Category: Diet

So Much For That Idea…

On By Michel McDonaldIn DietLeave a comment

Yesterday I was bad an ate a burrito and an apple empanada from Taco Bell.  It was the .99 cent burrito and I figured it was ok since I’m now riding 5 days a week.  I was going to up it to 7 days a week and I was kinda thinking about how important it was that I ride today to burn off that bad idea lol.

So I got up this morning at 4:30am as usual, by 5am I was in the patio getting my bike and it felt a little strange.  The back tire was totally flat.  I noticed yesterday that it kept getting low for some reason, I had to pump it up twice during my ride.  So I just went back to bed and figured today is a wash, I’ll probably have to get a new tube.

When I woke up I got up and went out there to take off the tube so I can at least seal the hole.  After all it is the kind of tube with the green slime inside of it so it’s supposed to seal itself and I guess it did because I put it in a bucket of water (pumped up) and there were no air bubbles.  So I put it back on and pumped it back up.  It’s sitting upside down in my back yard right now so I can keep squeezing it to make sure it’s still pumped up lol.

Tonight I’m going to check on it again to see if it’s still pumped up or not.  If not then I’ll just have to get a new tube tomorrow and figure that today and tomorrow are days off and I’ll have to ride 5 days in a row.  I would like to go buy a new tube anyway just to have a spare on hand.  I had a spare but this guy that we know named Brazil came to our house the day I had my accident, he wanted to borrow my bike for a while so he can get to work cause he got a new job and I told him about my accident.  He said he had a flat tire and I said well that’s no problem, I have a spare tube you can have lol.  So now I need another spare tube.

I also need a new head light anyway so I want to at least get to the .99 cent store while we’re out and get a new one.  They are cheap and take batteries but I need them as backup because my generator is screwing up and it’s making it very difficult for me to ride and feel safe.  I’m mainly afraid I’m going to get a ticket if my back light goes out during the ride or if my head light isn’t bright enough too.  So I need new ones.  And $1 is better than paying $15 or $20 for the same exact thing.

Finally Some Progress

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, HealthLeave a comment

I’m finally seeing some progress with my diet and exercise regimen.  For breakfast I measure 1 cup of cereal, raisin bran, then for lunch I have a slim fast shake then for dinner it’s usually a salad which is a pretty good salad with that salad mix that you can buy in bags, then I add a hard-boiled egg chopped up, 1/3 of a can of tuna, half a celery cut into pieces, sliced and peeled cucumber, to add more flavor I add a tiny bit of bacon bits and some sunflower seed nuts meant for salads and then top it off with some ranch dressing.

Yeah OK, some might say that the bacon bits, sunflower nuts and ranch don’t help but guess what?  I’m losing weight.  I mean come on, you can’t take that away from me.  If I wasn’t having any progress then fine, I’d remove the bacon bits and sunflower nuts but there ain’t no way I’m gonna give up the ranch dressing because I absolutely hate that oil and vinegar douche crap.

The first 3 weeks I was riding my bike I wasn’t losing any weight at all because I was being sabotaged.  Yeah yeah yeah, I know, you can’t blame anyone but yourself right?  Well, Darrin took me to taco bell when he got one of his checks then the next day we went to Hometown Buffet then we went to China town buffet because friends from San Diego came to visit then he took me to Hometown Buffet again.  I was like enough with the buffets and taco bell.

So then my 4th week I lost 5lbs because I stopped eating crap and started taking things more seriously.  I wasted 3 weeks of hard work riding my bike, that’s how I feel.  The 4th week I lost and now that I’m continuing to take it seriously I’m still losing weight.

This Friday, in 2 days, I’m going to weigh in again and I’m going to be very happy because I know that I’m going to drop at least another 5lbs.

