Category: Weight

Smaller Appetite After Surgery

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

I have always had a huge appetite since I was at least a teenager. At dinner, my mom would always make enough so everyone could have seconds, and I was typically the only one who would actually take seconds. I was so skinny and my mom never understood where that food went because I never gained any weight no matter how much food I ate. I kind of hate my younger self right now lol. I was also active, and when I say active, I mean like gym class, running from the school to escape bullies, then walking home from school. You know, typical teenage angst lol.

So the time of my life I’m referring to was when I was around 13 years old and I was 150lbs. Fast forward to when I was 26 and I was still 150lbs, then I quit smoking and that all changed. Suddenly I was gaining weight because I was discovering how wonderful food was. Before then I was eating to survive on what we could afford. After, I was eating for pleasure, and I wasn’t holding back. I was getting a lot more food than normal and within 2 months of quitting smoking, I had gained 50lbs. So there I was 200lbs with a fat belly all of a sudden and my appetite was out of control, but I was trying not to go over 200lbs.

Over the years I’ve gained weight because of my enormous appetite until I was at my highest last year at 267lbs. I bought a Fitbit Charge 4 watch and a Fitbit Aria scale and I tried working on my weight. When I got the scale I was 265lbs and by January this year I was 254lbs, then the surgeon told me to lose 15-20lbs for my surgery and then I went down to 230lbs. Now after surgery I have gone down to 225lbs.

And now to the subject of this post. I had my surgery where they reduced the size of my colon, which is a nicer way of saying they removed a section of my colon to remove the possibility of colon cancer. But ever since I had my surgery, I haven’t been very hungry. They fed me 6oz of soup and some other things like pudding or jello and some juices and milk. Well, that tiny amount of food and drinks made me feel so full. When I came home from the hospital I was still getting full from such a tiny amount of food. I left the hospital on Thursday and today is Sunday and I’m still getting full from 6oz of soup. I made myself tomato soup, a 3oz glass of sugar free Jell-O and a chocolate pudding cup and I couldn’t even eat the Jell-O or the pudding. It was literally too much food.

This will be to my advantage to help me reduce the size of my stomach. If I eat and I get full fast, then I won’t have the chance to make my stomach too big again, and that will help me lose weight, especially when I go back to eating my Keto food. This will also prevent me from even wanting to go to a buffet because if I’m not hungry for such a huge amount of food, then I won’t be tempted to go, thus I won’t overeat and gain weight again. So I see this as a huge win for me.

How long do you think it will take me to get down to 200lbs if I am 225lbs now? I pretty much lost 22lbs from mid-January to the end of March. So do you think I will be down to 200lbs by June or July maybe? And if I get down to 200lbs by then, I will just keep going and lose all the weight I can possibly lose. I really would like to get back to 150lbs, but I will be happy if I can get down to 160 or 170. When I finally get down to the weight I want to be, I’m going to continue to maintain my weight by eating Keto foods, and if I still lose weight, well then good for me.

Fitbit Aria Air on Amazon

On By Michel McDonaldIn App, WeightLeave a comment

I bought a Fitbit Charge 4 watch in June 2020. I wanted to buy a scale, but I had to wait until I had more money. I finally bought the scale when I got my check in August 2020 because I wanted to be able to weigh myself and have it automatically enter my weight into the Fitbit app along with my BMI and body fat percentage. But apparently it only logs weight. Well, I could have done that manually lol. I bought this because the listing on Amazon (as you can see) says BMI.

While I was waiting for my scale to arrive, I went back to the listing and started reading the reviews. Most reviews mentioned it did not show BMI at all, and that it doesn’t pop up in the Fitbit app like it is supposed to when you step on the scale. I started getting mad, because I paid $58 for this scale (with the insurance and taxes, shipping was free with Prime). Then I thought, well maybe I should cancel this and get the Aria 2, but that’s $150 lol. So, I didn’t cancel this.

So here is what I have found out about this scale once it was in my possession. When I first opened the box and set the scale up in the Fitbit app, I weighed myself and it popped up in the app in a few seconds. But, several times later in the same day I tried and it didn’t pop up in the app. I didn’t understand, because it is supposed to work every time you weigh yourself.

Yesterday morning I went to weigh myself and it didn’t show up in the app, so I figured that I would probably have to start over, so I removed it from the Fitbit app and tried to reinstall it, but apparently you can’t do that, you have to reset the Fitbit Aria Air scale by pressing the button before you are even able to use it again in the app. So I went through all that only to find out it isn’t going to install again because something was happening with my phone and I needed to reboot it. I finally got it rebooted and it installed just fine like the first time, and it took 15 seconds to even pop up in the app.

This morning I wondered if this thing was going to work and it didn’t pop up in the app at all. I figured the problem isn’t the scale or the app, the problem is my phone. So I rebooted my phone and tried again and the weight immediately popped up in the app when I weighed myself.

So this is my solve for anyone else who has trouble with this scale. Just reboot your phone if it isn’t working immediately. Or, reboot your phone before you attempt to weigh yourself.

I had an issue with the listing saying BMI smart scale, when in fact it does not show your BMI, but upon further inspection, and a little Googling, I discovered the app actually does show you BMI. Not the scale. So how to find that is when you are in the app, look for the weight block, tap that, then you see the graph on the screen that says Weight Trends (30 days (lbs), swipe that to the left and it shows Lean vs Fat, swipe it again and it shows BMI past 30 days, swipe again it shows Body fat %. The Aria Air doesn’t include body fat %, you have to enter that manually, but if you don’t even know what your body fat % is, that graph will be empty. I don’t know how to find out body fat %.

Edit: I discovered there are apps that calculate body fat percentage based on measurements you have to take manually with cloth measuring tape. So yeah… there’s that.

So buy this if all you have to spend is $50 plus taxes plus insurance, and trust me, you want the insurance because it’s only $3 extra. You just never know. It is a good scale, even though it has limitations.

Oh, before I go I also wanted to mention that this scale has the option to see your weight in pounds, stones or kilograms. So if you prefer to see your weight in any other format, you have the option by pressing the button on the bottom of the scale. It shows it on the screen when you press it. You can also choose to change it in the Fitbit app.

Week 9 Weigh In Day

On By Michel McDonaldIn WeightLeave a comment

It has been a rough week for me, but I finally lost some weight. I decided to only do cardio and not do any muscle stuff this week because I haven’t seen any results in a couple of weeks. It gets frustrating when you are working your butt off at the gym and your weight either stays the same, or it goes up.

I only go to the gym every other day, and this week I walk on the treadmill for 1 hour with a 5 minute cool down, then take a few minute break, then get back on the treadmill for another 1 hour with a 5 minute cool down, then I use the massage bed because after 2 hours of walking, my back is killing me. But, my feet are also killing me. I have blisters on my right heel and I also have a blister on my left foot below my toes. I had those gel insoles, and they basically shredded from either my weight or from walking so much, so I had to buy new insoles and I bought the memory foam ones, and of course they flatten out and they don’t really do any good at all.

Well, more work, more exercise, more trying to resist temptation because I have a LOT more weight to lose. See you in a week with my next report lol.

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.

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.