Category: Diet

End of Plateau?

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, Exercise, FoodLeave a comment

I’m finally losing weight again. I wonder if this is the end of my plateau or not. In order to give you a glimpse of why I plateaued I have to tell you this.

A few weeks ago I was doing great. I was losing 3-5lbs a week and I was happy. Every morning I would wake up and would be giddy after weighing myself. Ok giddy is a strong term, I was happy.

Unfortunately, both Darrin and I were sick of my menu. It was the same thing every day for lunch and dinner. 4oz of chicken (boneless/skinless) 1/2 cup brown rice and 1 cup of vegetables. After a few months anyone would get sick of that twice a day.

I said ok we can cool it with that for lunch. I started buying bread again which was my big no-no but the bread I was buying was only 50 calories and it was 100% whole wheat. I was also buying very low-calorie lunch meat but I don’t think I can blame that as the cause.

I was also starting to eat more junk food again. Darrin was tired of eating healthy all freaking day and so he started sneaking cookies into the house, Chips Ahoy to be exact. It has his name in the brand, what’d you expect?

So I caught wind of the cookies because he left the boxes all over the coffee table and I was bound to see them. Then he started going to Taco Bell and buying other things and I was eating them too because I am so sick of this diet.

Let me clarify that, I’m sick of this “new lifestyle change” lol. I’m not allowed to call it a diet because diets don’t work but a lifestyle change will if you stick with it.

In the last week or so we haven’t been eating so much bad stuff because we’re both broke so we have to save what money we have left on actual food instead of junk and now that I’m not eating as much crap anymore I’ve started losing weight again.

I think I was stuck at 222-224 but yesterday I weighed in at 219 and this morning it was 218 so I’m very happy to see those numbers dropping.  Also a pair of shorts that I haven’t been able to wear in years finally fit me but now they are getting so loose, too loose in fact.  I’m going to have to stop wearing them again which sucks because they are good shorts.

I’m hoping that those cravings will start to go away now that I’ve finally tasted the bad foods again. Unfortunately when you eat bad foods they taste too good to stop eating but we will see how it works out for me. I really want to get into the 2 teens and out of the 2 twenties you know?

Maybe when I’m 215 I will start to feel like I’m getting somewhere.  In reality I should be 215 by now if it hadn’t been for that plateau.  I should be 200 by October 12th so if I’m going to be there by then I have a lot of work to do and I need to start eating better again.

And by the way, the Nook was supposed to be my reward for going down to 200lbs and I’mplanning on buying it sooner for some reason so my reward system isn’t working for me at all.  I think if it were a sponsor who were rewarding me I would take it more seriously and maybe that’s why I’m plateauing because I’m offering myself rewards.  A reward for losing weightshouldn’t be a thing but more a feeling.  Nah screw that, I want devices.

Spark Peoples Mobile Makeover

On By Michel McDonaldIn DietLeave a comment

Spark People has finally given their mobile site a long overdue makeover. I was having trouble with my slow computer so I turned my PSP on to log my dinner through their mobile site and found a cool new look.

As you can see they have added the ability to track your weight and water as well as being able to browse Restaurant foods. That is a nice addition for those on their mobile phones when they are out at the local Burger King so as they are eating their “salad” (yeah right) they can look up how many calories they are eating then track it.

Here are some more pictures.

Even though I’m not technically a huge mobile user, I do appreciate that they are finally working on their mobile version. I do use it occasionally because it loads much faster than it does in the browser on my slow computer.

My July SparkPeople Trophies

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, SparkPeopleLeave a comment

I got a nice surprise tonight, special trophies for July. These aren’t the normal trophy that you see everyday. I’ve been a member of SparkPeople since 2007 and I’ve never gotten any special trophies like this. I like to think that I was consistent and had good attendance in June but I guess not.

The emails I got didn’t explain why I got each trophy, it just shows that I got them. I think the consistency one is for putting in my daily nutrition and being a good 1500 calories +/-, perfect attendance for logging in every day for spark points and maybe the 500 monthly spark points one is for earning 500 points in July.

