Michael A. Reynolds Weighs In On Weight Loss: Spin It To Win It

Michael A. Reynolds Weighs In On Weight Loss: Spin It To Win It: For those of you that know me know that I never back down from a good challenge. I face it eye to eye and often times make the first move. M...

Spin It To Win It

For those of you that know me know that I never back down from a good challenge. I face it eye to eye and often times make the first move. My belief is that you never know if you can achieve if you don't at least try. It took a very young unconfident person within me to learn this. Once I learned this I started speaking my mind and walking the walk that accompanied the talk. Attempting things that I had no clue what the result would be. In the end, I won some and lost some but the fact remains that I tried it and did my best which is the only way that you can achieve success in anything.

I prefaced this blog that way because the new improved more confident Mike attempted something 3 weeks and 2 days ago that unconfident Mike evaded since joining the gym in July 0f 2011.
Meet Mean Colleen.

Mean Colleen is the instructor of the first Spin Class that confident Mike decided to participate in 3 weeks and 2 days ago. It was at the LA Fitness Midtown Atlanta location. I came to the gym that day to run 3 miles and lift weights for about 30 minutes. My schedule took a drastic turn that day. I was walking to the locker room to put my stuff in the locker and en route I have to pass by the cycling room. Normally I pass by without even looking into the room because its rather dark. This time was different. I looked into the room because I heard a song playing that I really like called Too Close by Alex Clare. As soon as I look in, I notice a lady in the front of the class pointing her finger at me with a serious face. I turn around to make sure she is pointing at me. When I notice no one even in my vicinity, I realize that she is definitely pointing at me. Then when she has my attention she uses that same finger to call me into the room. I then enter the room and she yells in a sweet voice and points at a bike in the front saying, "I saved a seat for you." I laugh and say "I'll be right back." I proceed to the locker room expeditiously so that I can hustle back because they are doing something really cool that I later learned is called jumps on the bike. Its a Movement from saddle(seat) straight up into the climb position(Standing upright) to the Booty Climb( Mean Colleen Term, Bent over handle bars while standing) and back to saddle. I digressed just that quick. There were a plethora of negative thoughts running through my head the short amount of time that I was in the locker room placing things in the locker. What if this class is really hard? Am I going to embarrass myself? Am I too heavy for the bike? Is it going to break when I get on? While walking in confident Mike surfaces and says, "Oh you will be fine. You got this." I hop on the bike, get adjusted and ride like I've done it before. By the end of class I was able to answer all of my questions with 100% Certainty.

What if this class is really hard? Yes it was extremely tough! Mean Colleen says every class "Yes this is hard but you didn't come here for easy."

Am I going to embarrass myself? No. I didn't do anything to embarrass myself in the class. I didn't pass gas really loud, fall off the bike or pass out. That's a good day for me.

Am I too heavy for the bike? Is it going to break when I get on? Duhhh Mike you lost 200 pounds. In August 2010 that would have been an excellent question to ask.

I felt a sense of accomplishment after finishing the class. Every ounce of sweat dripped out of me onto the floor and on my bike. I had not sweat like that since I was in the 200s and 300s pound group. It was amazing! I clocked 30 miles in 60 minutes and burned 1159 Calories. This was now my new thing to do. I was addicted instantly.  The next day I decided to attend 2 spin classes.

Meet Scary Mary.

Scary Mary was the second instructor that I took on that next day. I met her at the LA Fitness Atlantic Station Atlanta location. I participated in her Noon class after completing Mean Colleen's 9:15 class same location. Scary Mary has a different style from Mean Colleen but I love both styles. Mean Colleen's style is Interval style. Sprint 15 seconds rest 10 seconds. Sprint 30 seconds rest 10 seconds. Sprint 45 seconds rest 10 seconds. Sprint 60 seconds rest 10 seconds. Then down in the same intervals. Scary Mary's style is lots of high resistance while sprinting in the saddle which proves to be tough as well. She turns into a Drill Sergeant during instruction. She means business and it shows in her eyes. No smiling and no slacking. She has many quotes that I love to recite for fun in my head. My favorite quote that she said during class was "You all want to be over comers, but you don't want to do what it takes to overcome."   That stuck with me and actually motivated me to spin more often because she had a point. Success is a formula. Effort+Work+Discipline=Success. I know that in Scary Mary and Mean Colleen's class if you don't have those 3 factors, you might as well stay out of the class and sit on the stationary bikes with the Television on it while pretending you are on your couch. LMAO Love that!

