Weight Loss Journey … Month 02 Diet Harder!

Kia Ora Whanau

Alex from Costas Enterprises here, and I want to welcome you to month two of my journey.

Note: This post may be long and may include some comedy about what I have observed. Like the last post Weight Loss Journey … The First Month I will be covering things like cravings, what the Diabetes has done and also my feelings … but in a manly way of talking about feelings… so crying deeply and rolling up in a fetal position??

Before I start I do want to also acknowledge and thank all the people that have kept me honest, supported me and also have helped me deal with all the other stuff currently going on in my life. You can follow my journey on Instagram. Don’t forget to check out my SweatCoin post where you can also support and follow my journey.

Week One

So thinking about this last month I take it back to Week One and if I can be honest it has been pretty much the same as what you have seen the last month.

Still craving food, but managing to stay away from the foods that make me feel “comfortable”… all those foods are still cravings but I have been good.

You all know the food I am talking about.

McDonalds
KFC
Chocolate
Fried Chicken
Pasta – any pasta!
Real Bread – yes Keto bread is an amazing substitute, well the one my partner makes is but I’m talking about sliced white bread with a sausage and tomato sauce
Pizza
Potato Chips.

I better stop myself here cause otherwise I will want these and the last thing I need is more temptation.

I’ll say this now, the cravings do still appear for the rest of the month. I also do give into them a little but not in this first week.

Diabetes Check – This has now been reduced to fortnightly checks and I am told that my blood sugars are doing ok but I need to increase my insulin by 5 units now up to 35.

Overall feeling pretty good with myself. No cheat meals this week and eating well.

Week Two

So those cravings I was talking about. This week they started to win… I had some sugar, I had some chippies and I had some chocolate. And let me tell you now, I felt guilty after eating it. I felt like I was hiding it, mainly because I was.

That’s not the worst part, the worst part was after something happened, I went and did the stupidest thing I could have done… I went to MacDonalds at 2:00 am and gorged on a Big Mac, A Double Cheeseburger, Nuggets and French Fries.

Why? You were doing so well??? You know what these foods do to your body and why 2:00 am???

Quite simply, I had just left the hospital and after not eating since 8pm I was very hungry.

Now some of you may say “that’s understandable”, except it isn’t. I knew I had food at my home. Where I stay now is closer to the hospital than the distance I had to travel to McDonalds.

No I am not knocking McDonalds, I have eaten there since I was a kid and like some of you I had birthday parties there, when I was five just to clarify, (pouring the ice cream was the best right??, you felt like you had so much power!).

For a long time it was a huge staple of my life (and diet??) and I will be honest, after not having it for over a month that first bite into a cheeseburger, it was like I had died and gone to heaven. Ronald was waiting for me with open arms and Grimace was giving me props for coming back to the way he was, well minus the being purple and looking like a weird sex toy, but you get what I’m saying!

Then after eating/ gorging I snapped back to reality. “What have I done? Was it worth it to break my streak?” I know these feelings of guilt and general ugh feeling because I have them every single time I have KFC. Again KFC used to be a stable of food for me. I used to have it all the time. But the feeling I always have after biting into that piece of chicken watching the fat ooze out is one of wanting to be sick, but not being able to stop myself.

My main problem this week was knowing what I had eaten, how do I stop from going back? Now I know a lot of people will say something about having a cheat day/meal is ok. Yes it is ok once in a while but not when one of your trigger foods is likely to lead you back to them.

I know my body pretty well and once I get a taste I find it very hard to ignore it. It’s like one of those little devils on your shoulder saying “Go on, you know you can have it, you have been so good”. Those little devils are bastards, and as a week goes on they grow bigger and also make you hyper-sensitive to foods, adverts of foods and smells of foods.

You feel yourself wanting to have one more, like a crack-head needing their next fix. Think of that Dave Chappelle character … for a fat person that is what those foods can do to you.

So I manage to make my way through the week after that feeling and trying my best to avoid all my trigger foods and also Alcohol. We have already covered my previous drinking was in my History post.

Week Three

After finally managing to control my urges I step into week three with a bit more focus. That is the important part here, focus. I managed to do a little self evaluation and re-affirmation that I don’t need that type of food anymore. During this week I am doing great, I am walking a bit more that last week (but not hitting my personal goal of 12K per day) but I am at least eating better.

It is at this time that i remember one my traditions that I had been planning for the last month. International Womens Day.

For those that don’t work with me, you won’t know this but on 08 March every year (for the past 7 years) I bring goodies into the office for my team(s). A lot of this is to show the women I work with in my life that I appreciate them as they help me grow as a person.

This year I enlisted the help of my flatmate who owns and operates her own mini bakery. Check out her Instagram here for lots of delish cakes and slices (You will be in for a treat). My flatmate made 24 cupcakes (Chocolate and Berry, Banana, Salted Caramel and Vanilla). I managed to stop myself at two (one of each) and not only was the cupcakes … well F^&king amazing but that sugary carb infused awesomeness tasted sooooo good.

