Nailed it!

I set a goal for myself to lose at least 8 lbs. during this challenge which would solidly get me out of the 140s and this week I did it! Only 5 more lbs. of baby weight to go! I gained a whopping 50 lbs. this pregnancy and was worried it wouldn't come off. I am feeling more confident and motivated now to maintain the fitness level I have achieved and continue to monitor my eating habits.

I know shopping doesn't burn that many calories

But it's got to be more than sitting at home eating leftovers and watching holiday movies, right?

I didn't do the middle of the night black friday thing, but I did shop Friday and Saturday. One day I took my 6-year-old Stella and the next I took my 9-year-old Cole.  They picked out stuff for their siblings and I got great ideas to surprise them. It was fun, and we had some good one on one time.  And my holiday shopping is almost done! Except for my hubby. I never know what to get him . . .

We saw a great play, took the kids to see Big Hero 6, which I loved, went ice skating, played with friends, and have had an overall great time.

Unfortunately we also had a Thanksgiving tarnished by sickness.  My husband came down with acute bronchitis and sinusitis, which then turned into some kind of digestive illness. And then Stella got really sick. She has had a fever on and off for two days, no appetite, red stingy eyes, congestion, headache, fatigue, achy body. Is this the enterovirus? Medical professional out there . . . what do you think?

I am excited for the final two weeks of this competition. Last week I hit my goal weight. This week I didn't go outside of my healthy window . . . despite a lack of fresh fruit and vegetables and pie for breakfast. I will do better this week. That is my personal goal, to eat 3 fruits and 5 vegetable servings a day.

Keep up the good work, all you that have been hanging on!

Been Slacking ....

Hello Everyone.....
well I did not post on here for a while....I was busy with sick babies and life was a little hectic.  Anyway this week I ate A LOT!!!! I am addicted to sweets and I could not resist the pumpkin rolls and pies!!!

Well I plan to get back on track this week and next! Hope everyone has a great week :)

Thanks Giving For Living

Almost exactly one year ago a close colleague and friend of mine was working out at home. He's in his mid-forties, cycles a TON, and is really one of the most fit people I know. As he was doing a long set of Burpees, he started having chest pain. As a medical professional he thought to himself, "That's weird," but it took him over an hour to finally accept that he was likely having a heart attack. Fortunately, he sought the emergency care he needed, and survived, and is now back to cycling like before.

That health scare for him really shook me. I have a family history of cardiovascular disease and I certainly was not living a healthy enough lifestyle to mitigate those risks. That's what really got me started wanting to turn my health life around. Fortunately for me, Steph is patient and encouraging through this process. I'm now down a total of 17 pounds (not all of those dring the challenge) and about 10% of total inches (most of this during the challenge). I have another 15 pounds to go, and would still like to get back to exercising as intensely as I used to (ok, maybe not quite as intense as high school), but I'm back to a healthy BMI and my diet is MUCH improved. This may not completely eliminate my risk factors, but I have a personal belief that blessings from heaven are not limited to just spiritual strength when we are doing our part to improve.

Here's to all of us continuing to work toward our goals. Healthy for the Holidays!

Thanksgiving Week

A few weeks ago I was really thinking I should have made this a 10 week challenge instead of 12...but I'm glad we didn't end Thanksgiving week...let's just say I'm happy for a few more weeks to get back on track before the final weigh-in.
This week has been great though!  We've had a house full of family, wonderful food, and it's been marvelous!  With 3 of us doing this challenge all under one roof there were plenty of exercise buddies and everyone kept moving each day.

F Jeff burned a few extra calories when he handed Caden the high powered hose to help with the car wash.  Let's just say that running from the out of control water fall burns extra calories.                                                                                

On Black Friday I may have missed out on a sleep point, but my Fitbit racked up the steps that night!

Hope you all had a great holiday week!  Now...back on track...starting tomorrow!
       

miracle of the week

Thanks to a challenge of getting work out buddies, my mom went with me to "Vasa Fitness" or whatever gold's gym is called these days. And then yesterday she bought a membership so she can work out with me, which is a HUGE DEAL. It's the first time she's ever gone with me, and the first time she's been really motivated to get strong and fit again. So thanks! Also, saw my neighbor at the gym and we went together the next day. check and check! Oh, and I ran for an hour on Thanksgiving, ate less than I EVER have, and kept my no sweets goal (my day off was Thanksgiving and it was wonderful).

We are going on a cruise in January for the first time ever, and it's gonna be just me and the hubcap. Here's to beach bodies and being the strongest ever soon.

You guys all inspire me and give me some hardcore competition. I may not catch up to ya'll, but thanks for dragging me along with ya hahaha.

