Category: Noom

Week 8 Weigh in Day

On By Michel McDonaldIn Noom, WeightLeave a comment

Well this is somewhat embarrassing and frustrating. I didn’t lose any weight this week at all. I’m still 242.0lbs. I think the reason is because I have been building too much muscle. I’m not going to make excuses, but I think that’s what happened.

Every day this week I would wake up and weigh 244 lbs, and so the last 2 times I went to the gym I decided to ONLY walk on the treadmill. Here are the logs for the last 2 times I went to the gym where I only walked on the treadmill. I normally only do 65 minutes, that’s 60 minutes with a 5 minute cooldown. On Friday I was on the treadmill and my partner came to the gym thinking I was finished because he wanted to go to Barnes & Noble next door, so I got off the treadmill early, then he didn’t want to go back home, but he also didn’t want to wait for me, so I told him to go eat lunch and come back in half an hour and I would be finished, and so I only did half an hour on the treadmill, plus cooldown lol.

So I think this week I will only walk on the treadmill for 2 hours each day instead of doing any muscle exercises because I want to see if that will really make a difference. And I’m sure people are gonna ask why I am not running or jogging, and the answer is simple. I broke my right leg below the knee 2 years ago and it still hurts. I have a metal bar running down my leg with 5 or 6 screws in there, and it hurts like you wouldn’t believe when I try to run or jog or even try to move at a pace faster than walking. In fact, I have to wear a knee brace every time I go to the gym or even if I know I’m going to be walking for a long time just because I know it’s going to hurt.

I’m just happy that I didn’t gain weight this week. That I think would be worse than if I hadn’t lost any weight at all.

I can see in my face that I am losing weight. My face and my neck seem to be a lot thinner. I don’t see it in my stomach, or my waist, but I can sure tell by the way my clothes fit. My shirts are looser and I usually wear my gym shorts everywhere, and they have a stretchy elastic waist, so I can’t really tell if my waist is getting thinner. I did wear a pair of jean shorts yesterday and they fit just fine without the need for a belt, but I wore a belt anyway.

So I guess see you in another week and I will see if the walking on the treadmill for 2 hours a day really does any good.

The images above are from the Noom Weight Loss Coach app.

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 6 Weigh In

On By Michel McDonaldIn Noom, WeightLeave a comment

242.2

I am very happy right now. Today is the first weigh in for September and today is September 3rd, 2018 and I lost 2.6lbs this week for a grand total of 13.2lbs since July 31st, 2018. That’s 13.2lbs in 1 month. I was happy last week that I had lost 10.6lbs for August, but now that number has gone up.

What’s funny is the weight loss had slowed down, or it seemed it did, and I think the reason is I wasn’t eating the Weight Watchers breakfast every day this week, I was eating Malt-O-Meal, Oatmeal or Cream of Wheat and the weight loss seemed to stop for those days. I think it didn’t help that I was putting butter and sugar in my breakfast. Yeah, I think that was probably not such a good idea.

When I found that Albertson’s had their Weight Watchers Smart Ones on sale, I bought a bunch of breakfast meals. This week they had their Fab 5 sale, and Weight Watchers Smart Ones was $1.79 each if you buy 5, and I bought 2 weeks worth. I basically filled the freezer with Weight Watchers Smart Ones, so I think today I’m going to go back there and buy 5 more breakfast meals after I eat lunch to make room for them. We literally don’t have any room for anything lol. Then when I start running out of lunch and dinner, I’ll go to Target and buy more there where they are normally $2.06 each.

Anyhoo, I’m happy the weight is finally coming off. I will be back in a week with my next update.

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…

Mid-Week Non-Official Weigh-In

On By Michel McDonaldIn Noom, WeightLeave a comment

244.2

I know I shouldn’t be blogging about this right now because I’m afraid if I brag too much about weight loss, I will end up eating the wrong foods and I will gain the weight back, but, I’m excited right now, so I wanted to talk about this.

