Final Weigh-In

Hey everyone! Post mania today... :)

Don't forget to weigh in TOMORROW for the final weigh in! There will be a winner for this week and we will announce our overall winner, too! Leave your weigh in as a comment here!

Week 7 Results

Here are the results from last week's weigh-in, Dec. 10th.
(Mom, since you didn't weigh on that Thursday, I'll just split your loss between the last 2 weeks evenly. So just weigh-in tomorrow. Thanks!)

. Start weight Week 7 weight Week 7 lb lost Week 7 % loss Total lb loss Total % loss . Tiffany 155.2 152 -2.20 -1.43% -3.20 -2.06% . Gayla 189.8 178.9 -2.20 -1.21% -10.90 -5.74% . Jesse 179 174.5 -1.50 -0.85% -4.50 -2.51% . Kerry 159.8 157.2 -0.60 -0.38% -2.60 -1.63% . Lonni 142 144 0.00 0.00% 2.00 1.41% . Tammie 164.8 159 0.00 0.00% -5.80 -3.52% . Donna 143 -2.00 -1.40% . Liesl 159 0.00 0.00%

Congratulations, Tiffany! Nice work! Also a congrats to Gayla from dropping below the 180 mark and also for losing 10lbs! Awesome!

I'm sorry you guys didn't have more of a chance to see your competition and get better motivation, but I hope you were still able to muster some motivation on your own somehow. I love seeing people succeed!

Carrie

What is going ON??

Yes folks, I really am 2 weeks behind and tomorrow really is your last weigh in day! My old excuses for getting one week behind are the same non-worthy excuses of being busy. But the 2nd week behind is because I got stomach flu...on final's weekend... It. was. awful. And if I hadn't have gotten a week behind already, it wouldn't have been such a big deal. So I'm sorry for thinking that I could run this group during my craziness. That wasn't fair to you guys. But if you still had fun and met some goals, then I guess it was still worth it. Maybe?

So where do we go from here? Here's the deal. I am graduating from ASU this week (yay me!) then its the holidays, then we are moving across the valley sometime in January, then I have skin-cancer removal surgery on my nose, then I try to make some kind of sense of my life unpacking and getting settled. I will not be actively trying to lose weight until mid-spring, but be trying to maintain as I have the last 2 months. I will also be in no condition to run numbers here.

Tiffany is willing to take that part over! But she needs to know who's interested. So tell me a couple of things... Do you want to continue, even through the holidays so that you can pay attention to what you're eating and not go overboard? Would you like a couple week break and start back up in January? Are you done with the group and ready to move on and do it on your own? If you're still hanging with us, you need to commit to weigh-in on time and be an active participant on the blog. That's what makes it so wonderful! And when Tiffany is running it, she will be ready on weigh-in day to collect the weights and get results posted (because she's awesome like that.) I will settle up money with each of you separately and then you can work with Tiffany for the next round for the money pot.

So give us an idea of where you stand. If you have some friends who might be interested, now is the time to let them know that we're in between rounds. They can leave a comment here with their email address if they're interested.

Thanks for putting up with me this round guys. Make sure you scroll down for the week 6 results. :)
Carrie

Week 6 Results!

Ok, here are your results for the weigh-in on Dec. 3rd. I know, you can't even remember back that far! Sorry again. Regardless, the winner will probably remember that week...

. Start weight Week 6 weight Week 6 lb lost Week 6 % loss Total lb loss Total % loss . Tammie 164.8 159 -3.00 -1.85% -5.80 -3.52% . Donna 143 141 -2.00 -1.40% -2.00 -1.40% . Gayla 189.8 181.1 -1.65 -0.90% -8.70 -4.58% . Tiffany 155.2 154.2 -1.40 -0.90% -1.00 -0.64% . Kerry 159.8 157.8 0.00 0.00% -2.00 -1.25% . Liesl 159 159 0.00 0.00% 0.00 0.00% . Lonni 142 144 1.50 1.05% 2.00 1.41% . Jesse 179 176 2.00 1.15% -3.00 -1.68%

Awesome job Tammie! Really impressive. You guys are just plugging along, which is great.

Week 5 Results

Here are your results for Thanksgiving Day! ~Before food, presumably. :)

. Start weight Week 5 weight Week 5 lb lost Week 5 % loss Total lb loss Total % loss . Jesse 179 174 -1.50 -0.85% -5.00 -2.79% . Donna 143 143 1.00 0.70% 0.00 0.00% . Tiffany 155.2 155.6 1.60 1.04% 0.40 0.26% . Tammie 164.8 162 2.40 1.50% -2.80 -1.70% . Ali 126 -3.00 -2.38% . Gayla 189.8 -5.40 -2.85% . Kerry 159.8 -2.00 -1.25% . Liesl 159 1.00 0.63% . Lonni 142 -1.00 -0.70%

So, Jesse wins. You won by default for being the only person who weighed in that lost weight, but you earned it! Good job.

Week 4 Results

Ok, here are your results for Week 4:

. Start weight Week 4 weight Week 4 lb lost Week 4 % loss Total lb loss Total % loss . Tammie 164.8 159.6 -0.80 -0.50% -5.20 -3.16% . Gayla 189.8 184.4 -0.60 -0.32% -5.40 -2.85% . Donna 143 142 0.00 0.00% -1.00 -0.70% . Kerry 159.8 157.8 0.00 0.00% -2.00 -1.25% . Lonni 142 141 0.00 0.00% -1.00 -0.70% . Tiffany 155.2 154 0.00 0.00% -1.20 -0.77% . Jesse 179 175.5 0.50 0.29% -3.50 -1.96% . Ali 126 -3.00 -2.38% . Liesl 159 1.00 0.63%

Congrats Tammie! Good job to you and Gayla for losing weight this week. I know its not a lot, but every little bit adds up, and I know some weeks, just to see a little change in the right direction can help with your motivation.