I could have stopped myself from having any, but that is part of the problem because sometimes we can’t stop ourselves. We (I in this case) grab those cupcakes on instinct, put it in our mouths and chomp down before stopping and saying “Do I actually need this?”

Diabetes Check – This week it didn’t happen because I had to cancel this. This was my own choice due to everything that was going on in my life at the time. I didn’t have the time to go back and change it. I kept monitoring my bloods and also kept checking my insulin and taking my pills so I felt confident I would be OK until next week.

Week Four

By this week Covid 19 had hit New Zealand and people are out there are starting to panic buy (I didn’t but some people in my family did). This means there are a lot of people at the Supermarket, Farmers Market and supply is certainly getting affected.

An example of this (which has only just hit me in the last two days) is that my partner has told me that the place where she gets the special flour she used to make the best Keto Bread in the world is all gone (After trying the cardboard like substance that passes for Store Bought Keto Bread I can easily say this is going to be hard! lol #ketoproblems).

What I want to get at it with this week is, there is increased tension and fear in the air and it’s all good to just tell people to “Chill out” but when the anxiety is hitting you from all sides, it’s’ times like these when you can fall back into your old learned behaviours. In my case I am more at risk to not cook the food I bought, go out and buy bad food like Pizza, or Burgers.

I am going to keep trying to keep this under control and cook the food that I like eating.

Now I am no Jamie Oliver .. well I don’t cook naked, I wear a robe I have some decency. I mostly do my cooking in the mornings, but what I do cook I enjoy. I am seriously thinking about making a Keto Recipe book in the future showcasing just some of the food I have and how I make them in a semi-lazy way. If you think this is a good idea let me know! Now when I say lazy I’ll give you an example of what I mean.

My main goto for breakfast is simply boiled eggs with sausages and veges.

I will put the eggs in from cold and let them boil. Same as the sausages, I will put these on the frypan. I will then go have a shower, put my robe back on, come back and flip the sausages, check the eggs and then go get dressed.

A little simple I know, but it works for me and it’s making me eat healthier.

Of course if you now have an image of me cooking in a robe … um your welcome?? and I apologize??

I want to show people in the future that this Keto thing, can be very hard but only if you make it hard on yourself (like me straying towards McDonalds instead of coming home to cook something). Otherwise you can have really tasty food (even if your a fussy bugger like me).

Amazon Affiliate Plug time! Yes it’s that time, I don’t get paid to write these crazy blogs but if you like what you read and want to help support me you can click the link below and if you buy anything from Amazon I will get a small percentage.
So what do I have for you today? Well how about something we all need at the moment but can’t get our hands on. Hand Sanitizer anyone??

Well thanks and congrats for making it all the way to the bottom. You will see some photos below and notice that since this journey started I have lost around 9 Kg’s (19.84 lbs) which is pretty good for two months work. I truly appreciate you all and want to tell you to like, subscribe and comment.

I want to grow this Whanau into a community.

Stay Safe and love you all!

March 19, 2020 0

Weight Loss Journey .. The First Month

Kia Ora Whanau!

Welcome to my second post about my weight loss. For more on my history you can visit my previous post “Weight Loss Journey … The History“

First off before I being I want to say a huge thank you for not only taking the time to read about my journey but also the out flowing support I have received from everyone either on my Instagram posts or my personal Facebook, and also in general life from the support of my family and friends. For those that know me it has been a long journey to even start this, and then to do it publicly is even more daunting.

OK so straight up, this is gonna be a loooong post so I hope you will stick with me.

There are photos at the bottom of this blog and I explain these a bit more so if you don’t want to read the post first before you get the saucy half-naked yeti photo, feel free to come back to this!

So my first month, I’m gonna break this down week by week and I will try to discuss all aspects of it.

Week One

Well lets just start this with the first day, I started following a meal plan that my girlfriend created for me, as I mentioned in my previous post, I didn’t actually realize that what I was doing was a personalized version of a Keto diet.
As you can see from my photos below, I wasn’t exactly super focused on my health (specifically photo three).

The meal plan was a one pager that included, food I can eat at breakfast, lunch and dinner and all food I can’t go near.

Now I am not a big vegetables guy – It’s like I always thought of the word as a bad swear word, and the ones I did eat were mostly heavily carb/ sugar focused, potatoes, corn, carrots and berries, apples banana’s. … seeing I couldn’t have these made me a little weary. I automatically felt like I would be failing within two to three days, let alone trying to turn this into my new lifestyle!

But I persevered! I was doing it for the right reasons, I was gonna be healthy and change my life … Cue my eventual Hypo(glycemic) attack within 12 hours of starting the diet and having to have my girlfriend buy me fruit at the farmers market (where we had gone to go buy all the veges I could now eat) just to bring my blood sugar up.
Now I admit I f%&ked up in this instance. I left for a big walk after taking my 120 units of insulin, my diabetic pills without any breakfast and very little to eat the night before.
I also didn’t take my Jelly Beans (Shout-out to my diabetic’s reading this, you know how much those little sugary beans can pick you up!).
As you can imagine I had not made the best impression that this was gonna go well.

But the main thing is I recovered and decided I better have some jelly beans with me all the time. The meals were tasty and nice. If you go to my Instagram you can see every meal I have made or had since starting this journey.

