Mike' Make Over Madness!

[toystoryduo]

Way to go, Mike!!! You purged your cabinets, took a walk, and had a GREAT weigh-in! Keep up the good work!

Have a great day today!

 

[Mykelogan]

Thanks Jenn and Tracy! And Jenn, that is great that you got out and walked!!!

As for me, I forgot how unforgiving the first day of a diet really is... I feel like I am deep in throes of caffeine, corn syrup and sugar withdrawal!

 

[jennz]

Mike that's a lot to take on in one day! But by this time next week you'll be "clean."

 

[Mykelogan]

Well I survived day one! Stuck to my eating, went for a walk after work. All good things. Car trouble is delaying my gym adventure by a few days, but should be on track with that tomorrow. Probably a good thing as I pulled a muscle in my back at work setting up the equipment last night and I am paying for it today!

Hope everyone is having a good one!!

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Hey everyone!!
Mike!!!! I am so proud of your 12 pound weight loss, that is soooo awesome! And to kiss the 400's goodbye, what an amazing feeling!!

Jenn, how was your walk?? Today is a nice day so I'll probably take the kids out to walk later. They have the whole week off so we are doing a lot of household purging.

Yesterday we looked at travel trailers (we have an RV now) and I was mad because the slide was in on the trailer and everyone could squeeze through to get to the bunks and bathroom but me. Made me feel really crappy, but now I have even more resolve to get fit.

OK, my time on the DIS is coming to an end. DD wants breakfast.

I'll talk to y'all later, have a great day everyone!!

 

[Mykelogan]

Morning Buffy! Sorry you had to have that experience! I certainly can empathize having not fit in many places in my life. Never a good feeling. But keep your head up and use the moment as motivation!!

As for me, I am realizing today how much of a crutch my morning caffeine and sugar rush were for me keeping my day going. I feel like I need a nap or to go face down in a box of donuts! I won't slip, but man every Dunkin Donuts commercial on the radio today is TORTURE!!!

 

[toystoryduo]

Day 1 is done! Way to go, Mike! Remember, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. You have taken that first step and you are on your way. Way to go!

Sorry to hear about your car troubles. I hope everything gets fixed soon.

Have a great day today!

 

[Mykelogan]

Thanks Tracy!! You're right, gotta look at each step as a victory because the marathon ahead could get overwhelming. lol

Day three is here, and it may just be psychological but I feel like I am starting to feel the effects of my carb balancing. Usually I would wake up starving and start the day's binging on the drive in to work. And I will say that the past two days were pretty rough, felt pretty hungry constantly both days. Woke up this morning and I am not hungry yet, and I haven't eaten my breakfast yet. I think what is also happening is that my caffeine headaches are pretty much gone and I am adjusting to drinking water vs. Coca Cola all day long. So hopefully these good feelings continue!

Had a funny realization yesterday. Earlier in the week I was cranky about how much grocery shopping for fresh food cost me on Sunday. Then yesterday I was heading to Walmart to get myself a George Foreman Grill because the tiny one we have in our apartment has seen better days, also I wanted to get a bigger one so I could grill up some meat and veg at the same time. The mid-size grill was like $39 and at first I balked at the price. And then I thought about how much I used to spend on crap (excuse my language) each week. $5 a day for coffee and pastry, $30 a week at least on fast food, $20 a week at least on soda, and so on... Just by giving up coffee and soda alone I am saving around $60/wk! Add that to what I used to spend weekly on groceries and with my spending Sunday, I am actually saving closer to $80-90/wk. Kind of amazing when you think about it. I feel like this will definitely help me save for my Disney trip next year! haha Plus I bought the grill. I know I will get a lot of use out of it!

One last note before I get back to work. My friend got me the work out plan he put together for me. Wow he did a great job listening to all my concerns about building up my stamina and leg strength. He built it up as a three month model that changes every two weeks building up to a more consistent level. Starts with water aerobics, then adds in some treadmill. After a month adds in some weight training and broke that down with specific exercises, etc. Increasing the timing and intensity as the weeks go on, ie. adding time to the treadmill, starting with 2 days of weights and upping it to 3. Then after three months we'll assess how it's going and make changes. Just really touched by how much time and effort he put into it for me.

I feel like I have more that I want to say but I should really get back to work! haha And that's enough for now I suppose.

Best wishes for a fantastic day y'all!
Mike

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Mike the workout plan sounds awesome! It sounds like your friend is really listening to you which is a great testament to his faith in you and your faith in him. I think it's going to be a successful plan.
I'm glad your headaches are better, mine lingered for about 3 weeks but after that the fog really started to clear and I felt like my "fleeting moments of clarity", lasted longer. I will admit there are times that I want a soda so bad I can taste it, especially when the kids have one but it's just so not worth it. the 24th will be 4 months since I've had one and while I've not lost anymore weight after I initially gave it up, I also haven't put on any pounds which I did do in the past while drinking soda.

