Can't believe challenge is almost over!! Today is last day.  Feels like we just started!  I don't want it to end..I want it to just keep going.  Don't want to loose my motivation.  I still have plenty of weight to loose but I've done better then I thought.

New Habits

In the past when I've decided I wanted to lose weight and stuck to a plan I have lost weight.  This past 8 weeks I have struggled to lose pounds and inches...I'm trying really hard not to focus on that but to focus on what I have gained the past 2 months doing this challenge.  I'm definitely more mindful about what I'm eating, I'm planning to continue to track my food.  I had a great exercise routine going by working out at the same time while my kids were at soccer practice and being consistent.  Soccer season is now over so I plan to find a time that works this summer and stick to it.  The water drinking is definitely a habit now that I plan to continue.

So although I didn't achieve what I set out to do, I'm happy with the new habits I've made!  Thank you to everyone for participating!  I hope you have found this challenge beneficial to your own life as well. 

Week 7 Standings and Prize Winner

Well here we are, the last day of the challenge is tomorrow!  Here are the points standings after Week 7.  Please remember to get me all of your stats by this weekend.  We will have 2 prize drawings for Week 8, as well as announcing the final winners at the end of the challenge.  All of this will be posted on Monday.  I will send out all prizes from the challenge Monday too.  If you had any weeks you forgot to report your points please let me know ASAP. 

Week 7 Standings:

693 Points:
Nicole

692 Points:
James
Laurie

678 Points:
Sarah V.

667 Points:
Sam

662 Points:
Weston

658 Points:
Cameron

655 Points:
Artesia

630.5 Points:
Margaret

603 Points:
Lori

592 Points:
Stephanie

578 Points:
Kiersten

573 Points:
***Mary***(I am missing your Week 6 points)

548 Points:
Heather

521 Points:
Sydney

Click HERE to see who won the movie pass!

Last week. Crazy! This flew by. Good luck to everyone. I hope we all keep some healthier habits after this challenge. I want to continue to limit the amount of sweets I eat, and I want to not eat after dinner. Thanks for doing this challenge Steph!

Home stretch

So crazy we are in the last bit of the challenge. For this weeks group challenge I decided my 2 I'm doing are getting in my full Fruits and Veggies serving and not eating after my final meal. This challenge has been so awesome, and really helped me get some better habits in. Here is to hoping I can continue with those better habits once the challenge is over! Thanks Stephanie for doing it! I can't wait for the next time you do one!

Hooray!

The end is here! I can’t believe I’ve managed to keep up with my early morning work outs. I’m feeling great. I get ready in the morning and feel good about myself. Now to keep myself going after the challenge.

Game 7!

We are down to the wire! Hang in there. Dig deep. I just got done watching an incredible game 7 in the NBA playoffs. If a super old guy, Lebron James (age 33) can do it, then so can I! 3 days. No sugars, not late night binges. 3 more hard days of work outs. We got this


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Out of School and Bored

I think I might make a couple pillowcases and a couple pillow shams this week! Today was the first Monday since school finished and I literally did nothing all day! It was super boring, so I am going to fill the rest of my time up with tennis and sewing!

Coming to an end...

While I was hoping for more I have lost a little over 8lbs. Hoping to buckle down this week and see if I can break 1-0! But I really like the healthy habits (specifically the logging and preplanning.) Also I have been more consistent with my Apple Watch and getting 10K steps. What has worked for you???

Chicken, Chicken, and more Chicken.

Meal Planning was pretty easy since I just throw a big batch of chicken on the grill and let it cook each sunday morning. For dinners we were a little late planning them out, but we made it by the skin of our teeth for the group challenge. With 2 kids, School, Work, and everything else that we have going on its just easier for us to sit down and plan out a menu before we go shopping so that we can get all of our stuff done and out of the way. Great work everybody on the points and challenges!

I really stunk it up this week

I don’t know what my problem is. But I went on strike from logging food this week. I just felt overwhelmed and tired and discouraged with my lack of progress. I did exercise a few times and sleep and drink water. And here I am blogging. So I guess I haven’t given up Completely. Just a little bump in the road. Ugh!

