The Bloggest Loser: Final Weigh In

Well, Friends, let's wrap this sucker up.  As was observed, my focus on staying healthy has waned a bit.  And I think everyone else has had a bit of the holiday distractions.

So, let's do a final weigh in.  Anyone who has participated is encouraged to weigh in.  We'll announce the winner next week. 

And in the meantime I'll try to figure out what exactly the focus of this blog is.  The Healthy Pregnant Woman?  The Way We Were: A Woman's Delusion of How Life is Supposed to Be?  I'm open to suggestions.

Check your total weight lost.  Remember to use your initial weigh in as your starting weight.  And tell me how you felt these last two months.  What can we do differently next time, in like 10 months?  Unfortunately, this weight loss thing is always something I can participate in, when I'm not pregnant.  So there will be a next time.

Thanks for playing with me.  Hopefully we'll all have a little easier time next year!

Bloggest Loser Day 59

Huge question:

Is it time to let the Bloggest Loser RIP?  I think it's the humane thing to do.  Back to just weekly goals.

Let me know what you think.  Tomorrow is Day 60, which is an ideal place to end.  We can do final weigh ins and start the whole thing back up when more people can participate.  Like me.

Please leave your comment and let me know what you think.

The Bloggest Loser Day 50 and Weekly Check In

Last week's winner was......

Cindy!

Okay, people.  Time to start weighing in again.  We're just over halfway through!!!  Remember, I'm out of the game, so I live vicariously through YOU!!  Lose weight for me, please.  My gut thanks you.

My goals this week: water, water, water.  And I'd like to make sure I run three days this week.  I missed last Monday.  Ironically, it was the first day after I completed the Couch to 5k.  And the first time I'd missed a day at all in ten weeks.  I think that was more mental than anything else.  Why do I give myself permission to give up?  I've got to change that.  Plus, I'm nearly sure I'll be running the Turkey Trot next month in Syracuse, UT.  I've got a few more details to hash out, but I should be there with my running shoes.  I've got to keep running so I can finish the race without much problem.  I'll be about 12 weeks along by then (give or take a week or two) so I should be able to do it.  Will you?

So despite all the Halloween candy, cookies, and any other yummy holiday treats you can think of, calculate your weight loss and TELL ME ABOUT.  (That's almost a Billy Joel song.)  Any new goals this week?

Bloggest Loser Day 42 and Weekly Goals

This week's Bloggest Loser winner was....

Carina with a loss of 1.37%!

Congratulations, Carina.  And congrats to everyone who actually LOST weight last week. 

I, for one, did not lose weight.  I'm not supposed to be gaining baby weight yet.  No, no.  I'm gaining Birthday weight.  We have yet to learn how NOT to pig out on birthdays.  Last week was Josh's.  Lots of excuses to overeat.  And then Josh got sick.  He had no appetite.  I had no real appetite.  Why the heck would I cook an actual meal that no one was going to eat?  But I have to eat something.  So I eat the ready-made junk food that I shouldn't have bought, but did anyway.  Another wrench thrown in my efforts to be healthy.

Also, this week I completed my Couch to 5k program.  I'm very happy about this.  You may have picked up on that fact since I mentioned it on my other blog and Facebook.  I just need to figure out what to do about it. 

As far as my goals for last week go, besides the cruddy eating and not enough water consuming, I did pretty well.

Goals for this week: Eat more fruit and less junk.  Drink more water.  I feel like I should be wearing a cow costume and holding a sign that reads "Drink mor watr" instead of the usual "Eat mor chikin."  But I don't need to imagine myself as a cow.  Not yet.

So tell me.  How'd you do?  Calculate your weight lost.  Successes?  Challenges?  You know, the drill...

The Bloggest Loser Day 34 and Weekly Goals

Here it is again.  The weekly check in for our weekly goals.

And the winner of last week's weigh in is:

Cindy! 

Who gained the least weight of 0%!

Last week must have been the week of gains.  We all struggled. 

So, in case you've missed my numerous announcements, I have the need to step down from the competition.  Pregnancy is not the best time to try to lose weight, weekly weigh myself, or take any sort of body measurements.  But I will happily continue to host the competition for the next 56 days.  And be prepared for a Season 3 in about a year or so.