Now before I started this Keto diet/ lifestyle I had started increasing my walking – trying to go for 10 thousand steps a day, this has since increased to 12 thousand and hopefully climbing as time goes on.

During this time, like literally just before, my change in lifestyle (I’m gonna try not to call it a diet from now on, because lets face it most times I try to diet, I Die @ doing it!). I discovered Sweat Coin. Now this isn’t a plug or anything like that, but basically Sweat Coin is a crypto-currency app that you earn by walking … seems to good to be true right? well it is actually true.
You can join my Sweat Coin and I get $5 sweat coins if you use my code. I will do a Sweat Coin post in the future if people are interested.

Because of the app, I actually enjoyed walking and seeing my coin’s increase, gives me an incentive to keep with the walking and the new lifestyle!

Day three … another Hypo, this time I was at work. The mistake I made this time, I had been monitoring my blood sugars but the one thing I hadn’t done … I never changed my insulin. Naturally with the low sugar I was eating, my natural blood sugar would be reducing … A fact I saw while doing my blood sugar readings.
This time I called my friend who worked in the diabetic field. What did she say to me? “Get your ass to the Dr’s!”
Note: I really want you to go back and read that line like in Arnie’s voice from Total Recall, not because of the person who told me but I figure it will make you laugh every time you think about it.

I took my friend’s advice and then luckily on day five I saw the my diabetic nurse. He was not happy with me, not because of the changing lifestyle, or the walking. What he wasn’t happy with??
The fact that I had not had a blood sugar HbH1C test (this measures your blood sugars over the last three months), in about 18 months… yeah not proud of that.

My diabetic nurse went through the meal plan and issued me with a new diabetic machine (my old one was over 10 years old), now I am a big tech geek so when my friend who I phoned said there are now meters that connect via Bluetooth I thought “I don’t have to write in a book anymore, sweet sign me up!” if you are diabetic, talk to your Dr about getting one because these things are awesome!

A condition of my new machine … I had to come in every week to talk to the diabetic nurse. When I discuss week two a bit more I’ll expand more on why that was a great idea.

So I manage to get through the first week with a few minor hiccups but overall it seemed like I could get used to this, sausage and eggs for breakfast (with a lot of veges thrown in), steak, chicken, or fish for lunch (insert previous comment about copious amounts of veges) and repeat for dinner.

Now over the first week my mind did actually wonder .. can I actually do this for a sustained time? I mean wont I get sick of the same meals all the time. Well one month on and I can say I still enjoy the meals and even trying to create new ones as well. so that’s a yes … so far, lets see how next month happens!

Week Two

So I am getting in to the pattern of cooking my food and actually quite enjoying it, but there is one thing that’s bothering me.

Bread.

Yup that’s what I said, Bread, god did I miss bread! It is one of those essentials that I didn’t even think of missing that much. The funny thing, it wasn’t even actually for the bread itself.
OK stick with me but, it was what I could put on the bread, Peanut Butter, Marmite (for those from overseas, if you haven’t tried marmite on bread and butter it’s … an experience, Kiwi’s love it, everyone else … not so much!).
The point is, I couldn’t see myself putting peanut butter on a cracker (cause carbs) or marmite on a slice of cucumber … no thanks!

I expressed this frustration to …. well anyone that would ask me “how it’s going?” The cravings for those carbs did hit me pretty hard but I pushed through the struggle … and munched on more bell peppers and cucumbers.

The big “D“, Diabetes that is, Week two and seeing my diabetic nurse was a little bit better as I didn’t see the same person, but what I did get is the result of my blood glucose. I was 97 … If this was a class room that would be a pass right??? not in the world of diabetes.
To give you some clarification a “healthy” person’s blood glucose should be around 40 to 60 (or when your testing your blood between 4 to 6).
I was sitting at over double that.
But the diabetic nurse looked over the food I had been eating (I have been tracking everything through My Fitness Pal), and also my new blood sugar measurements … because now its all on my phone so I can easily watch my progress.

The diabetic nurse tapped me on the head and wished me well until next week, when my original diabetic nurse came back to see my progress.

So it’s been two weeks and you would think I wouldn’t see any change right?, well you would be wrong!

OK so I’m not gonna make out like I had lost heaps and look like a Greek Adonis of a man, my heritage suggests I should look like. I am however defiantly noticing my increased mobility, the tightness in my breath disappearing and the need for being sore for lifting my fat ass every time I need to move. So I’m calling it a win at this stage.

Week Three

Now this was a big week for me for my fitness. Last week I did something which surprised me, I walked from my work to home, a distance of about 7 Kilometers across some hilly terrain. It took me three hours.

This week, not only did I do this walk in two and a half hours, I also went for a massive walk to the Red Rocks Reserve. This reserve houses some pretty cheeky Seals and is somewhere I have always wanted to go to… I have lived in Wellington all my life .. of 37 years, Way to see the world right??

The food was going well, but that craving of bread was still there and this week it was like a cheesy horror film tagline, “It was back for vengeance!” or “Don’t go into the bakery!”

