Blogging

I like the idea of the blog. I like the idea of us reporting progress, challenges, changes, goals, and everything else. But no one was doing it. I stopped writing because I felt no one was blogging. I would love it if everyone was contributing on a regular basis and giving kudos and sympathies and us helping each other through the good, the bad, and the ugly. Anyways that is my two cents, but I have to go to mutual now, so I will get going.
Laura

is this blog dead?

So I am wondering if this blog is just not going to happen. We started strong but have all kind of dwindled off. Do we just not need the blog or are we not posting because we are all so stressed with Christmas and other stuff that we aren't exercising? I will admit I haven't been exercising much the past couple of weeks. Right now I am 180 miles behind you all on the way to Jamaica. I am trying to do better though and I did exercise for 55 minutes today. I also went to the doctor to have my bloodwork done and make sure there is nothing wrong with my thyroid. I am so tired all the time and I know that I just recently had a baby but she is over 5 months old and I still feel like I could sleep for 12 hours a day. Anyway, I wanted to do it just as a precaution but I got my results back today and they tested all sorts of stuff but forgot the thyroid test so if I want it tested I have to go get poked again and I still have bruises in my hand and arm from the last time. ARG. Anyway, I hope that you guys are all doing wel and seeing results from your exercising. Debbie

How are you all doing?

From Debbie:
Wow, it's been a while since anyone posted. I hope you are all doing better than me exercise wise and aren't posting because you are so busy exercising but unfortunately that has not been the case with me. I have fallen behind on my exercise lately. I am about a week behind on my way to Jamaica and I would be further behind if it weren't for playing volleyball with the family in Brigham last week. I am trying to get more into the swing of things and did exercise for a half hour today (I got about 12 hours of sleep last night and still had a hard time waking up at 7:30 this morning but a least I had enough energy to exercise) and I measured myself afterward. I measured myself about 2 months ago but lost the measurements and haven't bothered thinking I would find them and then measure myself again. Anyway, I finally gave up on that and started over and I am trying to push myself to exercise and catch up with you all so I can celebrate in Jamaica. I also set a weight goal to not gain any weight during the holidays. I know this might seem like a lame goal to some of you but it works for me. Anyway, I hope you are all doing great with your exercising, I know Carrie is still going strong and is really close to hitting her 6 month mark which amazes me. Good job Carrie!

Struggling

I have had a rough few weeks. I have tried to keep up with exercising, but I have slacked. One week I was extremely tired, other times I just don't want to, and some days it just doesn't work to exercise. And on the days I do exercise, I seem to have a major sweet tooth.

However I have had some successes too. A couple weeks ago I went running in Brigham City. I ran my first mile in 9:11 and finished 3 miles in 32 minutes. So that isn't bad, just need to work on keeping my pace. I am working on mastering level 3 of my Jillian workouts, and making some progress. And my pants are fitting looser all the time, even if the scale is not my friend.

So that is where I am at. I am trying to be more diligent in my exercising to rid myself of this weight and to be able to fit into ALL my clothes again. It is slow. I won't make my weight loss by December 17, but I will keep working, and it will come...in time.

Laura

Some Success

I thought it was about time to put in an update. I was pretty sick last week, but decided to ease down the exercising instead of skipping it altogether. I just rode my bike, 20 minutes on Monday, 30 on Tuesday, none on Wednesday, 30 on Thursday and 35 on Friday (only because Preston needed my help to get the kids ready for halloween, I wanted to keep going). On Friday we went to CiCi's for dinner and I ate more than I should, so I got up on Saturday and rode for 40 minutes to try to help make up for the pizza and for missing Wednesday.

So, I've now exercised five times a week for 20-60 minutes for 18 weeks. I've lost 4 1/2 pounds, 4 inches around my waist and 2 inches around my hips. I've almost made my December goal!

Hope all is going well for all of you.

Carrie

3.8

I just got back from running for the first time this week and I went about 3.8 miles in 42 minutes! Wahooooooo!!!!! So that puts me at about an 11.35 minute mile, which is okay. I would like to be able to do it faster, but I am just glad I was able to run that far. I am very proud of myself. I did think about cutting through the park by me house, so I could get home for Aaron to get ready, but he still had plenty of time if I went the entire round. And I think I even got into the runner's high that you get into! I am really excited. This last week and a half has been tough for me. I have had a hard time exercising with my kids screaming or getting into stuff that they aren't suppose to and what not, and then I have just been tired. But I want to accomplish my goals and work hard towards them, so I figured I needed to stick with it even if some days it is not worth the trouble....I hope that makes sense. Anyways, I am proud of myself today and I hope I can push myself to go faster and even further over the next few weeks! By the way Aaron's response when I told him how far I went was "sick"!
Laura

New pants

First off: Yea for Becca getting up an hour earlier to do a workout video. Every morning I say I should get up and do my workout before the kids get up and I never do. So good job! I hope you liked the video. I sure do! They all kick my butt, but I try to push myself and I find I have more energy during the day!

