Tag: losing weight

Slim-Fast’s Best Tasting Shakes Ever!

On By Michel McDonaldIn AdLeave a comment

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Slim-Fast for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

The New Slim Fast 3*2*1 on the go bottles - Rich Chocolate Royale

We all remember Slim-Fast when it became popular in 1987.  They started with the powder that you mix with skim milk, then they added the ready to drink cans.  Now they have the new on-the-go shake plastic bottles.  I bought an 8-pack today and had one for lunch and I can tell you that they taste amazing.

I have done the Slim-Fast plan many times and I lose weight every time.  I think the most that I have lost was 40lbs while on the Slim-Fast plan and I think that it’s time that I started losing weight again.  I plan on doing the new Slim-Fast 3-2-1 plan.  I will eat 3 snacks a day which is either veggies or the Slim-Fast snack bars, replace 2 meals with the Slim-Fast on-the-go shakes or meal bars and eating 1 sensible 500-calorie dinner with half of the plate being veggies, a quarter being protein and a quarter being grains.  It also helps to drink a full glass of water before eating dinner.

I love the snacks bars because they look and taste like candy bars.  The snack bars are good because they are a delicious calorie controlled snack that will curb your sweet cravings until dinner time.  My favorite snack bar is the chocolate nougat gone nuts.  The meal bars and shakes give you the perfect amount of calories with tons of vitamins and minerals that your body needs.

The new on-the-go shake bottles are perfect for people who don’t have time to mix their shakes.  They are easy to slip into your purse, backpack or gym bag and you can drink them any time you need to.  The shakes give you 4 hours of hunger control, which is what I need because my stomach is always hungry.

You can buy Slim-Fast on-the-go shakes, powder cans, snacks and meals at Wal-Mart, Target, Safeway and Kroger in the pharmacy department and online at Amazon.com.  Become a fan of the Slim-Fast Facebook fan page and enter in the Vow to Wow contest, enter the video contest and get some coupons for $1.50 off your next purchase.

I have heard people tell me that now is not the time to try to lose weight because of the holidays.  This is the perfect time to lose weight.  If you don’t start now then when?  Don’t make excuses and don’t let anyone pressure you into waiting until you have tried Aunt Betty’s homemade fruit cake.  Tell her no thank you, I am eating a Slim-Fast snack bar instead.  There, I have saved you from having to eat fruit cake.  You can thank me later.

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Why Can’t I Lose Weight?

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, Health2 Comments

I don’t understand why I’m not able to lose weight.  I have changed my diet completely, I have basically done a 180° and yet I still can’t lose weight.

I stopped drinking soda, coffee and tea and I only drink water but that didn’t make any difference because I’m still gaining.  I stopped making pasta meals and started eating more veggies and sometimes only eat veggies and yet that hasn’t made any difference because I’m still gaining.

I haven’t started exercising though because I’m in too much pain.  If I had a back wheel for my bicycle then I would be able to ride my bike, although it has a weight limit of 250lbs and I’m 258 now so I would probably have to wait a bit to do that.  I tried walking but I get back pain after like 5 minutes then I have to sit down.  I have degenerative disc disease in my spine which makes it very difficult to do anything really.

I am seeing the doctor this week on Thursday and I know he’s going to bitch at me for not losing weight again this month.  But nobody can say I haven’t tried because I have made the change to my diet.  Until I can get an easier way to exercise, I’m kinda stuck.

End of Plateau?

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, Exercise, FoodLeave a comment

I’m finally losing weight again. I wonder if this is the end of my plateau or not. In order to give you a glimpse of why I plateaued I have to tell you this.

A few weeks ago I was doing great. I was losing 3-5lbs a week and I was happy. Every morning I would wake up and would be giddy after weighing myself. Ok giddy is a strong term, I was happy.

Unfortunately, both Darrin and I were sick of my menu. It was the same thing every day for lunch and dinner. 4oz of chicken (boneless/skinless) 1/2 cup brown rice and 1 cup of vegetables. After a few months anyone would get sick of that twice a day.