Isn't if funny that we cringe at the thought of paying for $30 in fresh fruit but we don't bat an eye at spending the same for 2000+ calorie meal at a restaurant. What is that about?? But look at it this way, it's an investment in your future. And having a little spending money at Disney doesn't hurt either! LOL
When is your trip?

OK, my time here is coming to a close. It's a nice day here in CT today so I think I might take the kids for a walk on the green before I get DS15 from school.
Have a great day Mike and the rest of the crew!

 

[Mykelogan]

Morning all!

Go you, Buffy! Four months without soda is amazing!! It is just amazing to me the effects that a beverage pushed on us almost 24/7 can have on our bodies and lives.

And you're right, it is funny that I will get riled up about spending $4 on some tomatoes, or $3 on a head of cauliflower, but I'd drop $15 at Taco Bell for an "after work snack" without batting an eye. Or even spending $10 for a pack of chicken breast that will last 4 days, but $30 on one meal at Chili's was no big deal. Funny and kind of sad.

As for my trip, well my 40th birthday is in April of 2013, but that is way too crowded of a time to go for my liking, so I right now we're planning on October of 2013 so that we can go to the Halloween party and, gulp, the Food and Wine festival. lol. I am excited. I love planning a Disney trip.

Got my pool/gym membership yesterday and sadly there was a swim meet of some kind going on when I went so there was no water aerobics last night, so I will be going to my first class last night. Since I couldn't swim I went for a walk in the beautiful weather we were having here. Paid for it though, these walks punish my knees and legs, just don't have the strength to push it yet. Which is why I am excited to get in the pool!!

Have a great Thursday all!
Mike

 

[toystoryduo]

I hear ya, Mike! I get upset when I think about spending $$$$ on fresh produce and yet, I'll spend that same amount of money on fast food without a thought. Remember, we are each a work in progress and each time we take a step in the right direction, that is a victory.

Your 40th birthday trip sounds like fun!

Have a great time at water aerobics tonight! You CAN do it!

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Let me tell you about soda. DH hates it, he hasn't had any in years. On our last trip to Disney we ate at Sci-Fi Dine-In and he asked for milk, whole milk if they had it. Their answer, we only have 2% because Disney promotes healthy living. He was like, what??? So I can buy a large coke and get as many free refills as I want but you won't carry whole milk because it's got to much fat in it??? She had no response. It was unbelievable!!!
When we were giving up soda we did some research for the kids (we bet them $100 they couldn't go a month without soda). Did you know there are 22 sugar packets in one 20oz coke? I can't fathom sitting down and eating 22 packets of sugar yet we'd guzzle a bottle of coke no problem.

I hope you keep track of your savings!! One thing we did to stop eating out so much was if we said we wanted say Chili's but we ate at home instead, I would bank the difference. Chili's is easily $100 or more for the 6 of us. Dinner at home was like $10, I would move $90 from checking to our Disney savings.

Have you ever been in October? We went once and I loved it. The kids did the halloween party and DH and I loved the food and wine festival. I'd like to go back. We are headed down in December of this year, next year is a school trip to Ireland so we're saving up for that.

OK, I've spent to much time here and the kids want to go out. It's another nice day out, an oddity for NE in February.
Have a great day!! Enjoy swimming!!

 

[dragitoff]

I know all too well those attempts at kicking your caffeine dependency. I tried to break that habit many times unsuccessfully. Fortunately (although it didn't seem fortunate at the time), I got a severe bacterial infection last spring and could only drink water and gatorade for 3 days. Once I realized I hadn't had a soda after the 4th day and didn't have any headaches, I swore I'd never go back. I still drink a soda every now and then, but I usually drink Diet Rite (no caffeine, no carbs, no calories or sodium).

Water will become such a good friend on your journey to a healthier you!

 

[mackeysmom]

Hi Mike -

I came over to the WISH Journal board to get some motivation to start my own and stumbled on your journal.

I totally relate with the $$$$ issue. I've been trying to add more fruits and veggies into my meals and my grocery bill is sky high. I keep telling myself that frozen pizzas, ice cream, McDonalds and all of the crap that I used to buy cost just as much - if not more.

- Laura

 

[Mykelogan]

Morning all!

Seems like a lot of us are working on (and succeeding at) kicking the soda to the curb. That is awesome!

Dragitoff - First, thanks for coming by my journal! Second, you're totally right about the water, I go no where without my water bottle now!

