Week 5

Congratulations Mike! Very impressive for the week of Christmas! And two bonus points for Mike AND Jessica seeing as how they're the ONLY two who lost weight this week! It looks like the rest of us better step it up. Three more weeks! If anyone is interested in your overall percent loss being posted let me know. That will be the number I go by for the overall final winner. Good luck this week everyone!

Week 4

Congratulations Somer! I won't tell anyone how much dessert you had Sunday night. :) At least it was after you weighed in, right?

I know this is the week before Christmas. And I know it's only 3 days until Christmas and we're all super busy. But what I'm going to do, and I suggest the same... Just be aware of what you're eating. If you have a treat, enjoy it, but also pay attention to how much you're eating so that you can stop at a decent amount. Also, as you are running around shopping, baking, or whatever, realize that you are exercising and maybe walk a little faster. Or at home, you can do lunges as you walk around the kitchen. Just some little made up tips for you all. I know this will be a rough weigh in, but lets try to keep it a little under control!

Total Pounds mistake

I totally forgot to update the total pounds lost at the top after last weeks weigh ins! So I just updated it. Up to last week we lost 42.7 pounds!! That is so awesome! That was in just THREE weeks! Anyway, after I get everyone's numbers today the number at the top will change again, so I just wanted you to know why.

Amy and Mike

We have had a busy week with company and although I have not been meeting my goals, I did exercise Wednesday night at 11:00 just because I wanted to get one workout in. That is my success for the week. My goal is to finish out strong and work out every day until Thursday. I will try to report.
Mike is not much into blogging as you can tell,but I do read him the posts. He has been doing great with his goals to exercise. He has joined a gym and has been going during his lunch break at work. He usually does the elliptical or the treadmill for 30 min. He also is on a bowling league which believe it or not is a work out and he plays basketball Tuesday nights. He doesn't like our Halloween picture that we have up so I will send another one. He won best costume at work for that cute Chicken costume and I told him I would rather have a purposely goofy looking picture than a goofy one not on purpose. Ha Ha.
I guess I am not feeling too connected with all-ya-all yet. I would like to suggest a get to know you post so I will start.
Mike and I will have been married ten years in May. We have five children ages 7, 5, 4, 2, and 7 months. We are from Utah and we moved to Arizona almost four years ago for Mike's job at the University of Phoenix. We know Carrie from Church and that is how we heard about this game. We have been doing a biggest loser game with Mike's family since August and no one is really taking it seriously except our sister-in-law and us (of course). I thought since we have already been working on losing, it would be great to have more motivation. Exercise is getting more difficult now that my 7 month old is crawling. I am a full time mom and Mike is a manager over enrollment at UOP. Three fun facts: Mike speaks Spanish, is self teaching himself on the guitar and he loves the show The Office. I love to bike ride (but I don't have one right now). I also love live theater and Scrabble. So that is a little about us. I would love to hear about you.
I wanted to recommend a book I read over a year ago called Losing it! 5 Keys to Successful Weight Loss That Work by Melanie Douglass, R.D.
In the book there is a aerobic calorie expenditure chart that tells how many calories burned per minute for many activities so here are a few: Bowling-4cal/min, Child care-5, Gardening-6, Golf-8, Playing piano-4, Running 5mph- 11, Walking 2mph-4. I thought it was a good book with simple information.

12/16 Did you meet your goals today?

12/15 Did you meet your goal???

Come on guys!!! LET's Do AWESOME TODAY!

12/14 Did you meet your goals?

PLEASE POST IF YOU DID OR DIDN'T MEET A GOAL that you made!

12/13 Did you meet your goals?

Okay who ever wants to it's okay even if you didn't days before---CAUSE I've got to be better!!!!

12/12 Did you meet your goal/s???

If you did or didn't let us know!

Week 3

In order of percent loss:















Congratulations Mandy! Good work everyone!

I added an additional statistic this time...your overall weight loss. It's really fun and motivating to see everyone's progress over the whole 3 weeks. I can't believe we only have 5 weeks left!

I am missing Natalie's weight today, so if I get it today I'll squeeze it in, otherwise I'll split next weeks weight change between this week and next week.

Everyone please read all the new posts below...especially Somer's new accountability plan. Also please comment and post as you feel the desire to. There's a couple of you we haven't heard from ever or in a while, and we'd love to see everyone on here! And best of all, have fun with your work! It's going to pay off!

