"Super Size Me"

Well I just watched Super Size Me on Netflix instant, and I officially never want to eat at Mc Donalds again. Between how badly that processed food affects our bodies, and how it's affecting our nation as a whole I'm surprised more hasn't been done for our health. I think it's because it's been a slowly but steady climb between kiddy commercials and addicting sugars and salt. I will be the first to admit that I have been part of this culture and depended on McDonalds and other fast food places for many of my meals and my body is paying for it. I am personally committed at this moment to never go to Mc Donalds again. I doubt my anti-contribution to the Mc Donalds monopoly will do much, but it's something at least, and that's what matters to me.

Not the 4th I was expecting, but still good!

When I woke up this morning I was expecting a quiet day where I may go to Subway to get a sandwich for lunch, watch The Revolution on the History Channel and just relax. On my walk to Subway, I looked to my left to find a bunch of tents and music a block away from the University. Curious, I walked toward it to see what was available and figured they may have some food at least, if nothing else.


I got to the park and found tents and tents with food, wares, play areas for kids, crafts, and a live band in the back ground. It's a sight I haven't seen very often. My small home town had some summer and 4th of July festivals but they seemed to feel half-hearted or passionate by only a few while the rest of the town was in 'whatever' mode. This was a nice change. Everyone was relaxed, enjoying themselves, kids playing and food plentiful.

I walked up through the stalls and found a stall providing Cajun food. Hrmm, odd choice for Western Oregon. I look at the menu and see that they're selling Craw fish boats with the Craw fish, potatoes, cajun sausage and Corn on the cob and doused in a Cajun spice blend. I had never had Craw fish before. I was quite scared to get it because it was so different than anything I'd ever eaten before. Despite my reservations, I decided to be bold. I really needed to get out of the middle class stay safe rut that I have been in for most of my life. The kind looking lady from a Louisiana family loaded up a white papered cardboard boat with butter, corn, craw fish and sausage. She then walked to the opposite part of the booth, grabbed a shaker and sprinkled what smelled like heavenly Cajun seasoning. She set the boat on the table in front of me and we exchanged money.

With a reserving face I exclaimed, "I don't even know how to eat them!". A man behind the booth chuckled and said he'd help me. He grabbed a top craw fish in the big pot and showed me how to eat them. It's much like a mini lobster. I thanked him and went to sit down.
I dug in and tasted all the goodies. The Craw fish wasn't bad, but it is a new taste that takes some getting used to, but I like fish so it wasn't that hard. The Corn on the cob was the best corn I've ever had in my whole life!

After I had my Cajun lunch, I went and splurged on some funnel cakes that were awesome too. Yummy powdered sugar covered fried goodness. It's good this type of thing isn't available to me every day!

I hope every on has a great 4th of July!

Melt it off has arrived!

Well my program came in the mail today! For the most part it has what I expected: the DVD workouts, the meal plans, the G-Ball weight, and the supplements. It also came with a nice measuring tape to get my beginning and ending measurements. The 'G-Ball' is decently made and even if it does go flat, it provides the grip and weight needed to perform the exercises.

The DVD info looks good so far. I watched an intro video that showed 10 of the basic moves this program uses in detail. I was pleased actually. A few other programs just jump into the fray without taking time to explain the moves in detail and expect you to just keep up. This is a nice alternative. The supplements that come with look ok. They don't look like the ubber spectacular product they're supposed to be, but at the same time the ingredient list doesn't have anything bad on it. It's mostly just Vitamins and Green tea. I'll probably just use the bottle then switch back to my multivitamin.

I am finding a small issue with the diet program. It's very detailed and thought out with a nice convenient shopping list and different meal plans for men and women (which is smart because nutritional needs are different between genders), but it discourages deviating from what's there. It plainly says "keep to the meal plan as listed because deviating might cause more fat and calorie intake." I can understand this, but at the same time I can't imagine eating the exact same meal plan every week for the entirety of the program. My taste buds might declare mutiny!

Before actually starting on the program I need to check on some health issues first, but I don't see them being a problem.