I think the point of these is to keep me motivated so that maybe next month in the beginning of September I will get some August special trophies.

Brussells Sprouts

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, FoodLeave a comment

Growing up my mother served this vegetable at least once a week.  Brussels Sprouts was a very good idea to give to children to help them get their veggies.  However, my stepdad tainted them for me by calling them “Monkey Balls”.  I didn’t mind the taste of them but the more I thought about the image of monkey testicles in my head the less appealing they were for me.  I would eat them because I had to, I didn’t want to upset mother but at the same time the image in my head was unappealing to me so they became disgusting.

Since I was thrown out onto the streets at the age of 17 I have vowed to never eat them or even think about them again.  Well, it’s been 23 years and I think that I’ve grown enough to get over it.

I didn’t know when they were in season and Albertson’s has had them for a little over a week now so I assume July is their season(?).  I’ve been waiting for them to carry them in the produce (not frozen) section so that I could steam them and last night I finally got that chance.

I posted on my Facebook wall “Cooking a healthy dinner. 4oz boneless skinless chicken breast with 1/2 cup white rice and 3 large Brussels Sprouts. Yum yum.” and got quite a lot of responses.  Nobody ever responds to my wall posts but I guess that one struck a chord.  Apparently people love these balls.  The conversation ended with 20 responses with 2 people “liking” that post.

I discovered in this conversation that it is ok to steam them as long as I keep an eye on them.  I steamed them in the rice cooker with white rice cooking below and the timing was perfect.  When the rice was finished and the steamer button popped to “warming”, the sprouts were finished.  When I cook brown rice and steam veggies, the brown rice takes longer and over steams the veggies so it’s good to know that white rice cooking time is precise.

We only bought 10 sprouts at the store and we each had 3 last night (they were huge) and Darrin loved them so much he ate the rest this morning so we will need to get more.  Although, I don’t want to make this an everyday vegetable, I don’t want to get sick of them too fast.

I have gotten over the name “Monkey Balls” and it’s a good thing because they are only 7 calories per sprout.  Hello!  7 Calories!  That’s awesome.

We Cheated with Taco Bell

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, HealthLeave a comment

When I was a teenager we used to go to Taco Bell and we would have about 2 or 3 tacos each and we never gained any weight.  Why?  Because we were fit already and we were athletic so we could eat all the tacos we wanted as long as we remained active.  Although, even back then we didn’t go ALL the time, we went once in a while.

Taco Bell was never my downfall.  I don’t see Taco Bell as being the cause for my weight gain because during the time it took me to get fat Taco Bell was never on the menu.  Every once in a while it was but it is not what made me fat and I can’t say it contributed to it either.  Actually fast food was never what made me fat.  It was always what I bought from the grocery store and made at home.

In the 10 weeks that I’ve been on this diet we have had a no fast food policy.  Although, we don’t regularly go to fast food restaurants anyway, we just figured that if we never went at all then we would be ok.  I would say that in a year we would probably have maybe 4 trips to a fast food restaurant.  So it’s not like I’m depriving myself of something that I never have.

Today I was thinking about Taco Bells new fresco menu on the approved SparkPeople list for fast food restaurants.  I looked at the calories for the fresco soft taco and it was basically the same as a regular soft taco.  Well, the Fresco soft taco is 180 calories, the regular soft taco is 200 calories.  It doesn’t matter if it’s beef or chicken, it’s the same amount of calories.  I didn’t really want the fresco because the salsa they put on it has onions which I cannot stand.  So, I chose those extra 20 calories each.  I had 2 soft tacos for 400 calories and I don’t regret it at all.  And if you think about it, that’s only 40 calories more than if I chose fresco.

The reason I don’t regret eating 400 calories in 1 sitting is because it’s today only.  I’m not going to have Taco Bell again for maybe another 6 months or maybe longer.  I can’t say when we will have it again but I do know that it won’t be any time soon.