I hope I get all your weights quickly so I can post this weeks results. Thanks for your patience,
Carriew

bumming

Can I just say I am so bummed? For two reasons. One, I am bummed that I couldn't even get results posted last week. That is really awful. But more than that, nobody noticed! Or at least, no one cared enough to ask me where they were. Tiffany might have, but she probably didn't want to be a bother by emailing me. But didn't the rest of you wonder what was up? So either you don't care who won, or you're not trying enough for it to be on your mind all the time. Which leads me to my second thing. I'm bummed that only one person weighed in by text! I hope you all did ok with the Thanksgiving holiday.

This is what I need from you. I will work on posting results right now for LAST week (I know, SO awful) while you guys weigh in. BUT I need you to be honest and only give me your weight if you weighed on Thursday or Friday. If you go weigh today and you gained weight from Thanksgiving and then lose it by next week you'll have an advantage. OR if you have been super good and have lost weight since Thursday, you'll be at an advantage this week. Either way, if you know what you weighed Thursday (or Fri morning) go ahead and weigh in. Otherwise, please still leave me a comment and let me know that you didn't weigh yourself and we'll split your next weigh in up per the rules. I need you to still leave a comment so I know when I've got everyone's weight.

Thanks guys, and I promise I'll try to be better throughout the rest of this round if you also promise to remember weighins and keep working hard!!

Thanks everyone,
Carrie

Week 4 Weigh-in

Hey guys! Weigh in here for me. Please do it by tomorrow morning and then I can get results posted by Friday afternoon.
Thanks!
Carrie

Week 3 Results

Hey guys. I hope you all had a great week and have finally gotten rid of your Halloween candy. :) Sorry I'm a little late getting results up. Here they are!

. Start weight Week 3 weight Week 3 lb lost Week 3 % loss Total lb loss Total % loss . Jesse 179 175 -2.50 -1.41% -4.00 -2.23% . Tammie 164.8 160.4 -1.60 -0.99% -4.40 -2.67% . Donna 143 142 -1.00 -0.70% -1.00 -0.70% . Tiffany 155.2 154 -1.00 -0.65% -1.20 -0.77% . Kerry 159.8 157.8 -0.40 -0.25% -2.00 -1.25% . Lonni 142 141 0.00 0.00% -1.00 -0.70% . Gayla 189.8 185 0.60 0.33% -4.80 -2.53% . Liesl 159 160 2.00 1.27% 1.00 0.63% . Ali 126 -3.00 -2.38%

Nice job, Jesse! If you start trying, how am I supposed to rag on you anymore?? :) Some of you had some pretty good numbers this week! So good job. Ok guys, now is the time to buckle down and get some results. Thanksgiving is around the corner and if you're planning on allowing yourself a little indulgence or a slice of pie, then you need to work hard now and stay on track! And how wonderful is this weather for walking/running? (That comment is for the AZ folk... sorry Gayla.) :)

See you all next week!
Carrie

Week 3 Weigh-ins

Hi everyone! Time for those numbers!

Week 2 Results!

Hi everyone. I hope you all had a great Halloween weekend! Can I take this opportunity to say that I am amazing? (If this works...) I just figured out how to publish my Google spreadsheet as html, then COPY the html code to my blog post! And now we have the most beautiful spreadsheet results we've ever had! AND it will save me a bunch of time. Hooray! Here are your results for week 2 in all their html glory:

. Start weight Week 2 weight Week 2 lb lost Week 2 % loss Total loss to date Total % loss to date . Tiffany 155.2 155 -1.60 -1.02% -0.20 -0.13% . Liesl 159 158 -1.40 -0.88% -1.00 -0.63% . Gayla 189.8 184.4 -1.60 -0.86% -5.40 -2.85% . Tammie 164.8 162 -0.80 -0.49% -2.80 -1.70% . Ali 126 123 -0.60 -0.49% -3.00 -2.38% . Kerry 159.8 158.2 -0.40 -0.25% -1.60 -1.00% . Donna 143 143 0.00 0.00% 0.00 0.00% . Lonni 142 141 0.00 0.00% -1.00 -0.70% . Jesse 179 177.5 1.50 0.85% -1.50 -0.84%

Not too bad is right, Tiffany! Nice way to bring it back down. I have to say that I am so proud of everyone for maintaining or losing weight this week! I'm not counting Jesse, because he's my brother and I can do that. :) So nice job everyone! Keep it up.

Is there anyone left who hasn't thrown out their candy? Besides me, that is? I just. can't. do it. My daughter was sick so we haven't let her have more than one piece per day. I think we'll let her pig out this weekend now that she's perked up. Anyway, I'm trying to stick with a piece or two per day as a treat, but its been more than that most days. Wish me luck and we'll see you all next week!

Carrie

Week 2 Weigh-in

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good Halloween and it didn't put you behind too far in your goals. Don't forget to weigh-in tomorrow by commenting on this post! Deadline is Friday morning as last week. Thanks!

Carrie

Week 1 Results!

Hi everyone! The reason I'm posting results late... (I know, I always have an excuse huh?) is that I was really tempted to change my mind and join this round. I weigh myself all the time, so I would just have to stick my numbers into the spreadsheet and I'd be an official member! I gained a couple of pounds the last couple of weeks and I'm thinking that I need the motivation of competing with you guys. BUT, I did finally decide to stick with my original decision to wait until I'm out of school. :( Sad huh? Next round...

Ok, so here are your results:



Awesome, Gayla! Way to start it off!
Ok, guys, while I'm not competing, I'm still in this with you. So, somehow we have GOT to be good about the halloween thing!

