Category: Diet

Zero net carb bread!

On By Michel McDonaldIn DietLeave a comment

We went to Aldi yesterday for some low to no carb groceries to help me lose weight for my surgery, and also just in general to help me lose weight.

I found a website that has 81 of the BEST Keto Finds at ALDI and I know they are less expensive than the other grocery stores in our area, so I figured I would find some of these things, and just hope they tasted good.

Some of the items we bought were actually my lunch today.

The carbs from this lunch was from the Foster Farms oven roasted turkey breast. This turkey was $4 for 1.75lbs which would have cost probably around $11 or more at the Albertsons deli at around $6 per pound. We buy it from Albertsons all the time, and it never lasts more than a few days. Now that I’m watching what I eat, this will last longer than a few days because I will only eat 2 slices, which is the serving size, with my sandwich, or if I decide to make a salad and chop this up into pieces.

I was so worried about eating sandwiches because I was afraid I would have to buy a waffle maker, and I almost bought one on Amazon for $40. They have those small Dash waffle makers, and I almost bought those, but I really just wanted to find a zero carb bread. I also don’t like the thought of spending a ton of money on ingredients, like almond flour and baking powder and Swerve sweetener and many more things. When you are on a limited budget due to the fact that you are disabled, it’s better to buy inexpensive foods rather than spending $30-$40 on ingredients just to make 2 slices of bread at a time.

And being on this limited income is the reason why I gained so much weight in the first place. Back when hamburger meat was cheaper, I was making Hamburger Helper all the time, especially when they were on sale for $1 a box. Everything I was buying for our meals were inexpensive, and I can’t help that I have to buy cheap food.

I will be eating zero to low carb foods until all this weight comes off. I bought a NUTRI FIT rechargeable food scale to help me weight all the ingredients that goes into my meals so I know I’m not eating too much. I was just eating a whole bunch of broccoli and cauliflower and chicken for dinner and logging it all as the wrong amounts because I was guessing. Last night I discovered I was eating too much chicken. I was eating an entire chicken breast and logging it as 6oz. Then I discovered I’m only supposed to be eating 3.5oz of chicken. The broccoli and cauliflower I was eating I was weighing and it showed it was less than 8oz, which is a cup, right? Well, actually, I discovered 1 cup is supposed to be 91 grams, which is a lot less than what I’ve been eating. I wondered why I wasn’t losing any weight.

Anyway, knowledge is power, and hopefully I will be back on track. I have 1 more month until my next appointment with the surgeon who wants me to lose 15-20lbs. I had lost 9lbs, then plateaued, and now hopefully I will start losing again. I’m back to that weight that I was the last time when I plateaued. I also plan on going to the gym again. More on why I stopped going in my next post.

NUTRI FIT Rechargeable Food Scale

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet1 Comment

This will be the third food scale that I have. The first one that we bought years and years ago wasn’t digital. You can’t really see the exact measurement other than the line going on the number like the old scales that you would stand on. I prefer digital, it’s easier.

The second food scale that we have was actually given to me by a former friend. I don’t know what’s wrong with the scale, but you put batteries in, weigh something, put it away for a while, maybe a couple of hours or a couple of days? I don’t know. Anyway, the next time you go to weigh something, the batteries are dead. So that’s why I bought a new scale from Amazon for $15.

I like that the scale plugs into the wall and it only took 90 minutes to charge. I’ve been using it all day to weigh not only what I’ve been eating but also what I’ve been drinking. I am keeping track of all of my food on the Atkins app, and I want to make sure that I’m putting in the correct measurements of weight, because I want to know exactly how many calories I’m eating. I’ve been guessing all this time and apparently I was way off.

I mentioned that I was not only keeping track of what I’m eating, but also what I’m drinking. This thing has different units of measurements for food and drink. So like if you’re measuring how much water you’re drinking or how much creamer you’re adding to your coffee etc. It has grams, lbs and ounces, fluid ounces and milliliters. On the back you can switch between unit measurement preferences but I like that I can choose on the device itself.