Strep

Last year on Thanksgiving I had the stomach flu and spent the day in misery, unable to eat a thing. This year I have strep. Sadly no urgent care clinics were open on Thanksgiving day so I couldn't get my antibiotics until this morning. I did go to a friend's house for the day with my little family and I was able to eat a little, but I'm still annoyed at having another Thanksgiving tarnished by sickness. I wore a bandana around my mouth whenever I got close to anyone and in general I tried to keep my distance so hopefully I didn't infect anyone. It has been so, SO hard to get my exercise in the last few days. With the painful throat I haven't had much desire to eat, which brings headaches and nausea and an overall weak body. But I'm proud of myself for dragging myself to the gym on Wednesday and biking for an hour and playing Wii Sports with my husband yesterday. It probably would have been better for my health to rest than exercise, but no way was I going to lose points on the group goal and exercise yesterday! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, hopefully in better health than I was!!

Thanksgiving Report

I took the day off in the eating department, but I'm back at it again tomorrow.  I did get my sixty minutes of working out done at 6am which caused me to need a nap after our delicious meal.  Hope everyone had a blessed day!

Love me some pie!

My goal this week is to not eat refined sugar or flour, so making delicious pies and cookies tonight without sampling any of the goodies was so hard! Who knew five little points could be such motivation?! Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I'm gonna eat a giant salad first and hopefully have less desire to eat the less-healthy stuff.

Week 9 Results and Prize Winner

Week 9 Results:

I only heard from 12 of you this week!  Yikes!  I hope it is because you are busy 

traveling and spending time with family and not because you've given up!  

Send me your points this week and I will update your score on next week's blog post.

1.        Jeff - 891

2.       Cindy - 890

3.       Jenni F. - 887

4.       Stephanie -879

5.       Bekki - 869

6.  Ally - 862.5

7.   Heather - 806.5

8.   Melanie - 819

9.       Leisel - 782.5

10.   Clark - 802

11.   LauriAnn - 765.5

12.   Ingrid - 312

MAJOR MILESTONE ALERT

Well it happened this week - I hit a Major Milestone!!!! I'm now at the same weight I was when I got married 33 years ago!!!!! I might celebrate with Mile High Mud Pie at Red Robin (I think it contains two days worth of calories) Remember - small portions at Thanksgiving Dinner and eat really slow - and take a walk between dinner and dessert! F. Jeff

Toughest competitor shows up in Vernal

One reason I have loved Healthy for the Holiday is I feel like I am in Vernal UT, and nobody else is but I have support here on line.... However the toughest competitor showed up in Vernal Yesterday and I didn't even know!!!  I thought about sending him a gallon of ice cream...or something.... You know he wouldn't eat it. I really don't want anyone to fail I just am on the competitive side!!

Anyway... Steph posted that you can see a change at 4 weeks and the family can see a change at 8 weeks. Well, I really haven't told my extended family (except my cousin Steph and my uncle Jeff) that I am doing this challenge. So I went to see my mother yesterday and she said Uncle Jeff is here and I want to know what you guys are doing!!  Our toughest competitor must be looking great!!

I am wishing everyone courage and strength over this thanksgiving week.   Never give up on yourself!!!  WE CAN DO IT!!!  I am ready for another 12 weeks!!  Thanks for all the help and the competition....

Helping the Husband

This week I helped my husband with some really time consuming things for work. And I didn't get enough sleep, and I didn't get in extra 15 minutes of exercise 5 days. I stressed about it a little bit, because I'm  close to being in the top 6, and I want to earn some prize money to go toward Christmas. But then I remembered that it's life. Some weeks are gonna be easier than others to do "everything". But it's all good. There are trade-offs and stress isn't good for anybody. So I'm celebrating that I had some quality time with the hubby, and I still did what I could do to be healthy and move every day.

I saw this cool kid on "ellen" this week, and I loved what he said. I love his hard work and his self-acceptance. We shouldn't be so stressed about being "perfect". Celebrate everything we are and all that we do!  Hopefully this link will work.

Kid who lost 160 pounds talks to ellen

I'm excited for Thanksgiving! I plan to log my food that day and keep track of how many calories are in a slice of pumpkin pie. I can enjoy the Thanksgiving yumminess, and do it in moderation.

Party on ya'll!

Holiday Heart Syndrome

Holiday Heart Syndrome is a cardiac arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat) that occurs after consuming excessive amounts of alcohol, which commonly happens with binge drinking during holiday parties. I know most of you in the challenge and I don't think any of you have any reason to worry about that kind of holiday heart syndrome.

