Final Results!

Stephanie - 1078.6 (8.7% weight loss, 10.8% inches lost)
Erin - 1028 (3.8% weight loss, 10% inches lost)
Megan  - 962.7 ((4.7% weight loss, 4.4% inches lost)
Amanda - 888 - (2.6% inches lost)
Sariah - 796 (.7% inches lost)
Keri - 785.9 (6.3% weight loss, 4.3 inches lost)
Heather - 784.5 (.7% inches lost)

And there we go!  Stephanie takes our top prize, with Erin in second and Megan in third!  But I'd like to think that all of us won, with the good habits we hopefully all developed for happier and healthier lives!

Stephanie and Megan, if you could e-mail me your addresses so I can get some checks in the mail to you.  I should have the checks in the mail by the end of the week at the very latest.  Erin, well, I'll see you soon, cash in hand.

Some of you have shown interest in doing the competition again in May!  That is great!  I will be happy to get Stephanie up and running as the new moderator (if you would even need any of my help!)  I'll bet a buck Heather will also answer any questions anyone has.

Keep it up girls.  Don't let all of your hard work these last ten weeks be for nothing.  Keep eating well, keep exercising, and keep on keepin' on (the unofficial catchphrase I noticed last round)

Thank you for letting me be your moderator and allowing a sharp learning curve.  And congrats you top three!

After Photo - Stephanie

We did it!!!  Congratulations to everyone that made healthy habits and positive changes during this challenge.  It was so fun and motivating for me to have all of you ladies doing the challenges along with me.  I'm hoping to keep the momentum going and keep my weight loss happening. 

So here is my after picture.  I am pretty happy to report that these are not maternity jeans...they are even a pair I wore pre-pregnancy!  Woot-woot!

Is anyone not too burned out to do another 10 week challenge over the summer (maybe starting in May sometime)?  I would be happy to be the moderator.  I know that Megan and I know a few people that are interested as well.

Thanks Sariah for being a fabulous moderator this time around! 

I think all of you ladies are awesome!

No matter where you currently are on your fitness journey, I think we should all remember this -

After

I couldn't find the shirt I wore for the last one and Thing One took them instead of Amanda, but here are my finish pictures.  Yay.

Here's my pics!!

Not huge differences...but I can tell a some change in my face and that awesome tire! :)  I'm so glad I was able to participate in this awesome competition! It has motivated me in so many ways!  I know it's going to be a long journey to drop the last 30lbs, but I know it will be worth it.

 

Total from a year ago, I have lost 45lbs!  So...I'll take it!  (Even though most of it was after-baby weight loss.)

Thanks again for everyone's support and hopefully we can have another round and do this again!

Woop! Woop!

New Diet

So, I've done Paleo, and I've tried the Virgin Diet. Both are extremely restrictive and made me miserable (even though when I did Paleo a year ago I lost 20 pounds). I got a very basic meal plan from a guy at Max Muscle and I am feeling wonderful and I've dropped 3 more pounds! It's all food that I normally would eat anyway and I get 6 meals a day. When I get home from work, I'll scan and post it for you all in case you might be interested.

icky!!!

BIKRAM YOGA: for people who want to sweat out every sin they EVER committed!!

Happy freaking snow day!  In between sessions of calming angry children (who are angry because the timer isn't being set for computer game turns, so no one really knows how long turns are), I am deleting all my account information off my iPad so my sweet husband can use it instead.  I decided it would be simplest to post one last time before deleting it (as the computer has quite a long enough line already).

I am going to be so excited when this competition is over, but I have learned a lot during the course of the last few months.  I've learned that I really can do everything I set my mind to.  I've learned that with a little planning, it is no harder to eat healthily than it is to eat crappily and often just as delicious.  I've learned that I can't buy red peppers fast enough to keep my children from eating them all.  I've also learned where my boundaries need to be--how much time and attention I'm willing to devote to weight loss and how much of it I'm willing to let slide.

Overall, I think I'm headed for a bright, and much skinnier, future.  :)

:(

Watch out...here comes some complaining and venting....

I HATE NURSING!!!

Ahh, I feel better. Ok, I don't hate it...I hate teething that makes my 13 month old feel like she should go from once to four times at night! And it's thrown my body into starvation mode! Ahh! I am trying so hard to get to my goal this week on weight loss but it's sending my body the other direction! Instead of losing, my body is gaining!!!! I think I might cry.

So, I am going to give it my all...all the water I can drink, all the exercise I can do, and all the fruit and veges I can stomach!

Thanks for letting me get it all out!
Hope we all can finish as strong as our minds and bodies will let us!

Just when I thought...