Now this would be all good, if it wasn’t for the fact that I live with three qualified bakers, one of whom, specializes in amazing cakes and slices. Temptation is real people and her name is Carb City!

My girlfriend knew I had a problem with this, and how much it was getting to me. She made me a deal. Before I started my Keto journey I used to frequent Dominoes, and as such I had a free pizza voucher from them.
I texted my girlfriend one night and fessed up that I still has this and (if I’m gonna be completely honest, I almost slipped and spent twenty minutes trying to convince myself not to use the voucher. I had even logged in to the app and ordered my pizza before pressing the complete order button), she was proud of me for not going through with it. I asked if she wanted the pizza . . . Hoping we could share it (this would be the ultimate cheat meal!), she saw through my plan and told me I can swap the voucher for a present.

I didn’t want to, but I thought “ok, I don’t actually need the pizza”

She surprised me with the best gift ever … Bread!!!, specifically Keto bread that she had learnt to make and advised she would make me every week. My love tank bubbled over, something so simple like a loaf of bread made me dam well near cried my keto tears of joy.

Week there was hard but everything is getting easier, I am cooking more and feeling so much better.

Let me put this in perspective for you, Prior to my new lifestyle, I was having a sick day almost every week. Not something I am proud about either. When its’ once in a blue moon it’s ok, but every week for like four to five months … there’s something wrong buddy!

I seemed to have a cold that would never go away, I was constantly popping throat pills to clear my airways. I was not well.

Three weeks of eating mostly veges and no carbs and internally I feel like a new man.

Diabetic appointment number three. I no longer feel bad or horrible, I’m starting to be more aware of what I should be doing and when I should be taking my readings. Everything is coming up Alex!

This week I also have to visit the Hospital for a previous referral about my eyes. A lot of people don’t realize that diabetes can also make you go blind, yes not the original thing that your parents said you would go blind for, but sugar!

The good news is, apart from looking like Mr Sparkle because of the eye drops, it appears that finally my eyes are finally getting better since the change.

Also this week I had my first cheat meal (notice I said meal and not day). As it was Valentines Day, my girlfriend and I went to a restaurant and I had ribs, not a lot but just enough. It was a welcome change … it wasn’t pizza or pasta but it was delicious! The main thing is I didn’t feel like I now need a cheat meal every week.

Week Four

So this is the week I am in now, I know it’s early so I cant talk about my diabetic appointment, but I can already tell from my reduction of insulin and my readings that I have already knocked off around 40 from my score from 97. I have been promised that in April I can go for another blood test so that will be a huge indication of what has changed.

I no longer feel shame walking around, and the confidence that everyone has given me from their support and love had made me feel like I am doing the right thing and also inspired me to keep going.

Now I am an Amazon affiliate and if you click the link I mention here you will be taken to Amazon and if you buy something (anything) I do get a slight commission, that said one of my friends referred me to listen to an audio book from Tony Robbins called Unshakable. This book, while mostly is about talking about how to invest in index funds and the diversifying of your portfolios, it also talks about changing your mindset and effectively trying to make your mind Unshakable. I’m not gonna lie, it actually helped me quite a bit during week two and three when I felt I was gonna fall off the wagon and go have that slice of non-keto bread, or go buy that chocolate. The point I want to make is that it’s not just the health stuff I am eating or moving it’s also about changing my feelings, my emotions and also my mindset. It’s worth a listen or read if you have a chance. I hope to cover my mindset change in a future blog.

Once again thanks so much for reading all the way to the end, feel free to like, comment, subscribe and all that good stuff. I try to respond to everyone. I want to build this into a community as well as a network and in order to do that I need you.

OK so you made it all the way to the end of the first month! Here is your reward, some old photos and some new ones:

Me at the Wellington Rugby Sevens as The Fat Chippendale (Kids don’t search this, ask your mum what this is!)
Me as Psy from Gangnam Style at one of the 12 Pubs of Christmas pub crawls
Me on my 30th birthday. I drank all 30 shots in less than 7 minutes … something drunk Alex used to be very proud of … I would do this about 4 years in a row
Fast Forward to NOW! This is an example of the food I have been eating to change my diet, Chicken Drumsticks baked in spices with veges
A Egg omlette with sausage, bell peppers and cheese
Me today (18 February 2020) I am down to 124.40 Kgs (274.25 Lbs) – down 5 KG’s roughly from start this journey

March 19, 2020 4

Weight Loss Journey … What Is SweatCoin???

Kia Ora Whanau

Welcome to the another weight loss post! Alex from Costas Enterprises here, and this post is going to cover SweatCoin, what it is, some tips and also shameless promotion of my using this as another motivator to lose weight!

Disclaimer: I am not paid by SweatCoin, nor do I gain anything from this post. This is my personal review of an App I heard about and started using. You will see me mention my code later and if you want to support me with SweatCoins if you click the link, download and install the App I will be given $5 in SweatCoins (not real money). I am an Amazon Affiliate and on this blog I wont be adding any links to Amazon, I ask instead that if you want to support me you instead use my SweatCoin referral link below:

sweatco.in/hi/thekiwidon

You can also listen to this blog via my podcast episode here.

