Week One Results!

Sorry this is late! There are a few weights that haven't come in yet , but I decided to go ahead and post results anyway...

Lisa: 4%
Jeni: 3%
Rick: 3%
Anna Marie: 3%
Mindy: 2%
Crystal: 2%
Amber: 0%
Jen E: -1%
Melissa: No weight reported
TeriAnne: No weight reported

Congrats to Lisa for an awesome first week!

WARNING

Last night I was sitting on our couch relaxing when my husband asked, "Is this you?" I looked up to see that he was at the computer looking at our 'Muffin Top' website that I hadn't closed out of. I gasped in horror.... "You think that first picture is of me?" He repeated himself so certainly, "Is this you?" I again said, "Are you saying you think that picture is of me?" He finally said in frustration, "No, it SAYS right here, is this you? I was just reading it out loud." I was still in mortified shock. "Did you or did you not think that was me?" Again he repeated, "NO." Then he quickly shut up realizing that there was nothing he could say now to change our misunderstanding. We got a good laugh about it (after several minutes) and I warned him that I'd HAVE to blog about it to warn the rest of you.
WARNING..... . close out of our blog before you walk away from it just to avoid any confusion with your poor unsuspecting spouse who might read something out load that could offend you.

Week One Results

Hi Ladies (and Rick who doesn't read this anyway),

Email me your weight by the end of the day today. I will post our results (by percentage lost) here tomorrow!

Have a great weekend!

Anna Marie

All my children (I mean all my excuses)

I am Jeni, and I've been holding onto all my 101 excuses as if they were my own children:

1. Baby #3:

For some reason it has taken me longer with each kid to lose the weight. I'm not sure if it's because I'm ...

2. older,

3. busier, or

4. lazier, but those last pounds have become a bit too attached. I also think I have a harder time losing while ...

5. breastfeeding (or at least that's what I've been telling myself). I get really hungry.

My baby just turned one, and I'm in the process of weaning which basically means all my excuses are expiring at the end of the month. Yikes!

I live in Minnesota so the timing for this is doubly perfect because I currently can't use the

6. weather as an excuse or my

7. kids' crazy schedule, since in the summer things are so low-key.

My challenges are: ice cream, social eating, restaurant eating, and chips with salsa (especially because we make the best fresh salsa from our garden (oh yummy, I'm dreaming of it already). I am continuously trying to find a replacement for tortilla chips that would actually work well with salsa, so if anyone has any good suggestions I would love you forever.

I'm a visual person, so seeing pictures or video of me is the biggest motivator because I just do not look the way I'm supposed to right now. Does anyone want to post pics of themselves, or is that just too much?

I suppose I'll spare you the rest of my excuses and just get to work!

My Achilles Heel...

Yes. Shakes. Specifically chocolate with peanut butter cups. Summer or winter, I don't care, except in the summer I don't get cold eating it :)  So here is my other problem, I don't like fruit.  Never have, and I'm pretty sure I never will.  Don't get me wrong, I don't hate it, in fact a chocolate banana shake is pretty good... But I have never been a fruit eater, I will choke it down, and I'll eat a banana here and there, but otherwise I much prefer vegetables over fruit.  When I say this though, it does not mean that I eat a plethora of veggies.  Overall I have a horrible diet, that is something I am hoping to improve on with this challenge, and I am proud to say that I had a salad for lunch today :)  We just won't count the calories in the caesar dressing that I topped it with.  Anyway, I know a few of you mentioned your liking of sweets and chocolate, what food do you consider your "achilles heel"?  

Crystal

Another Green Smoothie Recipe

This is the green smoothie recipe I mentioned. It's very similar to the Breakfast Smoothie Minwimm posted below. When I tried it (the green smoothies were part of our food sampling with an enrichment class we recently did) it had blueberries so it was purple not green. On your first try I recommend adding blueberries to the green smoothie. Once you see how great a smoothie can taste with spinach or other greens it will be easier to move to the green smoothie. Thanks for getting this idea on the blog Minwimm, bottoms up!

Kristen's Green Smoothie Recipe
1 cup of fresh orange juice
1 to 4 oz of baby spinach greens or other greens
1/2 large banana, frozen
1 cup other fresh or frozen fruit--your choice

Add the juice to your blender and then add the greens. Blend until you get all of the greens liquefied. Add the other fruit and blend until smooth. Some people like to add protein powder or tofu. You can add these, but you may need to add some more water or juice. You can use water and frozen OJ concentrate too, but fresh is best! Strawberries and/or cherries will taste delicious but the resulting color will be funny. Adding blueberries will mask the green for the most part and is a good choice for a beginner who finds the bright green color a little too strange. :-) I also like to use peaches, pineapple, and mango. Citrus (as in the juice) helps to cover the taste of the spinach.