Oh I also forgot to add that I eat a lot of bananas and I eat 1 energy bar the day I ride the bike which is usually halfway through my ride.  I typically only ride 3 or 4 days a week and it’s usually only 1 hour per ride.  But as I lose more and more weight the bike will be easier to ride because I will be lighter so I will be able to ride longer than just 1 hour per ride.  Maybe at least 1 1/2 hour or who knows, maybe when I’m 200lbs I will be riding 2 hours per ride.  I will cross that bridge when I get to it.

Hunger Pangs

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, FoodLeave a comment

Yesterday and today were Chips days off so I didn’t ride the bike the entire weekend.  I thought my body was getting used to the new diet or the new portions, in fact it was doing pretty good.  So I was a little confused today when I had my slim fast shake at 11:45am, I was really getting hungry.  But then at 1:45pm the hunger pangs came back with a vengeance.

For the last couple of weeks that I’ve been on the slim fast and measuring my portions my hunger pangs haven’t been bothering me so I don’t know why today.

I decided that I couldn’t wait until 6pm to eat so I just ate an energy bar, a Tiger’s Milk bar.  But then Darrin said hey let’s go to the store and get some steak for dinner to BBQ.  So we went and even got some salad stuff and a can of beans because what’s a BBQ without beans and salad?

Unfortunately he couldn’t wait for 6pm since he didn’t even eat any lunch so we ate at 3pm lol.  Which was ok for my stomach I guess but then when 6pm came around I started getting hungry again grrrr.  And now, it’s just turning 11pm and guess what?

Well, I gotta take an ambien anyway to get me to sleep, I can’t sleep without it because the BiPap mask keeps me awake so I gotta take a pill to be able to fall asleep with that thing.  The Ambien doesn’t really work without food so I’ll eat a banana, that should work.

I’m out of cereal so tomorrow morning I’m going to just have a slim fast shake.  I wanted to limit myself to 1 shake per day or if I had a very light dinner then just add the shake.  If you haven’t noticed, Slim Fast is expensive lol.  So that’s ok, I can actually have a shake for breakfast and then later tomorrow buy some more Raisin Bran cereal for breakfast the next day.

I Said No… Well, Sorta

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, FoodLeave a comment

Wow, this diet must be really messing with my head because I said no to Taco Bell today.

I went to the grocery store before Darrin came home to buy him some fried chicken and macaroni salad and I also bought him some macaroni and cheese just in case he wanted it.  I also bought some salad stuff for myself.  But when Darrin came home from work he was carrying a Taco Bell bag.  UGH!

So we went in the house and he had 3 of those .99 cent double beefy cheesy burritos or whatever they are called and a .99 caramel apple empanada.  I was going to say no thanks to them all but I just couldn’t.  I only ate 1 burrito and the empanada.  I did say no to the other 2 burritos though.

Well, technically I didn’t say no, I put them in the fridge.  I’m sure he will end up eating them but that’s ok.  I’m ok if he does.

In order for me to be successful with my weight loss I have to say no as much as possible.  I don’t think 1 burrito and an empanada (which is an apple pie) is going to hurt me though.  But tomorrow I’m definitely going to eat a salad and hope that he ate all my burritos hehe.

He isn’t working tomorrow so he can have the burritos for lunch and the fried chicken for dinner (or vice versa) and I’ll just eat my diet foods/shakes.

Weight Loss

On By Michel McDonaldIn DietLeave a comment

I’m going to be brief because I just took an ambien about 30 minutes ago and it’s kicking in.

Yesterday and today I’ve been following a new way of eating.  Muffin for breakfast (today bran muffin yuck hehe) and slim fast shake for lunch then whatever for dinner.  Tonight we went to Young’s grocery store and got the Chinese food but only ate half of it.  I’m saving the rest for tomorrow nights dinner.

So far a couple lbs lost.  Tomorrow I’m going to ride the bike with this diet and we’ll see how it goes as far as how hungry I will be and how much energy I have from taking Slim Fast Optima.  We will see.

Will The New Diet Stick?

