Reality ~ as in scales, weighing...AGH!!!

Could not resist weighing 24hrs ahead of my official weigh day: Hopeful of seeing pounds less than Wed's 413.2, I see what? ...416.6? ...417.0? ...scales say only ERROR? I'll say!

Scales cannot seem to find an acceptable weight as I waver unsteadily, trying to hold still, seeing digits dance before my eyes - all too high - as I weigh Friday morn, in hopes of seeing a weight lower than Wed's 413.2 sneak peek. Hopeful of getting a boost to encourage me for dodging carbs and nibbling and sipping and being awfully 'good' about eating.

To no avail. Can I blame that case of chocy pudding? I think I can reconsider ordering more of that, even if it is LC and 20g of protein per 6oz can. I suspect it is the culprit. Sigh. Or maybe it is just too more-ish for me to have on hand, to use as a meal substitute (which it is not, really) when I am too lazy to open a can of sardines for 20g of protein. Sigh.

Or maybe those snacks of pumpkin seeds are not as much fiber as they are carbs. Maybe I'm overdoing p'kin seeds.

Today's plan? Finish that can of salmon that has provided me with two meals already and will do nicely for today's midday meal, along with a heap of shaved celery for crunch - and maybe a boiled egg or two as well. Lots of water, to woo The Whoosh Fairy™ so that Saturday morn's official weigh day will see me down a few pounds. Oh, I wish!!!

Wishing for a whooosh...what a diet mentality that is!

Better if I burn a few calories today, as well as eat LC with portions suitable to rev up my metabolism. More meals or snacks of a fist-size portion of protein. That's my goal for today. At least I have solid data - from a wavering scale - and can evaluate my chances for weight loss today...and for an encouraging bit of data Saturday morn from my scales.

Weighing is just about collecting data. It's not a measure of my worth as a human being. It's just data. Just data....

Started a thread a while back: "Gifted myself with talking scales for my 64th b'day" is a place that I can laugh about how funny my shifting relationship with my talking scale has become. I'm still struggling to climb aboard in the allotted 8seconds before the power cuts off. And when I am aboard, I am having a hard time standing steady enough to stop the flashing numbers from shifting up-down-up-down-down-up. That dither causes my talking scale to mutter ERROR and shut off. Then I have to get off and start over - tap the scale, wait for the command to STEP ON SCALE. It's a gas!

Oh, here's the thread: http://www.lowcarbfriends.com/bbs/lo...l#post10115136

416.2 is the data delivered this ayem (3/29) at Sat's weekly weigh-in, just a few ounces down from yesterday's unofficial 416.6(3/28) that was unaccountably (HA!) up from my midweek sneak of 413.2(3/26). Maybe all that bouncing is all right and normal. For the month of March, I see a trend downward - from 427.6(3/1) to 416.2(3/29) - for 11.4# GONE in March 2008!

You're still doing great, Zer. Sometimes those little fluctuations can drive one crazy, but hang in there and it'll drop back off and you'll be into Three-dom soon!

I shall be weighing on the first of April, to begin showing data in BIG RED NUMBERS in my datebook as well as to sum up all pounds lost (some more than once in March) during March.

Then I shall weigh again on the 8th - my scale anniversary, a date of some importance for a person liberated from fear of scales and weighing for all my lifetime. It's just data!!!

My scale says ERROR; I'll say! 418.6#...EEEK!!!

Glancing at my food diary, I can see some errors in my eating, some stuff that I thought would 'burn off' before Sat morn's weigh in. No such luck. Busted!

But it's nothing to beat myself up about. It's just data, right? Feedback on how my body is handling what I eat and how little I move to burn calories. Sigh.

Nothing mysterious, as I see carby digressions noted in my food diary. My fault - bad choices - that I'm showing 4# MORE than I weighed just a few days ago. Bounce? Maybe. All I can do now is to aim to eat more fish-eggs than carby contraband and to eat appropriate portions of LC food. I know that I've eaten too much of LC food several times in the past few days. Felt too full as I finished eating, added to what I'd planned to eat, kept eating after my plate was empty. All of these are things that I can change.