I said ok we can cool it with that for lunch. I started buying bread again which was my big no-no but the bread I was buying was only 50 calories and it was 100% whole wheat. I was also buying very low-calorie lunch meat but I don’t think I can blame that as the cause.

I was also starting to eat more junk food again. Darrin was tired of eating healthy all freaking day and so he started sneaking cookies into the house, Chips Ahoy to be exact. It has his name in the brand, what’d you expect?

So I caught wind of the cookies because he left the boxes all over the coffee table and I was bound to see them. Then he started going to Taco Bell and buying other things and I was eating them too because I am so sick of this diet.

Let me clarify that, I’m sick of this “new lifestyle change” lol. I’m not allowed to call it a diet because diets don’t work but a lifestyle change will if you stick with it.

In the last week or so we haven’t been eating so much bad stuff because we’re both broke so we have to save what money we have left on actual food instead of junk and now that I’m not eating as much crap anymore I’ve started losing weight again.

I think I was stuck at 222-224 but yesterday I weighed in at 219 and this morning it was 218 so I’m very happy to see those numbers dropping.  Also a pair of shorts that I haven’t been able to wear in years finally fit me but now they are getting so loose, too loose in fact.  I’m going to have to stop wearing them again which sucks because they are good shorts.

I’m hoping that those cravings will start to go away now that I’ve finally tasted the bad foods again. Unfortunately when you eat bad foods they taste too good to stop eating but we will see how it works out for me. I really want to get into the 2 teens and out of the 2 twenties you know?

Maybe when I’m 215 I will start to feel like I’m getting somewhere.  In reality I should be 215 by now if it hadn’t been for that plateau.  I should be 200 by October 12th so if I’m going to be there by then I have a lot of work to do and I need to start eating better again.

And by the way, the Nook was supposed to be my reward for going down to 200lbs and I’mplanning on buying it sooner for some reason so my reward system isn’t working for me at all.  I think if it were a sponsor who were rewarding me I would take it more seriously and maybe that’s why I’m plateauing because I’m offering myself rewards.  A reward for losing weightshouldn’t be a thing but more a feeling.  Nah screw that, I want devices.

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.

Finally Some Progress

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, HealthLeave a comment

I’m finally seeing some progress with my diet and exercise regimen.  For breakfast I measure 1 cup of cereal, raisin bran, then for lunch I have a slim fast shake then for dinner it’s usually a salad which is a pretty good salad with that salad mix that you can buy in bags, then I add a hard-boiled egg chopped up, 1/3 of a can of tuna, half a celery cut into pieces, sliced and peeled cucumber, to add more flavor I add a tiny bit of bacon bits and some sunflower seed nuts meant for salads and then top it off with some ranch dressing.

Yeah OK, some might say that the bacon bits, sunflower nuts and ranch don’t help but guess what?  I’m losing weight.  I mean come on, you can’t take that away from me.  If I wasn’t having any progress then fine, I’d remove the bacon bits and sunflower nuts but there ain’t no way I’m gonna give up the ranch dressing because I absolutely hate that oil and vinegar douche crap.

The first 3 weeks I was riding my bike I wasn’t losing any weight at all because I was being sabotaged.  Yeah yeah yeah, I know, you can’t blame anyone but yourself right?  Well, Darrin took me to taco bell when he got one of his checks then the next day we went to Hometown Buffet then we went to China town buffet because friends from San Diego came to visit then he took me to Hometown Buffet again.  I was like enough with the buffets and taco bell.

So then my 4th week I lost 5lbs because I stopped eating crap and started taking things more seriously.  I wasted 3 weeks of hard work riding my bike, that’s how I feel.  The 4th week I lost and now that I’m continuing to take it seriously I’m still losing weight.

This Friday, in 2 days, I’m going to weigh in again and I’m going to be very happy because I know that I’m going to drop at least another 5lbs.

Oh I also forgot to add that I eat a lot of bananas and I eat 1 energy bar the day I ride the bike which is usually halfway through my ride.  I typically only ride 3 or 4 days a week and it’s usually only 1 hour per ride.  But as I lose more and more weight the bike will be easier to ride because I will be lighter so I will be able to ride longer than just 1 hour per ride.  Maybe at least 1 1/2 hour or who knows, maybe when I’m 200lbs I will be riding 2 hours per ride.  I will cross that bridge when I get to it.

