Slimmer This Summer Week 2

Week 1 is over and we're starting week 2 of the Slimmer This Summer challenge?  How is everyone doing?

I'm leaving soon on vacation so I'm putting up the linky post early.  Let us know how much weight you've lost and how the exercise is going.  Any new sore muscles this week? 

So go ahead and link up your progress report.  It will be up through Monday.  I don't care when you post your progress. If you weigh in on Wednesdays, go ahead and link up Wednesdays post.  If you don't post it until Monday morning, fine, just get it linked up.  It will all balance out in the end. Just post to your progress post, NOT just to your blog please. It will be easier for everyone to see how you're doing.  

I don't have internet access on vacation so if there is anything you need, email Mir aka Princess Dieter and she can help you. 

Vacation!!

Well, I am officially on vacation.  No more daycare kids for an entire week.  Whew!

We're off to Wisconsin Dells.  We pretty much go there every year after school gets out.  It's a nice way to celebrate the end of school and it's early enough to avoid the peak season prices. 

I don't have internet access next week so I have scheduled posts for what we are planning and NOT planning to eat while on vacation.  

I've noticed that several have different email addresses on their linky posts than what I have. I have sent out a few group emails, if you have NOT received one, let me know and I'll get you on there. 
If you have any questions, contact Mir, she knows how to eat well and she is awesome with the exercise.  She has helped me so much I can't thank her enough!  She'll have great suggestions if you need meal ideas or exercise questions.  I can't wait to catch up on all your blogs when I get back! 

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Progress - Week 1
It hasn't been a whole week yet so this is a couple days early but 4 days into the challenge, this morning I was about a pound down from Monday morning.  Exercise hasn't been as good as I would have liked.  I got 2 walks in this week, 2 DVD's and only one "bottom of the stairs exercises".  Just some random exercises I do including going up and down stairs a ton of times.  Today was kind of a snacky day.  Just finishing leftovers out of the frig and stuff.  I went a bit over but it should be okay.  

1. Track calories - Done every day.
2. Under 10,000 calories a week - I averaged 1290 for the week, including today's 1480 calories.
3. Water - Lots of water, no problems there!
4.  Lose 18 lbs. - 1 lb. in 4 days (I weighed this morning).  17 to go for goal.
5. Exercise -  So-so. I didn't blow it off entirely but I could have done more.
6. Encouragement - I've been trying to comment and read as many blogs as possible.  I think I'm following everyone, if you haven't received a comment from me, I might have forgotten to hit follow and I'll double check that when I get back from vacation.

Not going to lie. I'm scared about vacation.  A lot of restaurants in 8 days. Vacations have always been a huge eating fest.  Embarrassing but true.  We've gotten better the last few years but this year I plan to be outstanding.  How awesome would it be to come back having lost weight?  I'm shooting for it!  This vacation is about relaxing and enjoying my family, NOT about food!  See you all next Saturday!

Shoes Make Me Happy

I had a cavity. I hadn't had a cavity in almost 10 years. So I went to the dentist this morning. I walked. Yea! I walked. Granted, it's only like 2 - 3 blocks away but still, I walked.  There truly is nothing worse than the sound of that drill in your head.  I'm going to have nightmares tonight about it!

My daughter came with me and we passed a garage sale on the way back. The husband was back at home with 9 children here so clearly I wasn't in any hurry to get back home.  We took our time and browsed.  I scored a pair of jeans and jean capri's that fit perfect!  They looked brand new. Plus I got a shirt that fits nice too.  The daughter got a pretty shirt as well, it might be a bit low cut so she'll have to throw a tank top under it.  Then they had a nice pair of winter boots that will fit my oldest son and hopefully will be passed on to the younger one eventually. The best thing was the shoes I got.  They had a ton of nice shoes but many were in a size 7 and too small.  Some had some wicked heels and I don't do wicked heels.  Maybe when 50 more lbs. are off I'll try it.  So I got some sandals with a low heel.  They are a bit big but with a sandal, it's no biggie.  They are comfortable and I love them!  So 2 pairs of jeans, 2 shirts, boots and shoes for $9.75.  I left happy.

Anyways, I come home from the dentist all numbed up, crooked smiling like an idiot, while the kids are trying to make me laugh so I continue to smile like a doped up idiot.  I could feel the novocain all the way through my eye. Not pleasant.  Mental note: Brush more so I can avoid more cavities. 

Numbness didn't wear off until about lunchtime, at which point I was super hungry. Drinking was a unique experience with a numb mouth.  Still had to get the water in though!

