Exercise at Planet Fitness

On By Michel McDonaldIn ExerciseLeave a comment

We started going to Planet Fitness a couple of weeks ago to help lose weight. I’m more interested in going to a gym than my partner is because I have more weight to lose than he does. We both have a gut, but he doesn’t have the huge fatty neck and face like I do. He also doesn’t eat as much as I do. He is always “fasting” because he thinks it will help him lose weight, which I’ve told him does the opposite. He has type 2 diabetes, and during his “fasting” he has forgotten to check his blood sugar, and he recently bought some new test strips and is quickly finding out that fasting is causing more trouble for him than he thought since his blood sugar is too low. Last night it was 34. Yikes! He won’t listen to me though.

We go to the gym and at first he didn’t want to participate. The first day that we went, I did all the exercises that the trainer gave me, and he sat at the table by the door. That first day was brutal, and trust me, I was using the least amount of weight, but I was in pain for 3 days. The next time we went he surprised me by bringing a sweat towel for himself. He’s been doing the same exercises that I have been doing, although, not as many as I do. I do 3 sets of 15 of each machine, and he might do 1 entire set, or half lol. When he’s finished, he goes to the chair and gets on his cell phone to text, read email or whatever it is that he does on his cell phone while I’m on the elliptical machine or the bicycle.

I said in the last paragraph that the first time we went, I was in pain for 3 days. The next few trips I was doing fine, but the last 2 trips I’ve been in a bit of pain because I’ve added more weight to all of the machines. I start with a low weight because I don’t want to overdo it, then if it’s too light I will add more weight. If I do an entire set and it starts to become too much for me, then I will lower the weight so I can finish the next 2 sets.

When I saw the trainer, I only requested upper body because of my broken leg. I mean, it’s not broken anymore, it’s completely healed, but the doctor told me not to put any pressure on it at the gym, to only focus on upper body. So I only have 2 days worth of exercises. My partner only wants to go on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, so one week on Monday I will do day 1, Wednesday day 2, Friday day 1, then the next Monday I will do day 2, then Wednesday day 1 then Friday day 2. If the doctor said I could do legs, then I will tell the trainer that we’re only going 3 days a week, so give me all leg exercises for Fridays. I would love to go 4 days a week, but I’m really pushing my luck with 3 lol.

I haven’t been using the Total Body Enhancement machine because of my partner wanting to participate, but I used it on my last visit and then again today. One of the concerns that I had was will this hurt my leg? I have a metal bar with metal screws screwed into my shin. I’m sure the screws aren’t going to vibrate so much that they unscrew… wait, that won’t happen, will it? I’m sure nothing like that will happen. I didn’t have any pain in my leg at all, so I’m not too concerned, although I should probably ask my doctor just in case. I will see the doctor in 2 weeks. I walked the dog and as soon as I opened the door the pain came. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow, so the pain told me it will probably rain.

Of course after only 2 weeks I haven’t really seen any loss on the scale because I’m building muscle. I haven’t built enough muscle to notice a difference, but I do see that my face is starting to thin out a tiny bit. If I am consistent, the fat will melt away and I will be happy. That’s all that matters. I know that what matters the most is my health and not my happiness, but screw that, I just want to be happy, and I will be most happy when I can breathe while bending over to tie my shoes, and when I can actually see my junk without having to look in the mirror.

Planet Fitness Trainer

On By Michel McDonaldIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

planet fitnessI signed up at Planet Fitness last year in September because they sent me a postcard in the mail with their sign up special. I wanted to exercise at a gym because I knew that I would lose more weight if I had a place to go to exercise.

I broke my leg in December, froze my membership in February, then unfroze it last Friday. When I unfroze my membership, it occurred to me that when I signed up, I never made an attempt to see one of their trainers to get help or advice on what machines I should use to help me lose weight, so while we were unfreezing my membership, I decided to sign the paper for an appointment.