Now my focus has changed to new weekly goals.  Suddenly, all the foods I've been avoiding sound over-temptingly good.  Never heard that expression before?  Well if you've ever been pregnant, you can figure out what it means.  And water doesn't appeal to me.  I desire nothing more than sitting around and watching TV or playing around on the internet.  It doesn't help that my check up with the doctor included her telling me that she's giving me permission to not exercise so intensely and only eat what sounds good.  Oy.  I'm in trouble.

So, here are my new weekly goals: get my water intake back where it needs to be, keep my running going but make sure my intensity is low, and try to stay away from the simple carbs.  Now that Josh's birthday is over, it should be a lot easier.  The German Chocolate cake I made from scratch was devastatingly good.

And, in case anyone is looking for a new 5k to participate in, my friend Tara is fundraising for her project "Choe's Sunshine Playground."  I think almost everyone that reads this is a mutual friend of hers and mine.  But this race would benefit a good cause and be a motivator to keep running.  I have to tell you that I'm very tempted to make the trip up for it.  The following Tuesday I'll be in St George for my sister and BIL sealing in the LDS St George Temple.  It would just be a matter of starting my vaca a little early.  I'm running nearly 5k now (I'm about to start week 9 of the c25k program) so I could do it, but it would mean taking off without Josh because he has to work that weekend in order to get the days off we need for the sealing.  I hate making trips without him.  In fact, after the last one I swore I'd never do anything without him again.  Of course, I said that after the trip I took without him before that as well.

In any case, if you're still in the running for the Bloggest Loser, find your loss percentage.  And jot me a note.  How'd you do?  Like Carina said last week, no subject is taboo.  I'll listen to anything.  And I hope everyone had a MUCH BETTER week this week!!

The Bloggest Loser Day 28 and Weekly Check In

This week's winner in our Bloggest Loser competition is.... (drumroll, please)...

Me!!  With a 1.41% loss. 

This is the first time I've won a week.  Ever.  I'm so happy!

As for the weigh in for this week, I have NO IDEA where I stand.  I'm a scale-aholic.  I step on the scale once a day.  Sometimes more.  It depends on how confident I feel.  Or how masochistic I feel.  Depends on the week.  But this week I just haven't thought about it.  So I'm clueless as to how my weigh in will go this week.  According to my bodybugg I should be on track, but we'll see.

I also had a set back with my shoulder.  I did something to mess it up on Thursday when I was doing my strength training.  Ugh.  It hurts.  Josh told me to lay off the weights for a few days.  I, of course, didn't want to, but I've learned one thing over the years: You always listen to your nurse-husband.

But enough about me.  Tell me how you did this week?  How are your goals coming along?  What did you do well this week?  What was your struggle?  Any new goals to add this week?  Figure out your loss percentage and then tell me all about your week!  I'm bored and need something good to read.

Bloggest Loser Day 22 and Weekly Check In

I'm a little late this week.  Sorry about that.  I had no internet over the weekend and by the time we got home from my dad's house Sunday night, I nearly went straight to bed!!  That rarely happens.

Anywhooo...

Pam won the weigh in with a loss of 1.68%!!

Two weeks in a row, Pam!  You're doing something right!!

I have yet to officially weigh in for this week.  I was doing my weigh ins on Fridays, but I got a new toy last week and I set it up on Tuesday, so that is my new weigh in date since it won't let me weigh in any earlier than that.

It's a Bodybugg.  Like the one they use on The Biggest Loser.  You can get it at 24 Hour Fitness.  I'm loving it.  I track my food on the BB (Bodybugg) website, just like I was before, but my calorie output is constantly monitored.  I'm still in my programming stage.  After the first week it will be easier to figure out what my goal calories burned should be and that will dictate what my calories in should be.  I've been burning around 3000 calories a day.  It's been really fun to see.  There's a grid of how many calories I burn each hour.  You can see the spikes: when I run, when I grocery shop, when the kids get home from school, when I lift weight, when I do the dishes.  I like it.  It cost a pretty penny, but Josh justified that it costs less than sending me to the ER again because I don't know what my body is actually doing.  Josh is so good to me.

So, I'll be posting my weight loss in the comments section with everyone else. 