We're getting ready for vacation so Hubs was nice enough to go to Costco. He fell prey to a bunch of samples that I never would have let encouraged him to buy. He tried to tell me about all the antioxidants in these. I ate one.  Ummmm, they are candy.  Period. 1/4 cup for 180 calories.  I'll stick with my blueberries.  

Then he tried hard to convince me how healthy these are.  "The lady giving the samples said they were healthy!!"  Well, they probably are healthier than regular chips but chips are my weakness. Big time.  I told asked him to take them to work.  I bought the veggie sticks at Costco quite awhile back because they were "healthy" and made from vegetable.  Yea, I ate the whole bag practically. Nothing healthy about that. 

One good move was the Special K Protein Bars.  They have pretty good stats, 10 g. of protein, 180 calories.  I had one for snack but it sorta turned into dinner.  I wasn't really hungry after it.  Score.

The rest of the day was pretty much the same as it has been all week for food. Same egg, cheese bagel.  Leftover enchilada for lunch with a salad with a bunch of fruit on it.  Yogurt for a snack. I made some leftover pasta for the kids with a bit of garlic bread, I did snag a bit of it.  I doubt it was as much as 100 calories though. 

Egg Bagel = 175
Enchilada = 250
Salad = 175
Yogurt = 100
Protein Bar = 180
Garlic bread & sauce = 100
Popcorn = 100
Total calories = 1080

Committment

There are a lot of online challenges out there.  There is a great online support system for those who willing to listen and take the counsel of the people who give it.  I started this challenge to help myself of course, but also to lend a hand to those who are also struggling.  There are naysayers out there who say that we can't do it.  We will fail. Again.  Failure is not an option here people. 

I am very busy.  We're all busy.  We all have jobs, family, housework, pets and a whole lot of other junk in our lives.  The busyness isn't going to go away, if anything, in this fast pace growing world, it will just get more busy.

I've spent way too much time being busy and taking care of other things in my life. It's time that I make weight loss a priority in my life.  I've spent too much time ignoring myself and my body has paid the price.  I know that life is busy, it always will be busy. But we all need to make the time to do this.  All I ask is for the next 12 weeks that all challengers take this seriously and make this happen. I am committed to this challenge and I hope that everyone else continues to be committed for the next 12 weeks. 

Is it unrealistic for me to think that 50 some people will persevere through this for the next 12 weeks, link up each week and meet their goals? Probably. But I'm not willing to concede to that. We all joined for a reason. To lose weight.  So let's make that happen. Every last one of us!


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Wednesday Eats:

Food started out the same today. Another light bagel, laughing cow cheese and egg beaters.  I have 2 bagels left in the frig and 2 days until vacation so guess what I'll be having for the next 2 days?  They are good, I've even eaten them for a snack before. 

Then for my morning snack, I had my yogurt with about 10 blueberries crammed in the top. I so love having fresh fruit around!

For lunch, I made a huge salad with broccoli, croutons, turkey and light Vidalia Onion dressing.  Yum!

With some more fresh fruit, this time raspberries. Everytime I eat raspberries, I think of when I was a young girl and my dad had raspberry bushes.  We picked them and probably ate more than we took home.  So as soon as I bite into one, it brings me right back there. 

I made chicken salad in the afternoon for the kids to eat for dinner.  They don't go for the enchiladas like I do so this was an easy alternative.  I love it and wanted something else to eat after my light lunch so I had a cup.  I used the picture from my blog and I didn't really have the apple next to the picture.  We're trying to use all the fruit before vacation and the apples are officially gone!

Then dinner was out of the freezer.  I made these Black Bean, Corn, Zucchini Enchiladas about a month ago. I didn't even eat one as I was doing the liquid diet during this time.  So I'm eager to try them. I ended up freezing 2 - 8 x 8 pans of them so you'll be seeing them again. I haven't even posted them on my blog yet.  They come in at about 250 calories per enchilada, that's rounding up actually.  I was pretty hungry and ended up eating 2 of them. Now I'm really full.  

Egg Bagel= 175
Yogurt/Blueberries = 110
Salad = 275
Raspberries = 10
1 cup Chicken Salad = 260
Black Bean & Zucchini Enchilada = 500
Total calories = 1330

Hot Tuesday!

We have had the coldest, most dreary spring that I can remember.  Barely any nice days at all.  Now, it's the beginning of June and it's 101 degrees.  2 days from now it's supposed to be a high of 66. Go figure.  Funky weather. Only in Minnesota. 