The truth is Mean Colleen is not mean at all. She is a sweet heart but I nicknamed her this because we worked extra hard the second day that I attended because she ate ice cream the night before but we paid for it. LOL. Scary Mary is not very scary either. She does say things like "Get your head up or get your butt out!" I gave her this nickname because I can see the intensity in her eyes. Some may call it passion but I call it intensity because she is about business during that 1 hour class. I love that.

I dedicated this blog post to these 2 special people because over the past 3 weeks I was reminded that although motivation is within, sometimes it takes another special person to bring that motivation out of you and share it with others. Now I'm Spin It To Win It. My neighbor Katrina now spins, my Sister Dorothy who is here from Germany on vacation likes to spin with me now, my new friend Sylvia is now spinning at the YMCA and loves it. My new friend Sara, who likes to pick my brain, motivated me to write this blog so she gets a special shout out as well.

Please check out this link below to see a slight example of what a spin class looks like.
http://youtu.be/NJQkdHYkLIQ

Michael A. Reynolds Weighs In On Weight Loss: The 10 Day Experiment

Michael A. Reynolds Weighs In On Weight Loss: The 10 Day Experiment: You ever been called a fat sloppy burger? Well neither have I, directly. In essence we actually have if that age old adage “You are wha...

The 10 Day Experiment

You ever been called a fat sloppy burger? Well neither have I, directly. In essence we actually have if that age old adage “You are what you eat” is true. At the beginning of my weight-loss journey I really had no clue what healthy options were when it came to food. I was completely ignorant about nutrition and what I should and shouldn’t eat. Anyone that knows me knows that I am an extremist. I go all the way in or I’m all the way out. Its 0% or 100% that’s the only way that I know how to do things. Although, I was completely ignorant on the topic of nutrition, I was smart enough to know that it was an important component of weight- loss. I am a scientist at heart so I was compelled to do an experiment. The experiment happened due to the fact that although I was losing weight slowly, I was not impressed with the numbers being large enough or fast enough. I pondered many hours a reason as to why my numbers were not huge based on how much exercise I was putting in. That’s when the extremist was begging to venture out for an experiment. The experiment culminated into something huge.

The Experiment

I decided to not exercise as hard for 5 days and completely change what I was eating. I was eating smaller portions but it was still not considered eating clean. So my experiment was set to last for 10 days. In those 10 days I was only allowed to walk briskly or not exercise at all. The only food that I could eat was anything that has grown from natural soil of the Earth or growing from a tree. My silly slogan during this 10 day experiment was “If it ever had feet, I will not eat.”

Stipulations

The only things that I could eat were fruit, vegetables and raw nuts. Everything had to be uncooked and unseasoned. No salts, butters, creams, oils, seasonings (Spices from the ground are fine, but I didn’t use them) the great thing about it is that I didn’t put a limit on how much of it I could eat.  I was able to eat as much and as often as I wanted to as long as it was in its rawest form.  The raw aspect changed within hours of the process. I could not eat corn or sweet potatoes raw.  I compromised after realizing this. I completely cut out any type of potatoes because of high starch content as well as carbohydrates. Starchy potatoes can assist in weight gain if not careful, which would have been counterproductive. I also allowed myself to steam my corn in the microwave.  Microwave corn on high with two teaspoons of water and cover in microwave safe bowl for 3 minutes.  I also steamed my asparagus the same way.  Water intake was especially important in this process as well. Half of my body weight was what I drank every day.

Effects

The first 2 days felt miserable. Although I was able to eat as much as I wanted, I still kept trying to convince myself that I was hungry. The truth is I was not hungry. I was craving foods that I was accustomed to eating before. I was even craving food that I was not accustomed to eating just because I knew it was not on the list. I wanted Lobster, filet mignon, goat, ox tails and the list continues. Like I mentioned before though, those were not even things that I was eating before. I just knew that anything would have been more satisfying than what I was eating at the time.

The headaches only last on average 2 days but they were very aggressive. It’s hard to explain how it felt so I will just use this graphic to demonstrate what it felt like on the inside of my head.

<<<<<<<<<<----------------This how my head felt.

The reasons for the headaches are simply because the body is naturally cleansing and detoxifying.  It is attempting to get rid of all the toxins that are built up in the body. Those toxins are formed from all the foods that are tough to break down or digest without assistance.