Option 1: (this is the best option) do not give in!!!
Option 2: give in, but control yourself and have 1 piece of candy a day.
Option 3: give in and eat everything you can eat in one day and then be done...no more after that.
Option 4: eat everything you want for like 2 weeks until the candy is gone. (please don't really do this one!)

What do you guys think is the best option? I mean, obviously number 1 is the way to go. Those of you who can do that are going to win this week. That's obvious. If you know yourself, and you know you can't withstand, then out of option 2 and 3, which is better? I'm not sure. Nobody better do 4 or I'll kick you out! Each of these options would pair well with "Workout extra to compensate for eating candy." Maybe that would be a fifth option.

Also, I know there are dentist/orthodontics offices that will sometimes pay you per pound of candy and then they give the candy to the troops and stuff. If you can find something like that, you'll get the candy out of the house and the kids will be happy to have a little spending money. Anyway, I'm just curious how you guys are going to be good in the face of this chocolate madness! I'm leaning toward number 2...

Until next week,
Carrie

Week 1 Weigh-In

I haven't heard from any of you yet! That's not a good sign... :)

Don't forget to weigh in here today (Deadline is tomorrow morning!)

Thanks!
Carrie

Start Weight

Hey everyone, leave me your start weight here! Thanks!

Carrie

TWO DAYS!

Ok, let's try this one more time...

We are all set up to start the new round this Thursday! Expect an email from me shortly settling up funds with you (either requesting from you or sending you winnings.) We don't have a ton of people, but still enough to have a good time and a little competition. On the other hand, please tell your best buddy who has been looking for a reason to start exercising, eating right, etc. to come join us. I do need to know, ASAP. I have been known to take some latecomers the first week, but would rather be all geared up right away. On that note, as of right now I have 3 people lined up for Great in Eight...and only 1 putting money in. Haha. So you guys are going to have to decide if you still want to do it, or recruit some more people. Let me know what you think.

Slight problem though...I'm not participating. :( I'm in my last semester of school and its getting down to the wire. I would rather just stay the weight I am and maintain my good grades and then focus more on this stuff after wards. I've already cut exercising out of my schedule and my eating habits are quickly following. I know that's kind of a cop-out, but it's what I need to do right now. I DID stop drinking Dr. Pepper though and have already lost a pound. Haha. If anyone is uncomfortable with me running it and not participating, please feel free to let me know. Along those lines, if anyone is dying to run this thing their way, get in contact with me and we'll see what we can do. :) As for right now, I'm fine keeping it how it is because I know I'll be back in the next round, or maybe the one after that.

Ok, I think that's good for now. If you haven't already left me a comment or email letting me know your plans for this round, please do so!!

Thanks everyone! Good luck!!
Carrie

Team B - week 8 and final results

First a couple of reminders... For those who weighed in late, I divided your loss (or gain) between the week before and the weigh-in week. (Just in case your confused at the number displayed.) Also, for the final overall winner, I did not use any weights that were sent in after Friday of our last weigh-in. I typically have the cut-off at Thursday night, but since we had less than 1/2 weighing in at that point, I gave it another day. The number used to calculate overall winner was the last "legal" weigh-in number. Again, just so you're aware of the numbers being posted.

So, Team B: Week 8...




Weekly winner is Jimmy! That's awesome.
I was kind of disappointed in the rest of us. Besides the lack of committment to weigh-ins, we didn't have the kind of results I'd like to see (and yes, I am speaking to myself here as well.) If you put forth the effort this week and it didn't show on the scale, I am not talking to you. :) I can't really give a pep talk for next week, but if you're joining next round, you better step it up and make stuff happen! OK, that's enough of that. On to final results...



And your overall winner for Team B is...


drumroll please...






Tiffany!! Awesome job! Way to come from behind. I am so amazed to see those kind of numbers. Honorable Mention goes to Jocey, Jimmy, and Heidi. Heidi mentioned some lifestyle changes going on over there and I hope this is just a beginning for you guys. Keep up the good work, whether with us or on your own. As a side note for everyone else, counting Jimmy's last weigh-in he lost a total of about 32lbs and Heidi lost about 13! Counting those gives our group a total of 120.1 pounds lost!! I am so proud of everyone who took the step to make a difference in their lives. If you met your goal, don't forget to take Rachel up on her Skinny Jeans offer! I'm not there yet, but hopefully one day soon I will be.

Thank you everyone for making this such an enjoyable round! As I said at the beginning, I loved the communication on the blog and the support we can provide each other. Please look for my next post about the new round and get in contact with me whether or NOT you are participating! I will not assume either way until you let me know! Good luck in the next round or on your own!

Carrie

Team A - week 8 and final results

I have this fault... When something I need to do that I'm dreading is looming over my head, I try to ignore it for as long as possible, hoping it will go away. Usually it is a really simple thing, that if I would just DO, it would no longer be bugging me everyday. For example, once I signed up for a book club thingy so I could get free books and then cancel before having to buy anything. Well, they never got my cancellation note, and I received (and sent back) book shipments for almost a year. I was being charged for them and I never got a refund. All I had to do was call them. Just one silly phone call. I finally found a place where I could email them and that sounded way better to me. So I did and got a refund of over $200 and never received anymore shipments. Seriously! Yes, I'm practically insane.

Now, on to the results. For Team A...

The weekly and overall winner for our Great in Eight point competition is...




Ali!! Nice comeback from last week Ali. I'm not really joking when I say that I want you to tell us a typical day for you. I feel like I (we?) could learn a lot from your lifestyle. Great job!
I should also give Honorable Mention to both Lonni and Tammie this week. Those are really high points and I hope you felt a difference in your life by doing so much for yourselves. Nice job.

