Hi everyone,

 

Hope you are still keeping on!!  We are doing great and have lost a total of 91.2 lbs....wooohoooo.  Life is a challenge and so is a healthy life style.  yet, it seeps right into your bones.  This past week the gym was closed for it's annual cleaning and boy was it a shock to see how much I missed it.  Yes we tried a couple others out in the mean time but they were not "my gym".  I am still up on my feet and doing things like the elliptical and even the stair mill for a couple of minutes.  it is truly amazing!  I am still a part of the Goal Getters on the Biggest Loser Club website and love the support, motivation, amd inspiration that is throughout the site!!  I have been able to give back to these amazing folks by becoming more involved and accountable along the way.

 

That being said I love cardio and struggle more with doing the strength training but it comes along as well.  My food is good and at 1,499 - 1,799 calories of which I stick to the high end.  I have not had many weeks where the scale has went up but it slowly and surely continues to journey downward so I have no complaints.

 

The weight loss is great but the walking, more positive attitude, the smaller clothes, the more stamina, and the overall feel of achievement are much greater.  I am looking forward to the show coming back this fall and working out and losing with the other "losers".

 

Hope you are all still at it and enjoying this new life style and the journey along the way!!!

 

Take care and get that booty movin',

Mary

Boy it has been too long since we have been out here to say hi and that we are still living healthy.  We have lost a total of 80.5 lbs as of last Friday...how exciting is that!!!!  The Biggest Loser Club has been the best thing we have done to stay motivated and continue on this awesome journey.  We are both involved on one of the bootcamp teams the Goal Getters and there is an amazing group of ladies there.  For the most part life is just good today.  There are those roller coaster days but they are farther andfarther in between. 

 

Hope everyone out there is still doing this new way of life and loving it!  Together we can succeed and WILL!!

 

Take care everyone,

Mary

Hi everyone,

 

It has been a long long time since I have posted out here.  Sorry about that.  Life is good and full and healthy.  Hoping either this week or next to be at a loss of 50 pounds...can you believe it?  if you would of ask me where I thought I'd be after 16 short weeks it certainly wouldn't have been this far along.  Life is good.  I have been doing BootCamps with the Biggest Loser club and they are truly transforming inside and out!!  I am on the best team around out there called the Goal Getters and the name says it all for this group of ladies.  I am still on my feet and have not had any problems as of late with the Rheumatoid Arthritis.....for this I am very grateful.  Being this healthy has helped my joints tremendously, as well as my whole outlook on life.  I truly believe this is a journey of the mind.  What I believe of myself I will become!  Again sorry for taking so long to check in but wanted everyone to know life is good today....and since today is all we get it works for me!!

 

Take care all and let us know how you are doing!!

Mary

but i just wanted to drop in and say hi to anybody who does swing by. this week has been bumpy because i caught a cold again. you'd think with all the improvements i've made with food and exercise especially, that i'd be a little less prone to getting the crud, but no luck lately. still, i'm so happy with how things are going and the changes we're making towards launching a new life.

 

we've lost around 70 lbs between us now. if you'd told me that was even possible at christmas i would have thought you were nuts, but here we are. i'm hoping as soon as i feel a little better, maybe tomorrow, i can get back to the gym. i think moving is going to be the thing that keeps me afloat.

 

anyway. not much else to say, but wanted to say hi and let everybody know we're out here and even if we're not at the finale, we'll be cheering THE GIRLS on at home (the guys are great, but it's time for a woman to win!)

 

best to everybody!

kristen

Good morning all,

 

How are you all?  Are you still working away the pounds?  I hope so.  We are doing well here I had 2.5 lbs tro bury and felt good about that.  My clothes are swimming on me but not ready to get many new ones because I still have quite a ways to my goal weight.  Getting ready to go to my parents for lunch it should be really nice.  I will pass on the ham probably or have a very small piece.  Not a lot isd new just working out still like a ninja!!  Have a wonderful Easter all and be mindful of what you are eating!!

 

Take care,

mary

Good morning everyone,

 

Are you still doing it?  Are you burying those pounds?  We are still rockin' and rollin' over here.  Everytime I think of our combuined total of 58.5 lbs lost I think that ----boy that is the weight of atleast a five year old. AMAZING!!  This week was pretty good after being sick for the three prior weeks it felt good to get up and do stuff.  We had a little more sun in Colorado the last week as well which really seems to help me.  Back to snow and grey today but i am not going to let that get to me.  Did 16.5 hours of cardio last week but didn't show on the scale.  This week I am focusing more on my food even though i stayed in calories, because something more should have showed on that scale.  Then again I have lost weight every week since starting so it may have just been a low week.  I better get movin' and losin'.