This brings me to another type of Holiday Heart Syndrome...the type that Stephanie apparently is trying to give to all of us! In her email about next week's challenge she mentioned that we could invite a family member to shovel snow with us. Unfortunately, one of the greatest risk factors for a heart attack this time of year is shoveling snow! Upper extremity exertion, mixed with cold temperatures and excessive eating is a recipe for disaster. Of course, the whole point of this challenge is to improve our health, and our hearts are reaping some of the greatest benefits from these efforts...but now Steph is encouraging all of us to invite a family member to join us in a snow shoveling marathon. I, for one, strongly recommend that if you do shovel snow together, perhaps you should take turns and keep a cell phone handy to call 9-1-1. :)

On second thought, how about you all just come shovel our walks while we eat a little pumpkin pie!

Happy shoveling!

Hard Challenge this Week - Thanks Steph!!

So when I saw this weeks challenge I knew what it meant.....

In an earlier post I mentioned my new hot yoga obsession. Yes, I would consider it an obsession. How can it not be? When I finish a workout I can't wait to get back the next day!

So, for the past six weeks or so, I've been doing the 60 minute Express class or the hot Vinyasa Flow. On the schedule each week is also a 90 minute class fashioned after the Bikram yoga classes. You do the same 26 poses as Bikram yoga.....in a heated room, 105 degrees and 40% humidity.

Well, for me it just seemed easier to go to the 90 minute class rather than the 60 and then have to add on 15 minutes at some other time during the day. Tomorrow is my last day and I will have done FIVE 90 minute classes this week. Whoot Whoot!

I'm pretty happy with my accomplishment and thanks goes to Stephanie for really challenging me this week!

Here is a time lapse for your entertainment! Not my class, but it gives you an idea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nqa9F2A6Mk

Also, if you live in Colorado I'm inviting you all to come to class next week and that will help me earn my group challenge points for next week. ;)

Move More, Eat Less

I got a Fitbit for my birthday.  The last couple of weeks my personal goal for this challenge has been to get 10,000 steps/day.  That's just under 5 miles per day.  If I walk for my workout this isn't a problem, but when I do other things (which I usually do) I find myself having to get a lot of extra steps at the end of the day to meet my goal.
Wearing this Fitbit has been a good eye opener for me, I consider myself a fairly active person...at least I don't feel like I get to sit down very often.  But I'm realizing that a lot of my household chores and tasks don't add up to a lot of steps, even though I'm on my feet a lot.  A trip to Walmart (one of those bad ones where you have to get something from every far corner of the store) can equal 2,000 steps!
So through this personal goal I've been a lot more mindful about how much I'm moving (aside from my 60 minutes of exercise) each day.  It's hard when it's freezing outside...but I'm trying and hoping it will work!
Keep it moving people!!!

 

Remember

I have to be honest. I can't remember if I already posted this week. I went back to look but my computer is being finicky, so I'm just going to post something to be sure!!

I hope everyone is having a GREAT week getting in some extra exercise minutes! I'm so excited for Thanksgiving week! Not for the food - but because my kids will be home all week! And because my husband who is in grad school and has been incredibly busy will be taking a few days off!! I'm SO excited to sit on the couch with him and watch a movie or two! I'm SO excited to have him be WITH the kids and me as we do some fun activities! I'm SO excited to have him just BE with us! yay!

Not gonna lie! I am excited for the food next week too!! But I'm also excited about the pounds and inches I've lost and determined NOT to let them come back! I am planning the day and week so that the habits I've solidified will hold strong so the 'food' holiday will NOT push me off the track of my healthy, happy and fit lifestyle!!

Winner!!

I hope everyone agrees with me... I love to see who the WINNER is each week.  I think we all are  WINNERS because Stephanie makes such awesome videos!! We are all WINNERS because we are being more healthy!!  I just got an e-mail that says the average American gains 5-8 pounds from November 1 to January 1. I'm not going to be an average American... I am going to be a Healthy for the Holiday LOSER...which makes me a WINNER!

By the way... I think Stephanie and her family should be on School of Rock!!

How Much Longer Steph?

Are we there yet????? "Do this - don't do that- can't you read the signs?" I can not remember what a milk shake tastes like!!!! Made up some great Goose Jerky this week and dried it on the smoker grill - Lean and Organic and a great weight loss aid! Shoveling Snow was a nice break from the Gym as was a 3 hour hike in the snow. Stay Focused!!! Next week will be the big test! F. Jeff

All alone...hmm...