Postponement

I'm not really feeling prepared for this next round to start tomorrow, and I don't mean personally. I haven't been able to post results for last round and therefore haven't been able to settle up with everyone on money. I'm sorry for those of you who are still trying and losing weight and its not counting toward the competition!! Lets pick a for sure date of starting next Thursday, the 22nd. When we go to start I will go through and redo the lists of people who receive comment emails, etc so those of you who aren't doing it aren't bombarded with our emails. :) Please tell your friends who may be interested to come check us out and email me if they have any questions! The more the better and the bigger the money pot.

Carrie

Next Round

Ok, we've had some positive responses on next round, so we will keep on going. I do need one week off to get money settled and get the new list ready of people participating. I was trying to think of a bonus for people who lose weight during our week off. I was thinking of taking $1 off your pot "deposit" but then we wouldn't have enough money for winners (and I'm not going to subsidize that. haha) And then I was thinking of letting your add your weight loss onto the first week of the new round, but that's not really fair to new people joining. Anyway, if you have any good ideas, let me know. Otherwise, make sure you create a post and brag about how you lost weight even though we weren't competing!

OK, I need each of you to leave a comment for me here (or email me) by Wed Oct 14th and let me know:

A. Are you participating in the next 8-week round (beginning Oct 15th)?
B. If so, which Teams are you doing (A:Great in Eight points, B:Biggest Loser, or both)?
C. Are you putting money in the pot for either or both groups?

Please pass the blog address onto your friends who are interested. Remember the rules and information sheets can be found by clicking on "rules" on the sidebar. And my email address is carriericks@gmail.com.

Let me know if you have any other questions!

Carrie

Last Weigh-in!

Hi everyone! Tomorrow marks the last weigh in for this round! I do need everyone's final weight to calculate the overall winner, so don't even consider skipping out on this one! ;) For those of you who didn't weighin last week, don't forget that I will be splitting your loss/gain over the last two weeks. Also remember that there is a weekly winner this week as well as the overall winner. Good luck!

Carrie

Week 7 Results

Hi guys! I had results ready to post yesterday, but blogger was acting up for me. I'm still in shock that we had about 50% of you reporting your weight! I was thinking some people may be out of town, but that's a lot. And also, if you're going to be out of town, you should really let me know so I know not to wait for you. Regardless, I hope all of you who are missing are still alive and hope to hear from you soon. So here's the results...

Team A:


Well, Ali, they were right, you had to give us a chance eventually. ;) Awesome job Lonni! I'm actually kinda sad I didn't try harder this week, because I would have had a chance. But you deserve it, you've been doing awesome with points every week!


Team B:



Holy cow, Tiffany! Great job. I'm so excited for you to be down to the next decade and I wish you luck staying there! I think the other person I was going to give a shout-out to was Liesl for finally getting some results. Congrats on that!


Ok, I know these results are coming out late, and I'm sorry, but you've got 4 days to make a difference. There are a few of you in the running for overall winner and it will be fun to see who it is. For those of you (like me) who won't win overall, there is still a weekly winner this week along with the overall winner. So good luck!

As a side-note, I was thinking about taking about a 2 week break from the competition before starting up again. I don't know why I am even considering doing it again when I'm not even trying, but I think it helps me from gaining. Being in this group kind of keeps me aware enough that even when I'm making bad choices I think I make a few less bad choices than I would otherwise. Does that make sense? Anyway, let me know if you have an opinion on starting up again...whether you would like a small break (1-2 or even 3 weeks) or if it would be better to have no break at all (you think you'll lose some momentum), etc. If you've had any friends who have watched you succeed and have expressed interest, now is the time to pass my info or the blog site on to them. Don't forget that people who can't lose weight (pregnant, nursing ;) etc) or who are already at their goal weight can still participate in the point system. I think it is a pretty good program to maintain an overall healthy lifestyle.

See you ALL at final weigh in on Thursday!

Carrie

Weigh-In Reminder

Hi everyone! Here's the weigh-in post. Have a great day!

Carrie

Week 6 RESULTS

Nice job Ali!!!

Only 2 more weeks! How close are you to reaching your goal! You can give up anything for just two weeks right? So give it up and in two weeks you can celebrate!!! I haven't had sugar in 3 weeks and it has definately paid off! And when I reach my goal that will be all I eat that day!!!Jocey

Weigh-in Week 6

Hi everyone! Happy Thursday. Don't forget to weigh-in and leave us your weight and/or points!

Carrie

Week 5 Results

I am so sad to be posting results without everyone's weights this week! I hate doing that. But here it goes anyway...

Team A:



Awesome job Ali, we almost caught you that time. One of these weeks I might try to beat you...maybe. :) Good job!

Team B:




Holy percents! Jocey, how did you DO that? Awesome job! Everyone near the top is up there for the first time this round, and I know it took a lot of work! (or illness, haha Mom...) That is really exciting. I love to see how the husband/wife teams typically perform well together. That proves that it is a team effort as a family. I know it is something that you can do on your own, but it so wonderful to have support (or competition) in the same house!

Three weeks left everyone, keep it up!
Carrie

Weigh-in Day!

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good week. Mine has been crazy and is promising to get crazier. Don't forget to weigh-in tomorrow so we can post results on time. (Jocey, I think I'll be ok to post this week, but I'll let you know if that changes.)

Thanks everyone!
Carrie

Speaking of Biggest Loser

Did anyone watch BL last night? I was sobbing. I always get all emotional when I watch BL, but last night I was especially emotional. Good thing my husband was downstairs playing Halo while I was having a sob fest for 2 hours. It's totally motivating to see these men and women change their lives and transform themselves. Every episode I recommit to working harder. My moto is if they can do it, so can I.

A little insight

This little contest has been so aspiring to me! The last week I have had many people tell me how good I look. I don't know if I'd go that far to say that about myself. I'm still getting used to this me. But, I'm not gonna lie. It's a little embarrassing. But you know what? I worked hard. I ran, I sweat, gave up foods I really enjoy, ran and sweat some more. I have found in the last few years that when I get to my goal weight I don't keep it up. I always keep exercising, but then I start eating the foods that put me in my fat jeans to begin with. I'm pretty close to my goal weight now and this time I'm going to keep it up. It's going to feel good to buy a pair of skinny jeans to wear with the new shirt I decided to buy myself this past week. Who's with me?