So lets get started with the big question shall we…

What Is SweatCoin?

So if you search SweatCoin you will see a lot of things like reviews and also the phrase “It Pays To Walk”. That is because SweatCoin is an app for Android and iPhone that helps you create SweatCoins.

But what does all that mean???

SweatCoin is an attempt to make a Crypto-Currency like Bit Coin but rather than sticking 15 iPhone’s together to generate One bitcoin every 15 minutes, you can earn SweatCoins by Walking.

Yes you read right I typed walking.

Does it cost?/ Is this a Scam??

The next question people ask is one of the above. So let me get this out there right now.

No! It does not cost you any real money. There is some cost involved but this is linked to the SweatCoin themselves. We will cover this a little bit later when we talk about plans.

No! This is not a Scam! Real people use this app everyday, and honestly if I was offering it as a scam my integrity would be brought into question not only for this job but also my current employer within Information Technology.

Yeah but are you sure???

Trust me, as someone who is very skeptical of scams and even of things like this I have done some research for you. I have not only looked thought he web and you-tube videos, I have spoken with others that have been using the app for three to four years and have claimed rewards.

Now I have to admit in my skeptical nature going through the login process made me think that it could be a bit of a scam, but I did some more research and I then realized I was being super paranoid, yet I have so many apps that I share everything with and this was only asking for one thing – Geo Location.

If your skeptical like me you may want to look at their site yourself, you can do this here.

So if it doesn’t cost or it isn’t a scam … why haven’t I heard about it?

I have to admit I literally stumbled across this randomly through searching you-tube for looking at earning passive income. It was here that I heard about SweatCoin and the promise of up to $1000!!!

As I said, it sounds to good to be true right? Walk and get $1000 … well it’s not super simple. They don’t/ can’t give away $1000 just to anyone.

So what’s the catch?/ Where do they get the money from?/ What do I have to give up?

OK so lets tackle this in three parts.

The Catch – For the $1000, this is a one time reward. Once you claim it, it’s gone. This is paid into your PayPal account and is in your local currency. Now this part is important.
They won’t ever ask for a bank account or credit card for any payments. They also will not receive any payments from you using normal money.

Where do they get the money from? – So in the Market Place (refer to screen-shot further down) you will see offers from advertisers. Yep that’s the catch, you will get adverts in your App, but don’t stop reading yet, the adverts are not pushed to you. This means you wont see an advert everytime to walk or open the app. You only see these adverts when you personally want to see them. You can use any earned SweatCoins to purchase anything from the Market Place or use a daily advert to earn more SweatCoins.

The Marathon items you see cost a lot of SweatCoins … I’m not going to lie, these can take two to three years to earn. Some offers however are as little as 10 Sweat Coins which can easily be earned in a day.

What do I have to give up? – So this will be a sore issues for some people and will be a reason people will probably switch off. You give up some Geo-Location/ Privacy issues. Now if you stick with me I can now explain that as for the Geo-Locations – You can choose to not have any data sent via the App (apart from the mandatory once a day so it can analyze and sync your step count).

Wait … did you say step count? like a pedometer? Well kind of. You see the app will track the steps you take based on Google locations. It does not currently work with FitBit, or Any other smart watch but apparently they are trying to source this.

The important thing to remember here is that your step count will be different from your fit-bit/ smart-watch etc…

So wait … does it use a lot of Data? or Battery?

Data – No, it will only use data once a day if you leave it so it can analyze your steps, however if your like me you sometimes want to see the conversion so you can manually transfer your steps in to Sweat Coins. Also if you go to the Market place you will be using data. This feature is not turned on. Data is always on by default and you have to turn this off through the app (or just turn your mobile data off).

Battery – Yes, I have to admit my battery does go down a bit faster these days but not so much that I never have enough. While it’s not as big of a power-drain as Pokemon Go, or other Geo-location apps, if you have it open all the time you will notice this. This is where things got interesting, you see it will run in the background so the drain on power is not half as bad as you actually think.

What does it look like?

So if your still reading by now you are hopefully a little intrigued so lets have a quick look shall we?

Home Screen – After the login process this is the main screen you will see. You will notice that you have your Total Steps at the bottom and then above that are your SweatCoins earned for that time/ day.

Home Screen Tips

The info button on the right is where you can manually convert your steps in to SweatCoins
The +S button in the bottom right corner is where you can Refer a Friend or watch your Daily Bonus adverts – I will cover these a bit more in depth a little later
The bottom bar is like your navigation bar. The first button is your Market place, The second is your wallet, The third is the home screen, The fourth is your leader board (where you can compete against people around you or friends) and finally The fifth button is your profile. You can see who follows you, who you follow and also change the plan your on (more on that a little later).

This is the Home Screen for SweatCoin (Android)

Market place – The below screenshot shows you the Marathon offers you can claim. As you can see the $1000 will cost you 20 Thousand SweatCoins…. that’s a lot of walking.

In the Market place you can also access your Daily Rewards by scrolling down.

In addition to using the market place for yourself you can also Donate to great causes.

