2nd Week Weigh In

Just a heads up...week 2 of the Biggest Loser weigh-in WILL SUCK. Most of us won't have the numbers we put up in the first week, and really, we shouldn't expect to. But...hang in there and the numbers will turn back in your favor if you have patience and persistence in what you are doing.

I'm guessing you aren't in this because you want to "win a contest". While the prize at the end is a nice small bit of motivation, I'd speculate that the real reason you are doing this is to jump-start a healthier lifestyle. So...no worries about what the number in front of you says tomorrow. Maybe it'll go down...maybe it won't...maybe you'll scream in celebration of a landmark weight loss goal....maybe you'll burst into tears, falling in a heap on the floor for hours, leaving Susan wondering if she should hug you or ask you to leave (this may happen when I arrive so someone should make Susan aware of this)...or maybe...just maybe...you'll figure out that regardless of what is on the scale, your ability to walk in there and face it again makes you better than you were the day before, and the day before that, and the day before that...and each day you ARE getting better and better. And that will make it all worthwhile.

A Warrior's Story

We've been blessed to have formed friendships with some pretty amazing people in our lives. And one such person is Brian Hilton....a MMA fighter out of Wichita. He has also had struggles with weight. In fact at one point he weighed 263 pounds and was in the worse shape of his life. 


Here, I'll let Brian take it from there (this is a message from one of our correspondence together, shared with his approval):


"Stephanie, I want to tell you a story about something that had a profound impact on my life about 7 years ago. One day I went to donate plama just because I had some extra time and extra money is never bad. Before I went, I had eaten a sausage biscuit form McDs. Nothing else. No eggs, cheese...nothing. Hours later I went to the lab and they had to bring over a supervisor. They couldnt get any plasma separated from my blood. The supervisor said, "Do you see that cloud stuff in the tube?" "Yes", I said. She mentioned that it was fat...and that I would not be able to donate today. It was too thick, Stephanie. I put that in myself. I was horrified...I will never forget it. How could we put this SHIT in ourselves. They dont care about us. I actually worked with an operations manager in fast food that said "Why do I want to get healthier food? I want people to stay fat and keep coming in!" He was dead serious. I beg you to make a change. Dont let these people define who you are.."

This is Brian now. Still working out hard in the gym...still battling his demons...but not willing to quit!

Brian is a Warrior. Just like we all are. A Warrior is not defined by the war, but defined by the fight you put in it. Every day you gotta' pick yourself up, take the hits life gives you, duck the punches when you can, and counter each of those with our own desires, dreams and power. You've got it all in you. Don't let this war on food...exercise...old habits keep you down. Keep fighting!

Don't even calculate your BMI!

What does BMI mean?

The Body Mass Index (BMI) is a calculation based on your height and weight used to determine how at risk you are for many obesity-related health problems. However, because BMI only takes height and weight into account and not body fat percentage, it's often a flawed form of assessing your health risks.

Since we are less than a week from SUPERBOWL SUNDAY...let's look at our top quarterbacks for the game. Tom Brady weighs 225 pounds and stands at 6'4". Eli Manning is also 6'4" and tips the scale at 218. Both these athletes fall under the "overweight" range on the BMI scale. Tom's BMI is 27.8...Eli's BMI is 26.5.

Here's a breakdown of that scale:

Below 18.5 Underweight
18.5 -24.9 Normal
25 - 29.9 Overweight
30 & Above Obese

Do these guys LOOK overweight to you? Even more importantly, do you think Tom Brady irons his own shirts? 

Don't sweat your BMI, folks. I know in this competition you are looking for any and all ways to gauge your weight loss in order to get an edge...but this is not the way to go. 

Working out on an empty stomach

Yeah, I used to do it. Work out before eating because I thought that instead of burning the food that I just ate, my body would finally start burning the fat I had around my midsection. WRONG!

(Doritos not recommended, but you get the point!)

A report published this year in Strength and Conditioning Journal concluded that the body burns roughly the same amount of fat regardless of whether you eat before a workout. But you’re likely to lose muscle by exercising in a depleted state, the report found, and without fuel to aid the workout, exercise intensity and overall calorie burn will be reduced.

Now, I'm no expert by any means....but I'm just throwing out a wicked guess that you don't want to lose your muscle.