This link gives you helpful information that can help you get rid of the headaches. (Oh yeah no medicine unless presribed by your doctor during this)

http://www.totalwellnesscleanse.com/blog/detox-headache-why-does-it-happen/

The intestine is very welcoming to all foods and has a hard time kicking certain foods out. Red meat is the best example of staying in the intestine longer than it’s welcomed. Red meat can take 7 years or more to digest completely if the stomach does not have a good digestive tract. This means that Red meat is like having a bankruptcy. It is going to last for 7 years and can still harm you after those 7 years are over. I’m sure you have smelled spoiled raw or cooked meat outside of the body. Imagine that same smell inside of the body but after 7 years. This is why at times our bowel movements can smell so offensive. It’s because the intestine decided that it was ready to finally evict some of that red meat that has been lodging there for years. The 10 day fruit and vegetable detox really helped expedite this process. Reason being is that we are supposed to already be assisting the intestine with this natural process. According to the food pyramid most of us eat more than our fair share of meats, poultry and fish. We also eat less than our fair share of fruit and vegetables. This causes digestive tract blockage, possible infections and illnesses within the body and of course weight gain.

When the raw fruits and vegetables start cutting through the built up spaccle that is formed in the intestine form a clear path to the rest room. This is a good thing and actually how free and clear the digestive tract is supposed to be.

I encountered slight hallucinations during the first 2 days. It was due to the toxins and poisons being realeased from the body. I had not been eating right for 28 years so negative effects were expected when I attempted this.

After the first 2 days were over, evrything was smooth sailing from there. I saw nothing but positive results. Of course while I was doing this my co workers ordered out every day. I did what I felt was right at the time. I smacked food out of the hand of the closest person to me. I’m only kidding although I did feel like doing it once or five times. I would chew my food while sniffing their food and imagine my spinach salad with no dressing tasting like the colonel’s original recipe. Man that made my lunches taste so much better. Or at least I thought it did.

Benefits

The detox really worked hard to clear up my skin. Oily skin, blackheads, whiteheads, blemmishes and clogged pores. ALL repaired during the detox. Water is the fountain of youth and enhances beauty. Unfortunately, if you are just ugly water cant fix that but it will make you feel more hydrated and possibly give you the urge to swim. But in all seriousness water does repair a lot of things. All you have to do is drink it. Our bodies are 80% water so the least we could do is replenish it with 50% of our body weight.

When we only eat fruit and vegetables we have a clean system which allows easy flushing of the colon, kidneys, liver and spleen. It makes it easier for gas to escape but hey its ok because it wont smell nearly as bas as if you had a steak sitting there rotting inside of you. Not to say that your gas will be pleasurable but it will not offend so easily. Please don’t test this on an elevator empty or full. I urge against it because I tried it and although it didn’t smell like it used to I remembered to late that I was only eating fruit and vegetables not flowers so yes my gas still stinks.

I learned how to appreciate fruit and vegetables for what they really are. Nutritious. They provide us with vitamans, nutrients and energy that you cant get from all he other foods that we eat. I learned that I didn’t have to heavily season it for it to taste good. I continue to eat them the same way now.

Here is an example of what eating Raw can do for you.

http://video.msnbc.msn.com/the-grio/46588723#46588723

The ultimate benefit in my case was feeling lighter and more energetic everyday. The weight shed like I was taking off layers. I was nervous on day 2 because I shed a record amount of weight in a single day. I completely skipped the 340’s. I weighed in that morning at 351 and new weight at the end of the day was 338. I lost 13 pounds in 1 day with light exercise and heavy fruit and vegetable intake. I didn’t know if I should celebrate or go pick a suit out for my funeral. As you can see I didn’t need a suit but I still didn’t celebrate right away either. However, I gave myself a huge hug because I knew at that point I had discovered how to lose weight. My 10 day total weight loss was 39 pounds.

Day 1: 2 pounds.

Day 2: 13 pounds!

Day3,4,5,6,7,8,9 and 10: 3 pounds

After completing this 10 day experiment I incorporated it into my lifestyle forever and ever Amen. I shortened it to 5 days every month. I do it at the end of every month to cleanse and restart every month with a new system.

Before and After

It is IMPORTANT! I repeat IMPORTANT! to perform certain rituals before and after this process.

