; then I walked 1.5 miles and then ran the last 1/2 mile in. My heart rate was from 135 to 150 beats per minute; it was good exercise. My total distance was 3.03 miles in 50 minutes, 43 seconds and I burned 323 calories. So, everything I have done in reducing my weight is with diet and exercise only, which makes me feel good.
Time and again I have looked at and considered things that might assist me and make it go faster but my goal is not to just lose weight but to make a complete lifestyle change and be healthy, to not fall back into the patterns that have caused me to fail. It took me several tries to quit smoking and my last time, 36 years ago, was a success. With so much more knowledge now and recognition of my failures and knowing why and where I failed, I hope this will be as much as success.
I saw the Sensa advertisements, right, and I did research on Sensa; it may well work for some people, but, what I learned suggests that there is something wrong with it in that it doesn't teach you how to be healthy; it teaches you take an aid and continue to eat in an unhealthy fashion. I rejected it for that reason and also because I am cheap. I did not want to pay a monthly fee for it for life just to eat anything and everything, etc.
My goal is to follow my process to a product of 160 lbs. by October 1, 2013 with a Body Mass Index (BMI) number of 24.44.
Stephen Joe "Red Boots" Payne
Body by Payne
My weight over the last three days has had small and unexpected changes. It was like this:
February 20 191.8 lbs.
February 21 190.6 lbs.
February 22 192.4 lbs.
February 23 191.0 lbs.
February 24 189.8 bls.
Notice that on the 22nd, my weight increased to 192.4 lbs, up slightly. It is easy to have an emotional breakdown because of a reversal, think we are failing and fall into a binge. I've done that before. I used my best intellectual tools to realize that this was a temporary failing and probably not a trend. The reason I realized that was because, when I looked at my process, i.e. my plan and its execution, I had not failed. I had not changed anything there. In fact, the day before my weight increase, I had eaten little, due to my cold, and exercised well with a four mile walk so I should not have gained weight, but I did. I could look at the change as muscle mass but I don't think that was the case; I can't account for it so I won't try; I'll just accept that my weight increased on a temporary basis, stay with my program and expect a lower weight within the next few days to a week.
When I worked in the chemical industry, we had a process. For example, we would add precise amounts at precise times for ethylene, catalyst, iso-butane, hexane, etc. and physically treat it in a prescribed way over a specified time; that was process. The result of a process is a product. Our product was polyethylene plastic. A perfect process always produced a perfect product, without fail.
A program, diet and exercise in combination is a process, and if I adhere to my process consistently, the product will be me at a lower weight and a healthier weight.
And you can see that I began this on the 23rd but I have not yet completed it on the 24th as I watch the Academy Awards so I have added today's weight of 189.8 lbs.
My progress has been amazing since I have lost just over 17 lbs. in 29 days which is an average of 0.58 lbs. per day, about 9 oz. each day. All of that is the result of following what I have learned mostly from "Good Calories, Bad Calories" and the program I have designed for my own use. The major key has been eliminating the evening snack from my day. And I have been very tempted a few times to give in to something and have a snack of, perhaps cheese, olives, a chicken breast. It would be something that would not produce a negative insulin effect, something with less than 5 grams of carbohydrates. But I've been good. My only exceptions have been just a cup of hot green tea or coffee, sometimes with a spoon of honey if I really want or need that taste.
My goal was to reach 190 lbs. and to begin running then but I had actually begun to run earlier, just lightly, about a quarter of a mile. Last week I had a very bad cold (head/chest cold) and I kept walking, dressing warmly and some of that was in snow and ice, some in a bit of rain. Today was sunny and bright with wind, 55 degrees F. I wore leg tights, a shirt and a jacket with gloves and a good pair of running shoes. I ran 1/4 of a mile and then had a problem with my music so I stopped and fixed it and walked a 1/4 and then ran a full 1/2 mile; then I walked 1.5 miles and then ran the last 1/2 mile in. My heart rate was from 135 to 150 beats per minute; it was good exercise. My total distance was 3.03 miles in 50 minutes, 43 seconds and I burned 323 calories. So, everything I have done in reducing my weight is with diet and exercise only, which makes me feel good.
Time and again I have looked at and considered things that might assist me and make it go faster but my goal is not to just lose weight but to make a complete lifestyle change and be healthy, to not fall back into the patterns that have caused me to fail. It took me several tries to quit smoking and my last time, 36 years ago, was a success. With so much more knowledge now and recognition of my failures and knowing why and where I failed, I hope this will be as much as success.
I saw the Sensa advertisements, right, and I did research on Sensa; it may well work for some people, but, what I learned suggests that there is something wrong with it in that it doesn't teach you how to be healthy; it teaches you take an aid and continue to eat in an unhealthy fashion. I rejected it for that reason and also because I am cheap. I did not want to pay a monthly fee for it for life just to eat anything and everything, etc.
My goal is to follow my process to a product of 160 lbs. by October 1, 2013 with a Body Mass Index (BMI) number of 24.44.
Stephen Joe "Red Boots" Payne
Body by Payne
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