It's A New Year

I originally started writing this in January. It's now March 3rd. lol Guess I should finish it already.

It's a new near. Time for changes, right? I just joined a Biggest Loser challenge last week (Jan. 12). So far it's going really well. It's amazing when you start a new journey like this how you realize all of those little things you were doing that creaped into a habit. Like picking up a little candy here and there. While small, it's just a habit that needs to be stopped. You don't even know how many times I was at various stores this week getting ready for Skyler's birthday party where I was tempted by all of the treats in the isles. But I didn't give in. Not even once.

So, I eluded to Skyler's birthday. She just turned 9. How did that happen? My baby girl is growing up so fast. She is a girl after my own heart. She wanted a Doctor Who themed birthday party. It was so much fun creating things for her birthday to make it look like her theme. Part of me was thinking, "Why do they always pick themes that you can't buy anything in the stores for?" But she was super excited. She wanted a sleepover but also wanted to invite her best buds (that are boys). So, we ended up doing a party followed by an optional sleepover for girls. It was kinda crazy even though we invited way less than last year. And we made it a drop off party too to have even less people. She invited her soccer team, her brownie troop, a couple kids from school, and a couple kids from church. It was a full house but we had fun. I think I'll add pics to a different post.

The girls are both playing soccer this season. I'm so excited that they are both on the Monarch's. So, they have the same coaches and practice together. But they are different divisions so they will play in their own games on the weekend. In the fall they should be able to be on the same team since Skyler is going to be moved up early. One exciting addition to our team is Mikayla. My friend, Riva's daughter. Riva and I have just had the best time at practices together. Tyler and Skyler used to be on the same team when they were younger and now Mikayla and Courtney are. So fun! I even have a buddy to walk/jog with at practice. :) This season the teams have moved to a "Signature" team. It's one step above Rec and below Club. I'm looking forward to games starting soon. This is Skyler's 3rd season with this team and Courtney's 1st official one. She has been practicing with them on and off before now.

We won't mention how old I turned in early February. hehe But it was fun to keep the Doctor Who stuff up for my birthday. It's really hard to stay on your eating plan while planning all of these parties. I struggled here and there but still managed to pull off some good numbers. There are 5 more weeks left in the challenge and I have lost 24 pounds so far. Woohooo!

Courtney's birthday came quickly. She turned 11 in February. 11!!! That's nuts. She wanted a Frozen theme for her birthday. Since it snuck up on us I felt like I was rushing to get everything done. Thankfully our friend, Laura stepped in to save the day. She helped me make decorations and plan for the whole thing. We were kinda burnt out after Skyler's party that we wanted to do something even smaller for Courtney's. (Courtney wanted to also.) To cutback on the drama that can happen when you have different groups of people at a party (ie: school friends, sports friends, church friends) we just decided to separate them. We had a very small family party first. Then that night we had 3 of her friends from school over for a sleepover. Only 1 stayed for the sleepover part. Talk about an easy party. Then the next weekend we had 3 of her church friends over for a sleepover. Totally easy during party time. Still the same amount of prep. We had fun making decorations. But it was nice having so many pre-made things at the store to get. It was fun and we still have a Frozen Wonderland house. (I'll post pictures on a separate post.)

Scott is starting a challenge for himself that he has titled Fit at 40. or #fitat40  He turns 39 this year but wants to be in great shape by his birthday next year. I think it's a great challenge. We told our trainers about it and they were very supportive. They even offered for us to have the party there. He's going to have mini fitness challenges. Sounds like fun! Seems like a taco guy is in order. I better start saving up now. :)

Blogging

I keep thinking about all of the different blog posts I want to do and never get around to doing it. So I'm going to write a little while I'm thinking about it. Nothing special, no topic, just writing. I keep saying to myself that I will blog after that next project is over. Then I will have more time. Then the next project comes that takes over my world and I don't have much time anymore (again).

Life has been fun. We have been consumed by softball. In a good way. Scott is the manager of the girls' team and I am one of the coaches. The Ladybugs are so adorable. It's T-Ball still, but half way into the season they started doing coach pitching to try to hit it that way. They have been doing great. I can't believe the season is almost over. I am not, however looking forward to play offs. Didn't they learn anything from last year? Last year we had play offs for the first time in T-ball. What are they thinking? First of all, there better be an umpire this year. Last year it was a disaster with coaches making their own rules because the coaches were supposed to be the umpires. That totally doesn't work. So, there is one more season game (on April 30th) and then play offs, closing ceremonies, one more fundraiser for our team party, and our team party left to go. Seems like a lot, but it will probably all be within the next 2 weeks or so.

Photography is going great. I photographed 2 weddings now. The second was on a cruise to Mexico. That makes me officially an international destination photographer. hehe :) However, when you are a photographer not only for a wedding, but for a whole cruise, you come home with a TON of photos. I'm still editing them all. :) I am excited to be learning my new photo editing program as well as some actions that I just started using. It's so fun to play around with the pictures. Now once I'm done with these I can work on some of mine. ;)

I have been sick for a long time. I was sick for at least about 2 weeks (on and off) before the cruise. Then I was well for the cruise. Then the day after we got back (3/29) I started this sickness. So, that's over 3 weeks ago now. Thankfully the sinus infection/cold part is pretty much gone now. But I'm still dealing with the Vertigo. I finally went to the doctor last Friday because I looked at my medication label to find that if I had these symptoms I should stop taking it and call a doctor. Oh great...just what I needed. Turns out I was having at least part of my problem was a reaction to the medication (Mucinex D). So I got on new decongestants and stopped taking that med. The Vertigo, however, is still around. It's WAY better than it was for sure. Yesterday was so much better than any day since having it. I even took a walk and it wasn't that bad. (My leg and back were killing me, but I wasn't that dizzy.) Then last night had to sit a few times after feeling the motion again. So, it's getting much better, but I'm still dealing with it.

