All posts by Andrew Lawson

Day 20 & 21 – Checking In At The NutriMost Clinic

Today I had my appointment at the NutriMost Clinic in Knoxville, and it was a wonderful visit! If anything it was a confidence and morale booster, but to see that I have lost 16 pounds, decreased my BMI and visceral fat, and increased my water intake was great! Still overall I feel healthier and seeing the weight continue to drop is fantastic. I am becoming healthier in a healthy way.

I chose to eat out yesterday while at lunch during work. I ate at Cracker Barrel and ordered very healthy portions to eat. Grilled chicken strips cooked without any oils or butters, and grilled tomatoes cooked without any oils or butters. The calories were appropriate with my diet, and truthfully the food always so much better without the oils and butters. I see the oils and butters as grease that clogs the system, and in this case the system is my veins and arteries. The less “grease” that I consume, the better that I feel, and the healthier I become. Even after I complete the NutriMost plan I will continue to live this lifestyle of appropriate eating to continue my healthier way of life.

My diabetes has still been great! I am barely taking fast-acting insulin for the meals I eat. Instead of eating fried meat and potatoes where I have to take large amounts of fact-acting insulin to compensate for the tremendous amount of sugar in my body, I am choosing to consume grilled foods and healthy fruits and vegetables, such as spinach and tomatoes. Eating the healthy option allows me the ability to not need the fast-acting insulin because I am not consuming a tremendous amount of sugars. If you are wondering too, I have not experienced many low blood sugars either. Truly continuing this lifestyle choice has effectively stabilized my type-1 diabetes!

In the continuance of eating healthier I have been following a lot of recipes from the NutriMost Recipe site. Their link is http://nutrimostrecipes.com . It is all the great food we enjoy, beef, chicken, seafood, healthy vegetables and fruits, but with tasteful and healthy recipes to help continue the proper way of eating right and making yourself healthier. This website has become a browser favorite and I use it almost daily.

According to NIVA today I have hit my halfway mark on the program, and I have three weeks left! Wow I never thought the halfway mark would come so quickly! Truthfully I do not want to come off the program because I want to continue the goals I have made. But regardless my choices I choose to make regarding NutriMost, I will continue to follow the regimen of eating healthy and taking supplements to continue the upkeep of my health.

On the topic of supplements I need to bring to your attention something important. I am not a health nut! Now that we have it in the clear, allow me to explain. I am not one who abundantly believes in supplements and hugging trees or anything of that sort. BUT what I do believe is results. A friend of mine started this program last year and I saw the difference it made for her, which is the reason I chose to start NutriMost as well. I’m not saying go hug a tree, but this balance of eating healthy and taking supplements HAS WORKED! I don’t know the science behind it but I know when I see results, and currently I am at 16 pounds of results. As for my friend who started NutriMost last year -she is at 90+ pounds of results.

Please feel free to drop a comment below and I will be more than happy to respond back! Take care everyone and until next time, stand by for my next check-in

Day 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 & 19

Wow, what a week! So far I am down sixteen pounds and I feel fantastic! It’s wonderful to see the scale dropping every morning I step on it. But most importantly I feel wonderful, I have more energy, and I am become healthier!

I found last week that you can in fact eat at Waffle House, and it be healthy. Granted you cannot have the hashbrowns scattered, covered, topped, and country, but still there are other healthier options available. For example I had an egg white omlet, steak, and grilled tomatoes, cooked without butters or oils, and it tasted fantastic! I would atrtribute that to all the fat and unhealthy options available that I chose not to eat. As a disclaimer I do not recommend Waffle House everyday, but if you plan to get out every once in a while, it is something to keep in the back of your mind.

I also had the opportunity to attend the Tennessee Smokies vs. Mississippi Braves, minor baseball game in Sevierville last week. While they did not have any healthy food options at all, the coffee at Smoky Mountain Brewery located inside the ball park was great! My much better half won tickets from a local radio station so we spent Wedensday at the ball park, third row behind home plate.

