The Biggest Loser

november 4, 2014

Had my gout under control and was pain free. then a couple of days ago it came back. still dealing with it the natural way thru diet and now exercise. before while under attack from it, i wouldn't exercise but the last two days I did workouts.

did 45 minutes on the elliptical and burned over 500 calories two days ago and yesterday lifted weights for half an hour. to my surprise the pain went down some, but it is still painful.

i now have new motivation to lose the weight. at my new job, i joined the biggest loser contest to see who can lose the most weight between now and december 22 of this year. the winner will get a money prize of what of amount is unknown. everyweek we will weigh in and keep up with total body fat loss too.

with this competition i will step up my exercise and diet program. this will help me carry this into my own journey as well. until next time, take care and God bless.

Lost Three Pounds

Oct. 21, 2014

In two weeks I've lost three pounds on my diet alone, now my weight is 284 pounds. Still can't work out due to recovering from gout in my foot.

Having gout changed my diet for the better. Cut out a lot of things like over eating, way down on sugar, and meat. Eating salad every other day, eating 6 oz. of meat a day, and drinking a ton of water.

I've been reading up on natural foods to stop the gout attacks. Added oranges, tomatoes and cherry juice to my diet to calm the gout attacks.

that's it for now and will keep you guys posted. Take care and God Bless. 

down with painful gout

oct 5. 2014

it's been a very long time since i've posted about my journey but had a lot of changes since then. in july laid off from my job and in august stated a new career as a saleman of health insurance policies. at the end of june came out of physical therapy.

for the last four days dealing with painful gout and changing my diet to keep this from happening again. gout is more serious than i realize. searching the internet, it says it can be disabling and can attack several joints all over your body. mine is in my feet, so walking is a challenge.

before  this gout attack i had been lifting weights frequently recently. tried to do a short thirty minute workout today but the pain was too much and had to give up after five minutes. now staying off my feet as much as possible and cut a lot of red meat out of my diet.

today bought a ton of different kinds of vegetables and drinking plenty of water. still researching and building a good diet for gout. if anyone has any good suggestions let me know. also got on the scale yesterday and lost one pound and back down to 287 pounds. with the radically changes in my diet i should be able to lose better.  until next time take care and God Bless.

i'm back

august 27, 2014

after a real long layoff i'm back with vengeance. got really down on myself for not doing well and took like six weeks off from exercising and diet. almost gave up and threw in the tower. had some other personal challenges too during this time. laid off of my job last month because the owner of our company was stealing a lot of money from it.

got a new job and passed the lenience exam to sell health insurance. got back to exercising this week with new gusto. exercised with circuit training for 75 minutes and 60 minutes repectfully. did boxing, weight training, and leg crunches on my total gym bench.

things are looking up and i'm back on the right track. so take care and God Bless!

Live Workout

July 9th 2014

doing one of my life workouts in real time. it's been awhile since i did one on my blog and thought it would be a good idea to do one again.

just completed doing 15 minutes on the ellipical and burned 125 calories. now the second half of my workout is dancin 20 minutes to you tube.

7:36 pm bringing up you tube to get started.  danced to two lionel richie tunes "do it to me one more time" and "dancin on the ceiling. 10 minutes of my dance work out knockout.

taking a short rest and will do the second half soon.

now it is 7:57  and now will resume my workout. after dancing to john mellencamp "r.o.c.k in the usa" and his duet with me'shell ndegeocello "wild nights"; along with tina turner and rod stewart "it takes two", i finished my dance routine in 22 minutes.

tiem is 8:24 and my workout is complete. the elliptical burned 125 calories and the dancing burned 379 calories. todays workout burned a total of 504 calories in 37 minutes. this was a fun workout and burned some fat tonight.

you guys keep working out too and i'll talk to you soon. take care and God Bless.

up my exercise

july 7th, 2014

i'm sweating heavily after completing 31 minutes of dancing to you tube.  i took like three breaks to get it done. feeling energized and can't wait to do it again on wednesday.

tonight i have blinding sweat and shirt full of the stuff. i'm alternating between the elliptical and dancing for my aerobic workouts. had to increase my exercise after seeing my weight slightly go up.

between my wedding anniversary on june 30th and the 4th of july, my diet got a little out of control. still determine to keep knocking that fat off my body so had to make changes. gave up bringing those microwave dinner to work since they are loaded with salt.

last night cooked hamburgers with no bread that i cooked for lunch today. i eat bread every other day to cut down and not get as bloated around the middle.

will report my weight in two weeks with these new changes. until next time take care and God Bless.

