DONE and DONE

So, last day today. Is everyone starving themselves to get the last few ounces/pounds off their oh so skinny bodies? I know I am being very careful especially on this last day. Yikes, hope we are ready for this. Its been tough but good right? I think this is the first time I have EVER stuck to something for more than a month. Can't say I haven't cheated or skipped exercising throughout this a couple times but I'm pretty proud of myself (and Chris) for sticking to it and working hard.

Good luck to everyone on the weigh in! May we all stuff our faces full after tomorrow! Just kidding, this is supposed to be a lifestyle change people! Ha ha. Congrats to everyone making it to the end!

Where is Everyone?

Last post was Feb 10th????? Come on people!!! Lets get with the program. Biggest Loser is almost over!
Saw Chris at the play. Holy cow. Fllllaaattt tummy! He and Shanna look marvelous! Jeff is loooking relaly hot as well. Bob continues to silently pull ahead and pretend that he is indifferent.
Two more weeks you guys! We can do this!
Nay

Friendly Friends

Hey old pals, I am not a blogger, and must confess that this is only the second time I have come to this page to check things out--the first time being during the first week of the competition. I just wanted to offer a word of congratulations for all who are working so hard and for the progress you are making--this is hard work, and it stinks! However, it is quite gratifying to step on the scale and not have to listen to it whimper, and sigh with relief when I get off!

Beyond the initial plunge of 5 or 6 pounds in the first week, I have not been making the precipitous drop that I anticipated making, and have had a plateau or two to deal with but we are persevering and making progress, and that is the whole reason we are doing this in the first place, eh? As of this morning I am down about 15 pounds or so, and I need about 4 more to meet my 10% mark. My primary goal is to deprive the real biggest loser of my contribution, and to be able to tie my shoes without having to hold my breath! It sounds like we are all on our way to meeting our goals! Yeah us!

On those inevitable frustrating days and weeks, just remember the lesson of the tortoise and the hare--slow and steady wins the race. Flub ups and cheats are inevitable, but not the end of the world. just get back up on the horse and try try again (to mix a few metaphors). Keep up the good work friends, and fight the good fight. Remember--we are not simply trying to find a new low point from which to yo-yo back up. We are doing this as the beginning of making new lifestyle choices. There is no point to struggling through all of this if we are simply going to give in to the natural man and reinflate after the end of the competition. Slim on!

Finally!

I have officially hit 10 lbs as of today. I'm a slow, slow loser compared to some of you, but I am still here and I am losing, even if slowly. Actually, I guess I'm not really losing slowly, since 8 of those pounds have been in the last 12 days. I guess I've taken longer to gain momentum. And the best news of all - that *$%# plateau is history!

ALLLLMOST there

I am only a few pounds away from my ten percent mark. Hanging on by my teeth. Today I weighed 198.2.
I have not weighed in at that for over seven years!
Keep going
Keep going
Keep going

Nay

Yummy

So the weightloss plan is going A-Okay for the Purdies! This week so far has been our best one yet. I feel like eating right, even more than our exercise is the cause of us feeling so good and losing weight. Not to say exercise isn't important, it sure is. Jillian Michaels is showing us what is up!

So we have added a TON of veggies to our meals. They are so yummy! I found this recipe and loved it. Chris didn't like it so much, said it was too much like baby food ha ha. For those of you with a more "refined" taste, give it a shot!

BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP

2 TBS of butter (you can totally cut this out)

1.5 stalks of celery chopped

1/2 yellow onion chopped

10-12 baby carrots chopped

4 small potatoes cubed

1 butternut squash--peeled seeded and cubed

32 ounces of chicken broth or stalk (low sodium works)

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Melt butter and cook the veggies for 5 mins, or until they are lightly brown. Pour enough stock/broth to cover the vegetables. Bring everything to a boil, cover and simmer on low for 40 mins or until all the veggies are tender. Transfer the mix to a blender and blend until smooth. Return to pot and add the remaining stock/broth until you get the desired consistancy. Add salt and pepper to taste.

I'm still here!

I have been MIA for a few days, but I have not been slacking off! I wasn't able to run my half marathon last weekend - but get this! NOT becuase of my running injury - because of a flat tire on the way to Wisconsin the night before! Is that ridiculous or what? At any rate, now I am resting and healing my running muscles and focusing on cycling and weight lifting for a week or two. I have found a half marathon in April I plan to do.