Carrie's Goals - week of 12/11

-Don't eat any oreos. (Do any of you know if those sticky recloseable stay-fresh package openings will keep the oreos good for a week??)
-Don't drink soda. (I'm putting this one on here because I'm already doing it and that way I can say I accomplished a goal everyday.)
-Exercise...walking or pilates...5 days/week. Probably weekdays. Yeah, I'll say that. Exercise on the weekdays. And if I exercise on Saturday I get a bonus point!!
-Complete my daily chores each day and a couple day-specific chores per day. (Can I put this goal on here too? Remember, I said cleaning is a workout! I feel like I need someone to report this too besides my little family.)

Movin' and Groovin'

Well, I think Somer's on to something here...being held accountable is fantastic motivation for me, so I'm going to jump on board!
My goal this week is to get all three aspects of my workout in every day. I have found that getting some sort of strengthening workout using free weights, resistance bands or my own weight as resistance (lunges, pushups, stuff like that), a yoga session however short or long, and a cardio workout really boosts my energy and keeps me focused in.
I know it sounds like a lot but I just keep resistance bands handy in the playroom so I can do some stuff while I play with the kids or while they're watching Sesame Street (though my dishes do go unwashed if I opt for this!) I can get the strength workout in. They even like to try to mimic what I'm doing...James (my two year old) does a mean body plank, Bethany (three years old) likes to pretend she's doing bicep curls with me and Ben (fifteen months) just likes to climb on me any time I'm doing anything on the floor. (Note - - if you have little ones, it ups the intensity like crazy if you use them for extra weight!) His favorite is laying underneath me while I do pushups or being held out in front of me while I do squats.
Then, I've noticed that yoga is a fantastic opportunity to re-center in the middle of the day. I usually can guarrantee at least ten minutes of quiet time after lunch when everyone "goes down for naps" (haha...never lasts long...) That is enough time for me to get in at least a series of poses and feel rejuvenated. I think, for me, yoga is more mental but I know the stretching really helps and I know, in the long run, it can do a lot of toning. Sometimes, I luck out and they all fall asleep and I can get in a more lengthy session. Granted, my house is a little messier these days but I told myself this was going to be my focus for a while so I could feel and be healthier for myself and my family. So, we deal with a little more clutter these days but I know, in the long run, that's okay.
After the kids go to bed, JC is available to answer to them if they need anything and I disappear out into the workout room we made in the garage for my only (almost)guarranteed uninterrupted workout of the day. That's why I chose this time for my cardio. It's better, I think, to be able to keep my heart rate up and not have it see-saw in between tending to the kids and my workout. So, depending on what I think the best plan for that night is, I do anywhere from twenty to (rarely) sixty minutes of cardio. And that's only when I need to burn off some steam from the day (today). I like to end that with a couple yoga poses too to ground me for the evening.
Then I go hang out with my hubby. :) Um...after I shower.
Also, if you notice, my opportunities to work out are very sporatic and not too predictable as to when I'll get them in...just at some point during the day. So, do I wear real clothes? Hardly ever! Haha...I got so tired of changing into workout clothes and rinsing off in the shower after every little spurt of activity, I finally decided that this is just going to be a time when I am that "lazy" mom who wears sweats (albeit cute sweats) and t-shirts (yes, cute t-shirts) every day. I may be a failure in Stacy and Clinton's eyes but I get my workouts in, I'm comfortable and you know what? My husband thinks I'm hot in sweats and a t-shirt so that's all that matters! (I do put on makeup and sometimes even well-coordinating jewelry before he gets home from work, thank you very much. Well...most of the time)
So, that's my general routine and I am working at making it all habit. I feel like, at this point, this is a very primary focus for me so that I can get to a point of being able to raise my kids knowing that physical activity and taking care of our bodies is very important. I feel we've come a long way in our diet these last few months so I'm kind of letting that be and this is where I'm putting my main effort. I'm hoping that 2009 is the year I get my groove back...after that, I can ease up on that a bit and mostly just work out for maintenance and fun.
...And maybe 2010 can be the year of housekeeping! Maybe I need to find a group with which to blog about that...
Um...I think this is way longer than I, or Somer, intended! Haha...well, I think what I'm trying to say is...my goal is to bring my workouts full circle every day, even if I am only able to put minimal effort in to any one given area. (Come on now, three kids, three and under? There's no way any commitment at this point is cut and dry!)
As a side note - - JC and I made a deal...'tis the season for baked goodies, yes? Well, I have neighbors bringing them to me all day, he has patients bringing them to him all day, and we decided to just abstain (aka freeze them for future endulgence). The first of us to cave and have sweets (including soda) loses and the winner gets to choose the next three movies we go see. (We are the typical he-loves-action-movies-I-hate-action-I-mean-violence-movies couple) The difference between us? I have a cheering section by way of this lovely little blog! So, I'll probably report on that too, just to have a place to do so that's not him ("Mandy, I promise if you take a bite of that cookie, I'll take a bite at the same time and we'll both lose...")
Anyway, after a long, uninteresting post, I will end this. And I will try to check in every day! Good luck to all! Have a great week!
Mandy