Dell DJ Battery Fixed

On By Michel McDonaldIn Products I LikeLeave a comment

My friend Alyce bought me a Creative Versa-Tool Kit as a gift which I totally didn’t expect her to do.  It has many uses such as wood burning, soldering, cutting, stamping, embossing, shaping (wax) etc.

I’ve wanted one to solder my Dell DJ battery wires because they snapped off.  I was finally able to fix it so now I can start riding my bike again on the bike path. I can start losing weight again yay.  That is if I am able to buy a new wheel soon.  Now is the perfect time to start riding again because the weather is nice.

Bad Week for Riding

On By Michel McDonaldIn Daily BlogLeave a comment

Well today I didn’t get to ride at all because of the delivery mix up.  Since they finally showed up at 1:45pm I thought it would be ok to go out but I really prefer to go in the morning after breakfast.  I’d prefer to get it out of the way and not have to worry about getting too hot.  What am I going to do in the summer time?  Sheesh I’m gonna have to get up at 4am in the summer time.

Tomorrow I have an appointment with the neurologist for my carpel tunnel syndrome and that appointment is at 11:30am which means I’m going to have to get up really early to leave.  I’m usually gone for an hour and half, I could leave at 9am and be back at 10:30 so I have an hour to get ready.  I think I’m gonna do that.

But then on Friday I have a doctor’s appointment with our regular doctor for a regular visit at 10am.  There is no way I’m getting up at 7am to ride my bike lol.  I normally don’t get up until 9:30am so I’m just going to go after my appointment, that is if I get home by noon lol.  We’re usually gone for 2 hours even when we have an appointment.  What’s up with doctors?  You come early and you end up waiting in the waiting room for 45 minutes AFTER your appointment time even if you were there half an hour early.

I know one thing is that I’m going to ride this Saturday and Sunday no matter what.  I know that I’m keeping my weight down (even though I’m eating a PB&J right now) but in order for me to really keep my weight down I gotta exercise as much as possible.  I’m talking about maintaining my weight loss as well as losing weight.  That’s been my problem, I can lose about 10-20lbs but then I start to just maintain it.  Even if I am able to maintain my weight I need to keep going.

Biking is Easier

On By Michel McDonaldIn Cycling, Diet, Exercise, HealthLeave a comment

Riding the bike is getting a lot easier.  I rode the bike from my house to Oak and Palm before realizing I didn’t stop for water once so naturally I stopped for some water.  I got all the way to the park in 19 1/2 minutes this time which is I think 3 minutes faster.  Probably because I didn’t stop to take a water break so many times.

I also didn’t sit on the picnic table for that long either, on Monday I think I sat there for 20 minutes before heading back home and this time I think it was like 10 or 15 minutes.

When coming home I didn’t turn right on H st. going on 21st st.  Instead I went further down to Chester Ave. because H st. has no bike lane in downtown Bakersfield but Chester Ave. does.  I think it’s easier to ride in a bike lane than cause an accident, don’t you?

So, I went a further distance and it was only 40 minutes this time.  The last time it was 45 minutes and this time I went a further distance which tells me that 1 I’m going faster and 2 my legs are getting more used to riding that I don’t have to stop to take a break for them.

I can remember not too long ago that I could only ride up to California Ave. and back and that was like 12 minutes and when I came home I could barely walk because of the stiffness in my legs.  If I am able to go faster and further than that just means that I will start to lose weight a lot faster.  I can already see it in my face that the fat is starting to come off.

If I can just keep doing this 3 days a week it wont be long before I’m thinner.  Oh and I need to start following the SparkPeople food plan again if I’m going to be successful.  The food they have is low-calorie and very good for us especially for Darrin because he has borderline diabetes now so whatever I make for myself I can make for him too then before you know it he will be losing weight too (but just on food, he doesn’t want to exercise).