Got to pace myself eating crunchy carrots that taste sweeter than sugar to me. Probably too high in carbs to have lots of them at any single meal. Just got to pace myself. I can DO this. I ~CAN~!!!

Initial plan on 4/1 was to lose 4# a week for four weeks, to see THREE-dom by dropping 16# in four weeks. Dreaming!

Daydreaming about that, I ate unwisely and am facing facts (or maybe just a bounce? Ah, dreaming!) and planning to do a mindful correction - by boiling up some eggs and fueling up on LC food all day, in appropriate portions. It's not brain surgery. It's just common sense. I can do this, one bite at a time, a dozen bites or so for a meal. I can stop overeating!

Just found a site that shakes me up: Greg.Tucker's Recovery Process, built on writings of Wei Wu Wei (wu-wei means non-doing). Does this "non-doing" apply to my own situation as I work in a half-fast way to 'get with' a LC program that will pare me down to a size that is healthier and less cumbersome than my current size? I think maybe this applies to me. Oh, sure, you see "tango" and figure I take this as a SIGN of some sort. As I lose-gain the same pounds, I feel I am caught in a dance, a shuffle, a half-fast program. Maybe so. Might this help me understand my own reluctance to work a clean LC program? Why am I not dedicated - at 64 - to losing the weight that makes my daily life so challenging?

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_wei

413.2 (with fleeting glimpses of 411, 412) today...

Third try satisfied my talking scale that I was serious about getting a weight as I teetered precariously, seeing numbers flash up down up down down up as I watched in wonder from eyes glazed over with sleep. Hopeful. Finally, 413.2 stuck long enough to be accepted by the Voice in My Scale. It's official: 413.2!

The number was lower on two earlier tries this ayem, but the scale said ERROR and I felt it was worth another cycle of weighing to see what finally came up. After 2mos, I am slightly better at climbing aboard the scale to capture my weight in the 8seconds allowed before the scale cuts off, but I still teeter and totter as the numbers flash by fast!

I am sure that owning a scale has improved my chances of success at whittling down this too too wobbly flesh to a more human scale - 199# being my goal to reach before I begin doing the finer work of molding what's left to work with, to see if I can locate a waistline again for my 5'10" frame. Today's 413.2 is ponderous, with 215# to let go of before I see ONEderLand. Not a small task, but worth the effort to become a healthier person in a body that I can move with less stress and (hopefully) more grace. Sigh.

Today? Another fresh LC start, full of 40g of protein in a tummy-warming hot slosh that charges up my cells and gives me the feeling I can whip my weight in fat furry pussycats of the feisty persuasion. Ah, I miss my kitties something fierce! How amused they would be, watching me teetering on this scale. I'm sure I amused them as much as they amused me, two creatures of different species observing strange rituals of the other species!

Are we water bodies, same as Earth's oceans? If so, should we expect to see ebb and flow as bounce in our weight as the moon's influence on Earth's tides produces tidal ebb/flow? Tidal ebb (decrease) and flow (increase) is affected by the moon (mostly) and the sun (roughly half as strong as the moon's effect), according to Tide - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

What I'm thinking is that we are mostly water ourself: So is it reasonable to think that we ourself experience some ebb and flow as the moon and sun affect earth? Should we consider the phase of the moon as we jump on the scale?

"414.0...ERROR" (I'll say! I ate too much...too much LC fuel)
Dreaded weighing in today. Talking scale flittered all over 413 before coming to rest at 414. I know... I know... it's just data...just a record of what I ate, what I did to burn off calories...sad to say, the data is accurate for a person who ate too much LC food, practically no illicit food, just too much fuel for cells that did not have enough reason to burn off what I ate.