So this past week has been awful for me in terms of sweets. For General Conference we made cinnamon rolls, and then Aaron made cookies (twice), and last night for Young Women's I ate french fries and a hot fudge sundae. It was all delicious, but I am sure it didn't help my weight loss at all, so much so that I am considering not weighing in to day! Yikes! But two days ago I was able to wear comfortably a pair of pants I have not been able to fit in to. So it was like I had new pants. I was glad. They are still a little tight around the waist, but it wasn't bad.

And now I am waiting for Aaron to get home from class so I can go running, since I was a slacker and didn't get out of bed this morning. I especially need to go since I slacked yesterday too and didn't do any exercise. Go me! Ha!

Carrie I hope this weeks weigh in treated you better than last week! And Debbie I hope you are doing well. Hopefully no more 'bugs' get in your family!

I love you all!
Laura

Yay for me!

You all should be VERY proud of me. This morning I got up an hour early so that I could do Jilliam Michaels workout BEFORE work! I have decided that when I plan on exercising in the evening half the time I end up doing something else, so I need to start working out in the morning. Anyway, I was very proud of myself. And, as embarrassing as this is, the work out completely kicked my butt and I only did level one. Hopefully I can keep this up as well as run a few times a week in the evenings! That would just be great!

Becca

Great Popsicles

I just wanted to let you know I found these great Popsicles. They are Breyers Pomegranate Blends. At Wal*Mart they are around $2.50 for 12 of them. Anyways, I thought I would share my find because Becca was always talking about how she liked popsicles and what not in the summer....now that it is fall and winter well on its way. Oh ya and they are only 40 calories per bar. I hope this makes some sense. It is way past the time I wanted to be in bed and yet here I am typing away. Ok, I am done. Good luck this week ladies. I hope you are all doing well and are happy!
Laura

Just Plain Tired

What a night! Blythe woke up at 2 and about every two hours from then on out...and Boyd was waking up in between, crying because his finger hurt. And then he wanted to cuddle in my bed, so I ended up on the couch half the night. I was planning on running outside today, but I was just too tired, so a 20-minute pilate workout it was....Hopefully tomorrow I can go out and run, and not be dragging like I am right now. Hopefully today I will get a nap...
Laura

Results

So this morning I decided Thursdays would be my weigh in day, just to keep track and then I plan to take my measurements once a month. That will be October 25th, but today I weighed myself and I lost 2 pounds! Wahoo! I have been working hard this week, and am glad to see that I lost a couple pounds. Oh and by the way I did level 3 today and oh my kick my butt! It is tough. I have a hard time doing push ups since I have NEVER been able to do them and I guess I have a rotator cuff injury on my right arm, so that makes it hard too. I think I am done rambling now. I hope you are all doing well! Love ya
Laura

Going a little bit further

Carrie, you are the WOMAN! Way to keep up with your regiment! I am sorry you didn't see the results you wanted this week! Hopefully this plateau will pass QUICKLY and you will be back losing inches each week. You deserve it! None of this backwards stuff!

Today I ran 33 minutes, so I am guessing it is pretty close to three miles, and it felt great. I know on my there, before I turned around, I was going faster than I did on Monday by about a minute or so. I was glad to see that. And I was really glad to go a little further than I did the other day. There is a greenbelt behind my apartment that I am running on and then I ran through the neighborhood for a few minutes. I was really glad. When I got home I was spent though. But I took a breather and I completed Level 2 of the 30-day shred. And now I really stink, so I should probably go shower. But Aaron is late for class and still needs to shower. He hates his class so getting him on time is near impossible and he has been up for two hours. But he was craving the cookies that both Debbie and Cathy have called him about so he had to make them. Thanks girls! As if the Oreo's weren't enough of a temptation! Just kidding.

By the way yesterday was tough. I started doing a workout video and I think I had it on for about an hour and only was able to get about ten minutes into it between Boyd and Blythe. I had planned on doing it last night, but Aaron wasn't doing homework, so we watched a movie and a couple episodes of The Office. And I did indulge in the Oreo's. Blast it! Hopefully I will have more days like today!