The kids had a blast playing with the hose and sprinkler.  Actually, one of the daycare kids sat on the sprinkler and broke it the first 5 minutes. So they just played with the hose. 

Then they played in the hobo pool. I can't have a pool as I do daycare so they make due with toys bins that they dump out, fill with ice cold water and take their turns plunging themselves in the water.  We're really classy here.

Breakfast started out about the same as yesterday. I added a few oranges that the kids were eating for breakfast.

Hubs was nice enough to go to the store for milk, lettuce and fruit for the week. He came home with this jar of pickle spears.  The jar lasted about 10 minutes as the kids at it like they had never seen food before.  I even had a spear myself. 

For lunch, I made an awesome salad with a ton of fruit; strawberries, raspberries and blueberries.  Plus some fat free Raspberry Pecan dressing.  Deliciousness.

Then I had leftover apple and onion quesadillas from last night.  Today I put a tablespoon of BBQ sauce over it. It was awesome!  So awesome in fact, that I had another one for dinner!

Then I got snacky.  I love to snack, I just need to choose wisely.  This is not the best of the bars.  It's more like a candy bar.  They are REALLY good.  Not the greatest stats, 3 g. of protein and 170 calories.

I knew I wasn't going to have anything special for dinner so the snackiness continued.  I work at home, I love to snack so somedays, this works for me. As long as I'm staying within calories, I'm good.  So next came my yogurt.  I love the thick and creamy ones!

For dinner I had the other apple, onion, BBQ quesadilla, along with some pineapple.  Then I had another portion of the filling without the tortilla. It was good just as a chicken salad.  Hubs was nice enough to buy 2 pineapples today.  There is a coupon for $1.25 off of 2 pineapples on Coupons.com if you're interested.  You can print the coupon twice.  This was a little tart but still delicious. 

I said it was hot, so for dessert, I had 2 of these bad boys.  Highly tasty!  I hadn't planned these but they were good on a hot night.

Tuesday's Eat's:

Egg Bagel = 175

Oranges = 35

Pickle = 5

Salad = 160

Apple Quesadilla = 230

Sweet n Salty Bar = 170

Yogurt = 100

Apple Quesadilla = 230

Apple Quesadilla filling = 120

6 oz. pineapple = 85

2 sugar free fudgsicles = 80

Total calories = 1390

Are We Taking Our Goals Seriously?

So we all have our goals in place.  Now.  What do we do with them? 


It's one thing to write them down and plan the goals but it's another thing to actually implement that plan. How are we going to do that?

We recently discussed a religious article that focused on seriousness.  It was stressing that we should be serious about our spirituality and stay focused as to our spiritual goals. The article brought out that the world places a lot of its focus on "love of pleasure." (2 Tim. 3:4). It also said that we need to have a balanced view of seriousness and relaxation and use Jesus as an example as he took his ministry seriously but also took the time to relax and develop meaningful relationships.  (Luke 5:27-29, John 12:1,2).

Okay, so why am I quoting Bible scriptures on a weight loss blog? 

I couldn't help but see the similarity with weight loss.  Obesity is rampant all over the world, the world is more unhealthy because of obesity than ever before.  Clearly, the love for pleasure (food) is taking precedence over in our lives.  How many of us have tried dieting, only to fail and say "It's too hard!" or "I can't do it!"  If weight loss is that important in our lives, then we will TAKE IT SERIOUSLY.  It will not just be a casual, passing thing in our lives. 

Food can be enjoyed and pleasurable.  But if abused, it can and will hurt us or kill us.

Another bible reference I like it "Faith without works is dead." (basic english) James 2:17.  I have faith in the bible and what it says. However, just reading it or holding it doesn't help me, I need to put into practice Gods standards and live my life by it. Likewise, I have faith that my plan for weight loss will work. However, if I fail to continually put that plan into practice and hold myself accountable to live my life that way, then it won't work. Simple faith isn't enough. It takes effort, vigorous effort. 

We have our goals. Now it's time to take those goals very seriously and put effort into accomplishing them.  This isn't simply something that we should do or want to do, it's something that we all need to do. Now.

Day 1. Off to a GREAT START!

I like to record my food on my blog.  My plan is to take pictures of what I eat as well.  Although, don't be surprised if that isn't consistent. It's a busy summer and it just might not happen everyday.  Half the time I can't find my camera either.  It's the first day of the challenge so I wanted to start out good! 

I'll warn you, I can be a boring eater.  I eat a lot of leftovers and I often will eat the same breakfast for 2 weeks straight.  I actually do better with consistency and little change.  This week will probably be even more boring as we're going on vacation next week and I'm just trying to use up things out of the refrigerator and use freezer food. 