Buffy - Interesting about the milk at Disney. And no, I have yet to go down in October (was close once! lol) so I am excited for all the Fall fun. My sister is demanding we go to the Halloween party in costume, so that should be interesting. haha

Laura - Thanks also for coming on in here. Doesn't the junk food money just pile up without us realizing it? It is a bit of the craziness of it all. I griped about my grocery bill but realistically, I would usually have spent that much on a Sunday shopping and need to go restock today, and right now I still have a pretty packed fridge. It is great!

Tracy - Thanks for the cheers, the pool was great!

Speaking of the pool, water aerobics was fantastic and totally kicked my butt. I actually did about 15-20 min of water jogging before the class, figuring I needed a little extra oomph as the aerobics class was only 30min. Boy was I mistaken, the instructor is a task master! She totally had us moving the full 30 min with a cardio workout and abs/core work too. It was funny, at one point she had to walk away to fix the CD player and most of the class just stopped moving, but I kept going, figured best to keep the heart pumping. She noticed as soon as she turned around and said, "Look ladies, we finally have a man in the class and he kept moving when the rest of you stopped! Good for you guy!" The class is me and about 20 women. hehe. At the end of class several of the members were welcoming me and called me an overachiever. I will accept that! haha. Another woman came over and told me how she has been doing water aerobics three times a week for a few years and has lost 150lbs! Wow, good for her!! I hope I can follow in her footsteps! Now I won't lie, I was majorly sore when I got out of the pool and was worried about cramps last night as I tend to get bad leg cramps but I hydrated myself really well and included a banana (for potassium) with my dinner, and it helped. No cramps! My knees and back are definitely sore today but in a good way. There's no class today but I am going to go back to the pool after work to get a work out in as I can't go tomorrow and they're closed Sunday. Feeling good about this!! Hope it translates to results!

Hope everyone has a fun weekend planned. I have a few challenges tomorrow. I have a Thai cuisine cooking class in the morning that I got from some friends for Christmas and then in the evening it is my Aunt/Godmother's surprise 60th birthday party. Tempting food all over the place and less than a week into my new diet! I am going to be strong though and focus on my food plan. I can do this!!!

Have a great day all!!
Mike

 

[toystoryduo]

Sounds like you had a great water aerobics class! Yay! Great job, Mike!

Have a great weekend!

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Hi Mike!!

What happened to our glorious weather???? Yesterday it was near 60 and this morning I get a call from school at 5am that there is a 2 hour delay. I'm why?? Duh, look outside, there is I snow everywhere!!! Simply dreadful!
Did you guys get any?? We have probably 2 inches but it sounds icy underneath.

Way to go on the water class! I can't swim so I avoid water like the plague. I'm glad the ladies welcomed you, it sounds like they are a good group of cheerleaders for you. I'm glad you didn't stop too, not taking any shortcuts is going to be a key to your success.
I can't wait to hear about your class. Make sure you ask questions about how to make Thai more healthy for you.
And when you do your Aunt's party make sure you water up first, then browse the whole table before you pick any food. Watch for hidden calories, pasta, sauces, cheese, butter. 1/2 a plate of veggies, a little grain, and a little protein. Don't be afraid to bring a good fall back in case their aren't any good choices.

I hope you have a good weekend!! We are going roller skating for a birthday party. I used to skate 4 times a week when I was a teen but stopped after I met DH. (Part of the reason I packed on the pounds) but I'm really excited to go. We'll see if I still have some moves! LOL

 

[Mykelogan]

Hey Buffy! Yes, this weather is most interesting. We just got a slushy dusting and then it turned to rain, luckily. Hope you have fun roller skating, you're much braver than I! haha

As for food at the party, I will actually be hoping to see some cheese and veg! I am on a controlled carb plan (not low carb per se), so cheese can be a friend if other protein options are not around. But thank you for your suggestions! I am trying to get my cousin to let me know exactly what will be there so if it seems like I can't make the party food work I will just have a nice balanced dinner before and stick to my water there. Won't necessarily be easy but I'm worth the effort!

 

[Mykelogan]

Challenge number one for the weekend is done, I survived my Thai cooking class and I stayed on my eating plan. It was great! I also survived standing for three and a half hours for the class. Went for a walk around the college's campus after too. Such a gorgeous place.

Ooh, I also had an unexpected surprise last night, my parents wanted me to go out to dinner with some of their friends. I was able to make some good choices and have a great dinner!

Kind of getting excited to weigh in again on Monday!! Who ever thought I'd say that?? lol

 

[Mykelogan]

Initial Weigh In: 388lbs
Week #1 weight: 378lbs

Difference: 10lbs!!!!!

This deserves a banana dance!

Never thought I would like a Monday morning.