40, Fit, & Fastfood

Hang On!!!

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 18:44:46 -0800

Today Cindy, Joanie Greggains’ assistant, contacted me and said Joanie agrees with me; it’s lack of personal responsibility that causes obesity, not fast food restaurants like McDonald’s. Cindy said Joanie would like to interview me on KGO Newstalk Radio (810 on the AM dial)!

This is huge because Joanie Greggains is a world renown fitness expert, and her show is heard around the country!

So make sure to tune in this Saturday, December 19th! Joanie’s show plays from 8-10am, and she will interview me from 9:35-9:55am.

If you can’t tune-in, make sure to download her podcast from www.kgoradio.com

Until Saturday...

Conclusion: 30 Days to better fitness with McDonald’s

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 07:29:08 -0800

Viva Vivace! The ribeye with peppercorn sauce was oh so worth the wait!

But getting down to business... At 8:30am I was at Dr. Jacoby’s office having my blood drawn. I was expecting a quick visit since he was just going to draw blood for the lab; however, it took about half an hour because he also checked my blood pressure (110/66, pulse 44), liver, spleen, lungs, and heart. He’s a doctor who truly cares about his patients.

My fitness test results blew me away! I lost more weight than I expected (9 lbs.) and decreased my body fat by 4.6% (16.7 to 12.1%). This particular combination of weight and body fat decrease was most interesting because it meant that the weight I lost was 100% FAT! This almost never happens. When people lose weight, it’s usually a combination of fat and lean body mass.

I lost 2.75” on my waist, 1/2” on my abdominals, 1/4” on my hips; and gained 1/2” on my chest and 1” on my thighs! In other words, I shrunk my midsection, and grew my chest and thighs!

As for my strength, those results were also phenomenal, especially my leg press, push ups, and bar dips! Below are the results of my first and second test:
Although I’m the one who ultimately enjoys the benefits of this journey, I hope the point that I set out to make is crystal clear: Obesity is not an epidemic as much as it is a symptom of a greater epidemic - lack of personal responsibility.

McDonald’s is not responsible for making people fat; those who eat there and get fat are responsible for making poor choices. The combination of foods I ate for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks cost as much (if not less) than the value meals. Therefore, those who claim people have to eat there due to economic reasons are stretching the truth.

My total expenditure for the month is still being tallied, however, it is somewhere between $450 and $600. For this much money, people can provide healthy meals for their family. It just takes discipline and personal responsibility, which is something our country is progressively losing.

I would like give special thanks to all of you who expressed interest in my crazy project; to Don Lee, Neil Koketsu, and Sal Frias, the three awesome trainers who tested and video taped me; to all the employees at McDonald’s in Belmont, Foster City, San Carlos, and San Mateo, who put up with my unusually boring orders and complaints; to Doctors Tene and Jacoby, for medically supervising me; and most importantly, to my wonderful wife Lisa, for putting up with her intensely bizarre husband’s projects and always cleaning up the dust that her Tasmanian Devil leaves in his trail;-)

Day 30: 30 Days to better fitness with McDonald’s

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 20:10:03 -0800

I did it; 30 days of eating only McDonald’s!!! I just had my final McMeal, and now I have to fast for 12 hours for my blood test tomorrow.

It was psychologically difficult to not exercise yesterday. When starting my evaluation today, I was wondering if the rest was going to help me perform better, or make me stale.

I was pleasantly surprised. My fitness evaluation was phenomenal! My scores blew away my previous test; however, you will have to wait until tomorrow to see the results;-)

This morning started a little rough. When I arrived at the Belmont McDonald’s, their latte machine wasn’t working, AGAIN! That’s seven times in 30 days that I’ve gone to a McDonald’s, and their latte machine was out of commission. Twice in San Mateo and five times at Belmont.

Anyhow, I substituted coffee with nonfat milk and hazelnut for my latte. When you read my intake for today, keep that in mind because I will be recording it, calorically, as a nonfat hazelnut latte.