If you deprive yourself of things that you like to eat then one day you will end up bingeing on it.  So, it’s good to eat the things you like every so often.

I’ve lost 31lbs so far and believe me, I don’t plan to gain it all back so by eating taco bell tonight and getting the craving over now will make sure that my weight loss continues.

Weigh In Day

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, SparkPeopleLeave a comment

This is week 1 of my 2nd goal and I have lost 2.8lbs.  It’s funny because I weighed in at exactly 222.2.  I would’ve liked to have been 222.0 because then I can say that I have lost 30lbs total but since I have that .2 hanging over me I’ve actually only lost 29.8.  But that’s ok.  I’m just gonna go with 30lbs lol.

I have to say that my weekly weigh in’s are getting old though.  I mean it’s one thing to have to enter my weight and measurements with SparkPeople but then to turn around and blog about it is what’s getting old.  Mainly because I don’t really know what to say anymore about it so this will be my last post about it.  If you want to see my progress I will just continue to weigh in but put my scale in my SparkPeople page (link at the top under the banner).

Blame McDonald’s

On By Michel McDonaldIn DietLeave a comment

I was browsing YouTube and came across this video of Morgan Sperlock from Super Size Me that someone had put the bonus feature from there on their YouTube page.  You know the one where he puts several burgers and fries into jars and watches how they all mold except for the McDonald’s fries.

Then I saw another video of this woman over at diet health channel who used to be fat but hello, she’s not skinny yet… talking about how bad McDonald’s is and she carries around a 4 year old happy meal.

I am not siding with the fast food industry.  And I’m especially not siding with health experts because I’m constantly seeing all these obese people telling me how to lose weight when they are fat themselves.  I had a friend who passed away who was a vegetarian and she was constantly putting me down for eating fast food yet I was 150lbs and she was more in the neighborhood of 400lbs.

All I’m saying is, fast food has been around for decades.  Actually the first McDonald’s opened up in 1940 so there has been fast food for 69 years.  So if eating McDonald’s causes such obesity then why is it that it’s taken until the 1970’s or 1980’s until people started having issues with their weight?

Yes there has been fatness throughout history.  In the last thousand years the only way you could tell the rich was by how fat they were.  All the skinny people were skinny because they were so poor and all the kings and queens were fat.  Obesity was a sign of wealth.  That’s not the case anymore.

But I digress.  You cannot blame the fast food industry for your own obesity because it wasn’t the fast food industry that made people fat, people made themselves fat me included.  I became obese when I quit smoking and started eating more junk than normal because I wasn’t exercising anymore and I was eating more food because I was exchanging one habit for another.  I don’t blame anybody but myself.

When I quit smoking I could’ve done it differently but I didn’t.  I was rewarding myself with ice cream, something that I loved but hardly ever ate because I could never afford it because I was spending all of my money on cigarettes.  Then I started spending what was my cigarette money on fast food.  I could’ve just either saved it and bought groceries maybe or some other treat, maybe video games?  But instead, I ate fast food.  I had a choice.  It was a bad choice but it was mine to make.  They weren’t begging me to eat their food.

And yes their “supersize me” offers were just too good to pass up but I didn’t have to.  In fact, they have such good price now that I don’t even need a large french fry, I can get a small fry for $1 on their dollar menu.  It’s even cheaper now to eat there but you know what?  I don’t eat there and I’m still fat.  I eat fast food sometimes but it’s not daily.  I could probably afford McDonald’s or Taco Bell’s value menu more than I can afford groceries but I choose to buy groceries instead.

I have also chosen to exercise and ride my bike so I am dealing with my obesity by doing something about it and not bitching about how McDonald’s made me fat.  Don’t blame others for your own mistakes.  After all, they are just trying to make a quick buck but you can hold onto that buck and make a better choice instead.  They do have salads after all.  Actually when I worked at McDonald’s as a teenager they had salads and they sold a lot of them too.