I am set to rock it this final week. I am fairly certain I won’t be winning any prizes. But I know I’ve done better than I would have had I not joined this challenge. And I am ready to keep on going. Plugging away toward my goals and making slow steady progress.  

I haven’t left many comments. But I have loved reading people’s posts and knowing that so many of us are in this struggle together. 

Keep it up! And happy last week! 

Meal plan

I was glad to hear that preplanned lunches by someone else at work was exceptable. Thankfully mine are usually salad. The think a head for dinner is great for grocery shopping.

food

I thought at first meal planning would be hard, but it wasn’t. I worked 5 days this week, so lunch has to be preplanned. Breakfast is always the same. I know just what to eat to fill me enough to get my work out in and now suddenly get hungry in the middle of it. Then dinner is always easiest if I remember to set out meat to thaw before I leave for work. So I just had my dinners mapped out and pulled out the meat before work. Bam! Meal planning done! Plus it was nice to not stress about what to cook for dinner an hour before dinner time.

Excercise

Something I honestly thought I’d get better at during this process was setting a time out to excercise, but I have not. Luckily I’m in PE and I was in a play where I danced a lot, so I’ve been able to get a lot of excercise points, but when it’s uo to me on making it happen I’m not that great. Usually I choose to go on a walk if I have to time to try and get all of my points, but that doesn’t feel like the most productive workout. I still know it’s good, and it’s helping me prepare for trek.
 Now as I’m thinking about it, I’m a lot more in shape than I was. In January I ran a mile in a bit less than 11 minutes with a lot of walk breaks. I can now run it in 8 without stopping. I know that part of this is being more in shape, but mostly it’s mental. I broke through a barrier and now I know I can push myself and do something that makes me a little uncomfortable and get great results.
So maybe I feel like I haven’t really made a good habit of excercising, but at least I’m on the right track.

Last Week

Hope everyone is still doing good.  One week left!!😏

She's here!! Meal planning has been impossible for me this week just got back from California Wed night.  But on the bright side my granddaughter is here.. a little late mom was induced on Friday the 19th she was born on Friday the 25th.  

Meal planning group challenge... this is kind of a rough one for me. I never know what sounds good.. and what sounds good to me may not sound good to my husband, however we are so close to the end that I'm pushing through and getting my 5 days out of the way immediately.

Week 6 Results and 4 Prize Winners!!!

Hey Everyone!  Our numbers seem to be dwindling.  I only heard from 16 people for points this week and only 9 people qualified for the prize drawing!  Since I'm picking 4 winners the odds are pretty good this week! 

Here are the standings for Week 6:

594 Points:
Nicole

593 Points:
James
Laurie

584 Points:
Sam

579 Points:
Sarah

572 Points:
Jenni

563 Points:
Cameron
Weston

561 Points:
Artesia

546 Points:
Kiersten

537.5 Points:
Margaret

529 Points:
Lori

517 Points:
Stephanie

500 Points:
Heather

464 Points:
Brandi

446 Points:
Sydney

Week 6 Prize Winners of the $5 Target gift card!

Click Here to see who won!

Reboot

It’s time to reboot and regroup. I need a kick in the seat 💺 to get going again.
I’m going to eat better and try to distress ha ha
Wish me Luck 🍀
Lori

 I’ve been pretty good at not eating many sweets this challenge, but last week I failed, and unfortunately it happened to be the group challenge. We went out of town and I couldn’t resist the cravings.  Oh well. Everything else was great.

I love the group challenge for this week. I think it’ll help. I’m going to continue and make meal plans even after this week.

Been a While

Life has gotten so busy lately with the last weeks of school! I have forgotten about homework and final tests are on Wednesday, so wish me luck1

Week 6 - No Sugar

This challenge was a little bit harder than I thought...throughout the week it is easy with having meals planned, homework, family, and work. As soon as I got to the weekend I was ready to start snacking and packing on the treats. I held strong and did the challenge as well as enjoyed some treats with the family. Our favorite friday night go to has been Artic Circle for some ice cream...I'm really surprised they don't know us by name by now.

