Biggest Loser

Well this is the last week of our Biggest Loser challenge.  Last week was a no challenge week or rather a challenge to get our heads back in the game and on track so we could give a big push the last week.

I asked my husband earlier today what he thought would be a good challenge.  I have been thinking about it all week trying to decide a good way to end this and he suggested that we run or walk 10 miles this week.  Then we added another option to ride your bike.  However, if you ride your bike it jumps to 25 miles since the miles go by so much faster. 

I'm really excited for this challenge.  I have an indoor bike trainer that I love.  I got it last weekend and used it everyday except Sunday.  We got road tires for the bike so it is quieter and can be used in the house now.  So I am challenging myself to run the 10 miles and ride the 25 miles.  I normally run 3 times a week and each time I run I go for 3 miles so I will just need to add one more mile on this week.

I also decided to add the challenge to drink 10 8 ounce glasses of water this week.  It is warming up here in Oklahoma this week so it would be good to drink that much water just for the 80 degree weather.

If you are doing these challenges with us please be safe and have a great week.  I hope we are all on track to reach our goals for this week.

The Challenges this week are.....

Last week I did better but I didn't get it everyday.  I struggled last week.  Besides the extra veggies I also ate extra animal crackers, cookies and other things I should have avoided like the plague.  So this week we are going back to the basics.

 

I plan my workouts every week and every week things come up and I don't get some of them done.  I never seem to have a plan B.  This week we are supposed to schedule our exercise and also a plan B.  So for me if I can't go for a bike ride then I will do step ups for 30 minutes instead.  Different things like that.  If I am just too tired to do them then I will walk in place or walk up and down the stairs for a few minutes a few times a day to get that extra calorie burn.  If I really put my mind to this I could be at my goal weight in two weeks.

 

The other challenge this week has to do with sweets.  I'm challenging everyone to not eat any candy, cakes or cookies this week.   Having said that I am also allowing 1 serving this week.  I say that because it is my daughter's birthday and I want to have a slice of the cake at her party this Saturday.  So I will not eat any other sweets until her birthday.  So look ahead in your week and see if you have any get togethers or appointments where you might eat sweets and plan accordingly.  There is nothing wrong with sweets in our lives, in moderation.  Also I figure 1 week of saying no to sweets will help us get our control over them back.

 

Did any of you join us last week for the back exercises and extra veggies?  If you did I hope you'll share with us.

 

Have a great week and good luck reaching your goals.

Biggest Losers weekly challenge

Last week I didn't do to good with the crunches challenge.  I wanted to do them at night and would forget or get busy .  I managed 3 out of 6 since I don't exercise on my rest day. 

 

Last night I asked my husband what would be a challenge that he would participate in and I wont tell you exactly what he said but what it came down to was  - FIBER.

 

This week we need to eat more fiber and we are going to work on the back.  It is very important that you strengthen your back muscles so your abs don't over power them and make your back hurt.  It also works the other way around. 

 

So as for fibrous foods there are a lot out there these days.  Apples, broccoli, cauliflower, etc.  Here is a link to a website with a huge list of foods and their fiber count.  http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/high-fiber-foods/NU00582.  If you aren't used to eating a lot of fiber than gradually increase it so you it isn't hard on your stomach.  We each know where we are at with our fiber intake so I want each of us to increase it.  I you don't normally eat any fiber I would encourage you to increase it over the next few weeks.  It will help you feel fuller and shed the weight you are trying to get rid of.

 

As for the back exercises the couple that I know about are the swimmer pose.  You lie on the ground and arch your back bringing your legs and arms off the ground then then while holding that position you move your arms and legs in a swimming motion.  You can also just hold the position for a sets to help strengthen the back.

 

Here are some links for more ideas.

 

http://www.realsimple.com/health/fitness-exercise/workouts/4-back-strengthening-exercises-10000001722657/index.html

http://www.webmd.com/back-pain/features/back-exercises-wow-them-coming-going?page=2

 

I'm thinking we should do a couple back exercises or stretches every day this week.  They don't take a lot of time but will help in the long run.

 

Have a great week.

Biggest Loser week ?

Well last week I didn't do to well keeping up with anything online.  I didn't even send out the weekly Biggest Loser challenge.  It was just one of those weeks.  So I'm trying to start the week out on top of things.