In a separate study published in 2002, scientists found an additional benefit from a pre-workout meal: Healthy women who consumed 45 grams of carbohydrates before their workouts ended up eating less throughout the remainder of the day. YAHTZEE! I LOVE THAT IDEA!

Simply put, you wouldn't go on a road trip without first putting gas in the car, would you?


According to Livestrong.com (a great website for information): If you choose to eat before your workout, eat a light 200 to 300 calorie meal with some carbohydrates and protein, according to Health Services at Columbia University. Examples of such foods are egg whites, cottage cheese, yogurt and protein shakes.
Keep the fat content low. Find a drink or food that settles well in your stomach and doesn’t create nausea. A proper pre-workout meal will fuel working muscles with carbohydrates and increase the amount of free-floating amino acids to control muscle breakdown.

We've also had good luck with having some beef jerky or a small ham/mustard wrap before we hit the gym. We also like wraps with turkey pepperoni, mozz cheese and a little bit of pizza sauce. Toss in the microwave to melt the cheese and get ready for your workout burn!

You Can't Do It Alone....

The headline of this blog post might be a bit misleading because there certainly ARE people out there that have successfully hit weight loss goals and obtained a healthy lifestyle on their own. And, maybe it's easier that way. You don't have to worry about fixing a meal that only you can eat....you don't have to eat when everyone else is hungry, you can wait until your body tells you to eat...really now that I think about it, I guess maybe it's more possible than impossible! 

But for me, I can't do it alone. I can't eat healthy alone because I lack the ability to THINK before I eat. I just eat whatever's in front of me. And in the past if I've waited too long to make those decisions, sometimes I would end up on the couch with six pieces of toast and a half gallon of chocolate milk. So...it's nice to have a co-eater (Ha, that's a funny title) along side to help make those calorie decisions. 

I also can't work out well alone. I'm good in the gym, if I have my headphones plugged into a TV in front of me but I'm really pushed when I have a workout partner to keep me accountable and to push me. Andrea does a great job of this. Before Andrea, I had a different workout partner. He was a little overweight himself. Pretty hairy. Panted even when we weren't exercising. And insisted on licking the outside of my knees if I stood still too long. It was my black lab, Cisco.

Back when I first started getting serious about losing weight and exercising...Cisco and I would take out for walks in the countryside. I liked him nearby because not only was he intimidating to creepy people who drove by me...but he also pushed me. Made me walk HIS pace, not my slow wandering lope. When we graduated up to jogging, we'd hit the highway and walk the distance to one telephone pole then jog the distance to the next, then walk the to the next pole, and then jog to the next...we did this for a mile until we hit the highway stop sign and then we'd turn around and do it again back home. Cisco would look back at me every now and then with this big goofy lab grin and made sure that I was keeping up with him. Our best day came when we pushed hard and ran our first complete mile together - NONSTOP! When we hit the stop sign to turn around I was so thrilled I yelled, "WE DID IT, BUDDY! WE DID IT!" Cisco stopped. Put his paws up on my waist and gave me a look that read, "I knew we would do it the whole time...YOU were the only one that doubted us!" And it's true. We humans ALWAYS doubt our abilities. We always say "I can't" before we say "I'm going to try that". You don't see dogs do that. They'll jump headfirst into a bush to flush out a cat without hesitating. When they take out on a walk, they don't think, "Oh, I can only go so far, and then I've gotta turn around." They think, "ALRIGHT, a WALK! This is the BEST DAY EVER!" I think we need that attitude, too. 

Now Cisco's jogs get shorter and shorter. While his heart wants to chase that stop sign down again with me, his body has other plans. We still go for walks. We still pay fetch...though his eyesight doesn't always allow him to find the ball as fast as he used to. But mainly, he's my reminder that rest and recovery is just as important as exercise. We lay on the couch with his big furry paws thrown over my chest and think about all that we've accomplished in the day. He's a good boy. And by far the best workout partner I could have started this journey out with.

I hope you, too, find someone to motivate you!

Saturdays are definitely the most difficult. I dont know if its because we are out and about and around more temptations or if its a saturday party day attitude that I automatically get. All I know is I really want junk food today. Its so ridiculous that food is such an emotional part of our lives but it definitely is. Heavy sigh......just keep on keeping on.