My appointment was on Monday, and I told her about my leg problem and she didn’t give me any exercises for lower body, just upper body. Normally they would give me a 4 day plan, so like day 1 I do these 4 specific machines for upper body and day 2 4 more. Since I can’t do legs, she only gave me 2 days worth of exercises.

When she gave me my exercises, she moved on to the next client and I got started. I hopped on the Elliptical machine for 20 minutes, but my right leg was giving up on me after 6 minutes. I tried so hard to keep going, but at 8 minutes I had to start the cool down. I was on the Elliptical for a grand total of 10 minutes and 28 seconds lol. She told me to either do the Elliptical or the bike, and I chose wrong. After that I went to the muscle machines and I could only do 2 of them. I was in a massive amount of pain, and I really couldn’t find the other 2 machines. I went to the counter and asked her to show me where they were so I would remember the next time I came in.

I was in so much pain from doing 3 sets on 2 machines, I literally couldn’t lift the carton of Silk Almond milk from the fridge door to pour in my Raisin Bran the next morning. I was going to take 1 day off, then go back on Wednesday, but I needed an extra day to rest, and I was still in agony up until I went to bed. I woke up on Thursday morning and was feeling great. I told my partner I wanted to go back whether I was still in pain or not, and I was quite surprised to see him holding a sweat towel for himself on the way out the door. He never wants to exercise with me. He did 2 machines, then disappeared to the seat at the front of the gym and waited for me to finish. He’s actually in pain from the little amount of sets that he did. I told him not to do too much because he literally has no muscles, so he just did 1 set of the 2 machines.

My partner won’t allow me to ride my new tricycle to the gym anymore because he’s afraid I’ll have another accident and break another bone. I understand his apprehension because I’ve broken 2 bones in the last 2 years on my old bike. So I get it. I mean, I’m 45, I have a mind of my own and if I decided that I wanted to ride my new tricycle to the gym, that’s exactly what I will do, but I have the same apprehension which is why I haven’t done that yet. I’m freaked out about breaking another bone. I mean, I’ve lived my entire life without ever breaking a bone. I’m a clumsy person by nature, and I’ve been very lucky to have never broken a bone until I was in my 40’s, and I’ve had many tumbles off the bike. At this point I think I’m getting too old to walk away from a bike accident. I’m not saying I’m old, but I worry I might break a hip next. Seriously though lol.

Anyway, I’m happy he’s driving me to the gym because he’s actually taking advantage of my guest privileges, and hopefully he benefits from this as much as I do. And I hope these exercises she gave me will work. Next month we are going to start eating Weight Watchers again, so hopefully that will help. The trainer told me that this will only work if we are also eating healthy. I lost 70lbs in 6 months in 2013 from eating Weight Watchers alone, so imagine how much weight I might lose if I ate Weight Watchers and exercised at the same time. I can only imagine, and I’m really trying to picture myself skinny again. Boy oh boy am I really trying.

Wish me luck! Wait, no, it might jinx it lol.

Fix for my Magic Bullet

On By Michel McDonaldIn Products I LikeLeave a comment

magic bullet

I have wanted a Magic Bullet ever since I saw the first infomercial for it on TV. I told my partner every time we walked by it at Sears or Target, and he always told me that it was too expensive. Last year we were at Sears and they were really inexpensive, so he finally bought it for me.

When I started going to the gym, I started buying this workout powder that is supposed to help you recover and it is supposed to help the muscles somehow. We had some strawberries in the fridge that we weren’t eating, so I put them in the freezer. I should have cut them into pieces first, but I didn’t.  Shoulda, coulda, woulda…

This is why I should have cut the strawberries up first. I threw whole frozen strawberries and frozen slices of banana into my shake, and it was too much for the Magic Bullet to handle and the blade stopped, but the rubber from the bottom of the cross blade started stripping and it stripped the plastic off the base gear. I honestly didn’t think that I did any harm to it at the time.

Yesterday I decided that I wanted to make a blended iced coffee, so I poured my cold coffee into the cup and added some small pieces of ice, then I screwed the cross blade on it and put it in the Magic Bullet, and it was making some strange noises, and it didn’t crush the ice like it normally would. I looked at the base gear and the bottom of the cross blade and I could see why it wasn’t working properly.