Due to dealing with the Vertigo, I haven't been able to exercise. The last really good workout I had was the day I got sick this time 3/29. Since then I have only been able to take 2 walks. I'm taking it slow and am planning to slowly increase my workouts to get back to where I was. Weight wise and strength/endurance wise.

I decided to stop doing the weigh loss challenges at my house. It became too much and I'm over it. Tired of the constant calls to have a different weigh in time and sitting here all day weighing in people. And coming home to weigh someone in and having them be late or not show up. I love getting to know everyone and encouraging everyone. But that I can still help do through facebook. The new Biggest Loser Challenge will be hosted by Marlo. She's the woman who won this last challenge. It starts the first Tuesday in May. I believe that's the 3rd. I can get you the info if you are interested. She's adding a men group on if she gets enough men to sign up. (Two separate challenges.)

I'm so thankful that my husband is who he is. He has been such a huge supporter and has helped an encouraged me along the way no matter what I am personally going through. He is still looking for a job. He had a second interview with the Gas Co. but they still haven't called him back. They did say they hadn't made a decision yet. So, I guess that's good. I'm hoping they are deciding to make a second position and this is why they are taking so long to get back to him.

Ok, time to move on to more editing and house cleaning after.

Happy Birthday!

Thursday was my birthday. At one point it hit me that I was a year older. Boo! My birthday was quite a mix of emotions. We had a MOPS Meet Your Table Day. That's where we all get together at the playground and meet the new people who will be at our tables. Scott came suddenly with a plate full of breakfast burritos with candles on top. YUM!! Then Jasmine (chef extraordinaire) brought out a brownie cake platter. What a wonderful surprise. I really was overwhelmed with joy. The fact that they would all conspire to something so incredibly thoughtful for me was amazing. I have the best friends and hubby ever. I even got a couple presents and several cards.

Then my day took a weird turn. I had to go to a funeral. Well, we opted to wait to go until after we got Courtney from school so we could all go. It was in Riverside so it was quite the drive. We missed the graveside part. I was thankful of that since I didn't really want to do that part or have the girls there for that part. So, we were with the family gathering afterward. I'm thankful that it wasn't a big downer. It was actually just a nice gathering with our family on my mom's side for my great aunt's memorial.

Then we headed home but had planned to go out for my birthday for dinner. We knew we had a long drive ahead so we just stopped by McDonalds to let the kids get out some energy before the drive. We played all kinds of fun car games on the way home.

Then I stayed up until just after midnight finishing MOPS folders for the mentor mom brunch the next day. We just came up with the idea on my birthday (to do the folders) and I decided to just go for it and do it. It took a lot of time, but it was worth it. They all really appreciated having the folders with all of that information.

Yesterday (Friday) my parents took me out to dinner (with our family and my aunt) for my birthday. Tonight we are going over to my in laws for a birthday dinner at their house. And tomorrow we are having some family over for superbowl/birthday gathering. :) Quite the fun birthday days, indeed.

Meanwhile, on the weight loss front. I have been doing well. The first week of the challenge I lost 7 pounds. Then .4 the next week. lol I had lost 3 pounds before my birthday and have since gained it back. I'm hoping to get some more of that back off before weigh in on Monday. :)

Happy New Year

It's been a while. Christmas and New Years have gone and here I sit heavier than before they came. BOO!! Just means I have to work even harder.

Things I need to work on:

-Not undoing all of the work in the gym for food.
-Being more careful when going out to dinner.
-Eating way more vegetables
-Drinking more water
-Working out more often (getting back into that habit)
-Limiting my chocolate
-Not eating crap that will just make me sick
-Losing weight BEFORE the next challenge starts.

Etc...

I'm working on the 365 photos this year. One each day. I have a feeling most will be on my phone since we are out and about so much. So, not the best quality or anything but I will be posting them on my facebook page. I have been wanting to do that since I first heard it and thought the new year was perfect to start. I think it's funny that my husband is doing it too. So we can only count pictures we take. :) Or at least that's what I'm doing. He's already stolen a picture. lol

Photography is going really well. I just booked my first wedding!! So exciting!! It's my sister-in-law's sister who is getting married on a cruise in March. Pretty sure I'm doing my first event too in February. A high school reunion. Sounds fun! It's all so new so it makes me nervous. But I know once I'm doing it, it will be a blast and turn out great.

My little Skyler turns 5 next week. That is so hard to believe. She is getting so old. She starts kindergarten this fall too. She has started reading and I am so proud of her. We are doing a smaller party for her this year. We only invited a few of Skyler's friends (and their families) and our family. We are so incredibly thankful to be having a party at all. 

Courtney will turn 7 next month. AHHH!! She is going to be having a birthday sleepover. Oh help us! I can only imagine several 7 year old girls running around the house. She is amazing at school. She brought home a library chapter book and read the whole thing in 1 hour.