Before: The day before you start, DRINK LOTS OF WATER! I mean 100% of your body weight. No matter what you do make sure you are drinking water and flushing it out often. Brothy based soups only. LOW TO NO SODIUM is the ticket. That is the only thing that you should eat the day before. PLEASE FOLLOW these directions accurately.

After: Same rules apply as what you do the day before. If you go back to eating solid foods you could really hurt harm or possibly gain every pound back in 1 sitiing.

This experiment was my breakthrough moment to weightloss. Once I figured out what worked for me, I stuck with it and kept going. If you are doing something that is not working that’s when it is time to try something else. A definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results. I don’t call that insanity I call that retardation. Cut it out!

If anyone decides to do this please understand that I want you to be as safe as possible and that I carry no responsibilty if anything happens to you. I will feel bad but don’t try to sue me because you can have everything that I have. That’s including student loans, mortgage and car payments.

Just contact me shall you decide to attempt this so that we can have a serious chat first. My contact info is all over the blog. Use 1. I prefer my email. MikeMontana1914@Gmail.com

Thank You for reading.

SN: I wrote this specifically for a person following this blog. I am challenging her to do this and lose 18 pounds in 10 days. She does not believe it can happen but I know that she can do it.

ASN: I am really trying to shorten these things but its so hard to be brief but detailed when I’m so long winded. Next entry I am going to shorten it to 10 sentences if possible.

ASN: I will post pictures of some of the recipes from the detox. Ask me whats in it because I am not adding descrptions this time.

These are recipes that I used during my detox as well as a few that others shared with me.

Fast Food Failure



First of all I would like to express huge gratitude to everyone that has stopped by to peruse my blog. I am extremely excited to continue doing it because I have had such a large amount of people viewing it from all around the world. So for that I thank you. Please continue to follow, subscribe and share my blog with others. I appreciate you all for reading it but will appreciate it even more if you all would follow/subscribe, share and leave comments/feedback. Comments and feedback is very important to the success of this blog. Enough about that. On to my new post titled: Fast Food Failure.

You ever had one of those days that you crave every single fast food restaurant available in town? If you answered no to this question, I am willing to bet that you have never had fast food. Today was that day for me. For lunch, I craved 6 fast food restaurants today and went to 5 of the 6 and took pictures to prove it.

I had a mean craving for a pressure cooked and deep fried in peanut oil spicy Chic-Fil-A sandwich on a buttery toasted bun topped with a sliced pickle and cheese, a side of large waffle fries dipped in Polynesian sauce and a large lemonade. I knew to not go on a Sunday due to Founder and extremely rich owner Truett Cathy's strong Southern Baptist background. He believes that you should never become so committed to financial success that you abandon your principles and priorities. This is very honorable in my eyes but unfortunate to my taste buds. When I want to eat Chic-Fil-A the craving does not leave just because its Sunday! Come on! So what do you think I did? If you answered went to other fast food restaurants that don't have strong religious ties to their business model. You are right!!! Congratulations you are starting to learn my very predictable personality.

Next craving I had was Burger King where you can have it your way. I drove up to Burger King and got out of the car and it smelled like I was in Flame Broiled heaven. While I was walking up to the restaurant I imagined myself eating a Double Whopper with cheese no onions and light on the lettuce. A medium fry and a medium coke. Better yet, since I would be eating such a large burger that requires me to hold with both hands, I would just order a Large Diet Coke. That's for all you health freaks reading this and gasping in disbelief and disappointment. 

Burger King! Home of the Whopper. Where you can have it your way!

My next stop was McDonald's. I saw so many chubby kids with snotty noses and ketchup stains on their clothes running around in the play area. Way to work of that Big kids happy meal kid! Keep climbing! You can burn about 10 more calories if you jump from the top of the slide! That advice is free to you mom, don't worry about paying me , I don't work here. My menu items are 2 double cheeseburgers. No Ketchup. No Mustard. Add Big Mac Sauce.  Medium fry and a small strawberry shake. I love the triple thick shakes that you cant even suck through the straw until they melt. Drives me wild. Ohhh!!! and Apple Pies are 2 for $1.00.

McDonalds Bod-Dop-Bop-Ba-Baaa! I'm lovin it!

