Friday, April 27, 2007

Timing is Everything

A day after I posted the email sent to me about Trident that included a link as to where it could still be purchased, the site is now OUT OF STOCK!! I have several emails from people saying they've emailed Trident to complain and comment. We'll see if it gets us anywhere.

Someone also suggested Orbit Cinnamint gum. I have yet to find it. I went to Costco today and they had every flavor of Orbit gum under the sun, but no Cinnamint. Is there a shortage of Cinnamon???

Rich
n2styx@comcast.net

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Chew On This

Here's a copy of an email I received regarding Trident Gum:

"This is what I got way back in November:



Trident Cinnamon Gum***Out of Stock, manufacturer 11/14/06***28278 $1.09Trident Cinnamon Gum.UPDATE OCT 20, 2006. Last week I attended a trade show finally got a direct word on what is up with the Trident Flavors that we have been having problems getting into our store. This is the 2nd bit on info about the line. The info that was posted here before and is still listed below this posting came from their distributor, Core Mark. Trident did not plan well in production this year and are having a heck of a lot of trouble getting all of their flavors, especially the Cinnamon. We are getting what we can from time to time, so if we are out, I can only hope that you understand that we know only what we are told....and we don't get it either.After being out of stock for almost 2 months now, we "finally" got word today on what we think is going on with Trident Cinnamon, and soon other Trident flavors.I was told today that the entire "valupak" line of Trident is being discontinued and will be replaced with the Trident White selections. Anyway, suffice to say that someone at Trident (Adams) has made a decision that Trident Cinnamon is just not worth production, I guess.This goes right along with Wrigley's buying Reeds, and then killing the Reeds brand and Nabisco making a deal with Kellogg's to take over their Fruit Snack line.

Check out this site for buying the gum:

http://www.winterbrookgoodies.com/pd_trident_cinnamon_valupck.cfm "


Thanks for the information!!!!

Rich

The Big Easy

Sorry for the lack of posting for the last week. I missed 2 Wednesday Weighdays. My father took ill and asked me to come to New Orleans. I left early Wednesday morning and returned today (Thursday, 8 days later). I did manage to weigh in before I left, but didn't have time to post the results (I lost 2 lbs!) or take a picture. I will catch everything up this Wednesday!

My dad is doing much better. I did manage to do my walking and pretty much kept to my YOAD plan. But c'mon it was N'Awlins, home of some of the best food in the world. I didn't stick to the plane entirely, but considering the temptations, I think I did rather well. This coming Wednesday will tell. (I'm afraid to weigh until then).

Here's the most current results....

Week.....Date.......Weight.....Lost.....Waist....Lost
Start.2/28/2007.......297.....n/a.......57......n/a
1.......3/07/2007.......289......8.........56.......1
2.......3/14/2007.......280.....17........55.5....1.5
3.......3/21/2007.......275.....22........55........2
4.......3/28/2007.......274.....23........53........4
5.......4/04/2007.......271.....26........52........5
6.......4/11/2007.......267.....30........52........5
7.......4/18/2007.......265.....32........??........??
8.......4/25/2007.......???.....??.........??........??


I am now wearing 42 W Levis comfortably!!! I promise next Wednesday will have waist measurements and current pics.

Take Care,
Eat Well


Rich
n2styx@comcast.net

Friday, April 13, 2007

Trident Sugarless Cinnamon Gum MIA --HELP

OMG.. I finally ran out of my 18 stick EZ Close-Pack of Trident Sugarless Cinnamon gum.

I buy them by the 12 pack at Costco (my favorite store). I chew the gum all the time, it's sugarless, it keeps my breath fresh, it keeps my jaws busy so I can't/won't eat snack food. Anyway, I CANNOT FIND THE GUM ANYMORE. ANYWHERE!!! I wrote Trident to find out why and here's their response.......