Today is a new day, a chance to moderate my portions, finish off my salmon salad, eat some eggy salad, finish off some chicken leftovers from Thurs. That's my plan for a wknd to kick off a new week so that the data delivered by my talking scale will be a lower figure in a week. This is not brain surgery or rocket science - not even rocket surgery (as a funny slogan on a t-shirt jokes about a mixed up saying).

Calories in. Calories out. Scale reports the results. Pure data. So it goes.

3oz? That's how my scale rates my LC efforts this past week? Oh, that's SO NOT FAIR after yesterday's effort! I'm pretty sure I've finally found my LC 'groove'!
409.6 is how my scale rates my LC effort for the past week, nevermind that I'm jubilant for at last managing to eat protein+fat several times a day - fish and egg - and almost making my water quota most days. So what if I think I found my LC rhythm on Friday? My scale is SO NOT IMPRESSED with one day of chowing down on fish and eggs (and pumpkin seeds), nevermind all the carbs I am learning to dodge. I really am almost free of lusting after milk, which is nicer than you can imagine when the fridge is almost always full of milk here.

Milk, eggs, sugary cereal are provided, as well as are meals twice a day for those who find their way to the cafeteria at mealtime. Not a bad deal even if most of what is provided is carby to the nth degree and made with love by a dear dumpy housekeeper. Anyone who moves in here is in danger of gaining weight at awkward points, as the menu is carbaliciously tempting.

Anyway, I'm learning how to manage in the midst of temptations that we all face in the course of living. I'm a slow learner, so I have been a slow loser.

But I am learning a lot about myself as I read posts from all who write here. Thank you, all who write of good days and bad days too. It's all grist for the mill. It's all valuable info. I'm sure I'd still weigh 500# or more *shriek* if I had not lucked out and discovered LCFriends. I'm absolutely sure of that!

Have a g'day today. I'm full of 40g of protein from a 16oz hot slosh and I'll be eating fishy-mayo on a bed of shaved celery for lunch - as well as toting back to my room an eggy-mayo snackaroo to fuel me up midafternoon. Do not have a clue what dinner might be, but I'll seek out protein of some sort.

Just see what the scale will make of THAT, as I plan on eating thus for the rest of April. Surely I can pare off a few more ounces for my April total!
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Stats: 5'10"; 64; 508.7/409.6/199
WOE: Atkins+ALGittleman
Start Date: 432.4(2/8); 426.2(3/8); 413.2(4/8)
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3 oz really doesn't seem fair. I have to agree with you there. But ya never know... The whoosh fairy may be just around the corner getting ready to knock on your door. Hang in there and keep up the good work!

At 5pm on 4/27/08 my talking scale spoke aloud on its own, as it stood on end in my overheated room, saying PLEASE WAIT, and then PLEASE STEP ON SCALE, as if it was in place and had been tapped to awaken and to report my weight, if I managed to climb aboard and stand steady within the 8sec window of opportunity. By itself!

Spooky? I'll say. I feel as if I've been bid to take it to the bathroom's cooler environment and lay it flat on the cool tile floor. Do you think the scale is as warm as I am, as the setting sun falls on my west-facing window for a few minutes before it passes behind the bldg across the way and I am cooler by degrees for its hiding behind that bldg? Is this a SIGN? Is it remotely possible that there is a good weight awaiting me, should I scramble and deliver the talking scale to a cooler site? Is the wee soul trapped in that device cramped and too warm, hoping to trick me into complying, to relieve it of a sweltering time on one of the first warm days of what promises to be a warm summer?

Or is its German workings just shorting out in a Sunday at the end of April? Its battery tricked, as the smoke alarm's battery occasionally chirps just once to alert me to its presence?

