Category: Exercise

Weight Gain This Week

On By Michel McDonaldIn Exercise, HealthLeave a comment

I was very disappointed in myself this morning when I stepped on the scale because instead of losing weight, I gained weight.

The problem is I started getting bored with my meal plans, 4oz chicken with 1/2 cup brown rice and 1 cup of any vegetable. I was doing so good with that meal plan, I had lost 31lbs with it. When I got bored with it I started eating other things and this week I broke my one cardinal rule and bought bread. Not just bread but also bagels.

On Tuesday when I bought the package of bagels which were on sale for .99¢, I had 3 bagels that day. See what happens when you deny yourself food for such a long time, you end up bingeing on it. I could buy 1 single bagel every few weeks or maybe once a month and that will satisfy my hunger for it instead of buying them all the time. When I deny myself for such a long time I end up eating more than I should in 1 day.

The store also had Yoplait on sale @ 20 for $10 so I bought 5 for myself and 5 for Darrin. I ate 3 that same day then 2 the next day.

Then I also had a craving for some turkey sliders so I bought some ground turkey meat on Tuesday and then on Wednesday I bought a package of Hawaiian sweet rolls for the slider buns. Those rolls are about 100 calories per roll. You’d never think that they were that many considering they are so small but they are. I cooked 5 for myself and 5 for Darrin. I didn’t like them as much as I thought I would and so I only ate 3 and put the other 2 in the fridge but ended up eating them as a snack later that night.

The amount of weight that I gained back isn’t too horrible, only about 3lbs I think. I have been eating salads this week which is ok for me because it’s very low cal but the amount of dressing I put on it is probably not good. So… I think it’s time to go back to my original meal plans and stop straying away from that no matter how boring it might become.

I have to get back on the ball because I really want to lose this weight, I can’t keep going back, I need to go forward. I haven’t lost so much weight that I’m back in stage 1 yet but 1lb more and I will be.

So, hopefully next week I will not only have lost weight but I will be below what I weighed in at last week… hopefully.

Shoulder Exercises – Bad

On By Michel McDonaldIn ExerciseLeave a comment

Well I thought that working my shoulder muscles on my home gym was going to help my shoulder but it’s only making it worse.  The first couple of days I was doing it my shoulder started feeling better.  I was already making plans to go bike riding after a week hoping that this would fix the problem and I’d be back to normal.

I was only doing 4 out of those 6 exercises and only doing 10 reps of each and I’m not using that much weight.  My weider home gym works by the height that you have it set to.  If you have it set real low then you aren’t use any weight at all but if you have it set at its highest point then you are using all of your weight and probably then some.  And if you use the bungees at the bottom you are adding more resistance.  I was only doing it 1/4 high.  I don’t know exactly how much weight that is because they didn’t give me a chart on how to calculate how much weight I’m lifting but I can only assume that I’m only using 1/4 of my weight which would be 60lbs.

I also stopped the cold/heat because I believe it was causing problems with my left arm.  For the last week I was using cold/heat the pain was going down my left arm and it was almost at my hand so by stopping the cold/heat the pain actually went away in my arm.  It was going away from my back too and I thought that perhaps it was due to me using the gym.  Perhaps it was a combination of both.  Maybe stopping cold/heat and starting the gym.  Maybe I should’ve stopped the cold/heat for a few days then started up again and maybe I should’ve only used the gym once per day instead of 2-3 times per day.

Whatever the reason the pain is coming back for is beyond me.  I just know I can’t suffer anymore.  I am suffering and I am tired of it.  I can’t work, I can’t lay on my left side, I can’t ride my bike, I can’t really do anything at all that involves breathing lol.

My Shoulder Exercises

On By Michel McDonaldIn ExerciseLeave a comment

Yesterday I tried to find the poster in PDF format of the exercise guide for my Weider Total Body Works 5000 home gym but I couldn’t find it anywhere.  I have the poster that came with it but it’s washed out in the sun.  I took several pictures of the poster so that I could combine them all using the panorama thing in Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.

The pictures that I took suck because I took them in my bedroom and it’s really dark in here so the white of the poster looks dark yellow.  I would like to do it all over again outside so the white shows up as white instead of as dark yellow.