Started Exercising after six months

July 2, 2014

after a long lay off due to back pain and other issues, i started back exercising. taking it real slow to keep from injurying myself again and on the advise of my physical therapists. doing twenty minutes on my elliptical and working up a big hot sweat.

Also my wife had me walking in the park recently and went about a one mile and half. couldn't complete the full three miles due to back pulling. applied some arithis cream on my leg and foot when this was over.

still in the game and glad to be back. i will keep you guys informed on my progress. happy fourth to everyone and God Bless.

released from physical therapy

june 21, 2014

on thursday was released from physical therapy and no pain in my leg. i get a slight nagging pain in the side of my hip. i'm much better and can function like normal. i'm am thankful and glad. i used to be in so much unbelievable pain before. i use to have trouble standing, walking and the whole nine yards.

i had re-injured my back in december and hadn't work out since then. tonight i will do my first workout in my basement. i will do some light stuff since my phyical therapist advised to build up to doing weight lifting and boxing. so for now just aerobic stuff - elitical, walking, dancin and stretching.

my diet is going well. still keeping sugar to a minimum. every other week will eat a hershey candy bar. yesterday my wife brought me three cookies from her food day. i ate 2 of them and she ate one. i stopped buying sweets except for that candy bar twice a month. i drink water and non sweet tea. i drink three cups of coffee maybe once or twice a week with a spoon full of sugar in each cup.

still eating three meals with almost no snacking. eating a lot of fish and more vegatables that i like. last weekend made a pot of yams since my colorard greens had expired. my wife doesn't enjoy the smell of collard greens on a daily basis.

on june 7th had lost two more pounds. today the scale said i had gained a pound. that's good reason to add back the exercise and stretching to lose weight and keep from re injuring my back.

looking slimmer and went down a waist size. now down to a 46 in the waist and my wife has notice how smaller i've gotten. so back on a good roll and ready to keep tackling this weight and getting healthier and stronger.

well that's it for now, wish you guys success in your adventures. Rest in peace casey kasum, miss that top 40 countdown from my youth. until next time, take care God Bless.

18 month summary

june 6, 2014

this month marks 18 months in my journey to lose 100 pounds. i though i would provide a summary of what has happened so far.

my starting weight was 296 pounds of which i have lost nineteen pounds. it been a real struggle due to my bad back going out five times during this period. last year i had lost twenty three pounds but regained a lot of it during my down times.

most of this happen because i lost it while mainly exercising. recently all this changed when i ended up in the emergency department this year from injuring my diseased toe. i have gout and slammed it coming down the steps.

that inspired me to really change my diet drastically. i cut back on bread to every other day, cut sugar down 85 %, and cut dairy food to a minimal. as a result 90% of my new weight loss is due to diet.

there you have it in a nutshell my journey so far. until next time, take care and God Bless.

2 pounds down

may 24, 2014

got on the scale yesterday and it read 274 pounds. so in two weeks i lost another 2 pounds. all without any exercise and just dieting better. my stomach pain went away and still dealing with leg burning and occasional hip pain.

still in physical therapy twice a week. they have me stretching, massage and needle therapy. i think i turned a corner in my recovery recently.  felt better but still have a long way to go and i can't wait to be pain free.

stopped eating junk out of vending machines and started bringing microwavable pre made dinner to work. hadn't had daily and sugar in over a month. eating light and only having three meals and maybe a health snack if i still get hungry at bedtime. drinking water and tea with honey for my liquids. I drink coffee like once every six days since i can't drink without sugar and limit it to three cups and one tablespoon of sugar.

still working on my goal and improving everyday. take care and God Bless.

