Nutribullet Day 7

Nutribullet Day 7:

0845hrs - 2 handfuls spinach, 1 apple, 1/2" pineapple slicen 1tsp honey, water to max line.

1430hrs - 2 cups spring mix, 1 mango, 1 cup raspberry,  water to max line.

1615hrs - 2 cups watermelon, 6 ice cubes.

Nutribullet Day 6

Nutribullet Day 6

Nutribullet Day 5

Nutribullet Day 5

Nutribullet Day 4

Had a BBQ competition day trip with my guy friends planned for months. I didnt want to bail on them so I ate "light" at the festival and held off until my dinner shake.

Dinner: 2 handfuls spinach, 1/2 honey crisp apple, 1/2 banana, 1/2" pineapple slice, almond milk to max line.

Nutribullet day 3

Breakfast: 2 handfuls spinach, 1/2 cucumber, banana, 4 strawberries, tb honey, almond milk to max line. Best smoothie so far.

Lunch: Baked pork loin white rice, pat of butter.

Dinner: 2 handfuls spinach, 1/2 banana, 1/2" pineapple slice, 1/2" ginger root,  almond milk to max line. = spicy but delicious.

Whole Foods Shopping 3

Whole Foods Shopping 3

Nutribullet Day 2

Day 2 of shakes.......

Whole Foods Shopping 2

Whole Foods Shopping 2

Nutribullet Day 1

Today I bought a Nutribullet to see if green shake meal substitution will help me get healthier. I need to lower my blood pressure because being on meds just plain sucks. So here is my basic meal plan using NutriBlasts.

First shake: 2 cups spinach, 1 banana, 1 cup strawberries, water to max line

2nd shake: 1 granny smith apple, 1/2 lime, ice, water to max line

Whole Foods Shopping 1

Whole Foods Shopping 1

352.4lbs and unhealthy as ever

352.4lbs and feeling it....to be continued

Exercise Electrocardiogram & Echocardiogram Completed

Today I had a treadmill stress test (exercise electrocardiogram) and an ECHO (echocardiogram) to evaluate why I my heart seems to palpitate about 12 minutes into jogging/running. Now this palpitation scares the hell out of me, especially the first time it happen. But after the first few times, I said meh I pushed through it last time....keep going. My doctor did not like when I shared this, so he sent me to a Cardiologist.

 I have to say the ECHO Technician Jennifer was awesome and made me feel at home when she was doing the test. She said she got all the "shots" she needed and I did not have any complications or have to tangle into any weird position for her. Now I kinda know what woman go through when they get sonograms because that nasty cold jelly was everywhere on my ribs, chest and stomach.

The treadmill stress test was interesting to say the least, there was a Nurse, Electrocardiograph Technician (Tech) and a Cardiologist (Dr.) all in the room to administer the test. After a brief overview of the test they clipped me into the spaghetti ball of leads and strapped the junction box to my chest. I started walking very slowly at first then the test progressed too a rather steep incline and jogging speed. My blood pressure was 160/100 at the beginning of the test and they seemed slightly concerned. But right after the warm up walk I started speed walking and my systolic pressure began rising to around 200 and the Tech asked the Dr. if we should stop the test. The Dr. replied "nope, this young man has no signs of ischemia so let him go up to 240 systolic before shutting it down." So as the jogging portion started I plateaued at 210/100 and finished the test with a max of 184bpm during the last few minutes.

After calming down and taking another resting set of vitals, the Dr. looked at the Tech as he shook his head. The Tech asked "what?", the Dr. said "here is your case study" and the Tech look puzzled. I was thinking am I dead? Is this an outer body experience? So the Tech asked why and the Doctor said "well you have a guy who is 31 years old, overweight, has hypertension, admitted he has a sedentary lifestyle, bad eating habits and is out of shape.....AND he completed the entire test series without skipping a beat (pun intended). The Tech and I were both confused. The doctor added, "I am not your Cardiologist but your only problem buddy is your obesity...which is causing your hypertension. Your heart is in great shape for someone who claims he had a sedentary life and has been overweight for most of it." I smiled and said "Thank you Doctor" not knowing what else to say.

What a weird experience. I have a follow up with my own cardiologist on July 10th to go over the results of my tests. I am looking forward to that for sure, I want to hear her thoughts on his findings....or lack thereof.

This is serious

I want to say I am back.......but I'm still trying to find my drive. My life has been totally different since my nephew Caleb passed away in January. My wife and I went back to FL in March to stay with my brother and his family for two weeks and am planning another trip in August for Jacob's 1st birthday. The world seems dimmer to me after seeing the hurt and fear in my brother and sister-in-law's eyes both in January and March. I wish I could take it away from them, they do not deserve this.


