Did I Forget To Mention?

This morning the scale said 269.4 and that means I'm down 6.8 pounds in 6 days.  Ehhhxcellent!

Feeling very good on Isagenix Cleanse For Life while waiting in the heat for our Realtor - house hunting!

Still Moving Forward

This morning I stepped on the scale and got a positive outcome - 270.4, which means I'm down 5.8 lbs in 4 days!

I got a same-day(!) appointment with Dr. Duck to check on my infected toe and my troublesome knee. The good news for me was that none of this is related to gout. I got a better antibiotic and hopefully I won't have to have the toenail cut off, which I'm told is pretty painful.  I'm betting it's not as bad as gout. For the knee we are going to get an MRI, but we're pretty sure it's torn cartilage. We'll cross that decision bridge when we come to it.

This is the second time I've had this problem with my knee and a physician's assistant assumed it was gout last time. I had my doubts, but I'm not the doctor, right?

Because none of this is related to gout and I'm symptom-free right now, this means that so far Isagenix is fine if you have gout. It also means that I can lose weight faster than I expected without creating an imbalance that turns up the heat - so to speak - on the gout. No flare-ups!

Tonight I decided to have Trader Joe's plain yogurt with a banana (very thinly sliced) before a sweet potato. (There's a picture below to show that it looks pretty good!) I've also discovered I like sweet potatoes since I contracted gout and I found out they are good for combating it. Before I had gout I hadn't had sweet potatoes since not being able to keep them down as a kid.

We all have to be open to learning new things and reconsidering ideas that we might have tossed away long ago. You can get in better shape than you might believe right now. Instead of saying "None for me, thanks," you can say, "I'll eat this because of what it does for me."

Keep walking!

Isagenix IsaLean Chocolate Shake

When I was a kid I remember my mom getting me Instant Breakfast from Carnation, which was the first liquid meal I remember having. I liked the chocolate and probably liked all that sugar, too.

Now I believe a much better choice is Isagenix IsaLean Shake - Natural Creamy Chocolate flavor! I mixed it with room temperature water yesterday and it was pretty good. My wife pronounced it good, which is saying a lot considering she's a big chocolate fan. I've strayed from a regimen more than once because of giving in to some of her chocolate that she has lying around. (To be fair, I've found it when she has hidden it, too.)

Today I used cold water and 1/4 banana in our blender and it mixed up even creamier. I think the lower temperature enhances the flavor. I'm a big guy as you might have guessed since I call my blog "Big Man Walking". That was at 6:30 this morning and I've only had 3 cherries as a mini-snack and plenty of water since then. Most of us don't get enough water and it's important that we do. I find that I like the taste of cold water better than room temperature and I've started to keep a container in the refrigerator as a way to make the experience more pleasant and even practical on a hot July day.

Below are some quotes I found at ThinkExist.com to motivate and inspire you and me on this journey.

Keep walking!


“The longest journey starts with a single step.”
Proverb

“The longest journey a man must take is the eighteen inches from his head to his heart.”
Anonymous

“The longest journey of any person is the journey inward.”
Dag Hammarskjold

Nice Surprise On The Scale This Morning

When I got on the scale this morning I really didn't expect much as it had only been a little less than 48 hours since I started using Isagenix. I was surprised to see my weight at 271.6. If you read previous posts you know that means I lost 4.6 lbs in 2 days without a flare-up in gout pain.

That last part is the most important factor to me. Sometimes losing weight too fast can cause an imbalance that just "revs up" that pain and once you've experienced full-blown gout you want to avoid that at all costs. I've told Sue Landis and others that gout is a great behavior modifier!

My other numbers improved, too - fat 39.3% (lower) and water 50.8% (higher). I am expecting good things from continuing to use Isagenix products.

Have I taken anything else so far? I've taken a couple of vitamin complexes I had left over, but I don't think that's contributed to weight loss. I also take Gout Control, which is basically herbs. Again, it's not really for weight loss, but for helping your body get rid of uric acid.

I didn't have a deli sandwich today, but I did have turmeric chicken with onions for dinner and a banana and a third with plain yogurt and some cherries for dessert. Brunch was 2 cups of Trader Joe's Organic Brown Rice.

What will tomorrow bring?

Keep walking!

Pictures Of Me - Lookout!

I figured I better get these pictures up before I lose more weight!  Today is July 14, 2010 and my wife just took these in our home.  I don't know if they usually use a sideview, too.  Is that for mugshots?

Have The ATC At Sub-Marina

After getting a haircut earlier, my wife and I went to Sub-Marina in San Marcos for lunch. We split a 12 inch ATC (Avocado, Turkey, & Cheese) on wheat. They have an italian dressing that they pour (at your option) on the sandwich and they really have it down. There's usually three to five people making your sandwich and they are like a machine.