10 pound loss

May 10, 2014

as i reported last time, my issue with that severe gout pain when i had to go to the emergency room had a deep impact on me. that pain was so intense and disabling i swore to do something about it and not go thru that again.

well i had balloon up to 290 pounds at the end of march. also due to limited exercise from my back going out. with the back going out my spinal stenosis causes severe burning pain in my left calf muscle and buttock.

what i did was to almost cut sugar down to not eating any on some days to maybe one item and that it.  i use to eat several sandwiches with wheat bread and pizza. cut out pizza entirely and only eat one  sandwich every other day. these changes has made a huge inpact on my weight loss.

in about five weeks i lost 10 pounds, i now weigh 280 pounds. the most weight i've lost in a really long time. it goes to show  that diet is the most important piece in weight loss. i also stop eating all day long, only eat three meals and no snacking. and if i do have an occasional snack, no chips, candy, or other bad foods. i will snack on a small fruit or peanut butter and jelly on a saltine cracker.

still going to physical therapy to get rid of the pain in my lower body. only movement i do now is stretches. until next time take care and God Bless.

working on diet

April 26, 2014

since i working on my back pain issue, i was forced to adjust my diet. back in physical therapy and after work on friday went to the emergency room. injured my big toe coming down the steps at home. was in severe pain in my toe for two days and ended up in the er.

the er doctor said my issue was a combination on gout and sprained foot. i was already taking medication for the gout before this latest incident. so to combat that i've cut sweets out of my diet. my understanding gout is a combination of diet and arthritis.

due to this change my work lunch will take a radical change. before to save money and time i had been taking potato chips, ding dongs, oatmeal pies and bottle water. now i will take more real food and make sure none of them are dessert snakes.

at my job everyone brings in bags full of candy in which i will have to say no too also. i had cut way back on soda since i was having stomach pain earlier this year. i may drink a soda like twice a week. this morning i was going to drank coffee at home but realized i put sugar in it, so i'm holding off until next weekend.

too much sugar causes my gout to inflame  my big toes so i'm forced to limit it. on a scale of 1 thru 10 on a pain ratio chart, my pain hit a ten. my toe swole up and turned red and i had to hobble at work, at the hospital and at the pharmacy.

the doctor gave me some pain pills and told to stay off my foot for three days. so friday i called into work and told i couldn't make it in. i'm making changes to lose weight and keep my health stable.

still in the game and will have to adjust my exercise routine to keep my back from going out too. until next time take care and God Bless.

work outed out for week

April 13, 2004

good news i overcame my mental block and got up and done exercises for a week. someone commented on my mental block issue on google plus do just do something since it was better than nothing. after a fews days thinking about that statement i picked up some weight and had a go at it.

while on my back on the living room floor i did some chest presses and it felt good so i kept going. i would end doing arm curls, working my triceps, shoulder work, jumping jacks and wall pushups. i was pumped up to back in the game.

increased my work out time from 1/2 hour to 45 minutes a day and getting ready to add more exercises. then my back went out and was in pain and later had pain in my butt and leg.

my wife rubbed my back with some austrailain arthritis stuff and the pain went away from my back. the stuff slightly brought down my butt pain. i've applied ice on my back too to numb some of the pain. also my wife crohn disease came out her three month remission with a vengeance. she's got the full sickness back and we're hoping her next injection will help.

stayed in bed most of the day today trying to rest and catch up on some of my sleep. below is a picture of a graphic artist done of me that i meet on google plus. until next time take care and God bless.

Mental Block

April 5th, 2014

After walking around in pain for two months and another month to ease it afterwards, I've put a big mental block. I'm afraid to re injure my back again. After going years between my back going out, last year due to my journey to lose weight my back went out four times.

The last time was a big one in that I really hurt is very badly and then had to wait two months to save from paying out thousands like I did the year before that one. So instead of working out a lot for long periods of time which is my normal regiment, I've been skipping workout and only doing 15 minutes when i exercise.