 

Take care all,

Mary

Hi Everyone,

 

How are you doing?  Are you kickin' it into full gear?  We have been kickin' some major booty over here.  I lost 3 more pounds this week for a total of 31 lbs in nine weeks.  Can you believe it?  I wouldn't if the scale wasn't right in front of me.  Also measured again today to have a loss of 8.5 inches in the last six weeks.  Wooo Hoooo.  The journey has barely began but has became a way of life.  Joining the Biggest Loser Club and getting involved in BootCamps has been the best thing I have ever done to take care of me.

 

Keep those bodies moving and make sure to get in the water!!

 

Take care,

Mary

well i don't know who all is still out there, but i've been kind of a slacker with this site lately. it's been a bumpy month. a really sad month. lost my dog, who was really important to me, and a family member died. my honda, which had been with me through some serious travels also gave up the ghost. it's a weird collection of losses, i guess, but they all made me really reallly sad. especially my little puppy girl and my aunt. for different reasons, but both were just very sad.

 

so i have not been 100% on track, but i haven't really been off track either, except for a couple days where i blew my calories. in spite of everything, for the most part, i've still been able to do this. which is a huge surprise. usually i would have given up long before this. having someone in it with me makes a big difference - i know i've said that before. it's still very very true.

 

and a wonderful happy thing happened yesterday. i got a new car as a huge huge surprise. it's just a beautiful set of wheels.when i got home it was sitting in the driveway - or SOMETHING was sitting in the drive way with blankets and towels and sheets entirely covering whatever it was - i couldn't see a color, but i could guess there were four wheels under there! it was totally cool. and there was a sign propped on it that said SURPRIZE!!!! it was so cute. i was SO excited. so it's a really pretty gold chevy malibu with electric everything and i love it. i can't believe we own it. pretty neat.

 

so it's been an up and down couple of weeks, but i'm hoping to throw off some of the funk, get solidly back on track and knock out some really good workouts. right now i think that, and spending time with the people i love is what i need and what really makes me happy.

 

have a great week all, and good luck!

kristen

 

Yes you saw it right...three more pounds buried forever and 25% of our goal weight lost.  Today I am finally feeling better as well.  in fact I got a full night sleep none of that 3 1/2 hour stuff I had been doing for the last two weeks.  Time for me to crank up the exercise and get my booty moving.  Have a great day, week, and month all we are all rockin' that scale and that is the point!!

 

Take care all,

Mary

Hi everyone,

 

Well I am still fighting this crud 12 days later.  Went to the doctor yesterday and found out my upper respiratory stuff has turned into bronchitis and started on antibiotics.  Feeling better today already and grateful for that.  Sleep has been a distant dream as of late with all the continual hacking going on.  Hoping to get some good sleep in the next couple of days.  Tomorrow is weigh in and I am hoping to atleast stay even this week after being so ill.

 

Hope you all are sticking with your goals and accomplishing them one small step at a time.

 

Take care all,

Mary

hey all,

 

i've been off the blog and really just generally trying to get through the past week or so and stay on track. mary wrote about us losing our little molly and i also lost my aunt. each are very sad for different reasons and just coming to grips with that has kept me kind of quiet for a little while.

 

things otherwise are good. working out has kept me going, really. even though mary has been really sick she has been encouraging me and supportive of me going to the gym as much as possible. all of this would be much much harder otherwise.

 

i feel really good about where i'm headed with all of this, and putting one foot in front of the other i plan to keep going.

all the way.

 

good luck to all of us million pounders out there!

kristen

Do’s and Don’ts of Good Goal Setting

Key Pieces to the Puzzle
  — By Mike Kramer, Staff Writer

Goal achievement, especially when it comes to health and fitness, can be a mystery. Most of us have no trouble with Step 1 (Setting the Goal). Setting a goal is the easy part, it’s those other steps that can be a puzzle. But you CAN turn achieving your goals into a science with the right strategies. Here are a few of our favorites:

DO create a plan. DON’T wait for “someday” to roll around.
Setting the goal is just the first step. Know where you’re going, what resources you’ll need, who can help and – most importantly – what Plan B is when life throws a monkey wrench into Plan A.

DO start small. DON’T focus on too many things at once.
Try focusing on one goal at a time. Use a small goal that you know you can do each day for the next two weeks, like getting up without the snooze or drinking 8 cups of water. Build that first habit to boost your confidence and pick up speed.

DO write it down. DON’T forget to give yourself a deadline.
Deadlines turn wishes into goals. The act of writing down your goal is powerful enough to keep you committed and focused. Better yet, find a visual that represents your goal or how your life will be different. Seeing it makes it seem more possible.

DO be specific. DON’T deal in absolutes.
Avoid the words ‘some’ and ‘more’, as in “I will get SOME exercise” or “I will eat MORE veggies.” It leaves too much wiggle-out room. Deal in measurable things that you have control over. And never say ‘never’ or ‘always.’ All or nothing is a common attitude that leads people back to bad habits.

