Weigh-in; Round 2

Hey there! Tiffster here! I have had a ridiculously busy day. I started a new job at Smoothie King today and I love it! I'm so happy to be working for a company that has great product that I know works! Hopefully it will roll out nationally soon!

I'm down 1.8 pounds in the past two weeks. Am I disappointed? Sure. Am I happy I lost? Absolutely! A loss is a loss is a loss! I'll take whatever I can get! At least it isn't a gain!

I'll have a picture added of the scale tomorrow, it's on my phone and my phone just told me to plug it in or it will explode. ok, not really, but it is dying and therefore I can't play wordfeud or send picture messages to my email to upload to my blog! LOL

Love you all!

Jen's Weigh-In #2

So, today's entry could have multiple titles.

1. Yeah, What She Said....

So yesterday Tiffany posted about how the past 2 weeks have been just ridiculous, and I have to agree. My weight was not really gone down much. It's pretty much just bounced around the same number for like 10 days. Not cool for my ego.

On top of that, I'm broke. I've applied for countless jobs and had a few interviews and I am still unemployed. What's worse is that the interviews both seemed promising. But one said that they found someone they felt was a better fit, and the other just never got back to me. Yet another blow to the ego. And not great for my bank account either.

Then there's been my diet for the past week. Maybe "lack of a diet" would be a better way to say that. I have eaten junk since Thursday. Thursday was the Relay Kickoff, where I had an eclair. That actually didn't send me over the edge on my diet, but it didn't help. Friday I had a volunteer luncheon that was basically nothing buy carbs and fat. Delicious, but not good for my calorie count. That evening, my cousin came to town and we went out to dinner. Yeah, I really didn't even try at dinner. I mean I didn't go crazy, but I didn't really care one way or the other. Then I descended into a weekend of REALLY not caring what my diet looked like. I ate BBQ, coleslaw, fries, and cake. And I felt crappy about it. But that's really all we had in the house to eat. It's the end of the month, so we don't really have a lot of options, period. And my diet foods are long gone. Since I'm not contributing to the household or the grocery bill, I can't really complain about the health quality of the food. And yes, I could have said no to the cake. At least I limited myself to one piece...

Additionally, I didn't really get a lot of support at home regarding my exercise routine. When I got home from the gym on Saturday, my cousin informed me that I didn't look like I'd been to the gym. I'm sorry, what am I supposed to look like after an hour of Yoga? Relaxed, I should hope. And later in our conversation she told me I need to eat a cracker. Uhm, I'm more than 70 lbs overweight. I am trying to work towards being a healthy weight. I really don't think I need to eat a cracker, thankyouverymuch.

So my eating has been very junky, and my mood has been junky, too. I'm not sure which came first, but regardless it's not been fun. :-(

2. I Did WHAT??

So as you know, my secondary goal was to complete a 5k in less than 45 minutes by the end of March. I have been doing a Couch-to-5k program for the past week or so to help me reach that goal. Well, when I was running this morning, I happened to look at the mileage on the screen (I usually just look at the time so I know if I can please stop running yet). I am pleased to tell you that this morning I did a 5k in about 35 minutes! A 5k is 3.1 miles and after 40 minutes on the treadmill, I went 3.782 miles. That extra half mile was basically my warm up and cool down. I didn't have my phone with me this morning, so I don't have proof, but I know I can do it again tomorrow.

I'm so proud of myself. That doesn't mean than I'm stopping the training. Actually, it means that I'm even more excited about the program. If I feel this great now, how will I feel when I can run 30 minutes? I feel a runner's high coming on!

3. The Weigh-In

Well, I know the real reason your here. I guess you want to know how I did with my goals. So without further ado....

240.2. Only down 2 pounds. So I didn't reach my goal. BUT I did lose weight. At least I didn't gain. I need to focus on that. I also have proof in my pants, lol. When I was jogging yesterday, my pants kept sliding down. It felt great, except for the feeling that I was mooning people at the gym. :-)

Because of the emotional drama that was associated with this week, I have decided not to weigh myself every morning like I have been doing. It's just so discouraging to see my weight bouncing around like that. If I had just seen the overall loss, I would have been much less annoyed. So I think I'm going to just weigh in on Mondays for now. I might weigh myself more often later, but we'll have to see.