Skyler and Courtney are starting softball soon. This will be Skyler's first season and Courtney's second. This is probably the only year they could be on the same team so we are excited that Skyler finally said she would play. We just wanted her to try it out to see if she likes it. She loves doing it at home so we thought she would like it. Skyler did such an amazing job at soccer. She loves soccer.

I am the sole Coordinator for our MOPS group this semester. (Last semester I was Co-Coordinator with Danielle) So far it's going really well. Our team is amazing!! January (and August) is such a hectic month for MOPS. So many details to get lined up.

The Biggest Loser Challenge starts back up on the 17th. I could not start it before Skyler's birthday party. Too much craziness. And way too much to do before then. This will probably be the last one I run (with people coming over to my house to weigh in). I could see running more with people not coming over, but it's just so much having to be home all of the time during those weigh ins and all of that. It would be nice to just show up to a weigh in instead.

Anyway, that's my little update. I hope to get on here more often.

10 on Tuesday

1. Skyler had her first solo audition today. I guess Courtney's agent likes her too. They called me today wondering if she was available for an audition. They were looking for a blonde curly haired little girl. She had to dress in 1950's attire and this is what we came up with. We were trying to think away from the poodle skirt idea. She looked so adorable!! I found those glasses (lenses popped out) and scarf at Savers (thrift store). Everything else we already had. Cutie pie! This audition was for a Charter Satellite national network commercial.

2. Skyler did a great job. She had to recite a line that we memorized while we waited. She answered questions and seemed very proud of herself. I know I was. There were several little blonde curly haired girls there. (IMO Sky's hair was the curliest and cutest. hehe) I'm not biased at all. lol

3. FYI: I don't know how other people feel when I talk about stuff like this and if they are assuming she will get it. I just assume that it's just for fun and good experience. If I thought every time they would get the part, I would be very disappointed. This one at least has a very quick turn around for filming. So we would know fairly quickly if she did or didn't get it.

Kaiser??

4. Scott got his last check today from his job. It's a little scary. He has a good prospect that we are hoping and praying will come through. The last guy who interviewed Scott at Kaiser (and told him they were going with someone internal) called him telling him about a new job opportunity. That's a good sign that the guy was thinking about him. It would be a contractor position (not technically working for Kaiser) and no medical benefits. But it could lead to him getting hired officially for Kaiser down the road. The person he knows who works there got hired the same way and was hired on in 3 months. Scott actually started Chevron that way also, and was an employee in one year. It would be awesome. Especially if he can get hired and start getting paid before we run out of money. Ya, that would be great.

5. Major project going on this week for the soccer team. I need to acquire 4 more paint cans for the project.

6. The Biggest Loser Challenge is coming down to the last 4 weeks. I am doing horribly in comparison to the others. It almost feels like a waste. I need to seriously step it up with the exercise again this week. That worked really well last week when I lost 3.2. (Besides the fact that I gained 1 this week. Too much Halloween candy.)

7. I'm loving that Conan is back on the air. He's cool. When he had that live feed from the stairwell of the offices we were glued to it. They kept coming back doing hilarious things. (We of course had to keep coming back to see what else was going on.) Bring on Coco!!

8. I had my first destination photo shoot this last weekend. My high school friend, Jessica and her family treated us to a wonderful hotel room in Santa Maria. We had so much fun doing the shoots and hanging out with the family. We even did a photo shoot in the rain. (Don't worry. Scott was holding an umbrella over my camera.) I was the driest of them all. :) We ended up going to the beach on the way home and took some photos of the girls. They were so cute. Not matching at all, but still adorable. (They picked their outfits for the day.) hehe Who knew we would end up doing our own photo shoot. Hundreds of pictures were taken over the weekend!

9. I need to get new ZED cards printed for both girls. I have the photos, but need a printer. It's a huge postcard type and very thick. Anyone know a good printer for ZED cards?

10. I did the 30 Day Shred Level 2 yesterday and, of course, Jillian kicked my butt. Almost literally. My butt is killing me from all of those lunges. lol I thought I had been sitting down editing too long then remembered my butt kicking workout.

Lots of Updates

Wow, it feels like forever since I have been on this blog. Everything is going great with my photography business and I have been very busy. Traci Steinman Photography is officially up and running and I am so excited to have my first paying photo shoot this weekend!!! The link is to my new business website (blog). I'm still trying to figure out the tabbing section at the top though, so it's not quite all done, but getting there. (If anyone knows how to make the "pages" gadget work like tabs, let me know.) Feel free to come over and "follow me". I also started a facebook page for my business, so you can come like it over there too. The link to the facebook page is in the link above on the blog.

I just did new headshots for Courtney yesterday too so those will go up pretty soon. I also took pictures of both of the girls as well. I had talked to her agent yesterday originally about her Coogan Account, but ended up talking to her about her not being called for auditions. Long story short, she needs new pictures. I just saved us hundreds of dollars (literally) doing them myself.