My official weigh-in days with Nook seem to be locked in on Monday. In the past they had random weigh-in days where it would say today is Saturday, weigh yourself, today is Wednesday, weigh yourself. Well, now it’s officially Mondays and that’s a good thing, but I still weigh myself every morning just to see if I’m actually making any progress. I also weigh myself before I go to bed just so I can see if I gained too much weight that day, and then in the morning when I weigh myself, I can see if I actually still weigh the same as the night before, or if I lost weight.

Well, as you can see from the graphic above, I’ve lost quite a few pounds since Monday. Monday my weight was 249.2, and this morning I was 244,2. So I am pleased with myself, but that all could change in a heartbeat, so I’m not going to get too pleased with myself if on Monday I weigh myself and I’ve gone up. I’m just going to keep working on eating the Cream of Wheat and/or a banana for breakfast and Weight Watchers Smart Ones and/or Lean Cuisine for lunch and dinner.

I had the money for the Weight Watchers breakfast for the last 2 weeks because Albertson’s had them on sale for $1.49, but I don’t have them anymore until they are on sale again. This morning I had cream of wheat and a banana, mainly because the banana added flavor to the most bland taste of cream of wheat, that’s why I prefer Malt O Meal because it actually has flavor, but I digress, the 1 serving of Cream of Wheat AND the banana was too much for my stomach, so that let’s me know my stomach is actually shrinking. That’s a good thing. The Weight Watchers meals are so tiny that they barely filled my stomach. The Lean Cuisine meals seem to have more quantity of food, which is why I prefer their meals, but even the portion sizes are enough to make my stomach shrink over the last month that I’ve been doing this.

Before I even started this journey this month I was 265 or 267, then I dropped down to 255 when I actually started with my diet, so I had already lost 10+ pounds, and now I’m down to 244, so that’s more than 20 pounds of weight loss, but since I was 255 when I actually started, I can only count the 11 pounds of weight, and I can’t officially count that until Monday, but this is motivation enough for me to continue, so by Monday I might be down to 242, or maybe 240, who knows.

So anyway, I’m happy that I’m actually losing weight and I will be back on Monday with my official weigh-in.

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.

New Diet

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, NoomLeave a comment

2018-07-29I have had major issues with my diet. I live with my life partner of 24 years. We are both overweight, although me more than him, but it’s been a struggle for me ever since I quit smoking in 1996. When I try to go on a diet, suddenly my life partner wants sweets or fast food, and he won’t accept anything else and he insists I eat the same thing as him. When he’s on a diet, I just want to eat whatever the heck I want because I’ve usually been working hard to eat healthy and I just want to be bad and eat food that actually tastes good. We are never on the same page at the same time.

My life partner (by the way, I have to keep saying “my life partner” because he does not want his name in my blog) called NutriSystem recently because he’s been very concerned with my weight. He wants me to lose weight, but he doesn’t realize that HE is the one who sabotages my diet every time he sees me making actual progress. So we had a little chat about my diet.

I told him look, I want to lose weight. I NEED to lose weight, but I can’t because every time I go on a diet, he decides now is the time that he wants to go to the buffet, or fast food or he has to have ice cream because it’s hot. He can’t expect me to lose weight if he keeps putting junk in my face. So I said the only way this is going to work is if he backs off and let’s me do my own thing. I told him if YOU want to go to Taco Bell, or McDonald’s, go for it, but don’t ask me if I want any junk. If I’m trying to lose weight, I will eat weight watchers and I will go to the gym and I will work my ass off to lose weight, but all it takes is one sabotage to turn it all around and all that hard work is out the window. I don’t want to waste any of my time or energy, if he’s just going to sabotage me every day. He agreed that he would leave me alone.

So… today we were at Albertson’s and I noticed they had the Weight Watchers Smart Ones on sale for $1.77 each if you buy 5, so we bought 10 meals. I get my check on Friday, so I have just enough food to last me from Tuesday until Friday. I bought 4 breakfast meals, 3 lunches and 3 dinners. I figure I will start on Tuesday, then Friday I’ll have a breakfast, then we can go to Target to buy more. I can only fit 40 of these meals in the freezer.