Just when I thought I had finally whipped my body into reasonable shape....I ran into these -

Killer.  She looks sweet and gentle on the covers.  And during the entire workout she maintains a pleasant and calm demeanor.  But I was cussing like a sailor.  Ouchy ouch ouch.

The Ballet Beautiful Body Blast is available at the library.  So if you feel like getting your self esteem crushed by a beautiful girl in a leotard who doesn't even pretend to break a sweat, this is for you!

I kid, I kid....kind of. I have taken the challenge, and these Ballet Beautiful DVD's are the next mountain I'm going to climb!

Also, gals that run...there is yet another app out there that I got talked into trying.  I think I'm really going to like it.  www.strava.com

You can find me by searching for Sariah Sunvison.  Lets be friends!  (on strava, but in real life too, if you want!)

A Red Pepper Road Trip

So now it is my turn to be on vacation!  We spent this past weekend at the most amazing vacation rental in Utah with my husband's family to celebrate his parent's 50th wedding anniversary!  Why did this have to be the last week?  Of course I ate way too much...but it was so fun!  Now I am in Boise, Idaho spending time with my family and trying not to blow the whole challenge with the enormous amounts of yummy food my mom has on hand at all times.

The last 2 weeks my personal goal had been to not have more than 150 calories of sugar/treats per day...so for our road trip I was packing a little differently in the snack department than I have in the past.  As I was slicing up some red bell peppers to take in the cooler I remembered reading this chapter from Tina Fey's biography "Bossypants."  (She talks about red peppers).  I found it online and thought I would share...so much truth to her funny little essay.

Remembrances of Being Very Very Skinny
For a brief time at the turn of the century, I was very skinny. This is what I remember about that period.

• I was cold all the time.
• I had a pair of size-four corduroy short shorts. That I wore. To work. In the middle of Manhattan.
• I loved it when people told me I was getting too thin.
• I once took a bag of sliced red peppers to the beach as a snack.
• I regularly ate health food cookies so disgusting that when I enthusiastically gave one to Rachel Dratch she drew a picture of a rabbit and broke the cookie into a trail of tiny pieces coming out of the rabbit's butt.
• Men I had met before suddenly paid attention to me . . . and I hated them for it.
• Sometimes I had to sleep with a pillow between my legs because my bony knees clanking together kept me awake.
• I had a lot of time on my hands because I wasn't constantly eating.
• I ran three miles a day on a treadmill six days a week.
• I felt wonderfully superior to everyone.
• I didn't have a kid yet.

We should leave people alone about their weight. Being skinny for a while (provided you actually eat food and don't take pills or smoke to get there) is a perfectly fine pastime. Everyone should try it once, like a super-short haircut or dating a white guy.

Remembrances of Being a Little Bit Fat
For a brief time at the end of that last century I was overweight. This is what I remember about that period.

• My boobs were bigger.
• I once left a restaurant in the middle of dessert to get to Krispy Kreme before it closed.
• Even though I only liked McDonald's fries, I believed it was more nutritious to make a meal of it and have two cheeseburgers as well.
• If I was really ambitious, I would get a Whopper Jr at Burger King and then walk to McDonald's to get the fries. The shake could be from anywhere.
• I could not run a mile.
• I wore oversize men's overalls that I loved.
• Guys who were friends did not want to date me . . . and I hated them for it.
• On at least three occasions, I vomited on Christmas Eve from mixing chocolate, peel-and-eat shrimp, summer sausage and cheese. No alcohol was involved.
• As a size 12, I took pride that I was "real woman"-sized. "Size 12 is the national average," I would boast, "no matter what magazines try to tell you."
• Once, while ironing in my underwear, I grazed my protruding belly with the hot iron.

We should leave people alone about their weight. Being chubby for a while (provided you don't give yourself diabetes) is a natural phase of life and nothing to be ashamed of. Like puberty or slowly turning into a Republican.

Anyway, good luck to everyone this final week!  We are almost finished!!!

Good Enough?

Being happy doesn't mean everything's perfect. It means you've decided to see beyond the imperfections!

-Helen Keller

After the lovely trip to NY with my hubby and then last week away in Utah visiting family with my kids, I am definitely having a hard time getting back to the grind. 

But it's only Monday, I'll be rocking it by tomorrow, right?

So this 10 weeks has been interesting for me weight wise. When we started I had reached my previous goal weight, but then I decided I'd set the goal to try and lose 7 more pounds over the 10 weeks. I am at a healthy weight, but it's not like I don't still have some fat that I can spare. But even though I've had a calorie deficit every week, exercised six days a week (except for once when I only did 5), have made moderate and healthy food choices, logged my food, did a short cleanse, stuck with all the group challenges (except for the no sugar while in New York) . . . I haven't lost those 7 pounds.  I've gone up and down, up and down, up and down 2 or 3 pounds the entire time. I am down a bit in the inches, but not much.