My husband is currently at scouts, taking our 3 year old with him, and I just put the baby down for the night. I was inspired by Melanie's goal to not eat sweets this week so I decided to make it my goal too--no candy, cookies, cake, ice cream, or desserts of any kind this week. Now here I am, home alone (essentially) and a closet of Halloween candy calling my name. It doesn't help that I had to make a double batch of lemon squares to send to scouts tonight and there are a few just sitting on the counter, staring at me. But I'm determined to be strong! I'm gonna go have a bowl of greek yogurt with honey and blueberries and pretend it's a bowl of ice cream.

Stick to your goals, fellow challengers! You are inspiring!!

Addendum

Just an FYI...I made a mistake on the earlier post, the Target gift card up for grabs this week is $10!  So get those 30 exercise points to be in the drawing!

Week 8 Results and Prize Winner

Well done on another week everyone!
Sariah and Ally - I didn't get your scores this week!  My email has been a little weird on my phone so if I somehow missed it please send it again and I'll update the scores!  Thanks!
Week 8 Standings:  (I only posted the points from the people I heard from this week, I will adjust this if more scores come in).

1.        Jeff - 792

2.       Cindy - 791

3.       Jenni F. - 788

4.       Stephanie -781

5.       Bekki - 771

6.       Elise - 751.5

7.   Heather - 723.5

8.   Melanie - 720

9.       Leisel - 706.5

10.   Clark - 706

11.   LauriAnn - 681.5

12.   Molly - 673

13.   Carrie - 605

14.  David - 580

15.   Kimberly - 444.5

16.   Katie - 342

17.   Ingrid - 280

18.   Amber - 173.5

             Week 8 Prize Winner, $5 TCBY gift card!

I've fallen behind the last few weeks on delivering the prizes...they will be in the mail this week to you past winners!  Thanks for being patient with me!

New Week

I'm looking forward to this week. It's getting a little tougher now that the weather isn't so hot to get out and exercise. Perhaps I need to buckle down and get a gym membership to show that I'm serious about this. I guess I need to get creative in working out. I will almost undoubtedly not get the challenge for this week as I struggle to get 1 hour each day of exercise. Maybe this is just rationalization, but I also don't know if its really that good to exercise for an hour and 15 minutes for 6 days. Sounds a bit extreme to me. But this is from someone who struggles to find the point in exercising if there is no competition (like through sports). Oh, and does bocce ball count as exercise? Haha! Good luck to all!

Waters that do more than hydrate

Trying to up my game, I made two "special" jugs of water this week. I lost three pounds without doing anything else special, so maybe it helped?! Here are the recipes I used.


Flat Tummy Water  -With cucumber and ginger


Hot Lemonade  - Lemon with cayenne and honey. Supposedly boosts metabolism.

I forgot!

    Just adding up my points for this past week and I realized I totally forgot to blog! So mad I missed out on those 10 easy points! 10 points is like 2 hours of exercise!
   So I am trying to get it done early this week since we will be heading out of town on Friday for a week.  Anyways I was going to post about one way that helps me get my vegetables in.  I really like to have smoothies for breakfast and I have a lot of different smoothie recipes that are pretty tasty. 
    I really like to add spinach to my smoothies.  Spinach is super healthy and you can't even taste it in the smoothie (although it might make the color really weird).  So it can be a fruit, peanut butter, or pumpkin smoothie and I still like to add that spinach. One of my favorite smoothies is this green chocolate mint smoothie:

 


This smoothie is pretty tasty (a little like chocolate chip, mint ice cream)  and really healthy and my kids even really love it. 

This is what I put in it:

Almond milk (you could use whatever kind of milk)
Plain yogurt or a little protein powder (just whatever I have to add some protein to it).
2-3 handfuls of spinach (I like to pack that spinach in this smoothie!)
Frozen bananas
Ice cubes
Vanilla flavoring
Mint or peppermint flavoring (I like peppermint better)
A little honey to sweeten it. (If I use yogurt I don't put in honey because it already has enough sugar).
A little handful of choc chips -and I put these in at the very end when the smoothie is already blended well together. I throw in the choc chips and blend for a few seconds, just to chop up the choc into little bits.

Rough Week

I was having a rough week this week too.  Friday was especially bad. I was trying to lift weights when my 2 year old went into the baby's room and woke her up. I only got 10 minutes done. Ugh.  Luckily it snowed at least half a foot in Boise that day and the baby took a long afternoon nap so I went out and shoveled for at least 2 hours. It was actually pretty enjoyable knowing that I was getting a good workout in and helping out.  A nice break from weightlifting!

Hopefully this week goes better.

Well...

I haven't been feeling very well this week...so my score won't be awesome.  Hoping to feel better this next week.  Getting a whole 15 minutes extra exercise everyday is not going to be easy!

So . . . .