I have also spent the last week or so reevaluating my diet. I have decided the Weight Watchers thing - which has been my go-to diet for the last 10 years and not entirely successful except for the one time after I had Dani - is not working for me. I just cannot break this &*#$ plateau! So I researched diet plans and decided to go with something totally different from any diet I've done before. I started Atkins this week. No sugar and no carbs, except for veggies. The no-sugar is what is good for me -- on my very first day, I had a showdown with a brownie frosted with chocolate-chip cookie dough. Man, it was rough! But I found that "just say no" was a better strategy for me than my old Weight Watchers "I can have this if I account for the points and adjust the rest of my eating for the day" because inevitably, just a half of a brownie turns into 3 or 4 brownies! So, I'm sticking with this for the time being. I hear that after two weeks off sugar, the cravings go away. I sure hope so, because I spent about 2 hours fantasizing about Cadbury Creme Eggs today!

STUCK!

Not happy. I have been fabulous on my diet and the scales have said the exact same thing for three days in a row.
:(

Can anyone catch Bob, Mary and Chris?

Tally ho Chubbies...how is everyone doing? I have been so good I dont even recognize myself.
I have lost 14 pounds as of this morning. I started at 216.2 and today was 202. I am quite hopeful it will be 34 pounds by tomorrow morning. :)

Those of you in it for the money need to know that Mary, Bob and Chris are flying. And I dont know about Chris, but Bob is even actually eating normal food and cake and ice cream! What is up with that? All three of these guys are the ones to watch. Marilee joined the gym and has already lost about 15 pounds just on eating alone. Better run when she hits that ol treadmill. She can actually run on it. She swears by her chicken tenders topped with bruschetta sauce (Costco or Sams $6.00) and a thin slice of cheese. Havent tried it yet because I gave up dairy products for the first three weeks, but it sounds divine.

I have a favorite meal idea to share. I LOVE tacos...likeMom used to make...fried corn tortillas with straight unseasoned hamburger, and olives, cheese, lettuce and tomatoes. Obviously the fried tortilla is the worst part. So I take a large romaine lettuce leaf and put a spoonful of the super lean cooked hamburger on it, and the other items (minus the cheese and olives for this first three weeks), and it tastes much like my beloved tacos with a fraction of the calories. A friend suggested that I get baked tortilla chips and crush a few of these inside as well to give it the crunch and corn taste. Lettuce leaves also make wonderful wraps to hold the inside stuff of a sandwich. Just use it in place of the bread.

I also bought on Amazon, a bottle of chocolate raspberry flavor drops. I put ten in a glass of hot water and heated it. It is my "cocoa." Zero calories and zero sugar which is something I am watching closely. Trying to find more interesting ways of consuming more liquids. It would taste even better in a glass of diet cocoa, but that has anartificial sweetner that still raises my blood sugar.

An interesting and exciting sidelight to all this. I have been dieting for 15 days now, and there have only been two days that I took my diabetic meds. And then it was partial doeses. All the other days I have not needed it. I have started a chart to record my sugar levels three times a day to give to my doctor. Obviously I cant eat like I am now forever, but it certainly reaffirms the correlation between lifestyle habits and diabetes.

Good luck to you all. I love to hear your progress.

:(

I am afraid my week has not been so great. I only lost 1/2 lb at my WW weigh in, and I felt like I had worked really hard! I may have let myself eat a few too many slices of pizza while feeling sorry for myself this evening - DANG IT. Hopefully all will even out in the end, as today was a long run day - 2 hours on a treadmill. Ugh! However, I hope I redeemed myself by spending the rest of the evening, not only planning my weekly grocery shopping, but filling my my food journal with my meals for EVERY DAY next week. I feel like I am prepared to face the week ahead! And hopefully my hard work this week is just waiting to show up on the scale next week and I'll have a totally KILLER weigh in next Friday. Don't count me out yet, Nay! I'm still in this too!

Anyone frequenting the john a little more than usual?????

When I first started trying to drink 80-100 oz. of water a day, I was visiting the bathroom much more than I wanted to. I was waking up at night to relieve myself! It was getting ridiculous! My goal to get at least 7 hours of sleep, was interfering with my goal to drink 80-100 oz. of water/day. I was complaining to someone a lot wiser than me about this one day and he told me to remember this. When you drink that much water, it has to come out, right. When it does, you are releasing:

F: FAT
A: ADDICTIONS
T: TOXINS


So the next time you have to visit the john, remember you are getting rid of F.A.T. And your body does get used to it after a while and regulates itself.