Quite a week for all of us

It sounds like it's been quite a week for all of us. I weigh and measure myself Monday mornings and for the first 10 weeks I was seeing a little bit of a change each week, which was starting to add up. I've kept up with my exercises, haven't missed a day, but for week 11 and 12 I had no change and then this week (13) I've gained back half an inch around my waist and hips. The only place I've lost in the last 3 weeks is my bust, of course. Oh well. I will admit that the goal to keep up with walking to Jamaica was the only thing that got me to work out yesterday. Even so, I was in tears the whole time, but I did it. This morning I did a ABS of Steel workout that I bought a couple of years ago. I had only tried it once right after I bought it and burst out laughing about half way through and said, "Ya right" and turned it off because there was not way I could do it then. I was able to make it through and even keep up this morning, so my working out must be doing some good, even if I'm not seeing it in my measurements. Keep working hard girls.

Oh, I had a random thought the other day and wondered if we had invited Mom to join us in the walk to Jamaica?

Carrie

Pushing forward

So last week was kind of a doosy for me. I needed to get back in the right mind set. So this morning I went to running for 22 minutes, so I am thinking I ran approximately 2 miles and then did the Level 1 of the workout video that I have been doing. It felt good and hopefully as a push through this I will lose more weight. I hope you are doing well in your endeavors. Debbie I REALLY hope the flu bug is out of your house! That is no fun!

I'm lame but you guys are doing great

I don't have much to report for myself right now, I am barely keeping up with the walk to Jamaica because we have had the stomach flu in our home for over a week and our family is barely functioning; but I wanted to let the rest of you know that I am really impressed by your dedication. Your goals are impressive and your physical fitness are too. Laura and Becca can both run 2 miles and Carrie can bike for 40 minutes straight! Unfortunately I am way behind you all but maybe one of these days I will figure out how to do everything I am supposed to in the day. Anyway, good job you guys. Debbie

Discouragement/Success

So yesterday I wanted to cry. I got on the scale and there was a one pound difference from the weight I wrote down, so I lost a pound. But when I wrote down the weight I weighed myself at night and the next morning I was two pounds less. So depending on how you look at it I lost a pound or I gained a pound. It was discouraging for me. I didn't think I had lost a lot of weight, but I was hoping for four pounds or so, but it didn't happen. However I did measure myself and I have lost 1 1/2 inches around my waist, 3 1/2 inches around my hips, 1 inch around my thigh, and 1/4 inch around my calf. So there is progress. There is no progress in my Relief Society arms though. I am feeling better about the results this morning though. I need to go exercise... Oh and I bought some pepper spray last night so I can go running and feel a little safer...
Laura

Struggling

This week I have had a hard time motivating myself to workout. I have kept up, but I am struggling. I need to pull out of this and and keep pushing myself. I am going to try level three tomorrow and tomorrow is my weigh in day, so hopefully I will be able to see a change whether in weight or inches. I'll report back tomorrow.
Laura

Going the distance

I think I am going to do level 3 of the 30-day shred this week. Ah....I think on Thursday....I'll let you know how it goes...
Laura

Pushing yourself

So yesterday I decided to do level 1 & level 2 of the workout video's I have been doing, so I could push myself to do a little bit more. After the hour was up, I was about to die, but it felt great to do them both, and I am really not all that sore today, which is really nice, and I had energy to do the things I wanted to. Granted when it was time for bed I was dead, but I did it. I hope you are all have great success!
Laura

The Biggest Loser

Okay, so I know you are not all fans of the Biggest Loser, but I like the show. I enjoy seeing the transformations of the contestants. I have even looked into becoming a member of the Biggest Loser Club, but I don't want to fork over the money involved. But after looking into it, we have the same thing here. We have a support system and we can use this blog to post recipes and tell of our success and struggles and what not. I always enjoy reading everyone's posts. Oh and I thought this recipe sounded good so I thought I would share:

New Orleans Rubbed Chicken with Apricot Mustard Sauce

1 T. dried thyme
1/2 T. ground black pepper
1 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. cayenne, to taste
1/8 t. salt
4 small (4 ounces each) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of visible fat
1 t. extra virgin olive oil
1/3 C. apricot 100% fruit preserves
2 T. spicy brown mustard

Preheat the grill to high hear.

In a small bowl, combine the thyme, black pepper, garlic powder, 1/2 to 1 teaspoon cayenne to taste, and salt. Mix to blend.

place the chicken on a large plate or platter. Drizzle with the oil. Rub to coat the chicken evenly with the oil. Sprinkle the reserved seasoning mixture over the chicken. Tub to coat evenly. Cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 10 minutes for the seasonings to flavor the chicken.