My first thought was great, now I need a new one. But then I wondered if it could be fixed, so I went on Amazon, my go to website for everything, and they just so happened to have the replacement parts. I bought both pieces, and then thought to myself, how the heck am I going to replace the gear? I went on YouTube and got the answer.

magic bullet bottom flathead screw

The bottom of the Magic Bullet has a opening, and you should see a flat head screw in that opening. What you gotta do is grab the gear with a pair of locking pliers, then put a flat head screwdriver in the bottom and hold it tight, then turn the locking pliers to the right as if you are tightening it. Trust me, it will loosen. When you have it off, then you can put the new one in place. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

The parts are so much cheaper than having to buy a new Magic Bullet, and it doesn’t take much effort fixing it, and you will bonk your hand on your forehead when you think about how you were about to throw the Magic Bullet away over something so trivial.

I know I should take better care of my things, and I try to, but sometimes I just don’t think before I act. No one is perfect, and I know I’m certainly far from perfect. I’m the most clumsy person I know. Here’s an example. Last year like a month before I broke my leg, I was in the emergency room because I was cutting the stem off of one of those frozen strawberries so I could blend it in the Magic Bullet, and the knife was so sharp that it went right through the strawberry, and went right into my finger at an angle. It didn’t go directly into the bone, it went in the same direction as the bone. I ended up with 3 stitches. I think that was the last time I used my Magic Bullet.

Magic Bullet stitches

So, I would suggest take better care of your (my) things, and be careful with sharp knives lol. Ouch! Oh, and I hope I helped save you money by showing you how to fix your Magic Bullet.

Schwinn Meridian 3-Wheel Tricycle

On By Michel McDonaldIn Bike, Exercise, Health, WeightLeave a comment

trike with 4 locks

I wanted to ride my new Schwinn Meridian 3-wheel tricycle to the store. I bought it a month ago and it’s been sitting in our back yard ever since. I haven’t been allowed to ride it because my partner is afraid I will hurt my leg, or perhaps get into another accident and break something else. I insisted on going to the store on the trike because I wanted to buy him a anniversary gift, and I really wanted to ride it. It’s like giving a child a cookie, but saying you can’t eat it, although in this case, I bought it and I’m being told I can’t ride it. He isn’t wrong for worrying because I’ve broken 2 bones so far on my bike.

The new Schwinn Meridian 3-wheel tricycle is very difficult to ride at first. I was on the right side of the street and I was quickly heading towards the sidewalk. I thought I was going straight, and in fact I held the handlebars like I was going straight, but for some reason I was actually going to the right. I had to quickly hit the brakes before I hit the sidewalk and the back of a car. That thing stops on a dime. I mean, literally, I squeezed the handlebars and it stopped so fast that I nearly fell off. I did actually, but I landed on both feet, thank goodness. I discovered that I have to veer to the left to go straight, which makes me think the handlebars aren’t on right, but they are. I even triple checked, and they are on straight.

I think that it will take time to learn the quirks of that bike so I will be comfortable enough to ride it when I need/want to. I reassured my partner that I won’t be riding that bike as fast as I normally would ride my old bike. I said I wouldn’t be racing, and he said YOU’VE BEEN RACING? I laughed and said no, I mean I won’t be going 10-12mph, instead I’ll go slow like 7 or 8 mph like an old man. When I cross streets I will walk it instead of riding it, which you are supposed to do anyway. I’ll also only ride it in residential neighborhoods instead of busy streets. Even streets with a bike lane have cars parked in them, so I end up with a very tiny amount of road. I prefer neighborhoods anyway.

I won’t be going to the gym until April 15th, so I still have a few weeks to heal, even though the doctor told me I was completely healed. I really look forward to going to the gym, even though I’m terrified to go on any bike now. I guess if I fear breaking another bone in my body, then I will be even more careful than I normally am, and so I shouldn’t worry about it. My commitment to Planet Fitness ends in September, that is if they didn’t add those months that I had my account frozen, if that’s the case then probably December. I really hope I make a big difference and lose a lot of weight by then.

