Honesty

To be honest, I have no idea if I will have lost weight at the end of the week. I tried to make good choices, eat a breakfast, not overeat at dinner, etc., but I pretty much blew it all yesterday. I was starving when I came home for work and just started eating. It wasn't pretty. And it wasn't healthy. It wasn't as bad as say, a 1970's after school special, but enought to make me want to bang my head on a wall.

And my exercise for the week was standing at work and a very small amount of calisthenics. So small, I really shouldn't even claim them.

But next week is a new week right? Really trying to stay positive.

Ground Meat Breakdown: In Case You Care...

We eat a lot of ground meat at our house because it's cheap.  I've also been craving a cheeseburger for days (a bacon cheeseburger to be exact) so I thought I'd research out the different fat and calories in burger.  I have all five of these types of meat in my freezer so I thought before I made myself a big old hamburger for dinner (and it's gonna be good!) I'd figure out which type of meat to thaw.

4 oz Ground Turkey 97/3

Fat: 3.5g
Calories: 140
Protein: 26g

4oz Ground Beef 85% lean/15% fat
(this is an average type beef, a lot of premade patties have 28+ grams of fat in them)

Fat:  16.95g
Calories: 243
Protein: 21.01g

4oz Ground Pork

Fat: 20.64
Calories: 300
Protein: 26.72g

Ground Lamb

Fat: 26.55
Calories: 320
Protein: 18.78g

Ground Chicken

Fat: 8.09g
Calories: 142
Protein: 16.24g

Turkey is the winner!  I'm going to make myself a nice double-decker turkey burger tonight with homemade sweet potato homefries.  I still don't have any whole wheat bread, so I'm going to drag my butt out of bed (It's 1pm LOL!) and go buy some.  The meat will only be 7g of fat and I'll serve it up with 2 slices of whole wheat bread with a 70 calorie slice of cheese.  This BETTER get rid of my dang craving!

Go me!

I managed a 45 minute walk tonight and even worked up a sweat doing it - I think I even passed that snail and left him in the dust. Next goal is passing that turtle that was in front of me tonight. As you can tell, I try not to take this too seriously. If I don't see the humor in it, I'm not going to do it. And trust me there is plenty of humor in my walking routine. I put the headphones on - tonight was the WICKED soundtrack - and sing along as I walk.

Food today wasn't bad either. Though I'll admit that was mostly due to a very sore throat and not eating much but thin, broth-like soup today.

Struggles

I was so proud of myself on the first day of our challenge. I thought that if I could be so in control of my eating I was going to be home free; however, every day since Monday I have snacked or over indulged because of stress. I knew I hadn't exercised, but I also knew it would be easy to do it the next day; here I am at the end of day five and I haven't exercised yet with the exception of a brisk walk to the Energy Solutions Arena on Wednesday. It is now 11:35 P.M. on Friday night, and I am getting ready to turn in for the night. I want to believe that the weekend with less responsibilities from work will be easier to get back on track, but I am discouraged. I have told myself that this is just the beginning and there will be ups and downs, but my diet in 2009 was such a success that it is hard not to compare. I want to succeed now as well!

So, I have made a decision! I need more help! Any suggestions for things to snack on during the day that doesn't make me turn up my nose would be appreciated. I love the 100 calorie snacks, and have tried several. I also have tried several vegetables, but am running out of quick and cheap ideas that are not completely boring. One requirement is that the cost doesn't break my very limited bank account. I also have a couple of exercise options, but if anyone has something upbeat that they might be willing to share I would be grateful! My current options are looking rather dull; I think that is one of the reasons why I haven't really worked out yet. Cost is again an option for exercising.

Thank you in advance for all of your help as well as your love and support! I am grateful for all of my family and friends (new and old). I can't wait to get into some skinny jeans with all of your help. I am keeping my fingers crossed that with your help, and with some extra motivation on mine I will get over this bump.

Have a great weekend!
Marci

Blah :(

Well, here it is Day 5 and I'm still not feeling all that fab about myself. I have been keeping my diet pretty healthy and working out has been sporadic. I did play 3.5 hours of hard core volleyball last night!!! My calves hurt as do my hips and knees. But I LOVE volleyball and will continue with a weekly set of games!!! Plus, there are some cute guys there that I wouldn't mind getting to know a little better.