The point of me doing that was so that I could crop certain exercises out and put them all side by side and print onto a sheet of 4×6 photo paper so that I can carry out there with me so I can hold it up and look at it easier.

So I picked out 8 exercises that I could do for my shoulder.  I picked out all the ones that are for the rear part of the shoulder since that’s where my pain is.  Although yesterday the pain moved to the front, well it’s back where it belongs, in the back of my shoulder.  So I’m going to focus on working that muscle to fix the problem.

Even though it sucks really bad, here are the exercises that I chose.  You can click it to see it full size.  It looks horrible but it looks better on 4×6 paper.  When I get time before my Stargate shows come on I’m going to go out there and try it again so I get it right.  Then at least I’d be able to share it with the world since nobody else has it for download.  Oh, it looks white with specks because I used the replace color option in Adobe Photoshop Elements 3 to change the dark yellow with white but I couldn’t get all of those colors out of there so I just left it for now.  I will fix it.

rear shoulder exercises

As promised here is the guide.

Home Gym

On By Michel McDonaldIn ExerciseLeave a comment

weiderI’ve said before that I’m going to do it but then I wuss out because of my shoulder pain but I really need to do it for my shoulder pain.  I need to bring my Weider Total Body Works 5000 home gym into the patio from the back yard and start using it.

I think that if I work that muscle, the shoulder muscle that hurts and my back muscles, that I might be able to strengthen it up.

I’ve had this shoulder pain for almost a month now and it seems like it’s moving from my shoulder to my neck and also down my left arm as well as being in my shoulder.  So I think that the only way I’m going to fix this is by exercising those muscles.

When I was going to the Chiropractors office in 2005 they would give me a massage, I would lay on a hot water bed with jets shooting at my back, they would put these electric things on my back that would shoot electricity into the muscle then the doctor would adjust my back and then they would send me over to their gym room where I would use the weight machine and do the exercises that they told me to do.  I still have the paper with all the exercises too.

They had me pull on the weight cable then hold for about 5 or 10 seconds or whatever, I forgot.  Then I would do it again, so about maybe 10 times for 5-10 seconds.  So I believe that this worked so I think I should do the same.

I’m giving myself shiatsu massages, vibrating massages, putting cold then heat on my shoulder.  I can’t adjust myself but I do try to crack my back when I can.  I don’t have a little twin sized water bed with heat and jets and I don’t have one of those things that you put on your muscle then push the button to electronically stimulate the muscles by zapping it (as seen on Jackass the movie where they put it on their balls lol) but I do have a home gym and it’s about time I use it.

I really want this pain to go away.  It’s been almost a month and I haven’t been on my bike in that amount of time.  I’m told to just go to the Chiropractors office but how am I going to get there?  Bus then have to walk the rest of the way?  Every step I take causes pain in my shoulder.  In 2005 I was going 3 days a week, that’s $3 a week in bus fair that I just can’t spare.  I would ride my bicycle but then I’d be paranoid that it’s going to get stolen the whole time cause you are in there for 2-3 hours at least.

So my best alternative is to just suffer and use the options I have available to me I guess.  Maybe if I had a person to drive me then it would be easier but I don’t.  We have a perfectly good SUV in the driveway that I could get there with but… don’t know how to drive and even if I did, it’s gonna cost me a lot more than $3 a week in gas.

Hart Park Trip Postponed

On By Michel McDonaldIn Bike, ExerciseLeave a comment

I was planning on riding my bicycle all the way from China Grade Loop to Hart Park and video tape the trip as part 3 of my BikeCam series.  However, due to my shoulder injury I will have to postpone that trip.  I am very disappointed but I have to do what’s best for my body.

I haven’t been on the bicycle in weeks and it really is upsetting to me because I’m gaining weight, most of the weight I worked so hard to get rid of.  I went through weeks of plateau and frustration just to undo all of that.

I will eventually get back on the bike and I will get right back to my route and some day get all the way to Hart Park.  I just know it.

My Interesting Ride Today

On By Michel McDonaldIn Bike, Cycling, ExerciseLeave a comment

I went on my ride this morning but I found that I had a few problems.