"We apologize for the difficulty you are having locating Trident Cinnamon.
In order to keep up with unprecedented levels of demand for our more popular flavors, we have suspended production of Crystal Frost and Cinnamon in the EZ Close-Pack. There will still be limited distribution of Crystal Frost and Cinnamon flavors in multi-pack bags for the remainder of 2007. While we realize this is a disappointment to loyal consumers such as yourself, at this time we have no definitive plans to bring these products back. We encourage you to try some of our other cinnamon flavored brands including Dentyne Fire and Trident White Cinnamon Tingle. Upon request, we will be sending e-mail updates about this issue and inform you of new products/flavors as they become available.
Again, our deepest apologies for the inconvenience. We value your feedback and continued support of Trident.
Sincerely,
Consumer Relations"


I cannot believe this!!! Cinnamon is not one of their 'more popular flavors"??? I HATE SWEET FRUITY GUM. I HATE MINT (spearamint, peppermint) gum. The new candy coated "WHITE" cinnamon is not the same. !!! I'm devastated. HELP HELP. Let's start a letter writing campaign to bring back the Cinnamon Gum in the 18 stick EZ Close-Pack!!

Contact information for Trident:

http://www.brandspeoplelove.com/ and select 'Trident" from the drop down menu.


What will I chew now?? I'm soooo distraught. Anybody have any gum to spare????


Rich
n2styx@comcast.net

Thursday, April 12, 2007

I need a new Remote-Control Holder!!

It was kind of funny today while sitting on my easy chair watching TV, I placed my remote on my stomach. My stomach has become my remote control holder because when I was sitting in my chair, my pot belly made a very convenient place to put my remote. Welllllll, today, I put my remote on my belly and it slid down!!! At first I didn’t think about it, I just subconsciously grabbed the remote from my lap and placed it back on my belly. IT SLID DOWN AGAIN. Then I realize, my pot belly has reduced so much that I can no longer us it as my remote control holder!!

I'm still amazed at the results of this diet plan, I'm eating good and eating well. I'm still doing my treadmill every day. I'm doing level 2 now which burns 276 calories per 30 minutes and I walk a distance of 1.73 miles.

Take Care, Eat Well

Rich
n2styx@comcast.net

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

4 More Pounds!!

Short blog today. I got a wild hair to clean and reorganize the garage today. I'm tired, sore and cranky, but my garage is now the bomb!





Without further ado, here's my results..



Week.....Date.......Weight.....Lost.....Waist....Lost

Start.2/28/2007.......297.....n/a.......57......n/a
1.......3/07/2007.......289......8.........56.......1
2.......3/14/2007.......280.....17........55.5....1.5
3.......3/21/2007.......275.....22........55........2
4.......3/28/2007.......274.....23........53........4
5.......4/04/2007.......271.....26........52........5
6.......4/11/2007.......267.....30........52........5






Time for a hot bath, ibuprofen and bed!!

Friday, April 6, 2007

Show Me The Money

You may have noticed that I've added an ad and a google search bar to my blog. I admit, I've caved into corporate america and signed up for these things in hopes of making a little cash. You see, I've lost alot of weight before. My lowest adult weight was 215 pounds. When I was there, I had A LOT of sagging skin. It was pretty gross and subconsciously I guess, I gained the weight back on because I thought looking plumper looked better than having a lot of hanging loose wrinkly skin. Too much information?
Well this brings me back to my ads. I get some cash everytime a viewer of my blog clicks on an ad. I think I get some cash if you use the google search bar up top too, but not sure. I know it won't be much, but when I get down to under my 200 pound goal, I will have all the loose skin surgically removed. It's called a body lift and it won't be cheap. Around $20,000 from what I'm hearing. I can't afford that. Sooooo CLICK on the ads. You don't have to buy anything, just clicking will start filling my UNpiggy jar. Of course, if there's some rich plastic surgeon who wants to do the procedure for free to showcase their skills, I'll be up for that. Or if a 20/20 type show wants to document the weight loss and body lift afterwards, I'm up for that if they'll spring for the procedure. Hey, I'm not shy about asking for help. Hey, Dr. Oz, after I get down to 200 lbs, that'll be a great endorsement for your program! (hint hint).

Take Care, Eat Well.