Did you notice the picture above? I took a picture of it after I put all the locks on it when I got to the store. There is the U shaped lock that attaches to the handicapped sign with the steel coil attached to the front wheel. Then of course a coil cable attached from the seat to the frame, that way I don’t have to worry about someone stealing my seat. Trust me, it’s an issue lol. Then 2 more coiled cables attached to each back wheel. You think it’s paranoia, but if you think that, you’ve never come back to your bike minus a wheel or the seat. It happens more than you think. Trust me, it’s happened to me.

My Leg is Healed

On By Michel McDonaldIn DoctorLeave a comment

I had a doctor’s appointment for my broken leg. They took new x-rays, which to me looked exactly the same as the one from my last visit, so I didn’t bother to take a new picture. The doctor was shocked to see that I was walking on my own since the last time he saw me I was still using the wheelchair. I was using a cane, and he told me that he’d like to wean me off the cane, at which time I showed him that I could walk without the cane. I told him I only use it when we go out in public if I’m having pain and limping a lot because it hides and explains my limp to people. He said perfect, don’t use it if you don’t need it.

So I took a new picture of my scar to show that it’s almost disappearing. It’s flat, not bumpy. I’m sure it will eventually disappear, even though I would love for it to stay. I know that sounds odd, but I like it lol. It’s like a battle scar, like a trophy. I show it off to anyone who will look. Of course it helps if I wear shorts, or sweat pants so I can lift the leg.

The doctor told me that he is sending me back to physical therapy, which is awesome because I miss going there. He also wants to see me in 3 months for my final visit. I wanted to ask for a new prescription of my pain meds because it still hurts. It hurts when it’s cold outside, but it also hurts like the dickens when I wake up in the morning. You know how when you wake up and your body stretches all the limbs? Yeah, that hurts lol.

New Diet

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, Weight2 Comments

funny-diet-monkey-belly

I’ve heard so many times that the word “diet” is a 4-letter bad word, and that you shouldn’t go on a diet, you’re supposed to change your eating habits so you are eating a healthy diet all the time. I know this, but I also know that I love the taste of potato chips, chicken sandwiches, ice cream, pizza, jelly beans, Whoppers (from burger king, not the candy) and you know, just general bad stuff. What it is with food that I know I shouldn’t eat, but I just can’t help myself? If only those bad foods were actually good for me…

I went on a diet a couple of years ago and lost 70lbs, and frankly I have no idea what I did right and why I can’t repeat it. I wanted to keep losing, but as soon as we started bragging about losing 70lbs, the weight just stopped and suddenly I felt stressed out and I was maintaining the weight for a month straight. Then gradually over the next couple years the weight has slowly come back. I’m not back to where I was, which was 262lbs, but I’m getting close. I recently weighed myself early in the morning and I was 238. The next day I weighed myself and I was 240. Then I weighed myself and I was 245. What the hell is happening? How can I gain weight that fast? It’s like I just look at food and bing bang boom 5lbs. What the heck?

What I did to lose 70lbs was we started buying Weight Watchers Smart Ones frozen dinners, and I said the word NO to everything else. When my partner asked if I wanted to go to Taco Bell I said no. When he suggested we go to Golden Corral I simply said no. Every time he said that he wanted to go somewhere, I said no. He started buying cookies for himself and he would hide them in his living space in the living room, which is a good thing, because I didn’t want to know it was even in the house. One time he left a bag of doughnuts on the counter next to the toaster oven and I put my hand in there and I grabbed a doughnut and I ate it.

I have already made a few steps to lose weight by buying a Fitbit Charge HR watch to help motivate me to exercise. I bought that Schwinn Meridian 3-wheel tricycle to ride to the gym, and of course the gym to be a place where I can go to exercise and to help me lose weight. I know I don’t need a gym to lose weight, but if I make a commitment to go to a gym, then I make it a habit, then I will do it. If I don’t have a commitment to go somewhere, then I won’t do anything. I’ll just sit on the edge of my bed playing video games all the time.