Next stop was Pizza Hut gather 'round for the good stuff. Since today was Father's day, a 17 year old girl told me that she was going to treat her dad to pizza because last year her cooking caused harm to his well being. She informs me that he told her he didn't want an episode of last year. She cooked him fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, collard greens and corn bread. Apparently she didn't cook the chicken all the way through which caused him to spend the majority of his fathers day in the Hospital for food poisoning of some sort. So she ordered a large meat lovers with extra cheese, half pan of Tuscani Alfredo pasta and an order of bread sticks. That sounded delicious. I wanted the same thing. 

Pizza Hut. Gather 'Round the good stuff!



Next stop was Popeyes. Love that chicken. I wanted an 8 piece dark meal with 4 biscuits and 1 side (Red Beans and Rice) all for $6.99!!! What a deal?!?!? Popeyes has been serving up Louisiana style fried chicken and seafood since 1972. The flavor is so amazing that you can wash your hands numerous times after eating it and lick your fingers hours later in the day and still taste the secret spices. The biscuits are so buttery and flaky that they literally melt in your mouth and not in your hands. As a bonus, if you are a good patron, you get a huge jalapeno pepper for only $0.30 In American currency that's the equivalence of a 5 stick pack of chewing gum. If you look across the street in the picture you will see Wendy's in the distance. That was my next and final stop of my fast food restaurant tour. 

Popeyes. Love that chicken from Popeyes!



Final stop was Wendy's. "Its better than fast food, It's Wendy's." Wendy's was the most popular fast food restaurant that I actually ate during my weight-loss journey. On Tuesday and Thursday I decided against taking a bag lunch to work. I would walk to the closest Wendy's near my job which was exactly 1.4 miles away from my job. I was able to clock 2.8 miles and walk at a 3.0 speed which burned around 650 calories when I was 380 pounds. I would order a spicy chicken sandwich plain and a 5 piece spicy chicken nugget with no sauce. Those 2 menu items were 555 calories. i was able to net 95 calories by walking to Wendy's and ordering those items. However today was different. I wanted to go all the way on the dark side. May I have a Double Baconator with a large fry and a small frosty?

Wendy's. "Its better than fast food. Its Wendy's."

For those of you that are slightly observant, I'm sure you noticed that all of my pictures are from outside of the fast food establishments. The plan was that I would go into the establishment and order ONLY if a staff member invited me inside. I knew exactly what I would order at every fast food joint that I toured. I would wait for 30 minutes at each fast food establishment and leave if no staff member invited me in after the 30 minutes expired. I was highly upset that no staff member from any of the fast food establishments even came outside to acknowledge me! Is that what they call customer service? Although I met and observed some very interesting patrons of these establishments, it did not pay dividends for how much time I spent attempting to get invited into the restaurants. It was heart breaking to know that my money was not useful at these delicious eateries. I know that they saw my puppy dog eyes looking through the windows. The crew at Wendy's just gazed at me and made comments that I couldn't hear from the outside of the restaurant. It had to be funny because I could tell they were laughing hysterically. I really pissed me off. This fast food restaurant tour was a complete and utter failure.

Although I didn't get to eat any fast food today I thought the tour was quite entertaining and yes I learned something from it. When I learn something that means that I have to teach others what I learned. Its just the way that I am. Always have been and probably always will be. This experience taught me that Fast Food is NOT the reason that many of us are Fat, Overweight, Obese or whatever term best describes our larger than average bodies. The reason that we are Fat, Overweight, Obese or whatever term to describe our large bodies is because we eat Fast Food and things that we shouldn't. If you don't understand what I am saying I will dissect it a little more. Yes Fast Food establishments have really unhealthy foods on the menu. That does not matter if you don't go to the Fast Food Establishments. The example I use should really explain this better if I haven't already. A gun sitting on a table can not kill a person. A gun sitting on a table and is picked up and the trigger is squeezed can kill a person. A Whopper sitting on a table can not assist in our weight gain. A whopper sitting on a table and is picked up and bitten and swallowed can assist in our weight gain. Get it? Good! 

Nobody pulled a gun on me and forced me to go into any of the fast food establishments. Nobody even asked me nicely to come inside. It is a decision that I had to make for myself. I hope that I have gotten my point across crystal clear. If not maybe you can find a first grader to explain it to you because it appears you are not smarter than a fifth grader. I will end this entry with some fun stats if I would have ordered the menu items listed above. 

By not inviting me inside of the Fast Food establishments they saved me the following amount of calories.