Rich
n2styx@comcast.net

Thursday, April 5, 2007

Upping the Ante

When I started my treadmill 5 weeks ago, I started doing the easiest level program for 'weight loss' that my treadmill offered. I figured, ok ok, I'll give this You On a Diet thing a try, but I ain't going to kill myself. After my first 30 minutes on the treadmill, I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO DIE!!! My heart was pounding, the sweat was pouring from all my pores, my joints ached. I thought, Ok, I get it, the YOAD works, because it will kill you and then as your body decays, you'll lose weight. The next day, I wasn't thrilled to jump back on the treadmill, but I figured since I dished out $1000 for this sucker, I might as well use it. So I hopped back on, doing level one again. Next day, level one again. I've been doing level 1 every day until today. I noticed that I was no longer huffing and puffing, I wasn't panting, I actually was able to hold a conversation on the phone while now doing level one. In fact, the walking was down right easy. Piece of cake!! So I figured, "what the heck, let's do level two!" This surely would have allowed my kids to benefit from my life insurance policy 5 weeks ago. So I took a deep breath and did level 2 today. The pace was faster (alternating between 3.5 and 4 mph, and inclines from 5-6%) (yeah, it's a fancy treadmill, it adjusts by itself - faster, slower, more incline, less incline, it even comes with a built in tv, what can I say, I'm spoiled).
Anyway, after doing level 2, I wasn't winded, I wasn't huffing and puffing, even though the pace was faster and the inclines were more). What has happened to me? Whatever is going on, I think I like it. I did sweat more and according to the readout, I burned 40 more calories during the workout. NO MORE WOOOSIE LEVEL ONE'S FOR ME!!!

On another note, I experimented tonight with a recipe. I made the Tomato-Avocado Salsamole recipe on page 302 from the You On A Diet book (I've made this before and loved it). Then I put a "whole wheat" tortilla on a baking sheet and put in under the broiler until the tortilla turned dark brown, then I flipped it over, put some olive oil and sea salt on it, and then I put some chopped-up chicken breast pieces and a little bit of cheese and put it back under the broiler. I left it in there until the tortilla got crisp. I then took it out and put some of the Tomato-Avocado Salsamole on half of the tortilla and then folded it in half. IT WAS AWESOME. I COULD LIVE ON THAT!! IT HAD CRUNCH, IT WAS SALTY, IT WAS SPICY. I was in food heaven! ( can you tell I really liked it??). Can I really eat like this and continue to lose weight?? We'll all find out next Wednesday.

Take Care, Eat Well.

Rich
n2styx@comcast.net

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

I am NOT a Giant

After looking at my pictures, I realized that they make me look like a giant. I'm actually standing on a platform because my camera is on a cider block wall and I needed to stand on something to get the best view of my flab. I guess the platform and distance from my house (about 8 feet) gives the optical illusion that I'm a 20 foot tall giant!! If I had to do it again, maybe I should have picked another spot to take the pic. Too late now I guess. After I get below my 200 pound goal, I plan on making a slide show of all my pics from fattest to skinniest and post the video on You Tube. It should make a very interesting 'shrinking man' video. Because of that, I want the pose, enviroment, location all to be the same.

By the way, I'm 5' 11"

Rich
n2styx@comcast.net

Another Weigh Day (Wednesday)

Another Wednesday Weigh Day has come and in my very best Borat impression, all I can say is 'Very Nice'. Last week the kids were out of school for spring break and they kept me hopping. I noticed that my daily activies increased tremendously. I found myself sitting down a lot less than when the kids are at school. Is Spring Break the secret to losing weight? I stuck to the You On a Diet plan without exception. I ate when I wasn't hungry, just because it was time. I try to eat every 2-3 hours. If I understand the book, that's what I'm suppose to do. As I'm eating (especially when I'm not hungry), I'm thinking 'this is going to make me gain weight', but as you can see from the following result, I didn't gain.

Without further ado, here's my results..

After 5 WEEKS on YOU ON A DIET

Weight: 271
Weight Lost this week: 3lb
Total Weight Lost: 26lbs
Waist: 52
Waist Inches Lost this week: 1
Total Inches lost: 5 inches
Pants Waist: 42w (snug)
Total Pants Waist Sizes Lost: 2 sizes (46w to 42w)




April 4, 2007

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Another Pound Bites the Dust

Well today was my weekly Wednesday Weigh-in. I was a bit disappointed until I measured my waist. I guess maybe since I'm building muscle, my weight didn't drop as much as I would have liked, but my waist showed how hard I've been working.