 

This week the challenges are this:

 

Abs.  I don't care if you do sit ups or crunches.  I don't care if you are standing or lying on the floor.  You can do bicycle, normal, reverse or however you want.  We just need to do them.  I'm thinking that we can do at least 100 a day.  So that is the challenge.  Do at least 100 each day.  I would encourage you to do more if you have time and energy. 

 

The other challenge is also physical but should be good for all of us.  I don't know how many of you feel that if you have to modify an exercise that it isn't worth doing.  That it just doesn't work you out.  Well this week I want all of us to modify our exercises for at least one set.  So if you are doing squats and you do 3 sets of 25 I want you to modify them for 1 set of 25.  If you do jumping jacks modify them.  You don't have to modify everything.  Just one exercise each day at least one set.  I know that I have to alter my lunges after so many.  I do just fine on the right leg but it starts to hurt when I switch to my left leg so I alter them.  Something just doesn't feel right.  Believe it or not even with the modification my leg is still getting stronger.

 

We need to remember that this is a process that takes time.  Sometimes we have to modify things and we can't let that get us down.

 

 

So this is what we are doing this week.  If you are following along.   I encourage you to join us as well.  Even if you don't want to lose weight.  These things can help you maintain and stay healthy.  Have a wonderful Monday.

Biggest Loser week 7

Well it is week 7 of our Biggest Loser family challenge.  Last week we were supposed to set a weight loss goal for the week and then get an additional 30 minutes of exercise every day except on the rest day(s).  It didn't matter what type.  We just needed to be active for at least 30 extra minutes.

Well I didn't reach my goal.  I did lose weight but I set a high goal in order to push myself.  I only ran once due to weather and other things coming up.  I did my Biggest Loser wii workout the 3 times it was scheduled and I used the bottom step in our house for step ups and it was a good week. 

This week we have a challenge to eat 1 extra fruit or veggie each day.  I know I will struggle with this because some days I do really good and eat lots and then the next I don't eat any.  So I bought several different veggies at the store this morning and already had some with lunch and I'll have some with dinner.

The other challenge is Jumping Jacks.  I want us to see for ourselves the difference from week 1.  Week 1 we did 1000 jumping jacks.  I know it was a lot for me.  I did it but I kept thinking to myself that I was glad it wasn't more.  Well this week the base goal is 1000 jumping jacks but I want each of us to set personal goals to do more than that.  I am going to do 2000 jumping jacks this week.  That is my goal. 

It snowed last night and this week is going to be hard to find time to run but I will try.

I also need to find time to ride my bike.  I need to start training for the Oklahoma Free Wheel in June.

I hope you are all doing well with your goals.  Keep going at it.  Don't give up.

Biggest Loser week 6

Welcome to week 6 of our Biggest Loser challenge.  Last week we were to drink 8 8oz of water each day and set a goal for how many pushups we wanted to do and then do our best to reach that goal.

I loved the water part because I have found that if I drink a lot of water I don't snack as much and on the days when I drink lots of water I tend to lose more weight.  So I drank like 12 8oz glasses of water each day.

As for pushups I set a goal to do 100 pushups last week and I did them.  I ended up doing better than I thought.  I figured I would end up needing to do a combination of "girl" and "guy" pushups.  Well I'm proud to say that I did all 100 pushups "guy" style.  Or the real way.  I did 2 sets of 10 for 5 nights last week.  It was awesome and my arms are sore but I feel so much stronger.

We all did really well.  Some people hit their goal and passed it by.

This week the challenges are to first set a goal for how much weight we each want to lose this week alone.  I want to lose 3 pounds.  That is my goal.  I need to lose 6 pounds by the 17th which my 5 year anniversary with my husband.  That will put me back at my weight when we met as well as when we married.  So that is my goal.  Last week I did the same thing.  I set a goal to be to a certain weight and by darned I did it.  It kept me more focused.

Then the other challenge this week is to add an extra 30 minutes of exercise each day.  I'm thinking more like at night when watching tv exercise during the commercials for a half hour.  Or just exercise while watching your favorite show.  Some people exercise at night so I recommended maybe exercising for 10 minutes in the morning.  A 10 minute walk at lunch and finding another 10 minutes somewhere in the day.  I'm not thinking extreme exercising.  They could walk in place for 30 minutes at night or side steps.  Just get moving to burn more calories.  It should help each of us reach our goals.