Ok... I think that's enough for now. I'm going to find something else to do.

-Jen

Annoyed. Just plain 'ole annoyed.

Here I am, Sunday afternoon, and I am just annoyed.
With a lot of things.
The fact that I'm sick. annoying.
NCAA Football for playstation 3. annoying.
Scale numbers not moving. annoying.
Sunday dinner and a workout canceled. annoying.
I have to work tomorrow and husband doesn't. annoying. (hasn't happened in nearly 2 years.)
The fact that it's gorgeous outside and I have no idea what to do. annoying.
Bickering about stuff that is inconsequential. annoying.

Tomorrow is our 2nd goal weigh in for the game with Jen and I and my 5th weigh in for the competition I'm in with the local girls. I have to say that weeks 3 and 4 are not as high yielding as weeks 1 and 2. I must also say that it has been incredibly hard to have my husband home for a week and still maintain a workout and eating schedule that is beneficial to my goals. He's just not into it. He likes the results I'm getting because I look good and feel good, but he's got no desire to just eat one snack a day and that consist of 16 wheat thins or 10 baby carrots. That's tough to deal with for a week. Another hard part about this journey is that week or so before payday, especially when you've bought all the food you thought you'd need at the beginning of the pay period and come to find out, you were short. So now you're short on money and short on food and we all know health food is more expensive than not so healthy food. So to put it plainly...these last 2 weeks, overall, sucked. Sure, I had ups. Size 12 pants...hellooooo! Inches lost all around....hell yeah! Got a job.....woohooo! Spending time with my hubby......hubba hubba! But in the grand scheme of things I'm just really disappointed in the turn out of weeks 3 and 4.

Hopefully week 5 is better.

A Quickie...

I'm about to head out the door but I thought I would really quick before I need to get ready to go.

I am so tired today! I think it's because I've made myself start waking up at a decent morning hour lately, but my brain doesn't want to shut off at the corresponding decent bedtime hour. This whole "unemployment" has not been great for my sleep schedule. I am so tempted to stop by the Exxon and get a Rockstar Juiced on my way to the Hall of Fame. But I won't! Because there are like 600 calories in a can and that's over 1/3 of my calories for the day! Nope nope nope. So not worth it. As I wrote that, that little devil in my brain reminded me that I also don't usually eat when I drink one of those, so it could be a meal replacement. NO! I'll just have to rock out in the car. I know once I get to the event the other people will help et my energy up.

For those of you who don't know, I volunteer with the local branch of the American Cancer Society. This year I'm the Online Chair for the Downtown Knoxville Relay for Life. Tonight is our kickoff party at the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. I'm looking forward to it, but I'm also a little nervous. I have to be there at 3:00 to help set up, the event is from 6:00-8:00, then I'll have to help break down. Does anyone notice a meal time in there? I know that the ACS is planning to provide food, but most of the time our food is pizza and sweets. I'm not really sure if there will be anything "safe" for me to eat. I already admitted that my first major caloric "oops" was at an ACS event! I'll just have to try to do better this time!

Ok, I guess I need to pack up my laptop and hit the road. Hope Everyone's having a great Thursday!

- Jen

Grrr! and Encouragement

First of all, let me say how super happy I am for Tiff about her size 12s! That means she can fit in my favorite dress ever (if she still has it) that I gave to her when I got too big to wear it. I'm super happy for her and also a little jealous. I loved that dress. :-)

That being said, I'm so freaking annoyed right now. I have been bouncing around the same pound for almost a week now. I weigh myself every morning to record it on Calorie Count and my workout journal. So a few days ago I was 240.0, then it went up to 240.8 then 240.6, 240.4, 240.2, and 240.0 yesterday. This morning, I was 240.8 again. Are you kidding me? I'm not getting discouraged, but annoyed is definitely in there.