Since dinner was my final meal for this journey, I decided to celebrate by splitting a small order of fries with Lisa. In fact, my whole family celebrated by eating McDonald’s. Nick had the Honey Mustard Grilled Chicken Snack Wrap, and Stefan and Lisa each had a Grilled Chicken Sandwich (no mayonnaise).

Today’s caloric total was 1,600.

Breakfast:
1 Medium, Iced, Nonfat, Hazelnut Latte
2 Scrambled Eggs
1 English Muffin
Lunch:
1 Honey Mustard Snack Wrap
1 Low Fat Cone
Dinner:
1 Southwest Grilled Chicken Salad
1 Small Fries
1 Yogurt Parfait

Until tomorrow, when you get the low-down on all my scores!

Day 29: 30 Days to better fitness with McDonald’s

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 12:21:29 -0800

HOORAY...ONLY ONE MORE DAY!!!

I can’t believe how fast the time has passed. Breakfast, lunch and dinner... Then I’m done.

My fitness evaluation is set for tomorrow at 3pm and my blood test is Saturday 8:30am at Dr. Jacoby’s office in San Carlos. He is the most awesome general practitioner I know. He’s very thorough, loves his job and patients, and it shows! But that doesn’t help with my fear of having my blood drawn... AGAIN!

Today was the first day in a while that I didn’t do any physical activity. Boy did it feel weird! I don’t understand how people can go through a day without doing something physical. And I’m not talking about filling a tub, taking a bath, pulling the plug, and fighting the current. I mean run, bike, push ups, and sit ups; something physical!

The cold weather made it very difficult to get up this morning. I woke up late, at 5:30am, and had to be in Hillsborough by 5:45am. So, I got dressed, grabbed a yogurt parfait, brushed my teeth, jetted to my client’s house, and arrived right at 5:45!

As a result, I ate my “real” breakfast at 6:15am and skipped my mid-morning snack. By lunchtime, however, I was starving!

My intake, again, was 1,370 calories and went as follows:
Snack:
1 Yogurt Parfait
Breakfast:
1 Medium, Iced, Nonfat, Hazelnut Latte
2 Scrambled Eggs
1 English Muffin
Lunch:
1 Honey Mustard Snack Wrap
1 Low Fat Cone
Dinner:
1 Southwest Grilled Chicken Salad
JUST ONE MORE DAY;-)

Day 28: 30 Days to better fitness with McDonald’s

Wed, 9 Dec 2009 16:14:09 -0800

With only two days left, I decided I would send my story to the SF Chronicle, San Mateo Daily Journal, and the Joannie Greggains show. So far, I haven’t heard from any of them. Oh well. At least I think the story’s worth sharing with others. I mean, how many people do you know that have eaten only McDonald’s for thirty days straight...AND lose weight?

Today I weighed in at 163 pounds and 13.7 percent body fat. That’s an 8 1/2 pound and 3 percent decrease from when I started! Also, on November 19, I ran 4 miles in 35:13. Today I ran 4 miles in 29:06. That’s 6 minutes 7 seconds faster, and a 7:22 pace!

I’ve set by blood test for Saturday morning, but I’m still working on finding a time, Friday, to take another fitness evaluation and have it video taped. I taped the one I did on the 12th.

Today’s intake was the same as yesterday’s, except I added an extra chicken breast from the Wrap. Total calories: 1,432

Breakfast:
1 Medium, Iced, Nonfat, Hazelnut Latte
2 Scrambled Eggs
1 English Muffin
Snack:
1 Yogurt Parfait
Lunch:
1 Honey Mustard Snack Wrap
1 Honey Mustard Snack Wrap (Breast Only)
1 Low Fat Cone
Dinner:
1 Southwest Grilled Chicken Salad

Today was my last workout because I want to rest for my Friday test. I might do some abdominal work, push ups, pull ups, and stretch; but nothing too serious.

In addition to my four mile run, I biked for 25 minutes.

ONLY 2 MORE DAYS!!!