Oh, this scale also came with a dough scraper, which I kind of get, I guess if you’re making bread, but I’m not going to, but you never know, I might decide to lol. Although I don’t think so because that has too many carbs.

So on Amazon, this is called NUTRI FIT rechargeable food scale. The title is actually longer than that, but you get the idea. The image at the top is a link to the listing on Amazon.

Atkins diet for surgery

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, Doctor1 Comment

I had a colonoscopy in September. After the procedure they told me that they were able to remove a couple of polyps, but there were also a couple of polyps that were lying flat in my colon and they couldn’t cut them out, and I would need surgery to get them.

I had an appointment with a new surgeon in November, but apparently he had gotten the wrong chart or the wrong information and he insisted I was there for the world’s worst hemorrhoids. I don’t have hemorrhoids. I tried showing him the pictures from the colonoscopy, but he refused to even look at them.

In December I had a teleconference appointment with the doctor who did the colonoscopy and he was upset that the surgeon thought I had hemorrhoids and actually called him on another phone. He told me they would call me in a couple of days, and they never did.

Last week I remembered to call them to schedule a new appointment and this time he had the correct chart. He told me the only way he can do my surgery was if I lost weight. I was 253lbs when I saw him, and he told me I need to lose at least 15lbs (but better if more) in 8 weeks.

He told me to go on the Atkins diet. He gave me papers that show which foods are low carb. I installed the Atkins app and started eating low carbs immediately. He told me to eat no more than 50 carbs a day.

My problem is I love carbs. I love pasta and bread and I know those turn to sugar and cause weight gain, but it’s so good.

We went to the store and all the low carb stuff is expensive. We bought a loaf of bread that is low carb because we bought lunch meat, which apparently have no carbs, but the amount of carbs in the bread is still too much, so I’ve decided to eat salads with the lunch meat and use the bread with dinner for bread and butter, but only 1 slice. And this bread is tiny lol.

We still have a lot of weight watchers smart ones and lean cuisine in the freezer, so I’ll eat one every night until they’re gone. They have carbs, but it’s not too many, and I still fall under 50 carbs a day.

So I’ve been eating scrambled eggs for breakfast, chefs salad for lunch and weight watchers or lean cuisine for dinner. Although, last night I had boneless skinless chicken breast with broccoli and cauliflower for dinner.

If this allows me to lose weight, I’ll continue eating low carbs. I’ll try to make this a lifestyle choice, but it’s hard.

I saw they sell Atkins frozen dinners and even shakes and snacks, so even though those are expensive, I’ll buy them when I want a snack. They have their own version of M&M’s. I’ll look forward to that, but I’ll wait until after the surgery.

I have type 2 diabetes, sand my blood sugar has actually dropped since I started this diet. I also have sleep apnea, so if I lose weight, it will be easier to sleep. I hope it works. I’ll continue tracking with the Atkins app.

Weeks 12-14 Weigh In Day

On By Michel McDonaldIn DietLeave a comment

I am very disappointed in myself for the last few weigh in’s because I haven’t been doing the hard work that I have supposed to be doing. I have been eating my Weight Watchers and Lean Cuisine like I should, but I’ve also been saying yes to the tortilla chips and the candy because of Halloween, and I’ve paid the price in calories. I also haven’t been doing the work I need to do at the gym to help me to lose weight.

So the gym. I’ve been going to the gym every other day, and I stopped building muscle, but I haven’t been able to do the extra work on the treadmill because every time I get on the treadmill, within 20 minutes of walking I have to urinate, and you’d think I was holding it in for an hour. I have to hurry up and enter the time, calories and distance to the Noom app and run to grab a towel and soak it with Planet Fitness’ cleaning solution and wipe the bar down that I touched during my workout, then walk very fast to the locker room so I can pee. I thought the problem was going away, but it didn’t, and yesterday it actually caused me pain. My life partner Googled the symptoms and he says it sounds like I have a urinary tract infection. I’ve never had that problem before. Am I drinking too much water? Because I don’t drink anything but coffee in the morning and then water throughout the rest of the day, but is it the tap water that is causing the problem? Who knows. I’m going to start buying filtered water.

