Weigh-in this morning was 389. Pretty much as expected, given the weekend carbs.
One of the places I've been walking is the Deschutes River Trail. This is quite an extensive system of trails - including Saturday's excursion between Dillon Falls and Benham Falls - and here I'm referring to a small bit of it known to Bend Parks and Rec as the South Canyon Reach. It is a 3-mile loop trail of very modest difficulty, with perhaps 150' of climbs and generally smooth trail.
Way back in August or September of 2014, my then-potential girlfriend and I went on a walk along this. I made it somewhat less than a mile of the loop before turning back. This was respectful of my level of conditioning at the time (v. shitty) but also rather embarrassing. Later, as I progressed in my walking program, getting around that loop became a goal.
I made it around that quite a long time ago now, in early March I think. But I tended to stop in the middle and take a bit of a breather. Follow-on goals were to make it around with a 30-lb pack (done a couple months ago), make it around without stopping (done last week) and make it around in under an hour. That is, a 3 MPH aggregate pace including any breaks.
This evening, I did it in 2h56m.
That's about 16 miles over three consecutive days, and - while footsore again - I still feel quite good.
Monday, May 25, 2015
Sunday, May 24, 2015
Day 110, and The Social Exception explained
I haven't weighed in today. This is pretty typical for a weekend; my usual weigh-in procedure is to get up, pee, and then weigh. If I'm not sleeping at home on a weekend, as this week, then I skip the measurement rather than mess up the data with varying procedure.
My last weight taken with my usual protocol was May 22, at 388 lb. This is on-pace for my 3 pounds per week weight loss targets. My next milestone is 386 lb by June 3, which is still 10 days away. So far I'm ahead of my milestones, and it looks likely to continue. (Though I must keep in mind that the more I lose, the harder it will be to maintain this rate.)
Food-wise I've broken keto a bit. (Oh yeah, I eat keto... lemme come back to that.) This was A Social Exception.
It was my girlfriend's birthday, so I got her a pie and had a piece. (Actually a marionberry gallette from The Village Baker, which was delish.) I was going to bake her a cake, but she wanted pie. [shrug] Anyway, I also had a kind of flatbread/tortilla based pizza at a concert Friday, a "cuban" sandwich on Saturday night, a few sweet potato fries, and some mushroom gravy and fruit with breakfast today. I'm not really concerned about occasional keto cheats like this, though it definitely does have an impact. If I look at my weight loss graph on MyFitnessPal, I have so far consistently seen a weight gain of approximately three pounds for approximately five days following every time I take in significant carbs. This appears to be simply retained water, as the calorie amounts are never anything like what would be necessary to really gain three pounds, so I don't worry about it. It's short-term and the effects thus far are predictable.
As for this Social Exception, my thinking on this is a reasonably close analogy to what Anthony Bourdain is reputed to have said about vegetarians:
This weekend was one of those. I let convenience and fun be my guide, and it will likely work out fine. Friday I was very near my target calorie deficit of 1000 calories, while Saturday and Sunday (so far) are each somewhere in excess of 2500 calorie deficits.
I racked up those deficits this weekend through exercise. Each day had a walk of about six miles. I didn't measure on Saturday, but it was along the Deschutes River from Dillon Falls to Benham Falls and back, while today was a loop (with a backtrack) around Shevlin that MapMyRun clocked at 6.4 miles. Even at a pretty slow pace - 2 to 2.5 mph - and no pack, that's a lot of calories expended for a fatass like me.
This weekend also marks my first back-to-back days of long hikes, and aside from being footsore I feel fine.
So, I feel pretty good about the last week.
I should mention though that I felt a bit ill midweek, and actually ditched work a bit early on Thursday to come home and nap. Gut trouble. I think I need to get more fat to keep things moving; fiber is not really doing the job alone, and all the lean pork I've been eating is maybe a bit too... well, not slick enough. TMI, sorry.
Anyway, that's why I have a couple racks of ribs cooking right now.
My last weight taken with my usual protocol was May 22, at 388 lb. This is on-pace for my 3 pounds per week weight loss targets. My next milestone is 386 lb by June 3, which is still 10 days away. So far I'm ahead of my milestones, and it looks likely to continue. (Though I must keep in mind that the more I lose, the harder it will be to maintain this rate.)
Food-wise I've broken keto a bit. (Oh yeah, I eat keto... lemme come back to that.) This was A Social Exception.
It was my girlfriend's birthday, so I got her a pie and had a piece. (Actually a marionberry gallette from The Village Baker, which was delish.) I was going to bake her a cake, but she wanted pie. [shrug] Anyway, I also had a kind of flatbread/tortilla based pizza at a concert Friday, a "cuban" sandwich on Saturday night, a few sweet potato fries, and some mushroom gravy and fruit with breakfast today. I'm not really concerned about occasional keto cheats like this, though it definitely does have an impact. If I look at my weight loss graph on MyFitnessPal, I have so far consistently seen a weight gain of approximately three pounds for approximately five days following every time I take in significant carbs. This appears to be simply retained water, as the calorie amounts are never anything like what would be necessary to really gain three pounds, so I don't worry about it. It's short-term and the effects thus far are predictable.
As for this Social Exception, my thinking on this is a reasonably close analogy to what Anthony Bourdain is reputed to have said about vegetarians:
Listen, I'm perfectly OK with vegetarians practicing whatever they want to do. I just think they make for bad travelers. That's what pisses me off. If you're eating vegan for religious reasons, fine. What you do in your home — or hometown even — in the industrialized world, I'm OK with that. That's your personal choice. I think the notion that you can travel — and I'm not talking about Rome or Paris, of course you can call ahead and say, "do you have any vegetarian options?" You can't do that in the developing world without offending people ... It's awkward and hurtful to go to grandma's house and turn down the turkey. I just see it as rude and incurious.I practice polite keto. At home, and out wherever practical, I eat my own way. ("Steak and salad, hold the bread and potatoes" works nearly anywhere.) But occasionally it is socially required to try some of grandma's pie, or participate in the pizza party, or have some of the kiddo's birthday cake. And that's okay. It delivers a known, temporary, manageable setback to my weight-loss program, but I still count rough calories so long as I am not doing it all the damn time it's okay.
