An end, and a beginning

My 8 weeks as a contestant on Win, Lose or Blog are over.  I was less than a pound off of my 25 pound weight loss goal and WON! Woo hoo!

Here is my final blog update from W, L or B until I can get this new blog up and fancy.

Please follow me!

Steph

Start of competition

8 weeks later

Before I started Win, Lose or Blog...

I weighed 268 pounds.

My waist measured 49 inches.

I was labeled "morbidly obese."

I often had lower back and knee pain.

Exercise was a chore

I ended every day feeling bad about myself and my choices

I "couldn't" resist treats

I ate all day long

I ate a lot each night while watching TV

I never felt comfortable in my clothes

I was frustrated at my lack of "will power"

I was optimistic that I would one day lose weight, but hadn't made a complete effort to do so.

I found Win, Lose or Blog on a message board that I frequent. I debated back and forth on whether or not to submit an application and decided to do it the last night possible.  Looking back at the "before" picture I had my husband take I remember feeling miserable and embarrassed.  I hate the fact that I look so terrible. I used to feel pretty, but haven't felt that way in a long time.

I was ecstatic when I found out I was chosen from 57 applicants. Even better was the fact that I didn't have a few days or a week to "prepare" for my diet. Usually my preparation means eating as much crap as I can before I won't be able to! Terrible!  When I first saw my picture and weight on the internet I was humiliated.  But as I worked hard and kept on at my tortoise pace I felt myself becoming empowered. I can do this, I can do this!  I read supportive words from new friends, I examined calorie intake and switched things up.  At the gym I became a regular, my workouts became more intense, my desire to workout became a habit.

Eight weeks have flown by.  I did my final weigh-in and pictures.  This is the first time I've done "before" pictures and WOW are they awesome! If you haven't done it before, I totally recommend it.  I didn't feel like I looked that different from the beginning, but looking at the two pictures side by side I see changes that make me feel accomplished.  I'm nowhere near done with weight loss, but I feel like I'm steadily on the right path.

After Win, Lose or Blog-Season 1

I weigh 243 pounds.

My waist now measures 40.5 inches (5.5 more inches to go to reach a "healthy" waist size for women)

I am only obese. Ha! That doesn't sound great but glad to see that "morbidly" go!

I haven't had back pain for many weeks! My knee is mostly better.

I can honestly say I love going to the gym!

I end every day with my muscles feeling worked, and proud of myself.

I make great food and portion choices.

I eat when I'm hungry.

I have a small snack, or no snack at all in the evening. (Depending on where my calories are, and if I am actually hungry).

While I'm not flaunting my body, I feel much better in clothes. I've gone down a size and a half in pants,  one size down in shirts, and two dress sizes!

I'm so proud of what I've accomplished in 8 weeks, and ready to keep on going!

I know I can reach my goals and am excited to get down to my goal weight.

 Even though Win, Lose or Blog is over for me, my weight loss journey will continue on my new blog See Steph Lose. Please follow me there! And please be patient while I get it looking all fancy (I'm on vacation and do not have the best internet connection).

Congratulations to all of the other contestants who lost weight, it was fun to get to know you and I look forward to keeping in touch with you and cheering you on. A BIG thanks to the ladies who organized Win, Lose or Blog your work helped me so much! And of course, thank you to everyone who cheered me on, especially my husband who was the best support a girl could ask for.

Don't forget to apply for Season 2! I'll be reading and cheering!

Steph

What a difference 8 weeks can make

Start of competition

8 weeks later

Before I started Win, Lose or Blog...
I weighed 268 pounds.
My waist measured 49 inches.
I was labeled "morbidly obese."
I often had lower back and knee pain.
Exercise was a chore
I ended every day feeling bad about myself and my choices
I "couldn't" resist treats
I ate all day long
I ate a lot each night while watching TV
I never felt comfortable in my clothes
I was frustrated at my lack of "will power"
I was optimistic that I would one day lose weight, but hadn't made a complete effort to do so.

I found Win, Lose or Blog on a message board that I frequent. I debated back and forth on whether or not to submit an application and decided to do it the last night possible.  Looking back at the "before" picture I had my husband take I remember feeling miserable and embarrassed.  I hate the fact that I look so terrible. I used to feel pretty, but haven't felt that way in a long time.

I was ecstatic when I found out I was chosen from 57 applicants. Even better was the fact that I didn't have a few days or a week to "prepare" for my diet. Usually my preparation means eating as much crap as I can before I won't be able to! Terrible!  When I first saw my picture and weight on the internet I was humiliated.  But as I worked hard and kept on at my tortoise pace I felt myself becoming empowered. I can do this, I can do this!  I read supportive words from new friends, I examined calorie intake and switched things up.  At the gym I became a regular, my workouts became more intense, my desire to workout became a habit.

Eight weeks have flown by.  I did my final weigh-in and pictures.  This is the first time I've done "before" pictures and WOW are they awesome! If you haven't done it before, I totally recommend it.  I didn't feel like I looked that different from the beginning, but looking at the two pictures side by side I see changes that make me feel accomplished.  I'm nowhere near done with weight loss, but I feel like I'm steadily on the right path.