Plus, I told the family that I plan to take a break from cooking.  Obviously I need to cook but I am like 2 months ahead with posts for my food blog so I don't feel the need to make a whole bunch of new recipes.  That being said, I ENJOY making new recipes so I'm sure there will still be plenty. 

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Monday's Eats:
Breakfast: Egg beaters, Kims Light Everything Bagel & Garlic Herb Laughing Cow Cheese = 175 calories

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Morning snack: 1/2 cup vanilla light n fit yogurt + 1/2 cup blueberries = 100 calories

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Lunch: Broccoli salad & Bean Burrito = 355 calories

I didn't get shopping yesterday so I didn't have any lettuce for a salad. Actually, I don't have too many fresh veggies at all. But I did have some broccoli so I made a broccoli salad.  3 oz. of broccoli, 2 tbsp. fat free Raspberry Pecan dressing & 1 tbsp. sunflower seeds = 130 calories of deliciousness.

To finish off my lunch, I had a Chipotle Bean Burrito. I made a huge batch of the bean glop the other day and there was still some in the refrigerator.  I didn't have any toppings but it is so flavorful, I love it just as it is. Super simple and very filling. 1/3 cup bean glop and a 100 calorie tortilla is about 225 calories.  It may not look pretty but trust me, it is delicious.

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Snack: Watermelon = 100

I think I've already cut about 6 watermelons this summer, at least. The family loves it and it's cheap!

 

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Dinner:  2 Apple & Onion Quesadillas w/2 tbsp. light Sour Cream on Whole Wheat Tortillas = 440 calories

I made these awesome quesadillas with cooked chicken, onions, red peppers, cheese and apple.  Dipped in a bit of sour cream, they were delicious! 

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Breakfast = 175
Snack = 100
Lunch = 355
Snack = 100
Dinner = 440

Total = 1170 calories

Today went perfect.  Not hungry at all and eating on plan.  Let's hope the next 83 days of this challenge go as well! 

The Slimmer This Summer Challenge Begins!! Week 1

Woo hoo!  We're off and running for the next 12 weeks with The Slimmer This Summer Challenge. 

The official "rules" post is here but here is a quick reminder of what to do.

**Track food and water.  Use an online food tracker, your blog or a post it note but write down your food and water.

**Keep calories around 10,000 or less per week.  Make healthy, smart choices.  Ask for help if you need suggestions for meals and snacks.

**Stay hydrated.  I can't believe how much this has helped me with weight loss.  I believe that a person at a heatlhy weight is supposed to drink 8 - 8 oz. glasses of water.  We are overweight so we need more.  Shoot for at least 10 - 8 oz. glasses a day. I drink about 120 oz. of water a day which is about 15 glasses.  Yes, I'm in the bathroom a lot but I'm well hydrated.  It does get easier as you go!

**Weigh in weekly. You don't have to tell us what your starting weight is but please tell us how much you've lost each week. Weigh in on June 6th and let us know each week in your review post.

**Stick to your exercise goals.  Let's do more than just "get up and move".  Let's sweat a litttle and make exercise a bit of a challenge. If you're new to exercise, start slow but stay steady and you WILL see improvement soon.  If you already have a good exercise routine, change it up and kick it up a notch.  Ask if you need some suggestions.  Mir is the exercise queen and she'll be able to help a lot.

**DO NOT QUIT. I can't stress how important this is.  If you have a bad day or week, pick yourself up, get over it and get back on track.

**Keep blogging.  Blog about your successes, blog about your failures, blog about your NSV's.  We love to hear about them.  Stay accountable.

**Encourage others.  While it's hard to read everyday and comment every day, please try to visit the other challengers as much as possible to encourage and offer suggestions.  Encouraging does not necessarily mean coddling.  We're not going to tell you "it's okay that you had that jelly donut...".  We're going to tell you to knock it off and get back on plan!  No meanness, no judging, just helpful encouragement.
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Below I have a linky for you to link in your initial goal post. Many of you have already posted this and that's great, just link directly to that post so we can all see your goals.  If you haven't finished your goal post, please get it in and link it in.  The link will be up for the next few days. 

Each Sunday night, I will put another post up with a linky at the bottom so we can see how you've done.  Let us know how much weight you've lost and if you've met or exceeded your exercise goals. You can do your post whenever but lets try to link in the "week in review" posts on Monday so we can all see how you've been doing. 