This weekend was one of those. I let convenience and fun be my guide, and it will likely work out fine. Friday I was very near my target calorie deficit of 1000 calories, while Saturday and Sunday (so far) are each somewhere in excess of 2500 calorie deficits.
I racked up those deficits this weekend through exercise. Each day had a walk of about six miles. I didn't measure on Saturday, but it was along the Deschutes River from Dillon Falls to Benham Falls and back, while today was a loop (with a backtrack) around Shevlin that MapMyRun clocked at 6.4 miles. Even at a pretty slow pace - 2 to 2.5 mph - and no pack, that's a lot of calories expended for a fatass like me.
This weekend also marks my first back-to-back days of long hikes, and aside from being footsore I feel fine.
So, I feel pretty good about the last week.
I should mention though that I felt a bit ill midweek, and actually ditched work a bit early on Thursday to come home and nap. Gut trouble. I think I need to get more fat to keep things moving; fiber is not really doing the job alone, and all the lean pork I've been eating is maybe a bit too... well, not slick enough. TMI, sorry.
Anyway, that's why I have a couple racks of ribs cooking right now.
Sunday, May 17, 2015
Day 103.
(Yeah, I'm starting at day 103. What of it? Plenty of stories pick up in the middle. Be nice, or I'll go all George Lucas when I fill in the prequels.)
391 lb this morning, down from 437 on February 3. (And 446 sometime in the dim mists of January.) This, it should be noted, represents a loss of a bit over 10% of my starting body weight.
But that's not the good bit today.
Today I passed what was for me an important test. I filled up my backpack with most everything I would need for an overnight and went on a day hike. I didn't track distance carefully, but at about the 4.5 mile mark I had a choice to take an easy, shaded last mile back or a longer, sunnier route that involved a climb of perhaps 80 to 100 feet - Ponderosa height - on a trail I'd never walked before.
I took the hard way. And it was fine. And after I was done, I did a bunch of errands and chores and still have energy left over for writing this damn blog I registered months ago.
This may not sound like much if you're an experienced backpacker or hiker or a basically fit person. But for me, this was pretty big.
First, the pack: I weighed it when I got home. Pack weight came in about 36 pounds. In a full overnight I would have been carrying more water and food and clothes, for an estimated total of 45 pounds. But the important thing here is that the pack at that weight was entirely comfortable. I anticipate no problems adding another 10 or 15 lb for a real overnight on distances up to six miles per day. This was my second real test with my pack, the last was over a month ago with 28lb and that had only water ballast rather than real overnight gear… and that test was only 3 miles, over easier terrain. I felt a lot better after this test than after the previous one.
Second, the limiting factor for my distance seems to be sore feet. Not fatigue in the legs, not general cardio fatigue, but plain sore feet. I think I had another couple miles in me when I finished today's loop. (At Tumalo Falls a couple weeks ago I was *very* footsore after 7 to 8 miles.) And sore feet, while obviously a problem, is something I can address. My Red Wings are pretty short on cushioning so I've been considering some inserts anyway.
Third, the confidence. I didn't balk at the optional hill into the unknown. No one asked me to take it - indeed I was alone on this outing - I just decided that I needed to push myself harder, and I did. And it was fine.
How did I get here? Where did I start? More in the coming entries.
But there's no magic. Just a better diet, and taking the fat man for a walk.
391 lb this morning, down from 437 on February 3. (And 446 sometime in the dim mists of January.) This, it should be noted, represents a loss of a bit over 10% of my starting body weight.
But that's not the good bit today.
Today I passed what was for me an important test. I filled up my backpack with most everything I would need for an overnight and went on a day hike. I didn't track distance carefully, but at about the 4.5 mile mark I had a choice to take an easy, shaded last mile back or a longer, sunnier route that involved a climb of perhaps 80 to 100 feet - Ponderosa height - on a trail I'd never walked before.
I took the hard way. And it was fine. And after I was done, I did a bunch of errands and chores and still have energy left over for writing this damn blog I registered months ago.
This may not sound like much if you're an experienced backpacker or hiker or a basically fit person. But for me, this was pretty big.
First, the pack: I weighed it when I got home. Pack weight came in about 36 pounds. In a full overnight I would have been carrying more water and food and clothes, for an estimated total of 45 pounds. But the important thing here is that the pack at that weight was entirely comfortable. I anticipate no problems adding another 10 or 15 lb for a real overnight on distances up to six miles per day. This was my second real test with my pack, the last was over a month ago with 28lb and that had only water ballast rather than real overnight gear… and that test was only 3 miles, over easier terrain. I felt a lot better after this test than after the previous one.
Second, the limiting factor for my distance seems to be sore feet. Not fatigue in the legs, not general cardio fatigue, but plain sore feet. I think I had another couple miles in me when I finished today's loop. (At Tumalo Falls a couple weeks ago I was *very* footsore after 7 to 8 miles.) And sore feet, while obviously a problem, is something I can address. My Red Wings are pretty short on cushioning so I've been considering some inserts anyway.
Third, the confidence. I didn't balk at the optional hill into the unknown. No one asked me to take it - indeed I was alone on this outing - I just decided that I needed to push myself harder, and I did. And it was fine.
How did I get here? Where did I start? More in the coming entries.
But there's no magic. Just a better diet, and taking the fat man for a walk.
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