If you would like to join us please feel free to share your goals with us.  This has been fun challenging myself and competing (friendly) with friends and family.  It just helps me push a little harder.

Have a great Monday.

Biggest Loser Week 5

Let's just say that last week was rough.  We moved and that means it should have been a great weight loss week right.  Lifting heavy things from one house to the other and up stairs and then deep cleaning the rental house.  Ya so I was up half a pound from the week before when all was said and done.  It was rough.  I would start the mornings out great.  Lunch would throw huge calories into it.  We ate out a lot.  Our stuff was packed!

This week needs to be better.  Sunday started out with brownies so it didn't start out the greatest.  It isn't the greatest idea to gain weight at the beginning of the week because then you have that much more to lose to beat your previous weeks weight.

Well this weeks challenges are to drink at least 8 8oz glasses of water.  Water intake is vital to survival and that doesn't change when you are trying to lose weight.

The other challenge is Push ups.  We can do them however we want.  Wall push ups, "girl" push ups, "boy" push ups, push ups on medicine ball, off the couch or however.  I didn't set a number but asked everyone to set their own goals for the week.  My goal is to do 100 push ups this week.  I originally thought that I would only be able to do my normal 7 "guy" push ups but I did 20 last night and it was so awesome.  I have my sister in law doing 100 with me, her husband doing 200, my mother in law doing 10 a day, some cousins doing 60 each and my brother doing 165.

We will see how it goes by the end of the week.

This has been a lot of fun so far.

Good luck to all of you trying to lose or maintain your weight.  If anyone has challenge ideas please feel free to leave a comment and share.

Biggest Loser Week 3

Last week went by so fast.  We were supposed to schedule our exercises at the beginning of the week and then do our best to do them.  We were also supposed to weight train at least 2 days.  I scheduled my biggest loser wii workouts for Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday and then my running for Monday, Thursday and Saturdays.  Biking was on Tuesday, Friday and possibly Saturday.  I planned on weight lifting on Wednesday and Friday.  I did pretty good.  I didn't do one biggest loser because I had absolutely no energy or desire and I didn't run or bike on Saturday but other than that I did everything else on my schedule.

This week, week 3, our two challenges are this.  We are to keep track of what we eat for any two days this coming week.  It should help us see how we are doing.  Even if we are exercising like crazy but we are eating way too much then we will still not see the results we want.  I track my calories almost every day on www.Sparkpeople.com in order to lose weight.

Our second challenge is to do 100 trunk rotations each day.  They are low impact but work several muscles. 

I also had several people tell me that they felt really good the first week while doing the jumping jacks and were still doing some this last week.  So anyone who still wants to please feel free to keep doing jumping jacks.  They are good for us after all.

I hope that everyone is having a good week so far.  Ours should be good.

The Biggest Loser

My family has started another round of "The Biggest Loser".  We started January first and it will go for three months.  There are more people joining us this time.  My sister in law is keeping track of the weights and the percentage of weight lost and I am in charge of the weekly challenges.

This past week's challenge was actually fun.  I got the idea off of Pinterest.  The idea is that 1000 jumping jacks = 1 pound so that was the challenge.  We needed to each do 1000 jumping jacks this week.

I have Sunday as my rest day so I split it up by 6 days in the week.  I did 167 jumping jacks each day and finished today. 

I just sent out the challenges for this week. 
Challenge 1 - schedule this weeks workouts on the calendar and then do them...working around unexpected interruptions.

Challenge 2 - Incorporate weight training into at least 2 days this week.  Either into the workouts you already do or do specific ones by themselves.

If you have made resolutions this year to get healthy, lose weight, or just do better in your exercising feel free to join us on our challenges and let me know how you do.  It is always easier if you have others to do it with.

Oh ya - The Biggest Loser

Sorry.  I completely forgot to keep you posted on the families Biggest Loser contest.  We were originally going to end on the 1st of August but we decided to wait til the next week so we would all be home from vacation, have a couple days at home with our own scales, and so it would be on a Wednesday.  Then we got sick and things came up so we didn't end up ending it until a week ago.