Remember, this is supposed to be fun and encouraging but serious too.  Too many weeks of no successes, no weight loss, no sore muscles or no NSV's just isn't going to cut it.  We're here to lose weight and get healthy.  We've wanted this for a long time so let's finally DO IT. Not just talk about it. I know I've spent WAY too much time talking about it and wasting time. 

Email me if you want to join in. 

Link in your goal post. Please link to the post itself and not your main blog. You can use your blog name as your NAME. Thanks!

Summer Challenge GOALS!

So I've had 2 weeks to think about my goals. I've been reading many of your goals out there and they are great. 

Now it's my turn with goals for the Slimmer This Summer Challenge.

1. Track My Food.  Daily. I have been very hit or miss about this. Which is why I have been gaining weight. I'm hoping to track daily on my blog but the days get busy so I might not always post it. 

2. Under 10,000 calories a week.  I did well with 1400 calories per day when I first had weight loss success.  I've been doing 1200 for awhile now. I'm hoping to go for a happy medium right in between there.  This leaves no room for binges, splurges or mistakes. 

3. Lots of water.  I've been shooting for 120 oz. a day.  When I drink this much, I'm successful with eating too.  Water, water, water!

4. Weight Loss.  I'm looking to lose 1 1/2 lbs. per week.  I've done more and I've done less.  I will be happy if I am successful with this loss for the next 12 weeks.  So I'm looking to be 18 lbs. less by the end of August.

5. Exercise. Sigh. Consistency. This is a biggie for me.  My plan is to walk 4 times a week.  Treadmill or outside.  I'm trying to increase speed and distance.  I have an exercise routine that I call "The Bottom of the Stairs" exercise.  This includes stairs, pushups, lunges and squats. I've been doing this once a week but I need to add a day and do this twice a week.  This one really gets me sweating.  I also plan to increase using the Wii Fit, Zumba Wii and exercise videos. 

6.  I want to be here for encouragement as much as I can.  I want to read and comment on your blogs. I also am here if you want to email me.  Writing on your blogs helps me so much.  I am encouraged when you succeed and I want to help if you fail.  I'll also kick the crap out of you if you fail and I expect you to do the same thing to me if I screw up.

My daughter is also doing the challenge with me. Her goals are similar. We're going to be writing down all her food and I'll teach her more about portioning and weighing food.  I really don't know what to expect with weight loss for her.  Her doctor says she still might grow an inch yet too.  I'm looking for her to be under 140 I think.  We'll do an official weigh in tomorrow morning but I think she has about 8 lbs. to go.  We're just going to work on eating healthy, drinking lots of water and cutting out the junk.  Plus, she is walking with me and hopefully will train for the same 5K she did last year in October. 

  This is linked with Motivational Monday over at A Hippo with a Headband.

Why I Want To Do This Slimmer This Summer Challenge

I met Mir from Two Years To Happy Weight After online through another challenge.  We were both motivated and were successfully losing weight.  The challenge went through changes and it no longer was a good fit for us and while we truly appreciated the help, it just no longer was for us.  But, we still needed a challenge.  And we needed goals. Sure, we had the tools to successfully lose weight on our own but we LIKED being involved in something and love the motivation of being a part of something.  

Mir is continuing to do great and is still losing weight!!  I, however, have had a bad month and need a kick in the butt, big time.  She and I pretty much thought of doing some sort of challenge at the same time.  We at first had different views of how to do it but came together with the Slimmer This Summer Challenge. 

I love to talk with others about things I truly believe in.  If I find something that I believe in, I want to share it with the world.  I go to my religious meetings and we're encouraged to share what we know with others.  I believe strongly in my faith and will never hesitate to share it with others.  I believe that by sharing what I know about the Bible will help others. So I do it. As often as I can.  I love to do the same thing with weight loss.  I want to share with others what I have learned and I want to help people to lose weight.  Now, I don't know everything about the Bible and I certainly don't know everything about weight loss.  Both I am still learning about continually.  I still weigh 210 lbs. so clearly I have not mastered the art of weight loss.  But I still believe that I have help to offer.  I know a lot more than I did a few years ago at over 300 lbs. 

When I talk with someone about the Bible, I hear the words I am saying and my own faith is strengthened and I learn from it.  It's the same with weight loss.  When I comment on someones blog about how to eat correctly or offer suggestions, I am hearing those words myself and I NEED to hear those words.  So in helping others, I am helping myself as well. This is why this challenge is so important to me.

This is more than just writing down goals and "hoping" they work out. This is about making it work. Planning, journaling, scheduling exercise, and making some serious changes in our lives. No more talking about it. No more "wishing" that we could lose weight. 
Make It Happen.