One encouraging thing is my 5k training. Today is the last day of the first week. Well, technically tomorrow is, but it's a rest day. I'm about to go to the gym to complete today's workout. But I can already tell that it's helping. Every Tuesday night I go to a comedy show and I usually park on the 4th level of a nearby garage. Previously, walking back to my car has made me out of breath and I'm practically gasping by the time I sit down inside. Last night, however, I felt just fine. I probably could have parked on the 6th level (there are only 6 levels lol) and been great.

I think it's awesome. The first day I ran, I texted my boyfriend and said "hey! I just did a walk/run and it didn't kill me!!" to which he responded with the proper accolades of "I'm glad you didn't die." So the next day when I ran I sent him one that said "the 2nd time didn't kill me either!" which got a "very good." Now that we know this whole running business isn't going to kill me, I guess I better keep doing it.

Alright, off to the gym.

-Jen

Holy freaking Hallelujah!

Guess who's struttin' in her size 12 jeans?! Yeah, that'd be me! They are still a little snug in the waistline, but hey! I was in 16's 3 weeks ago! Such an awesome feeling, especially since my jeans were falling off my butt this morning so I dug these out hoping I'd find a pair of 14's. I didn't so I tried the 12's and bam!

=D

PS We received a grill from our roommate (awesome?!) and are now thinking of marvelous and healthy things to cook on it!

PS I got a job at Smoothie King! Free Smoothies for me! LOL

Zumba

Tonight I have Zumba!

I had to just walk today, I had an injury to my MCL a few years back and it started to throb today so I didn't run. I did however walk fast and on a 9 incline!

As for Jen's Couch 2 5K program...i say do it! I've been on it for 2 weeks now. I'll probably do week 2 again just because I need to build up a little more endurance!

<3 you all!

Confession

Ok, so I have to be honest... I haven't really been working on my secondary goal very much lately. Or at all really. That being said, I did jog some this morning, and I remember why I like it. The funny thing is, it was completely on accident. I had intended to just alternate how fast I was walking, but the way I programmed the treadmill made me walk/jog instead. But I didn't die! I didn't even think I was gonna die. I think that's a good sign!

I found my old workout log that had a couch-to-5k program in it. That's not what I did this morning, but I'm considering starting it again. I'm not going to make any promises, but I'm thinking about it. That would definitely help me reach my goal of a 5k in less than 45 minutes!

Gives me something to think about...

- Jen

Tiffany's 1st Weigh In

So technically it's my 2nd weigh in because I weigh in each Monday with the weight competition I'm in but for all intents and purposes this is my first weigh in for the blog and with Jen!

So without further ado:

That's right! I lost 12 lbs in 14 days! That's 3 times my goal. The first week was an epic 7.6 lbs, this week was 4.4. I know it won't be like this every week so I'm trying to prepare myself for that fact! I am happy to announce that I am now BELOW 200 pounds. I am so stoked to say that!

Will post more about my last two weeks tomorrow, right now, it's bed time!

Jen's Weigh-In

Tiff and I never really established how we were going to do this, so here goes!

My first goal for this game was to lose 4 pounds by today. That means that this morning the scale should say 245.8. Well, this morning I saw this:

242.4??? HECK YEAH! That's a loss of 7.4 pounds! I must say, I am perfectly ok with being an overachiever this time. My brain actually had trouble registering this number as correct this morning. I weighed myself twice! Lol.

I am especially proud of my success because I kind of had a rough week during the second half of the goal. I had lost 6 pounds before my "Oops" post. After that I had a few emotionally low days and one day where I didn't make it to the gym or workout at home at all, and I had one day where I really just didn't care about making healthy eating choices (it was a very bad day). But I am proud of myself overall. I think there was a time where that sort of personal discouragement would have made me want to give up entirely, or I would have been really hard on myself which would have led to giving up anyway. This time, I accepted the fact that I didn't do my best the day before but that didn't mean I didn't get another chance to do better. If I can maintain that healthy attitude, I think I really do well this time.

I know Ms. Tiffany has already met her goal, I just don't know to what degree! I have her gift all ready to go off in the mail tomorrow. Hopefully she fills us all in on her awesome progress soon!

-Jen

Day 13 = Unlucky?