After Win, Lose or Blog-Season 1
I weigh 243 pounds.
My waist now measures 40.5 inches (5.5 more inches to go to reach a "healthy" waist size for women)
I am only obese. Ha! That doesn't sound great but glad to see that "morbidly" go!
I haven't had back pain for many weeks! My knee is mostly better.
I can honestly say I love going to the gym!
I end every day with my muscles feeling worked, and proud of myself.
I make great food and portion choices.
I eat when I'm hungry.
I have a small snack, or no snack at all in the evening. (Depending on where my calories are, and if I am actually hungry).
While I'm not flaunting my body, I feel much better in clothes. I've gone down a size and a half in pants,  one size down in shirts, and two dress sizes!
I'm so proud of what I've accomplished in 8 weeks, and ready to keep on going!
I know I can reach my goals and am excited to get down to my goal weight.

 Even though Win, Lose or Blog is over for me, my weight loss journey will continue on my new blog See Steph Lose. Please follow me there! And please be patient while I get it looking all fancy (I'm on vacation and do not have the best internet connection).

Congratulations to all of the other contestants who lost weight, it was fun to get to know you and I look forward to keeping in touch with you and cheering you on. A BIG thanks to the ladies who organized Win, Lose or Blog your work helped me so much! And of course, thank you to everyone who cheered me on, especially my husband who was the best support a girl could ask for.

Don't forget to apply for Season 2! I'll be reading and cheering!

Steph

Ch-Ch-Ch Changes

o

My cousin and I at the family reunion. Ha ha ha! JK!

OOOweeee it has been a crazy few weeks. Me and the kids drove to Utah to visit my family, played with my sisters and their kids and my parents, went to a family reunion at a cabin, then promptly hopped on a plane and flew out to California for a vacation with my husband and his family.

When we were planning this trip and I realized I'd have 2 weigh-ins while in Utah and my final weigh-in in California I was nervous. Getting away from the "safety" of my normal schedule and eating was a scary prospect.

This week I had a few surprises. First...I started my  period on Monday.  Remember my post about crazy salt cravings?? Guess what, I DIDN'T EVEN HAVE THEM. I had no idea my period was coming because I skipped: 1) salt cravings 2) face breakout 3) grumpiness. WHAT?!? Then I read this article. So cool when you see all of the benefits that come with eating well and exercising, isn't it?

I had big plans this week to go to my sister's house to run on her treadmill. For a few different reasons, this didn't happen.  I swam laps mostly every day, but since I was in Utah with both kids and no husband, I didn't get to swim as long or as hard as I had planned.  I helped my parents out with some gardening too, but was still worried because I am so used to an hour plus of a fairly intensive workout.  My eating did go as planned, though.  I was very proud of myself for surviving THREE whole days of a junk food extravaganza a.k.a my family reunion. Costco cookies and chips out ALL THE TIME, brownies, my sister's really yummy homemade cookies, it practically looked like one of the Biggest Loser Temptations! But I did it. None of those treats were worth sabotaging all of the hard work I've done for the past 7 weeks.

So when I weighed myself in yesterday before hopping on an airplane I did it a bit nervously but also hopefully. And I weighed in at 245.5!! A whopping FIVE pound loss since last week, my second biggest weight loss of the copetition,  and 22.5 pounds lost since the beginning of Win, Lose or Blog. Yahoooo!

Why did I lose so much this week? I'm not sure. I'm wondering if it could be proof of the caloric intake vs. calorie burning (this week, I exercised less and ate the same, maybe evening that out better?) or if a change in exercise challenged my body? I'm not sure that I'll ever know.  What I do know is, there are new challenges this week.  I'm in a new place, and I need to continue to eat well and try to fit in as much exercise as possible.  I also need to buy a new scale. I didn't pack mine, and my in-law's dial scale (lean to the left and you gain a few pounds) just isn't gonna cut it.  Hopefully they aren't insulted when I leave a scale here for them. Ha ha!

My goal for this week is to round out my total weight loss to 25 pounds. More would be awesome. :)

I appreciate everyone's help and encouragement during this competition. It has been a wonderful opportunity for me! I'm planning on posting more this week, and talking about some of the things that have helped me to make THIS weight loss journey a success. Are there any questions you have for me??

Thanks ladies!!

Steph

Pack it up Pack it In.

 (This is not my scale, or my mom's scale. :) )

I survived a 10 hour roadtrip, sans my husband, with a 5 year old and a 2 year old. I packed a bunch of special treats for them, but didn't eat any of them myself. Woohoo!

We are now in Utah, at my parents' house. I will be spending the rest of Win, Lose, or Blog on vacation which makes me a bit nervous because vacation = eating delicious foods (to me anyway). I'm just watching my portions and will be heading over to my sister's treadmill first thing in the morning. I would be really bummed if I lost all of my walk/jogging progress over the next 3 weeks.

I packed very differently for this vacation. Never before in my life have I packed workout clothes for my vacation. And most notably I packed my scale because my mom's scale has been known to add 10 pounds to your weight after a shower (true story!).  Little did I know she has new scales now. I weighed myself on my scale this morning and I'm down 3 pounds. Totally exciting! Then I weighed myself on my mom's scale and I was down 5. Why did I pack that thing again? :)

So since the beginning of this adventure I am now down 17.5 pounds.  Truthfully I would like to have lost more at this point, but I am really excited about the 3 pounds I lost this week. I'm going hard these last two weeks and see what I can do.  If I can finish strong on vacation, I can keep going all the way to my goal, right?

Have a great week!

Got my number

This is totally NOT me, but lets pretend I look like this running. Or look like this period.

Something cool happened at the gym today. At this little town gym, you say your four digit number and the staff checks you in on the computer. When I walked in today the guy working knew my number and said it before I did.  I think I've been going to the gym often enough! :)

My friend, Heidi, who is an awesome runner recommended keeping track of how far I run and adding it up as a motivational tool.  Today I added up and I have walk/jogged...

