Hazard Rebirth: The second evolution

[Hazard]

 

The spreadsheet in the previous post is all automated — calculating and spitting out weekly averages.  Here’s the data sheet where I input my daily numbers, in the blue highlighted columns.  The last two columns are autocalc’d from the others.

 

 

 

[Hazard]

 

I walked 11.10 miles today.  On the journey to Mordor, I’m just a few miles away from reaching the gates of Caras Galadan, home of the Lothlorien elves.

 

 

[Hazard]

 

2.38 miles walked.

 

[Hazard]

 

With 5.17 miles walked today, we have at last reached the heart of Lothlorien, realm of the Silvan Elves, residence of Celeborn and Galadriel.  Bringing Stage 2 of my Walk to Mordor to its completion.

 

 

 

 

First leg of the journey:  Bag End to Rivendell  (458 miles)

Time:  61 days

At an average of 7.51 miles walked per day

 

Second leg of the journey:  Rivendell to Lothlorien  (462 miles)

Time:  96 days

At an average of 4.81 miles walked per day

 

 

The Fellowship spent a month with the Elves of Lothlorien.  My stay with them has been decidedly shorter.  My walking today put me 2.81 miles past the Lothlorien goal, which means my journey has already continued.  Shortly after second breakfast, in fact.  After receiving a gift of lembas bread, cloaks, and various other equipment, our Fellowship quickly set out again.  Haldir the elf has temporarily joined us, to guide us south and east through the rolling woodland, as we make our way to the river Anduin.

 

 

 

 

[Hazard]

Weekly Progress Review

 

** My first time using Imgur app.  There should be 2 speadsheet screenshots in this post.  Please let me know if they aren’t showing.

 

 

After returning from a trip, I started my 2018 tracking on Jan 4th.  In this first screenie, you can see my data over these last few days.

 

 

These are my prep days.  Or in video game RPG lingo, this was my Level 1 quest for this game — where some dude/tte asks us to clean out the rats in the basement.  

 

The rats in this case are largely glycogen (basically: sugar-water) stored in skeletal muscle.  The first few pounds of weight-loss is mostly from depleting those extra glycogen stores.  This is likely why in the chart above you can see that I only lost 2/10ths of an inch off my belly despite an almost 4 lbs weight drop in only 3 days of caloric deficit.  My belly did shrink a tad, so there may have been a little bit of fat catabolized, but we can probably safely assume that mostly the last few days were me burning up my body’s excess sugar storage.

 

In any case, the rats should be mostly cleared out now, and any stragglers lingering around will be driven away this week.  

 

Coming back from vacation, my goal for dungeon level 1 was just to reach the first Sunday tape-measuring with my waist back at (or under) 40”.  Because vacation-eating, yo.  

 

As you can see in the chart above, I was able to beat the 40” miniboss.  The chart below is my “weekly” average for these first few days.  And here you can see that I was even able to average slightly below 40” too.  So I’d say I definitively beat the first level of this dungeon.

 

 

This Weekly Average chart gives me my baseline going forward.  Every Sunday I’ll have the week’s averages, so we can watch from week-to-week and see my progress.  

 

I’ve talked about this before, but for those new readers or those who’ve forgotten:  I have my daily data calculating into weekly averages because weekly averages help greatly with smoothing out day-to-day weight and tape-measure fluctuations.  Those day-to-day fluctuations can occur from things like temporary changes in body water retention, differences in breathing or tape tautness during measurments, and other minor variations.  Comparing weekly averages with each other is a very useful way of tracking data, as it serves as a reminder not to freak out if a measurement happens to go up for a day or two or three.  When we step back and look at what’s happening from week-to-week-to-week, instead of only day-to-day-to-day, it becomes more obvious whether or not what we’re doing is working.

 

 

Next Sunday’s miniboss:  39.75”

 

 

 

[WhiteGhost]

I see both spreadsheet pics

[Cataleya]

Same. Great work so far!

[GregT.]