DO leave room for failure. DON’T expect perfection.
Persistence is key. Accept the fact that you might not make it on the first try. In a recent study, only 40% of people who successfully followed New Year’s resolutions did it on the first try; 17% of resolution achievers took 6 or more tries before they got it right – but they did get it right.

DO track your progress. DON’T fool yourself into failure.
Memory can be pretty selective. It conveniently forgets that extra brownie while remembering activity that never happened. The only way to know for sure is to track goals regularly with a checklist or journal.

DO reward your success. DON’T beat yourself up over failure.
This is the step that trips up most people. Negative reinforcement is all around us, telling us every day what we’re doing wrong. This is not the approach to take to succeed with your goals. Why not focus on what you’re doing right instead? If you take a step back, learn from it and take two steps forward.

DO find a support system. DON’T try to do it alone.
A goal buddy can make all the difference this time. People that can help are all around you – on the SparkPeople support message boards, at work, even in your own family. Just add one person to your support group, and you double your motivation, double your energy, double your commitment – and double your FUN.

DO make a commitment. DON’T ever forget that you can do it.

Hi all,

 

Sorry we have not written much lately.  The last couple of weeks have been really hard...but we have pushed on regardless.  The car went a couple of weeks ago and then this past weekend we lost little Molly our pet dog to death and we also lost one of Kristen's aunts.  Unfortunately, right before the weekend I also came down with a upper respiratory virus which has been kicking my butt.  No cardio for me right now but I have been doing lots of crunches and taking care of myself by getting plenty of water and rest.

 

If we can continue to do this with these obstacles so can you.  Keep on keeping on and reap the rewards of your hard work!!!

 

Take care,

Mary

Hi everyone,

 

We buried another 5.5 lbs and are rockin' the scale.  Keep doing what you are doing to get the rewards of your efforts, push a little harder and see what happens then.

 

Take care,
Mary

Hi everyone,

 

It is funny but before today I would have been really worried about Valentines Day and chocolate, but am glad to have other options today.  Plus it helps I will not need to go out today except the gym and face the temptation head on.  Flowers seem like a much better option today with a much smaller amount of calories , also if we go out to eat I look up the calories before I go so I know exactly what I am getting myself into.  Do what you can to stay on track today, althoug it will be hard remember you are strong and we are all worth it!   Deprivatuion is no more the answer than over indulgance.

 

Have a wonderful day and show someone some love, hugs, or a helping hand!!

Mary

Good morning everyone,

 

How are you all doing out there?  Or as Bob says "Are you doing it?"  I hope everyone is still doing great and feeling the benefits of this new life style change.  I am very excited because yesterday I got back up on my feet with some balance and stability help from Barr.  This is HUGE!!!!  What a amazing gift to be up on my feet.  Just wanted to let you guys know.  Have a fabulous Monday and keep rockin' the scale!!

 

Take care,

Mary

Hi,

 

If you came to check our progress yesterday you saw we weren't here.  It was a hard weigh in for both of us.  Kristen was up .5 lb and I lost one.  One pound loss was good, but I did 7.5 hours of cardio this week and 1,650 crunches which was huge for me.  I stayed within my calories all week and got my water in.  My jeans are still fitting the same although everyone says my face looks much smaller.  To bad I didn't measure my head when we started all this...hahaha.  The scale is a funny thing and only one of the tools we now have in this new toolbox and I need to remember that.  The results will show more next week.

 

Hope you all are still out there rockin' and rollin'.

 

take care,

Mary

Hi Everyone,

 

I was so excited for the black team last night.  It just proves in weight loss there are no under dogs.  Brittany was amamzing with double digits and Bernie they must have been busting their butts along with the rest of the black team.  It was good to hear how important having enough calories was again last night, it just reinterates everything we are all striving for.  Thje food they made looked SOOOO DEELICCOOUUSS!!

 

Having a good morning have gotten in a half hour of cardio and two hundred crunches.  Feeling better woke up kind of punky, but doing better now.

 

Keep doing all you are doing to acheive all your goals.  Our weigh in is in two days and I think we will be below 40 lbs as a team.

 

Take care all,

Mary

Hi Everyone,

 

How are you all doing? I hope great and still kickin' it up!  I am doing well.  Been focusing on water, calories, cardio, and strengthening intensly this week.  I have really up'ed my workouts and am having some hunger pains and believe this may be why.  Yet, we have lost a combined total of 37 lbs.....who'd of thought.

 

I am looking forward to the biggest loser tonight for inspiration.  I hear there may be a food challenge which I would love to see.  I would love to see more of the BL food stuff since it is such an intregal part of this process for all of us.

 

I don't have alot to say, but wanted to touch base and check on you all as well.  Keep doing what you're doing if it is working and if not change it up a little and watch the results.

 

Take care all,

mary