I went from 198 to 191.  It took two months and although I am happy to have lost the weight I am not happy with how week my will  power was.  After Sarah I was losing 8 pounds a month and it took me two months to lose 7 pounds.  I did tone a lot.  190 was a wall that I really struggled to overcome.  My goal this week was to get past that wall.  I woke up this morning at 189.6 which was awesome.  So I have tried to be good today so I don't go back up past 190.

Anyways I didn't win the Biggest Loser contest.  I came in second actually.  My sister in law lost 6.?% and I lost something like 3.3%.  I am happy that I lost the weight and I will keep going.

My new goal is to lose two pounds a week and if I can do that then I will be to 170 by the end of October...right before we hit the holidays.  It is easy to maintain than to lose during the holidays so that is my goal.

My family is thinking about starting another round of The Biggest Loser sometimes early next year after the holidays.  I look forward to it.  I am hoping that I am already to my goal weight so then any weight I lose on top of that would be nice.  I'd probably work on toning more.

For all of you who are trying to lose weight...just keep working at it.  Don't give up.  I tell myself to give up every time the scale gives me a number I'm not happy with and that lasts for all of about 30 seconds and then I'm back trying to figure out what the problem is. 

Here are a few weight loss tips that have helped me in the past and are helping me now:

Get enough sleep - that is very important actually.
Drink lots of water
Exercise - going for a walk is exercise.  We all have to start somewhere.
Have fun.  It isn't work doing if it isn't fun.  Just because we are trying to lose weight doesn't mean we have to give up living to do so.  Find fun activities that help keep you active.  Sometimes I just dance around the house with my girls and it is surprising how quickly I get tired.

Have a good day...go out and do something good for yourself!

Wednesday - sorry no recipe today

Ok as you might have noticed I have been slacking a little (ok maybe a lot) with my blogging.  I have been so tired all the time lately and I don't know why.  I get up with my husband at 6 and then when he leaves for work I right back to bed until 8.  I was getting up at 5:20 to go for a jog or bike ride but it is all I can do to get out of bed.  It doesn't help that when my alarm goes off and I look at the window it is dark outside.  I don't like to run in the dark.

Well I had set a goal Monday to take my kids to the park every morning this week.  Ya so far I'm failing.  Yesterday I was so tired that I didn't want to walk to the park.  I just wanted to sit on my rear and do nothing....so that is what we did.  I read books, had sword fights with my daughter, taunted Yana into crawling to me, and that was about it.

I told my husband last night that I had to go to bed so I could get up this morning and go for a jog.  So, my alarm went off, I hit snooze, it went off and then I just turned it off and rolled over because it was dark outside.  Thankfully my husband saved me because he had to get up anyways and told me to get out of bed.  I love him so much.  I didn't get a very long run in but I did get a mile in and it felt great.  It was dark and I kept seeing lightning flashes to the west and then it started to sprinkle so I headed home.  Thankfully I made it home because it started raining harder and harder until we had an all out downpour around 7. 

As far as the Biggest Loser goals we have going on.  I have lost 10 pounds.  I am down to 190.8 and just have to get past that wall.

I am still planning on the 32+ mile ride in Idaho and am so excited for it.  I'm really enjoying the cross training variety that I am doing.

Things are good.  I am hoping the rain stops so we ca go out today.  We need to get out of the house.  I hope that you all have a good day.  I will continue the recipes in August after we get back from our vacation.

Sleep and losing weight

I know that there has been a lot of study out there about the affect sleep can have on our weight.  I know personally that if I don't get good sleep then I don't seem to lose very much if anything at all.  I thought I would share my own experience with this.

I am doing a Biggest Loser challenge with my family and I'm struggling a little to stay on track on the weekends.  So I'll do great during the week and lose a little bit of weight each day and then on the weekend I tend to gain it all back.  

Here is what I do.  Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday I run in the mornings.  I have to get up during the week by 5:30 in order to do this.  Tuesday's and Friday's I have set as my biking days.  I also do this in the morning so long as it isn't storming outside. :)

I try to go to bed no later than 10.  I'm not getting a full 8 hours of sleep though.  So last night I was bound and determined to be in bed and sleeping by 10.  I said good night to my husband and went to bed.  My alarm was set and I was going to get up and ride my bike for 20-30 minutes but around 11 pm I was woken up by a lightning storm.  I was up for a few minutes and then went back to bed listening to the rain just pouring down.  I didn't turn the alarm off but didn't have hopes of going for a bike ride.

