Never Ending....

My sickness that is!

I am so frustrated. I am so tired of coughing, blowing my nose, not tasting anything, and sucking on cough drops!

I finally went to the doctor today and found out I have Bronchitis. So, it is meds, cough medicine, and rest for me.

Which frustrates me so much, because I really want to be eating better (more than broth) and work out. I need to get out of my house and do something!

So, please say a few prayers that this Zpack works! I have to get out and about SOON!

Wii (not so) Fit! Plus...

I have a myriad of health issues - from a chronic condition to kidney stones - and it is not always easy to get to the gym.  My sweet husband purchased Wii Fit Plus for me, which is the update to Wii Fit.  It's a great tool to get off the sofa and get moving.  

My one however, though, is that the Wii Fit is so happy to let me know where I stand physically.  There's nothing like hearing a video game declare, "that's OBESE" when you do your daily check in.  Even better is getting to field the questions from my 8 and 4 year olds.  Oy.  


Here's what I know, though.  If I keep it up, I'll work my way down to Overweight and then, ideally, to normal.  No matter what, it's all one step at a time.  If I can keep these feet moving, there's nothing I can't reach!


...And my Wii Fit age today was 27.  So there, Wii Fit.  

Winter Couples Weight Loss Challenge

Team 1 : Ber and Stuart. aka: Peeps and Tapper

Team 2: Cole and Ron. aka: Chips and Marbles

The Challenge breaks down like this....

11/28 Official Weigh In

12/4 Complete 3 laps at on base trail/timed. Each person earns 5 pts for completing the trail. This will be our base line. After that we have named 2 other times that we will completed the laps. It will then be based on time improved for points per person.

2/19 Final Weigh In

We will weigh in weekly. If you lose weight for the week, you gain 5 points into your total! If you gain weight, then you lose 1 point per pound gained!

The winner gets....

Well, since we will all be winners because of choosing to get healthy, we are all going to win! Ber and I decided that we would get all dolled up and head out for a night on the town to see Blue Man Group and have a nice dinner with our men!

However...the team with the least amount of points for the challenge will not be able to drink an alcohol beverage for the evening and they must be the drivers for the evening!

Balanced Holiday Season

This is a brief write up of our Challenge. I did not come up with this concept. I don't know the lady's name, but it is a friend of a friend's. lol Don't you just love those!

The challenge is six weeks long (11/22-1/2). Each week begins on Monday and ends on Sunday.

Each participant will contribute a prize. Make it something fun or creative, or make it a gift card. Rule of thumb: it should be something that you would be excited to win!

At the end of the six weeks, each participant will get a prize. The person with the highest score will get to pick their prize first. Then we will go down the line - everyone is a winner!

There are a possible of 8 points per day/56 per week. You get (1) point for each wellness goal accomplished.

The wellness goals are:

1. Drink at least 48 oz of water per day.

2. Complete a minimun of 30 minutes of exercise a day.

3. Eat a minimum of 2 veggies and 2 fruits a day.

4. Do not drink soda or alcohol.

5. Avoid added sugar (hint: avoid WHITE foods- rice, potatoes, flour, & sugar)

6. Avoid fast food and junk food.

7. Read something uplifting and fun for 15 minutes.

8. Write in a journal (or blog) - focus on positive thoughts.

It is that simple and should be lots of fun! I will post our standings on our blog too! Week 1 is complete. I am just waiting on everyone's points before posting!

Catching Up!

There is soooooo much to write about today! Mostly because I haven't blogged since the 15th of this month. Guess that tells you just how motivated I have been, huh? Oh well. Moving on!

A couple weeks ago, a friend introduced me to a Challenge she was doing with some of her friends. "The Balanced Holiday Season Challenge." It looked interested and I love a little competition! I spoke with Amber and *Stacy and they were in! I will blog more about this in another post.

Then, over the weekend, while Ber and I were/are recooperating from a nasty bug, we came up with a fantastic why to also get our husbands involved! They both are thin men (grrrrrr lol), but would like to lose a few pounds. We now have a Couples Winter Challenge going on too! It is going to be great fun, I think!

So, as I am sitting here trying to get rid of this nasty cold/flu thing I have going on, I am also getting all Type A on myself. I have already made my workout schedule for the week, menu for the week, and even a blog schedule!