Great idea Hazard.  I stole your idea a bit and put it in my yearly goals as well.  I am going to take this I think and do the same.  Daily measurements but with weekly averages.  Oh boy another reason to go play with Excel!

 

 

[zeroh13]

7 hours ago, GregT. said:

Great idea Hazard.  I stole your idea a bit and put it in my yearly goals as well.  I am going to take this I think and do the same.  Daily measurements but with weekly averages.  Oh boy another reason to go play with Excel!

 

 

You mean you need a reason to play with Excel???

[GregT.]

10 hours ago, zeroh13 said:

You mean you need a reason to play with Excel???

Absolutely not!  I just find things like this a good cover to those who think of it as boring work and weird I do it on my own.  now I can say and show them it is for a purpose.  With my best Eyore impression " I'm doing it to make myself better."  That way they don't tr to have me committed, or push Excel projects I'm not interested in on to me.

 

[Lil_Red_Devil]

OMG Hazard, that's an amazing spreadsheet! I'm kinda jealous - might have to make one of my own :-)

I'm also on a quest to reclaim my 28" waist, though I'm a few inches shorter than you, but that also means I shrink more slowly. See you on the way down!

[peelout]

I re-found you.  Looking for inspiration.

[peelout]

Dusting the couch?????

[Hazard]

21 hours ago, peelout said:

Dusting the couch?????

 

Actually, yes!

 

I wanted a more open living room, so although it took 3 years - I finally convinced Mrs H to let me rearrange the furniture. Had to take everything out of drawers and such first, dust off the furniture, move the furniture - vacuuming as I went (including the couch), then sort through the acculumation of Stuff and decide what’s worth keeping and what can go.

 

We still have some Stuff to finish sorting through, but otherwise it’s mostly done now.  Already loving the new setup.

 

I’ll be posting my week’s progress sometime tonight.

 

[Hazard]

Weekly Progress Review

 

(There should be 2 speadsheet screenshots in this post.  Please let me know if they aren’t showing.)

 

 

Last week was Prep week (it was only Thurs through Sun, instead of a full week), in which I got through those first few days of weight loss that come primarily from depleting the body's excess glycogen (suger-water) stores.

 

This week was my first full week of focused effort on my 2018 Epic Waist Quest.   Last week I established my dominance over the intro miniboss, Waist Size 40 Inches.  He was just a teaser.  The gatekeeper to the dungeon. After beating 40" by last Sunday's review, it was time to climb down into the dungeon-proper for my long 2018 adventure in the Fat Loss Abyss.

 

My goal for this week was to reach, or beat past, 39.75 inches by this Sunday progress review.  As you can see in this week's chart, I didn't make it. 

 

 

Waist, why U no budge?!?

 

The answer to that question is actually pretty straight forward.  It's because I can't spot-reduce.  While I'd love for my body to burn off the fat sitting on my gut first, because that's the largest, most visibly-obvious fat on my body, the reality is that there's fat distributed in varying amounts throughout my body.  And my body's going to burn off what it burns off in whatever locations it does on whatever days, without much regard for location I wish it would prioritize.

 

That's okay. 

 

I may not have beaten the 39.75" miniboss yet, but it's inevitable.  As long as my weight is going down, fat is coming off too.  And my waist will show it.  Even if it doesn't seem to show it much yet.

 

My schedule isn't changing though.  The targets for this week will be blowing past 39.75" (I'm so close!) and on down to the next dungeon level, to defeat 39.50" as well by next Sunday.

 

In any case, here's my Weekly Averages sheet, where all the day-to-day data is averaged together into 1-week lumps.  I included the previous week's averages too, so you can compare the two and see how I'm trending.

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, on the way to Mordor....

 

Our Fellowship reached the Silverlode just west of the Anduin, where we practiced paddling in the water.  Then we took our leave of the elves on three small boats that they gifted to us for our quest.  The forty miles or so that we've traveled by boat have so far been eventless.  As we've moved further from the home of the Lothlorien elves, the trees have sadly gone from otherworldy beauty to often bare trees on both banks.  The land has become silent, the riverway misty, and the weather returned to dreary cold. 