  • As I was riding the bike I got to where Kaiser Permanente hospital is and their lights were shining on me and I went to look at the computer to see what time it was and to see how fast I was going with my new tires and seat but the screen was blank.  So I pulled over to find out what the issue was.  When I put the wheel back on the front fork I put it on backwards so my magnet was on the wrong side of the wheel lol.  So I put it on the correct side and spun the wheel but it still didn’t work.  It’s because of what my pimpled front tire did to the computer wire, it stripped it so there are wires that are exposed so it doesn’t work now.  So today I have no reference of how fast I was going or how many calories I burned.
  • When I left the house I didn’t notice that my back wheel had a bump to it.  As I was riding on the bike trail I could feel the bump and I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do about it because it’s a brand spanking new tire.  When Darrin bought me the new tires he also bought me new tubes that had the presta valves.  My front wheel is brand new (26×2.00) but my back wheel (26×1.95) is the original wheel on the bike so since they are both different sizes they both won’t accept presta valve because the presta valve tubes have this big ring under the valve.  The regular tubes that you buy don’t so I just had to change the tube on the bike trail then all was good.
  • And now my new seat lol.  Yesterday when I first put the new seat on I rode it down the street then had to come back to adjust it.  Then I rode around a bit and had to make an adjustment here and there and I thought I had it all worked out but I guess I didn’t.  So on my bike ride this morning I think I pulled over 3 times to make adjustments.  I finally got it to a comfortable position.  I had to raise my handlebars though because even though the instructions are to lower the seat by 1 inch I did that yesterday and my legs were bending too much so I put it back so today all I had to do was raise the handlebars and that fixed that issue.

Since my computer didn’t work today I’m going to have to write down an old time when I used to go 16 miles so I can at least have something to write down.  I’ll have to fix that wire today so that I can use it tomorrow.

“The Bicycle Seat” website that I got the new seat from say to give it at least 3 weeks and considering I’ve already given my old seat and the gel cover to a neighbor I have no choice but to give it 3 weeks lol.  I can’t ride any other way.  But I do want to give it some time to get used to because I’m not numb today in the naughty parts but my butt is killing me lol.  My arms are killing me too ugh.

LATE!

On By Michel McDonaldIn ExerciseLeave a comment

ARGH!  I woke up and it’s 5:30am because I set the wrong alarm.  My alarm clock has 2 alarms on it and I set the wrong one lol.  I didn’t even wake up from the alarm, I just woke up.  I looked at the cable box to see what time it was and I was like OMG!  I’m LATE!

Then I go to fill my camelbak with ice and water and I think hmmm, I wonder.  So I turn on my Dell DJ Mp3 player and the battery is dead lol.  Great!  Perfect!  Well, it had 0 bars but it wasn’t dead dead.  I could listen to the radio on it but I prefer music.

So Since I’m already late I might as well wait until it’s charged up a little bit more.  I’ll leave the house at 6:30am which is about the same time I usually come home from riding the bike.  According to the weather channel app on my computer, 6am will be 70, 7am will be 71 and 8am will be 73.  Since I won’t be coming home until 8:30am I might as well mention that 9am will be 76 so between 8am and 9am the temp will go up by only 2 degrees so I’m not concerned about the heat catching up to me.  That’s the only reason I ride so early, to beat the heat.

Oh well, it finally gives me a chance to fully wake up before actually starting my day.  Or… does this mean that everything else this morning is going to go wrong and I should just stay home?  LOL

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.

Bike Video

On By Michel McDonaldIn Bike, ExerciseLeave a comment

I brought the video camera today on my ride and when I got to the bike trail I hooked it up and started recording.  My starting point was Truxton and Mohawk and my ending point was Manor St.  The whole video was 20 minutes and 25 seconds.

I turned the video camera off and put the camcorder back in the camera bag inside the grocery bag on the side of the rack.  I get home and watched it on the dvd player (which is actually a dvd recorder, I deleted a scene with me talking because my head was cut off) then I put the dvd back in the camcorder and hook it up to the computer to upload it.  Failed import. I don’t know why or what happened.  I put the dvd into the dvd drive and it also failed.

So what this means is I gotta do it again lol.  I was hoping to be able to take the mount off and put it in the camera bag for future use if I ever wanted to use it again somewhere else but I guess it will have to stay on the handlebar until I get it right.

I formated the mini dvd-ram (that’s what my camcorder takes, mini dvd’s, a dvd-ram is better though) so that tomorrow when I go back out there won’t be any reason for it to do that to me again.

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.