Well, today is Day 13 of my little game with Tiffany and let's see what's wrong about today so far:

• Huge test in less than an hour that I feel woefully unprepared for?..... CHECK!
• Very disturbing dream regarding me and my boyfriend?..... CHECK!
• Still unemployed and don't know how the heck I'm gonna pay next months bills?..... CHECK!
  **I was hoping to hear back on this yesterday, but all quiet on the cellular front.
• Discovered I'd gained back a whole pound even though I stuck to my diet and exercise yesterday?.... CHECK!
• Other general annoyances that I was trying to ignore, but have reared their ugly heads because I'm in a bad mood?.... CHECK!

This is going to be a long day. I'm hoping I can improve my mood after the test is over. I'm supposed to hang out with my long-lost bestie from NC. (Why are all my besties long-lost? FL, NC, SC. Lame.) But I don't know if it'll actually pan out. We've been trying to hang out all week and the stupid snow had kept her way more snowbound than me. But hopefully we can get some good time in. I haven't seen her at length in I don't even know how long. And I'm taking my workout clothes with me to the test. If I can't hang out with D, at least I can go to the gym and blow off so steam.

Ok, I need to go do some deep breathing or something and then head to the test. Wish me luck!

-Jen

Na

The eleventh element. Na. One part of the compound NaCl. Sodium. Salt.

Salt is amazing. It makes things taste good. It can transform a meal. It can kill you.

Ok, so I'm being a little extreme but in extreme circumstances it really can kill you!

What does Sodium do to your body? Too little Sodium can cause your body to function incorrectly, you will feel weak and tired. Too much Sodium and your blood pressure can sky rocket. As in all things, balance is key. The FDA recommends, on a daily basis, an intake of 2400 mg of Sodium. This allows one's body to function properly. Keep this in mind when you read the labels of your food. Get in the habit of reading those labels. KNOW what goes into your body. To moderate your Sodium levels stay away from PROCESSED FOODS. Sodium regulates the water in your body, too much and it causes you to retain water, therefore making you bloated. Puffy. Puffy is a bad word! You don't want to look puffy!

So start paying attention to your sodium levels.

Oops...

Well, yesterday was my first official slip-up. I overshot my calorie limit by about 350. It wasn't even a good blown limit. I wouldn't feel nearly as bad if I had some delicious, decadent dinner last night and I just couldn't resist eating every bite. Nope, I went to a status meeting for a charity I volunteer with and filled up on snacks. My dinner consisted of pretzels, celery, carrots, broccoli, chips, and 3 chocolate chip cookies. It would be one thing if I had just had the veggies, but no. And when I said that was my dinner, I meant it. The meeting was at 6:00, and I hadn't eaten since lunch. So I probably ate more than I would have if I'd eaten an actual meal beforehand.

In hindsight, it would have been so easy for me to eat a healthier dinner. I stopped to get drinks for the meeting, and I should have picked up an actual meal at the store. Oh well, what's done is done. But it's a monthly meeting, so I can do better next time. We'll chalk this up to a learning experience and go from there!

- Jen

:-D

I'm am gloriously sore in that way that you only get from a really intense Pilates workout. I love love love the Centergy class at The Rush Fitness Clubs. It's like Yoga, Aerobics, and Pilates all rolled into one. I think they said that there are similar programs called Body Flow... I dunno. If you see a class that seems like reallyfast yoga, try it out. Love it, love it, love it! That being said, I am now also thoroughly exhausted. But in a good way. :-D

-Jen

Snowbound

For the second day in a row, my road looks like this...

Why yes, that is snow on top of ice! And, in case you couldn't tell, that is snow completely under my car. I had to go out yesterday, and that was as far as I could get my car back into the driveway. It could be awesome if I lived in an area with lots of good sledding hills. I could get a workout just marching up the hill repeatedly. But no, I live in an area where it takes all of 2 steps to climb the hill. No fun to sled, not much workout to repeat. Plus, there's a house at the bottom of said hill. That's an accident waiting to happen.

So, for the second day in a row, I am not going to be able to get a proper workout. I am beyond annoyed. But I guess that's a good sign. I could be using yesterday and today as an excuse not to workout at all, but yesterday I did some work on the WiiFit. My only problem with that is it's boring. Plus, I don't feel like I've really worked anything when I'm done. Yes, I may be a bit sore, but it doesn't even last 30 minutes. I know it's better than nothing, but it feels lame in comparison. Oh well.