Wish me luck!

Hello to all! I'm creating this blog to help me and hopefully others to lose weight and be healthy. I have currently ordered an exercise program called Melt it off with Mitch Gaylord. Mitch Gaylord was an Olympic gold medalist in the mid '80's I believe he's developed the whole system. I found it on an infomercial and out of the many weight loss infomercials out there I felt this had some good promise.
I was looking for something that burned lots of calories but was low impact because I am not a small person and I've had 2 knee surgeries on my right knee. So with all the weight that I have now, doing things like jumping jacks and bouncing would hurt more than help. I'm figuring once I've lost 50 or so lbs I'll change it up.

Another reason for this blog is to see if the famous infomercial workout products live up to their promises. I will be following the product info given to me as much as possible to the letter T so that the results should be as accurate as possible. If 'Melt it off' doesn't work, or only works for a little while and I plateau, or if repeating the same DVD workouts gets increasingly boring, then I will try another infomercial type workout system. I don't want to do anything that harms me or anyone else so I will be very candid and honest about how the program works with me physically, emotionally and how I'm treated on a customer basis.

I've done some general research (a.k.a. Google) on the program and have found mixed feedback on it. The DVDs and info are getting decent reviews, but the company that disperses the program tries to get you in on a supplement program and other products which the customer reviews I've found say are a mega bust. A lot of the complaints settle around the customer service of the company. People have stated that when they use the phone to order it's a recording they order with and they have to pay attention to every word said and press the right button to make sure they don't accidentally order the many other products that are offered before they finally get to their total (which isn't always stated). When the supplements get here I'll be checking the ingredients to see if there's anything bad in them and if there isn't I'll try them with the program, but I have a strong feeling I'll be canceling them. I've also read horror stories about people calling the company multiple times and still getting their credit card charged so we'll see how that goes.

I ordered my product set online. Before I got to my product checkout I had to go through 2 or 3 pages of "do you also want this product?" I made sure that I checked no on them. Despite not wanting to be on the supplement program, in order to get the 'set' of stuff that's offered (which is pretty extensive) the supplement program is part of the offer and can't be taken off, but can be canceled within 30 days so you aren't charged (hopefully). If I do have the issues with the company that I've read about, I ordered the product with my H and R block prepaid debit card that can be easily canceled.

Despite some of the customer service baddies I've found, there are some good things too! Since ordering the product, I've gotten very good and accurate emails for the receipt of my purchase, when it shipped and links to being able to track my package via UPS which is very accurate. I ordered the product only last Friday with normal 2-4 week delivery and according to the tracking at the moment, it's only 20 miles away! Woot!

The whole system which includes:

• A 2 lb 'G-Ball' which is the basis of the system using the weight away from you so that you use more muscles to move it.
• 'Mitch's Melt it Off Program' which is a booklet containing recipes, meal plans, rotation calendar, and more.
• 3 Day Melt it off kick start. This 3 day plan promises to drop at least 5 lbs and 1 size in 3 days. To do that, it provides meal plans and exercise routines to make that possible.
• Melt it off workout DVD with multiple workouts including: Cardio Burn and Sculpt, Sizzlin Abs, and High calorie melt.
• Melt in 10 workout. (this idea I'm liking because it's a high intensity 10 minute workout for days that I don't have a lot of time.
• Mitch's Winning mindset CD which includes motivational help you reach your goal.
• 2 other 'Free' gifts (using a liberal version of the term 'free') including a 30 day supply of the supplement formula with a 'free upgrade' to the continuity program where after the first 30 days they send you 2 more months of the formula and charge you for it and the shipping and handling equalling $27...(that will be canceled) and Mitch's webclub for online help with weightloss that's $20/month (this just doesn't sound interesting)

Anyway, despite the almost forced negatives with the 'continuity program', all the other parts of the program look like they should help me. If I wasn't a poor college student I may (big 'may') be interested in the continuity options, but even so I have a feeling they wouldn't do much for me for the price they cost. Either way I have 30 days with them before I get charged so I'll be checking them out and giving my review.