 

 

 

[peelout]

Can you "freeze" the top row of data?  That way we could always see your starting stats (basically starting wt at Jan 4).  Great progress.  I haven't been recording waist size.  I kind of just go by pant size and belt loop position.  Right now I just want to be able to button my pants.  I didn't want to buy new pants, so to make them fit, I leave them unbuttoned and let my shirt hang out.

 

Also, why did the "Goal Waist" column figures change from 1/7 to 1/14?  Thought the goal would remain the same.  Or is that the goal for the next week?

See you when we both reach our chosen state of "reduced-weightness".  I'll be bitchen if you don't follow through with me.

[Hazard]

23 hours ago, peelout said:

Can you "freeze" the top row of data?  That way we could always see your starting stats (basically starting wt at Jan 4). 

 

Sure!  I can do that for you.

 

 

23 hours ago, peelout said:

 I haven't been recording waist size.  I kind of just go by pant size and belt loop position.  Right now I just want to be able to button my pants.  I didn't want to buy new pants, so to make them fit, I leave them unbuttoned and let my shirt hang out.

 

Belt holes are a great litmus test for whether or not our waists are significantly changing.

 

I think of my belt as a backup checker for my tape measure.  With the tape measure, human error is always a possibility.  But regardless of what I get on the tape, if I have to move my belt to a tighter (or looser) hole, then my belt-line waist size has changed.

 

One major difference between my belts and my tape measure though, is that I measure my waist at the fattest spot.  Which is about 2.5 inches above my belt-line.  My beltline is significantly smaller than my belly.  I just measured it.  My beltline comes in around 38.5”.  Compared to my circa 39.8” bellywaist.

 

And I wear size 36 pants right now.  (Yes ladies, men’s clothing manufacturers lie on labels too.)

 

 

23 hours ago, peelout said:

Also, why did the "Goal Waist" column figures change from 1/7 to 1/14?  Thought the goal would remain the same.  Or is that the goal for the next week?

 

The weekly Goal Waist is already laid out in the spreadsheet for the full year.  It drops by a 1/4 inch each week.  If my waist measurement keeps up with the weekly Goal Waist, then I’ll be on track for completing my 2018 Epic Waist Quest.  If my Sunday waist measurement is above the listed Goal Waist for any given week, then I’m behind schedule.

 

 

23 hours ago, peelout said:

See you when we both reach our chosen state of "reduced-weightness".  I'll be bitchen if you don't follow through with me.

 

Please do.  I intend to make this year one long remembered.  Where I stand by a fireplace 30 years from now saying to my grandkids, “Now kids, let me tell you about the last year that I was ever fat.  Back in the dinosaur age, when we still drove our cars instead of them driving us....”

 

 

[Hazard]

 

I know some of my readers are into macronutrient percentages.   MFP makes handy charts for that.  So for those interested, here’s mine from last week::

 

 

 

 

 

[GregT.]

11 hours ago, Hazard said:

MFP makes handy charts for that

I haven't played with the MFP charts much, maybe I should another data export.  Does it export the data to anything else if you want or just inside the MFP?

[Hazard]

39 minutes ago, GregT. said:

I haven't played with the MFP charts much, maybe I should another data export.  Does it export the data to anything else if you want or just inside the MFP?

 

No idea.  I’ve never used the export button.

 

[Hazard]

Weekly progress review

 

(There should be 2 speadsheet screenshots in this post.  Please let me know if they aren’t showing.)

 

 

On my Walk to Mordor, our Fellowship continues to make it’s way down the Anduin toward Rauros Falls.  I walked an uneventful 49-ish miles this week, reaching the northern edge of the Brown Lands and the Field of Celebrant, where the Easterlings once waged open war against a weakened kingdom of Gondor.

 

 

And how have the miles ventured this week affected me?  

 

My belt is tightening.

 

Yaaay!

 

 

Buuut, I’m just shy again of reaching the week‘s Goal Waist.   1/16th of an inch!  So close!