Alright! Enough whining. I need to find something to do. Anyone have any suggestions? I don't really have room to do any workout videos, and I don't have any exercise equipment here at the house. And as you can see, I am not about to leave the house today. I'm tempted to dig out the snow boots and walk up and down the road... except that the last time I went outside I saw a car going way too fast on the ice and they slid off the road. It'd be my luck to get hit... then I'd really be screwed on working out! Ok, ok, ok... The Wiifit it is. I'm so over this stupid winter wonderland!

-Jen

My Abs and Other News

Things that are sore today:
Biceps
Abs
Back (all of it!)
Glutes (BUTT)
Thighs
Hamstrings
Head (woke up with a killer headache)

Surprisingly NOT my calf muscles!

Things that are new for this week:

• Doctor appointment this morning
• The secondary competition is heating up, it was cut from 15 to 10 people, I'm part of the 10. No more cuts but some awesome changes. 
• I get to be in charge of group field trips. Healthy, Fun and somewhat of a workout! Hello Horseback riding and Jacksonville Bike Tours! 
• One big change is that the biggest loser competition for me here in Jacksonville is being extended. Instead of 10 weeks we'll be doing 20 weeks which puts our "graduation" on the last week of May. Which for Floridians, that's the unofficial start of bathing suit season! Eek! I'm gonna be in a Two piece this year! 
• We only have a few more days until weigh in here at CD2SD...Which means I need to find a gift for Jen. ASAP! Thankfully that is my plan tonight, headed to Target for a gift and new workout clothes! 
• I have to talk to my husband about all of the changes going on with the local competition. A few things require me to be gone at least one night a week. I think he'll understand if I get him a new game! (right, honey, sunday nights can be Call Of Duty nights? I love you!)
• I'm starting a food journal. Got a cute one from TJ Maxx

I struggled as to whether or not I should tell you my weightloss, and technically I have since it's all over Facebook, but I'll wait and tell you next monday! 

Peace out,

Tiff

Diet Supplements?

I have an appointment on Tuesday with my doctor to talk about all things weight loss, weight management and nutrition. I'm super stoked and wish it was on Monday instead of Tuesday! There is a nutrition class on base that is offered for free, I just need to sign up. I want to talk with my doctor of course!

So weight loss supplements. What do you think of them? Remember that one that Anna Nicole Smith used/represented? I tried it when it first came out. I don't know why, I was 130 pounds. Any way, it made me ridiculously shaky and dizzy so I stopped taking it. But supplements and meal replacements are not just pills. And the world's come a long way in the validity of these. No, they are not miracle fix alls, but used correctly I feel they can give your weight loss journey an extra boost!

So what are my favorite supplements? I'll tell ya!

• Special K
• French Vanilla Shake 180 calories in a bottle/serving
• Honey Almond Meal Bar 180 calories/bar
• Smoothie King
• Lean1 Chocolate Smoothie 290 calories in a small. It contains Almonds, chocolate and bananas as well as the supplement Lean1. 

Those are my favorite so far. They all taste amazing and not like diet food at all! Very high in fiber and protein which means you FEEL full for longer! This is what makes them meal replacements! 

Enjoy and work hard! 

Cold Cravings

Does anyone else eat when they are cold? I noticed that I do that. I will understand that I am not hungry, but I will still eat when I am cold to try to warm me up. I don't really know what kind of sense that makes.

It's cold here today, and my house is almost always chilly. I haven't turned to eating for warmth today, but I was thinking of things to do to warm up and that occurred to me. Uhm, no. I will go make some hot tea or something. Or, you know... get a blanket.

-Jen

Burnout! or Slow and Steady Wins the Race

No, I'm not burnt out. I am trying like the dickens to not get there! That's what gets me in trouble. I am so excited and ready to go that I spend hours working out every day. I'll do my daily workout, then I'll go for a walk, then I'll do some crunches because I'm bored. Then I might get on the WiiFit. All in one day. No wonder I burn out! So this time around I'm trying not to do too much too soon. I am doing a 30-day workout program, but it's just 30 minutes of weight lifting each day. I'm also doing cardio each day.