On By Michel McDonaldIn Cycling, Diet, ExerciseLeave a comment

Yesterday I went to the grocery store and bought about 10 power bars and 4 tigers milk bars for my bike rides so that should last me awhile.  Well, at least 14 rides anyway.  Actually that should last me the whole month since I ride 3 days a week.  Plus I bought 2 cans of Slim Fast Ultima.

I also bought a box of muffins because they were reduced for quick sale.  It had 2 bran muffins and 2 blueberry muffins.  I ate 1 blueberry muffin for breakfast and a slim fast shake for lunch then nothing all day until dinner time and we went to Que Pasa for dinner where I had a 2 item combo, beef Enchilada and beef burrito with rice and beans on the plate.  Then with my ambien I had a banana.  Food helps the ambien kick in faster.

It seems to have done some good for me because I’ve finally noticed some weight loss on the scale.

While I was at the store yesterday I bought 2 bags of the salad mix so when dinner rolls around I can eat some salad instead of the usual pasta or pizzas that we eat.

It’s time for me to start taking responsibility for what I eat and just say no when confronted with certain foods that I like.  I REALLY want to lose this weight but at the same time all this food is coming at me left and right, sometimes I just can’t say no.

I was going to ride today but my thighs are just in so much agony so I’m going to just stay home.  Our new tenant moved in yesterday and I’m going to help them with the rest of the heavy stuff in the U-Haul.  It rained yesterday from about 3pm until late last night but the street seems to be dry as a bone now.  I was going to use that as my excuse for not riding but frankly I can’t lol.  I’m just going to say that my legs are tired, I’ll do it tomorrow.

Discouraging

On By Michel McDonaldIn Cycling, Diet, ExerciseLeave a comment

I bought my new bike wheel on April 13th, I think.  My first ride was on April 14th so I’m going to assume it’s the 13th when I got the wheel.  I have 2 weeks worth of riding in my log which technically is only 3 days per week.  But in those 2 weeks I haven’t lost 1lb.  It’s a bit discouraging when you ride so far and get no results from it.

I guess in all fairness I wouldn’t lose the weight so easily with only 3 days per week but I’ve just stared exercising again so it’s not going to be easy on my legs to just get back into the routine again.  I mean, when I first started riding last year I only rode for half a mile before my legs were just killing me because I hadn’t ridden in so many years.  And it took me 2 weeks just to get to the point where I was riding for 6 miles a day.  Then I went up to 10 miles a day then next thing you know I was able to ride 18 miles.  That of course was only 2 days that I did that.  I knew it was too much so I went back to 10 miles per day.

My point is that I’ve started up again going 10 miles a day instead of easing myself into it.  So it’s a bit discouraging that 30 miles a week gives me no results.

That first week that I was riding Darrin got his check on that Friday so he wanted to go to Hometown Buffet on Sunday for dinner when he got off work.  Then the very next day was his day off and he took me to China Town Buffet.  Oh and plus we went to Taco Bell.  I knew I wasn’t going to lose weight that first week but come on, the buffets and Taco Bell were a bit much for someone who is working so hard to lose weight.

The 2nd week I wasn’t even trying hard enough to eat right.  I’d have a bowl of cereal for breakfast or some days just toast then go ride and eat a Tiger’s Milk bar when I got to the half hour mark when I took my break to give me the strength and energy to get back home.  But then I’d come home and I was so hungry that I’d end up eating 2 sandwiches.  Some days I’d eat a whole box of Macaroni and Cheese (cooked of course duh lol).  That’s definitely not good for trying to lose some weight.

I’ve taken the last 2 days off.  The day before yesterday I took off because I had ridden 2 days in a row and my legs just needed a break.  Then that day I couldn’t breathe through my nose so I took yesterday off thinking I was coming down with a cold but I was fine.  I’m still a little stuffed up.  But I’m taking today off too because it’s Chips day off.  Plus our dog doesn’t seem to be doing too well for some reason.  I don’t know whats wrong with her.  She might be constipated or she might be sick.  We can’t take her to the vet so we’re watching her.