Without further ado, here's my results..



After 4 WEEKS on YOU ON A DIET



Weight: 274
Weight Lost this week: 1lb
Total Weight Lost: 23lbs
Waist: 53
Waist Inches Lost this week: 2
Total Inches lost: 4 inches
Pants Waist: 42w (tight)
Total Pants Waist Sizes Lost: 2 sizes (46w to 42w)




Rich

n2styx@comcast.net

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Did I Pass the Restaurant Test?

I had lunch today with some good friends and they wanted to go to Copeland's Famous New Orleans Restaurant. http://www.copelandsofneworleans.com/ I'm thinking to myself, this is going to be hell. Copleland's has awesome cajun food, most of which is fried, most of which is my favorite. In fact, Copeland's Restaurant is one of my favorite restaurants in Albuquerque. (Copeland's originated in New Orleans, my home town). So I took a deep breath and went to lunch.

When I walked in, the aroma of the food blew me away. I was salivating at the thought of a fried seafood platter. We got to our table, I order Iced Tea and began to look at the menu. I saw all my favorites, they were all calling to me "pick me, pick me!". But to be totally honest, I wasn't interested!!! What has happened to me?

I found out the fish of the day (Tilapia) and ordered it. It came with "Red Potatoes" which is this awesome dish of softened red potatoes smothered with butter and garlic and some secret cajun spices.. take my word for it, they will blow you away. I asked if I could get fresh steamed veggies instead. It was kind of weird, I really didn't think about asking for the veggies, I just did it.

My blackened Talipia came with a very generous serving of fresh steamed veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, squash, peppers, etc.) . They were awesome. The whole lunch was awesome. I ate and was very satisfied. I ate 1/2 of what was brought and took the other 1/2 home for tomorrow's dinner. I didn't feel cheated at all. I was very glad and proud of myself for eating sensibly. Plus I didn't have to deal with the after restaurant guilt.

I think I passed the test!!

24 days now on the You: On a Diet plan and still kicking butt!

Rich
n2styx@comcast.net

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Birthday Party Temptation

Something amazing happened. I have been doing the You: On a Diet (YOAD) for 2.5 weeks when my daughter had her 12th birthday party. zThere was cake, chips, etc. She knows I'm on this new diet, but she kept nagging me to have a piece of her birthday cake. "Just one piece Dad, it'll be alright". After looking at the cake all day, I FINALLY CAVED IN. And then the most amazing thing happened. I got really sick! I got so nausiated that I threw up. After I got the cake out of me, I felt much better. Was this my body's way to tell me to CUT OUT THE JUNK FOOD? Have I been eating so much healthy, natural food these 2.5 weeks that my body just threw a fit when I ate a piece of junk and purged the crap from my stomach? I CERTAINLY HOPE SO!!! Image what I'll look like if every time I eat junk, my body says 'no way!' and purges it from me.

Anway, Since Wednesdays are my weigh day (Weighdays), here's my 3 week results.

Weight: 275
Total Weight Lost: 22lbs
Waist: 55*
Total Inches lost: 2 inches
Pants Waist: 44w
Total Pants Waist Sizes Lost: 2 sizes (46w to 44w)

* I don't understand why my waist using a measuring tape is so much larger than my pants waist size. I am down from a tight 46w pants to a loose 44w Pants.

Pictures



Pictures in Red Shirt before I started the YOU: On a Diet plan. Weight: 297






Pictures with Blue Shirt are after 3 weeks on the Plan. Weight: 275 (22 pound lost).

Monday, March 19, 2007

Why I Started

This is my first attempt at a blog. I decided to start it for a couple of reasons. First, I'm proud of my weight loss while on the "You: On a Diet" plan and I wanted to share it, heck, SHOUT it to the world. Secondly, I was posting on the message boards of the RealAge website http://www.realage.com/doctorcenter/Board.aspx and got many of the same questions. Plus, people wanted to see pictures of my progress, which I couldn't do on that website. Third, I've found it very uplifting and fulfilling sharing my story with others. So here I go!......