I have the tools to exercise, now I need to eat healthy and I know I will succeed if I put my mind to it. Wish me luck!

Fitbit Sleep

On By Michel McDonaldIn Health, WeightLeave a comment

fitbit sleepI was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea in 2005. I visited 2 different aunts from 2002 to 2004 and they both told me that I snored really loud and that I gasped for air. In the summer of 2005 I was waking up in the middle of the night really gasping for air, I mean like I was struggling to breathe like someone had their hands around my neck and was choking me to death. I went to a sleep study and they told me I had severe sleep apnea and prescribed a BiPap machine.

I wore the BiPap machine mask every night for a decade, until I lost 70lbs and the pressure was too much and I couldn’t use it anymore. I didn’t think I had any sleeping issues with it, but I was wrong. I think I just didn’t want to continue to use it because I was sick and tired of having to be tethered to a machine for the rest of my life. Can you imagine not being able to go to bed unless you have a ball and chain locked to your ankle? That’s what it feels like. But in all fairness, if I don’t have that ball and chain locked on my face (in this case) I could likely die.

My mother died in her sleep from a heart attack and she was obese and I remember how bad her snoring was when she was alive. The doctor at the sleep study told me that I could die from a stroke or a heart attack in my sleep if I don’t have a BiPap macine. I believe that if I never went to that sleep study, I wouldn’t be here right now blogging about this.

I just bought a Fitbit Charge HR from Amazon to help motivate me to exercise more often so I can lose weight, and I knew it tracked my sleep, but I wasn’t as motivated by that until this very moment. When I saw my sleep from yesterday, I wasn’t that shocked by my sleeping patterns. It says that it took me 8 minutes to fall asleep, I woke up 6 times, I was restless 7 times and I was awake/restless for 30 minutes and I was only asleep for 6 hours and 6 minutes. The reason is because I set the alarm to wake me up at 8am. I want to wake up earlier than I do because I am trying to change my sleeping habits. I really hate sleeping so late. But then I went back to sleep because my body really needed it. I only slept for 1 hour and 48 minutes, but I was awake 4 times, I was restless 4 times and I was awake/restless for 27 minutes, which is basically half the time I was asleep.

Last night I decided to do an experiment and use my BiPap machine. I have gained half of the weight back that I lost, so I’m getting back into that zone where I really should start using the machine again. The air pressure wasn’t too high, it was the way it was when I was first diagnosed with sleep apnea, so that right there tells me I really need to be wearing my mask again every night. So last night I slept for 9 hours and 13 minutes which tells me I am catching up on much needed sleep. I only woke up 1 time, I was only restless 4 times and I was awake/restless for 8 minutes the whole night. What a huge difference a BiPap machine makes.

This Fitbit watch has really made a difference in my life in just owning it for 2 days. Not only will it help me (hopefully) lose weight, but it helped me to realize that I need to get more sleep and I need to use my BiPap machine every night, which I am going to do.

Fitbit Charge HR

On By Michel McDonaldIn Exercise, Food, Gadgets, Health2 Comments

Fitbit Charge HRIt finally happened. I was finally able to buy a Fitbit Charge HR. I bought the extra large because I didn’t trust that the large one would fit my fat wrist lol. I also didn’t trust that the band on the large would keep it on. I prefer a regular watch band.

I wanted to buy something like this a couple of years ago, but these are so expensive, and I just didn’t have the money. I bought The Spark from SparkPeople, which is a great product, but it’s glitchy. When I am riding my bike, it logs it as “General exercise” which means if I really burn like say 300 calories, it logs it as 94 or something. I don’t like that. I also didn’t like that it didn’t work with the bluetooth to connect to my phone, and this does.