Going on my 4th week of no significant losses after some great efforts people! When I say significant it's because I can't say I haven't lost at all, because I did go down .2 of a pound. :-/

It wouldn't bug me so bad, but this weight I am stuck at is literally 1.4 pounds above my goal weight, and if I could get to that goal I could start earning 10 points a week to maintain.

I have considered making this weight my new happy to be here goal weight, because I am happy to be here. Feel good, in control, like my wardrobe, and energy levels. But I feel like it's a cheat because I set my goal to be 1.4 pounds lighter than this . . . But I just can't seem to lose!

I am feeling like maybe I'll do a juice cleanse, like Gwyneth Paltrow. But I don't want to do a juice cleanse . . .

Ok, done complaining for the day.

It's not like I'm going to win with you challengers to go up against anyway. But I don't want to give up. I just want to lose stinking 1.4 more pounds!

I can do it . . .

Hard Week

I'll admit it, everything seemed to take twice as much energy as usual, and I seemed to be dragging all day. Veggies and fruit helped, tho my munchies are out of control!!! Dang out nutella. dang you.

I'm devoted to a personal goal next week of no sweets, and I'm gonna carry that on til Thanksgiving. Then I won't feel bad about a small splurge of a slice of pie, maybe two.

My goal is to get to prebaby weight of 143 by the end of the year, and I just reached the cusp of the upper 140's. and then I celebrated and got right back in to the 150s oops! Next week, with eating better, maybe I'll get solidly back in to the 140's (first time in two years!) and then I can keep getting healthier and stronger. Here's to a better resolve today.

Thanksgiving Day is Coming GOBBLE GOBBLE GOBBLE

You need to decide now how to keep from giving back those hard earned losses during Thanksgiving - Here are 5 really helpful suggestions: Remind yourself it is Thanksgiving not Tanksgiving! Go for a walk before dinner - Start with really small portions- Go for a walk before you get seconds - Small Portion seconds!!!!!! Go for a 3rd walk or you don't get Dessert! Watch More Football????? or Watch Sumo Wrestling - you will lose your appetite! Line up at 4pm (Thanksgiving Day)at Walmart for the 6pm Black Friday - don't bring snacks And then hit the 6pm Target Black Friday Event Yes - running in the store and physically blocking other shoppers for your friend counts as exercise! As Red Green would say "Hang in There - We are all in this Together!" F Jeff

The Plateau

At the first week of this challenge, my baby was 6 weeks old. I jumped right in by starting to do Insanity (a dvd workout series) everyday. Man did my body respond! I lost several inches and a few pounds in the first couple weeks. Now... I'm at a plateau, and trying to find middle ground between losing weight, and staying safe for my exclusively-nursing baby. Any suggestions to get past this?!

Blasted injury!

It's been kind of a rough week. So remember how last week I mentioned I hurt my wrist from weight lifting? Turns out I hurt it worse than I originally thought as it got increasingly sore each day last week. I finally decided to buy an Ace bandage and keep it wrapped up and that seems to be helping. It's been really annoying to not be able to do everything that I normally would do, though I should be grateful it's only my left wrist and not an ankle or something more debilitating. I've also been sick this week. Not sure what's going on exactly but I've been having stomachaches the last 3 days that come and go throughout the day. On the plus side I don't eat as much when my stomach hurts so I seem to be losing more weight this week. Trying to be optimistic!

In other news, my 3 year old has started saying "What the heck?!" all the time. She thinks it's hilarious (not gonna lie, I kind of do too...) but I'm just waiting for her to say it loudly at a really inappropriate time, like sacrament meeting or something. Anyone have any hilarious stories of things their kids repeated at awkward moments? :)

Should've had a V8

This challenge has been an interesting one for me.  At first I thought it would be a little tough to consistently consume enough fruits and vegetables.  Steph and I were discussing the various amounts of several fruits and vegetables which qualify to be full servings.  It sounded like a lot more than I regularly consume.  As I've paid more attention, though, I've realized that my only really consistent deficit is with fruit.  I eat plenty of salad and cooked vegetables, but my fruit intake is lacking.  I enjoy fruit, but it always seems like more of a hassle than it's worth.  Just ask Steph about the time I refused to peel oranges so she bought a special tool to make it easier so I would at least eat one once in a while.

Enter V8 fusion.  I do not like the taste of old-fashioned V8.  Perhaps hate would be a better description.  So when I first tried the Pomegranate Blueberry a few months ago I was pleasantly surprised.  It actually has a decent taste.  It contains 1 serving of fruit and 1 serving of vegetables.  One hundred calories per can (that's 10 more than a standard size banana, 20 more than a medium apple).  Pop a top and swallow a few times and you're done.  Not a bad little boost.  Plus they just happen sell them at the hospital cafeteria, so that makes it a little easier.