I leave you all with this advice, although the gains may sometimes be slow do not give up the fight.

Day 11, 12 & 13 – Pop Rox!

Pop Rox! No not the kind you eat, but the 80’s & 90’s cover band you listen to! Jaime and I went out last night to hear them play in Knoxville at the Smoky Mountain Brewery! As always they played great music and raised the roof off the place!

While in attendance we became hungry, so I pulled out their menu. Nothing I would really eat on their diet, so I slid over to the salad section where I found a shredded chicken salad with roasted tomatoes. Well, not being able to eat the salad on this NutriMost diet I opted instead to have grilled chicken with roasted tomatoes, and let me say that it tasted delicious! But more importantly than tasting delicious, but it was healthy and at a restaurant!

It’s not everyday you can go out somewhere and find good food worth eating, and I was really surprised at how well it was. Today was an important day and proved the other part of my testing the waters of eating out: Would I lose any weight? Why I expected to see myself hopefully not gain any weight, I was in disbelief when I stepped on the scale this morning and saw that I lost 2.7 pounds from the previous day!

So to answer the question, YES you can eat healthy while eating out, and still meet the goals set for yourself!

To date I have lost 13 pounds, which is on track with 1 pound per day! The NutriMost diet has proven itself effective so long as it is followed properly. I throw in that disclaimer because this diet is very unforgiving. My goal weight is 200 pounds and while I still have a ways to go, seeing the weight drop with every day that I follow this diet is uplifting.

Day 8, 9 & 10 – Ten Pounds Lighter!

Wow, day’s 8 – 10 have been unbelievable! I have already lost 10 pounds and I am feeling great!

I stumbled upon a picture of myself in July 2006. I was at least 100 pounds lighter, thin, and I looked great. Flash forward ten years later, and I realize that the weight did not pile on overnight, but it was gradual and I allowed it to happen. I want to get back to that weight, better health, and how good that I looked. Below is the picture I was speaking about.

Have the temptations been there? ABSOLUTELY! But the key is to not give into those food cravings and temptations. When I have cravings I think of the picture from 2006 and about the weight I want to lose to be healthy, and I further myself towards that goal!

10 days and 10 pounds lighter is amazing! I encourage others on this journey to continue to follow your diet, take your supplements, and keep track in your food journal. It is amazing to see the goals obtained and the amount of calories eaten when you turn the pages.

Day 6 & 7 – Seeing The Difference

Wow! I am beginning day 7, and already while on the Reduce Phase (day 6 of the reduce phase) I have lost 7 pounds!

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Another great thing about this program is NIVA – NutriMost Integrated Virtual Assistant. NIVA will text message and can interact, assisting users with logging their daily weight, and providing help when needed. Below is a message from NIVA I received morning after texting my weight.

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Day 6

Day 6 was a really good day! I had my breakfast and lunch as usual, following the program guidelines. For dinner we cooked shrimp and asparagus, for a total of 216 calories for that meal. The surprising thing has been the feeling of not being hungry which may be due to the fat burning my body has been doing.

 

Day 7

Day 7 has started well! Another pound lost and my blood sugars continue to be normal. I have continued to take my supplements as directed and I can see a positive improvement in my health! I can see the difference this program is making, and I am looking forward to the more goals to overcome! Overall I feel more active and less sluggish, and with my blood sugar and diabetes better relegated I feel more healthy in general. Today I plan to have about a 200 calorie lunch, which will ensure I place myself above 500 calories for the day.

 

Thanks to everyone for following along my road to a new me, and be sure to post any comments you may have below!

Day 3, 4 & 5 – Watching Myself Become Healthier While Losing Pounds

Hello everyone! Today is the end of Day 5 and I feel great! To date I have lost 5 pounds and I am continuing to eat healthy as the NutriMost plan guides me to do, and in addition to taking my supplements things are working out fine! A key fact I may have left out, for this program to be effective, in addition to eating healthy, I must take a mineral regimen that works with my body, giving me the minerals my body is without. This helps with the weight loss because it is adjusting my body to a state of normalcy -which my body has lacked for many years.