I think my biggest problem is that I am not getting enough sleep. When I lost 70lbs in 2013 I was sleeping, like a lot because I broke my arm, so I was sleeping for several hours during the day as well as at night, so I think that had a lot to do with my weight loss rather than diet and no exercise. This time I thought the weight gain was coming from building muscle, but I don’t think muscle has anything to do with it now, I think my problem is lack of sleep, so I think I’m going to make sure I take the time to take a nap and see if that helps.

The main reason I haven’t blogged the last couple of weeks is because I don’t think people really care about my weigh in blogs. So, I think this will be my last one unless something miraculous happens.

So if you have been reading, thanks so much for reading my weigh in blogs.

Week 10 Weigh In Day

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, ExerciseLeave a comment

I am not very happy that my weight is going down as slow as it is, but, I am glad that I am still losing weight. At least I am losing weight, and that’s all that matters right now.

I have been eating less and doing more cardio than I was doing before. I was walking on the treadmill for 2 hours a day, but it was causing more stress on my knees and giving me blisters on my right heel and my left foot below my toes, so I had to knock it down to 1 1/2 hours per day. It has also caused me to have more pain in my spine. I have Scoliosis, so it’s probably not very good to do that to myself. They say no pain, no gain, but I don’t think they mean in my spine or the bottoms of my feet lol.

Weight loss is important to me, but not at the expense of my joints and my feet, so I will start doing other cardio exercises, like 1 hour on the treadmill and then 1 hour on the exercise bicycle. I’ve tried the elliptical and that is just as hard on my legs and my back as walking on the treadmill. I think sitting on the bicycle is probably better on my legs, feet and back.

I will persevere.

Week 7 Weigh in Day

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, Noom, WeightLeave a comment

242.0

Today I’m feeling very upset with myself because I’ve been doing what I said I wouldn’t do. I’ve been saying yes, when I should have been saying no. Saying no to things like ice cream and cookies will help me lose weight, saying yes to those things will help me gain weight. It’s ok to have a cheat day once in awhile, like maybe once a month, I’m not saying I can’t have 1 cheat day, but it seems like I’ve had several cheat days this week, and that’s bad.

Screenshot_2018-09-10-11-23-49

Yesterday I worked extra hard at the gym so I could burn off all the ice cream and cookies that I ate the previous few days, but apparently that didn’t do much good, or maybe it did just enough good that it prevented me from gaining weight. I mean, it could be worse, I could have stepped on the scale and it could have said 244. I normally only walk on the treadmill for 1 hour (that extra 5 minutes is cool down) and yesterday I decided to walk an extra half hour. You can see that I logged 835 calories, I could have eaten 1930 calories if I wanted to, but I didn’t want to. I think you’re supposed to eat 1200 calories to lose weight, but I was satisfied with the 3 weight watchers meals, plus I had a banana for one of my snacks.

So this week I will not have any cheat days, I will stick with my regular 3 Weight Watchers Smart Ones frozen breakfast, lunch and dinner with maybe a salad or fruit if I get hungry between meals, and I will treat the banana as a sweet treat. I might even freeze and blend it to have as a low calorie no fat ice cream treat, which is what I should be doing instead of having regular ice cream.

We will see next week if I lose any weight. I am shooting for 240.0 lbs, or less.

Week 5 of my diet – Weigh-in Day

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, NoomLeave a comment

244.8

My diet started on July 31, 2018 and today is August 27, 2018, and since my last weigh in, I have lost 4.4lbs making a grand total of 10.6lbs lost.