My alarm went off and I just turned it off.  After that storm I didn't even check outside to see if it was dry enough to ride.  I was also really tired.  I'm still trying to get caught up after last weekend.  I slept until 8:24.  So I got roughly 10 hours of sleep which doesn't happen hardly ever but I was down 2 pounds.  Usually I only lose a few ounces with my 7 hours of sleep.

I noticed this the last time I was losing weight.  When I went to bed early enough to get at least 7-8 hours of sleep I lost more weight faster.

Our bodies just need the sleep.  So if you are trying to lose weight and struggling with it check out your sleeping patterns.  If you aren't getting very much sleep than maybe you need to get a couple more hours.  What will it hurt to try it for a week.  You might see a huge difference in how much weight you lose.

What did I get myself into?

As you know my family is doing a Biggest Loser contest for our family.  It started June 1st and ends August 1st.  We are all looking for new ways to exercise and to lose weight.  I consider myself a runner and am trying to train for a half marathon later this year.  I run 4 times a week.

My sister in law has hurt her shins and can not run for a while but she does like to ride bikes.  So I had this crazy idea.  At the end of July she will be graduating with her Associates degree and the whole family will be coming to see her graduate.  She lives in Idaho.  Our grandfather lives in Island Park and we love to go there.  So my crazy idea....to ride bikes from the cabin to West Yellowstone.  It is about 32 miles away.  The road is in the mountains so there will be ups and downs and traffic.  Thankfully most of the road is 4 lanes so cars can go around us.

Right now I can ride a 6 minute mile pretty steady.  I can ride a 4 minute mile but I don't know how steady.  So we are going to train.  I will now be riding a bike probably 3-4 times a week in preparation and the closer it gets probably more often.  I have a month or so to train.  I have no idea how to train for such an event other than to ride a bike and get my rear end used to sitting.

Any suggestions for those of you who bike a lot?  I could use all the advice I can get.

Getting back into the swing of things....

I apologize for not blogging more this week.  Last week I was away at camp and it seems to be taking me longer to get back into the swing of things than I thought it would. 

Tuesday we went to the Library and got some new books to read here at the house.  We are one library visit and two books short of achieving all the requirements for the prizes for the summer reading program. 

Wednesday I had intentions of sharing a recipe with you but didn't get it done.  As far as the Biggest Loser family weigh in.  I had to lose the 2 pounds that I gained at camp and then I lost an additional .2 pounds.  So in two weeks I had lost 2.2 pounds.  Not bad but I want to lose more than that.  So my goal is to lose 2 pounds a week.  I know I can do this because that is what I did before when I was losing weight after having my daughter Sarah.  I also would like to try and lose an additional pound a week.  I have about 6 weeks left so that means if I can lose 3 pounds a week then I will lose a total of 18 pounds more than I have already lost.  That would be 20.2 pounds.  I would love that.  I would only have about another 20 to go to get my goal weight.

Thursday...today....well we cleaned a lot this morning.  We did laundry, we vacuumed, we organized, we cleaned out the fridge, took out the trash, exercised and other such things.  It has been a good day.  I am hoping that I can go for a jog this evening since I wasn't able to this morning.

Well I need to spend some time in my sewing room.  I have a bunch of projects to get done and my youngest is taking her nap.  Talk to ya'll later.  Thanks for your patience.

The Biggest Loser

Let the Biggest Loser Begin....

My husband's family is doing a Biggest Loser challenge.  We are putting so much money in per person to participate.  We start today and it will go through August 1st.  There will be a weekly weigh-in every Wednesday.  The person who loses the most weight wins the money.

There will be weakly challenges.  This weeks challenge is to drink 64 ounces of water every day of the week.  For me that isn't much of a challenge because I try for 12 glasses instead of 8 but I know for my husband it is.  It will be good for him to get more water in his system.  There will be different challenges that will challenge some but may not challenge all.  All will be there to help us.

We are going to help each other by sharing recipes, exercises that we like and so forth.

It should be a lot of fun.

I will keep you all posted as we go.