Week 4 Results

Nice job Ali! She sure sets the bar high!

Alright everyone, this is the half way point. So take a look at your goals and decide now what you need to do to get there. I wanted to lose 10 lbs, which means I have a hard road ahead, but I can do it, and so can all of you!(Jocey)

Nice job Kasey!!!

May I add nice job to Heidi for reaching -10lbs!

And to Jimmy for reaching -20lbs.

That is incredible and very exciting! Thanks for bringing it!

This is so much fun, and if it hasn't been, then try a little harder this week to get motivated and I promise it will be worth it!

healthy recipe

OK, so normally I hate salmon, unless it's raw and rolled up into a sushi roll (super yum!), so I thought I would hate this recipe. Turns out, I like canned salmon too. Go figure.


Salmon-Salad Half Sandwich

What you need
3 oz. canned wild salmon
1 tsp. light mayonnaise
2 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped bell peppers
1 slice whole-wheat bread
arugula
red onion

What to do
Mix salmon and mayonnaise together; add lemon juice, bell peppers and chopped celery. Place salmon mixture on bread for an open-faced sandwich; top with arugula and red onion.
Makes one serving.

Nutritional info: 260 calories, 9.5 grams fat, 7 grams fiber, 21 grams protein, 23 grams carbohydrates

Weigh in Reminder!

Hey everyone! Don't forget to weigh-in tomorrow (or today, depending on when you get the email.) I hope you all had a great week.

Carrie

Week 3

Hi guys! I'm going to make this short and sweet because I want to go to bed. Thank you SO much for all weighing in today! I think this may be the earliest I've ever gotten results out! I'd like to excuse Evan and Lindy, they are out of town and can't get to their scale this week. Here are your results...

TEAM A:




Great job again Ali! Good luck cutting back on those servings, Ali. I feel your pain.


TEAM B:



Awesome, Jimmy! I was going to say something to Heidi about almost making it, but since she lost to her husband, it can't be that bad. Or maybe it is! :) Good job to both of you!

Thanks again everyone. You are making this a great round and I love all the participation! I hope the results were a little easier to read this time. I'm playing around with ways of doing it to try to make it better. I was doing it using a "screenshot" before, but I think different computers have a different quality for that and this laptop I've been using isn't so great. I'm going to try one more thing next time and see if its the way to go. But until then, I hope you can read it a little better.

Good luck this week everyone!

Carrie

Weigh-in Week 3

Hey everyone! Tomorrow is the weigh-in! Please leave your weight/points as a comment here! I hope you're all as prompt as you have been. (Even those of you who are out of town-hint hint.) ;)

I'd also love to hear how some of you are doing with the goals you set at the beginning or recently! Maybe some new goals like some of you post...

Carrie

Comments

Hey guys! I just updated who receives emails for comments from the blog and who gets them forwarded from me. I guess I had a bunch of people from last round getting all the emails! Poor people! (Because we're really chatty this round...) Anyway, a bunch of you will start receiving emails straight from "Skinny Jeans" when people leave a comment, so that's cool. As I've said before, if you find these emails annoying, please let me know. Especially if you're really good about checking the blog and don't need them. I know they are really good for me, but I'm kinda runnin' the thing.

Thanks!
Carrie

Free Day - a short story (relatively speaking)

I don't know about the rest of you doing this point competition, but I've been looking forward to Monday since...well...the last free day on the calendar! It's an unfortunate fact that once I get a little taste of sugar (especially chocolate...ohhh especially chocolate), my system grabs hold of the general idea and begins to
crave
crave
crave
for days to come after I indulged! The first week of the competition, I didn't eat ANYTHING "bad" and I felt awesome. I felt motivated, I didn't feel deprived, I worked out like a mad woman and I sat at the good side of a mood swing the whole week.
Then the second week came and I did...okay. I let myself have a taste of this here, a bite of this there...and by the end of the week I found myself taking down five cookies in one sitting. Frozen cookies at that. Because my mother-in-law made cookies she makes the BEST cookies. So, since I was refraining, I put five of them in a little baggie and froze them so someday I could unfreeze one of them for a free day when I wouldn't lose points for it.
Yeah, it didn't quite go like that. I wanted all five of them and I wanted them NOW.
This last week, I have been making more of an effort again but those thoughts of chocolate are swirling around in my mind constantly, being whipped up into a frothy chocolate mouse...being melted down and hardened into candy bars...finding their ways into things I happen to be eating ("I wonder how chocolate chips would taste on this salad?"...)
It's sad, really. But I refrained, knowing full well I had a free day coming up where I could have myself a taste of my obsession and not pay the price for it.
Well, maybe a quarter of a pound gained but at least not five points lost!

So, Monday rolls around and I giggle to myself throughout the day...when I am forcing down raw veggies and chugging water, I'm thinking about that lovely window of time later in the day when it will be my time to indulge. Picturing a quiet moment after the kids are in bed and I can lose myself in something rich and decadent while my husband watches something on the discovery channel, the baby monitor silently scans from room to room, and I am curled up on the couch in comfy pajamas, ignoring the toys and crums of the day surrounding me.
This is what had me giddy through half the day.

Mostly because I was ignoring reality.