Speaking of her Coogan Account...oh B of A. How I loath you. She has had her account with them since we started her in her acting school she was in a while ago. I had originally set up the account in the bank branch. It was set up wrong so I went back and asked to have the manager do it. So, they assured me everything was now set up correctly. Then we get statements showing them deducting fees from her account. HELLO! This is a BLOCKED TRUST Account. No one should be able to take any money from it until she is 18. And why the heck would I have her agents deposit the money in the account when it will all just go to the bank. I seriously never would have started this whole process if she wasn't going to eventually get all of her money. So, I have talked to a few agents now on the phone who every time assure me that everything is taken care of and that there will be no more fees until yesterday. This is the first lady to tell me that there is a $300 daily minimum balance for these accounts and I would keep getting fees until there was $300 in there. Thankfully at least they reversed most of the fees but now we still have the same problem down the road. So, we are shopping around for a new bank or credit union that does not have fees. It's looking like the AFTRA-SAG one might be the way to go since they are the experts on this. Oh how I would love for all of this to be taken care of once and for all.

The Biggest Loser Challenge just had our 4th week weigh in and I'm doing ok. Still losing, so that's great. I'm still in 10th (but no ties this time). I have some major work to do. I have been running and going to the gym and doing DVDs lately so I am getting more into the swing of it. But now that I am so busy it's getting harder to fit in the workouts. I will prevail!!

Scott is still looking for a job. He had a phone interview last week so we are waiting to hear back this week about that. We are hoping it can be based out of Pasadena instead of Oakland. Two people told him that they thought it would be able to, but we don't want to get our hopes up too high that he even will get the job. It's for Kaiser so that would mean switching insurances and everything too. But it would all be worth it for the security of a new job. Keep praying.

Biggest Loser Challenge Week 2

I'm so excited to report that I am FINALLY at 65 pounds lost!!! I had been meandering at 60-64 pounds for months!! I finally broke through that barrier. I lost 3 pounds this week!! I'm so excited!! There were several temptations this week that I did not indulge in. It felt great to overcome them each time. It feels great to have 2 big losses 2 weeks in a row.

I was so excited to get my new badge (see above) from scalejunkie. I added my new weight in the Weight Loss Progress area in my blog too and decided to add my current loss to that section. So, it won't just be for milestones, but for the current loss I am at.

Since I was achy from being sick most of the week I only exercised twice. I worked out on Friday since that was the first day I felt a tiny bit better. Bad idea. I still did it. I did the 30 Day Shred Level 1 and I have never been so exhausted doing that one before. Even the first time I did that level I didn't think it was bad. This time I was exhausted by the end of the warm up. But I persevered and finished it. Then 2 days later I did the Biggest Loser DVD I have. It was the "Low Intensity Cardio". It's a great workout and harder than the bootcamp on there. (Well, parts of it anyway.)

I am in a 2 way tie for 8th place this week. I was in a 3 way tie for 9th last week. I like moving up!!

I feel so much better. Today marks 4 weeks with this cough. I am just left with the cough, congestion, and my voice sounds funny still.However, the cough and congestion are way better than they have been. Hopefully this means things are looking up.

Biggest Loser Challenge Week 1

The challenge first week with weigh in results started and I lost 5.2 pounds!!!!!!!!

I really am proud of that. However, other people started pulling in 9.2 and 11 pound weigh losses. arg!! Thankfully it's only the first week and anything can happen. As of right now I'm in a 3 way tie for 9th place. Everyone's really close, besides the top 3. Come on people, have a donut. lol I really do want them to do well, but I really want to win this time.

It has been hard to get workouts in because I'm sick. I can't stand excuses so I tried to do a couple workouts anyway. I walked to school a few times last week which was fine. Then I went for a run with my hubby for only 1.55 miles and it was hard. I was so tired. Then I tried to run at the gym one night. I ended up still doing a 5K, but it was rough. I ended up having to walk for the last half mile. That's when the aches started settling in. I was feeling so tired and exhausted and my cough had been there for almost 3 weeks. Monday it hit 3 weeks with this darn cough. I finally went to the doctor. I ended up having a fever when I was there. I have an infection, cough, sore throat occasionally (with a real hard cough), drainage...etc. Eww! Hopefully with all of the drugs he gave me I will get better.

I will try to workout a little this week when the aches are gone. Hopefully that will happen soon. In the meantime, I will keep track of what I eat and attempt to only drink water. (Minus the Sprite Zero that I just had.)

10 on Tuesday

1. Alright, alright. I know. It's Wednesday. Oh well. It's been so crazy here with all of the weigh ins that I didn't have time.

2. The Biggest Loser Challenge started. It has been a little insane with all of the weigh ins. I have 2 more coming right now and that will bring the total participants to 34. More keep calling or emailing me to join. There is still time to join. Just email or call me for rules/info/weigh in time. Feel free to join if you don't live near me. You can be in the no pay/no win group. You don't win anything, but maybe it's extra motivation knowing that someone will know how you did that week.

3. I have been doing really well so far with my eating. I have been walking to pick up Courtney from school so that's an extra mile every day. Other than that I haven't exercised though so I need to pick up that.

4. I have had a cough for over 2 weeks now. It's driving me nuts. I started taking Sudafed yesterday and I'm hoping that will help get rid of it.

5. A great quote from yesterday, "If you have 15 hours to spend on facebook, you can spend 15 minutes with God." One of our pastors, Sherry Mortenson said that yesterday at our bible study. How true. We waste time away like it's nothing on facebook or blogs or whatever else it is you do. So, I did it yesterday. I read the bible yesterday for 15 minutes while Courtney was doing her reading for school. I even kept reading after to finish the rest for the study. We were talking in our group about even 5 minutes. I then said "God will use whatever we have to give."

