As you have read by now, my sister had quite a week.  My heart goes out to her.  It's so hard to make ourselves a priorty and to do the things necessary to make ourselves well, when there are so many outside influences that affect us everyday.  Laurie is such a caring person and was obviously devasted by the events that transpired last week.  But she was able to pick herself back up and get back on track by the end of the week.  I'm very proud of her. 

 

As for me, I DID IT!!!!  I reached my goal of a 10% weight lost before the end of the challenge at the Y; I have lost 25.2 lbs as of this morning AND I still have one more week to go in the Y challenge and 11 more days until the end of this Biggest Loser challenge.  Now all I have to do is maintain through next week; of course losing a couple of extra pounds would be the icing on the cake. 

 

Next week is going to be a bit of a challenge for me because I have a bone marrow biospy on Tuesday, which will seriously impede my ability to work out for the remainder of the week.  It's hard to just sit after one of those surgeries, let alone trying to get in serious walking. 

 

Speaking of walking, my step count isn't too great this week.  One of the medicines that I have to take, I take on a quarterly basis (10 per day for 15 days).  Monday was day 1 of that prescription.  This medicine makes me feel quite hideous for several days until my body gets used to it.  Usually by the time that happens, it's time to quit taking it.  However, I did still manage to get in a short walk every day, so I'm happy about that.  Here's my step counts for this week. 

 

2/22 - 7130

2/23 - 6214

2/24 - 7614

2/25 - 5146

2/26 - 6168

2/27 - 6302

2/28 - 7143

 

To all you Biggest Losers out there:  We're in the home stretch now and I'm sending good thought's everyone's way, so that we can all hit that finish line with a strong showing.  Of course many of us will continue on with our journey after this.  We have such a great start.  Good luck everyone, work hard the next 11 days.  WEIGH TO GO!!!

Well the cycle was broken, but only for a week.  I'm up a pound this week.  However, I'm happy to say it is only a pound.  This time of the month is hard for me to lose.  I'm feeling very bloated. But that is not the only issue I had this week.  Like most of us I'm an emotional eater.  I had a very emotional weekend.  It started last Thursday at work.  I had to tell someone that we couldn't help them anymore.  Without going into too much detail, because I can't (legally) this person is terminal.  Needless to say they were very upset.  On Friday morning, they called me back at work and during the course of our conversation they told me that they had contemplated suicide because we couldn't help them anymore.  When I got off the phone, I was very upset.  I realize (logically) if they had done it, it wouldn't have been my fault.  However, logic is not my strong suit.  But I did ok for a while, then my boss comes up to me and tells me my interior lights are on in my car.  I tried to get them to go off, but it didn't work.  For some reason, that was the straw that broke the camels back.  I just started crying and couldn't stop.  I knew I couldn't stay at work, so I went home.  Most of that weekend I spent in kind of a funk.  Every little thing would start me crying again. So I started mindlessly eating.  I know I didn't eat a lot, but it seemed like that was all I did.  By Monday I had gained about 5lbs.  So as I say I'm happy that it was only a 1 pound gain.  BTW, I am also happy to announce that this person is still alive and kicking.  We have been able to figure out a way to help them.

 

Laurie

 

I don't know if you guys remember about a month ago, I wrote about going to the rodeo which was held at the Expo Center here in Topeka and how miserable the experience was because of trying to squish my big ol' hind quarters into that chair and the the arms of it were digging into my hips the entire time?  Well, anyway, we went to the Expo center again this past weekend.  We took two of our nieces to teh circus.  I must say, I was a bit apprehensive.  I knew that we'd be there approximately 3 hours and I wasn't too excited about having a repeat of that rodeo night discomfort. 

 

WELL, I'm happy to report that all of this hard work has paid off.  I sat right down in my seat just like a normal sized person.  There was not one iota of discomfort.  I can't wait until I take my measurements again in a coupe of weeks to see just how many inches I have lost, especially in my hips. 