Monday I will do weigh in and measurements just so I can have a better grasp of where I need to concentrate on!!!

Keep it up every one

♥ Shelly

Day 5: *sigh*

Today went well.  I didn't want to work out (do i ever???) but I did it!  Five days of the 30 Day Shred... it's the first day I felt like I wasn't going to collapse and die.  It's still super tough, but I'm getting tough too :)  I still can't do a push-up, but I'm excited I've done five days in a row!

Here's what today looked like:

Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs, small baked potato (diced up in the eggs), 2 T shredded cheddar, 16 oz water, 8 oz chocolate milk

Lunch: nothing, I wasn't hungry because I ate breakfast at like 10:30am

Dinner: boneless skinless chicken breast cooked on my George Foreman grill (it tasted like cardboard), half a large sweet potato mashed with pumpkin pie spice, real vanilla and 1 tsp brown sugar, water

Work Out: 20 minutes of 30 Day Shred

I was craving chocolate so I had 8oz of chocolate milk and I was REALLY craving Cafe Rio, but stayed away.  It was hard.  The kids are gone for the weekend and I always treat myself to Cafe Rio once when they're gone (they don't like Cafe Rio).  *sigh*

I'm feeling pretty good about this 6 month thing!  I'll feel a whole lot better if I see something good when I take my measurements on Monday morning!  It's only 7:30pm so I may need a snack later.  I wonder if Nutella is a good after-exercise protein....

I Did It

I actually went to aerobics class today and got in a workout! The first real one in about 9 years! I obviously didn't know all of the steps, so I lagged behind a bit. But, I did what I could, and I'm very proud of myself for that! Just wanted to share that little note.

Last Night's Splurge

It is just my luck that after I start this that I find a greasy spoon that has food worth going back for. I went out last night, and my date wants to find the best gooey cheeseburger in the valley, so we tried Burgesa Burger. I apologize in advance for this description, but the burger I had was freaking awesome:

The Monumental Jr.:
Beef patty, slice of cheese, ham, avocado, lettuce, tomato, onion, refried beans, crunchy tostada, and special creamy sauce on a delicious Bimbo^® sesame seed bun, crowned with a whole jalapeno pepper


The perfect fusion of burger and Mexican. I also found out that the people who opened Burgesa Burger are the same people who opened my favorite deli, Which Which. I could have had the Monumental non Jr., so I was a little good. Oh and their spicy fries were awesome!!

For what it's worth though, my scale this morning said 232.6. Maybe a little splurge is ok!! ;)

I want my own island

With or without Johnny Depp, though with sounds more fun.

This was not a good day exercise-wise, eating or much of anything else. The entire day was spent at a hospital for tests - not for me. I did manage a 20 minute walk while waiting for the testee to be done. Only 20 minutes because I HATE snow and it was snowing and 20 minutes was my absolute limit on walking in the icky stuff.

I think this will just be my "I blew it" day and move on from here - to that island. I wish.

Day 4: Feeling a Little Better

breakfast today

 I did another full work out last night.  I don't think it's getting any easier yet and my knees are sore, but I did it!  The stupid trainer on the video (dang her for making me work hard! lol) says that you'll notice a difference in endurance in sessions 5, 6 and 7.  I'm hoping! Caleb walked passed the living room while I was working out. He shouted, "Go Mother, don't give up! You can do it! I love you!"  What better motivation?  Caleb is such a good boy.  He could have laughed at my attempted push-ups (I even struggle with the girl kind) but instead he saw me struggling and cheered me on.  I'm so proud of my boy!

For breakfast today I had 2 scrambled eggs with 1 oz of cheese and a mug of Pero, which has basically no value except the 2 tsp of sugar and little bit of skim milk in it.  I also had a glass of water.  I've started getting in the habit of eating while I put on my makeup.  I haven't been getting out of bed very early lately... basically climbing out of bed when it's time to take the kids to school and then climbing back in until the absolutely last minute of getting up and getting ready for work.  It's not a good habit to be in, but I'm emotionally drained these days which means I'm physically drained too.