My spooky talking scale spoke up again at 1am on 4/28 - for a 2d time, the first (to the best of my knowledge) being 5pm on 4/27 (my dear dead daddy's b'day in 1916, which may mean he is taking an interest from the Great Beyond in my progress as I grapple with reality as presented by a talking scale that I gifted myself with on my 64th b'day in Feb.2008)). Now what? Am I to be surprised periodically by my scale's uttering PLEASE WAIT (as the scale comes to life, standing on end across the room from me) and then saying PLEASE STEP ON THE SCALE (as it begins its 8second assessment of the weight that climbs aboard) and then cuts off - as no one can possibly climb aboard a scale standing on end awaiting someone to carry it to the bathroom's tile floor. What gives with a talking scale going spooky after only 3mos of occasional use? Surely the battery is not bad after so brief a period. I put it in myself in Feb.2008 and I do have a spare battery that I anticipated using in a year of so, after weekly weighings to gather data on my progress.

Spooky scale! I did not touch it. Do not plan on weighing myself at the scale's command, nor at my whim. My scale is a tool for collecting data. It is not my Master. I am not going to allow a tool to get the upper hand. This is my own weight loss plan, in cahoots with the spirit of dear dead Dr.Atkins and all the good folk at LCFriends who offer their support as I wend my way - albeit slowly - down from my billowy weight to a weight more easily managed.

Summer is coming, a time when it is more ghastly to be flabby and to have folds of skin to cope with. What a joy to be able to take a swift turn in the shower - someday - without all the flaps and folds and creases that an obese person has to deal with in bathing. Takes forEVER. Then there's the drying off. Pat pat pat pat pat pat pat pat pat pat...pat pat pat.

Ooops, I digress.

Anyway, I'm just noting that my talking scale is getting spooky. Or maybe it's the spirit of my dead dead daddy, offering me support as best he can, given my ability to receive messages from the Great Beyond. I'm no more adept at that than I am adept at working a LC plan. Life is an uphill struggle!

Say not the struggle naught availeth! ~Arthur Hugh Clough
http://www.bartleby.com/101/741.html
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Stats: 5'10"; 64; 508.7/409.6/199
WOE: Atkins+ALGittleman
Start Date: 432.4(2/8); 426.2(3/8); 413.2(4/8)
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Impertinent scale. Chattering on. Woke me at 11:30pm on 4/28/08 for its 4th observed spontaneous activity, the 3d being at 5pm on 4/28. I wonder if it is being triggered by some device in use nearby, like a cellphone or a tv control. Seems just unlikely that a battery barely 3mos old could be out of whack and causing this impertinence. So glad I did not get the scale that makes wisecracks like ONE AT A TIME or other jibes. Anyway, I may just disconnect its battery so as not to be jolted by hearing its voice announce PLEASE WAIT as it initiates its script in sporadic awakenings as it stands on end awaiting my pleasure to make use of it for data.

407.6# on Cinco de Mayo (May 5th) ~ Today is celebrated as a regional holiday in Mexico, a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride. The date commemorates a battle won against the French in 1862 according to Cinco de Mayo - and the French were finally expelled from Mexico five years later. Lots of great food is eaten as the celebration is marked in the USA. Carby food and margaritas. I don't do margaritas any more, having lost my tolerance for alcohol, but I sure used to tuck in and snarfle up some great Mexican food in honor of a battle and heritage of a neighbor to the south of me in SoCal.

Today I salute Cinco de Mayo with 16oz of hot slosh, 40g of protein, 500cals - and I climbed aboard my talking scale to see what good news there might be.

Down a pound. I'll take it! Ounce by ounce, I'm fighting my battle to reach THREEdom. That's the battle that I'm facing today. Each day is a series of small skirmishes as carby snipers lie in wait. That's what it feels like to me.