Here I Am

Now that Renee has spoiled my plan to lay low I guess I can disclose my weight loss. As of this morning I have lost 15.8 lbs. It has been a big change for me and Shanna. We have gone from eating anything and everything in sight and going out whenever possible to eating 3 healthy meals a day and exercising. Its amazing how much better you start feeling when you are eating healthy and being active. Shanna has been amazing and is always looking for healthy recipes to cook for us. Still it hasn't been easy. It's sad when each night you finish dinner and you start looking forward to breakfast the next morning. As hard as it is it will be worth it when we are able to shed all the unwanted weight.

If you are wondering how I lost 15.8 lbs in just under two weeks, the secret it simple. Just try some of these workout videos and you will be thin in no time. Good luck.

Chris Puuuurrrdie...where are you????

You need to check in and report.......I know what you are doing.......hiding and trying to get the rest of us to forget..
Are you going to share how much you have lost? Shanna? Tell..tell on him....

I know Bob is ahead of me, and maybe Mary.....but Chris worry me. My goal is to quickly pass you all up so you will quit..

:)

Nay

Im not hiding

News is too good to keep quiet! I have lost 9.2 pounds now.

Now I would really feel better if the following people would exit the game:
Nolan
Chris
Bob
Brett
Jeff

Thank ye kindly boys!

Southerners???

Cami you never reported to us who ended up weighing in down south. So who is all officially in this game (for the money)?

Week 1 Complete!

Down 4 1/2 lbs! I had hoped for 5, but I'll take it, since it pretty much eliminates pretty much all my holiday weight gain! If I can be good next week, I just MIGHT break this blasted plateau! Now I'm off to a presidency meeting at the Tasty Waffle, where I will have the Oatmeal with Strawberries - and am taking my own brown sugar Splenda with me.

Update from the Poulson's

Hi All,
I (Nolan) just wanted to give a little update on what/how we are doing. Neither of us are paying customers, but are along for the ride. I have had specific goals in mind for a while now and the fat loss goals maybe unrealistic based on my strength goals but here they are anyways. Fat Loss Goal lose 20-30 lbs fat mass, cut fat % to 12-16%. Strength Goal (are very optimistic, but hey shoot for the stars) 80 push-ups in 2 minutes, 90 Sit-up in 2 minutes, Bench Press 1.5x Body Weight. The way that I have decided to reach these goals is through 6 day Strength Training/Cardio Plan. Also Jani and I are trying to eat better, not through dieting but through portion control, choosing foods with higher protein, and increased H2O intake, and minimizing as much as possible the sugars we take in. Also I have found a great little free Android app that I am very excited about. JEFIT is the name of the app and is very comprehensive for working out and tracking progress. I just finished a No Gain, Just Maintain team competition at work and I lost 4 lbs for that this past weekend which is also the same loss I have for our little adventure.
Janica is hard at work and very motivated. She shares the same plan as far as "dieting". She has been hitting the gym this week and doing workout videos. Her motivation is truly through the roof. Her goals revolve more around post-pregnancy. I won't disclose her numbers, since I value my health, but I will say watch out for her! Anyways, good luck to everyone and if anyone wants to workout together even if it is the occasional run or basketball game give us a call. Also a few of my co-workers and I are looking to replace our Friday lunches with a short basketball game around the noon hour either at the Orem or Provo rec centers, so if any of you Utah County folks would like to play let me know. Go work guys keep it up.

Week One

Well folks, just wanted to share my week one progress:

Down 3.5 lbs.

I wanted to share this quote with you I found inspiring:

"Many around you want to point out 'reality' to you. They say, "Face the facts. Look at what-is." And we say to you, if you are able to see only what-is—then, you will create only more of what-is. You must be able to put your thoughts beyond what-is in order to attract something different or something more."


So, who cares how long you've been fighting this battle with weight or food or whatever it is. You may not even be able to remember yourself without the weight or the problems with food. That is ok. The past has passed. Today is a new day. Next week is a new week. Change is possible, no matter how many times we fail. It just takes consistently making good choices, and overall relying on The One who has more strength or will power than any of us will every have. That is the key. He is the key.


Think about it.....in 3 months you can either be happy or sad about the choices you make today, tomorrow and the next day. Remember your goal and keep your eye on that, not on what your mind (or your mouth) tells you you want to eat right now. In 3 months you will be so glad you did.


Keep the posts coming and sharing your insights. It helps everyone. Love you all!

From far, far away on Illinois plains...

I'll have you all know that I took Brendan to Sonic because he didn't cry at the dentist today, and I only had a DIET DR PEPPER WITH EXTRA ICE. And then came home and had a delicious bowl of Pumpkin Black Bean Soup (linked cause I know you'll all want the recipe - only 150 calories per cup! I did cut the butter in half and it still turned out delish!).