 

new stripper shoes

This is not weight-loss related, but I bought these sweet shoes yesterday at a thrift store for $5.  I love them.  I guess they are weight-loss related in the fact I want to look amazing wearing them!

Hopefully by the time the ice and snow thaws I'll not only have a place to wear them, but I'll be looking better in them too!

I only ate one!

Here's what I did yesterday:

Breakfast- oatmeal, skim milk, peach sauce, brown sugar and water
Lunch- nuts, 1 oz reduced fat cheese, orange, fruit snack, water
Dinner- One slice pizza with chicken, ham, tomatoes and mushrooms, water
Snack- One mini cupcake (and a lick of the batter *hanging head in shame*)  I had to try out a new recipe for a cooking class I'm teaching
Work Out- 20 minutes 30 Day Shred

I love reading what all my 6 in 6 peeps are doing!  Good job everyone!

The only guy man enough to do 6 in 6!!

Ok after 4 days I am feeling the cravings for a greasy taco pirata!!! I even had a good friend call and ask if I had one lately. Curses to tempting friends!! For those who don't know, a taco pirata is a taco with a homemade tortilla, beef fajita, refried beans , and melted cheese. Oh and everything is made with lard.

Anyhow I have been weighing myself, eating lots of tuna, and exercising a bit more every day. I am very happy to announce that I started at 238 and this morning my scale said 233.5!! The lowest I ever weighed (as an adult) was 165 when I got off my mission. The doctors say my ideal is 185, but I look like a bean pole at that weight, so 210 would be comfy for me. Maybe then I can get away with wearing pleated khakis and have a non baggy shirt tucked in!! :-)

Day 6 & 10 lbs of Flubber GONE!!

I'm Kim, I just joined the 6 in 6 yesterday! I started my journey to lose weight on the 1st, as my New Year's resolution. I'm counting Weight Watcher points, but since I'm kinda too poor to be spending money on the meetings or even the online version, I'm just counting points by myself. So, after six days of counting points I've lost 10 pounds! I'm so excited about that! My ultimate goal is to lose 100 lbs, but I could probably stand to lose closer to 150 lbs. Starting out at 300 lbs, it's probably a lot easier for me to drop the weight quickly in the first week then it would be for someone that is a lot lighter. And I'm sure it will take me a good 30 lbs before I start noticing it in myself. I'm not even sure if I'll be down a size after 30 lbs. I guess we'll see.

My biggest problem is exercise, I really don't like doing it. And I live in a very rural area, so a gym is out of the question. Especially since my husband works weird hours and I have three small children that I don't want to have to take with me. But, yesterday while I was at a church function a gal came up to me that is a friend of mine on facebook, so she heard me talking about my weight loss. She told me that on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings at one of the local church buildings they have aerobics at 8:30 in the morning! Which is free!! It just so happens to be right across the street from my kindergartner's school, so I think I'm going to go ahead and do it! One less kid will be great for me and my baby, who is 4 months old, can come and sleep in her car seat and my 3 year old can play with all of the other women's children. It's kind of a win win for everyone. And on the days that my husband doesn't have to work until late he can stay home with the kids for me! So, tomorrow I'm going to go. I'll probably get my big butt whooped, but that's what I need!

Bat glass

One of the things I want to do is start drinking more water. Not because I'm supposed to but because I want to. I know that probably doesn't make sense but I really hate being told I need to do something or should do something. So it has to be MY idea to want to drink more water. In support of that today, I found a purple Halloween glass with bats on it. Perfect. I figure if that is all it takes to get me to drink more water, it was .50 well spent. And if it doesn't work - well I can always put my Diet Coke in it. Because y'all I am not giving up my Diet Coke. Nope, not a chance, no way. It is my treat. Sometimes it is my sanity saver.

So on to the other stuff. Food choices were good today: Breakfast - 3 egg whites, 1/2 of a whole wheat English muffin and yep, Diet Coke. Okay so that wasn't the greatest but it does make me much easier to get along with first thing in the morning. Lunch - grilled cheese on rye, tomato soup and tea. Ha! You thought I was going to say Diet Coke, didn't you? Supper (where I'm from it is called supper always) - lentil soup, the other half of the whole wheat English muffin and okay, okay, I confess, Diet Coke. My snack tonight was almonds and water in the bat glass.