Week 1 Official Results

	WEEK 1 RESULTS
PLACE	TEAM	LBS LOST	% LOST
1	BLT'S	33	3.824%
2	Thin It to Win It	35	3.755%
3	Drop It Like Its Hot	42	3.733%
4	Donkey Kong	26	3.048%
5	Beauty and the Beast	23	2.995%
6	Apple Bottom B's	22	2.683%
7	Still Hungry	24	2.239%
8	Red Hot Oompaloompas	18	2.198%
9	Miss Fits	18	2.190%
10	Buff Bankers	21	2.126%
11	Beachbody Hotties	14	2.003%
12	Fat Cats	16	1.978%
13	Ballers	15	1.935%
14	Can You See Me Now?	13	1.708%
15	LEGGO!	18	1.653%
16	What is HE thinking?	13	1.461%
17	Pound Pushers	10	1.425%
18	De-Fat	10	1.307%
19	3 Girls and a Guy	10	1.242%

Sigh of Relief....

* Note to readers - actors portraying Andrea and Stephanie in this blog are Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman. 


One weigh-in down. As we let out a HUGE sigh of relief, we also are filled with nervous tension about next week, and the week after that, and the week after that. But we all took a BIG step today by walking into that KNRC office and jumping on that scale. We had the courage to sign up. We had the guts to fork over a $20 entry fee. We had the hypothetical balls of steel to follow through and commit to having our weights written down in ink.

The first weigh-in always runs the risk of sending your motivation souring or plunging...it's all how you take it. I've always believed if you don't like what you are seeing, you need to look at it through a different perspective. Maybe you didn't lose as much as you wanted BUT you started implementing healthy eating habits that you will be able to hold yourself to and continue.  I hope you all push forward. We've got a long way to go, friends!

On a different note...let us know what you want to see in this blog. Do you want recipes? Tips? Research-based information? Videos of our HILARIOUS comedy skits that we often perform in the car to our fake audience on the dash? Just let us know!

MMmmmmmmmmm

This soda is fabulous!!!   Wednesday is soda day!!!  And "cheat meal" day.   Why is that?  Because it's weigh day.  And after we weigh we allow ourselves to enjoy those things that we have given up all week in order to become healthier and lighter. 


This last week was very difficult at times.  There were times I was pretty sure one of us (Steph and I) was not going to survive the week.  There were days when I whined and complained and felt sorry for myself and wanted to be selfish.   And I wasn't perfect this week.    But getting on the scale today was much like giving birth. (And not just because Steph was asking for pain meds as soon as we walked through the door) :-)    There was so much waiting and anticipation and anxiety before hand.  But once we saw the number on the scale, then the pain and torture of the week we had just gone through seemed to diminish a bit in our minds.  In fact, we're actually feeling good about being able to survive another one!     


Our team as a whole did very well.  I don't have authority to share the others' numbers, so I won't tell you theirs or a total - but I will very happily tell you that I lost 6 pounds this week and Steph lost 8!!!!    That put us both just under a big milestone we've been fighting with.   I have no doubt that the rest of the weeks aren't going to produce numbers like this - but it does give us motivation to keep going and not lose what we've accomplished. 


That being said - I know some friends of mine who were discouraged by their numbers today.  But don't be.  Everybody's body is different, every week is going to be different.  And, life happens.   As long as we are better off today than we were yesterday.  As long as we are putting forth effort to better ourselves.  As long as we are replacing one unhealthy choice with a healthy choice, then we are accomplishing our goals and we have a huge reason to be proud of ourselves.   And I hope on a day when I'm down on myself that one of you will be kind enough to remind me of this.  And after I cuss at you, I will likely tell you thank you for being a great friend!!!


So, just a few more hours to enjoy the sweet poison of this soda that I love so much - then it's back to square one and back to the whining about not getting it!   Oh yeah, and back on the journey to make my body just a little bit healthier.  :-)

Staying on Track.

In a world full of nothing but temptation after temptation after temptation, being able to stay on track is almost impossible. But at the end of the day if you have...that feeling of empowerment is AMAZING!

We've managed to stay soda free for a week. Avoided our routine processed sugars. Committed to at least an hour workout a day. AND, most importantly, have caused no physical harm to our loved ones in the process. Though there were a few close moments!