6. Someone on my facebook put that she thought I was going to say you can find 15 minutes to exercise. I believe that is true too. Most people think they don't have time to fit a workout in. But they usually are wasting time doing things that could be done another time or not at all. Even if you were to fit 10 minutes in here or there, you would still get the benefit of it.

7. We are deciding to not order soccer pictures for Skyler. That seems sad to me, but really, the picture is horrible. We get the team picture and one of the pictures of her already. So we will have a copy of it. But we are refusing to buy more. I got a much better picture of her outside anyway. So, if anyone wants a soccer picture of her I can email it to you and you can print it in whatever size you want. She had her first game last Saturday. She plays at 8am every Saturday if you want to come and watch.

Ok, really bad picture, but I am up there somewhere. This was in 2008.

8. Oh Candlelight. (I could only find the link for the one in Disney World.) For anyone who doesn't know I will explain. Disney does this huge musical presentation one weekend a year. It's pretty much the one time you will hear any kind of religious music or anything like it in Disneyland. It's always the first weekend of December. So, you have to try out to sing in the choir. I got the chance to do this one year with our choir from church. It was an amazing experience. I have the chance to do it again this year but now I can't. I am so bummed. I didn't realize how much I wanted to do it again until I realized I can't. I already have made a commitment on the same day as the performance. Many many choirs audition for it and about half of them don't make it in. You have to record your choir singing their songs and then they pick who gets in without knowing which groups they are when they are picking. There is a massive processional all the way down from Small World down Mainstreet. Until we get to the performance area on the backside of the train station. Oh the memories. I'm going to have to try to do it next year. I also have a blog about it from when I went if you want to read more.

9. The more and more broke we get, the more I think I'm just going to go for the photography business. I think I might ask a couple families to do a setting just for practice first. Then just go for it.

10. I'm so excited for MOPS to start next week. We have our "Meet Your Table" day tomorrow. Let the fun begin!

Enough

Ever feel like you have just had enough? Feel like you have been doing what you have been doing long enough that it's time for a change? Tired of no progress? Had enough of trying and trying your hardest but not getting any results? That's where I am. In more than one way.

Guess what? It's not working. So, that means you need to change something. And I plan on making some big changes

I am starting the new Biggest Loser Challenge on Monday and will be going back into weight loss mode. I seriously have not been trying very hard. I have hardly been exercising at all. Well, I have been running, but not really doing any other working out. I need more variety of workouts while still getting some running in too. I need to start doing my 30 Day Shred again. I WILL be exercising more to help the weigh loss along.

I hate it when people give excuses, so I won't be making any. I have been meandering way too much. I need to regain focus and WIN this challenge. For once, I am going into it with the attitude that I will win. No more of this second or third (or 5th) place crap. I will not be all entitlistic about it thinking there is no way I wouldn't win though. That's just prideful and self centered. (And to tell you the truth, being 5th out of 40 is pretty dang good.) I WANT to win and I am giving myself permission to kick some serious booty. I WILL post new progress pictures when I hit that 70 pounds lost mark. I look forward to that. Just the act of trying to win will produce the results I'm looking for. I'm excited for it to start.

Biggest Loser Challenge

The Biggest Loser Challenge is starting up again!!! The challenge begins September 13th and goes until December 6th. The last winner took home OVER $1700!!!! This challenge is only for local participants (because we are weighing in on the same scale). Let me know if you want in on the challenge and I will send you the rules and info for it. So far we already have 19 people participating. 

We also have about 6 people who are not in it to win it (no pay/no win). You can come to weigh ins or just email in your weigh in. The challenge is based on percentage weight lost.

Please pass this on to your friends! Whether you have those last several pounds to lose or have over 100 to lose, this is for you. 

You will be hearing me talk a lot about the challenge from here on out. :) It is such good motivation to lose weight. Especially since we have to pay if we gain. I can't wait for it to start. I really need a swift kick in the butt. 

Biggest Loser Challenge #3

Is over! Out of 40 participants, I ended up in 5th place! 

#5 Traci (Bob & Jillian's Favorite) lost 6.5% (14.6 lb.)

(please don't figure out the math...lol) 

I'll take it. Especially considering I didn't do very well. Or at least, not in my mind. I should have been in 3rd at the least if I was going at a better weight loss pace. In all honestly, I didn't try very hard. Partially because weigh ins were on Friday (and it was easier to cheat on the weekend). But really, I just was giving myself permission to sabotage myself too much. But I know exactly what I did and how to change it. And I will. The next challenge weigh ins will be on Mondays. That will stop the weekend madness once and for all. It seems like a fun idea to weigh in on Fridays so that you can cheat on the weekends. But all you do the rest of the week is recover from whatever you did on the weekend. Then you either maintain or barely lose. Not a winning strategy in my book. So, I'm changing it back to Mondays. The first challenge was Friday weigh ins. The second challenge was Monday weigh ins. The third was back to Friday (my first one) and the 4th will be on Mondays again.

Here is part of the email that I sent out to all of the participants after the finale weigh in:

What an awesome challenge this was. Thank you to all who participated.

Congratulations to SHEILA (Mariposa) for winning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I am so proud of all of you! It was fun having some of you come to see who the winners were too even if you weren't weighing in. :) We started with 40 (plus several in the "for fun" group) and 8 showed up to weigh in for the finale.