But the best part is the taste. I absolutely love their sandwiches. My wife and I are split. She prefers Tina's Deli, where we ate yesterday and I absolutely love Sub-Marina. We've been going there for almost 10 years, while my wife and other teachers she works with will go to Tina's because it's near their school. My son is with me and he often likes the specials that Sub-Marina posts on the door.

This Sub-Marina pre-dates the Submarina chain and that's why they get to keep their name. I'll take the chain sandwich in a pinch, but I'll always choose this little place if given a choice.

I just posted a link for Sub-Marina to Foursquare and you can click below or on the title of today's post to get there.

The Original Sub-Marina in San Marcos, CA

Did I mention that I love their sandwiches?


Keep walking!

I Slept 6 Hours Straight!

For many of you, 6 hours may be no big deal. For some of us, we don't know the last time we slept 6 hours without interruption. I don't mean that it NEVER happens, but for me...sleeping that long without waking up has happened MAYBE 4 or 5 times in the last year.

Right now I'm happy with my Isagenix shake and cleanse. I am sure that different people react differently and maybe most don't feel the positive impact to their sleep on the very first night, but that's my result so far.

Yesterday I got my first shipment and weighed myself before I consumed anything. My scale also measures body fat and water. I weighed 276.2 lbs. and body fat was 39.9%, while water was 50.3%.

After going to see Despicable Me with my honey, we went to one of her favorite delis, Tina's Deli for a sandwich. I had turkey and avocado on rye with extra lettuce and she had egg salad. She says that sometimes her teacher colleagues all put in one order and after seeing her enjoy the egg salad, some of them have joined her and now the egg salad sandwiches make up a big percentage of the group's order. She gave me a bite of hers and it was good. I also ate both pickles. These are good deli sandwiches. I thought mine was a little dry, but I didn't want more mayo on it, so that's kind of what I expected - quality ingredients, though.

My expectation was that I would feel a little better today and that I hoped to "break even" on weight. Sleeping straight through so long is a bonus. Another bonus is actually losing weight!

This morning all my numbers improved - weight 274.6 (down 1.6), fat 39.7 (down .2) and water 50.5 (up .2). Plus, my knee feels a little better. I have assumed that the less-than-normal flexibility in my knee is gout as that's what the doctor said it was last time.

The other day I had my last coffee for a while and then the next day had green tea from Trader Joe's which has caffeine, but not as much. So I've been on caffeine withdrawal for a couple days and felt achy and tired when Marianne and I got home yesterday. I laid down for a couple hours and got up about quarter to five still not feeling my best.

This morning I definitely feel better than yesterday and Sunday and I suspect that has a lot to do with the Isagenix Cleanse For Life, which I drank yesterday morning, last night and again this morning. I've also had several cups of Celestial Seasonings Bengal Spice Tea, which is herbal without caffeine. In my opinion, it helps to have something that you can enjoy regularly that's your favorite (in my case, tea) when you embark on a journey to better health.

I'm really glad that Sue Landis got back in touch with me to tell me about this. I thought this morning that she's like my business angel and my wife is my home angel. I even found some music by Tavares that fit my mood later when singing in the shower. You can check out the video on one of my Facebook groups - My Unexpected Song Selection. It's the video selected on today's date - 7/13/10.

I hope you're sleeping as well as you would like. If not, contact me.

Keep walking!

Marianne & I are getting my last Bolivian Organic for a good long while. No coffee tomorrow, Sue :-)

I Joined The Team of Sue, Mary Kay And Rocky

Sometimes you aren't looking for something and it finds you anyway. A few months ago I started my adventure with gout and I have been surprised by some of the things I've been finding out.

Less meat or chicken works out ok so far. Years on and off Atkins had me thinking how much of a carnivore I am. But we can change. Some days I don't even have meat or chicken or fish.

I had forgotten how much I like smoothies. When you make them at home you can add Stevia instead of sugar and still make them sweeter if that's how you like them.

An old friend and former Toastmaster got back in contact with me and told me about Isagenix and she is sensitive to my individual needs with regard to gout and doesn't try to make me fit into a one-size-fits-all regimen. She's also kind as well as smart and her mentors seems the same way. So I joined the team of Sue, Mary Kay & Rocky and now I start my Isagenix adventure. Here's my new site!

http://bigmanwalking.isagenix.com

Keep walking!

My dog, Mellow, and I are out for our early morning walk. :-)

Excellent call with Sue Landis & Rocky earlier today! Isagenix here I come! Looking forward to more permanent help with gout.