When I got home from Florida I could not stand sitting still so I applied to 20 different help wanted ads in all different fields and ended up getting four part time jobs out of my effort. I have been working 80+ hours per week since. I work for the PD 40hrs a week, private security 12hrs per week, paint furniture 10-20hrs per week, overnight surveillance at millionaire estates 12-24hrs per week and drive a truck doing wine deliveries 6-12hrs per week. Don't forget the travel time in between the jobs because some are 50 miles away from each other or my home. I rarely find the time to sleep more than 4-5hrs at a time. I feel like crap and am heavier than ever, my blood pressure is higher than usual too. I basically eat fast food two times a day since I have not been home enough to cook and haven't went food shopping since January. This is serious.


Even though I seem doom & gloom....there are many positive things that have come from the hard work I have been putting in at all the assorted jobs. I am tempted to back date some of my posts so I can have them as a positive scrap book of events. They will not be exercise or body related but still, they will separate me from the last posts I typed back in January. Thank you for your support...my 3 readers :) -Danny

Caleb Daniel Mulligan - You Will Be Remembered Forever

 Caleb Daniel & Jacob Thomas Mulligan

Caleb Daniel

I will be back to fill in additional information, Jacob, Caleb's surviving identical twin brother is doing great and flourishing every day. BRB

My Life Changed Forever Today

When I was at work this morning I received a call from my wife hysterical crying that I had to call my brother Steve in Florida....she wouldn't tell me what was going on. I called Steve immediately and he answered crying as well. I asked what was going on and that is when my life started crumbling down....he replied:

"Danny I don't know what to do...Caleb is not breathing...I can't make him breath again"

I immediately started giving Steve CPR instructions. Then he said:

"I don't know what happen we just fed him and put him down for a nap and now he is gone"

As Steve was saying that, paramedics and ambulance personnel came running into the house and took the baby from him. The phone disconnected....but I knew they can help him more than I can from 1,400 miles away.

I called my supervisor from outside in the parking lot and said I am leaving for a family emergency and off I went to my Mom's house. I called her over and over getting her voicemail every time. Then I started calling Steve and his wife Theresa's cell phone repetitively to no avail. I finally got to my Mom's house about 40 minutes later and burst into the front door "MOM!" I am yelling and nothing. So I walk in her room and she is sleeping. I woke her up to explain that Steve called saying Caleb wasn't breathing BUT the ambulance got there right away so he is probably fine.

So now that we are together, I called Steve's phone again and it picked up...it was Theresa. I said "Hey what's going on T, where is Steve and the baby?" She replied....."Caleb is gone". My heart instantly shattered into a million pieces and at the same time I heard my brother in the background crying really hard....I broke down in front of my Mom. My Mom was surprised by my reaction because I am not a cryer...she realized what happened as well. So we both cried together with Steve and Theresa on the phone.

It took me three weeks to be able to type that little bit about it and even so I am choked up as I share this but I feel it will be beneficial for anyone who reads my blog to know what I am going through mentally. This blog started as a way to express my physical "emotions" aka pains, accomplishments and goals....but I never realized it would become so therapeutic mentally. I am happy to have the few people that do read my blog and I would like to thank you for being there for me through this journey.

The Dreaded Week 2 Weigh In!

Over all the years of off/on dieting, not much compares to the dreaded week 2 weigh in. I have pushed harder, faster and longer in both exercise and diet this week than I ever have in the past for a mere 1.6lbs weight loss. I laughed when I got on the scale, it was so anti-climatic after just losing 11lbs last week. But I have to remember this always happens to me week 2 and history is due to repeat itself.

In the past knowing this will happen, I have even went to the extent of NOT weighing in week 2 and just went from week 1 to week 3...lol. I did not want to see that low loss number because it might make me lose my push, the one that propels me through eating right, weighing my food and exercising day in and day out.

This little rant is over because I know week 3 will have good things in store for me. I look forward to a big loss on the scale. I am increasing my cardio workout times even higher this week to blow away any plateau that I might hit. I have to remember a loss IS a loss....so my 1.6lbs is a job well done.

Have a great day and see you on the road!

Week 2: 329.6lbs Down -1.6lbs

Week 2: 329.6lbs  Down -1.6lbs

My First Elicited Compliment

Tonight I received my first unexpected compliment from my dear friend Brandi. I was in the middle of a conversation with my bud Mike (her husband) when Brandi waited for a pause in our silly man convo to say "Danny, I can see that your body is changing".....I was floored because her kind words were out of nowhere.