I walked my 45 minutes tonight at a speed that wouldn't impress a slow snail. But I walked it and I will speed up and PPPPFFFFTTTT to that slow snail if he laughs at me as he is passing me on by.

{Day 3: Stress Eater}

(image found online)

Hello, my name is Arya and I am a stress eater.  Whenever I get upset or over stressed I head for the sugary foods and I have been trying to banish this habit but tonight I totally failed! I got super upset and ran strait for the cookie dough I bought for making chocolate cookies for my kids and guess what, no cookies will be made because I ate the dough, *sigh*.

(image found online)

I know that my behavior is counter productive to my weight loss. Don't get me wrong I am working on changing my life style and making healthier choices but by no means am I going to get rid of having a slice of cake or eat a cookie every once in a while. I just don't want to eat sweets because I am having an emotional meltdown.

(image found online)

I have started walking and it's slowly helping but I find I am constantly reminding myself that food isn't supposed to be used as a stress reliever and emotional eating is what got me to the weight I am now (and 30 of those pounds was from birth control, but that's besides the point).

I know this week I am probably going to be up in weight and not down because of the emotional rollercoaster I have been on since Saturday. I am going to try using other methods to ease my stress instead of turning to food. I will keep you all posted on the progress or lack there of. I am hoping that there is lots of progress.

(image found online)

I want to get to the point where I "crack the code" to my own emotional eating and finally lose the guilt. I'm really glad we are all here for support and it's awesome and very helpful to have a place where I can be more accountable.

(found online)

*by the way the cartoons help remind me that I am in control and need to fight the urge to stress eat and are funny too - gotta love humor!*

No S Diet

Happy Hump Day! :)

I'm Jana. I'm a single mom to very, very adorable toddlers. I'm also a high school English teacher. Pretty much I get up in the morning and start running around like a chicken with it's head cut off until the kids go to sleep. Then I collapse. I need roughly 4 extra hours in the day, preferrably between the hours of 11am and 4pm. An extra four hours of afternoon would be great, you know? So, what I really need is more energy. More energy to get everything done (or at least half of it), more energy for my kids and more energy for me! I need to loose about 80 pounds to get a medically appropriate weight, but my focus is more on getting back to being as healthy as a horse, not having being the size of a horse.

I've tried pretty much every diet on the planet and never stick with any... I am a quitter. That's why I'm trying something that is pretty simple. The No S diet. No snacks, no sugar, and no seconds. And I started using the kids' dishes for my meals. While one serving of oatmeal barely covers the bottom of a regular bowl, it's a heaping serving in your basic toddler bowl. It's really easy for me to "fill a plate" and have it equal out several servings, instead of just one.

So far, there have been a couple of hiccups. Monday I spent all of my lunch time on hold for insurance stuff, so had to grab a couple of chocolate cookies from the vending machines, because it was the only thing I could grab and eat in under two minutes, given that it would take me 3 minutes to walk to the vending machine and back. Today I forgot my lunch so I grabbed a bag of pseudo healthy chips. I really need to stock up with some healthy stuff at school, for the days I forget lunch.

Day 3: I'm Hungry

Last night after my work out I showered and went to bed.  My eyes were tired and puffy from an emotional day of crying.  I laid in bed for a while, but my loud phone and grumbling tummy got me out of bed.  I didn't eat dinner, so I went looking for food.  We all know looking for food isn't a good idea, but I did ok.  This is what yesterday looked like:

Breakfast: 2 eggs, 1 slice 100% whole wheat toast, 1 slice cheddar cheese, water
Lunch: boneless pork, 1/2 potato, 1 serving of peas, small handful of sugared peanuts, water
Dinner: 1oz reduced fat cheese, orange, small handful sugared peanuts, small handful almonds, water
Work Out: 20 minute 30 Day Shred


For breakfast this morning I had a bowl of oatmeal with pumpkin pie spice, brown sugar, peach sauce and skim milk.  It was way too sweet.  I couldn't finish is.  Next time no brown sugar... I didn't realize how sweet the peach sauce was.  Now I'm hungry and it's not even noon.  When I eat eggs I'm not hungry until around 1pm.  I packed a lame-o lunch today.  I'm kinda excited for my weigh-in/measurements at the end of the week.  I'm REALLY hoping to see a change, any change.  To keep on task I need to lose around 1/4" each week. We'll see what happens I guess!