How are you getting your fruits and vegetables?

You're a FIRE WORK!!

I love this song thanks to Steph's kids.  They have loved it for years.  It reminded me how music motivates!! 

The music is turned on loud this week because it encourages me to move faster....(including in house work!!)  It makes me smile and laugh more....which has to burn more calories RIGHT!!!

ENJOY the MINUTES!!!  Sing like no one is listening...Really who is!!! (Probably the teenage child who will be embarrassed!)

Good Luck and enjoy those fruits and veggies this week!

Sleep

What if you want to get seven hours of sleep each night, but you wake up at 3:15 a.m. and can't go back to sleep?  That's what happened to me last night and it really made me mad.  The whole time I was thinking....I'm going to lose a point for this unless I can get a two hour nap in tomorrow. UGH!! Anyone else suffer from insomnia?

Week 7 Results and Prize Winner!

E

T    This is by far the toughest group of competitors I have ever been involved with!  You all are doing awesome!  I keep thinking that people will start to fizzle out, earn less points, not complete the challenges...but NO...you all keep trucking along!  This week we had 13 people in our drawing!  And Cindy, Jeff, Bekki, and Molly reported perfect weeks!

       Week 7 Results:

1.        Jeff - 693

2.       Cindy - 692

3.       Jenni F. - 689

4.       Stephanie -682

5.       Bekki - 673

6.       Ally - 668.5

7.       Elise - 659.5

8.    Sariah - 642

9.   Melanie - 633

10.       Leisel - 632.5

11.   Heather - 626.5

12.   Clark - 621

13.   LauriAnn - 599.5

14.   Molly - 586

15.   Carrie - 528

16.  David - 513

17.   Kimberly - 396.5

18.   Mary - 382

19.   Katie - 277

20.   Ingrid - 248

21.   Sarah - 229

22.   Karen - 176

23.   Amber - 161.5

24.   Jenny W. - 128

Week 7 Prize Winner:  ($10 CASH!)

Back on Track

So, this week, I'm going to get back on track! I've been slacking on keeping up with my food log, exercising for an hour a day, and doing the weekly challenge. The others are no sweat. Well, I'm going to revamp this next week and get back on top of working out. The cold has put a little damper on running in the morning, but I'm sure I'll figure something out. Good luck to all!

Non Scale Victories!

I really liked this list of non scale victories I found online.  There are so many ways to measure progress!

I was excited that the last few weeks my wedding ring fit again!  The summer months leading up to this challenge I could get it on, but it was TIGHT!  It made me claustrophobic to wear it.  Now it's back to it's proper place.  

Another victory for me is that I have stopped having anxiety attacks about my weight gain/inability to lose weight.  Even though I still have a long ways to go, because I am taking control and making changes in the right direction the anxiety is gone.

What non scale victories have you experienced doing this challenge?  

surprised

As I pulled out my Week 8 worksheet it dawned on me there are only a few weeks left in this here ol' challenge! I have to admit at times I felt every minute - but overall I think the time has gone by smoothly for me. I do not fall in the category with those who may have dropped a huge amount of weight, but I have been working and am seeing my efforts rewarded...a little at a time.

In response to the post about running - I love to run! I also hate it. Ha ha!! Heather Herrick (also in this challenge) has been an amazing example to me of finding joy in EVERY form of fitness - but most especially in running. I started running when I was 26. Kinda late in the 'world' of running. I had also already had a child. Another strike against me. My FIRST race EVER was a half marathon! Yep. An old friend of mine got me hooked on running and convinced me to run a half marathon with her. I did and I was hooked.  I ran two half marathons between each baby, telling myself I was running a marathon! I have always enjoyed the 'slow and steady' pace. Then I met Heather! With her I have been challenged to get faster and have really broadened everything about my physical fitness. It's amazing how much fun running can be!! I LOVE the HIGH I get and how happy running makes me.

Unfortunately, the last year and a half I have been on and off with how much running I can do. I have battled a common runner's injury, plantar fasciitis. I was back again this fall, but then started feeling some not so good aches and pains in different areas....and I believe I need new running shoes...so I am once again NOT running. I will save up my pennies for new shoes, take care of the not-so-good aches and will be back on the road in no time.

For now, until I can run again, I will enjoy my spin circuit class, swimming, P90X and other such wonderful ways to stay fit. Good luck this week everyone. We are doing great!!

Half Marathon Pains

So this morning I was so excited to challenge or invite my family to join me in the inaugural Yosemite Half Marathon.  It isn't until next October, so everyone would have 11 months to train and it's on a Saturday - truly unique to find a race not on Sunday.