The word "willpower" is a tough word to earn, but we can all do it. Take it minute by minute until it turns into hour by hour, then day by day, then week by week. Baby steps are still steps!

'Twas the Night Before Weigh-In

'Twas the night before weigh-in and all through the house,
Not a creature was snacking...not even a mouse.
All the Ho-Hos were hid in the basement with care,
In the hopes that these chubby girls would not think to look there.

I in my sports shorts, still sweaty from a workout class,
settled into bed to rest my tired ass.
Snuggled under the covers with head on my pillow,
I prayed to God above that the scale numbers would be low.

What more could we do, we've been steady and true,
counting the calories until our faces were blue.
We've cut out the soda, the ice cream, the candy,
but we'll admit there were times they all woulda' been handy.

Tomorrow we weigh in for the first time in a week,
and at least a pound loss is all that we seek.
"As long as I don't gain," is what I've said in my head,
that's the last I should earn for not eating white bread.

No Snickers, no mashed taters, no gummy bears, no stiff drink,
if this doesn't work, oh how my heart will sink.
If tomorrow you too will face the big scale,
no regrets, no guilt, just know you gave it hell....

Revelation of the day.......

Healthy eating would be so much easier if I had a TV that doesn't show commercials,  a computer that doesn't show fast food ads, and a grocery store that doesn't sell cookies!!!

Day 3021.....

Well, at least it feels like it.  Anybody who has ever been on a weight loss journey probably understands how time seems to just stand still when you have a "weigh day" or a certain goal in mind.    In reality it's only been 5 or 6 days, but it feels like forever! 


Steph and I learned a little something about ourselves this weekend.  When we restrict ourselves we turn into 5 year olds. I had a weekend-long argument going on with myself in my head about certain foods I could and could not eat.  And certain foods I wanted to eat.  Occasionally I would share these arguments with her and at one point she said to me, "Tell me this - WHY do you want to eat that?"   Well, genius, WTF do you think?!?  Because it tastes good and I WANT IT!!!!!!    LOL   After I recovered from the sting of selfishness that I realized went along with that whole statement we had another good giggle when Steph realized she forgot to buy oatmeal at the store.  "Dangit!!!  I really wanted oatmeal!!!"   And that's when it hit us that we were acting like deprived toddlers and that maybe we should just eat some real food and THEN think about things. :-) 


We did eventually find a happy medium and we shared a sweet treat and logged it in our nutrition log and just made sure we still stayed within our boundaries.  Did that mean we ended up skimping on our meal a little later?  Yes, it did.  But that day it was just worth it.  Other days it won't be, I know, but we have to make those decisions and make it a conscious CHOICE.   That is what keeps us in control.  The old me would've probably said "sorry, can't do it today, I'll start again tomorrow" and then had 5 or 6 sweet treats to make sure I made that decision to cheat "worth it".    Is it something we can do every day?  Not if we are truly concerned about being healthy.  I mean, yes, you would lose weight on a snickers and a diet pepsi every day if that's all you ate - but your insides would be nothing but junk.  SKINNY and HEALTHY are two different entities - and our goal is to be healthy.  And that includes being ok with a small indulgence occasionally.


Love yourself, believe in yourself, and respect yourself today, my friends!

Effin mcdonalds french fries dancing

Effin mcdonalds french fries dancing around in my face taunting me with their salty poison. Kiss my ass ronny!!!!

3:15 update

I've now been tempted with chocolate cake (better than sex cake, to be specific) and donuts.  I will not let the evil sugar monster control me today. I am in control, and I will co-create my reality.  So back off chocolate cake before I kick your fudgy little ass........

Day 3 (otherwise known as hell)

This is where the challenge begins for me.  Yeah, I know, it's usually WEEK 3 or MONTH 3 for some dieters, but not me, it's day 3.  My body is detoxing, I have a crazy headache, and it's taking everything in my power not to have a soda.  The afternoon isn't finished yet, I can't promise I won't end up caving.  But going from one (or 2) sodas a day down to one every 3 days is still an improvement, right?  