I want to be dedicated to this. I 'm hoping that if I do the slow and steady thing I can actually follow through with it down to a healthy weight. So, I have to make myself be the tortoise right now. I want to finish the race! Not pass out under a tree in a month!

-Jen

Work it!

So today was day three of going to the gym for me! Woohoo! The first two days I stuck to the stuff I knew. Treadmill and stationary bike.  But today...I branched out and worked my arms, legs and abs on the nautilus machines! It was fabulous, I felt great after I left. I also biked 9 miles on the bike! I plugged it all in to the calorie counter and I burned a total of 1,109 calories! Plus I cleaned the bathroom and took down Christmas lights...so I'm sure that burned a little more! (that could also be wishful thinking!)

Short blog today! Busy bee!

~Tiff

A Pint's a Pound the World Around

When I originally picked that for my title I was thinking one thing, but now I realize it could be seen 2 ways.

My original thought was literal. Did you know that 1 pint of water weighs 1 pound? Thanks to Alton Brown for teaching me that! But you know what that also means? That our 16oz Dasani (or Aquafina) bottles can double as 1lb weights (and a 32oz camelbak bottle is 2lbs!). While I learned that fact about water from Mr. Brown a while ago, I remembered it tonight when I wanted to do a workout without going to the gym. I used a dumbbell workout and substituted the water bottles. Since I'm used to using a little more weight than a pound, I increased my repetitions and my sets. I still felt a nice little burn. Besides, some resistance is better than none at all!

My second thought was regarding a pint at the pub. Alcohol is empty calories. Limit your intake while trying to lose weight. No, I have not had alcohol lately. Just a word to the wise!

Alright, enough of my ramblings for now.

- Jen

First Recipe Posted!

Well, I have posted the first recipe! Woot!

The reason I posted this banana and chocolate confection was to congratulate my co-blogger for being selected for Alex Michele Photography's Biggest Loser Competition! Hopefully, she can make this to satisfy her sweet tooth, but stay on track. Congratulations again Tiff! Good luck!!

- Jen

Eating For Two.....

Tiff here and NO, I'm not pregnant! No worries there, it's not our time just yet.

But I have a real problem. When I cook, I make enough for 4 people. There are usually only 2 of us partaking in dinner (the only meal I cook regularly). Some of you are thinking "cool, leftovers." Not. We eat the whole thing. So not only am I eating something that is probably not the healthiest meal, but I'm eating about twice as much as I should be. Not good.

Portion control is a real problem. Our eyes are too big for our stomach and we've been trained as children to clean our plates at every meal. How do I think I'm going to combat this? I think I'm going to become a portion control Nazi. Last night I had white rice and steak tips. Going by the packaging I saw that I was supposed to have about 1/4-1/2 a cup of rice and half of the steak tips. So I got out my measuring spoon. At first I was a little worried, "this doesn't look like much," I thought. But as I sat down to eat and I finished my meal (with a big glass of water) I realized I was full! Success! Now what do I do about those pesky restaurant portions that are 2-3 portions bigger than they are supposed to be? I may try this: When I order ask for a to go box at the beginning of the meal. Especially if you are eating with non dieters. This allows you to put half of your food away and you aren't tempted to pick at it for the rest of the meal. If you are brave enough to separate your meal and just leave the other half alone, you can wait for the to go box till after the meal. Your choice.

Secondary Goal

Hello, there! Jen here! I had established a secondary goal for myself, and after talking to Tiffany, I decided to post it here as well. My goal is to complete a 5k loop on the treadmill in less than 45 minutes by 3/31. That means I'll have to average around 4 miles an hour for 3.1 miles.

I wanted to set another goal that wasn't necessarily related to my weight, but still would help me stay on track. Plus, at the end of it, I'll be able to do something that I can't do right now. My fastest recent time was 57:12. So, now that I've admitted Goal A (I figure primary goals will be numbered and secondary goals will be lettered) to the world, I better get to working on it!