Meanwhile, spoon the preserves into a small microwaveable bowl. Cook on low power in 15-second intervals, or until melted. Stir in the mustard until well blended. Set aside.

Place the chicken on the grill and reduce the heat to medium move away from direct heat. Cook for 3-5 minutes per side, or until no longer pink and the juices run clear. Serve each breast with 2 1/2 tablespoons of the reserved sauce spooned over the top.

Makes 4 servings.

Anyways, I hope you are all have success in your plans. Good luck all of you!

Laura

So Sore

So I am trying out 30 Day Shred by Jillian Michaels, and I am so sore. I have felt I had been working hard for the last couple weeks, but I am dying here. These workout video's are really making feel like I am working hard, and I am. I think I am going to stick to levels 1&2 until I can do them well and then I will move on to level 3. Ouch! I hope Debbie and Becca try them out too! They are good videos...at least I like them.
Laura

Carrie's goals

I thought I better follow Laura's good example and put in my goals. I'm still trying to figure out the difference between what I want and what is realistic, so I hope my goals are attainable, but not too easy. First I should say that I've been exercising for 11 weeks now, so I'm going to put the goals I've accomplished so far and then my ongoing goals.

My first goal was simply to get up and exercise every day. I originally wanted to loose 10 to 15 pounds. Then I actually weighed myself and realized that I really needed to loose closer to 20-25 pounds. After several weeks of exercising and not losing any weight, I decided to concentrate on inches, more than pounds, although I would still like to see the pounds drop.

So far I have lost 1 1/2 pounds, 3 inches around my waist, and 2 inches around my hips.

My goals from this point on are:
1. Continue to work out five days a week for 30-50 minutes each day, alternating circuit/weight training with aerobic exercise.
2. Increase my intensity from intermediate to advanced on my Tony Little "Pump up the Circuit" program by October 15th.
3. Move on to Tony Little's "Rock the Circuit" by December 1st.
4. Be to a size 10 in both waist and hip measurements by January 1st.
5. Lose 5 lbs by January 1st.
6. Finish Walk to Jamaica on schedule.
7. Be to a size 8 by April 1st.
8. Lose 10 pounds by April 1st.

I'm not sure what my rewards are yet. I had planned on rewarding myself with a certain amount of money for clothes when we get our tax return. We've had some financial set backs this week, so I'm not sure if that is realistic anymore, but I'll see what I can come up with. One of my ongoing rewards and motivators is that I get to read "The Host" (for the second time) only while I'm riding my stationary bike. So far that makes me look forward to riding more than I usually do.

Carrie

Laura, you are so awesome! Those goals are great! I am very excited about this whole thing! I have been thinking hard about some of my goals and need to get a good, specific list written down because right now I just have a bunch of thoughts. I have been reading this book by the girl that Laura is doing the workout videos from and she suggested making goals and then making rewards that have nothing to do with what the goal is. Anyway, so that is what I am working on right now. I have been trying to get out and run regularly. Last night I ran/walked 9 laps on the high school track which was the most I have done in a long time. But I felt pretty good and my body held up quite nicely which is always very helpful. I am running a 5k in November or December and decided I need to start getting my endurance levels up. I don't care how fast I do the 5k in, I just want to finish! So anyway, I promise I will post my goals soon.

On a side note, Travis worked all day in our yard and got the compost all spread out so tomorrow we are tilling and trenching for a sprinkler system and should be able to plant grass by the end of the month! WAHOO!

Becca

Goals

Today I was only able to do my 30 minute workout DVD. I did turn on my pilates and started doing them, but my sciatic nerve was hurting way too much, so I stopped. Hopefully tomorrow I can go running and then do pilates and feel better about that. And can I just say how very sore I am right now. Ow! I woke up this morning with my shoulders so stiff, my hamstrings ready to fall off and so on! But I feel like I am making progress when I am sore so I will stick with it!

Now for my goals and aspirations! Ha ha! I have been thinking about this for a long time and have been trying to do things so I can achieve these goals and make them realistic for me. So here it goes.
1- I will work out 5-6 times a week for 30-60 minutes.
2-I will lose 20 pounds by December 17, to be down to my pre-pregnancy weight.
3-I will be able to fit into all my old clothes by Dec 17 comfortably and not look like I have just been poured into my clothes.
4-I will gain muscle in my Relief Society arms so they look fantastic by December 17.
5-I will have a nice flat stomach that I am proud of by December 17.
6-I will be able to run a 5K by December 17.
7-I will eat healthy and say NO to junk food on a regular basis and when I do indulge in the sweet things in life (junk food), I will be moderate in my servings.
8-By March 1, I will lose a total of 30 pounds.
9-I will "walk" to Jamaica by March 1.
10-I will be strong.