I will say that saturday I was pacing the kitchen trying to fight off the urge to knock off some sugary snacks like rice kripy treats. I think I ended up driving Kiersten a little crazy by doing that haha.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=753RqDjrexg

Day 1

It’s the small things... if it wasn’t for the challenge I would have abandoned my lunch and headed straight for Panera or Chik Fil A.

Unable to publish or post until now no phone service at our hotel.  We are in cali anxiously awaiting  birth of first grandchild! My daughter in law was induced Fri morning at 7:30 but still no grand Baby...

Struggle bus

This week I was all aboard the struggle bus when it came to exercising.  When I would get home from work and sat down it felt impossible to get back up! Part of it is how busy we have been and all the kiddos but really it was my lack of motivation. So on Saturday I grabbed my older girls and headed to the green belt with bikes in the back. We rode almost 7 miles (and hour) and had a blast. The weather was perfect and when it was all done I was so glad I didn’t just take a nap.

Headache

I haven’t ever noticed how much I snack after I have a really bad headache. I just thought headache medicine made me talk a lot now I know I eat a lot!

This weeks challenge was really rough, but I can say that I did it! I also go get my coworkers a yummy drink and cookie from Sodalicious on Wednesday mornings and I couldn’t pass up a peanut butter with Nutella spread cookie. I highly recommend it! We are excited for next weeks challenge. We always plan our meals the week before and do an okay job and sticking to them. This will give us the extra motivation to make sure we just do it.

No SUUUUUGAR!!!

I'm frustrated with myself, but I did not complete the group challenge this week!  It was a stressful and busy week and I totally found myself stress eating too many treats.  But I still passed up a few, so I guess I can be happy with that.  I hope you are all hanging in there!  I know some of you have seen some great success both on and off the scale this challenge.  I'm totally inspired by your examples.  Keep it up!!!

This is the hardest week for me so far. I’ve survived two days without any sugary snacks! Yay! No chocolate, no jelly ranchers, no baked goods... I’ve actually cut back on a lot of sugar this challenge but stopping all sugary treats is hard.
Hope everyone is hanging in there. We are going on a cruise in June so that’s my extra motivation to keep going.

Week 5 Results and Prize Winners

A little chocolate is sounding good on this no treats week!  We can do it!  Great job on week 5, let me know if you forgot to report your points and I can add them later.

Week 5 Standings:

495 Points:
Nicole

494 Points:
James
Laurie

490 Points:
Sarah

486 Points:
Sam

485 Points:
Mary

484 Points:
Jenni
Weston

474 Points:
Artesia

469 Points:
Cameron

455.5
Margaret

451 Points:
Kiersten

447 Points:
Stephanie

440 Points:
Mack

420 Points:
Heather

382 Points:
Brandi

369 Points:
Brenda

Week 5 Prize Drawing!  2 winners will receive a $10 Amazon gift card!

Click HERE to see who won!

Week 5 - Something, Something

All veggies no sleep make cameron something something....How I felt after our 6 month old decided that 1, 2, 3, and 5 AM were his favorite time to wake up to eat. Got the veggies in, but I got some grouchy. I'd also like to point out that I gave my sleeping points to Kiersten cause i'm a giving husband. Its because of me that she got full points...or close to it. 

Chocolate

no sweets...it maybe a long week. Thankfully we didn’t do that last week since it was my daughters birthday and I made a homemade Oreo cake. There was no way in could have said no to that! Her friend party is this week, just doing boxed cake mix and that I can resist. What will be hard is to not replace my sweet craving with Dr Pepper all the time. I have to make sure I limit that too. I still holding strong with my 5am workouts. It feels good to be back in a work out routine. I’ve gotten strong enough I can start to run. Okay, well run for me is probably just speed walking for someone else, but it feels good to be back in shape enough to start “running” again.

Sleep baby, sleep!!!

