17 weeks to go!

New date!  Trip was moved up from September to June.  I think it's unrealistic to think that I would loose 58 lbs in 17 weeks, but I can strive for 20 and be happy about that.  This week I lost 3.9 pounds of which I couldn't be happier about.

I've been to the gym 16 of the last 21 days. 

No Zumba this week as it is my mother's birthday and we are going out to dinner. Thankfully the weightloss came at a good time and I'm motivated to make healthy choices at dinner tonight. :)

Gravity class is still on for Sunday, hopefully it doesn't take 4 days to recover from!

Week??

Yeah, that's right, I lost track of weeks and progress but!  I'm on the right track now!

Week 16.

My progress was supposed to have been 16 lbs by this week, but that is just not the case, not even close.

I managed not to gain over the holiday break, thankfully eating in moderation.

However, I started working out.  I have been to the gym 6 of the last 7 days working on the elliptical, and lifting weights every other day. Does this seemed to have helped me?  No.   I gained 3 pounds and I'm upset about it, so the answer is classes.  Maybe I'm not pushing myself hard enough (I doubt, but I'll give it a whirl). 

So two classes.

1st is a Gravity class held on Sundays

2nd is a Zumba class held on Fridays

We'll see how it goes, first class tonight is Zumba, and since I didn't prepare, I'll be going home at lunch to get my gym clothes and water bottle and leave right after work for the gym (something I've never done before!)


Wish me luck!

Biggest Looser weigh in 10/19

Right on target for another successful week!

Reward from week one

In my quest for non food rewards I stumbled upon treating myself to a manicure.  Yay!

Clean Eating Challenge

Ok, this post is all about clean eating.

A friend invited me to this facebook challenge where until December 27th I would eat clean.  Here are the rules she laid out.
he Rules:

1. You have until Monday morning the 18th to take your measurements (weight, inches, bodyfat) and pictures. You don’t have to post them but do take them. Sometimes you won’t see a huge scale or inch loss but you’ll see a huge improvement in pictures. These will be priceless to you!!! 
2. Eat from the top two tiers of Michi's Ladder ONLY. http://teambeachbody.com/eat-smart/michis-ladder. If you cannot access this please let me know.
3. Drink atleast 64 oz. of water a day. 
4. You get one cheat meal per week. NOT A CHEAT DAY!
5. You are allowed two additional cheat snacks in this 69 day period. 
6. You must report daily for the preceding day on this events page. Feel free to post questions, comments etc. We are in this together!!
7. Alcohol is not allowed on the challenge EXCEPT for during your cheat meal.
8. You must work out atleast 5 days per week. It does not have to be a Beachbody program but if you are interested in one let me know so I can help you choose the appropriate one for you.
9. Any deviation from the above rules and you will be out of the challenge.

• Exceptions to Michi's Ladder: I am allowing the following: coffee, almond milk, greek yogurt, plain baked potatoes, limited low fat cheeses (as I know the non fat stuff can taste like cardboard), agave nectar, recovery drink, and protein supplements (bars, shakes etc...the less processed the better).

• The Prize: The person with the most improvement in stats will receive a full week of Shakeology. This will include 7 packets (flavor of your choosing) and a shaker cup. 

 I've agreed to go along with this, so I will also be blogging with my struggles.  I am much better at succeeding when I have the push of a challenge.  One of my co-workers is also involved so I won't be going the process alone.   Now to go food shopping to stay in those top two tiers!

Climbing Mount Everest

This week's challenge on SparkPeople is to "climb" the peaks of mountains around the world.   Changing your tally in feet walked or ran into the height of the mountain.  Here was today's post.  I'd also like to brag that I'm down another pound.  Maybe I can make it two by Friday's weigh-in!

(click photo to make larger)

I've marked my mountain climbing progress with a cute pair of pink tennis and the date accomplished.   The cherry photo represents my team the Crazy Cranberries.

Weigh-in day, week 1

The Stats!

Week 1 weight: 250 lbs.

Starting weight: 252 lbs.

47 Weeks left!

September 2011 goal weight: 199 or less

End goal weight: 150 lbs.

My goal each week is to loose at least one pound. This is a win week for me! Right on target.

Loss of: 2 lbs

Net loss of: 2 lbs.

I'm all about reward, so this week, I'm going to do my nails (after I do the dishes) with a fun print, maybe Zebra print this week. However, for that week that I'm feeling super unmotivated, I'm going to reward myself with these awesome Minnie Mouse inspired nail art! Until then, I'll keep practicing and staying motivated.

Minnie Mouse nail art!!

The Food Pyramid

So I have to tell you.   I was reading an article from Newsweek that was pretty entertaining, "Ten things that changed the way we eat."   I was pretty surprised that the food pyramid hasn't been around since the 70's like everything else I learned in school, instead it was instituted into classrooms in 1992. It's amazing, that growing up with technology, I forget that it didn't always exist.  For instance on the first slide it talked about allrecipes.com one of my favorite places to go to get ideas, especially if I have limited ingredients and need to be creative.  See below for slide about the food pyramid.

Click on picture to make larger.

I agree, why -do- we need so many carbs?

Sparkpeople.com

I'm part of the Crazy Cranberries team on the Biggest Looser sparkteam.  This is the Fall Challenge, I'm hoping that being accountable not only to myself and this blog, but to my teammates and my personal success on Sparkpeople.com 



Here is a picture of my first weigh in!  #1 is my current weight, #2 is my goal weight for 12/22 (when the challenge ends)

Also you'll notice at the bottom a ticker of my progress.  I love that it shows a 25% progress towards my goal! 

And the countdown begins!

I'm feeling motivated!   I set up a designated workout room in the basement with tv and dvd player for all the exercise videos and this morning I actually got up and worked out!  30 Minutes of P90X-Kenpo X.  Not the full workout, but not bad for my first tough workout since surgery.

I've added a countdown calendar, hopefully to keep me motivated on the prize and the goal.

The Introduction- starting weight 252

The who:
I, Sara, am partaking on this journey as a participant and first time blogger

The what: A weight-loss journey.

The where: The Pacific Northwest

The when: Every week over the next year

The why: To become Sara the Healthier

The how:
I'm a big fan of Sparkpeople.com and all the tools available.   I plan to use their online nutrition/exercise trackers as well as assistance from multiple groups on the website such as "Biggest Losers" 


The goal:  to be at minimum 48 pounds lighter than I currently am for my first trip to Disneyworld in September 2011.


Hopefully you'll join in my successes and my failures, my foibles and my struggles.

I know that in the end.  I'm doing this for me. In the words of Nike.

Just do it