Month: May 2016

Planet Fitness for Weight Loss

On By Michel McDonaldIn Exercise, gymLeave a comment

planet fitness

It’s been 5 weeks since we started going to Planet Fitness since I broke my leg in December. I haven’t seen any weight loss on the scale, but then again I am building muscle, and I do see a significant difference in my face. It’s not as fat as it was, and I can even see where the fat is disappearing. I also see that my chest, shoulder and my arms are getting bigger from building muscle.

We go 3 days a week because it’s a bit of a drive, and that costs gas which as you know isn’t free. I’d love to go more often, but my partner doesn’t. He only wants to go Monday, Wednesday and Friday, although that depends on our week. The last couple weeks we’ve gone on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. I only have 2 days worth of exercises anyway since they didn’t give me any leg exercises because I can’t really do those because of my leg issues. When the surgeon says I can do leg exercises, I will start doing them.

We do incline chest press, chest press, pectoral fly, shoulder press and tricep press on day 1. Day 2 it’s lat pull down, row, rear deltoid and bicep curls. My partner feels like those aren’t enough, and because he’s not really on the same exercise plan I am on because they didn’t give him a plan since he’s my guest, he doesn’t really have to do what I do, he can do what he wants.

After we do upper body, we walk over to the lower body section. I discovered there are exercises over there that I can do, like they have a machine for abs, it’s like crunches, and another one where you sit on it with your knees and your body twists to do the side abs. It does hurt my right leg to sit on my knees, but it doesn’t hurt for long. I do my usual 15 reps, rest, 15 more, rest, 15 more and done. I actually love that machine, and I can’t wait to see how ripped my stomach will be once the fat disappears from my stomach lol. My partner does the other leg machines. There is also a machine for the lower back and butt, which I need to do because the last time I lost weight, I noticed that my ass was as flat as a board. I need all the help I can get for my butt. I can’t do squats because of my leg, so this will have to do for now.

Last night I was looking at Instagram, and I came across a post from Planet Fitness. I don’t normally read the comments because there seem to be a lot of people who hate Planet Fitness. I never could understand the hatred, but it became clear to me why they hate them so much. They have Pizza nights and bagels mornings. This guy said that Planet Fitness doesn’t give a crap about you losing weight and they just want your money. Well, um… what does that have to do with anything? Of course they want your money, they are a business and that’s what businesses do. They lure you in with a great price like $5 down and $10 a month and they give you perks like 1 night a MONTH you get pizza and one day a MONTH they give you bagels. I’ve never actually gotten those perks, but even if I did, that’s on me, not on them. I’ve eaten pizza at home more than I’ve eaten it at the gym, which is never, so who is trying to sabotage me now? ME! I am in control of what I put in my mouth whether they are feeding it to me or not. Planet Fitness IS a gym because they have free weights, kettle bells, rope on beams, they have tons of machines that target all of your muscle groups, and they have tons of machines that allow you to do your cardio.

Give them a chance because they are a good gym. I have self control. I wouldn’t drink beer in a AA meeting, so I’m not going to eat pizza at the gym. I go there and do my exercises and leave. I’m on disability, and I am going to go to Planet Fitness since it’s the only gym I can afford. It’s too bad my health insurance doesn’t pay for it since the doctor is the one who insisted that I go.

PS Vita Not Properly Charging

On By Michel McDonaldIn Games, PS VitaLeave a comment

psvita charger

Today I was faced with a problem that I was not mentally prepared for. My PS Vita refuses to charge.

Last night I turned my PS Vita on so I could see if the weekly sale was in the PS Store yet. Each week on Tuesday they have a sale on games. I knew I was early because it was Monday night, but it was after midnight so I thought I’d check. I noticed that the battery icon showed that it had about 50% battery. It doesn’t say 50%, but it was around there. I plugged it in and let it charge for about an hour and the light turned off. I assumed if the light turned off that it was fully charged, so I went to sleep.

This morning I turned it on to check for the weekly sales, and I noticed that the battery icon was still at that halfway point, so I plugged it in again and forgot about it for about an hour.

PS Vita Screen

After an hour, I thought this has to be at full charge by now, but as you can see, it was still at the 50% mark. I didn’t understand why it was doing that, and I was starting to panic, so I went to Google and searched for the problem. I searched “PS Vita not charging” and the first post that I came across said to just plug it in and start playing a game, so I did. I plugged it in and started playing Minecraft. I played for about 10-15 minutes. You would think that after being plugged in for 10-15 minutes it would have at least gone up to 75% or something, but it didn’t move at all.