 

I’m getting the impression I might spend this year chasing my weekly waist goals and always coming up a little short.  (Donkey chasing the carrot on the stick. ).   If so, that’s okay.  Chasing the weekly waist goal is extremely motivating.

 

Glancing at the top of that spreadsheet: As requested by @peelout, I’ve frozen the first row, Jan 4th, so that my Weight and Waist measurements from the first day stay at the top of the list for comparison.

 

 

Let’s move over and look at my Weekly Averages spreadsheet.  

 

I added a column (“Maint. Cal.”) which you can see on the far right.  I had enough data now to begin reverse-engineering what my daily Maintenance Calories are.  (Daily Maintenance Calories are the amount of calories a person needs to eat in a day in order to maintain current body weight.)

 

 

Keep in mind that what you’re seeing on my spreadsheet for “Maint. Cal.” is a calculated estimate and is based off weekly averages.  I expect the Maint. Cal. estimate to change from week to week.  But as it does so, we should be getting a pretty good idea of about where my body’s maintenance needs are at any given time.  For example, if we take the estimate from the week of 1/14 and average it with the estimate from the week of 1/21, it suggests my body’s present caloric maintenance requirement is somewhere close to 2350 daily.  

 

From that, any calories I burn through walking to Mordor, and any calories of that 2350 that I don’t eat, puts me below my estimated daily maintenance —> which creates a caloric deficit and results in weight-loss over time.

 

 

That’s our data for this week.  Next week’s waist goal drops another 1/4 inch to 39.25”.

 

 

As always, if anybody has any questions, observations, comments, etc., please don’t hesitate to chime in.  Otherwise, you can still support/encourage me by simply tapping the “like” button for this post to quietly let me know you’re here on the journey with me.  

 

 

 

[Wobbegong]

8 minutes ago, Hazard said:

As always, if anybody has any questions, observations, comments, etc., please don’t hesitate to chime in.  Otherwise, you can still support/encourage me by simply tapping the “like” button for this post to quietly let me know you’re here on the journey with me.  

I don't usually comment but I am definitely here and enjoying reading through your journey! Looking at your spreadsheets and reading your analyses is always super interesting and fun, so I'm glad you're willing to share. I do have a question this time, though!

 

10 minutes ago, Hazard said:

Chasing the weekly waist goal is extremely motivating.

Can you tell me what exactly is so motivating about it? Is it that you're generally successful, so you can enjoy watching the numbers go down in direct response to the way you behave? Is it the timeline/deadline that's motivating you? The structure of the activity?

 

This month I'm working on outlining some of the things I'd like to accomplish in 2018, and part of that is addressing upfront things that might stand in my way. I'm trying to collect methods for staying engaged and on-course. Even if yours doesn't end up working for me personally, it could still end up being helpful for someone else following along, so I thought I'd ask!  

[peelout]

2 hours ago, Hazard said:

Weekly progress review

My belt is tightening.

Now this is the kind of post that gets people motivated.

[Cataleya]

I am always really excited about your spreadsheets. I do get nervous about how it will feel if you end up falling behind a bit. These first few inches will fall of fairly easily I think but at some point you'll probably plateau. Have you thought about how you will deal with that, or have you dealt with it before? I'm always interested in how people respond to setbacks.

[zeroh13]

22 hours ago, Wobbegong said:

Can you tell me what exactly is so motivating about it? Is it that you're generally successful, so you can enjoy watching the numbers go down in direct response to the way you behave? Is it the timeline/deadline that's motivating you? The structure of the activity?

 

This month I'm working on outlining some of the things I'd like to accomplish in 2018, and part of that is addressing upfront things that might stand in my way. I'm trying to collect methods for staying engaged and on-course. Even if yours doesn't end up working for me personally, it could still end up being helpful for someone else following along, so I thought I'd ask!  

I'm also interested in this question.

 

I know for me, if I'm close but not quite there, it'll motivate me to work a little harder. But if I fall further behind then it's demotivating. And if I never quite get there no matter how hard I try, that's even worse.