Yes that’s right, your SweatCoins can be donated to causes that will be paid in real money by the company on your behalf.

This is the Market Place. You have Marathon and Normal offers from advertisers.

Rewards Pages

So there are two basic rewards/ referrals that can help you earn more SweatCoins.

Daily Bonus – This is three 30 second adverts to watch. Disclaimer: These are the only adverts you will be forced to watch once you click their button. All are about 30 seconds. These rewards can range from 0.50sc to 25.00sc. I’ll be honest this screenshot below is the first and only time I have received 25sc (which was 03/03/2020). Most times I get 0.50sc or 1/2sc. It also has to be noted that you only unlock the three videos until SweatCoin registers 2000 steps. The minimum for daily reward can be 1.5sc and the maximum is 75sc per day… if your really lucky!
Refer-A-Friend – So every friend that you refer and they sign-up earns you 5sc per person. As you can see there is a referral code as well as other sharing mechanics to allow you to send your code. (Shameless plug, try my code and help me gain 5sc!!

Referral Code: sweatco.in/hi/thekiwidon

A collection of both Daily Video Rewards and your Referral Code to Refer-A-Friend

OK so what are these plans you keep going on about?

There are four plans. Mover (no cost), Shaker (4.75 sc p/month), Quaker (20 sc p/month) and Breaker (30 sc p/month)

Each plan has a different cost and maximum SweatCoin you can earn per month. You can keep it free by sticking to Mover. I am personally on Breaker.

Plan Tip! As an introduction to SweatCoin you get offered your first month free on any of the other “paid” plans. I signed up for the Breaker plan and it took me 3 days to earn 30sc … meaning my first month basically paid for itself. I suggest if your going to actually try this, then do think about going to one of the plans and get that free bonus. You will then be charged every month (on the anniversary of the date you joined).

A description of the plan and what you can earn

So why does it motivate you?

I’ll be honest, I started this just before I started my weight loss journey … like literally one week before. What kept me going, I can earn money if I walk.

If I’m going to walk anyway I might as well earn something while I walk right???

The fact that I can simply have this app running in the background and that my SweatCoin balance just keeps going up.

To date (As of 05 March 2020) and after only doing this for around six weeks my wallet size is currently 444.54 sc.

To be the honest the added bonus of helping me lose weight is just another advantage of using the app.

Conclusion

OK so as you can tell I actually like SweatCoin. There are other app like this out there but I really like the User Interface (UI) and also I love the fact that it dosen’t actually cost me real money to use the app, or I’m not bombarded with notifications or adverts every time I open it.

The thought of walking my way to money is also pretty cool.

Cons: Lets the get the bad stuff out of the way, the Geo-Location/ Privacy issues are a slight concern, however given the other apps on my phone which ask for a million other things like contacts then the one request for Geo-Location isnt so bad.

The battery issue is a concern as it does drain a bit, however I am the kind of person who changes a battery as soon as it falls below 80%.

Pros: I think most of this article shows my positive side towards this app but lets make it clear:

I like the fact it gets me moving – aka more motivation,
I like the UI and feel like it’s easy to use,
I also like that I am not bored of the idea,
I like money … yeah I’m honest right.

In short, and this is my opinion, I really like the idea of the app and if you need some motivation to go for that longer walk, this does help .. well it did for me.

If you want to support me in this journey then please click the link and join up!

Referral Code: sweatco.in/hi/thekiwidon

Thanks everyone for taking the time to read this post.

Please like, comment and subscribe!

March 4, 2020 2

Weight Loss Journey … Ready, Mind-set, Go!

Kia Ora Whanau

Alex here from Costas Enterprises and today I’m going to talk about mind-set (and I apologies in advance as it’s a long one).
I am going to continue to post my updates but I also want to focus on what I notice and do. I will also keep my monthly posts going as well where I cover off everything.

Mind-set

I want to continue to be honest with all of you. My mind-set needed to change before I even considered losing weight … or even wanted to.

Also a little disclaimer before we go down this rabbit hole.
This post is going to be a little hard for me to write as its going to mean I have to face some serious truths about the way I was and address them in public. It will also be quite long, but I hope you will stick with me!

The way I was

Ok so in-case you haven’t you yet, you may want to read my previous post about my history.

I have spent years deluding myself. I lied to myself about how I was.
You see, I lied to myself and everyone when they asked if I was OK.

I was not ok.

For those that know me I have had an interesting history. Things have happened in my life that have made me both grow up fast and at the same time also revert into a child-like state.

I hope I can get into a place where I can share more about that in the future and I truly believe raising this issue of mind-set will start me on the right path.

I was lying to myself and telling myself that the way I am is not only OK but, also started to believe it. When people tried to help me, I would almost resent them, thinking “they didn’t know”, because they hadn’t seen all of what I had been through.

A huge reason for this was me not actually telling anyone what was really going on.

Sure some of my friends knew most of what was going on in the background but no-one knew everything. I am usually a pretty open book … or at least that is what I portrayed myself as.

I want to take this opportunity to say sorry to my friends and despite me not opening up, the fact that they were there for me regardless of how I was feeling at the time, and that they accepted me means the world to me.
You are all whanau to me.