I just wanted everyone to know just how proud I am of Laurie as well.  She modestly fails to mention that prior to this challenge; she was already down nearly 30 lbs.  I'm just trying my best to follow her lead.  She is the one that has really given me the motivation and courage to know that I can do this too!  It has been such a pleasure to participate in thsi Million Pound Match-up with my sister (my best friend). 

 

 

Well, I have finally broken my up and down cycle.  I'm usually up one week and down the next.  But this time I have had two down weeks in a row.  I only lost .6lbs this week, but it is definitely better then going up 1.4lbs.  I'm hoping this is the start of a new trend.  I'm so proud of my sister.  She really keeps me motivated.  Our Mom has been doing this Y thing with us and she has lost around 5lbs so far.  I'm so proud of her as well.  She is a smaller person, meaning she really doesn't have too much to lose, but she is doing great.  She is just about at the right weight for her height.  I'm just going to keep trying and perservering and hopefully I can make them as proud of me as I am of them.

 

Laurie

I DID IT!!!!   I hit the 20 lb mark this week at the weigh-in.    Actually I passed 20 right up.  I lost 2.6 lbs this week for a grand total of 21.8 lbs.  YAY!  I've had my eye on that number since the beginning of this competition.  Now I know that I can reach my ultimate goal of losing 10% of my beginning weight before the end of this challenge.   I only have 3.2 more lbs to go and we still have nearly 3 weeks left.  I am just thrilled and so thankful for this Biggest Loser challenge.  It came at just the right time for me.  Like I mentioned in my personal story, I'm just a few weeks away from being done with my cancer treatments and am ready to be done with the "cancer chapter" of my life and move on to the next chapter which for me is winning the war against fat.  This challenge has certainly given me a great start! 

 

As for my America On the Move walking challenge this week, my steps walked last week are:

 

Today is another one of those "mixed bag of emotions" weigh-in days for me.  I lost 3.6 lbs this week for a total of 19.2, which is FABULOUS, BUT I sooooo wanted to hit that 20 lb marke this week.  Sigh....so close, but no cigar.  Bummer.  Oh well, I'll have it next week. 

 

This week at the Y they added a fun little feature.  They had printouts posted on the wall so that we could see where we fall out in the list of competitors in the Y's Get Fit Topeka Challenge.  As of last week, I was #23 out of nearly 400 participants.  Top 25 baby!!!  So even though I didn't hit my 20 lbs like I wanted, that really was exciting to see.  I'm really not all that far behind the people in the top 5, so seeing that in black and white is extremely motivating.   I'm really going to push myself for the last three weeks of that challenge.  Coincedentally, it ends just 3 days before the end of this Biggest Loser challenge.  That's perfect!  Being in the stretch on both of these challenges will inspire me to give it my all.

 

As I wrote last week, I started my America on the Move challenge at work.  My steps walked last week are:

2/8   - 7566

2/9   - 8054

2/10 - 1925  (pretty much a lazy Sunday that's for sure!)

2/11 - 8505

2/12 - 7604

2/13 - 8611

2/14 - 8020

 

Not bad averages, but I want to be doing much more than that.  I don't know about the rest of you guys out there, but it has just been miserably cold here in Kansas this winter.  I don't usually mind winter so much, but I have just had it with this winter.  I'm ready for it to turn nice so I can get outside to walk.  I don't really feel motivated to put in too many steps on a treadmill.   I like being able to see the distance pass by under my feet.  Not only do treadmills not movitate me to walk alot, when it's cold, all I want to do is curl up under my big fuzzy blanket and watch tv.  Hopefully our weather will break in the next week or so and it won't be so bitterly cold and I can get outside and rack up those steps.   

Yea!!!  I actually lost this week.  I'm down 4.2lbs from last week and 8lbs overall.  I just need to make sure I stay on this losing streak.  I really was hoping for more as I was down 6lbs according to my scale, but I weigh sans clothing at home and in jeans and a t-shirt at the Y.  My plans for this week are to actually work out and to monitor my diet better.  I'll talk to you all next Friday.