Cyclone Diet

On By Michel McDonaldIn DietLeave a comment

cyclonediet2I don’t remember when I bought this, maybe 2002 or 2003.  But it’s supposed to help you lose 10lbs in 48 hours.  I’m not sure if it worked or not, I highly doubt it though.  I think that you are supposed to drink 3 packets a day for 2 days and nothing else for the rest of the time and you will lose 10lbs.

It’s basically something that will clean out your system.  You know when you have to get prepared for a colonoscopy?  You have to drink this liquid for a certain amount of hours the night before your test and you are going to the bathroom every 5 minutes.  It’s basically the same concept except I don’t exactly remember going to the bathroom as much.  Then again it was so long ago.

The best thing I liked about this diet was that it comes with a cup that has a blender in it.  It’s not a blender in the respect that it crushes ice but more like it just blends a powder into a liquid.  I use it for mixing my slim fast when I’m not using ice when I just want to mix the powder into the milk.  I suppose you could do the same thing with your iced tea lol.  Just add your ice and your tea then put your sugar or sweetener and press the button and it mixes the sugar.  No need for a tea spoon.

Since this product has been discontinued what else am I supposed to do with the cup?

Give Yourself Liposuction At Home

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, Doctor, Exercise, Humor, Products I LikeLeave a comment

Wow, now you can buy a product that you can use on YOURSELF so you can give YOURSELF liposuction.  What could go wrong?

Laser Liposuction System | Cellulite Treatment | Slimray Lipo Laser System | Fat Loss – UNLINKED

I was on Facebook and saw this ad for this.  It says it’s a risk free trial so I guess if you don’t lose any weight from it you can just send it back and get a full refund.  By the way it only costs $379.95 plus shipping, not sure about any taxes.

What it does according to their website is it melts the fat cells and the more you use it the more fat cells will melt.  You feel it right away and you can lose inches of fat every week that you use it.

But with all these things on the market are you willing to drop almost $400 on yet another gadget?  Maybe if I had $400 to spare then yeah I might but I don’t.  So I guess diet and exercise are going to have to do for now.  But it does look neat though, I mean, well the thought of being able to do that.

Edit: It appears that this website is gone for good.  Perhaps they didn’t make the money they wanted for their product so they stopped selling it online.  Who knows for sure.

My Weight Loss Journey

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, ExerciseLeave a comment

Ok, I know that I said that I wasn’t going to do any bragging because that always screws it up but I just can’t help it.

Ok, here is how it has been going down.  Last year in October I started riding my bike with the intention of eventually getting to the bike trail.  I was doing 1 mile a day and gradually I went to 3 miles then 5 and so on until eventually I was doing 10 miles a day on average.  Then I had my accident.  Ok so I started out at 244 and then I went down to 227.  That’s 17lbs.  Pretty good right?  Well then because of the accident I stopped riding until April.

From November 20th the date of the accident until April 14th when I finally started riding again I had gained 10lbs.  So I was now 237.  So I start riding again and now it’s June 12th, today was weigh in day and I weighed in at 221lbs.  Well, if you count starting in October at 244lbs then my weight loss is 23lbs total.

Or, you could think of it this way, I gained 10lbs and I lost it again so technically I lost more than 23lbs lol.  Ok yeah I didn’t think that would fly.  Or you might think well technically since April at 237 and now I’m 221 I’ve only lost 16lbs.  Well, whatever, I could from 244 to 221.

But, that was my weight this morning.  You are supposed to weigh yourself in the morning after you do your “duty” in the bathroom lol.  Who made up that rule?  Ok so that was 221 BUT… before dinner I weighed myself again and I was 220 WOOHOO lol.

My point is, I made it out of the 240’s, I made it out of the 230’s and now, I’m almost out of the 220’s and that is all that matters.  I cannot wait to get into the 210’s so that I can get into the 200’s and so on.

Ok, enough bragging for one day.  If I keep bragging then I will jinx myself and I don’t want to risk that lol.