A background on me...

I have struggled with my weight most of my life. I was always the chubby kid at school.Not really fat but enough to be teased. I remember in 7th and 8th grade all the girls shopped at 5,7, 9 and they only sold up to a size 9. I could wear the 9's sometimes and it sucked not being able to shop where all the other girls did. Another of those bad memories was a crush I had on a boy in 8th grade. One of my friends told him and he wrote a note back saying that I was shaped like a potato and he drew a picture of a potato with legs. :(
OK, so anyway I lost weight the summer before 9th grade and was about a size 7 or so. I was about 120 pounds which was a good weight for me.

I was good all through high school. Then I got married at 18 (bad idea all around) and got up to 145 in a matter of months. Then just kept gaining and gaining. It was never ending. I reached a high point of 185 and that was sufficient to scare me. So I started eating an almost vegetarian diet with lots of natural foods. I lose about 25 pounds then me and the husband separated. I moved back to Georgia from Oregon and moved in with my parents.


Amazingly I did not gain any weight back. I guess I was too depressed to eat.
I then decided to join the Air Force Reserves. I really started working on the weight and even started running everyday. Sometimes twice a day.
As soon as I got down to the Air Force limit I went to the recruiters office.

All of that kind of blurs in my mind. It happened quickly and before I knew it I was at Lackland Air Force Base in basic training. It was wonderful!
Of course I lost even more weight running all day long and doing push ups every few minutes! I got back down to a nice and toned 120. Oh it was amazing.

Hmm, I wonder if TSgt Johnson is available to be a personal trainer!!!!!!

Ok so graduated basic and moved on to tech school. Oh my... we had vending machines in our dorms, ice cream in the chow hall and all kinds of junk while we were in classes.

So yea I got back up to 140 in a couple of months. And have been gaining ever since.
I am now inactive reserve but have played with the idea if I ever get in shape going back in.

HEre is a pic of me after basic training. I had already gained back about 10 pounds. But wow.. I want to be back to that weight. :)

I did manage to stay around 160-170 for the longest time til oh maybe 2 years ago or so then I moved in with Jason(my then boyfriend.. now hubby) and apparently gave up completely on weight loss. I started drinking regular soda instead of diet, ate whatever the heck I wanted every day and did VERY little int he way of activity. Before too long I was at 200 pounds.

At this time last year we were putting the finishing touches on our wedding planned for Jan 23. During this time I had managed to lose around 10 pounds so I would look a little better in my dress. Then my dad unexpectedly passed away just 6 days before our wedding date. That was beyond devastating. We postponed the wedding til Feb 20 and I gained back that 10 pounds.
Since we married I have gained another 8.

I just rejoined Weight Watchers and my first weigh in was 208.6. My 2nd weigh in will be today and I hope for good news. :)
My eating has been ok. I really need to work on the fitness part. My goal is to do a Leslie Sansone walk at home DVD 3 times a week and some Wii Fit stuff 5 times a week.
So here I am disgusted with my body and myself for allowing this to happen.


Ok so I am now ready to get on the ball (both literally and figuratively) and do this thing! :)

PS: Sorry for the way too big pics... Gotta figure out how to re-size.

Unofficial first day

Technically I won't start till tomorrow. You know because I just love being behind and playing catch-up. I did walk today - 43 minutes. Only 2 minutes shy of my goal and I'll blame Janis Joplin for that. The CD was only 43 minutes long. Food today - I don't honestly remember. Probably not too good since I was out and about and not really paying attention to what I was eating. I know, I know, I have to work on that. But since today was all unofficial, I'm not worried about it and will just mellow on out here for now.

Whoa, this is hard!

The last time I did something like this, I lost weight really quickly, and it seemed quite easy. This time, not so much. Yesterday a whole load of stress hit me at once and I lost my focus. Yes, I admit it, I fell off the wagon on the first day... I am so ashamed!

But I picked up the pieces of my shattered diet and started over today. I did great! The hardest part is remembering to drink lots of water. I keep on forgetting because I get distracted. Does anyone have ideas on how to remember to drink water?