Breakfast

I have a neighbor across the street that is on a raw foods kick, she is constantly telling me about her latest and greatest recipes and how cooking is a way of the past. Like I could ever give up cooking, processed foods and dairy products!

Anyway, here is a breakfast smoothie recipe that she gave me. I tried it for breakfast this morning and was pleasantly surprised. It taste great and is filling too.

1 cup frozen blueberries
1 ripe banana (if it has a little brown it will be sweeter)
1 0r 2 handfuls of fresh spinach (I used two)
1/2-1 cup water (depends on what you want the consistency to be like)

Blend well

More than you wanted to know about Amber

Hi Ladies,
Thank you Anna Marie for condescending to accept me into your group!

Here are my "issues"...

I was happily going along four years ago, fit and at my ideal weight after having a daughter and a son. My family, my life was complete! WHAM.... we found out we were expecting baby three, and while I believe children are a blessing and all that :) it was a stressful for me. We were building a 700 square foot home... yes, you read that right, not a lot of extra room. I had a car that could only fit two in the back seat. My life was designed around the four current members of the family.

So, long story short, I was more stressed than usual during that pregnancy and ate more than my share of cold stone creamery, which led do my first bout with belly fat. That has been very difficult to get rid of. I'm also one of those who does not lose while nursing.

Fast forward to now, my bonus baby is three, and as wonderful as heaven and earth, and we are so happy he's here. But one other thing he derailed was me writing a book I had planned. Now, I'm writing feverishly to get the book done, and as I've been sitting more and more often, my weight is creeping up. My least favorite place the fat has settled (other than belly) is arms. I've never had slender arms, but now they are tree trunks (that can flap in the breeze when I wave.)

Oh, my other quick stats: Married 11 years, daugheter 8 and sons 6 and 3. Husband changing jobs this summer so stress is still a dear friend in our home. I have to learn to lose weight even when under stress! Time to work a little harder at this. I'm 31, and like many of you I've found that weight no longer melts off like it did in my twenties. Why, oh why is that? :)

Looking forward to this, ladies!!
Amber

New Contestant...

We have one more person in our midst- Amber! I've known Amber since we were about 5 years old. My brother married her sister, so we are almost related.

Thanks for joining us, Amber!

Anna Marie

Weigh In?!

Alright, alright with some peer pressure I've jumped on the band wagon and confessed my weight to our fearless leader. I'll admit I was hesitant about joining because I'm super competitive and not able to exercise how I'd like to. Don't let that fool you. I'll still be giving you a run for your money as I carefully watch and track everything that goes into my mouth.
Here is my story. Feel free to skip below to my motivations if you want.

My issues: In 2001 while at a stop light I was rear ended when some idiot pushed the gas instead of the break. I suffered bad whiplash especially b/c at the time of the accident I was looking to the left so my neck got jarred all over the place. I went to PT for 9 months and recovered but relapsed slightly during my pregnancy 2004/2005. When our beautiful daughter was born in 2005 my tailbone broke during the labor. I've recovered significantly but never 100%. Unfortunately neck/upper back pain and low back pain have caused chaos with my spine and now my mid back is having issues from the way my body overcompensates for the problems. I swallowed my pride in Dec 07 realizing that I couldn't fix it alone and started seeing a physical therapist again. I've gone twice a week since and I'm seeing improvement but it's slow going when you have as many problems as I do. I'm limited on what exercises I can do but it's also crucial for me to slowly start exercising again so I can re-build the muscle stability that my neck and spine need and hopefully one day put an end to the frequent migraines and back/neck pain. It's a fragile balance so I don't re-injure myself. I'm not very patient and it's hard for me to go slow at this when I know I've been capable of more physical effort in the past. I was a pilates junkie before my pregnancy and exercised often so it's been hard to see my weight slowly increase even after getting back to pre-baby weight. Oddly enough ever since I started physical therapy my weight has slowly increased. Last November my weight wasn't an issue.

As if the above reasons aren't enough here are my other motivations:

1 - I've always wanted to be the cool mom that can hike, run, bike and do everything to have fun with the kids while keeping up with them. I'm frustrated that I'm often tired all day long and the other day I couldn't even push my daughter in the swing because of back pain. It was humbling and frustrating!
2 - Sugar! To say I have a sweet tooth doesn't quite do the problem justice. I love anything sweet and unfortunately I got a triple dose of chocolate in my jeans as neither of my sisters like it... there is no doubt I got their share. (It worked out well for me as a kid during Halloween though.) So when my sweet tooth is out of control I try to bring it down to earth with one word - cancer. I'm at high risk for colon cancer and moderate risk for breast cancer. The experts say that cancer loves to feed off of sugar and helps it grow faster so cutting back could be life saving for me!
3 - Also with the above - I want to live a long healthy life and my 30's are already not as forgiving as my 20's. I need to get better habits going now that will last a lifetime.