81.75 miles 

....in the past six weeks.  (27 runs)

Pretty exciting!

I haven't been updating every day lately, because I'm afraid it is just boring to you. But I have been eating well, and exercising. Today I went my farthest distance yet, 3.86 miles, and burned 590 calories. Then I did weight lifting on my legs and some ab work (45 minutes worth).

Calorie wise, I'm at 1790 calories today. Not too bad.

I have a lot to do before we leave on Friday, so we will be so busy for the next few days.

How YOU doin?

I'm in and I'm out, I'm up and I'm down...

Where is everyone today? Usually Mondays mean a lot of posts, I'm feeling kinda lonely in Win, Lose or Blog land! Anyone out there??

So, my weigh in this week is bad. But also a bit good. Let me explain.

Last weekend we were camping, so I sent in my weight on Saturday (253). When we got back on Monday night I weighed myself and I was up to 257! Seriously!! I'm still a bit baffled by that. I did eat a few s'mores but otherwise ate really well (my husband is baffled too).  Anyhoo, I've worked out and eaten well all week and slowly that number creeped down, until my weigh in yesterday was 253.5.  So while I *show* a weight gain, I did actually lose this week, (let's just forget about that huge gain last weekend, okay? ;) )

So I am frustrated to be back to last weeks weight...really frustrated. All week I willed those down numbers to go down, down, down. Sigh. But I'm going to be fine this week.  It is a crazy busy week at our house and on Friday we leave to drive down to visit my family.  For the rest of Win, Lose or Blog I will be on  vacation!  I'm a teensy bit worried about leaving my gym behind, but feel confident that food wise I will be  good. I am packing my scale. F'real. :O) Although when we FLY to California for the last week I'm not sure if I will be able to pack it. Hmmm.

Hope you had a super great weekend.

Here's to that number going DOWN, DOWN, DOWN!!

Steph

5, 2122

5
Remember my goal of walk/jogging a 5K in 45 minutes? Today I really, really, really, REALLY thought I was going to do it. I was so close, and at 43 minutes was just on the brink of 3.1 miles. at 44:30 I was at 3 miles and realized I was in trouble.  I sped the treadmill up to 6.4 mph and booked it. I ran as fast as my feet could take me and got....so.....darn....close. I hit 3.1 miles at 45:05.  Five seconds away! I was super excited to get so close. I think I have a bit of a runners high. How cool is that??

2122
Also, do you remember how I decided to up my calories? I've had a hard time reaching 2400 calories. It just felt like too much.  When I came home from the gym today, my Shape magazine had arrived and on the cover it said, "How many calories do you really need?" Of course I flipped right to the article and here is a synopsis of what it said:

1. Multiply your goal weight by 100. For me, 144 pounds x 100=1440 calories. (I remember one of you mentioned this in a comment, see how smart you are!)
2. If you have an active job, or are on your feet a lot add another 3 calories per pound of your ideal body weight. I think being a mom means I stay pretty active. No desk job here. :) +432 calories
3. On the days you work out, add half the calories you burn to your allotted intake. I usually burn around 500 calories on the treadmill +250 calories

So my total recommended intake is 2122 ish.

That being said, I'm wayyyyy low today. I just didn't feel hungry very much and I'm at 1515 calories right now.  I've got to do better at this, and snack on good things during the day. I'm going to try and be more like Mindy and plan out my snacks and meals in the morning.  Will you help me? What are your favorite healthy snacks?

Here are my results for the day.
Eating:
1515 calories
Exercise:
Treadmill-60 minutes (573 calories, 3.83 miles, 15:35/mph, 132 calories, 5K at 45:05!) Weight lifting arms 30 minutes.

Rolling with the punches

You know how you wake up and have your day planned out in your head? And then as the day progresses you get further and further away from your vision and suddenly have to regroup and figure out what to do next?  That was my day today.

My husband and I recently opened up a business. He still works full time at another job, and I stay home with the kids while we have an employee run our store. I do work for the business on the side and we had kind of a big exciting meeting today. I knew I had this meeting, and I also knew that a good friend from college was coming over for dessert tonight. So I had my day planned to get groceries, clean the house, prepare for the meeting, have the meeting, workout and have fun. The first part of the day went fine, but after the meeting (when I had planned on cleaning) some things came up and I had to go to our store. I ended up getting home right when I was supposed to go to the gym, and still had a fair amount of cleaning up to do.

A few weeks ago, I would have totally just skipped the gym. "I worked out a lot yesterday," I would have rationalized. Or, "There's no way I can fit in exercise today, I'll just skip it."  But today I stayed strong, I hustled through my cleaning, I rolled with the punches that today threw and got to the gym.  I didn't workout as long as I had planned, but I worked hard and felt good afterwards.

We had a fun visit with our friend and I was glad I made the choices I did.  All in all a great day!

Eating: 
1715 calories

Exercise: Treadmill (39 minutes, 2.45 miles, 371 calories, not sure on the other stats because I had to go to the bathroom in the middle so I got two readings...by the way, I cannot go to the bathroom and wash my hands in 60 seconds. In case you are wondering. The darn treadmill turned off and I had to start over).

Gym Rat

Today we started something new. My kids started evening swim lessons. This is normally when I go to the gym and my husband plays with the kids while I'm gone. When I offered the suggestion of having then go to swimming lessons they were excited to have something cool to do in the super hot summer evenings.  John suggested that they drop me off and pick me up from the gym which sounded great until I realized that would mean I was going to spend 2 HOURS at the gym. TWO HOURS PEOPLE.  I usually do a teensy bit over an hour so I was a little overwhelmed at the idea of doubling that. At the same time, I've been wanting to spend more time lifting weights and this set up means I am forced to exercise longer. So I went for it.