As I hinted above I stepped on the scale this morning and to my disbelief I have lost 5 pounds! So in four days of proper eating I have shed 5 pounds, which is phenomenal! I still have kept the cravings (although not too many to concern myself with) at bay, eating a healthy fruit when I feel hungry. But truthfully I have not been receiving hunger pains, which I find remarkable! If I eat a fruit outside my lunch or dinner, I just do not eat a fruit for my next meal, which the program allows me to do.

I have still been maintaining 500+ calories per day, which keeps me burning fat. Any less calories would hinder the fat burn, and any outrageous calories such as Hardee’s for example, would DEFINITELY keep me from burning any fat.

I have noticed that I am still consuming very little insulin. Mainly I have been properly dosing myself with long-acting insulin which keeps my blood sugars regulated throughout the day. My short-acting insulin I have only dosed myself with for a high blood sugar today. Short-acting insulin is used when I eat a meal; I will take short-acting for the amount of food that I eat. Although with the proper way of eating and new lifestyle changes I have only had to dose myself very little at most. All of this is under the instruction of my PCP, so please to the other diabetics out there, DON’T TRY TO WING IT!

 

Day 3

Day 3 went well, losing 1 pound from the day before, while consuming a total of 542 calories. I ate healthy foods such as egg whites with tomato slices; grilled chicken with asparagus and blueberries; apples; and an orange to treat a low blood sugar.

 

Day 4

Day 4 was also fantastic, losing 2 more pounds than the day before! My total number of calories for the day were 458, which is lower then what they should be. That was attributed a light dinner and a mental note made for Day 5. Overall I did not feel hungry and we enjoyed cooking healthier versions of recipes, while at the same time enjoying the better quality and taste of what we ate. As usual I have continued my supplements as directed.

 

Day 5

Day 5 has been great! I have lost yet another 2.2 pounds and I have noticed that my jeans feel a tad bit loose! I will see if I can keep that up ha ha! My total calorie intake today is 527, and it does not even feel like it. I find myself coming up with ideas of things to eat because I do not feel hungry.

I am hoping that Day 6 will continue with the weight loss trend, and I will lose a few more pounds by tomorrow morning. As the old television shows proclaim, “Tune in next week for more to come!” But seriously though I am trying to group all my post to within two to three days per posting.

 

I do have to share the conversation my NutriMost mentor and I had today and it really stuck. NutriMost is a more healthy step then weight loss surgery. It is better for you without the risks. While investing in NutriMost may be a little costly at first, it saves you in the long run between food, medical supplies co-pays, doctor visits and co-pays, and the ever rising cost of healthcare, and keep ourselves alive.

Thanks to everyone who has encouraged me and kept pushing me to achieve my goals! I have been watching myself become healthier while losing pounds, and it is amazing to see and feel the transformation!

Day 1 & 2 – Getting Into The NutriMost State of Mind

Yesterday I began my NutriMost 40 Day Challenge, although technically it began the day before.

To be completely transparent I have been unsure of this challenge. I am a man of science and faith. Importantly I believe in scientific proof and I have heard of these fly-by-night weight loss programs who extort money from hard working people, fill them with empty promises, then leave them hanging.

When I heard about NutriMost I did not really believe it… Until I saw the results! A great friend and mentor of this program began it last December, during Chirstmas (and we all know how hard it is to eat good during Christmas!), and to date she has lost over 70 pounds! Completely unbelievable! I know this program works because I have saw the results first hand. So when we decided that I would complete this challenge, and change my life for the positive, I was ecstatic!

 

Day 1

Day 1 was my load day. In a nutshell I can eat all the food I want, so long as it is healthy. Healthy food, healthy fats, etc. My fantastic girlfriend and I ate breakfast/lunch at Wild Wings Cafe, where I ate the grilled chicken tenders, and loaded half-order of the steel town spuds. 6 grilled chicken tenders, and French fries with blue cheese dressing, bacon, chives, and cheese. For dinner I ate some tuna mixed with sliced button mushrooms, which tasted wonderful!