Oh, and another thing I am tossing around, is joining the meetings again for Weight Watchers. While I love the competition with my friends and family and I know that is going to really help with keeping me on track, I still feel like I need a little more. The truth of the matter is, I have a problem with food. I need all the help I can get. So, why not! I really felt like it was the right move for me, when I signed on to Weight Watchers Chat and found that there is a new program that started today. They have completely revamped it. Hopefully I can make it to a meeting this week to find out more.

I apologize for any typos or errors in this blog. My brain is so fuzzy from being sick and I just don't care to edit at the moment! Thanks for understanding!

*Stacy is a friend of Amber and mine. She is fantastic and we are trying to convince her to blog along with us!

"If you don't know where you are going, you'll probably end up somewhere else." ~Lewis Carroll

This past week, I had a goal making session with some friends, and made a poster (which I'll share later).  On this poster, I attached pictures of dresses that I think are particularly lovely, a picture of my goal bathing suit that I ordered 2 years ago in a size that I haven't seen since high school, pictures of lingerie and other encouraging images.  I am a visual person.  I am the person with the calendar posted in the kitchen with various events and something written on almost each day.  I am a list maker.  Setting goals helps me SO much!

I'm not the only person that goal-setting helps.  It has been well established that goal setting can be the difference between success or failure - not only in weight loss, but in life!  Here is a very helpful article from the Mayo Clinic on setting realistic goals.

My goals are:

To be wearing a size 12 pant COMFORTABLY by 12/25/10.
I'm currently wearing a 14.

To weigh less than 200 by 1/15/11 - my anniversary.
I currently am hovering around 215.

To weigh 180 by 4/17/11 - my birthday.
A realistic, yet challenging goal!

Some process goals are:

Make my bed daily.

30 minutes of activity 7 days/week.

Shower and fix my hair every day.


My process goals may seem pathetic.  I don't deny that.  For me, losing the weight is secondary to living a healthy lifestyle.  I've been dealing with depression, and many aspects of my life have fallen by the wayside, hence my including them in my goal making process.

I also have a holiday challenge starting next week, but since it was Coley's idea, I'll let her tell more about it.  ;)

SURPRISE!

Well, not really a surprise. I am up on the scale! Not much I can do about it. I can't ignore it at all. I went away to my mom's and enjoyed myself. The week before that I was enjoying myself as well! AHHH!

Oh well. Onward. I have a few new ideas and plans for myself. More to come!

I do promise one thing...I am taking charge of me...starting TODAY!

The Twinkie Diet

Have you seen this article?  CNN Health is reporting the tale of a Kansas State University professor who lost 27 pounds in 2 months.  How did he do it?  He ate snack cakes, chips, and a few veggies here and there.  He maintained his activity level and reduced his caloric intake to 1800 calories/day.

As a professor of human nutrition at KSU, Mark Haub does not claim that this diet is healthy, nor does he recommend it.  From the tone of the article, it does seem to have raised eyebrows, though, about the way that we define "HEALTHY eating."  Honestly, his cholesterol decreased while eating junk food.

Frankly, I wouldn't mind figuring out a beer and junk food diet.  Or maybe a Mediterranean food and wine diet.  Okay, maybe not.  It really does make me think, though.  Generally on a weight loss regimen, I am so overwhelmed with the fact that "good" foods are too expensive or require a lot of preparation.  I guess if I was stricter about my caloric intake, maybe I'd see a larger weight loss difference?  (If I was more vigilant about any number of things I think I'd see a difference...)

What do you think?  Is this experiment by Mr. Haub dooming others to fail, or do you think that the premise is valid and maybe offers hope to others trying to shed a few pounds?

Good news!

Despite lethargic living, Halloween candy, and stress that should have my cortisol levels at or above a critical limit, I have managed to lose half a pound.

My weigh in is 214.5.  Sucky number, but progress nonetheless.

You should get that!

Grr.  Having a stressful week.  I haven't weighed in.  I didn't weigh in last week either.

I have fibromyalgia, and we had some very unpredictable weather this week.  As a result, I have had a lot of severe pain, which left me unable to move.  I've spent time in the bed, shuffling to the bathroom or living room (thank God for hardwood floors and socks), and on Cole's couch knitting for a little while.  The fibromyalgia makes me feel bad emotionally, too, because I feel like my kids deserve better than a mom who is randomly bedridden.  It's my issue to work through, but it's the truth.

So tonight, the boys are playing in the living room, seemingly not paying attention to the TV, and a commercial comes on.  It's for this magical pill that is sure to eliminate any speck of fat off one's body.  Suuuuure, right?

So, from the peanut gallery, I hear my 8-year-old son say, "You should get that, Mom, so you can be skinny."

Sigh.