I am planning on doing another challenge starting probably at the beginning of September if you are interested. So tell your friends. It seems like those who have friends doing this along with them stuck it out a while longer. So, I encourage you to have a friend join you. I also will probably change it to Monday weigh ins because I have found that Friday just is not working. Monday will encourage us to continue to do well on the weekend and end the cycle of binging after weigh in each week.

After doing 3 of these challenges now (this is the first that I have run), I have found a few things out. I'm not sure if I have this mentality because I haven't ever won or not, but it's not about winning. Ultimately it would be awesome to win. But in reality, only one person can win. (Shauna, Eva, and Sheila so far have been winners.) You have to be in this for the healthy lifestyle changes that this encourages. For it to jump start you to reach your goals. I have seen several people reach their goal weight doing this. It's all worth it. Even if you managed to maintain instead of gain during the same 12 weeks you have done good. Or even if this has challenged you to think about what changes you want to make in your life regarding your health and weight, it was worth it. We are all winners.

Sometimes it feels like it's just not the right time for us. Whatever is going on in my life is too much right now to add in a healthy lifestyle change. But I challenge you to change. It took Jillian Michaels looking into the tv telling me (she said, YES YOU) that "There was NEVER going to be a right time. That you need to stop the excuses and start now." You are worth it. You deserve it. You can do it.  It really was life changing for me.

So take this time to relax a little from the friendly competition. Keep being healthy. And come back ready to fight for it. For your health and well being. For your kids, husband, family, & especially YOU.

It has been great. Thanks so much for joining us.

Weekend Review

As always, our weekends start on Fridays since Scott has the day off.

This Friday I had weigh in day for the Biggest Loser Challenge. I'm amazed at how few people are continuing to show up each week. Furthermore, I'm sad that so many people gave up. 14 out of the initial 40 showed up this week. I gained, like I thought I would. At least it was a smaller margin than I was expecting. This weekend isn't going so great for weight loss either. Nothing like throwing everything to the wind for your anniversary. Friday night Scott was at the Dodger game with my brother.

Saturday was our anniversary. This was our 11th wedding anniversary. I think this would be a great time to tell our love story. But that seems like it needs it's own blog. :) I'll post pics on that too.  This next picture is what my husband looked like when I met him. I was 8 and he was 10.

Sunday we went to church and a birthday party for my friend Sunshine's 1 year old, Harmony. It was a lot of fun.

Ok, now on to the anniversary blog. :)

Weekend MADNESS

Ug! I gained .4 this week. Not much, and I could have worked out in the morning to lose it, but I didn't really want to have to do that. Especially since I was such a workout queen yesterday. I was so determined to lose this week, but it just wasn't happening. I had done too much damage over the weekend to recover from that.

The weekend madness is OVER! I'm sick of it. I'm so tired of having to make up for whatever I did on the weekend. A couple friends of mine are having the same problem. So, we are weighing in together on Mondays as well. Just to make sure we did well on the weekend. I really need this. And I need to exercise on the weekends too. I have been slacking on that too. Then feel rushed to lose the weight during the week. I hate to do it, but I think for the next challenge, I might have to switch it to Monday weigh ins. Fridays seemed so much better because then I didn't have to be as stringent on myself on the weekend. Well, that is NOT working.

On a good note, I got one of the best workouts of my life yesterday. It started in the morning with doing the 30 Day Shred DVD (with Jillian Michael's). I did Level 1 and Level 2 with no breaks. That alone was insane. Then I told Skyler that we were going to walk to go get Courtney from school. She told me she wanted to run. How do you like that? I got a challenge from my 4 year old. So, we ran to school. Skyler did so well. She's really a runner anyway. She loves it. She only stopped a couple times to pick a flower. :) That's so Skyler too. We picked up Courtney and all 3 of us ran home. We couldn't go quite as fast on the way home because Courtney is not a runner. She needed more breaks. I was so proud of them. Then at night I went to the gym because it was so late (and dark). I really wanted to run outside because it felt so great. I waited too long to leave. I ended up running 4.55 miles there (5.67 total for the day)and doing stretching and abs too.

It felt so good to push myself past what I thought I could do in one day. It felt like a Biggest Loser workout day to me. It was my last chance workout for sure. And I still gained. I guess I just need to take it from here.

Today was not a good start to that goal, however. I went out with my hubby for a date lunch to Chilli's. We hardly ever eat out so eating out was not good. I did eat well though. I had their guiltless grill chicken sandwich (however I had to substitute a different roll because I'm not supposed to have wheat) minus the sauce and minus the onions (yet another thing I'm not supposed to eat). That came with a side of steamed broccoli (and tiny pieces of carrot and a little cheese). I tried to take off as much cheese as I could. It was just a tiny bit on it but still. Then we tried Frugos for the first time. Also not a good choice. It's a frozen yogurt place. I didn't have a ton, but shouldn't have had any. Then my parents wanted to come over to have dinner with us. They wanted to have pizza. Ug! They ordered mediums at least so the pieces were smaller. I had a little salad and one piece of pizza. I'm going to be working out tonight at home. Scott is at a Dodger game tonight so I have the night open after the kids go to bed.

At least I tried to make the best of the situations and I am going to work out tonight. I need to be more accountable for my actions. That's why I'm putting it on here.

10 on Tuesday

Ok, so I logged into my blog on Tuesday, and as I'm writing this it is already after midnight. Why am I still up?