I wondered how difficult this new way of life, eating right and feeling great would be. I was worried for the second day, when I began to “eat right” and had to stop eating the delicious tasting bad food and started eating the good food. I did not realize until the end of the second day though, that the good food not only tasted wonderful, but was wonderful for me! It’s all about a good way of life and eating healthy.

 

Day 2

Day 2 started out as usual, getting out of bed ready to start the day. Knowing I had to work later in the afternoon I prepared my uniform, my lunchbox, my gear, then I began Day 2 of the NutriMost 40 Day Challenge. I read then re-read over my weight loss journal with the instructions for the day, and when and how to take my supplements.

For breakfast I are two hard boiled eggs, with the yokes removed. I pink-salted and peppered my eggs, after cutting them up in a bowl, and placing them in the freezer for 20 minutes to chill. Side note -egg yokes are CRAZY HIGH in calories! 55 calories for an egg with the yoke, compared to 17 calories for egg whites only. 

Breakfast was a total of 36 calories! To compare for a moment, my old breakfast. Saturday, knowing I would be starting a new way of life I wanted to eat one last bad breakfast. So on my way to headquarters, I stopped at Hardee’s for a Bacon, Swiss, Chicken Biscuit with a small order of hash rounds, and a milk.

 

Bacon, Swiss, Chicken Biscuit = 670 calories

Small Hash Rounds = 260 calories

2% White Milk = 150 calories

TOTAL CALORIES = 1,080

 

Unbelievable isn’t it!! 1,080 calories for breakfast alone! I see why our nation is so overweight, it is all these terrible foods we have allowed ourselves to eat for decades!

Well for lunch I ate a banana and an apple, which in hindsight, the banana I should not have ate. They are high in calories and are terrible for this diet. Thankfully my NutriMost mentor educated me of that, and lesson learned.

Dinner was Tuna seasoned with pink salt, pepper, spicy pepper seasoning, and lemon pepper seasoning. This tasted wonderful and when paired with an orange, it was fantastic! It tasted so much better than anything deep fried and I just felt healthier!

 

Day 2 Meals and Calories

Breakfast = 34 calories

Lunch = 200 calories

Dinner = 122 calories

TOTAL CALORIES = 356!!

Now I just need to increase my calorie intake over 500. 

 

It is all about eating healthy and to believe that I ate 3 times less the calories for my old breakfast alone is simply amazing! For the first time in my life, I feel normal. Oh yeah -I am type 1 diabetic and have been for 16 years. My usual short-acting (when I eat food) insulin dosage ranges around 35 units per meal, when I was eating terribly and adding to my weight. Yesterday, Day 2, I took only 5 units of my short-acting insulin! My sugars are normal, my insulin use is nearly non-existent which is a great thing, and I am seeing positive results!

Day 3 has started fantastic! Stepping on the scale I have already lost 1 pound, and I feel so much better!

Thanks for following along my walk to a healthy life, and I encourage you to share my journey with others! Basically this diet is eating healthy and limiting calories, to only good calories and foods, and eating smaller portions. And if you are wondering, Day 2 I was tempted severely for bad food to eat, but I did not give in. I will not give in! Think of it like a fight. Your opponent will fight dirty, but just keep throwing punches and blocking what is thrown back at you. The healthier you eat, the the more weary your opponent will become.

Look forward to more posts of my walk to a new way of life!

N2AL – My New Call Sign

A few weeks ago I received exciting news from the F.C.C.! My application for the amateur radio call sign N2AL was approved, after being pooled between five radio operators, myself included. While trading in N4AWL for N2AL was a difficult choice, choosing a callsign that reflects the amateur extra class, and easier for DX operation, was worth the change. My thoughts were if I received N2AL that was wonderful, and if I did not receive it, then it was for the best.

It has been an interesting change to go from N4AWL, to N2AL. Not as confusing as changing my previous callsign from KK4IFN to N4AWL, but still it takes some adjustment in time.