My goal now is to break that mental fear of hurting my back again. Push myself to do more time and more days until it becomes a routine again. If you guys have good ideas of things you done to get over mental blocks, leave me a comment. Wish me luck. Until next time take care and God Bless.

a little sunshine

march 17, 2014

finally the weather is slowly improving for a change from the cold freeze monster that has dominated our area for so long. took my first walk in the park  and it felt amazing. that day walked for half a mile and then called it a day. now i'm doing over a mile and will add two laps each month until it reaches three miles or so.

end of last week graduated from physical therapy since i've been pain free for a while now. take it easy and trying not to over do it. doing other execises as well. did 15 minutes on my elliptical, doing my stretches from physical therapy, free weights, and stuff like squats.

today will go out and get a whitefish sandwich from kingfish. the other day cracked open some pecans from my freezer, peanut butter and jelly, spaghetti, and chicken wings. cut my red meat consumption in half. no more problems with my gout so far.

i try to move often when not exercises anything to burn calories. until next time take care and God Bless.

changes to diet

March 10, 2014

due to major problem with gout  and stomach pains, made more changes my diet for the better. in addition to cutting back on certain seafood, i cut my red meat consumption down to every other day. so if i eat hamburger today, tomorrow i'll eat chicken, peanut butter sandwich or seafood that will not affect my gout. to calm my stomach pains and improve my overall health i've cut back on sugar and soft drinks again. i mainly drink water and low calorie low sugar water drink mixes. my vegetable intake is still low, but i do try and include them when i can.

last week i was put under for the first time in my life when i had my colonoscopy. no problem at all were found and so good news there. also since i changed my diet, my blood pressure dropped big time. on the day of the procedure it was like 117/ 85. along way from the high of 143/ 90.

my phyisical therapy is almost complete. last week i had pain in my left butt cheek but now i am painfree all over. yesterday my wife and i did two workouts on the same day, a new first. keep is simple and short. each workout lasted about 15 minutes each and i walked at the park for the first one at a slow pace and 2nd workout was 15 minutes on my elliptical. my wife noticed i was pouring sweat from the 2nd workout.

so i slowly coming back with a new and improved body. so until next time, take care and
God bless.

I'm back and one pound lighter

february 28, 2014

great news the pain is almost completely gone and i'm back to my old self. still going to physical therapy and doing new exercises there. i'm also attaching some pictures i took today while there.

they have me working with the large ball doing sides to sides with my legs and in and outs, and taking a small ball and squeezing it in. additionally they added the leg press pictured above, leg raises, and stretching exercises. then at the very end they apply heat to my back and calf muscle.

before i saw improvement in physical therapy, they were giving me the needle treatment which proved very painful. the needles were hard to bear but when when she would scrap it the pain just magnified and she told me it was ok to yell or do what i needed to do. i just madly wiggled around trying to endure what had to be done. after about four on those treatments, it finally turned it around and the pain was almost non existant and i could sleep pain free. 

my regular doctor came back with my lab results which showed my uric acid threw the roof and she put me on medication for that. this causes painful gout in my big toe. due to this i had to change my diet to keep the uric acid down, so i cut back on red meat by fifty percent by eating it every other day and eating more chicken. had to cut way down on sodas and increase my water intake. increasing the water intake also help eliminate those painful leg cramps i was getting. also had to cut down on seafood which i love.

up next for me in the medical department is on tuesday i have a colonocopy procedure. they will give proprofol to put me under while they scope my colon to find out why my stomach hurt from time to time and to check for polys and other stuff. i'm at that age turning 50 at the end of the year when it good to get them to find stuff early like colon cancer.

as a result of those changes i lost one pound and that's without much exercise. diet changes are more important than the working out. it took me years to except that fact but it true. as a stranger told my wife and her friend while they walked during lunchtime, "you wouldn't have to walk so much if you cut back on your eating". good advice indeed.

that's what i have this time, so take care and God bless.

seafood blues and other painful sides

february 15, 2014

my doctor told me i can't have seafood because that causes uric acid that cause my gout to flare up. my lab test came back with my acid levels off the chart and now she's prescribing me medicine for that. certain seafood i can't have and others i can have sparingly. I know a big part of it came from me drinking two sodas a day at work since the water at work tastes bad. will start taking bottle water and stop drinking the stuff at work.

i love seafood and that just sunk in my heart i will have to cut down on that stuff. i will do more study on that topic to see what i can do about that. my freezer is full of salmon and i have tuna in the cabinet. my research so far said tuna is definitely a no no.