4 - I'm dying to shop the smaller sizes when I go clothes shopping. It seems like the smaller sizes have a bigger selection at the sales rack so this could really benefit our budget once I need to buy skinnier clothes because nothing fits!
5 - When and if I ever get pregnant again I want another healthy pregnancy!

6 - Exercise reduces stress and I've missed that stress reliever!

7 - I want to set a good example for my daughter. Already with the little P.T. exercises I do she always wants to join me and when some friends came over today she asked if they wanted to do exercises! I need to continue this example and show her that her mom is capable of much more the the wimpy things I do now.
8 - I want to enjoy eating vegetables. During this time I'm going to focus on new recipes and I'm determined to make food delicious so that I'll want to devour things like broccoli, chard and brussel sprouts! I'm hoping this will rub off on my daughter as well.
9 - ME - I know accomplishing weight loss while getting in to the habit of exercising regularly will be the start of confidence I'll need to go after other goals.
10 - I want to make my dh proud!

GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE!

Jen's Motivations

Hello Ladies! I am Jen - Lisita's sister. I currently live in Provo, UT but hopefully that will change as soon as my husband finds a job. (He has a phone interview for a job in Mill Creek, WA tomorrow so please keep your fingers crossed). Anyway, I had a baby mid May and am packing around a lovely midsection. I jogged throughout my whole pregnancy which helped me to keep my weight down. Now that it's been six weeks I'm pretty close to my pre pregnancy weight but I definitely don't have my pre pregnancy body!!! So my goal is to find that pre pregnancy body that I lost sometime last year. :)

My motivations are:
1- To be healthy: I want to feel good, have lots of energy, and try avoid any major illnesses down the road (or now).
2- To look good in a swimsuit: If I look good in a swimsuit I'll look good in anything else.
3- To feel good: Even if I haven't reached my goal yet, my body feels so good when I'm exercising regularly.
4- To work on controlling my sweet tooth: I am such a sucker for sweets! I'm not much of a chocolate person (thank goodness) but I definitely make up for that in other areas!!! (Just ask my sister!)
5- Of course I must add that I want to look hot for my husband. He deserves a hot wife!

So I'm looking forward to having to answer to someone else besides myself and getting to know all of you.

P.S. If hating me somehow gives you more motivation then go for it. :)

Good luck everyone!

Hula Hoop

I don't know if any of you have the Wii fitness or not but our family LOVES it. They have an exercise that is called Super Hula Hoop. My first thought was "how fun," after 6 minutes my legs and butt were burning and I thought "what torture."

My husband and son Jaren are doing the running exercise in Wii right now and making laps around our kitchen and living room area. Its pretty funny. Wii is a great way for me to see what progress I will be making because it does your weight, BMI, and overall improvement with each of the exercises.

Just a Couple of Cool Things...

I love this little online calculator. You enter your weight, height, and amount of physical activity you do per week. It then calculates how many calories you need to consume a day to maintain your current weight, or to lose weight, or to really lose weight.

http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm#

For those that are more interested in tracking points using the Weight Watchers method, here is a points calculator...

http://www.webmilhouse.com/pointcalc.php

Have you ever wondered how many calories you burn just by doing everyday things? Dishes? Brushing your teeth? Sex? This little tool calculates how many calories you can burn doing all sorts of things...

http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc

Hope this helps somebody!

Anna Marie

Roll Call!

Hello Ladies (and one token male)...

Here is the final list of ever body that has joined the competition...

~Anna Marie (me!)
~Rick (my hubby and the lonely male of the competition)
~Lisa (I've known her since we met at Redmond ward approx 5 years ago)
~Jen (Lisa's sister- she just had a baby and is almost already down to her pre-preg weight! Feel free to hate her.)
~TeriAnne (We also met in Redmond)
~Mindy (Also from my Redmond days)
~Crystal (Friend of Mindy's and the featherweight of the competition. You can hate her too.)
~Jeni (My cute roommate from BYU. She introduced Rick and I, so I will love her forever!)
~Melissa (We met at church during our brief stint in Bothell. She's also friends with Lisa)

Ok, I'm just kidding about the hating thing. We shouldn't hate anybody in the group. You can just dislike them a tiny bit.

Here are some random stats about our little group just for fun...

• Our members cover 4 states. (Washington, Utah, Minnesota, and Oregon)
• Our combined weight is 1382.8 pounds. Can we all fit in an elevator together?
• 4 of you weight within 5 pounds of each other
• Redmond appears to be a great breeding ground for friendships :)

Feel free to post more about yourselves so that we can get to know each other better. We've got a great group of people here and I think this is going to better than any Weight Watchers meeting. (Hey, and it's free!)

Anybody else who wants to join us is always welcome. They will be a little behind us in weight loss, but that will just make us look better, right?