I go to the gym every other day, I’ve been eating oatmeal for breakfast the last few days since I’ve been out of the Weight Watchers Smart Ones egg breakfasts, which are so freaking good lol. I’ve also been eating specifically Lean Cuisine for lunch and Weight Watchers Smart Ones for dinner. I guess I figured I would pick one brand for lunch and one brand for dinner for some reason.

My stomach has shrunk significantly since I started my new journey this month, and I know this to be true because I am not as hungry as I normally am, and a very tiny bowl with 1 packet of oatmeal fills me up for breakfast. Earlier in the week I had eaten the 1 packet of oatmeal and 1 banana and I was full just from the banana. I think I just get full easier in the morning for some reason because when it’s time for lunch and dinner, I’m still a little hungry, so I eat a Tortilla with my meals, which I know I shouldn’t because it’s basically flat bread.

I can sort of feel an indentation where my stomach feels like it’s losing fat, and it also seems softer than before, although it’s still not soft as a marshmallow. I can also see in my face where it’s starting to lose fat on either side of my nose and my mouth.  So I can see the fat is leaving my body in places.

So until next week…

End of Week 3 of my Diet

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, Noom, WeightLeave a comment

2018-08-04

Today is the end of my 3rd week of my diet. I can’t believe I am actually losing weight again. My very first weigh in when I started shocked me because I had already lost a lot of weight before I even began. I was 265, and then when I weighed myself for my new diet, I was already 255, and I wasn’t even trying to lose weight. My first official weigh in after the first week of my diet kind of shocked me because I had lost 4.6lbs. But then my 2nd weigh in I had actually gained 0.2lbs bringing my total official weight loss to 4.4lbs.

My 2nd weigh in did not discourage me because I have been going to the gym every other day and building muscle on every part of my body. Yesterday and today I weighed myself and I’ve actually lost weight. My last weigh in I was 251lbs and I am currently 248lbs. Although, it could go up by the time the Noom app asks me to weigh in, so I’m not going to congratulate myself yet. I’m going to do my actual weigh in tomorrow and I will see for sure. I should probably do these end of the week blogs on Monday when I weigh myself. My last blog post was on a Saturday, so I changed it to Sunday, so maybe next week I will do it on Monday.

I am so sore. My triceps and my biceps are KILLING me. Usually when I do the weight machines I just do them at a normal pace, and I started thinking that I’m not actually feeling the burn, or any pain. Shouldn’t I feel pain? I mean, when you build muscle, your muscles are being ripped to shreds, and that’s HOW you build muscle, the tissue rips, then it starts to heal itself, and when it heals, it adds new fibers which is why our muscles get bigger.

2018-08-19

I remembered going to physical therapy for my back and they had me use gym equipment to exercise and they had me hold it for a few seconds, then let go every rep, and I actually lost weight from all that exercise. So the previous 2 days that I’ve been going to the gym I did that, but not for a few seconds, I would just pump, then hold for literally maybe 1 or 2 seconds, then let go, and I could actually feel a burning sensation, and I could feel some pain, which is good pain. But now, it’s too painful lol. But that’s why I have 3 days worth of workouts, so I don’t do the same machines every time, and I only go to the gym every other day. I let the day off heal my muscles and I only do those specific machines maybe once a week.

I still have 4 days worth of Weight Watchers and Lean Cuisine meals, and I’ve been doing well with those. I haven’t eaten anything but those, with the exception of snacks when I eat a banana or some Malt O Meal or Cream of Wheat.

I won’t post anything when I weigh in, I will just weigh in and post the number on the diet page. See you in a week when I post my end of the week blog next MONDAY after I’ve weighed myself.

End of Week 2 of My Diet

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, Noom, WeightLeave a comment

2018-08-04
Today is Saturday, which I guess indicates that it is the last day of my 2nd week of my new diet. I just came home from Planet Fitness, took a shower, then put a Lean Cuisine “Cheese Ravioli” frozen dinner in the microwave for lunch and now I’m just relaxing at my desk with YouTube on my TV.