survived my first week at physical therapy. they convinced me to try needle therapy which is similar to acupunture. the dry needles go into the muscle to try and stop it from triggering or firing off which causes pain. then she runs a scaper along my calf and talk about painful, she warned me i could scream out if i needed to.

when she was doing that extra pain was coming out and i twitched and turned and couldn't wait til that was over. it did let me know i had more pain and in more places in my calf than i knew. 70% of it was in tight knots from muscle spasms all down the back side and down on one side.

thankfully in a few days some of the pain went down, now i walk like a old man. i kinda walk side to side. the pain in my thigh and butt area went away, now trying to heal the calf muscle. they have me doing stretches and a few exercises, then given ice and heat. 

so still under doctor care on the road to recovery. will keep you guys posted on my progress. until next time God Bless and have a good day.

doctor doctor

February 8th, 2014

had to call in work on Tuesday and go to my doctor as a walk in since i was up all night in pain from my back and stomach. My wife bill came in to meet my high deductible so the timing was good in that way as to me save me from having to pay for the whole medical bill. my insurance will pay for 90% of it now.

doctor told me my foot pain was from my gout flaring up, sending me to physical therapy for my back and did a bunch of test for on my stomach. on monday i will see the physical therapy to get that started. i can't wait to get rid of the pain so i can get back on my program.

tonight having fish for dinner, taking my medication, and resting.  will keep you posted on my progress. staying in the game, take care and God Bless.

healing and rebooting my exercise program

January 26, 2014

my foot is healing  from me apply ice on it and taking it easy. i thought it was cured but while on my hand and knee scrubbing my tub it still had some pain in it. the swelling went down along with the pain. in bed i only feel slight pain in the back of my thighs.

i know i have tight hamstrings and never stretched them out. planning today to start do squats again and that will stretch them out. my wife thinks my foot pain is from me possible having diabetes which runs on both sides of my family tree. my brother was diagnosis with this last year.

it could be diabetes or arthritis or i sprung or broke my foot. i remember putting on my heavy boots and slamming the boot against my naked foot pretty hard and having some pain that went away. then at the end of the day taking off the boot to all the pain and swelling. time will tell.

since i haven't exercised with my recent injury and back going out again my year is not starting off well. this morning i got on the scale and had gained two pounds. that put me on notice to get going again starting today. that's why i doing the squats.

still in the game and just starting up my exercise program. got to re lose the weight and then some. at work i will start taking the steps again. will try and be careful as to not re injure myself in any way. i will need to replace my fatter meats like hamburger, steak, etc with leaner versions and add as many vegetables as i can get.

starting tomorrow i will add pecans to my daily lunch. my father is law grows these and send us a large box of these every year. well take care and God Bless. i will talk to you soon and update you how my exercising and diet is going.

Healing

January 16, 2014

can't go to physical therapy yet until my insurance stuff is worked out. my plan is a high deductible where insurance pays after paying out my pocket $4500.00. waiting for my wife first injection to process in order to meet that deductible.

my wife told me that the hospital she got the procedure at send in their bills very late. she gets help thru a program to pay for most of the cost, so trying to save as much money as possible before going to physical therapy.

in the meantime i've been putting ice and heat on my leg and butt. also haven't been exercising yet. my pain has went down a lot and i can walk better than ever. i had been stooping from the intense pain.

improved my diet to help compensate for my lack of exercise. i've been eating a lot of salads lately for dinner. for lunch taking soup, and chili.

so take care world and God Bless you all.

body burning

January 5, 2013

happy new years everyone. still dealing with severe burning pain in my legs and buttocks due to injuring my back again. I've been in pain for two weeks.

this was caused by overdoing it by doing the extreme interval training off of You Tube. everyday at work I have a  hard time sitting still in my chair from the pain and it is hard to walk. the pain comes and goes and my legs gets these severe leg spasms.

I'm trying to see a doctor because I started a new job as a temporary and trying to stay in the companies good graces. this morning I've googled home treatment options and will begin to do them. It said to take ibuprofen, alternate with heat and ice on the area, do light workouts, stay as active as possible in daily life and do stretches.

I will continue to post my progress on this front. take care of yourselves and God Bless.