Here's the thing - - we don't keep sweets in the house. I have three children - 4, 3, and 2 and there is really no reason whatsoever that I should trash their bodies with junk. So, I don't. It's as simple as that.
This unfortunately interferes with the fact that I still like to sometimes trash my body with junk. Darn double standards.
So, on a day like Monday...when I fully intended to have a little sumthin-sumthin, I must rely on my dear husband to swing by the store on his way home from work. Because, to be honest, I rarely venture out with my children by myself. Maybe when they're older. Maybe when they were younger. But somehow, right now, we've landed at just the perfect combination of ages/phases/personalities that taking them out is a real venture into you-know-where.

I love them.
I just don't take them out by myself. :)

And this would especially be true if I took them to a grocery store and tried to pull off buying something sweet for me and letting them witness it when, frankly, they are not going to get any.
MY free day treat.
So, I mention to my husband over text message that I am looking forward to some chocolate that evening.
...
"Do we have chocolate there??" he says
"Um...not yet." I says
"That's what I thought" he says
and then
"I know just what you need."
(having been through pregnancies with me, he really does unfortunately know where I turn when I need a fix)
...
Ooh, I was getting excited.
It's sad, really.

So, on we go throughout the day, the deliverance of the chocolate at least arranged.
Though my mind was a bit troubled, knowing that I still wasn't quite set up for guaranteed success in the snacking department...
JC would get home from work at about seven or seven thirty, depending. The kids go to bed by eight. But I always hate to cut their short time with daddy any shorter, so it's more like between eight and eight thirty on these late nights.
Skipping ahead, I knew I wanted to be in bed by ten thirty. We had started staying up really late for a while...not collapsing into bed until close to midnight EVERY NIGHT for way too long. When he's getting up for work at five thirty and I'm being dragged out of bed around six or six thirty by at least one child, I just knew we needed to sleep more if we wanted to be healthier and happier. SO, for this round I chose a set, earlier bedtime as my "addiction," or behavior that I wanted to change. For every night that I go to bed by ten thirty, I give myself the allotted five points. It has made a tremendous difference, I must say. So anyway, I knew that I wanted to be sure to be in bed by ten thirty, as is my usual goal. (I make an exception and go ahead and eat the points on Friday nights because that's our date night, whether in or out, and we want the extra time together).
So, once the kids are in bed Monday night, I saw myself having a window of time ranging from eight thirty to ten thirty to eat my treat.
That's a pretty good size window.
But then...oh yeah...I need to actually eat it before nine or I lose points for eating after nine. Big points. So, okay, just that one half hour there.
But shoot, I say to myself...I workout after they go to bed. The latest I'll get started is eight thirty...the shortest my workouts ever are is an hour...so then I'm looking at...nine thirty...can't eat that late...
Hmmm.
OH! I get excited, realizing that I can eat between bedtime and the start of my workout. But actually...once I thought about it...I always feel sick if I eat anything too close to my workout. Plus, if I do any yoga at the end like I like to...downward dog becomes upward chocolate free day treat...we don't want that...
Huh.
It was looking like I had some prioritizing to do.


Let me go ahead and skip to the end of this story - -
It was 9:05. I had just finished a forty-five minute workout. Barely landed past the cut-off.
But my four year old was still getting out of bed wanting to chat, be comforted, be put back in bed, etc. So by the time I was actually eyeing my now late-night treat, I decided I might as well shower so as to fully enjoy the experience free from workout grime.
So I did.
Then I was staring at a kitchen counter that held a Snickers Dark (oh yum), a Twix, and Reese's cups. Because the gas station by JC's work had these on buy two, get one free, so he brought home options.
Hey, I may not have been going high class with my snacking on this particular night but I didn't care!
Now to choose...
hmmm...
The problem with me is, I'm an all or nothing kind of girl. Black and white. Angelically good or fiercely evil.
Can you guess which direction I chose that night?

. . . . .

About midnight, tossing and turning in bed, feeling upset that I had been in bed since, you guessed it, ten thirty and not yet felt settled enough to sleep, I couldn't figure out why tonight I couldn't get to sleep! Seriously, since starting my earlier bedtime, my body responds so well to just dropping into bed at the end of the day and easily drifting to sleep...so this night was rather frustrating.
It wasn't long before I made the connection.
I guess there is a reason late-night eating, especially sugary late-night eating, is counter-productive in a healthy lifestyle. Not only do the pounds pack on that much faster but you just. can't. sleep.
As I continued to wake up randomly throughout the night, feeling restless, unrested, and grumpy, I kept thinking about my day and how truly un-worth it that three candy bar indulgence had been. Also, being a bit delirious, I began imagining how I could write a book about the experience.
Instead I decided to write this post. The world thanks all of you for bearing the weight of my snacking lesson so they don't have to.

What I learned is this - - don't put twinkies on your pizza!
Wait...no...no, no...that's not me, that's someone on a movie...

What I learned is this - - there really is sense in all these things we do to try to improve our lives! They all work together to keep us on the right track. At least for me...once I sacrifice something, I end up losing out in other areas!
Evenings are full of:
Time with family.
Time working out.
Time connecting with husband at the end of our long days.
Early bedtime.
Oh, and...shower somewhere in there...
(please note - my house is still a mess. I never clean at night)

All of this leaves very little time for snacking.
And maybe that is the way it should be!

Next free day that falls on a weekday (anyone in favor of moving all free days to weekends??? haha) I think I will have to plan ahead a little better.

Now I understand why women in books and on tv always have a secret stash where they keep their chocolate.
After all, that is what nap-time/rest-time/at-least-put-a-movie-on-and-lock-yourself-in-the-bathroom-for-five-minutes-time is for, right?

Speaking of rest times, ours is over which means I can no longer sit at the computer...bringing this to a far-to0-delayed end.
It also means I used rest time to write this out instead of the million other tasks that beckon to me at this time of day.

But hey, at least I wasn't snacking!