I upped my treadmill jog/walk to 55 minutes (plus a 5 minute cool down).  Then I jumped on an elliptical machine with the plan of doing 30 minutes but only lasted 100 calories worth (about 9 minutes). It was the machine I didn't like. After that I did 30 minutes of weights working on my legs, and 15 minutes of ab work. Then my happy kids and cooled off husband came to pick me up. It was great! I burned 626 calories (not counting the weight lifting) and felt wonderful afterwards.

So for the next two weeks I will be a gym rat. We'll see how doubling my exercise time affects my weight loss.

Here are my results for the day:
Eating: 1860 calories
Exercise: 60 minutes on the treadmill (518 calories, 3.65 miles, 16:24 pace 132 hr). Elliptical (.64 miles, 108 calories) 30 minutes weight lifting legs, 15 minutes ab work.

How was your day?

Halfway done and 15 pounds!

We're back from a restorative weekend of camping, nothing like hanging out in the beautiful outdoors to relax you. It was such fun!

I was also so excited to see I am in first place. Woot woot! When we started this competition I had a goal of being in the top 3 every week, and I it was a thrill to see my name in the top spot for this week.

I've been working hard, and staying consistent and I am down 15 pounds at the halfway mark. I hope to keep going strong through the end of this competition.

Thank you to everyone who is following me, commenting and just supporting me in general. You are great!

I'll be back to the grindstone tomorrow and back with my daily update. Today we did a 2 mile hike, but I didn't keep track of my calories, just chose good food. :)

See you tomorrow!

Didja miss me?

My husband noticed I didn't post yesterday...I was getting ready to post when my daughter woke up screaming.

Guess who was at the gym today?  Yep....backpack boy! Besides some crazy awesome moves, he also did a lot of very noisy grunting.  I thought of what his exercising reminded me of today. Phoebe running on "Friends."   Seriously people. He is crazy, and crazy funny. I have to try really hard not to laugh while watching him. When I run I know I'm not super graceful or anything, but this guy is quite a sight to see. I have to give him props because he works really hard, but I wish I had a super spy camera so you all could see his awesomeness.

Today I did cross training again and tried the bike. Not a fan! It hurt my butt, and my pants kept riding up. I didn't last the 15 minutes I was shooting for. Maybe I'll try the recumbent bike next time?

Yesterday:
Eating: 1900 calories
Exercise: 55 minutes on treadmill (494 calories, 3.32 miles, 3.62 mph, 16:33, 127 hr)

Today:
Eating: 1780 calories
Exercise: 43:02 (367, 2.56 miles, 3.57 mph, 16:48, 128 hr) Bike- 8 minutes, 2+ miles, 50 calories

This weekend we are going camping, I'll be doing some hiking which will be fun and different from the usual! I'll send in my Friday weight again and check in with you on Monday. Have a great weekend!!

Girls gone wild?

Dear sir,
I see you at the gym every day wearing the SAME cut off shirt that says, "Security-Girls gone wild." I think I speak for *most* women when I say if you are trying to attract a lady friend, you may want to try a different shirt...especially if you only have one and are wearing it to the gym every day.

Signed,

A concerned fellow gym go-er

I had a good day at the gym, it felt good to be back on track. I tried to mix it up a little and did 40 minutes on the treadmill and an additional 1.1 miles on the elliptical trainer.  I think I might try to "cross train" every other day so my body doesn't get in a rut.

Eating is not going fabulous...I ate well, but didn't get in my 2400 calories.  I don't want to eat just for the sake of eating, so I'm calling it good but I'm going to try and have five small meals tomorrow.

Here are my stats for day 24...

Eating: 
1899 calories

Exercise: 
40 minutes on treadmill (365 calories, 2.48 miles, 3.69 mph, 16:14 miles, 135 heart rate)
Elliptical-1.1 miles, 110 calories

Today

Today we had fun! I definitely hit my calorie number, not sure exactly how many calories I ate because I ate the following: Movie popcorn, clam chowder, a little less than half of a slice of key lime pie. And, NO EXERCISE. I saw the movie "Knight and Day, " and got to go on a date with my husband, sister, and brother-in-law.

AAAUGGGHHH.

But it sure was fun to hang out with my sister and her family. Tomorrow we'll be back to the grindstone, and I will be consoling two sad kids who aren't being spoiled by their older cousins. :)

Hope your day was fun too. :)

Eating more, losing more??

Here we are starting week 4, the half-way point. I've lost 11 pound total now (7 first week, 2 the following two weeks).   I've been pretty good at keeping close to my calorie goal, and really good about getting to the gym. But last week, after returning from my weekend away (on Monday) I weighed myself and had lost 2 pounds since my Friday weigh-in. Then through the rest of the week I stayed at that weight.  Kind of strange!

One of my followers, Chrissy, has mentioned that she thinks some of the contestants calorie intakes are too low, so I started researching calorie intake.  When I started this contest, I looked up "how many calories to lose weight" and found the bottom limit for weight loss for women to be 1200. More accurately, women should not go below 1200 calories a day.  Since I am always trying to be the hare in the race of course I decided to do the 1200 calorie limit which has been pretty doable. But after Chrissy's concerned comments, a lot of research AND my weight loss stall of last week, I've decided to do something a little counter intuitive (to me!) and raise my calorie intake.  I tried a few different online calculators and have decided to go up to 2400 calories.  That is DOUBLE my previous intake.  Some of the calorie calculators recommended I go up to 2900 calories, but I'm not sure about that big of an increase. I'm not going to eat cupcakes and doritos to double my calories though...I'm going to try to add in more fruits and vegetables and protein.  We'll see how this week's weight loss goes.