Screenshot_2018-08-11-12-33-14So far I have lost 4.6lbs, which is amazing considering I’m only supposed to lose like 2lbs per week. After my first weigh in of course I gained the weight back, but I think that was because of the muscle I was building at the gym, so I’m not worried in the least about that. I’m back down to the weight I was when I first weighed in, so I hope I see some weight loss in my next weigh in, whenever that will be. Noom gives me a random weigh in, so it’s not scheduled.

My diet has changed a little due to money issues lol. My first 2 weeks I was eating the Weight Watchers Smart Ones breakfast, along with either WW Smart One’s or Lean Cuisine for lunch and dinner. Well, I calculated how much that would end up costing me, and it turns out I would only be able to afford enough meals to last me 3 weeks if I continued eating the breakfast. I am on disability, so after rent and bills I just don’t have enough money to feed myself breakfast lunch and dinner. So, I’ve decided to eat Cream of Wheat or Malt O Meal creamy hot wheat cereal for breakfast because one box will last a week or maybe 2 or who knows, maybe 3 weeks. It’s just easier and those hot cereals are more filling than the Smart One’s breakfast. Although, the Smart One’s were pretty darn awesome, I just can’t afford them all the time.

We went to Target yesterday to buy more dinners and I managed to buy 12 days worth of food. I only got to pick 6 Weight Watchers Smart Ones, the rest were Lean Cuisine. They are flavors I rarely get to eat, they cost the same, and for some reason they seem like they have more food than the Smart Ones. I mean, it’s all diet food anyway, so it’s fine. And it’s worth mentioning that when I went back to Target to buy more dinners, they were completely sold out of the breakfast.

I read an article in the Noom app that basically says that for my diet to work, I need to avoid salt, and these frozen dinners are packed with sodium, but here’s the thing, I can’t afford to buy regular food. I have tried in the past to buy fresh food and eat a healthier diet and I ended up spending my entire month’s grocery allowance for 2 weeks worth of groceries. It’s easier for me to buy prepackaged frozen dinners that I know work for me because I lost 70lbs with these dinners in the past, so I feel like if it works for me, then I’d rather do that.

Anyway, I feel confidant that my diet will succeed if I continue on the path that I am on. I already see a difference. My face and my stomach seems thinner. So I will probably be back in a week to discuss what’s happening in my life.

My Diet Update

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, Health, Noom, WeightLeave a comment

2018-08-04
A couple of weeks ago I weighed 265lbs and that was enough of a wake up call for me to want to lose weight, but I couldn’t actually start thinking about losing weight because I didn’t have the money to buy diet food for myself. My life partner decided on his own without asking me to call NutriSystem and they told him that their plan would end up costing somewhere in the neighborhood of $350 a month. That includes breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks throughout the day. That’s WAY too much money for me to be able to afford on disability. If I’m going to do this, I will do it the same way I did in 2013 when I lost 70lbs. When I had the money I bought some Weight Watchers Smart Ones frozen dinners that included breakfast, lunch and dinner and if I want a snack throughout the day I’ll eat a banana. I also started going to the gym again and I started using the Noom app and my Fitbit.

The day I actually started my diet was last week on Tuesday, July 31, 2018 and I actually weighed 255.4. Today is Monday, August 6, 2018 and I weighed 250.8. I decided to tell the Noom app that my goal is 170lbs, and they want me to lose 2lbs per week, so my estimated date to get down to 170lbs is May 13, 2019. But, I’ve already lost close to 5lbs this week, so every week when I weigh in, that date will get closer and closer.

I didn’t want to keep updating my blog about my weight loss because I didn’t want to be a bother about it, but when I lost 70lbs in 2013, I kept a page on my old website that I updated with pictures and screenshots, so I think I will create a page on this blog that I will update. I think that adding updates will keep me motivated. So I’m going to go do that right now.