1. I went to Disneyland again today. My sorority sister's daughter was celebrating her birthday at the happiest place on earth. I'm so glad that we went. The girls all had a blast together. So compatible as friends. And it was great reconnecting after so long.

2. I let Jillian kick my butt tonight. I did the 30 Day Shred LEVEL 3!!! This was only the second time I have done level 3 and it was easier this time. I was actually able to do the full sit ups. I couldn't even do it last time. I was so excited. I also did a few other moves better/easier than last time too. woho!

3. I am determined to make this week a great week for my weigh in on Friday. Last week I lost 1.8. It's good, but I want to be losing more. I know I can if I just get better on the weekends. A couple friends and I talked about our weekend battles today. We decided that we are going to pretend that we have another weigh in on Monday as well. So, the 3 of us are actually going to weigh in together just to make sure we were good on the weekends. Keeping each other accountable. I'm so excited about this. I think it's just what I need. Motivation to stay the course.

4. I hear Skyler coughing in her room right now. Oh, how I pray that she isn't getting sick. The poor girl seems to be getting sick left and right.

5. Oh the drama with the doctor. I will have to elaborate more. I have a follow up appt. on Monday.

6. The girls and I ditched the BMX bike show tonight. I seriously did not want to go. And I totally forgot about it and had thought we were doing Disneyland. Then I get the illustrious "golden ticket" home from school that Courtney won. This entitles her to get there early for better seating. Still no desire to go other than to make her happy if this is what she wants to go to. So, I gave her the choice. I told her all about the bike show and that her friends would be there or Disneyland where she would meet some new friends. It was such a quick choice. Disneyland it was. Then she kept going back and forth, but ended on Disneyland. :)

7. Oh good. No more coughing sounds from the other room. I hope she can get some good sleep tonight. They both should with all of that fun and exercise tonight at Disneyland.

8. I asked the teacher about the "3rd grade phonics book" because it was hard to believe. She said that she didn't really know for sure if it was 3rd grade for sure, but that it was the 3rd phonics book. So, even if there is one per year, it would be 2nd. Regardless, it's above reading level.

9. I also found out that she started the Accelerated Reader Program at school too. And from the mouth of her grandma (who is the librarian), she didn't think there were any kindergartners in that program. How exciting. Charting new waters. So, she will be reading the book and coming to school and taking a test on it. Then she gets a new book. There are points and prizes and fun stuff like that. We read the book today and she did so well with it. Several new words and she is learning them fast. She could probably test on it tomorrow. I'll have her read it again just to be sure before school. Ya, ya....I'm a bragging mom tonight. So proud of how well she is doing and excited about her eagerness to learn.

10. Only a couple more days until weigh in. More workouts coming my way. :)

10 on Tuesday

1. Today marks one year since my dear friend, Monica passed away. It's so hard to believe that it has been a year already. I think about her all the time.

2. I lost 1.2 last week in the challenge and am tied for 7th place. I'm hoping this week is better.

3. I feel so much better today. I need to get my booty back to the gym. I have been sooo slacking with that.

4. There is such a fine line between eating enough sugar to combat low blood sugar and overdoing it and making myself sick and too much to overeat. ug! I want to lose weight, but this is all complicating matters. I will be reaching for more fruits at home when it's low, that's for sure.

5. It scares me a little to think about the results not coming back as having this. Because otherwise, it's like, what the heck?! The side effects of both scare me too. Those foods making me sick is only the beginning of the underlying problem of it causing liver, kidney, and small intestinal damage. Let alone the horrible things that can happen with damage from low blood sugar. I'm going to try not to think about it in the meantime.

6. We had a good sex talk at bible study today. You read that right.

7. I'm a little sad and a little excited that softball is over. It was so fun to watch. It made me want to play. But exciting that we don't have somewhere to be 3 times a week.

8. I have really been enjoying reading with the girls. Courtney started reading her Fancy Nancy books to me yesterday. I'm so amazed at how great she is doing after asking about the words once. Most of them she remembered when she read it.

9. I feel a little stressed right now. I think it's from all of the testing and figuring everything out. I need to go work it out at the gym.

10. You would think with my fast yesterday that I would have lost some weight with it. NOPE! Boo...that bad scale. Come on...at least .2! Nothing.

Biggest Loser Challenge

The Biggest Loser Challenge started up last Friday. We officially have 39 participants!!! That's just insane. So many people telling other people. I was talking to Roselia, because I couldn't remember how many we started off with last time and it was 34 last time. This challenge just keeps growing. I love that more and more people are wanting to make a change to their life and take control. And huge kudos to Roselia for starting it all. It's fun making new friends. It's hard to remember everyone's name though. Especially when they are only here for a few minutes once a week. lol I'm glad to be hosting it this time. It adds a fun dynamic to it.

My first week I lost 8.4!!!!!!!!!! I haven't ever lost that much in a week....EVER!!!! I'm still recovering from gaining after the challenge. Why oh why did I let myself just eat whatever in between challenges? I still have a tiny bit left to go before I'm back at 60 pounds lost. Then I will not be looking back. I'm starting off the challenge in 6th place!! I was 4th in actual pounds lost. I plan to climb the ranks like I did last time. Only this time I would love to be in 1st. :) Watch out ladies! Here I come.