That being said, I didn't do great today at doubling those calories. I mentioned that my sister and her family are in town so today we were out and about all day and I just didn't get all those calories in.  I'm somewhere around 1800 calories right now and not feeling super hungry (plus it is late!). Rats. Tomorrow is a new day, I will work harder on getting those calories in (man that sound weird!).

Here are my stats for the day. Wish me luck on this little experiment!

Oh, and I shaved 10 seconds off my 5K time today at the gym....47:00 even! Woohoo!

Eating: 
1800 calories

Exercise: 
51:33
529 calories
3.4 miles
3.96 mph
15:08 pace
141 heart rate.

Day 20 Crazy day!

When will I learn? Yesterday I thought that I only had a *few* things to do to get ready for our guests (my sister, her husband and their four kids).  HA! After some morning errands we spent from 12:30 until 6:30 CLEANING cleaning cleaning! We got done right before they got here, so that was good, but man alive I have got to plan better.

So the bad part is that I 1) didn't go to the gym and 2) didn't eat enough calories.  I had a piece of string cheese for lunch and was so busy the rest of the day I didn't snack or anything.
I did make yummy, yummy kebabs for dinner, so that was delicious but I was really low on the calories today which isn't good.

I know you burn calories cleaning, but I sure missed my workout today! I'll start up fresh on Monday. :)

Happy weekend everyone!

Eating:
910 calories

Exercise:
6 hours of cleaning? ;) (at 200 an hour supposedly.)

Getting in shape??!? Could it be?

Something CrAzy happened at the gym this afternoon!  The treadmills I work out on have a heart rate monitor on the handlebars.  There is a target heart range posted on the machine that I've try to keep my heart rate at, and it usually isn't too much of a problem...until today.

I started off with my usual 5 minute warm up and tested my heart rate to make sure it was at the low end of the zone. Nope, way too low. "Strange," I thought and started doing  my interval jogging.  Right before I run and right after I test my heart rate (I don't like keeping my hands on the monitor the whole time) and my heart rate was much lower than it has been in the past.  Usually I have to slow myself down after a few jogging intervals because my heart rate is out of the target zone, but not today! I had to speed myself up a few times to stay on target.  Am I getting more in shape? Is that what could be going on? I hope so!  My body has gotten nearly 3 weeks of consistent exercise, so maybe!

Here are my results of the day:
Eating: 
1761 calories (Costco chicken bake did me in!)
Exercise: 
54 minutes on the treadmill (494 calories, 3.33 miles, 3.7 pace, 16:12, 135 av. heart rate)

My sister and her family are coming into town for a few days tomorrow. So I will be busy cleaning and getting ready for some fun guests. Have a great weekend!

Day 18 Results

Exercise:
55 minutes on the treadmill (477 calories, 3.26 miles, 3.55 mph, 16:52 Pace, 142 HR)

Eating: 
1361 Calories

Day 17

Today was kind of a "meh" day. Not super, not horrible. My workout definitely reflected that. I finished my 5K distance, but not until 50:30.  My knee was bothering me a bit during the last 1/3 of the workout so I stopped jogging.

Hoping my "get up and go" will be back in the morning. :)

Eating:
1557 calories

Exercise:
55 minutes on the treadmill (484 calories, 3.27 miles, 16:47 pace, 136 heart rate)
15 minutes abs

Results Day Sixteen-Channeling my inner Jillian

I'm finding it hard to believe it has already been 16 days since I started Win, Lose or Blog.  It has been a great experience for me so far.

One of the questions we were asked in the application process was, "Why is this time going to be different?" It was a hard question to answer, because when you try to lose weight over and over again you start to doubt yourself, your self confidence (at least in the weight loss area) takes a huge hit every time you fail: "Why can't I do this? What is wrong with me?"

So why is this time going to be different?

First, I have an accountability that I've never had before. Every day I'm expected to report on how I ate and exercised.

Second, I'm focusing more on meeting an athletic goal than on how many calories I'm burning. Seriously, this is making such a huge difference for me! I've always admired runners, I love seeing them cross the finish line, I'm impressed by their drive to keep going and accomplish a goal. THIS time, I'm working on a 5K distance, with the goal of jog/walking one in 45 minutes.  When I'm on the treadmill, I'm watching my time, I'm checking out my pace, I'm trying to step it up and finish a little faster each time.  Before Win, Lose or Blog when I was on a treadmill I'd be constantly checking out "how much time do I have left? Have I burned enough calories yet?" And that made my exercise miserable! I'm finding it amazing that I don't even notice the time left, I'm not worried about the calories. That feels great!

I'm going to visit my family in Utah in August and I'm trying to find a 5K I can run while I'm there. It would be wonderful to finish it in a time FASTER than 45 minutes.  I'm thinking of moving my goal to 38 minutes. Kind of a random number, but it sounds good doesn't it?

Third, I'm pushing myself.  I absolutely LOVE the show "Losing it with Jillian," and how hard the people on the show are pushed by Jillian.  She tests them to show them how capable they are of doing hard things.  When I'm on the treadmill and the time comes to jog, I think about what Jillian would say to ME and I push myself to run longer and faster each interval.

So why is this time different for you?