I did start to get a bit of depression, but mostly I had no motivation, no drive.
I wasn’t happy with who I was but, I was also too lazy to want to change, and I mean real change.

You see I have previously mentioned my invincible mentality. I thought I would never get sick, never have health problems.
After a while, you start getting more and more “wake up” health calls and when you don’t take notice of these “wake up” calls you start to not feel so invincible.

Don’t get me wrong, I had moments of strength in will-power, but in reality I was struck by my personal kryptonite. Stubbornness.

God was I stubborn. I remember eating massive portions or drinking copious amounts of alcohol just due to my stubbornness. I felt like I had to prove I could be the invincible fat person. Just to prove everyone that thought I had weight issues that I was right and they were wrong.

If I had changed my stubbornness in my teens or early 20s and used it for good then maybe you wouldn’t be reading this now.

But as it happens, I didn’t change, so … yay??

So what was your mind-set saying that made you not want to change?, I hear you ask.

Well I have had differing shifts in mind-set during the last 32 years of Fat Life.
This part of the post is being brought to you by my mock rap name Fatty Thins –
“It’s all good baby, baby,
It was full fat cream,
I used to eat it on everything
Cream and sugar were my favorite things”

… OK so I’ll never replace the original Notorious BIG but one thing I did try to do was dismiss any and all guilt of what I was putting into my mouth. There were no guilty pleasures, there was only pleasures and boy did I want all of them!

Something else I did was start to push away people that tried to help. This is one of my biggest regrets. I had a lot of people that cared about me and tried to help me, but because of the way I was I chose to push them further and further away because I didn’t like that they didn’t like me for who I was … despite me not seeing until much later on in life that they actually loved me and only wanted the best for me.

Then the worst thing started to happen.

I started to give up. I had resigned myself to an early death most likely by heart attack. My farther passed away after his 11th heart attack. Once I had given up, I didn’t really mingle with anybody, unless it was drinking or eating. I had also thought there is no way I am ever going to find a girlfriend, all the girls I knew never saw me as a potential partner, only ever as the best friend.

I tell you right now, hearing the “You’re a great guy, but let’s be friends” is one of the hardest things to hear.

So what changed?

I started to get help. About three years ago one of my friends had a serious talk with me and helped me realise that I need more than weight help, I needed mental help.

I started seeing a psycho-therapist.

Now this was a big deal for me, you see I grew up in a very old fashioned family. Put simply my family was big on the “We keep our secrets in the family.” The thought of even going and seeing a psycho-therapist was huge. But I am so glad I did.

Let me tell you right now, if you ever feel like you need help, please go and seek it! As a man I know there is this perception that we all have to be blokes and not to talk to anyone.
I am saying this right now. That is a stupid way to think. We all need help and if you every need help go and seek it.

With the psycho-therapist’s help I started to develop mindfulness and also started to do some more research on changing my mind-set.

I won’t lie, it has not been easy. It has taken me three years to start to seriously change my life and my mind-set. I have failed, the difference now is I have started to learn from my mistakes and start to begin again… this time more intelligently.

I have also started to read/ listen to more podcasts/ audio books and also learn more.

The more research I do the more I find those secret pathways that I was stopping myself from seeing.

Some of the mind-set’s I have heard have not come from simple mindfulness, some have come from financial thinking.

Some people are aware of some of the books I will recommend but a lot of them mention something similar to the Be Do Have mentality. My friend actually told me first about it and gave me the below diagram.

If you aren’t aware the basics of Be Do Have is effectively:

Be – Pick someone you want to be like, research them and try to Be them, copy their mentality, actions, skills
Do – Follow their actions, if you know what you want, plan how to get there and Do the steps you need to do this
Have – By Being the person you want to emulate and Doing the actions to be that person you will Have what you want or desire.

So what tips can you give me?

Honestly, not that much, I can only tell you what has worked for me.

Put some time in to researching yourself
Practice mindfulness (check the links below for some resources)
Don’t give up, it will get better. It may not feel like it but if you’re at the bottom you’re bound to go up at some point
Believe in what you’re doing. Anything you’re doing!
If you need it, get help.
Don’t let your mind beat you. So many times I’ve felt beaten down by my own thoughts – take a break and think of something else. Try to focus on what you want to become.
BE. DO. HAVE. – Go research this, it could help start you off on the right track
Know that what you are going through is going to take time. This is a journey. Don’t expect change overnight, this is a marathon not a sprint.
If you have negative thoughts, expect negative behaviours.
Start to Love yourself and in time change will naturally happen.

Resources/ Amazon Affiliate Links

Ok so if you have read my other posts you know that I am an Amazon Affiliate which means if you click the links below and buy anything from Amazon I will get a slight commission. Any support is appreciated.

I am going to list some books that I found helpful in changing my mind-set. Some of these are financial books but they also help you further train your mind.

Well you finally made it to the end!

A huge thank you for all the continuing support and I hope this post helped. Here is a photo of my mind-set today!

Feel free to like, comment or subscribe for more content on its way!