Goals for this week: Run, eat well, GO TO BED BEFORE 11PM, and drink lots of water.

How did you do this week?  Any good news?  Anything to vent about?  New goals?  Did you accomplish your goals from last week?  What do you think of the new Biggest Loser season?  So many people affected by deaths this season!  But the story that got me the most was the mother who had to take her daughter to the hospital because she didn't eat so she wouldn't end up overweight like her mother.  I bawled.  That one hits close to home.  I love my mom, but I've always worried about being overweight like her.  And I have three daughters.  It's a cycle I don't want to continue.

Anyway, tell me how you did and I'll post my loss on Tuesday!

Go Here for the weight lost calculator.

Bloggest Loser Day 14 and Weekly Check In

So much to report.......

First of all,

Pam won the weigh in with a loss of 2.3%!

Congrats, Pam! Glad your foot is finally feeling better!!

So let's get down to business.

This week was a major lesson learned. MAJOR. I ended up losing a mere 1.01% of my weight. Better than last week, and over 1%, so hooray. But after the week I had, I'm just happy I lost anything at all.

Yes, it was my birthday and I had a lot of good food. Hopefully I'll get the details about that on my other blog soon.

But beyond that, it was the trip to the ER that rattled me. Long story short, after a few days of breathing problems (every 4th breath was a conscientious deep inhale and I often felt like I couldn't get enough oxygen, like a yawn that isn't satisfying), I had Josh take me to the doctor on Wednesday afternoon because I had shortness of breath. I was worried that I had some sort of respiratory problem. I ended up with an IV of fluids, chest x-ray, CAT scan, EKG, blood work, and oxygen. Luckily, there were no clots or growths in my lungs. Everything looked healthy, except for my sodium bicarbonate level. It was very low. The doc thought I might be dehydrated since I was experiencing a metabolic acidosis, but I had no other symptoms.

It took a while, but we finally figured out (Josh figured it out, have I ever mentioned how amazing he is?) that I probably had ketoacidosis. What are these words I'm using? I had no idea.

Basically, I was keeping to my recommended online food journal, but the website doesn't take into account the person's activity level. I was eating 1200 to 1550 calories/day. My body wasn't getting enough fuel to run off of. Now, you want a deficit in your calories in order to burn fat, but when you don't get enough fuel you burn fat, muscle, and you begin to keep too much acid within your body.

In my case, the way my body dealt with trying to expel the extra acid was by breathing in more O2 and breathing out more CO2 (carbon dioxide is acidic, oxygen is the alkalotic buffer). The plan to fix it: eat more calories. It's taken me two days of eating anything I want (Italian food, cake, etc) and I'm finally breathing normally again.

I want to tell you about this for one main reason:

ARE YOU EATING ENOUGH????

You want to keep your food in control, but are you getting enough? I did a lot of research after getting home from the ER Wednesday night. It seems pretty agreed that with my rigorous exercising, I should have been eating at least 1700 to 1800 calories a day. Do you know your magic number?

As far as my goal to drink more water than Crystal Light (and then trying to cut out diet drinks altogether), I did pretty well.

Now that my eating is back in order and my breathing is almost completely back to normal, I have a lot of the same goals: eat enough, keep up my exercise, and drink LOTS of water. Oh, and watch The Biggest Loser this Tuesday. Hooray for season premiere week!

So, that was my lesson this week. Did you learn anything new this week? Did you accomplish your goals? What new goals do you have for this week. How'd your weight loss go? (Go HERE for the calculator.) Trials? Successes? Tell me all about your week!

The Bloggest Loser Day 7 and Weekly Check In

Here it is. Another week has passed and it's time to pull out the Honesty. How did this week go? Did you accomplish your goals?



It's also time for our first official weigh in. Go HERE for the Weight Loss Percentage Calculator. And prepare to share.

This week I accomplished my goal of registering for the Bone Marrow Drive. It's a huge commitment. You are put in the registry until the age of 61. Amazing, isn't it? But I think they said only 1 out of 20,000 people match. I did the easy part with the cheek swab. Now it's up to the database to do the rest.