Eating: 
1331 Calories

Exercise: 
Treadmill: 55 minutes (476 calories, 3.23 miles, 3.52 mph, 17:00 pace, 120 Heart rate)
Weights: 15 minutes arms (dumbbells, kettle balls)

Woohoo!

I went to the gym tonight and finished my 5K at 47:10...I'm thisclose to hitting my 45 minute goal. Woohoo! I was on track for the first two miles (finished each at a 15 minute pace) but I got super tired at the end and just didn't have it in me to run anymore.

That's all.

I'm just excited about it. :)

Helloooo!

Hi everyone!
I've been out of town without internet access (AAAuuuuggggh the horror!) all weekend. We had a great time, and I did pretty good! I found a way to exercise every day (although probably not to the normal intensity I've been used to) and did good on my eating.
I'm totally excited to be back and am getting my shoes on to hit the gym as soon as I'm done with this quick update.

I was a little sad that our results didn't get updated on the main page because some people didn't weigh-in.  I sent my weight in on Friday (down two pounds) since I knew I'd be away from the computer. I'm hoping my fellow contestants send in their weight soon so we can see where we're at.

I'm hoping for a bigger loss this week, I need it to reach my Win, Lose or Blog weight loss goal!

How was your fourth? Hope it was a good one!

Full Disclosure

Did you know, that it only takes 11 Doritos chips to equal 150 calories? Also, did you know, if you eat some you might very well be outed by your 2 year old when she says, "You have Cheetos fingers mommy!"

I told you in the beginning there would be full disclosure. And this afternoon I screwed up. At the risk of too much disclosure...I am about to start my period and get INTENSE salt cravings right about now. The Doritos tasted really, REALLY yummy. Yummy enough that I ate (gulp) TWO servings of them.  So today wasn't great calorie wise. But the good news is I *mindfully* ate the chips (counting as I went) and didn't just give up my whole eating healthy because of one slip up.  I also went to the gym afterwards and did a hard workout.  Just trying to look on the bright size.

Tomorrow we leave to go out of town for the weekend. I'm worried because I'm not sure how I will exercise. Any tips about what to do at a friends weekend condo? No gym, not sure if there is a close by running path.  I am bringing some of my own food and will be watching calories as usual, but it is a bit scary! Wish me luck!

So here are my results for the day:
Calories:  1480
Exercise:
Treadmill: 55 minutes (520 calories, 3.36 miles, 3.67 average mph, 16:19 mile, heartrate 128)

Wanna know something cool? I shaved 30 seconds off my 5K time today, I finished a 5k at 48:30. Woohoo!

Day 10 Results

My husband isn't feeling well, but he really wanted me to go to the gym so he took care of the kids while I went. He is the best! I couldn't do this without his support.

Today was a little rough, I wanted to eat a lot more than I should, I was internally whiny all day. I also really didn't feel like going to the gym, but I kicked butt at my run/walk today. I tried to run (translation: jog) for 1 minute of each song I listened to on my iPod.  I burned the most calories yet in my 50 minute workout (529) and finished a 5K at 48 minutes (3 minutes away from my WLorB end goal). Woohoo!

Here are my official stats (more for me than you). :)

Eating: 
-Calories: 1320 Calories (I've got to get back to my 1200 goal. I did so good last week, but not so much this week).

Exercise: 
-Treadmill 54:05 (burned 529 calories, went 3.38 miles at av speed of 3.76 mph, average pace 15:56, heart rate 135).

How was your Wednesday?

Day Nine in nine words

Gym
Treadmill
Abs
Eclipse
Jacob
Abs
Popcorn
Control
Sleepy


(I budgeted my calories for the popcorn and was in total control. It felt awesome. Sorry, now that is more than nine words. ) ;)

Day 8 Results

I did my workout at lunchtime today and it was my best yet~
Eating- 1381. Oops. Need to watch closer tomorrow.
Exercise-
Cardio-Treadmill 53:35 (470 calories, 3.26 miles, 3.66 average speed, 16:23 pace (woohoo!), 141 heart rate. I was only 5 MINUTES off of my goal to do a 5k in 45 minutes. Maybe I can shave that goal down a bit? 35 minutes?
Weights-15 minutes arms.

What did you do for exercise today? :)

Monday, Monday

If you didn't see already on the main Win, Lose, or Blog page, I lost 7 pounds this week.  I should be thrilled, but instead I'm feeling a little disappointed I didn't do better. I have the most weight to lose, but didn't lose the most weight. Ugh! I'm trying to move out of that mindset and keep moving along like that tortoise. Slow and steady.

I did lose 4 inches off of my waist which is really exciting. I still have quite a few inches left until I reach an ideal waist size for my height (34" or less) but I'm on my way! I remember in high school I wore boy style jeans from the gap that were 32" waist (I wore them low on my hips). I also remember I could take them off without unzipping or unsnapping them, meaning my hips were hardly more than 32". Crazy!

This week I'm going to keep with my exercise and food intake. I'm going to up my cardio to 50 minutes (before cool-down) and try to add in more jogging intervals. I *think* my knee is doing well enough that I can add alternating leg days to my weightlifting, we'll have to see how it goes.

I also wanted to add some exercise goals. By the end of Win, Lose or Blog I want to be able to:

- complete a 5K in 45 minutes (or less)
-do 50 consecutive sit-ups (I can do 20 right now)
-do 15 real push-ups

How did you do this week? Any big plans for the fourth of July?

Day 6-Not a typical day

Normally, my husband works on Saturdays but he had the day off today. Woohoo!
I usually go to the gym to workout right around dinner time, but today I went at breakfast. It wasn't my worst workout, but certainly not my best. I just didn't feel as energetic as I do in the evenings.