This week I have to really focus on what I eat and I have to try hard to get motivated to ride because I don’t want to be discouraged.  I need to lose this weight.  We’re talkin 90lbs here that I have to lose.  I have to try so hard to eat less to shrink my stomach so that I get full faster so I don’t overeat.  I’m going to try the best that I can.  I don’t have any money until Friday though so I have to eat what we got in the house.  I’m going to buy a head of lettuce though to try to eat some salad for lunch today and maybe for dinner too.  That should help start getting my stomach smaller.

I think one of the things that is stopping me is the stress from thinking about it too hard.  They say that stress raises your Cortisol levels which makes it harder to lose the weight.  I’ve been documenting my every move (my rides that is) so maybe that is causing more stress than anything.  Plus the stress every time I weigh myself.  UGH!

I think the new plan should be to write down all the info from the bike computer but not think too much about it.  Try my best to start eating salads and maybe even sliced cucumbers and carrots etc.  Just eat veggies as much as possible to help with my hunger pangs.  And maybe put the scale in the back of the car so Darrin takes it to work with him so I don’t have any way of weighing myself every day.  Just do my weekly weigh in.  Or maybe a month weigh in.  That should help if I only weigh in once a month.

Oh that reminds me.  (I’m sorry, this post is getting too long.)  A few years ago I think I was 212lbs and so I started eating salads.  I wasn’t restricting myself on what I put in it.  I put sliced olives, hard-boiled egg or tuna, cucumbers, carrot and I used the salad mix (not head of lettuce) and I used ranch dressing.  I didn’t weigh myself at all for 3 months and I got down to 170lbs.  All of a sudden I weighed myself and that was the end of the weight loss.  Weighing myself put stress on me to keep losing weight so I was constantly weighing myself and the weight started coming back on.  Maybe I should just act like I’m not trying to lose weight and eat the salads again but not weigh myself ever again lol.

New Way of Thinking About Food

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, Exercise, HealthLeave a comment

Boy oh boy.  Here comes the post where I have to talk about changing my diet habits when I start riding my bike again.

I haven’t actually gotten the new front wheel yet and I haven’t gotten my Camelbak or Diablo skull cap so I can’t really start riding yet.  Even if I get my wheel tomorrow, if I don’t have the camelbak or the skull cap I’m not riding yet.  Yeah I know I’ve ridden without them just fine in the past but I really want to have them when I start riding again.  I think it will help me stay hydrated a lot longer than the old 32oz bottle because I can feel free to drink more since I now have 70oz of water to drink so I won’t be conserving it so much.

But what about my food habits?  Ok, well, no more McDonald’s that’s number one.  No more fried chicken from Albertson’s or cocoa pebbles cereal filled all the way to the top of the bowl.

From now on I am going to try my hardest to only eat good foods.  I don’t know what is a good example of good foods but I’m sure I will figure it out soon enough.  Instead of buying the crap cereals, I’m going to buy either Raisin Bran or the Weight Watchers cereal.  Costco used to have the Weight Watchers cereal and it was so good and I was measuring it instead of just pouring it into my bowl.  I have to start doing that again.

It’s all mentally and physically preparing myself for the torture I’m going to be putting myself through on a daily basis.  Can you imagine riding for 20 miles straight in a couple of hours burning something like 1000 calories?  Then coming home and taking a shower just to get ready to go to McDonald’s to eat lunch?  OMG That totally cancels out the whole ride.  Just 1 McChicken sandwich cancels all that out.  Not to mention the 2nd chicken sandwich that I would normally eat as well as the small fry and 2 apple pies.  I don’t count the diet coke, it has no calories.

No, I’m going to have to spend a little more money on my food at the store rather than eating a $5 lunch at McDonald’s.  And when we go out to restaurants I’m going to have to get the side salad or sandwich every time so I don’t cancel myself out again.