Chic-Fil-A: Spicy Chic-Fil-A sandwich with cheese, a side of large waffle fries with Polynesian sauce and a large lemonade. 1550 CALORIES

Burger King:  Double Whopper with cheese no onions and light on the lettuce. A medium fry and a Large Diet Coke. 1400 CALORIES

McDonalds: 2 Double Cheeseburgers. No Ketchup. No Mustard. Add Big Mac Sauce.  Medium fry and a small strawberry shake.  2 Apple Pies. 2440 CALORIES

Pizza Hut:  Large 14" Meat lovers with extra cheese, half pan of Tuscani Alfredo pasta and an order of breadsticks. (3 slices 1 serving of the pasta and 2 breadsticks) 2300 CALORIES

Popeyes:  8 piece dark meal with 4 biscuits and 1 side Red Beans and Rice (2 pieces 1 biscuit and 1 serving of red beans and rice) 1190 CALORIES

Wendy's: Double baconator with a large fry and a small frosty? 1800 CALORIES

5:5:5

You ever ask a question and not get the answer you are looking for?

“Honey, how do I look in this dress?” 

“Babe you should wear pants because your legs would look better covered up.”

Or “Do these shorts make me look fat?”

“No, but your fat makes you look fat.”

I’m sure that is not the feedback that someone would WANT to hear but surely NEEDS to hear.  Many of us would prefer someone to lie to us to spare our feelings. Truth be told, those feelings can be spared if we get honest feedback and make improvements based off of it.

During my weight-loss journey, people noticed that I was losing weight and staying consistent. It often times became the topic of conversation. “Mike what are you doing to lose the weight?” The answer was always asked not with the intention of attempting but just as a way of letting me know that they noticed. After hearing that same question over and over, I started to get bored answering it. I pretty much created a script so that I can answer it quickly and then change the topic. Once I got bored with the script, I decided to ask a few questions of my own. I would ask questions like,

“LaWanda, as many times as you keep asking me what I am doing to lose weight, when are you going to make an effort?”

“Stacie you told me that you won’t go on a diet because you can’t afford it. Why do you eat out everyday?”

Of course when I start asking questions like this, people avoid me. Although I am not bothered by the fact that those people started avoiding me, I was a little concerned with the way they answered my questions. Some answers were healthy food is too expensive. Another answer was I am too busy to cook. Those were two of the most popular answers so I decided to come up with a credible solution for this problem. Not because I cared that much at the time, but I was tired of the poor excuses. I called it the 5:5:5 recipes. Not to be confused with Politician Herman Caine’s 9:9:9 plan. My 5:5:5 recipes actually work.

My 5:5:5 recipes consist of meals that cost 5 dollars that can be cooked in less than 5 minutes and has less than 500 calories. I will only share 3 recipes for now but I have more that I will share at a later time.

Recipe 1

2 servings of Broccoli Florets (50 Calories)

1/2 of a Butterball or Oscar Mayer Turkey Sausage kielbasa (157.5 Calories)

1/16 cup of shredded cheddar (55 Calories)

Calorie Total= 262.5

Turkey kielbasa comes with 2 in a pack. Slice one in half. Slice or dice the turkey sausage put it in a microwave safe bowl add broccoli florets and a teaspoon of water. Cover and steam for 3 minutes 30 seconds. After steam steaming uncover and add shredded cheddar and then cover again. Let sit for 1 minute and then enjoy. This is my personal favorite.

Recipe 2

½ of a boneless chicken breast 4 ozs. (140 calories)

1 serving of Pepperidge Farm Gold Fish 55 goldfish (140 calories)

1 serving of rotel salsa (25 calories)

1 cup of sweet yellow corn (132 calories)

Calorie Total= 437

Crunch gold fish in a zip lock bag. Slice chicken breast in half and place in zip lock bag with gold fish. Shake bag until gold fish coats chicken. Spray George Foreman grill with PAM and place on grill. Grill for 4 to 5 minutes. Put corn in a microwave safe bowl or Tupperware add teaspoon of water and cover. Microwave corn for 3 minutes and 30 seconds. After microwaving corn, add rotel. Mix and let sit for 30 seconds.