I lost one of the easiest points of all this week, deep! I have been blessed with the ability to sleep anywhere, anytime! Work, driving, watching tv...easy. 😴 However, this month my wife and I had a beautiful baby girl. Tots adorbs!! But she likes to say hello every 2 hours in the night. I told my self I would take a nap later, but it didn't happen. Here's to a week of no sweets! Hoorah! This has to be the least American challenge of all! 🇺🇸

Week 6 challenge

This weeks challenge will probably be the hardest one for me. Hi- My name is Laurie and I have the BIGGEST sweet tooth ever!! This week I will be hosting my first piano recital (Can't wait for Saturday to be over..) and I am hosting a Favorite things party at my house on Thursday. So... I already know those will be the 2 days I don't do the group challenge. Here is to hoping I can have restraint while I am baking everything this week. My hubby is lucky since I will need a taste tester to make sure everything tastes okay. I guess it's time to go clean off all the treats sitting on my counter... There has already been too many close calls..

who needs fruit and veggies

I don't want those points anyway.  Hope everyone is still doing well. 

Wow... Yikes

Today... I ate so many treats. My excuse was Mother's Day of course. I'm not a mom, but I wasn't excluded from the waffles, brownies, strawberry shortcake, or birthday cake. I know. Sounds like A LOT of sugar. It was. I noticed that it didn't help me feel good. It was delicious at the time, but thinking back I know I didn't need a brownie AND strawberry shortcake at church today. I should've chosen one. Or neither. At least I don't eat like this everyday, but it reminded me why I'm doing this.
As I'm sitting writing a four page for my honors world civ class with still a few more assignments to do, my head hurts, my eyes are itchy, and I'm tired. I guess it is 11:15... but still. Sleep Deprivation or Sugar Crash. One? Both?

Dessert for every meal?

That’s kind of how today felt! But it was a good way to go out with a bang before our no sweets week. For my birthday . . .

I fee like Stephanie too. Just a bit discouraged that my efforts haven’t brought about many changes. But I am feeling good that I am being moderate.

Happy Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day to all! I love the flexibility of being disciplined and taking the day off. Back at it tomorrow.

3 weeks to go

I’ve been having a hard time this challenge not seeing the results I would like to.  But I keep thinking 3 weeks is still some time to make things happen!  So here’s to make deliberate food choices and getting back on the wagon!  Even if you’ve had a terrible week 🙋🏻‍♀️...don’t give up!

Sleep

I love the weekly challenges....I just struggle getting my sleep points!! I have to get up at 5am to get my exercise done. It means I have to get to bed early🤪!! Does work most days.

Week 4 Results and Prize Drawing

I'm sorry to be posting the week 4 results so late in the week.  My computer crashed right when this challenge started, so it's been a little bit challenging figuring out a time to calculate the points and post every week.  But it looks like you all are hanging in there strong!  Good job everyone!

Week 4 Standings

396 Points:
James
Nicole

395 Points:
Weston
Laurie

393 Points:
Sam

391 Points:
Sarah V.

389 Points:
Jenni

386 Points:
Mary

377 Points:
Stephanie
Artesia

376 Points:
Cameron

371 Points:
Megan

362.5 Points:
Margaret

361 Points:
Lori

352 Points:
Kiersten

323 Points:
Heather

317 Points:
Brandi

301 Points:
Brenda

296 Points:
Sydney

284 Points:
Sara A.

272 Points:
Briana

266 Points:
Mack ***I'm still missing your week 3

Week 4 Prize Drawing:

Click HERE to see who won the movie pass!

I love going to the store with fruits and veggies on the mind. I like this challenge! I also snack on fruits and veggies a lot more. Hopefully I’ll keep it up.

another one bites the dust

It is amazing how much green salad one has to eat to get full. I, in fact, never get full while eating ruffage. I ultimately get bored and loose interest. You win again leafy greens, you win!

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I honestly think blogging is the hardest part for me! lol This weeks is one of my favorites love all the
fruit and veggies!

Fruits and Veggies Challenge

As with every group challenge, this one has opened my eyes. I know I am not always great about really going for the fruits and veggies, but I realized I really could do a lot better! Thank goodness for some V-8 Juices for those days I have spaced getting my fruits and veggies in!