-Mandy

Go Free

I'm a soda drinker. Blah blah blah I know it's bad, even diet, but I like it. It totally helps me curve my sugar cravings. I have alot of those. Hot Tamales anyone? Starbursts? It's bad. So, what I do is have a Diet Dew instead. It works for me. I have been trying to lose these last 10 pounds for a few weeks now. I eat good, well most of the time, exercise my buns off and I'm barely budging. UGH! I talked to my doc yesterday and he said caffeine has a negative effect on weight loss. He's told me before, but I just didn't believe him. So this week I decided to test his theory and I'm going Caffeine free. Still gotta have something to help curve my sugar cravings, but I'm trading in my Diet Dew for some Diet Sprite. Maybe one day I'll give it up completely, but I'm not there yet. I'm hoping this will kick me into a Big Loser this week!

my pic

ok carrie move me to the side

Week 2 Results!

Hey everyone! Thanks for weighing in on time! It really makes a difference for me and I appreciate it. A couple of things...first I'd like to thank Jocey for posting results last week. She is way too nice sometimes and is going to do awesome when I need her to take over. Second, I feel the need to give a little peptalk. But the results first...

TEAM A:



Awesome job Ali! And can I just say, these are the highest numbers we've EVER had as a group!! Everyone's score (but mine) is high enough to be a winning score. So really...awesome job!


TEAM B:



Congrats Rach! Great numbers!

Now that we've been going a couple weeks, you can see I've posted the "overall" weight and percent loss. You can use this to kind of gauge where you are in the competition and WHO your competition is. :) Don't let it discourage you though, use it as motivation.

PEP TALK:
Ok, I heard a lot of "I didn't try this week" comments. For those of you, c'mon! Try! I was you the last 2 rounds and this round I'm actually trying, and let me tell you, it is way more fun to be on this end. Which leads me to my second point.
I also heard a lot of "I tried so hard with nothing to show for it!" For those of you, don't be so down on yourselves! You did awesome last week, whether it was eating or exercising or both! Be proud of that so that you can continue your momentum to see the results next time around. I do realize that this is a weight loss competition, so the numbers kinda matter, but in the end its how you feel that really matters. So great job all around to those of you who have put your heart into being healthy!!

Phew, my pep talks are usually a lot shorter than that! :) Good luck this week everyone! And thanks again for weighing in on time!

Carrie

Is It REALLY Good For You?

My Husband went to an acupuncturist today and came home with a list of tips to help him get the full benefit for treatment. I think people may be surprised at some of the things listed to keeping a healthy diet and eating what is actually healthy. There are 22 things listed and if people are interested I can post some different ones. One I found interesting was on milk, here's what it says..."Drink only whole milk (vitamin D) that has no horomones (Rbst) or antibiotics. The label will tell you. No lable usually indicates hormones and other chemicals in your milk. Horomones cause growth in the body, premature development in children, breasts and premature menstration in girls, also, tumors, cysts and cancer."
Another interesting one is about butter, "Eat only REAL butter. Never margarine or any artificial spreads like "I can't believe it's not butter." Stay away from man-made foods. If you eat a healthy well-balanced diet, you will actually need to eat some fat."
And last is about sugars. It says, "... If you must eat sweetened foods look for the labels with honey, rice syrup or maple syrup first, then fructose, stevia, cane juice or sucanot last. All other sweeteners can be unhealthy for your spleen and liver. It will zap your energy level, take away from your memory, mental acuity and make you hungrier throughout the day. Avoid COMPLETELY ANY ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS such as nutra sweet, equal, sorbitol, malitol, sucralene, etc. They cause cancer, headacheand numerous other symptoms and harm your nervous system..." These are only 3 things she has listed. There are lots of great things (like a substitute for soda that is actually okay for you, even cola's) on it that are so beneficial for us. Sorry this post was so long, I hope it was educating though!
Tammie

Weigh-In Week 2

Hey everyone! Sorry, I meant to get this post up last night, but I was kind of waiting for blogger to email me that our site was unblocked (for me, at least) but I guess it's up and running, huh? Go ahead and leave your weight (and points) as a comment here. (Thank you Liesl, got yours!) I hope everyone gets weighed in today.

Carrie

So this is me weighing in. I didn't see a post for it yet but I forgot last time, so I'm posting now so that I don't forget. I did lose one pound and am now at 159!! I have officially lost all of my baby weight......from my most recent baby that is. =0) Have a great day everyone!!

Free Day

So, today is the first "Free Bad Food Day" that I've ever had that I actually get to PICK what to eat! In the past, I ate something bad everyday, so the free day was just a free 5 points. But I've been really good, so I've had a few days without any bad foods at all, and today is one of them. SO now I'm faced with the decision of what ONE bad food would I pick!?! I'm so excited!!

Carrie

Nursing and Exercise

I'm nursing my 7 week old and it seems like the days I exercise I don't produce enough milk to meet her needs. Has this happened to any of you? Got any good suggestions? I really want to get in shape and lose weight, but I want to keep up with her needs as well. I'm taking Brewers Yeast to help build the supply, but that's all I have heard to do. ( it's not helping much)

So...