Then I went for a run, okay I'll be honest, a jog.  Now several hours later in the day my pains begin at the bottom of my body and don't stop til I reach the top.  My right knee, my right IT band, my left hip flexor, both piriformis, my lower back and even my right elbow and shoulder hurt.

One of the bummers (or blessings according to some) is that we age.  It's no fun, but hopefully learning to be healthy will help all of us ease into our older years with grace and some hop in our step.

Thanks Stephanie for helping us to be healthy.

Keeping her honest

At the beginning of this challenge I was mostly motivated to help Steph achieve her goals.  I figured that my efforts might help her out a little, and everybody knows "happy wife...happy life!"  Well, along the way I've tried to focus on improving areas of my daily routine which I know have led to my weight gain over the years.  So far my inches have improved much more quickly than my pounds, but both are improving. I guess I can't complain about that!

Now, for the title of my post. I just want you all to know the pains Steph goes through each week for the sake of the group challenges. The difficulty isn't in selecting the challenge. It's not in completing the challenge. For Steph the difficulty comes in defending the challenge. Every week I badger her for several days about how unfair the challenge is for this reason, or that reason. How she should make it easier so guys like me can achieve the points with much less effort. She patiently puts up with it every week...and the challenges must not be that bad, because I haven't missed a group challenge point yet. Sorry, babe, for all the hassle. You're doing a great job as Emperial Master...I mean challenge coordinator.

Good luck with all the fruits and vegetables this week.

Exercise

     I love to exercise.  I love the way it makes me feel and I when I don't get it in, I really miss it.
The thing is, with kids, I find it hard to fit it into my schedule. It is either super late at night or in the middle of the day when the kids are constantly interrupting me and I am not very consistent every day with when I exercise, it is pretty random.  I also dread the fact of waking up way before my kids wake up to fit it in as well. 
    So, my question is to those with little kids.  What has been your best and most effective method of fitting that exercise in while still being a busy mom?
   Also, I love running, but the last few months I have been doing some Insanity workouts. I was scared at first to try them because they sounded hard, but I love them! They are hard. Ok, really, really hard.  But they also have a lot of good moves, and I don't get bored. And they get easier the more I do them. So if you need a good, hard, awesome workout, then I recommend Insanity!

Interstellar-You should see it if you like good movies!

 

I went on a movie date with my husband tonight and I did eat popcorn, after 8 p.m. But it was my first time all week eating after 8, and I stayed within my calorie goal for the day, so I call that a success.

We loved the movie. It was epic, beautiful, sentimental, asked difficult questions, wasn't didactic about the answers, slow when it needed to be, and exhilarating even scary at times. REALLY Well done if you like good movies. If, however, you like movies similar to the one highlighted in the previews; movies that are filled with fast cars, women in very little clothing, loud music, guns, and other weapons that cause explosions during car chases (can you say, "Fast and the Furious"? Gag . . . I just hate those kinds of movies. Even the previews make me roll my eyes), then you may think this film slow and overly thoughtful. Just want you to know who the recommendation is coming from.

It definitely is a movie that calls into question what it is that matters. What are we spending our time and energy on? Does it matter to our families? To our present? To the future?

On a much smaller scale I really have started asking myself some questions pretty frequently in regards to my health and fitness goals, you know, to try and keep things in perspective.

"Will this help me build the kingdom?"
"Will this help me be a better mother/wife/friend?"
"Will this help me have the time I need to serve others?"

Two examples to replace the word "this" in the above questions:

• Having a six-pack, zero cottage cheese, and really toned arms . . . NO!

• Being healthy and able to run, lift, skip, jump, work, play . . .YES!

The latter may include some cottage cheese and a soft belly. I am coming around more and more to being fine with that. It doesn't matter when it comes to the bigger things I want to accomplish in this life.

Have you seen any other good movies lately?

I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends

Reaching goals is a lot easier when you have a support group rallying around you!   

For me this challenge has been a family affair!  My husband, father, mother-in-law, 2 sisters-in-law, and cousin are also participating!  It's a lot easier to make healthy choices when your family is on board!  I love having dates to the gym and extra walks with my husband.  I love that my mom sent me this "cake" for my birthday so that she wouldn't sabotage my efforts (my boys were so disappointed).  

I have found I am much more successful in reaching fitness and weight loss goals when I am involved with a group, than when I try to do it all on my own.  The support and accountability that comes from a group like this is invaluable.  This challenge has made me so conscious about my daily food and exercise choices.  I think this daily focus is key!  Participating in this group makes my weight loss process a lot more enjoyable...even fun!?  It helps to know there is a place I can turn to ask questions and get advice.  Thanks everyone for being part of this group!  I hope you feel the support too!