This first week I am concentrating on eliminating junk food and unnecessary snacks. Next week I am going to begin adding in healthy snacks. I am still trying to figure out the best way to motivate me to exercise. I am always moving, busy with school, work, and so many other things, but just not exercising. I gave away all my exercise videos a while back and I don't have the time or money to join a gym. I wonder if Wii Fit would work? My sister has it and I might try it sometime.

I am so grateful that I have this group to work with! It is so nice to have others to talk to and to see that we are in it together! Thanks Angie for all your hard work putting this group together. It is great motivation and I am glad to have all the support and help!

Sally

I made it the whole 20 minutes!

Think there's a reason my water bottle looks like poison? lol

I made it through my whole work out without passing out tonight!  That's a victory in my book! :)

I had to drink water through out, but I did it!

Day 2 of non-motivation :(

So, here it is Day 2 of the "6 in 6" and my motivation is not there. Makes me sad!!!! But I do have to say that even with the lack of motivation, I did eat healthy yesterday and today and did country dancing yesterday for 4 hours. That's got to count for something, right??!!!

I think to help me get into the right motivation...I'm going to buy a pair of jeans I want to fit into and also buy a swim suit that I WILL fit into for the summer.

I know that doing this will help me feel better about myself and I will look better also. So, tomorrow is a new day and I WILL have the motivation to get into the right mind frame and knock this out of the park!!!!


Keep up the good work everyone!!

♥ Shelly

Eating like a Hobbit

Hi, I'm Velda, I'm a geek and a mom, and my goals are two-fold: lose (and maintain the loss of) 15-20 more pounds, and find some ways to exercise that are so enjoyable, they don't feel like exercise at all.

Anyway. I feel bad that I'm not going about this in the most healthy way, but I did the HCG diet before and it worked well. So I'm doing it once more. Today is Loading Day 1 and I am eating quite a bit. I felt like Bilblo Baggins as I went after a "second breakfast" this morning. I'll load again tomorrow, and then start the VLCD, which is how hobbits eat when they're out on an adventure, right? ;-) Will let you know how it goes.

Day 2: If I make it through this week I will be amazed

Yesterday I chose two fish tacos from Del Taco and ice water for lunch.  Was it a healthy choice? Ehhh... Healthyish LOL  The fish was fried, but the tortillas were corn and they were overloaded with fresh cabbage and tomatoes.  Here's what yesterday looked like:

Breakfast: two eggs, 1 slice whole wheat toast, a bit of shredded cheddar and water

Lunch: two fish tacos, water

Dinner: boneless pork, 1 potato (in bbq sauce done in the crockpot), 1/2 can of peas (almost 2 servings), water

Snack: small handful sugared peanuts

Work out: 15 minutes of Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred... it was a 20 minute work out and I passed out 15 minutes in... yes, actually passed out.  I'm lucky I hit the couch and not the floor.  That pretty much sucked.  It was the first time I've ever passed out.  I'm sore from the work out though, so even 15 minutes did something.

Today I'm doing good food-wise so far.  But I'm depressed... really really depressed.  I'm having a hard emotional time and it's a good thing I'm doing this 6 in 6 thing right now or I don't think I'd be eating very healthy right now (can you say Cherry Coke and chocolate?) and I KNOW I wouldn't have exercised last night.  I actually bawled through the warm up last night.  If I wasn't feeling this pressure to succeed I would have been laying in my bed crying, not cursing Jillian Michaels and crying.  I packed leftovers for lunch today, so I won't be eating out again.

I'm so proud of all my 6 in 6-ers!  They are helping me already... without this I'd be taking a bath in chocolate right now!

{First day down}

My first day was good until about 5:30 in the evening and a massive migraine hit me and I ate a bunch of junk and then curled up in a ball with MJ (my baby) and fell asleep with her. I woke up around 2:30 am this morning (it's 3:08am now) because MJ woke up and decided to weigh myself with MJ and then again without her, since I was already up.

I weighed 293 with MJ and 280 without her - I've gained some weight since my first initial weigh in and it's bummed me out but I knew it was going to happen since we did have mostly junk to eat during New Years Eve and I did eat junk today - but it's not as bad as I thought it was going to be, (only 3.5 lbs up from my original weight).