10 on Tuesday

1. We soooo need to go to the store.

2. Only a few more days until the pile up of donations will be out of here. We are still accepting donations for our yard sale. We also need shoppers 6am to 1pm on Saturday the 1st of May.

3. Ug I am sick today. I ran out of Zicam. I usually take it at the first sign of sickness. I couldn't this time and now I'm really feeling it. It's amazing how different a cold is without Zicam. I'm all achy and miserable today. Courtney's not feeling well either. She has a bad sounding cough, and has been more lethargic than normal. I kept her home from school today.

4. Don't know why I'm blogging and facebooking while I'm just wanting to lay down.

5. I had fun on Sunday stamping. It was so fun to be so crafty.

6. Needs to borrow lots of folding tables for Saturday. Do you have one we could borrow for the day? I will label it with masking tape on the bottom to be sure yours gets back to you.

7. Can you tell what's consuming my thoughts right now? So much about the sale...and other things too. Not enough energy for it all.

8. We are at 35 people in the challenge!!

9. What's up with T-Ball having playoffs?? I thought the point was not to point out who won or didn't win.

10. Loves our new table and chairs!!

Weekend Review

This is a picture of Courtney and Jenna trying on "makeup" at the park. These girls crack me up.

Friday started the beginning of the Biggest Loser Challenge. I will have another blog about that. So, Friday I had people coming over to weigh in. Saturday morning Courtney had a softball game. We found out that they are doing playoffs in her division for the first time. I really don't see why they should. It's T-Ball! She only has one more game besides play offs.

Saturday night we had an awesome time bowling. It was the MOPS Couple's Bowling Night. It was so much fun. It has been so long since I have bowled. Real bowling, not Wii bowling. I brought my ball and shoes. I was surprised that the shoes still fit. I went through so many different sizes of shoes through having the girls and after that I had no idea if they would fit. I got 3rd place in the first game and have no idea with the second. We were done way before the other lane so I totally forgot everyone's scores. It was a blast.

Early Sunday morning at the crack of dawn we had to be at church. (I seriously almost wrote butt crack of dawn. And now I did. Oh well...I think it's funny.) The girls were singing in the 8am service and had to be there at 7:30am. This was Skyler's first time performing with church choir. And the first time they were together performing. This was kind of like practice for next week's performance.

In the afternoon I got to go to my cousin, Randi's house for a "Stampin' Up!" party. Lots of family and friends were there to have fun making cards. After the party all of our families came over for dinner. The kids had a blast playing together. Adults and kids were playing baseball. The kids were riding their bikes together. They went down to the trail together too. So much fun.

What a great weekend!

10 on Tuesday

1. Once again, the baby item exchange stuff in my house is driving me nuts. And of course, there are people who are still giving me stuff for the exchange. ahhh...The exchange is on Thursday. I just know people will be coming over all day. We really appreciate any donation. But it takes time to sort it all. At some point I'm just going to tell people that it's going to have to wait for the yard sale. Because I don't want to be sorting all day today and tomorrow only to have to do set up tomorrow night.

2. Set up for the exchange is tomorrow night. I have lots of stuff at several houses so that carting it all to church is possible. And even with that, my house is stuffed full. Thankfully it's sorted, so I know what's for the yard sale and what's for the exchange.

3. The actual exchange is Thursday morning at MOPS. Once it all gets in place, it's pretty fun watching people shop for stuff. Then the joy of trying to get everyone to put stuff back in bags according to the label on the bag. If only they would do it. I hope.

4. I keep trying to sneak toys out of the girls rooms. I got a bunch out today. Skyler seemed almost oblivious to what I was doing.

5. I've been thinking about friendships and how they change over the years. Sometimes for the better and sometimes not. When you get closer to a friend and start hanging out more, or intentionally going places together and making time to spend together. That's wonderful. It's the friendships that drift away to almost nothingness that make me a little sad. I know it's a fact of relationships that we aren't all going to be each other's best friend. Just sad when a good friend drifts away. Stops calling, calling back, emailing, caring if you are at a birthday party or not. Or not ever inviting you anymore. Oh well, I guess. I don't always invite the same people to our parties. And it's nothing against those we don't invite. It's just a matter of numbers sometimes. Too many people invited can be a bad thing if they all show up. I guess I long for the time in our lives when those friendships meant a lot to both parties.

6. The Biggest Loser challenge starts back up on the 23rd at my house. I'm excited to be using our scale this time too. So I always know where I'm at. We have 14 people signed up so far!!! Lots of room for more! And I'm so excited that my cousin decided to start the same challenge in her area (Huntington Beach).

7. I started Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred DVD a couple days ago. It's fun. I love getting new exercise things. So much fun to have variety in my workouts so I don't get bored. I started with Level 1 on the first day and it wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. Then the next day I did Level 2. Now that was a workout! I was breathing hard, couldn't quite do all of the moves with Natalie (who does it full out and hard), and was dripping in sweat. Loved it!! That's the kind of workout I want to do. And I can feel it in my muscles more last night and today too. Especially my butt. :) Not in a super sore way. Just in a, I feel my muscles, kind of way.

8. I want to run again soon. I really pushed myself the last time. I would like to see how fast I can do a mile again. I know my second mile last time was faster than the first. But I don't know by how much.

9. This week (Friday) is Scott's birthday!!!! We are celebrating by going to a Dodger game that night.

10. Saturday is a game for Courtney and a pizza party after!