We went to my husband's work's summer party at lunchtime and I had a hamburger sans bun and salad. I was still a little hungry afterward but survived. :) We went swimming at a community pool after the party and while I don't think I burned a lot of calories playing the "bad dragon" who wanted to eat a "princess sandwich" (my daughter) I was moving around and we had fun.  We went to eat at a greek restaurant for dinner and for my splurge of the week I had a gyro with the sauce on the side. It was delicious!

Tomorrow will be my day of rest, but I will keep track of calories and weigh-in. Exciting! Or so we hope.

Here are my results for Day 6:
Eating:
Calories: 1187
Exercise: 
Treadmill: 47:23 (383 calories, 2.71 miles walked, 3.43 mph, 17:38 pace, 124 heart rate)
Weights: 15 minutes of ab/core work

Valleys and Peaks

Since I told you how much I weigh (humiliating) and have blogged about other crappy things, you won't hate me if I brag for a minute, will you? Because today was really, really good.  Why was it good? Let me tell you!

It was the last day of the first session of swimming lessons for my kids. My super brave 5 year old son went off the high diving board, which scared me to death but made me really proud and made him really happy for himself. My daughter took a nap (which she hasn't in a while)  and was much happier the rest of the afternoon (bonus!). My husband got to come home from work early and I've been missing him lately.  And we had some guest over for dinner. Normally I am a little crazy getting the house ready but it was pretty clean so I decided to try a new recipe.

I went to one of my favorite recipe websites, www.ourbestbites.com and found this delish looking recipe (Chili-lime mango chicken skewers) which I had all of the ingredients for (woohoo! No trip to the store!). I also made the cilantro rice they mention on the website, garlic bread, zucchini sauteed in garlic and olive oil and brownies (my fav!) for dessert.  The chicken is SO yummy, seriously, you have to try the recipe! I didn't eat the rice, garlic bread or brownies, but my husband, kids and our guests liked them so they must have been all right.  What was exciting for me was that I ate just the healthy part and didn't feel deprived! My tummy was full and I was quite all right (unlike yesterday) with eating what I ate.

I plugged the chicken skewer recipe into an awesome free iPhone/iPod app called "Lose It" and it calculated that there are approximately 253 calories in each serving. Not too bad, eh?

Then after dinner and clean-up, I thought, "Time for the gym!" without feeling dread. I was looking forward to it! Wow! Even though I worked out within 45 minutes of eating dinner, my workout went great. I did lots of jogging and it felt good.  See what a wonderful day I had? From a valley to a peak. I'll have to try and remember today the next time I'm having a down day.

Thanks for all of your words of encouragement about my day yesterday, I am loving Win, Lose or Blog and am so grateful I was chosen for this round.

Here are my results for Day 5. 

Eating: 1194 calories
Exercise:
     Treadmill: 47:36 minutes (438 calories, 2.87 miles, 3.62 mph 16:34 pace 145 heart rate)
     Weights: 20 minutes, free weights and circuit weights for arms. (I haven't done legs yet because my knee and achilles tendon are not great right now)

Tortoise and the Hare (Day Four Results)

Right about now, dear readers, is when I would be giving up and giving in to that delicious Costco strawberry cheesecake that taunts me from our refrigerator. Apparently day four is the day when the newness and excitement of a lifestyle change get beaten down by bad habits....at least for me. 

It was just kind of a blah day.  Food wasn't filling me up. When I went to the gym I wasn't as excited and kind of plodded through the workout (I did do the 5K though).  I didn't eat badly, and I still exercised, but my heart just wasn't in it today.  Pretty sad that it only took four days!

Lucky for me, I have Win, Lose or Blog. If I wasn't in this competition than I am pretty sure I would have caved today. Maybe just eaten a bit too much, or maybe not walked as far as I did.  Then the downward slide out of eating healthy and into my regular habits would have begun.  But I know that I can do ANYTHING for 8 weeks. And I know that someone here would have been sad if I gave up already, especially me.

It reminds me of the story of the tortoise and the hare.  When it comes to eating better, exercising and losing weight I am a lot like the hare.  I'm ready for immediate results, ready to get it over with ready to be thin right now!  But I need to be more like the tortoise, slow and steady wins the race.

Thanks for being my motivation today. I'm hoping I get some of my enthusiasm back tomorrow!

Here are my day four results:

Eating: 1190 calories
Exercise: 
Treadmill-59:43 ( I completed 5k at 54:43 and did a five minute cool down) Burned 460 Calories, went 3.32 miles at an average speed of 3.33 miles per hour. Average pace 17:48 mph, heart rate 126.
Weights-10 minutes ab on machines

Results Day Three

Calories: 1419
Exercise: 
      Cardio-46 minutes on treadmill (374 calories burned, 2.7 miles, 3.35 average speed, average pace 16:53, average heart rate: 139)
      Weights- Free weights/arms. Ouch! (In a good way). :)

I tried to push it a little more on the treadmill. Still walking, but I tried (and accomplished) keeping my heart rate in the recommended target heart range for my age. Woot woot! Even though it is only day three, I am amazed at how quickly my body is adapting to the exercise. Every day I want to go a little further, go a little faster.  My goal for tomorrow is to walk a 5K. I'm not too far away from it!

How did you do today?

36x24x36??

You know how magazines recommend clothes based on your body shape? Like, "this dress will look great on a pear shaped body." Or, "these pants are perfect to minimize your tummy if you are apple shaped."