Before anyone worries that I will be changing the website, do not fear! I plan to keep N4AWL.com as my primary website. the site N2AL.com is not available, and even if it were, N4AWL.com has been established and I do not wish to change it. So please everyone welcome the new callsign change, and I hope to hear you on the bands!

 

73 to all and God bless!

Andrew | N2AL

30th Birthday Celebration

My 30th birthday was this past week, and Jaime and I chose to celebrate by visiting Cherokee, NC for the night! We had dinner with my family in Knoxville, then traveled US Hwy 441 through Gatlinburg, into Cherokee! The drive was beautiful and we were grateful to see all the wildlife and scenery along our route -including a few black bears and Newfound Gap.

Once in Cherokee we checked into our hotel, then visited the casino. Side note too, if you have never been to Harrah’s Cherokee Casino they will provide you with free money to play with in the casino on their slot machines; although you can “cash out” and use the money at card tables. Although the penny slots were fun, Blackjack is an amazing game! One of the dealers was kind enough to show me how the game is played and although rigged, the best chances of winning.

Before heading home we stopped by the EBCI (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians) Justice Center, where the Cherokee Police Department is housed, across the street from their Emergency Operations & 9-1-1 Emergency Communications Center. I was able to do some department patch trading, and added a Cherokee Police Department patch to my growing collection.

Our return trip home allowed us the opportunity to visit Clingman’s Dome and while a pretty steep hike the scenery and breathtaking view was worth it! We ate lunch at Johnny Rocket’s in Gatlinburg, and I must say that experience was grand as well!

Turning thirty years old has exciting and fun! I am thankful for the many loved ones in my life who has made these three decades so amazing, and I look forward to the many more still to come! Below are some pictures of this year’s celebration.

The Piano Guys

To say that I am a blessed man is a serious understatement. I have been blessed to have an amazing woman in my life whom I care for with an insurmountable amount of love. I thank God above for placing her in my life, and I want to share with you what she chose to do for me.

Next month I turn a page in the book of decades I have had the opportunity to walk upon this Earth. April 10th will mark thirty years of age, thirty wonderful and happy years of knowledge, lessons learned, and times of joy. April 21st brings Jaime and I one year of true happiness, one year of wonderful memories made together, one year spent hand-in-hand by one another’s side, one year of building a Christ-centered relationship with one another, one year spent and one year of the most beautiful love for one another building a future together to last a lifetime.

To celebrate these two milestones, Jaime surprised me with a “weekend” trip to an unknown destination, for an unknown event, and last October she only told me to take a few days off in March. Unbeknownst to me she had planned for us to spend two days in Nashville which is one of my favorite cities, and an evening at The Ryman Auditorium attending a once in a lifetime live performance by my favorite musical group, The Piano Guys! When she and I first met she quickly learned about my love for this group, one pianist, one cellist, and two “behind the scenes” guys, when bought together became The Piano Guys -and have still yet to sell a piano. When she found out they were playing The Ryman Auditorium on March 15th, she ordered us front row tickets, complete with a meet and greet after the show!

Meeting The Piano Guys was such an amazing experience, as was viewing their performance from the best seats in the house, with the most incredible woman by my side!

You make the world a brighter place. I love you sweetheart.

Here is a rundown of our trip, complete with pictures.

Monday, March 14th, 2016:
• Dinner at Maggiano’s Little Italy with Jaime’s best friend
• Post dinner escape at The Escape Game Room Nashville

 

Tuesday, March 15th, 2016:

• Toured The Parthenon in Nashville, a replica of the original Parthenon, in Athens, Greece

• Toured the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

• Lunch downtown at Demos’ Restaurant
• Shopped at the Nashville Predator’s Team Store, located at Bridgestone Arena

• Walked downtown to the John Seigenthaler Bridge, which crosses over the river and overlooks Nissan Stadium, home of the Tennessee Titans

• Attended The Piano Guys live performance at The Ryman Auditorium, and met the group after the show

 

Wednesday, March 16th, 2016:
•Lunch at the Opryland Hotel gardens