Jen and I: Through The Years

Hello all, Tiffany here! Jen and I figured out how to have dual posters on one blog so we combined our efforts and here we are! I thought it would be pretty neat if I put up a few pictures of us through the years. I've not run this by Jen...so uh...yeah...I made sure they were mostly flattering. You can really tell our weight gain over the years. A touch bit depressing, but then I look at the fun we had and I laugh. She's the perfect person to go through this with. A person who is struggling with weight just like I am, not some skinny bean pole that I'm going to hate on week 2 as she encourages me and all I can think of is "shove a hamburger in it, bitch. Oo hamburger, that sounds good! *walks off treadmill*"

I said something funny and Jen laughed. We work well as a team. This was Christmas 2006

Jen and I hiking at Ozone Falls in September of 2008. I remember this day because after we finished our hike I went out and discovered beer and that I could, in fact, drink it. My downfall. I'd be thrilled to look like this again. I don't even drink that much!

We were super stoked that it had snowed, that we had made it back to work from our lunch break and that our work was closing due to snow! Taken in February of 2009.

Jen and I on the left, this was my 22nd birthday dinner in February 2009

This is the most recent picture of the two of us together, again the two on the left. My wedding on October 10, 2010.
We gotta lose weight. Pronto.
(Photo taken by pro photographer alex michele photography)

So now you see the progression and a little peek into our friendship. We're awesome.

The Game is On!

Hahahaha! I don't know what's up with te maniacal laughter, but whatever! My friend Tiffany and I have agreed to keep each other accountable for our weight loss/exercise goals, but it has to be done from 500 miles away. What other way to do it but to use the internet? So we are sharing this blog to keep each other, and the world I suppose, updated on our progress.

BACKSTORY:
Tiffany was playing on caloriecount.com and discovered her BMI and such. I was bored, so I checked out the site as well. Turns out we both need to lose over 75 lbs to reach our optimum BMIs. I think both of us would be more than happy to lose 50, but go for the gold! Anyway, I'm getting off track. So while we were chatting about our shared fatty-ness, I had a thought. What if we kept each other accountable? I need someone to keep me accountable, but someone that's currently going through the struggle, too. But what's to keep us motivated? Sure I can tell Tiff that I lost ____ lbs, but what's to encourage me to keep going? Especially when that cheesecake is calling my name?


THE GAME:
What if we set small goals for ourselves? And when we reached them, the other person sent us a prize? My example to Tiffany was "if you tell me you want to lose 4lbs in 2 weeks, you have to send me proof that you did it and I'll send you.... stationary I think you might like." That way we don't know what our prize will be for meeting our goal, but it will be something we like. Plus, we'll get mail. Who doesn't like getting mail?? Now, how do we submit our proof? Text messages? Emails?

ENTER THE BLOG:
We can post our proof and other information about the experience here on a shared blog. That way, when we've reached our goals, we can look back and see all the progress we've made. Posterity and all that.

THE PROOF:
Pictures of course. So today on day one of this game she and I both took a picture of the scale while we were on it.

Please ignore my desperate need for a pedicure, but there it is in black and red. I weigh 249.8 lbs, as of today. I also decided to post a pic of my chubby face. Again, posterity.

Bah! Please forgive my hot-mess-ness!! I haven't washed my hair yet today. But hey, that means that I'll look that much better in the after shot!

GOAL #1:
My first goal is the same as Tiff's (this might not always be the case). We both want to lose 4 lbs in 2 weeks. So on Jan. 17, expect to see a pic saying 245.8 or less. Off we go!

Getting Less Fat

Lets face it, I blew up during college and the years after I stopped taking classes. I weighed a cool 130ish after high school graduation. Through a series of failed relationships, failed college courses and failed jobs I gained a hefty 81 pounds. Ouch. That hurts. But admit it I must. How else will I fix this issue if not for the accountability factor forcing me to! I've got a great friend and accountability partner, Jen, who is doing the same thing...our goal loss is roughly the same. So this year not only am I doing a 365 day Photography project, I'm doing a 365 day Weight Loss project!

Goal for the next two weeks (ending 17JAN) is to lose 4 lbs.

Oh goodness. Yuck. Ok, lets get this weight off!

I'll upload a full length pic as soon as I find one or take one!