Halloween Trivia and the $1200 weight loss program

So I heard one of my favorite songs on Halloween - Werewolves of London (Warren Zevon 1978) and it reminded me of a great trivia question ? In the song a werewolf was spotted at Trader Dick's drinking a Pina Colada - what was the condition of the werewolf's hair??????????? The answer ought to be worth a bonus point or two in this challenge! So I was on an airplane with a guy who had been through a 90 day $1200 weight loss program where he lost about 1/3 of a pound per day. I smiled and thought - I'm in a weight loss program for $25 and you would think you have the world invested the way they have us battling for points - AND actually I'm losing 1/4 lb to 1/3 lb per day and I'm not hooked on some special product. So a big thanks to all of you for making a little $25 program feel like I have $1200 invested!!!!!! Keep up the great efforts! Thanksgiving will be here soon - F. Jeff

Keep on Truckin...

I feel similar to Cindy this week! I am just working and hoping for results! No stories and nothing interesting to share. I am trying hard to live in moderation and work hard each day during my workout. Some days I feel the reward of the efforts and sometimes I really don't feel like much has changed at all!

I hope everyone else is seeing and feeling success in this awesome process we are all in! Everyone is doing GREAT! What are you thinking? Should we start another 12 weeks of this up after the New Year? We will all want to continue on the journey...yes?? Continue seeing results!! yes!!?? Is there anyone brave enough to take Stephanie's place as moderator? I don't know about the rest of you, but I want to continue seeing changes in my body and mind. It's been so rewarding for me!!! I don't want the journey to end too soon.

Have a GREAT week!

Spring cleaning in the fall

I have no wonderful insights or stories to add this week. I'm just plugging along and doing my best to get all my points each week, which is usually very hard! I'm getting used to going to bed hungry every night and feeling sore pretty much all the time from my amped up workouts. I think I hurt my wrist from doing a weight lift incorrectly--whoops!

In other news, I'm on a quest to organize all the bedrooms in my house. I don't think we really have that much stuff since we've only lived here a couple years, but somehow there is always stuff EVERYWHERE in my house and it's starting to drive me crazy. Anyone have any great tips to organizing toys/clothes/junk? Or anyone have any type of storage shelving or bins that they love?

Sweat

Do you like to sweat? I normally don't sweat a huge amount when I workout, but when I do I feel like I've gotten a "good" workout. Well, I've found an incredible way to sweat a TON! I've fallen in love with Hot Yoga. It's challenging and sweaty and most importantly I look forward to going to class. I think that is half the battle when choosing a workout...finding something that you enjoy and can stick with. So what kind of workouts is everyone doing?

Here is some benefits of Hot Yoga:

http://yoganonymous.com/eight-benefits-of-hot-yoga/

Have a super weekend everyone!

After 8 PM challenge

So I took the after 8 PM challenge a step further.  Which I really like.  I save 10 minutes of exercise to do after 8 PM.  It helps remind me not to eat but it gets my heart rate up after dinner!! Probably a great things because I usually eat dinner and then think I can relax...(Okay or do laundry!! YUCK!)

Remember LIFE is an ADVENTURE and so is HEALTHY FOR THE HOLIDAYS!!

I love reading your stories.  I thought I would hate the blog part of this challenge but I really like it!

Week 6 Results and Prize Winner!

      Not only did you all take control of Halloween, you killed it this week!!!  We had 5 people get perfect scores this week!  A shout out to F. Jeff who has made it through half the competition without missing a single point yet! Impressive!!!

       

   Week 6 Results: 

***if you forgot to send me your points this week, send them and I'll add them to next week's totals!

1.        Jeff - 594

2.       Cindy - 593

3.       Jenni F. - 591

4.       Stephanie -584

5.       Bekki - 574

6.       Ally - 570.5

7.       Elise - 564

8.   Melanie - 545

9.       Leisel - 544.5

10.   Heather - 528.5

11.   LauriAnn - 525.5

12.   Clark - 525

13.   Molly - 487

14.       Sariah - 469

14.  David - 469

15.   Carrie - 438.5

16.   Mary - 382

17.   Kimberly - 342.5

18.   Katie - 277

19.   Jessica - 240

20.   Sarah - 229

21.   Summer - 220

22.   Ingrid - 216

23.   Karen - 176

24.   Amber - 149.5

25.   Jenny W. - 128

And now for our winner of the Walmart $10 gift card:  (my boys said, "this is our best video yet!")



Keep it up!!!