We have had food challenges for the last couple of meals.  Spent last evening at a basketball game with concession stand food being waved in my face.  Steph has no problem with that, but I have a deep longstanding love for nachos - and it was a challenge - but I overcame it. We fixed ourselves protein shakes before we left work and bought a bag of beef jerky to snack on while we were there.  Unfortunately the game lasted a lot longer than we expected, and we were starving by the time we left.  Unprepared for that battle, we ended up stopping at a convenience store and sharing a sandwich that consisted of wheat bread, turkey and swiss with a little mustard.   So our evening meal/snack consisted of protein shake, beef jerky and half a sandwich.  We tracked it, and we still came out ahead even if it wasn't an ideal situation.

Breakfast this morning was oatmeal and a boiled egg - again, if I can prepare it at home I'm in good shape.  Lunch was not so easy for me because I'm out of town today.  I planned on going to subway for a sandwich but they were really busy and by the time I finished my errands I ended up going through the drive thru taco bell.    Now, here's where the pivotal point is.  The OLD me (you know, last week) would have said forget it, I'm starving, I'm going to just have a cheat meal.  And I would've gotten nachos and tacos and probably some sort of dessert.  And definitely a soda.    But the new me today ordered off the fresca (light) menu and ended up eating a soft taco and half a bean burrito.  With water.  And even though fast food isn't ideal for me right now, again, I tracked it and everything ended up being ok.  I DON'T have the feeling now that I've "blown" the day already and can eat whatever I want.  And I still feel good about myself and don't have that emotional roller coaster of guilt and anger and shame just from eating lunch.  So the moral of this story is just simply don't give up.    The only thing that matters is that you keep trying!!!

Hey everybody!!!  Welcome to our blog site!  I'm very new to this blogging thing, but I  love to talk, so I'm sure I'll catch on quickly and end up blogging about things that nobody should have to hear about. :-)  But, that's what I do, so if you get squeamish or have delicate ears (eyes, in this case) you might want to take caution before reading my posts.  I will try to put a disclaimer out there if I think it's questionable! 


Well, as Steph said, we have started a new journey in our lives. (again).  Yes, I said it, AGAIN.  If I could count I would probably guess that this is the 379th "diet" I've been on since about age 12.   You know, you have the middle school anorexia phase because the body is changing and you're scared to death of the curves that are happening.  Then there's the high school "I think I'm fat" phase where you feel the need to be on a constant diet so the boyfriend's eyes don't stray to a girl who might just be a tad thinner/prettier than you.  GAG.  Let me just say, if there are any young girls reading this blog, do not EVER, EVER, EVER put yourself through those horrible mind games of skinny/fat, diet/don't, do or don't do ANYTHING just because of a boy. THEY ARE NOT WORTH IT.  But you are.  You are worth having the best in the world - so feel free to treat yourself that way.  But anyway....I digress......


So we move on to college and the Freshman 15.  15?  Really?  Pfffff.....  May as well call it the first semester 15.  Though I did at that age figure out my thyroid was off kilter and I had a little uphill battle to climb in that aspect, I'm quite certain the cafeteria food, midnight runs to Loves for the polish sausage sandwich, and the dorm friends bringing in leftover pizza after their shift ended had a little something to contribute to that as well. But hey, we're in college, right?  That's what college is supposed to be about!   Well, and figuring out who/what you want to be when you grow up, but that's a whole other blog site topic for me!  :-)   


The first time I joined weight watchers I was about 22 years old and I weighed 137 lbs.  Seriously, looking back, if the me now would've seen the me then walk into the weight watchers room the me now would punch me right in the face.  (I really would - I have this crazy desire to be punched in the face, but I can't ever get Steph to do it for me....but yet again, a whole other blog....)   


Anyway, that's where my _____ years of yo-yo dieting started. (no way am I really going to give you that math!!!)   But today, right now, is the day it's ending.  No more ups and downs.  No more fad diets.  No more starvation.  I feel like for the first time in my life I actually GET it.  It's about respect.  Respect for my body and respect for my friends and family.   Over the holidays my new friend from NYC taught me that the power IS within me right now.  That I have control.   That every day, in a very true way, I CAN co-create MY reality.  And that's part of what we're doing here is sharing our reality with you.  I hope you enjoy our blogs and feel free to comment as much as you want.  We might even get creative and put some videos up at some point.  (Aaack!!) 


My first word of advice to you, though, if you ever think about joining a journey like this with somebody, read the fine print.  Seriously, if I would've known I had to give up booze, I might not have jumped into this so willingly! :-)  I guess I'll start by giving up my breakfast booze.  What?  All it takes is baby steps, right?  :-)

So, what do we eat now?