 

KUTGW

 

Laurie

All I can say is it's my own fault.  I was up 1.4 lbs this morning.  However, it could have been more.  I went out to eat with an old friend last Friday night.  My band performed Friday and Saturday (free beer) and Sunday was the Super Bowl, also, it was that time(if you know what I mean).  As you can see it could have been much worse.  My game plan for next week is to go to the gym at least 3 nights and eat several small meals a day to keep my metabolism up.  I had also been allowing myself one real pop a week.  I decided to give that up for Lent.  I'm hoping that going without it for 40 days will really help me not to want it anymore.  Pepsi is a real weakness of mine, so I really related when they did the soda temptation on Biggest Loser. 

 

Well anyway,  I hope that next week I will have better news on the weight loss to report.     

 

Laurie

I almost forgot...Today is Day 1 on the America on the Move challenge at my office.  I have my trusty pedometer on and will start logging my steps. 

 

As you all know by now, Friday's are weigh-in day at our local Y.  I was really freaked out about today's weigh-in because when I weighed myself on Monday, I had GAINED 4.6 lbs overnight.  We went over to our mom's for a Superbowl party, but trust me, I did not consume 16,100 calories.  (3500 cal = 1 lb).  While I did allow myself  a bit of leniency, I was very conscience of my portions, so I have no clue what happened.  I've been working really hard this week hoping that I would be able to at least get that gain back off.  So when I went to the Y this morning, I was very pleasantly surprised to find that I "officially" lost 1.2 lbs since last Friday's weigh-in.  What that means is that "unofficially" i lost 5.8 lbs this week.  Man, I wish I could count that as progress.  Oh well, I EXTREMELy happy that I lost this week and now am at 15.6 lbs total lost since beginning this challenge! 

 

Laurie seems to have found herself in a little bit of a yo-yo situation, down one week, up the next.  We'll be putting our heads together to figure out a way to break that cycle for her.  Wish us luck!

Today is Weigh-in day at the Y.  I’m down another 4.4 lbs, for a total of 14.4!  I feel very good about the progress I’ve made over the past 4 weeks and I am sure my success so far will help to motivate me through the end of this challenge. 

I’ve been adding walking to my daily routine for the last 4 weeks.  I’ve started out slowly 10 minutes a day at first and now am up to 2-20 minute walks a day, most days of the week.   I’ve been reading recommendations that we should try to shoot for 10,000 steps per day.  For the first month of this Biggest Loser challenge, I didn’t want to keep track of steps.  I just wanted to work on incorporating walking in to my day.  My intentions were to begin Phase 2 of my Biggest Loser challenge at the halfway mark (this next week).  Phase 2 includes using a pedometer to track my steps each day. 

Talk about perfect timing.  At work last week, we got an email introducing a fitness challenge.  It is AOM, America on the Move.  It’s a walking challenge that my employer is challenging us to.  Our walking challenge at work runs from Feb 8 – March 21^st.   This challenge requires a pedometer to track steps.   AOM has a pretty cool website,  www.americaonthemove.org.   They offer you the option of 6 different trails to challenge yourself over the timeframe of your choosing.  The trails run the gamut of one that averages 4310 steps over the course of the 42 day challenge and one that averages 10095 over the course of the challenge.  I haven’t decided which of the six I’m going to pick yet.  Next week I’m supposed to track my steps for 3 days just to get a base count of how many steps I’m taking right now during the day.  After I do that, then I’ll know that I want to challenge myself to a route that will incorporate at least 2000 extra steps per day.   I’ll be posting my efforts so you all can watch my progress. 

Phase 2 also will introduce a new phase to my nutrition.  Like I said, this first month for me was just an easing in period.  I didn’t want to overwhelm myself by trying to be too rigid with my food or my exercise.  Now that I’m getting in the swing of things, I really need to start keeping track of my food intake in a journal.  I think that will be extremely helpful during this next phase as usually in the beginning, weight can fall off rather quickly.  I want to be able to keep losing steadily for the remainder of the challenge and beyond, and I believe that journaling will be the key to keeping a close eye on what I am doing to be successful or what I am doing that might impede my progress.