When I lost 70lbs a couple of years ago, I used the Noom app, and to tell the truth I’ve been using it ever since, I just haven’t lost any weight because once my motivation goes away, I don’t lose weight, so whatever I am using doesn’t do any good. I have a new gadget, and I have some motivation to lose weight again, so I really hope I get my moneys worth with this new watch lol.

Of course I won’t be able to put it to good use for another month. My gym membership is frozen until April 15th, so on that date I will ride my new Schwinn Meridian 3-wheel tricycle to Planet Fitness. The physical therapist said I can use the exercise bike and the elliptical machine and to do some of the exercises I did at Physical Therapy. Until then, I will use the Fitbit watch and the Fitbit app to track my sleep and my steps and log my food. I’ve already walked 3,070 steps since I got it this morning. It wants me to walk 10,000 steps per day, and I’ve already walked a quarter of that so far. The day isn’t over.

I was going to wait until next month to buy it, but I was just dying to have it now. I’m impatient lol.

Physical Therapy

On By Michel McDonaldIn HealthLeave a comment

physical therapy

I have been going to physical therapy for my leg for probably a month and a couple of weeks. I went every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 1pm. They gave me several exercises with balls and straps and a giant piece of rubber, which they gave me on my first day so I could do those exercises at home twice a day. When I saw the doctor, I asked about riding the stationary bike at PT and she said that I could, so they added that. They decided that I was ready to start putting pressure on my leg, so they told me to stop using the crutches and start using a cane, which I did.

The best part of going to Physical Therapy were the other patients, because they had 6 beds in a row, plus they had 6 chairs all in the same room that they called the gym room. Everyone came at the same time, so everyone started to get to know each other well enough that we all knew each others names, like Cheers. Every Monday we would discuss The Walking Dead since it came back, which was so awesome, because it gave us something to talk about.

Unfortunately, my medical insurance provider capped me (no they didn’t bust a cap lol) and so Monday was my last day. I’m pretty sure I am good now and that if I wanted to continue my therapy, I could, at home, but it was a fun routine and it was fun getting out of the house and having other people to talk to, you know? It gets boring just laying in bed or sitting on the edge of the bed playing video games. It’s fun to actually get out of the house and meet new people.

I have the tools at the house, and I know what exercises I should do, so I am pretty much set to continue my therapy on my own, but it would be nice to have more therapy. I think they should call it physical and mental therapy. Maybe the doctor will prescribe another couple of weeks for me, who knows.

Amazon Prime

On By Michel McDonaldIn shoppingLeave a comment

Amazon-prime.png

I’m usually the last to try something if it means I have to spend a lot of money up front. The reason I waited so long to try Amazon Prime was because I could never afford to just give up $99 up front. They have a 30 day trial, and I could have tried it a long time ago, but I guess I figured if I tried it and liked it, I’d still have to come up with $99. Now that I have credit cards, it’s a lot easier for me to make the commitment because I can pay that off in payments.

The reason I decided to finally get Amazon Prime was because I wanted to buy the Schwinn Meridian 3-wheel tricycle, and it was only available for Amazon Prime members. It was $249, which was a great price considering they cost $400 and up at the bike shops. It was fortunate that I had won $500 in a sweepstakes with the National Consumer Panel, so I was finally able to buy it.

I checked out the Amazon Prime app on the PlayStation 4 and watched Ex Machina. I haven’t watched anything else yet because I’ve mostly been watching Hulu, but it’s nice to have Amazon Prime app for watching movies if the movie or tv show that I want to watch isn’t on Netflix or Hulu.

This is what really made me love Amazon Prime, the free 2 day shipping. Oh my goodness! I just hate having to wait for a week or longer for things. I’ve had to wait a month for things I’ve bought online. Waiting sucks! I bought a 30mm Selenite Puff Heart Mystical Meditation Crystal and a new Schwinn coil lock  and they came in just 2 days. Amazing! 2 day shipping is expensive, so it’s real nice to get it for free with everything I buy that has the Prime logo next to the price.

The money that I am saving by getting free 2 day shipping on everything I buy more than pays for Amazon Prime, so I think I will be a permanent Prime member.