Hindsight is 20/20 and I'm just wishing I had said my goal was to maintain throughout the competition; I would have had 10 points every week! Probably not enough to be competitive with Erin, but still! The real thing is that I could have felt good about my efforts every week, instead of disappointed that I'm not achieving.

Not only because it's hard and discouraging to try and lose weight that just won't budge, but because I have felt more than once over the past couple months that what I'm doing activity and eating wise right now is good enough. It's moderate, it's sustainable, it helps me be a good mom, I have energy for the things I need and want to do and I have pleasure as well. So is the magical number I've been chasing on the scale really that important? Most days I'm leaning toward, NO!

I'm healthy, so now I just need to choose to be happy and decide it's good enough!

Week 9 Report

 And here  we go ladies!  Next time you see the results up it will be the END of our competition and I will be doling out reward $$!  Who is pumped?  I'm so excited to see how everyone did.

Erin - 801
Stephanie - 794.5
Megan - 784
Amanda - 775
Sariah - 704.5
Heather - 703
Keri - 608

Is anyone shocked that Erin had another perfect week?  No?  Yeah, me neither!  Way to go Erin!  You guys should see how her clothes are practically falling off of her!  Actually, I would love to see any "after" pictures anyone feels like sharing.

We're almost done.  Lets get this ladies!

Spring Break = Bad Diet

This week I'm off work, the kids are out of school, and my husband took the week off as well. To top it off, my uncle is in town from California. I have been eating HORRIBLY. So many trips to restaurants and special dinners. Ugh. So I plan to start on Monday with a vengeance. I took a trip to Max Muscle yesterday and got a diet plan and some DELICIOUS protein powder and this stuff called Emerge drink mix that's supposed to be a fat burner. I'm excited to start fresh (again). It's never too late to start over!

love/hate spring break

Spring break is almost over! I love spring break because I get to spend more time with my kids and do more activities. I hate spring break because it feels like there is more time to eat! I'm also visiting my parents and they always have a ton of food! Oh well....guess i'll just have to do more shopping to burn off the extra calories!!!

I'm back....

I survived!!! Thanks to a second round of the flu on vacation, I didn't gain any weight! ;) I'm tryin to see the positives.

So, I feel like I have been working pretty hard these past 9 weeks...so this week I am going to have my personal challenge be rewarding myself with some "me" time each day. Maybe I will paint my nails, read a book or take a bubble bath...not sure. But I think I deserve some self time.

It has been such a motivatin past few weeks, especially with some strong competitors! Thanks everyone for all the support and words of advice!

Have a great last week!

Spring Break

I am in Utah enjoying Spring Break. Seeing my 2 month-old nephew who is just sweet as can be with amazing cheeks and that baby smell that cannot be duplicated.

I went for a run in the morning the day we left. Yesterday I was able to accompany my mom to water aerobics and today I went to Zumba with my sister. Part of my vacations have become finding a way to exercise with the people I'm visiting or to do something new and fun that's good for me. Maybe people might think that's crazy, you're on vacation, so take a break! But it is fun for me. It helps keep me happy and sane. I still have to be a mom on this trip, so it's not really a vacation and when I let my healthy habits go, I have found I am a much less patient and happy mom.  

Great work to everyone who's been rocking this competition. I am seriously impressed by the top three! And Erin! How you've been able to get a perfect score every stinking week is beyond me. So impressive. 

This morning I purchased a family pass to the Evans pool for this summer.  (I don't think I've ever been so excited about exercise in my life! ;)  Though I don't consider myself unflappable, I am excited about the changes I've seen in my personal priorities and choices.  Thanks so much, Sariah, for all your hard work in keeping us motivated and changing the challenges up!

Week 8 Results

I know what you're thinking!  (Something along the lines of GEEZ.  IT'S ABOUT TIME!)  You'll have to excuse my crazy hectic Easter (plus writing a talk for church.  For Easter Sunday.  No pressure or anything.)  Our unflappable Erin has another perfect week to be proud of.  Wow Erin, you inspire me!  In fact, you all inspire me.  Way to stick with it ladies!

1. Erin - 712
2. Stephanie - 707
3. Megan - 695
4. Amanda - 687
5. Heather - 629
6. Sariah - 627.5
7. Keri - 539

This week we lost Elise, Liz, and Sarah.  Good luck with your future endeavors ladies, and don't be strangers!

Oy Vey!

Hey guys!  Sorry for the delay, but you know, crazy Easter weekend...plus....I have temporarily misplaced the notebook with everyone's points!  I have saved every single e-mail that everyone has sent me, so if worse comes to worse, I can go back through and add everyone's points up again.  Sorry guys.  I'm really sucking it up right now!