As for plans - I'm on Weight Watchers, and have been since April. I've lost 18 lbs but have been on a plateau for MONTHS. Everytime it looks like I'm finally going to break it, something happens - a vacation, a holiday, SOMETHING - that throws me off my game and I stay stuck. I need you guys to keep me focused! They just did a major rehaul of the plan in the last month, so I'm having to really pay attention to what I'm doing, instead of thinking I know it all (though knowing it all never did make me all that successful at weight loss - maybe all my weight is in my brain). My exercise regime may have to change, as I think I may have just developed shin splints, but I am signed up to do a half marathon in two weeks and plan to run another in April (possibly the Salt Lake Half Marathon, since I'm supposed to be out there at some point in April for Lani's senior recital.) So I'll be running 4 days a week and weight lifting 2. All that may change if my shin continues to be a problem, but I have consulted a friend who considers herself and expert and bought a new pair of shoes.

My WW weigh in is tomorrow. Hoping to see some good results!

Love you all, even if there is less of you to love!

Off to a great start!

Okay, so here is an update on the Purdies (Shanna and Chris). Let me start off by saying we have both put on QUITE a few pounds since we have been married (must mean I am a fabulous cook! not). Anyway, we hit the ground running with this weightloss deal. Being newlyweds and watching our money, we decided Chris would put 50 bucks in, and I wouldn't pay, but would be one of the members that don't pay and still want to compete personally.
We have completely changed our diet. We are eating healthy: every meal, every day. It is definitely hard, but totally worth it. We have quit eating after dinner which has helped too.
Not gonna lie, Chris is losing weight into the double digits like it's nobodys business so watch out. Is it just me, or does it seem like women have to work twice as hard to lose weight as men do. We have also been drinking a TON of water daily and thats helped keep our stomachs full.
We are excited about this lifestyle change and like most of you, we feed off of others success, so keep posting about your journey and how its going! Happy weight watching!

Hi Everyone!

Nay, thanks for your post yesterday. I've been wanting to post, about this and put in my two cents.

Since most of you know I've had my up's and down's with weight, I've found that having a specific plan is the only way to achieve your weight loss goals. And when I say "goals" a good example would be, "I want to loose 30 pounds in three months." Not, "I want to be skinny in three months." Listing something specific and verifiable is very important.

As far as a plan goes, you need to be as detailed as you can. Specific dates, times, and actions are good. This is my plan:

• Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday I will be doing weight training at 5:30 am. I will alternate between my upper body and lower body.
• Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday I will do at least 30 minutes of cardio which will be a mix between running and biking. Saturday will be my 'long' distance day
• I will eat between 5-6 small meals a day with a balanced carb to protein ratio.
• I will drink between 80-100 oz. of water/day
• I will try my BEST to get 7 hours of sleep
• I will have one 'free day' a week (Sunday) and it will not be a license to binge, but to have a piece of this or one of that.
• I will only weigh myself once per week (Friday)
• I will record what I eat on livestrong.com every day 
• I will post on the blog at least 2 times/week 
• I will communicate with fellow contestants at least twice/week of how things are going for me and see how things are going for them.

So there you have it. That is my plan. I find that the more specific you are, the more likely you are to achieve your goals. And if you're too vague with your plan, like "eating more healthy" or "exercising more than I used to" that just doesn't cut it.

Let's hear some more plans!!!

Good luck and keep up the good fight!!

Just checking in!

So how is everyone feeling? Has anyone picked a specific diet plan to adhere to, or is everyone just trying to eat healthier?

BRING IT!

Family! Hello my fellow fatties! I have been thinking about weight loss for WAY too long! I think I have been wanting to loose weight since I was in high school and have I ever lost it?? NO!! Well gues what? NOW NOW NOW is the time! I am going to do this! I am sick of not acheiving what I want.

I heard a great quote the other day "only you can acheive your potential" so far, I have proven to myself I have very little potential. That is a sad thought. SO I am going to show myself that I can achieve my GREAT potential.

I want to feel comfortable in my body, I want to be proud of it, I want to go shopping and not leave the mall in tears (no seirously it has happend more than once). I want to be able to enter some races. I want to feel HOT and that's all there is to it!

Some things that get me hyped up are:

-feeding off of others successes

-feeding off others excitement

- seeing results

- others seeing my results

- working out with a friend

SO if any of you would like to share your excitement or success stories or things that have worked for you to lose weight I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR IT! Or if any of you want to work out call me please! Lets do this Paynes! Lets be the hottest, skinniest family around!

Until next time

JANI