Recipe 3

1 hamburger potato bun (150 Calories)

1 Portobello mushroom cap (26 calories)

1 slice of sharp cheddar cheese (80 calories)

1 tablespoon of Country crock or any spread margarine (70 calories)

1 teaspoon of Hellmann’s mayo or your favorite mayo (35 calories)

Sprinkle of garlic powder (3 Calories)

Calorie Total= 364

Spread margarine on buns. Face buns on skillet buttered side down. Cook on medium-high heat for 30 seconds. Add Portobello cap to skillet pressing firmly but carefully not to break it. Light sear on both sides 1 minute on each side. Add mayo and garlic powder to a bowl and mix together. Spread on potato buns. Add Portobello cap to buns and top with cheddar slice.

Please look for my next blog entry very soon. I hope this information is helpful. Thank you for reading and helping me share my blog. Please leave feedback good, bad or ignorant. I like comments and more followers than the day before. I need new followers to help keep me motivated to continue blogging.

I Quit!

Why is quitting so easy to do? The answer is simple. Or is it? Quitting is only easy to do IF there is a lack of willpower. Now imagine not having any willpower plus an addiction. Think about it. Smokers that don’t want to smoke anymore don’t just quit smoking. The reason they don’t just quit is because they suffer from an addiction. Alcoholics have the same predicament as smokers. Overeating, However, is actually quite different from smoking and drinking. Overeating is not an addiction. Overeating is a result of lacking willpower. Many Doctors, Nutritionist and Diet experts diagnose overeaters with an addiction to food. Although I don’t have degrees or licensure in addictions, I can confidently say they are wrong when it comes to diagnosing overeaters with an addiction to food. Overeaters should be diagnosed with a willpower deficiency.

Being fat for so long gave me an excuse to believe that I suffered from an addiction to food. I would eat whatever I wanted to eat and justify in mind that it was ok because I suffered from an addiction. I suffered from many things as a result of being fat. I suffered headaches due to high blood pressure. I suffered sleep depravation due to sleep apnea. I suffered backaches due to having excess body fat unevenly distributed. The list goes on of things I suffered from. The day that I decided to stop overeating was the very same day that I realized that I suffered from many things but suffering from an addiction to food was not one.

We have all experienced that feeling that comes over us when we don’t eat at a specific or scheduled time of the day. That feeling is called hunger. It is important to do your best to NOT allow yourself to become hungry. When we become hungry, often times, we become undisciplined. When hunger strikes we obey our stomach more often than we obey our mind. What I mean by this is that when hungry, we tend to overeat because we surpass our level of comfort due to our minds not being focused on stopping once satisfied but stopping once our stomachs are full. This concept ties to my theory of lack of willpower versus addiction to overeating. Overeating is so easy to do because when hungry we don’t allow time to eat slowly and obey our mind when it attempts to alert us that we are satisfied and don’t need to eat anymore. We just eat so quickly that we ignore that signal that gets sent to the brain and stomach simultaneously alerting us that we are satisfied and don’t need anymore.

My willpower is what allowed me to be successful in my fight against quitting. Many things that were required of me to lose weight got frustrating at first. I quit every hour of the day for about 3 weeks straight. I would eat something healthy and then attempt to convince Fat Mike that he couldn’t continue to do this. I would exercise hard and then attempt to convince Fat Mike that this was to hard for him. The quick drastic changes that were happening to my body are what convinced me that quitting was not the right thing to do. Those noticeable changes constantly fueled my willpower to make great decisions that aided my weight-loss success. I kept trying to convince Fat Mike that quitting would be fine and perfect timing because a group of friends wanted to go out to eat at one his favorite restaurants. I would tell Fat Mike you deserve to go out eat pizza and drink beer to celebrate all the hard work that you have put in the past few days. EVERY SINGLE TIME, Fat Mike declined and reminded himself that “Power” and “Will” successfully complete the goal. After about 2 months of working out hard, eating right and training my mind to only deal with positivity I was faced with adversity. During those 2 months I was blessed with a group of workout partners. We kept each other motivated to continue living healthier. The stress and level of commitment to working out became too much for the group. They slowly became inconsistent, showing up late, not showing up or calling. Eventually, I was the only one showing up. They quit on me. This caused me to turn everything up a notch. I was focused and nothing could stop me. My thoughts of quitting vanished because I reminded myself how I felt when my group quit on me. Them quitting fueled my motivation to continue.

Whenever things get tough in life and you consider quitting, reconsider. Find what motivates you and use it to keep you moving forward in your journey. Just remember that heroes become heroes because they don’t pack up in the middle of their journey and go home. They fight until the battle is won. Keep fighting the good fight.