Here's to all who are managing carbs, planning for LC success, today! Yay!
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Stats: 5'10"; 64; 508.7/407.6/199
WOE: Atkins+ALGittleman
Start Date: 432.4(2/8); 426.2(3/8); 413.2(4/8)
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Good for you Zer, fight your fight and win your battle!
We are having a lo-carb celebration for Cinco de Mayo, chicken taco salad. We too will win the battle. Against the carbs, day by day.
Happy Cinco de Mayo!
~Bella~

Celebrating Cinco de Mayo or celebrating my luck in finding a fellowship of LCFriends, it's all helping me find my way to a healthier life at 64. I'm full of gratitude for the support I find at LCFriends - and for the patience I'm learning to have with myself as I wend my way down toward my goal weight and toward greater health for the years still ahead of me.

Patience is one of the lessons that a LC/Atkins plan teaches.

Respecting my body as it holds on to weight, seeks balance during my spurts of feast and famine, bounces up down up up down as hormones play havoc with weight in spite of my prayers to see diminishing weight - no matter how I eat and (ch)eat or how I occasionally fast from fear of what I might eat if I dare to go anywhere near food. It's a wild ride for my cells, I'm sure. Yet they go right on delivering service to a body that offers uncertain nourishment from day to day. Bless my good old Scots-Irish genes, from generations of uncertain nourishment and a meagre nutritional heritage (I'm sure) of eating porridge and potatoes with scant protein. Sigh.
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Stats: 5'10"; 64; 508.7/407.6/199
WOE: Atkins+ALGittleman
Scale data: 432.4(2/8); 426.2(3/8); 413.2(4/8)
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402.4# (thanks to my scale, with just 4mos of data reported - it's just data, right?)

My scale today delivered proof that I am working a LC program - not perfect by any means - and avoiding all the carby temptations that tripped me up in past weeks, months, years. YAY! Lots of room for improvement, to be sure, but still a HUGE step forward as I listen and learn from my LCFriends who post their ups and downs at this forum. Thank you!

Three months ago, my scale arrived and showed me at 432.4# (2/8/08)
Two months ago, my scale reported my weight at 426.2# (3/8/08)
Last month, my talking scale showed my weight at 413.2# (4/8/08)
Today my beautiful talking scale gifted me with a weight of 402.4# (5/8/08)

Sometimes it's hard for me to remember that the scale simply delivers data.

Sometimes I just want to hug my scale, pet my scale, talk sweet to my scale. All the years that I dreaded being weighed, I never saw a scale as a friendly support for working a nutritious eating plan. Well, LC/Atkins has changed that. My LCFriends support network has helped me to see how my scale is an important tool in my effort to assess my progress in learning how my body works. At 64, my scale was the best b'day gift I could have given myself. It's definitely a gift that keeps giving! Yay for my talking scale!

Yay for me, too. Here's hoping I can keep motivated for 9mos to reach a goal of 299# in time for my next driver's license pic at 65. Just 9mos away!
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Stats: 5'10"; 64; 508.7/402.4/199
WOE: Atkins+ALGittleman
432.4(2/8); 426.2(3/8); 413.2(4/8) 402.4(5/8)
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407.8? Bounced back up to my 5/5/08 weight? Aghhh!

Calm down. My Saturday weigh day is barely begun at 1am and maybe I'll weigh less when day breaks and it's officially Saturday. Okay, that's bogus. Fact is, I've got a week to work at finding THREEdom. It's not going to 'happen' today!

But it CAN come to pass in a week or so, if I stay faithful to eating eggs and fish and to drinking the water that I shorted myself on to dehydrate a bit and to capture a nice weight on my scale's 3d-month weigh day. I did that. So the bounce back is merely my hydration from drinking buckets of water after weighing on 5/8 - 'fess up. *sigh*

Oh, the games we play, we scale junkies! Shame on me!

A week of good LC eating will get me to an honest weight at or slightly under 400# - and another week of that will secure my grasp of THREEdom, beyond bouncing back to 400#. This is not brain surgery. This is nutrition, fueling for life. And it wouldn't hurt to burn a few calories as I mark time and fuel up on fish and eggs this week.

So, I am fine. Got my data for today and wrote it up in all the places that I figure I need to record it to keep me honest. Onward and on down to THREEdom! Yay, ME!