Who would have thought it would be so hard to get your fruits and veggies in everyday!?! Hardest challenge for me so far....

I absolutely love this weeks group challenge. I love fruits and veggies so much! I finally get points for eating them. Wahoo! Side note: I am happy that I sleep through our baby waking up in at 1 or 3 am for 2 reasons. Obviously, I get to sleep more (and I really do somehow sleep through his crying.. and screaming. Sad..) but also because then Cam can’t get full points for the sleep! 😂

Challenge

 I love the challenge for this week!  I love vegetables 🥦 and I love fruit 🍎.
 I feel more healthy every week.  With all the traveling I’ve been in the past couple weeks, I’ve kept control and tried to eat better.  I can see a difference already .
Lori

Week 4

This has been a fun challenge as i'm mixing up my workout routine. I'm usually pretty good about working out, but have issues getting out of a good routine that I like. I did some cable tricep extensions and it was nice to get a different workout in rather than the good ol' skull crushers for triceps. Its nice to change up the workout and get new ideas into the mix. Another thing that I've been trying to do is more cardio because I have left out the treadmill (hate it), elliptical machine (double hate), and of course the bicycle (loathe entirely). Its been a good calorie burner as I've been trying to up my step count to 15,000 a day so I can stay active and push myself for it.

Way to go everybody who is still kicking trash in this competition! I think the biggest that I struggle with is getting enough sleep. Our 6 month old decides to wake up at 3 A.M. a few times a week (earlier than my 4 A.M. wake up...) and between work, family, its hard to get that extra few hours in.


Keep it up everybody!

happy Monday morning

Points reported, might as well blog before I forget. Last week I tried some new arm exercises. Then Friday I spent 3+ hours staining our new pergola, so on top of arms, I worked out my shoulders from reaching up to paint. Tylenol and some stretching and I was still able to move without saying ouch too much. I’ve been really good about getting my fruit and vegetable servings in. I know I’ll have to really work at it this week because that is what the challenge is. Seems like this are easy until it’s required. My vegetable bin and fruit bin in my fridge are stocked. Now to empty them by eating them all this week!

Crazyness

This has been a hectic week! Between boy tennis varsity region to the wrapping up the final weeks of school, it was fun figuring out new ways to get my exercising in! 

Crazy

 This week has been crazy busy.  I helped run a Region tennis tournament this week. So I was gone most of the week.  For my exercise to try something new I jogged to the bathroom and back at the park. That way I got a lot of extra plus being on my feet most of the day.
Lori

I love spring!!

The longer days! Warm nights and crisp mornings! Blossoms, tulips, pansies, lime green new leaves. The smell of fresh cut grass! Spring is amazing!!!

For my new workout this week I went on a bike ride with my two older kids down a river path I used to rollerblade on as a teenager. We rode all around some of the gorgeous neighborhoods near our new home and admired the yards and different architecture. The weather was perfect! 

I didn’t do very many things perfectly this week. But I enjoyed a lot of this week! I got all my sleep points! A first! 

This next week I am going to get all my exercise points. I’ve never struggled

with that until I started being a working mom. Yowza! It’s super hard to fit everything in. 

Halfway done

Went on some hikes this week for the different exercise.  Glad spring is here.

Zumba Xbox

Hi Guys, 

I was totally committed to a perfect week this week. Unfortunately, I missed 2 sleep points this week. For my new workout I dusted off an unopened game for our Xbox Kinect. So fun and the kids had a blast jumping in too.  Next week I’m going to start a couch to 5K. I will share the plan next week if anyone is interested. 

Bands anyone?

Sooo, my workout this week was trying some of those exercise bands...and the dreaded exercise ball!!! I was so proud of myself for keeping balanced and not rolling away! I might actually invest in one of those balls! And boy do those bands work!