I haven't started walking yet but plan to start tomorrow since I now have a new stroller (my other one broke) and can take both Ruth & MJ with me. I just hope it's not super cold tomorrow like it has been the last few days.

I did pick up some good fruit and some fresh vegi's at the store and I am working on cutting out the amount of sugar in my diet and only going to drink water (I have a large re-usable water bottle that I will be carrying around with me and will be refilling a minimum of 8 times) I am also going to be making homemade meals instead of going out to restaurants (be it fast or other wise). I also plan on working out with both my wii fit and some workout video's via Netflix's "instant" feed over the net.

I am so glad I have others that I can be accountable to!! I am super excited that Angie started this group!! I am looking forward to all of our progress in the next 6 months. Below is a workout goal sheet that I am going to be using to help me keep track of my weight loss during each week/month. You can use it too if you want.

Anywho, MJ is getting cranky now and I better be getting back to bed. Tomorrow, (well later today), is going to be a better one for sure. I am hoping that I get back on track! Nighty-nite!

First Day

Well, it was my first official day starting over with my diet. I got on the scale and I was up a pound from the last time I weighed myself. That was very frustrating for me, but knowing that I have a goal & a team to keep me motivated gave me some hope instead of the usual hopelessness I have felt when I have fluctuated. When it came to eating I think I did pretty well. I didn't have any sweets today (I even moved some chocolate covered pretzels to a coworkers desk where I couldn't see them to get them away from my temptation) and I tracked all I ate so I know what is going in; I hope that this will help me adjust as needed. I do know that I need to add more veggies and water. I had intended to start my ab exerciser tonight when I got home but I got hit with life as soon as I walked in the door so it didn't happen. I guess 1/2 is not bad for the first day. My goal for tomorrow is both food and exercise. I hope everyone had a good day today with their goal! Keep up the good work!

REALLY? Bravery or Stupidity... You choose

I started this 6 in 6 challenge kind of selfishly... I need support and motivation from friends to lose weight to look fabulous in a 1950's wedding dress this fall.  But what better way to get that support and motivation than from losing weight along side friends who are real people just like me?

This is my inspiration dress!  I'm going to have one custom made for me in white!  I know they'll make it in my size, but how awesome would that be to have a waist that is closer to 30" than 40"???

November 2010

I tend to dress pretty flattering (as we all should) so although you can tell I need to lose a few pounds, you can't tell really how big I am!

December 2010

December 31, 2010

But then I step on a scale and I go YIKES!  I definitely need to lose more than a few pounds.  Most of you know I don't lose pounds easily and my weight is pretty high for my height (5'2) and measurements... so my weight-loss goal has nothing to do with weight and everything to do with inches.

My starting measurements as of December 31st, 2010 are:

Hips- 44 1/2
Waist- 37 1/2
Arms- 14 1/4
Thighs- 25 1/4
Weight- somewhere around 180ish

My goal is to lose 6" on my waist and hips in 6 months... I'd love to lose 6" on each, but even a combined 6" would be amazing!

Now you can see where I really need to lose!  Flattering clothes hide a lot, but when it comes down to it, I really need to lose a lot of inches and firm up!  I'm worried not only about the wedding, but the honeymoon!  DOUBLE YIKES!

I'm blessed to gain and lose weight pretty evenly.  I don't know that I have one trouble area, it's kind of an all over weight issues.  When I gain, I gain everywhere, my legs, arms, tummy, etc all gain weight evenly, which is nice because I'm proportionate, but frustrating because that means my arms are too big for a lot of shirts and my calves are too big for all those awesome boots I keep trying on.  I find myself lucky to not have big belly rolls, but I do have back rolls!  Icky!

I bought a new exercise video over the weekend.  I'll be trying it out tonight... even though I know I won't want to after working all day and then running errands.  I ate a good breakfast of 2 scrambled eggs on one slice of 100% whole wheat toast sprinkled with a bit of cheddar cheese and 16oz of water.  I was off to a good start, but realized I forgot to pack a lunch.  Dang it!  I don't want to wait until tonight to eat so I'll have to grab a bite somewhere... It's hard to make good choices while eating out; even salads are loaded with unhealthiness.  Wish me luck!