I mean nothing nasty ever comes from Brandi, she is always sweet as pie but such an impromptu, sincere, beautiful compliment like that!! She even added a few lines about my diet and hard work are definitely paying off....it made me smile ear to ear. I am not used to receiving compliments about my body. I even asked Michelle for a recap on the car ride home because it was such a powerful sentence that I am still smiling right now.

I love you Bran, you made my day!!!! I actually came home from your house and worked out another 30 minutes to get my burn on before tomorrow morning's weigh in......knowing for sure that it is working!!!   :)

Connetquot State Park Hiking 6.25 miles

Michelle's camera balancing skills on a wobbly dock...FTW!!

5 miles in and feeling great!

I love my wife so much, she is my life, she is my everything.

Today was a gorgeous day to explore the 50+ miles of hiking trails at Connetquot State Park. Michelle and I covered a bit over 6.25 miles in the two hours we had before sun down. We can't wait to come back in the spring so we have more day light hours. As you can see Michelle is a bit cold so she is looking forward to the warmth of spring more than the hours in a day.
We had such a great time enjoying each other's company while getting fit. ;)

Happy Birthday Nanny....I miss you so much.

Today would have been my Nanny's (my Grandma's) 89th birthday.

We all miss you and know you are looking down on us right now.

I love you Nan. :*)

Power Packed Breakfast - 410cals

This is the third time I ate Kashi Cinnamon Harvest Squares with water instead of milk for breakfast. 

Michelle gags at the thought, but I love saving the extra 100-180 calories and not to mention the stomach ache milk gives me. This breakfast provides me with a lot of energy for the first few hours of the day.

P.S. The 4oz of water is the sub for milk. I drink 24-32oz of water with breakfast not logged here.

Pumping Iron

PBA Gym on my lunch break - Day 7 in a row of exercising 30+ minutes per day. :)

4 miles of Hills

I took a more scenic route today for a 4 miler through the neighborhood next to mine. 

The steep hill climbs, wild animals and beautiful houses made this walk memorable. 

I am going to include this route in my next excursion.

P.S. My blisters are really acting up because of this walk, aaah pain is temporary, regret hurts forever.

Biggest Loser Mulligan Edition

I guess I got a few peoples attention at work with my recent 11 pound weight loss, jogging on lunch break and walking funny from my blisters. Because I  was "recruited" by a friend to be on his team in a Biggest Loser type competition that him and his friends put together at work. This is how it works, starting on Jan. 3rd 2012 everybody weighed in on the same scale with at least one witness present then emailed their starting weight to the organizer. Then a final weigh in is on March 10, 2012 to see who has the highest percentage of weight loss. There are no weekly weigh ins because there are too many people involved that all work in different places and different hours.

Everybody involved put money towards a jackpot for the first, second and third top "losers" to win. I don't know exactly how much the pot is until all the participants weights are submitted. From what I hear it is in the thousands already for first place. My official weigh in tonight was 334lbs with my uniform on but no shoes and nothing in my pockets. That is 2.8lbs more than when I am weighing in my skivvies at home.

My team mate asked what my projected loss was going to be around for the finale..."You lost that 11lbs before the contest so the next few weeks are going to be rough, you hoping to lose what around 20 more pounds by March 10th?" I laughed and said "I was already going for a complete transformation, I don't know how much I am going to loss exactly but I promise you won't regret having me on your team." He laughed and said "Ok this is going to be interesting". He estimated my weight loss to be a bit over 2lbs a week but I am shooting for more than that. I will be happy with any weekly loss regardless. I will post up my teams weights when they are finalized. So far him and I are 260 & 334 respectively.

What should I buy with my winnings? :)

Tap Water vs BRITA vs ZEROWATER

Tap water....113ppm is low by the way. Some of my friends houses in this area are 200+ppm.

This is BRITA water....good but not the best at 084ppm.

As advertised ZeroWater is a whopping 000ppm!!

This is going to take a while, she bought me the 23 cup (184oz) version.

**This took almost 20 minutes to fill from complete empty.**
Note to self: Refill it as I am drinking each 32oz bottle.

ZeroWater

Michelle bought me this ZeroWater purification system for Christmas. I wanted one so bad after tasting it at Mike's house....ZeroWater is amazing!!! It taste like bottled water, very soft and refreshing.

This thing truly brings regular tap water down to the absolute 000ppm reading. Can't wait to set it up.