Little Victories

This week went well! I can finally feel the changes in my body and I'm beginning to see results and just feel better in general. The no late eating challenge was really hard for me and something that I struggle a lot with because i love to eat a late night bowl of cereal right before bed. But I was able to figure out a schedule that would keep me from being starving before bed because I would eat dinner at 5 and then go to bed at midnight and I just couldn't make it. So I shifted my meals a few hours later and eat dinner at 7 and that has made a world of difference for me. I've noticed my desire for good foods rather than fried/fatty foods and I no longer feel the urge to finish my whole meal or go back for seconds. I even saw a great victory on the scale and was able to get my weight down below the weight when i left on my mission in 2015. Its a small victory but its a victory nonetheless. My foot is feeling stronger and stronger and although my workouts aren't as tough it I'm able to work out more consistently rather than having long down time waiting for my foot to feel better. My healthy choices have just become second nature which is a big difference from diets i've done before where i obsessed over little things. I've helped to change my habits and seen results, rather than forced myself to lose weight. Cheers to another week!

I like to move it move it!

 I am sore today and my body is tired, but it feels good to know I've worked hard this week.  For my new workout I've been trying some new moves with my TRX suspension bands.  I totally recommend TRX, I've taken the class before, and now I'm just doing it at home.  This week I also got a new workout going to a trampoline park with my kids.  My 5 year old dared me to try a spinjitzu move into the foam pit, right at the last second my foot slipped and I did a pretty amazing belly flop/dive headfirst into the foam.  I was stuck, and I couldn't stop laughing which didn't help the situation.  All the while I could see was my 5 year old shaking his head above me saying, "that was not at ALL a spin move." 

 This weekend I got some good workouts in by helping move this large pile of sand from the front yard to the back at my parent's house Friday night, and then by mowing our lawn today (we have a BIG lawn I discovered).  I felt like these work projects were probably the most effective exercise I got all week, and it didn't feel like exercise because I was just getting a job done.  I think if I had some hard labor projects every week I'd for sure meet my goals.

My favorite go to healthy salad.  Spinach, strawberries, sliced cheese stick, craisins, and yogurt poppyseed dressing. Can sub or add (Green apples or mandarin oranges if I have them).  One more week in really hoping the scale shows my effort this week!!!!

Double-up week

I decided to challenge myself this week. In addition to doing the prescribed new workouts this week, I also stuck with the no after-dinner eating. I feel like that in particular is a big challenge for me. It was good to be able to stick with that as well. This week the #s are slower to disappear. The majority of the “stupid eating” weight is gone. It is a good chance to push hard the second half of the contest. Lots of time left to drop a few more #s.

 

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Challenge Week 4

I have been excited for the challenge this week. I have been using a mini trampoline to get my steps in for the day, as well as for exercise. I have just mainly been jumping side to side while throwing in some jumping jacks here and there. So for this challenge I decided I would finally try a workout video on youtube for the rebounder. HOLY COW! This is the workout I tried. So much fun.. but I didn't quite make it through the full workout. It was nice to push myself though and branch out. I can't wait to keep doing it so it gets easier and easier. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLym-5dTwMY

Week 3 Results and Prize Drawing!

Good work on Week 3 everyone!  Keep it up!  Please double check your point totals to make sure I got your score this week and to make sure it is correct.

297 Points:
James
Weston

296 Points:
Nicole
Laurie

295 Points:
Sam

294 Points:
Jenni

292 Points:
Sarah V.

290 Points:
Stephanie

287 Points:
Mary

282.5 Points:
Margaret

281 Points:
Cameron

280 Points;
Artesia

272 Points:
Megan

267 Points:
Lori

253 Points:
Kiersten

246 Points:
Heather

236 Points:
Brenda

235 Points:
Brandi

224 Points:
Briana

222 Points:
Sara A.

213 Points:
Sydney
Auprielle


There were 4 prizes this week, $5 Target gift cards!

Click HERE to see who won!

Try something new

This is always my favorite challenge!! So I started it from the beginning. I downloaded a new channel called Les Mills on demand.! My kids say it looks like a concert because it’s big groups of people working out together. I love body combat and am trying different exercises everyday. There are hundreds of different things to do. I wish I had a stationary bike to try one of the biking classes!