I also worked out pretty hard this week. I did my running (including the extra run last night), I did my work out video 6 days, I kept my food journal and (mostly) kept on it. Still, I only lost .25% of my weight this week. Yup. That's half a pound. I've also been taking my measurements. Somehow I still lost half an inch in my bust, a full inch in my waist, and gained a half an inch in my hips. My body is shifting and changing, but that scale didn't move. I admit, I got really upset about it. Then I went and found THIS ARTICLE. I encourage you to take a look at it. It talks a lot about weight being deceiving and an unreliable resource for measuring weight loss.

The article encourages you to find out your body fat percentage. You can use an online tool HERE. ****Warning**** This tool places you in categories of Essential Fat, Athlete, Fit, Normal, and Obese. I'm no longer obese according to my weight, but I am according to my body fat. So be aware. It really sucks to see yourself in the Obese category!! But even with my gain in my hips, I lost .5% of my body fat last week. That's awesome.

After reading about all of this, I think we'll keep the traditional weight loss percentage winner, but instead of having a winner for the most inches lost, we'll have a winner for the most body fat lost. Or do you want to do both inches and body fat lost? That would be a potential of three winners. Chime in and tell me your opinion.

So here it is. Leave your percentage of weight lost. And your body fat lost, if so desired. Was this week easy? Harder than you thought? Are you hopeful? Or just plain discouraged. Btw, if you're discouraged, hang in there with us. This will all be worth it in 83 more days!!

And for anyone not Bloggest Loser-ing with us (and those that are), what goals do you have this week? Mine include all I've been doing plus drinking more water than Crystal Light.

Weekly Check In and Bloggest Loser Day 1

I know not everyone plans to play along with The Bloggest Loser, but it seems that everyone has a goal to achieve. So, every Sunday/Monday we'll combine both efforts. We'll report on our goals and weight lost. We'll just multi-task.

So, how did your goals go last week? I did pretty well with mine. Of course, I'm more excited than heck to use my new shoes for tomorrow's run. I can't wait!!! Am I supposed to be this giddy about running? I think I may be getting too much desert air.

How did your goals go last week? Success? Difficulties?

I have a new goal to add this week. This week I am going to do something that scares me to death, but it's for a good cause. A young woman in our ward has leukemia and needs a bone marrow donation. Unfortunately, she hasn't been able to find a match, so our ward is participating in a "Bone Marrow Drive." We'll just do a cheek swab to see if we happen to match. I know this is a good thing to do and I want to help if I can. This does, however, scare the living daylights out of me. I've never been able to donate blood because of my intense fear of needles. I've tried, but been rejected. And this is a lot more involved, but there's more of a demand for life, I think. Lots of people can and do donate blood. I've never heard of a bone marrow drive before. And the way this will be set up, even if we don't match the young woman in our ward, our info will be in the database for potential use for others needing a match. I get really antsy just thinking about it. But I want to do it. I can't let my fear and nausea keep me from possibly saving someone's life. I'm going to do this. The cheek swab will be nothing, so I can get through that easily enough.

What new goal will you add this week?

And since this is the first entry for the Bloggest Loser (a day early, but I don't plan to get on the computer tomorrow) be sure to post if you're playing. Don't forget to grab your initial weight and measurements. Take a before picture of yourself. And eat lots of chocolate, cake, cookies, and pizza. Oh, sorry. That was my inner competitive saboteur rearing her ugly head.

So tell me. How'd you do? Any new goals? Are you playing? Anything you need to get off your chest?

I'm here for you!

The Bloggest Loser Season Two -- Pre-Season

Like my icon? I find that it has a bit of a notable, however comical, look. Yes, I made it myself. Yes, I have no idea how to really make it. And yes, unless I can figure out how to make a nice looking one, this will be our rally sign during this competition. I know. You wish you had my talents. It's okay. We all have our strengths.

So, let's get ready to rumble, shall we?

The competition:

Lose as much weight in 90 days as is healthily possible.

Check in every week to report your percentage of weight loss.

Share your triumphs, challenges, advice, helpful links, and any other tidbits of info you can think of.

At the end of the 90 days, report your final percentage weight lost and (optional) total inches lost.

The Prize:

$10,000. Hahahaha! I wish! Would you settle for bragging rights? Because that's all you get, my friend.

Things to do before Day 1:

Weigh yourself. This will be your beginning weight you will use in your final weigh in.