February 24, 2020 1

Weight Loss Journey… The History

Kia Ora Whanau
Alex here from Costas Enterprises and this blog I’m going to tell you about my personal journey through weight loss.
NOTE: I am right at the start of my journey and part of the reason I am doing this blog and posting on Instagram is to make myself accountable. I do not have any secret to losing weight but I want to share what has been working and helping me.

Don’t have time to read?? You can listen to a copy of this post from my podcast the “Get a job and get healthy with Costas Enterprises” podcast on Spotify right here.

HISTORY

Ok before we get into to all of this I better tell you a little history of the way I was.

At my heaviest I was 149 Kg (328.45 lb’s) back in 2005. I have always been fat/ heavy/ obese/ big boned, whatever you want to call it, and I distinctly remember only starting to be fat from being five years old and without making excuses I come from a Greek family that likes to eat. I am now (as of today’s date 15 February 2020) 37 and a half years old.

I used to live the “invincible” lifestyle, what I mean is I used to eat whatever I wanted (fried chicken, pizza, chocolate, lots of bread) and I used to drink … a lot… I was never an alcoholic, although I did see someone about my drinking because I did start to get worried … well I wasn’t so much worried about my drinking but my doctor’s were given I could easily drink a whole 40 ounce (1.25 litres) of bourbon or 12 beers a night every weekend for ten years.

I have had some success in losing and keeping weight off in the past (well I dropped from 149 KG to 120 kg (264.55 lb’s) and then went back up to 130 kg’s (286.60 lb’s) which is where I was when I started this journey).

Now in the past I had tried a few diets and Yo-Yo’d more than Puff Daddy/ Sean Combs/ P-Diddy changes his name. Shoutout to the D to the A to the D-D-Y
But what I am trying to get across is that I tried a lot, but failed a lot more.

I considered and was registered for Bariatric Gastric Sleeve surgery, twice! Very quickly for those that don’t know, Gastric Sleeve surgery involves removing about 75% of your stomach, the advantage is you not only lose weight (and pretty fast), you also can also lose any diabetes effectively overnight. But it is not easy, you are effectively reduced to eating small and only certain foods for the rest of your life… a big change for someone and as always there is a risk of not actually making it through the operation. It has had a lot of success but also instances where it hasn’t been so lucky. However one of my friends, Tamara, has recently been going through this and documenting it on her Instagram and is part of my inspiration to document my journey.

The “D” word … Diabetes, I have type 2 (the one you can get because … well you think you’re invincible and eat sugar almost every day for like 20 years, well at least I did and that’s how I got it lol). I have had this for about 15 years now, I previously … like up till about 4 weeks ago didn’t control it very well. I did the bear minimum of taking my pills and the occasional insulin that I needed to have.

Part of the reason why I am taking this journey so seriously is because I started noticing how bad my control was getting.

So why are you taking this journey??? Ok I’ll be honest, 99.9999% is because I didn’t want to lose the one thing in my life that makes me happy .. no not food … although that used to be the 99.9999%.
It’s because of my partner, she saw how bad I was, we have been together for over a year and she saw (and helped me) change all other aspects of my life (I’ll delve into that I’m sure on other blogs), but the one part of my life I didn’t really try to change was my health (notice I said health and not weight … that’s the important part here).

You see something bad in yourself when you see the person you love crying because they ask you to change, you don’t and they give you the world, and all they ask is you look after yourself. Trust me this isn’t easy for me to write. I am a proud person by nature and to even admit that I was this way is hard, but if these last two paragraphs make you aware that your in this situation because your loved one shows you that they care for you and ask you to change whatever your doing that is hurting them and you do nothing .. Wake The F&*k Up and change!

NOTE: I am going to mention a book now and the link goes to Amazon.com of which I am an affiliate so id you buy something I do get a commision, but trust me if you are in the above situation you and your partner need to read The Five Love Languages and it will help you learn how to fill your partner’s “Love Tank”.

Ok that’s enough of the history, but there is more and I will expand on it a lot more in the future.

So what are you doing now? What’s Different?

So as I mentioned, My partner told me how I can fuel her Love Tank, by trying to get healthier. She made me a meal plan. I said I will follow it.

The meal plan is customized to me … because I am such a fussy eater, I don’t eat a lot of vegetables, and some of the ones I do eat are pure carbs.

If you follow weight loss and diets your will already have jumped to the conclusion of what my partner was getting me into (You were quicker than me if you guessed KETO).

For those that don’t know there are heaps of KETO recipes and diets out there and variations but the one thing I was most worried about was … what if I get a hypo(glycmic) attack??? if you or someone you know has diabetes you would understand why I worried. For those that don’t know, a KETO diet is effectively No Carbs, No/ very little sugar intake.

Now to give you an idea of why I was so worried. A normal, healthy person’s blood sugar reading should be between 4 – 6. My usual was around 23 – 24 … as you can imagine I was very worried!

I will write another blog post shortly concerning the start of my journey.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post and I hope you continue to follow my journey.

Hit that subscribe button and feel free to leave me any comments and/or feedback about what you want to hear about.

February 14, 2020 11

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