I accomplished my goal 12/11!!! YAHOO

Okay here's where everyone leaves a comment at the end of today! And I will post another one tomorrow with tomorrows date! LET'S HEAR YOUR AWESOME GOALS and SUCCESSES!

Daily Goal--Did you meet it/them?

Okay---here's the NEW idea. I will have a post for every day of the week called "I accomplished my goal 12/11(the date for the day)". And by the end of the day--everyone needs/can report whether they met their goal/s for that day---in a comment. That way we can "report" our accomplishments, and work harder to keep our goals. So starting today---I want to see a blog post from everyone what they are going to do this week---then comment in the "I accomplished my goal 12/11" blog! I hope this will help us all to LOOSE those DARN LBS!!!

Slow and Steady

Ok, so when I committed to doing this I agreed with words similar to these: "I kinda, sorta, might want to be a part of this. I guess I can give it a whirl" Knowing that I was not committed and not really excited about it at all! Why did I commit? I don't know?! However, I did. So I guess this is my attempt to let you all know the competition is now on! (Not that I'm going to exercise yet, but I'll put in a greater effort to watch my portion intake and food selection.)

Remember the story of the tortoise and the hare? Remember who won in the end??? That's right, the tortoise. Slow and steady always wins the race! See you at the finish line!!!

Nat

Walking

I was blog stalking an old acquaintance of mine and found that she had a weight loss blog. While looking on that I found some great information about walking (for those of you who like that as your exercise.) There's a "Walking Calculator" to see how many calories you burned. I'm not so sure that's a good thing because I found out I'm not burning as much as I thought. But that's ok, now I know. The other link from the same site is a 6-week walking program to burn more fat without dieting. Although I imagine dieting with the program would work wonders. Oh! And look, how convenient... we have 5 1/2 weeks left of our challenge. I might do it. I'll let you all know how it goes.
Carrie

Week 2

The results, in order of biggest percent lost:

Carrie -1.6lb -1.27%
Crystal -1.4lb -1.2%
Jessica -2.4lb -1.18%
Donna -1.5lb -1.03%
Somer -1.0lb -0.73%
Mike -1.8lb -0.53%
Lindsey -0.8lb -0.38%
Evan -0.8lb -0.35%
Lindy -0.6lb -0.29%
Kevin 0.0lb 0%
Natalie 0.0lb 0%
Mandy 0.4lb 0.19%
Amy 1.7lb 1.15%

Ok guys, I guess I won again! You better step it up or else this is going to start looking bad. But as my dad always says, "Its a poor scorekeeper that can't win." On the other hand, I know some of you DID step it up, and hopefully you'll see results for your efforts soon.

Make sure you read the new posts below that you haven't seen and also make sure you read all the comments! I added all your email addresses to receive emails when comments are posted from now on, but there are some good ones from the last few days.

Here's to a new week!
Carrie

A NEW WEEK! A NEW DAY! A NEW GOAL!

Okay---doing this over the holiday's bites!!!! HA HA! But I'm going to be better! I want to stick to my goals better and welcome week 3. We had Thanksgiving and ton's of things to do!---NOT TO MENTION Stress! It seems like everyone I know is going through something STRESSFUL! So that doesn't help when it comes to eating!

So is there anything we can do "ALL TOGETHER" that will help everyone---maybe some way to report that we did "it". I was thinking---like some daily exercise that we all do, or we all abstain from some kind of food like bread or chocolate or something like that? Any ideas? Anyone want to do something like that? and we post a blog that we accomplished our goal for the day??? Maybe just a daily goal we set in the morning that we accomplished by the evening?

It seems to me that everyone wants to exercise some way or another during the week. Maybe we should report our exercise goals and if we accomplished them daily. I think sometimes just getting to report gives you a reason to do it!

What's a biggest loser group for if we don't help each other out? I know we have a very different group and no one knows everybody if hardly anybody! I think that's what makes it fun! We will have a chance to make one more friend!

Comments welcome and next week we can try something more to do on this Loosing Weight Contest!

Weigh-In Reminder

"See" you all at weigh-ins tomorrow!