I decided to do body measurements like some of my fellow competitors/weight-loss buddies. And I discovered my body shape isn't really apple, or pear...

It appears I am a cylinder.  My chest and waist are exactly the same. My hips are 2 inches bigger.
No wonder clothes look so bad on me! ;)

Bonus points for anyone who can name the song that inspired my title.

Results Day Two

Food: 1210 Calories
Exercise:
Cardio- 44:39 minutes on the treadmill (338 calories burned, 2.5 miles walked, average speed 3.36 mph)
Weights- 15 minutes abs

When I was eating a big delicious salad today, my 2 year old daughter said, "Can I have some in a bowl, just like you?"

And that is exactly why I am doing this.

Another good day!

Exposed

Whenever I've seen the first weigh-in on "The Biggest Loser" I've been puzzled. The contestants usually get emotional and cry, and some of them look surprised. Surely they know how much they weigh! thought I.

After yesterday, when my weight was posted online for all to see, I finally get it.  It is one thing to know you are overweight, obese even. It is a whole other thing to reveal your weight for all to see.  I feel exposed, stripped down.

It's kind of silly, really because being overweight isn't like a gambling or drug addiction that can take your friends and family by surprise.  My problem is obvious, my belly rolls and double chins are always out there for everyone to see.

But that doesn't change the fact that all day yesterday I kept feeling waves of embarrassment. Kind of like when you are dating someone and get dumped. You'll be going about your day then you suddenly remember the hurt and the sadness rolls over you.  All day I kept thinking, "People know how much I weigh! How awful!"

I'm so embarrassed by my weight I haven't even told my family about this competition. My family who love me and would support me are left in the dark because of my pride. Even though I know THEY KNOW I am fat, I just can't quite tell them what my weight is. I just picture them saying, "Two hundred and sixty pound! WOW she is really fat!" Because, well, that's what I feel like!

And forget about the people I went to high school with. I think I emailed one person to tell them about the competition. I just can't bear the thought of them knowing I am fat. Maybe as I work through this competition I will become braver and tell other people. But for now this much exposure is all I can take.

Sigh. I'm so ready to not be fat anymore.

Day 1 results

Eating: Good (I plan on tracking it more specifically tomorrow so I have a caloric number)
Exercise:
Cardio-37:36 on the treadmill, went 2.11 miles at an average speed of 3.37 mph. I only walked, trying to ease my way back into jogging. I have a crazy knee right now so I took it easy, but worked up a sweat.
Weights-I worked arms tonight and spent 20 minutes on the circuit weights working biceps, triceps, back, shoulders and deltoids.
Favorite gym personality: Guy wearing a backpack (presumably filled with weights) doing pushups across the ENTIRE gym floor. He basically did a pushup, then threw one arm up and walked it forward.  He also carried around a big weight and walked backwards, doing lunges in between the weight equipment, narrowly missing a really muscular guy who looked really annoyed. Rather amusing.

Hooray for the first day!!

Worth a thousand words

Recently a mother I knew died in a tragic car accident, leaving behind five children. When I went to her Facebook page, I noticed the most recent family pictures were of her husband and kids, she wasn't in a single one. I immediately thought how sad it was that they didn't have pictures with their mom. Then that thought pained me because I hate having my picture taken. I have two beautiful kids and an amazing husband, but when it is time for pictures I avoid being in them at all costs. Why? Because the outside of me doesn't match how I feel inside.

A little background...I was a little chubby as a child, then thinned out in middle school and spent my high school years as a member of our dance team. I exercised a lot, and ate very little. The weight I remember being in high school was 144 pounds (we had to be at a certain weight for our height to perform the routines).  For 5'9", that is a pretty low weight but I always, ALWAYS felt fat.  In college I was roommates with three girls who are all very petite (height and weight), in all of our pictures together I looked enormous and felt, once again, like a fatty. I married my wonderful husband when I was 21 and feeling comfortable and loved, started eating with abandon. I remember at one point my jeans were uncomfortably small. Instead of seeing that as a warning signal and exercising or eating healthier, I just bought a bigger size of pants. If only I could go back in time, right? It's amazing how quickly I ballooned up to over 240 pounds. We wanted to have a baby, so I did the Atkins diet and lost 40 pounds over a period of 4 months.  I got pregnant soon after and gained 52 pounds (!) during my first pregnancy. I lost 20 pounds and remained at 232 until I got pregnant with my daughter. I only gained 25 pounds that pregnancy but haven't really lost that weight and my daughter is almost 3!

I'm tired of dieting though. And every time I look at my handsome son and sweet daughter I want to stop this endless cycle of gaining and losing weight. I want them to grow up with a mom who is healthy and active. I want to be a good example for my mom and dad who are struggling with their weight. I want to feel comfortable in my body and gladly step in front of the camera. 

So here I am. I'm so excited to be a part of Win, Lose or Blog.  The dieter and competitor in me wants to do something drastic and lose a lot of weight. But this is the last time I'm losing weight, and I'm going to do it right! I'm hoping all of you readers will be my support system, to buoy me up and/or kick my butt when I'm having a bad day, and to clap for me when I'm on the  right track. 

My strategy is this: 

-Exercise at least 60 minutes a day

-Eat only when I'm hungry, and stop when I am full

-Kitchen is closed after dinner (late night snacking is a bad habit of mine)

-Weigh myself only once a week

-Blog my progress each day (so you can keep me on track!)

-Full disclosure (no secret brownie-a-thons!)

I'm excited to get to "know" you. Does anyone have other strategies they think I should add to my list?

Thank in advance for your help and support, it means a lot to me!

Steph