I turned it off all the way off by pressing and holding the power button until I saw POWER OFF. I actually did that last night and before the Minecraft “fix” that didn’t exactly fix anything. You can usually solve any problem by turning it off then back on again. Usually.

I read another message board post that put me in a panic attack. It said if you have only had it for like say a couple of weeks or a month to go back to the store and return it for an exchange. Well, I’ve had mine for 5 months, so yeah I can’t exactly do that, now can I? I kept reading, and was getting more discouraged by the minute until I went to find the original box that the PS Vita came in, which yes, I had because I save things like that lol.

Inside the box I found a couple of things. I found that I have a 2 year warranty from Game Stop, thank goodness for my partner buying the warranty with my Christmas present. I also found something, it’s a little box that you plug the USB cable into and a plug. I never unpacked those because I figured if it can be charged via USB cable, why use that? So I took it out, took a picture (above) and plugged it in and guess what? It charged my PS Vita to 100%.

This is my fix for this issue, and it may or may not work for everyone else just like the plug it in and play a game fix didn’t work for me, but if you haven’t tried it, try it and see if it works. I sure am glad I figured that one out. Technology doesn’t love me as much as I love it.

Exercise at Planet Fitness

On By Michel McDonaldIn ExerciseLeave a comment

We started going to Planet Fitness a couple of weeks ago to help lose weight. I’m more interested in going to a gym than my partner is because I have more weight to lose than he does. We both have a gut, but he doesn’t have the huge fatty neck and face like I do. He also doesn’t eat as much as I do. He is always “fasting” because he thinks it will help him lose weight, which I’ve told him does the opposite. He has type 2 diabetes, and during his “fasting” he has forgotten to check his blood sugar, and he recently bought some new test strips and is quickly finding out that fasting is causing more trouble for him than he thought since his blood sugar is too low. Last night it was 34. Yikes! He won’t listen to me though.

We go to the gym and at first he didn’t want to participate. The first day that we went, I did all the exercises that the trainer gave me, and he sat at the table by the door. That first day was brutal, and trust me, I was using the least amount of weight, but I was in pain for 3 days. The next time we went he surprised me by bringing a sweat towel for himself. He’s been doing the same exercises that I have been doing, although, not as many as I do. I do 3 sets of 15 of each machine, and he might do 1 entire set, or half lol. When he’s finished, he goes to the chair and gets on his cell phone to text, read email or whatever it is that he does on his cell phone while I’m on the elliptical machine or the bicycle.

I said in the last paragraph that the first time we went, I was in pain for 3 days. The next few trips I was doing fine, but the last 2 trips I’ve been in a bit of pain because I’ve added more weight to all of the machines. I start with a low weight because I don’t want to overdo it, then if it’s too light I will add more weight. If I do an entire set and it starts to become too much for me, then I will lower the weight so I can finish the next 2 sets.

When I saw the trainer, I only requested upper body because of my broken leg. I mean, it’s not broken anymore, it’s completely healed, but the doctor told me not to put any pressure on it at the gym, to only focus on upper body. So I only have 2 days worth of exercises. My partner only wants to go on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, so one week on Monday I will do day 1, Wednesday day 2, Friday day 1, then the next Monday I will do day 2, then Wednesday day 1 then Friday day 2. If the doctor said I could do legs, then I will tell the trainer that we’re only going 3 days a week, so give me all leg exercises for Fridays. I would love to go 4 days a week, but I’m really pushing my luck with 3 lol.

I haven’t been using the Total Body Enhancement machine because of my partner wanting to participate, but I used it on my last visit and then again today. One of the concerns that I had was will this hurt my leg? I have a metal bar with metal screws screwed into my shin. I’m sure the screws aren’t going to vibrate so much that they unscrew… wait, that won’t happen, will it? I’m sure nothing like that will happen. I didn’t have any pain in my leg at all, so I’m not too concerned, although I should probably ask my doctor just in case. I will see the doctor in 2 weeks. I walked the dog and as soon as I opened the door the pain came. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow, so the pain told me it will probably rain.

Of course after only 2 weeks I haven’t really seen any loss on the scale because I’m building muscle. I haven’t built enough muscle to notice a difference, but I do see that my face is starting to thin out a tiny bit. If I am consistent, the fat will melt away and I will be happy. That’s all that matters. I know that what matters the most is my health and not my happiness, but screw that, I just want to be happy, and I will be most happy when I can breathe while bending over to tie my shoes, and when I can actually see my junk without having to look in the mirror.