Good luck this week!

Anna Marie

Still trying to lose the baby weight!

I am excited to join you guys! I don't know if everyone knows me so here is a short bio. I am 31, have been married for 10 years, we have three kids and are moving to Oregon on the 30th! My husband is a foot and ankle surgeon so we have been in this area for his residency. He got a great job so we are going where the money is!
Last September I started trying to lose weight after hitting my all time high of 160. I never even weighed that much pregnant! With all three kids I gained more nursing than pregnant but with the first two I had lost the weight by their second birthdays. This time around it has been much harder. In the last 9 months or so I have succeeded in losing about 25 lbs and I am quite proud of myself but I still have 15-20 lbs to go until I am back to being the person I know I can be! From January-April I did really good exercising a lot and noticed great changes both in my body and spirit but then hubby left for a month and now I am in pack-up-and-move mode so the only exercising I am getting is taping and transporting boxes! I can't wait to get started again and am excited to have people to answer to! So here's to a healthier all of us! (and sexier too!!)

Melissa

I'm so excited!!

Here are a few of the reasons I am participating in this challenge:

1. For myself: Hopefully this will get my butt in gear to start working out!
   
2. For myself: I want a better body... who doesn't?! I can honestly say that my weight it fine (please don't be mad at me for saying this) but how the weight is dispersed is annoying to me. I feel like I weigh more than I do because of it...
3. For myself: Just to be more healthy. High blood pressure and cholesterol run in my family and I really need to be more serious about excercising to stay healthy. Plus I am getting older...
   
4. For my husband: He needs a hot wife :)
5. Ummm yeah... All the reasons are pretty selfish, I just want to look good!! Also, like Mindy said, I wouldn't mind trying to prove I am strong enough to do this...

Good luck to all of us!! I am so excited to be a part of this... and as soon as I start slacking I expect all of you to send me rude messages to get me back on track :)


Crystal

My Motivation

I was actually going to suggest that everybody do a post about why they want to lose weight. Mindy beat me to this and already posted hers Great minds think alike!

My plan is to come back everyday and read this post and remind myself about why I'm doing this. In a moment of weakness, it might be helpful to refocus on my goals.

So here is why I want to lose weight...

1. I just hate feeling like I'm fat. I'm vain and I want a hot body!
2. I feel very self-conscious about my body around other people. Sometimes I even wear two bras to try and make my boobs look smaller.
3. I don't recognize myself in pictures anymore. I HATE having my photo taken- I used to love it.
4. I want to enjoy shopping for clothes again.
5. Fat rolls just get in the way sometimes.
6. I hate feeling out of shape. Sometimes Gwen and I like to put on music and dance at home. After 10 minutes I'm tired, winded, bright red, and sweating like a pig. I would love to be able to keep up with my daughter!
7. Even if weight wasn't an issue, it can't be denied that exercise and healthy eating are crucial to your health. I want to live a long, healthy life!
8. I'm not very confident in my ability to change bad habits. I sometimes give up too easily. I want to prove to myself that I can do it.
9. I hoping that by losing weight, I can decrease my bra size a little. Having a large chest is SO uncomfortable.
10. One of my biggest motivations for losing weight now is to improve my fertility. We received a discouraging diagnosis at the doctor's office the other day. The doctor said that if I lost 10-15 pounds, it might help regulate me a little bit. He was being kind- I really need to lose more like 20-25 pounds.

Feel free to post your reasons for wanting to lose weight!

We are looking forward to hearing from you!

Day 1

My reasons behind wanting the perfect body, I'm sad to say, are very selfish. As much as I love my kids and my husband and want to be able to be active with them, I want it for ME much more.

Here are my top five reasons for taking on my health:
1. Look great in tanks and shorts
1. Look great in workout clothes
2. Look great in a bikini
4. Look great naked
5. Prove to myself that I am strong enough to make it happen

Since we didn't have to have our weight in until 11:59 pm I debated eating and overloading today, then I got in my swimsuit because we are taking the boys to the pool. I decided NOW is the time, no more procrastinating. I might not be able to fit in this swimsuit tomorrow if I pigout one last time.

Can't wait to hear from everyone else!

Welcome!

Welcome to my Biggest Losers Challenge! Remember to eat all you can for the next couple days so that you are nice and plump by Saturday. Make sure to email me your weight by 11:59 PM Pacific Standard Time!

I chose these juicy cherries as my background to inspire healthy eating. There was a background that had Twinkies in it, but I thought it might be slightly inappropriate for our purposes!

I will give everybody rights as an author so that you can post on here. Feel free to share tips, recipes, or discuss your good and bad days. This blog is here so we can support each other (or do a little trash talk if the competition gets heated!)

Enjoy your last few days of eating whatever you want, because I new and healthier you is around the corner!

Thanks for participating!