Take a picture of yourself. This will be a good guide to help you see any changes your body makes.

Optional: Measure yourself, specifically your bust/chest, waist, and hips. You may see a greater result in your measurements than your weight.

We could have two winners: one with the greatest percentage of body weight lost and one with the greatest inches lost.

Don't worry:

This is all done by the honor system. You will never be asked to report your weight, measurements, or pictures. If you want to share to keep better track of the numbers, feel free. Just be prepared to report your percentages lost and the total inches lost if you choose to join that part of the competition.

We begin Monday, September 6th. Yeah, that's Labor Day. I do have impeccable timing, don't I?

And we'll still have a weekly goal check in for those that don't want to participate in The Bloggest Loser, but still want to set different goals.

You ready?

Weekly Check In

It's Week 3 Day 1 of my Couch to 5k program. This morning I was joined by my sister Tara for my run. It wasn't bad. I was a little nervous to run more than 90 seconds at a time. My knees have been threatening to begin the overwhelming pain they gave me last year when I tried running. But I did pretty well. Tara did really well, especially since it was her first run in a while. We made it back and survived. If you can imagine that.

I kept to my goals this last week. I kept running like I was supposed to. I worked out twice during the week. And I kept my food journal. New challenge is to make sure I'm getting enough food because I've noticed that I'm starting to cut too much out. Sometimes finding that balance is tough. The good news: I lost another 3 lbs.

This week's goals: Continue running and keeping the food journal. But I think I need to step it up with a new goal. Something I don't think about all the time. (You don't know this because you're not sitting here next to me as I type this, but I had to stop and think about this for a minute.) I think I'll have to add the goal for personal scripture study. We do family scriptures, and I was doing really well with my personal scripture reading, but with my routine changes it got overlooked. So that's got to be put back into my day.

What are your goals? How did you do last week? Did you get your short term goal taken care of? What do you want to do this week?

I've got a suggested goal for anyone wanting to do the Bloggest Loser, which begins next Monday. Take this week to begin your new eating or exercising regimen. That way next week you can continue doing it (or tweak it to something that works better) and it may be easier to get the results you hope for. I think that was my downfall over the summer. I wanted to suddenly do a lot of things differently and demanded results that first week and just got bummed when I couldn't do it all. I lost steam and gained weight instead of losing it.

Anyway. How'd you do?

First Day of My 1/2 Marathon Training

Today was my first day of the Couch to 5k program. I think this is going to go well. I've been home from my walk/run for about an hour and a half and I think my face is finally back to its original color and not flushed anymore.

The idea of this program is to slowly get your body used to running with a walk/jog combo. This week I run three days using a combination of jogging for 60 seconds and walking for 90 seconds.

Today's song that I sang over and over again (because I needs me an mp3 player or ipod) was "You Look Good in My Shirt" by Keith Urban. Mostly because I hoped my t-shirt was long enough to keep my booty covered. I'm sure I got people thinking of Jell-o as they drove past me. A bit too much junk in my trunk!!

Veronica and I are trying this new fad called, uh, jogging. I think it's jogging, or yogging. It might be a soft 'j'. I'm not sure but apparently you just run for an extended amount of time. It's supposed to be wild.

--Ron Burgundy, Anchorman

Josh talked to a coworker who is a seasoned marathon runner. She suggested to stick with a program to slowly work my way to running 3 miles (about 5k) and then start running for time, an hour at a time or so, until I can run for 3 hours. I only have a few months to train for this, but I want to do it.

My goal race is called London's Run. It's local and affordable. Some of these races are kind of pricey, but this one is do-able. Plus, all the proceeds go to local children's charities. You can't beat that!! And to add to the fun my sister, my brother-in-law, and my cousins plan to join me. Awesome!

In addition to my new exercise regime, I've begun trying to watch my food intake more. Last week I gave up refined sugar. Hardest thing I've ever done!! I'm a self-proclaimed choco-holic and giving up chocolate is rough! This week I want to focus on keeping my food journal. That should help with several aspects of my diet.

Please feel free to comment, but also join in. What is your fitness goal? We'll begin Bloggest Loser, Season 2 on September 5th. The person with the great percentage weight lost wins.

Get ready!!!