I really hate seeing my name at the bottom of the list as gaining. This is a Biggest Loser contest right? I'll be working really hard this week, so watch out! On the brighter side, weight was lost. Just not by me. Ok, enough already! Really though, what's everyone's secrets? I think that losing weight is hard, but when we can make small changes and support each other we'll succeed. I'll share my secret at the next weigh in just to see if it paid off.

onions anyone?

okay, so my dinner from scratch tonight consisted of crock-pot chicken (nothing too fancy, just some chicken broth and some homemade breadcrumbs sprinkled on top), some steamed Brussels sprouts, and some balsamic onions with dates. I have made these onions a few times before, but not for a long time so I was excited when I found the recipe while skimming through my old recipe book (which has not been opened for awhile). There are so yummy...to me. Even my husband who is not too fond of onions will eat these.
1 Tbs. butter (I use the 'smart balance light' brand
1 small clove of garlic, crushed
1 large onion, sliced
1/3 cup chopped dates
2-3 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
1 Tbs. honey/agave nectar

On medium/high heat melt butter and add the onions and garlic. Cook for about 5- 10 minutes. Stir in remaining ingredients and cook another 5 minutes or until caramelized. Serves 3-4 (Although I could eat them all myself!)
By the way, is this a weight loss competition we are doing? Cause I am not doing all that well at the weight loss part...
I am exercising and eating healthy, but I think I am just eating too much still (I want to blame it on nursing a newborn 10 times a day, but I am not sure if that is it...I just can't seem to control my portions like I used too, I am hungry all the time. Mothers, have/do any of you have that problem while nursing?
I normally don't have any issue losing weight after having a baby (this is #4 for me) so I don't know if it's cause I am actually trying this time or what, but it's just not happening...HELP!

Week 1 Results

So Carrie is having me learn how to do this her way, and I just wanted you to all know how smart and awesome she is for putting so much thought and work into this group!!!

So here goes....
Awesome first week everyone, this is what it is all about, having to be accountable to all of us.
And the results...
Way to go Mandy, she said Bring It, and she did!!!

And the Results...
Wow we have a lot of good numbers, Awesome job Jimmy. Looks like we all have a little compitition to motivate us.

I totally forgot to weigh in yesterday!!! Sorry. I did lose 2 pounds though so I'm down to 160. Woohoo for biggest loser!!!! Can't wait for the new season to start. Hope everyone is doing well, weight-wise and otherwise. Have a great day!

Weigh-in Week 1

Hey guys, its time for our first weigh-in! Is everyone ready?? Too bad. Leave your weight and/or points as a comment here. I will (hopefully) be posting results Friday so if you don't weigh-in by then, we'll have to split your weight loss over 2 weeks and you won't be eligible to win this week (per the rules).

Thanks everyone!
Carrie

Daily Calendar Round 4

I finished the calendar items for Great in Eight "Daily Calendar" bonus points. For those of you who are new, these are things you can do each day to get 5 bonus points (starting tomorrow). I got most of the ideas from people who were doing it last time, since I had never done it before either. As you start getting comfortable with the point system, please let me know if you think of anything you would like to see on the calendar. It is really easy to change, so don't think that it's set in stone. Here is the link to the calendar:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tWfuPnuOBgitGDfm4MlVQsQ&output=html

Once you get to the webpage, you'll have to click the links along to the top to get to the right month. You can probably print it pretty easy, and I will let you know if I DO change anything so you can either print a new one or make a note. Let me know if you have any problems or questions! Have fun earning the bonus points!

Oh, and just in case you don't have the time to go look at it right now, tomorrow's item is "eat dinner together as a family at the table."

One more thing...you will always be able to find this post by clicking on the label "daily calendar" on the right sidebar. So if you're always on the computer and/or blog, there isn't a NEED to print it. Of course you could always bookmark it, too I guess...

Carrie

Give Me The MONEY!

Hey everyone, we're getting close to our first weigh in. I'd really like to have all the money settled before then. There are SO many of you that I figured this was the easiest way to remind you all. If I asked you to mail me the money, please do so and email me to let me know it is in the mail. (If I didn't give you my address, email me for it.) If I said you could give your money to someone who will give it to me...please do that ASAP!! If you are a person collecting money for me, let me know when you have it all so I can pick it up. Ok, I think I've covered all the basis. Thanks for all your help in this matter. See you all at weigh-in on THURSDAY!!

Carrie

Nightime Munchies

Hey guys. I have really been struggling with my evening cravings. Do any of you have any healthy snack you eat after dinner (before 9pm!) that curbs your cravings for sweets?? I've been having a cinnamon roll every night mostly because I have no self control but also because my mom made them last week. (Thanks a LOT!!) ...just kidding. I love you, Mom. :) So anyway, any ideas for me?

Body Buggin'

Do you know what a Body Bugg is? Well, if not I'll tell you it's AMAZING! You know those funny looking bands the contestants wear on the Biggest Loser around their arm? Some may think it's an IPod, but infact it's a Body Bugg. They calculate how active you are in a day. How many calories you are burning doing any given activity as well as the steps you're taking and how much sleep you are getting each night. You can even add in the foods you are eating and it will tell you if yo're over or under the amount of calories you are needing to burn to reach your goal weight. I love my Bugg! It's really helping me achieve my weight loss goals and when the time comes maintaining my weight. My goal is 10,ooo a day and to burn 2800 calories a day. I know it sounds like alot, but we are all really burning calories we didn't think to count before. Like cleaning the kitchen, folding the laundry, hussling around getting kids off to school. I used to only count the cals I burned on my treadmill totally not acknowledging all the other active things I was doing in a day. So today I burned 510 calories walking for 50 minutes. But I also cleaned my kitchen, went to the store, brought groceries in, folded towels, climbed up and down my stairs several times...You get the idea. We are all burning a lot more than we think, so if you don't have the time to exercise as much as you want doing normal household activities and running around you're burning that butter, as Denise Austin says. I'll let you know at the end of the day what my total steps and cals burned were. The Body Bugg is super cool!

hey

I'm Ready for this!

well thanks so much to Ali for sending me this info for the program you all have been doing! My name is Tammie Koelle. I just had my 4th baby 6 weeks ago, and I'm ready to feel pretty again, which means I need to lose some poundage! I'm so excited, I really need the motivation and support! This will be great!

Jillian Michaels' Secrets to Starting to Slim Down Today Health & Fitness: glamour.com

Jillian Michaels' Secrets to Starting to Slim Down Today Health & Fitness: glamour.com

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OK, I had to share this with all of you. I am a huge fan of hers. Too bad she can't come to my house every day and kick my bum into shape!