So long McDonald's Caramel Frappac...Frappaci...hell, I can't even spell it, why did I let myself drink it if I couldn't even spell it?! Anyway....our breakfast for our first full official day in the Biggest Loser Contest was an egg white breakfast burrito (one each). With just one piece of cheese, egg whites and spinach. Side of Almond Chocolate Milk (shared). 

Lunch will be salmon and a side salad. Since we work, we have to prepare our meals early in the morning and hope we don't lose interest in eating it by the time noon rolls around. But this smelled pretty good cooking this morning, so I'm positive it'll be awesome for lunch!

Our first weigh-in...

Our first weigh-in was Wednesday, January 18th! I cropped our other team members out of this picture because they aren't quite as vain as we are so I wasn't really sure how they'd feel about their "before picture" being on this blog site.

 Team Donkey Kong

Our team weigh-in went as expected. Some where aware of where they stood...some were upset with the numbers they saw. In the past we've left our coats and shoes on to give us an edge at the next weigh-in, but not this go around. Who were we kidding anyway? When it comes down to our actual weight, we don't count our shoes anyway. Why start that way? This go around the contest is about US and not about winning. (But don't think I've not started daydreaming about spending that prize money!)

With this weigh-in came a mental list of things not to do:
#1 - Drink soda. Yeah, we both gave this one up. So far, as of Thursday, January 19, we're good to go! Sidenote: Someone should probably tell the carhops at Sonic that we've not died.

#2 - Eat processed foods/sugars. Cake, cookies, donuts, awesome white Wonderbread that melts in your mouth as you eat a bologna sandwich with mayo and Doritos....all off our grid. So far, this hasn't seemed like a big deal, but it is just day two! Did I mention how awesome those bologna sandwiches are? Sigh....

#3 - Booze it up. No booze. I can't even find anything positive to say about this one yet. There might be some exclusions to this rule. We'll have to think a little harder on this one.

#4 - Skip meals. YOU MUST EAT! We've both tried "starvation diets" and we both failed -- big time. You MUST eat to lose weight and we've vowed not to fall into the trap of skipping meals in order to shed a pound here or there.

#5 - Hate ourselves. Your head is literally your biggest enemy when it comes to successful weight loss. If you hate your body, if you call yourself "fat", if you obsess about all the things you don't like about yourself...those are the things that will get bigger and bigger as you take on this journey. It doesn't matter what that scale says....if your head is in a dark place, your body will follow. Any weight you lose will come back...any obstacle you've accomplished will rise back up in front of you. Break the pattern now and love your body enough to change it!

#6 - Mention the words "Dairy Queen". Dammit, I just did it.

About the KNRC Biggest Loser Contest...

The contest we are taking part in is a competition of weight loss based on percentage of loss, not pounds. Yes, just like the popular TV reality show "The Biggest Loser"....minus the commercial breaks, Bob Harper's snarl and Dolvet's amazing teeth and rock hard abs (insert "swoon" here).

Each team consists of four members, male or female. Each team weighs in on Wednesdays. If a participant fails to weigh in, they pay $5 to the prize fund. AND each week the team with the last percentage of loss, tosses $10 into the prize fund. The only real stipulation in regards to HOW you lose weight is to "use healthy discretion". Easy enough, right? Uh-huh....sure....

The winning team earns the prize fund which includes 1/2 of all the entry fees plus $10 a week from the team losing the least percentage for that week. There are also prizes for the top individual loser in the male and female categories. Not to mention, ideally, you'll have a fit new body and bragging rights that will hopefully carry you into swimsuit season!

This is our third time of competing in such a competition. Each time we've come in just below the top losers...but that's not why we do it. This contest reminds us of our potential, spurs our inner drive, and forces us to focus on our bodies. Admittedly, this contest also runs the risk of stirring up feelings of anger, fear, rejection, and failure, but what better motivation is there?! It gets us back to our primal roots where we are the Cavewomen and the scale is the dinosaur chasing us! We are a team of all women, mainly coworkers. We'll see after this contest, which lasts from January 18-March 14, if we're still friends! Juuuuuuuust kidding....

I think each of us have our own goals in mind....but we'll talk about that later....