So on Tuesday morning I will install the Noom app on my phone and I will take all my measurements and weigh myself and I may even take a picture of myself just so I have a before picture, not shirtless lol. Then I will start going to Planet Fitness every day.

I lost 70lbs with Weight Watchers and the Noom app in 2013, so I really hope this works again because I hate being fat.

I’m going on my diet AGAIN

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, Noom, WeightLeave a comment

breaking the scale

Have you ever been in the situation where you are always struggling with your weight, but the person you live with can eat whatever, or decide they aren’t going to eat anything at all for days and end up losing tons of weight with little to no effort, but you are working your arse off to lose weight, but you end up gaining weight? Yeah, I’m there.

2 years ago I lost 70lbs with Noom and Weight Watchers frozen dinners. My partner was very supportive, and by supportive I mean he didn’t wave bags of potato chips or cookies in front of me and he didn’t constantly ask if I wanted to go to McDonald’s or Taco Bell. I felt like he was doing exactly the thing you are supposed to do when someone you live with is struggling with something.

Unfortunately, when the weight stopped coming off, he started wanting to go to certain restaurants and buy certain foods like cookies and chips and leaving them out in the open for me to eat. Sometimes he would try to hide food, but I would find it and end up eating it for him. I’m an addict. It’s like leaving bags of heroin on the coffee table for a drug addict, or stocking the fridge with nothing but alcohol for an alcoholic. He got sick of not being allowed to eat the foods he wanted to eat, so when I got down to a certain weight, he felt I was finished. I’m sorry, but when you have an addiction to something, it’s never over.

So here I am, having almost gained back every pound I had lost 2 years ago. We went to Food Maxx yesterday and bought 20 Weight Watchers Smart Ones frozen dinners. Tomorrow we are going back to the 99 cent store to buy 20 cans of Progresso soup. I can have a bowl of cheerios for breakfast with my almond and coconut Silk, a Slim Fast shake for my 10am snack, a bowl of Progresso Soup for lunch, another Slim Fast shake for my 3pm snack, a Weight Watchers Smart Ones frozen dinner with extra veggies added to it for dinner, and then another Slim Fast shake to curb my appetite when I get hungry again late at night. Once my stomach shrinks again I can remove that late night shake.

I don’t feel comfortable being out in public because I feel ugly. When my face is thin and my neck is trimmed down, I actually feel good about myself and my self esteem goes through the roof, but when I see my big round fat face and no neck again, I feel worthless. It’s a terrible feeling when you look at yourself in the mirror and you can’t stand the person you are looking at. It’s an even worse feeling when you start to cry. Why can’t I just be happy with how I look? Some people actually look good when they are fat, but I don’t feel that way about myself. And here’s the thing, it’s not like I’m morbidly obese like the people you see on My 600lb Life. I’m not anywhere near that weight. I’m talking 260lbs and the only thing fat on me is my face, neck, chest and stomach. And my stomach is a typical guy gut, that’s it, but somehow I feel morbidly obese. I feel like I’m lucky that I’m not 600lbs by now. I’m telling you, if it weren’t for willpower, I probably would be that fat right now.

The nutritionist at the clinic told me not to deny myself anything. Like if I want some ice cream I can have some ice cream, I can eat 1 serving of ice cream even every day if I want to, but you know what the serving size of ice cream is right? Half of a cup! Seriously? A half of a cup? That’s like 2 bites for a fat arse like me. It doesn’t even put a dent into my stomach. But you know what? I would rather have half of a cup a day than no ice cream at all for the rest of my life. I can’t buy ice cream because there is no way I’m just having 1/2 a cup, I end up packing a 8oz coffee cup with ice cream at least 3 times a day lol. It’s cheaper to buy the big cartons of ice cream, but it’s better to just buy one of those little tiny cups that only cost $1. That way I get ice cream, and I don’t have that temptation waiting for me in the kitchen.

Anyway, enough of me rambling on about it. Talking about it isn’t going to make it happen, I have to actually work my ARSE off to make it happen. That means I have to get back on my bicycle, or walking, or both.  I have a lot of work to do and I intend on doing it. Enough talking, start doing.