Oh and forget about ever being able to have ice cream again lol.  Ok, Ice Cream is fine in moderation.  I can safely eat ice cream as long as it’s 1 scoop of ice cream, not an entire container of ice cream.  You know, those little $5 cups of Häagen-Dazs.

With my birthday coming up it’s not going to be easy for me but I think I can manage.  And Darrin is diabetic so I know he’s not going to buy me a cake that he can’t eat.  So I think that we will figure it out.  They have these single serve cakes that we can buy and we can buy 1 of those small Häagen-Dazs ice cream cups and split it.  It’s hard to scoop from a tiny cup lol.  Oh wait they have these little tiny cups that measures to I think half a cup of ice cream which I believe is 1 serving so maybe I’ll buy 2 of those lol.  They ain’t cheap, they cost $1 each.

The point is, I’m going to start riding my bike again hopefully this weekend maybe tomorrow.  I’m not going to ride on Chips days off, just 5 days a week when he works so that he won’t think I’m blowing him off to go bike riding.  But before I start riding again I’ve gotta rethink my whole eating habits so that I don’t keep making the same mistakes I always make and think hey well I’m exercising so one ice cream won’t hurt or 2 McChicken won’t hurt.  They will.

Ugh!  It’s a lot of mental preparation and a lot of physical torture but I gotta do it.  I just wish my stuff would come in so I can do it sooner than later lol.

Broken Rocker

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, Health, WeightLeave a comment

Well it finally happened.  I broke a chair.  Actually it has happened before.  It’s an old chair so leave me alone lol.  This chair that was in Chips moms room that she’s had for a long time, when she passed away we put it in the living room.  It’s not a rocking chair, it’s a regular chair that rocks.  A rocking chair would be all wood, this has fabric and springs etc.

What makes the chair rock are these 2 giant springs that are attached to 2 pieces of wood at the bottom of the chair and the springs are also attached to the chair.  Well, a year ago the springs broke where it’s welded, 1 spring broke and we asked our neighbor Dan who worked in a shop if he would re-weld it for us because that’s what he does.  So he did and then the other spring broke in the same way and so he fixed that too.  Well, it didn’t take long before one of them broke again but we never had him fix it a 2nd time.  The other spring just broke at the weld again so we’re retiring that chair lol.

I’m just too heavy to be able to sit in an old chair and rock it.  If it were a new(ish) chair like a recliner chair then I’m sure it would be a lot better.  This one made so many noises when I would rock in it, like squeaking sounds, you know because the springs needed oil or something.  I’ve sprayed WD-40 on them and they didn’t stop squeaking.  But I’ve sat in recliner chairs at the furniture stores and they never squeaked.

I would love to get a new chair but I just can’t afford it, even a used one.  So, I moved the rocking chair and put a regular chair in its place so now no more rocking hehe.  Oh well.

11 Miles

On By Michel McDonaldIn Cycling, Diet, ExerciseLeave a comment

Wow I thought 9 miles yesterday was awesome but today I surpassed that by going 11 miles.  I was riding for 62 minutes total.  That’s awesome.

My legs aren’t getting as tired as fast as they usually are.  I mean there were some points where I had to stop because I was going slower and so I knew if I stopped, got off the bike and drank some water and gave my legs a rest for a minute or 2 that I would recharge and it worked.  I’d get back on the bike and go 12-14 mph again.

I don’t know where I was this time.  I will have to look it up on google map.  I saw a bunch of mobile homes.  There was a stop light ahead.  I just looked at the google map website and it was Manor st. where I stopped and started going back.

Anyway, here are the stats from the computer.  11.231 miles, 29.7 max speed, 10.9 average speed, time 1:01:54, 536.2 calories and 53.5 fat calories.

Tomorrow is my official weigh in day and I will update the image on the Spark page but I weighed myself and I was 236lbs.  I was 244lbs.  But it isn’t official until I weigh in tomorrow after my bike ride.