My Weight

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, HealthLeave a comment

Wow!  I just weighed myself and it’s not good.  Of course most people would just not talk about it, they would pretend that it doesn’t matter or the problem doesn’t exist but I know the problem exists.  I was doing Spark People a year ago (I started on October 1st 2007) but something happened in my life and I just couldn’t do it anymore.  I gave up dieting altogether even though I had lost over 20lbs.  I was so proud of myself and then I just quit.

I was eating the food but not exercising and I was in a plateau for over a month and just couldn’t take the torture of having to suffer eating such small portions and so many veggies.  Although it wasn’t all that bad, the veggie portions were pretty big but it was still torture to eat good and not lose a single lb.  But I wasn’t exercising either so that’s where I made a huge mistake.  I didn’t step it up and help myself along the long road of losing weight.

My highest weight that I’ve ever been was 245 and I weighed myself just before I started this post and I was 243.  I’m just 2lbs from being right back to where I was.  I need this Dell DJ battery to come soon and the pump and bag.  I need them to come so I have motivation to ride my bike to get exercise.  I need the pump because it has a gauge built-in so I can see if I’m pumping the correct amount or not.  Right now they don’t feel fully pumped but I’m afraid to put too much air in because it will pop if I do.  If it doesn’t have enough it may pop from my weight.  The frame bag is just a bonus to keep all the tools with me so I don’t have to carry them.

The Dell DJ battery is a crucial part of this whole journey.  I refuse to ride the bike in silence.  It will be too boring and I will not want to keep doing it day after day if I’m bored doing it.  Of course I probably won’t have to do it day after day.

As of right now my leg muscles are still not ready for a 2 hour bike ride.  It is ready for a 5 minute bike ride before I can’t walk anymore.  What I will have to do is just ride for as long as I can going towards beach park where the bike trail is and when I get too sore then just stop, rest and head back home.  Just keep doing that every day or every other day or whatever I need.  I can’t push my muscles too far because the more sore my legs are the less likely I will want to do it.  But I heard from a trainer that if your legs are sore, so what, keep doing it.  You don’t want the muscles to heal fully, you want them to be sore because they won’t get used to it unless you keep doing it.  Yeah they will be sore for a few days but once they get used to it they wont be painful.  It will become old hat.

Let’s just hope that these items come to me soon, within a week at least.  I don’t know how much more of this fat I can take.  I can’t look at myself in the mirror anymore.  I have BDD so bad from this that I don’t even want to leave the house because people are staring at me and judging me every day.  I just want to be back to where I was when I was thin.  Nobody even noticed me because I blended in with all the other skinny people.  Fat people don’t blend in too well especially when their t-shirts are stretched out in the stomach area. Which reminds me, if this does work, if I lose a massive amount of weight by riding my bike, I’m gonna need a wardrobe change hehe.

Weight Loss

On By Michel McDonaldIn DietLeave a comment

When I quit smoking in 1996 I gained weight. A lot of weight. About 50lbs. And over the years it has grown. I’ve gone on diets and I’ve never really lost that much weight and when I did lose it, I ended up gaining it back.

One time I lost 40lbs and didn’t even realize it until I weighed myself and then I started gaining it back. Well, I’ve gotten so heavy that I went to 243lbs. I was originally 150lbs when I first quit smoking. I was very comfortable at 150lbs and I was happy but 243 is just too much so I went back on a diet.

I’ve so far lost 20lbs and hope to continue this quest of losing weight. I’m using 2 different programs, SparkPeople.com and Slim Fast. I like the slim fast optima because it curbs my appetite for 4 hours. I don’t get up early, I get up at noon, I don’t know why. But I do and so I wake up and have a chocolate shake then 4 hours later I have vanilla shake then at 6pm I eat dinner that is usually a recipe from Spark People.

At 8pm I will have a strawberry shake because I’m usually hungry again by that time so the shake controls my appetite until it’s bed time. Unfortunately I can’t go to sleep until 2am. The last shake would normally wear off by midnight but I try my best to not eat. If I have to I’ll eat a Slim Fast candy bar hehe. Those have the optima too. Well, I’m hoping to be 200lbs by the end of summer at least and then 150lbs by my next birthday.

If you want to see my progress look at the scale on my spark page (look at the menu on the left).