Now I realize a lot of these goals go hand in hand, but I wanted specifics. I want to by down to my pre-pregnancy weight by December 17 because that will be my six month mark and I want to lose an additional 10 pounds because I like how I look when I am at that weight. And I want my weight loss to be realistic. I enjoy running, so I want to be able to run in some 5K races, those where you are running for a cause like MS or something like that. And I want to be strong and build my muscles, especially my back muscles for me of course but for my kids. I want to be strong for my next pregnancy (in a couple years) because I don't want my ribs to go out again in be in pain like I was with Blythe the last few days of my pregnancy. I think that is about it. I look forward to seeing your goals shortly. I hope all is going well for you!
Laura

Happy birthday to me!

So today I did a resistance training video along with pilates and it killed. But I am getting stronger. Today is the first day I was able to do 30 jumping jacks with weights, twice. Of course I can't keep up with the video so I hit pause. BUT I did it. Hooray! And I was able to do the teaser in pilates, and no it was not pretty, but I did it nonetheless. And now I get to eat cake and ice cream and destroy the calories I have already burned today! Such is life!
Laura

Stepping it up...

So I have been at this exercise thing for two and a half weeks now, and I have not lost any weight. Probably because my diet hasn't been the healthiest. At least I haven't been saying no to the sweet side of things, so that needs to change and I feel I need to step up my routine. I wish I felt comfortable going outside by myself and running, but I don't so I am stuck indoors with my exercise videos. So I am going to continue doing my Jillian Michaels DVD's and add in some pilates, so I will be exercising about 50-60 minutes daily. Hopefully I will see some progress by the next time I take measurements. I so want to fit back into the majority of my clothes instead of a small fraction of them. It can be so frustrating looking at all of my clothes some days and know I can only wear a few of them, some still being maternity. So we will see how it goes. I like Becca will be posting my goals here in the next day or so.
Laura

Hey everyone! I know I haven't been good at all about posting, but I am getting some goals together and I promise to post soon. I decided I want to post all of my goals so that I have someone to report to. Anyway, I had a question for Debbie. You were telling me about the book you were reading and how you can measure your fat percentage by different measurements. I don't know how detailed it is, but if it isn't too much you should post it. I am interested in doing it. Thanks!

Becca

My coach/helper

I have a coach now. His name is Boyd! He helps me get out my equipment every morning and puts in the DVD for me. And then he counts with me and pushes me even further by saying I need to do another DVD! And by the way, he calls exercises "eckercises"! It is cute!

Today I did a Jillian DVD and an entire Pilates DVD! It burned and I am sore, but it feels good and I stink afterwards so I shower everyday which helps me not feel like a frumpy mom, which is one of my goals I have set. Too often I feel like a frump, so exercising helps me and I have more energy to keep up with Boyd since he never seems to run out of steam! Hope you are all having a great experience and can't wait to hear how sore you have been!

Laura

My experience

Hey Debbie, when I did the Body for Life thing it was all about low-fat diets and so I looked at the Body for Life cookbook. All it was really was your regular recipes with low-fat or no fat ingredients and lean meats. Like substituting ground turkey for ground beef and using low-fat cottage cheese and omitting the really fatty items like sour cream and what not. So you can stick to your regular recipes and substitute the ingredients.

So today I did Jillian Michaels kick boxing DVD and then attempting to do Pilates to get more of a workout on my abs. Yikes. I made it about 7 1/2 minutes into my pilates DVD. Wow! I hope you are all getting your workouts in. I know it is tough to stay on top of it, but good luck!
Laura

From Debbie

Does anyone have any good eating tips or programs that don't involve going without a food group and can be done while nursing? I am trying to figure out that aspect of getting healthy and haven't yet. Any good low fat recipes? I need something that works for my whole family, at least the dinner part of it.

Walk toJamaica started September 1

So yesterday was the start of Walk to Jamaica (sorry we are telling you this today rather than yesterday). Our goal is to get to Jamaica in 6 months. Jamaica is about 2600 miles away so if we go 100 miles per week we will make it. Each minute of exercise counts as 1 mile. If you want to challenge yourself you can say that mild exercise equals 1/2 mile and rigorous exercise is 1 mile but it is up to you. I will be emailing everyone a spreadsheet that you can keep track of your miles on, if you don't get it by the end of the week email me. We don't want anyone to make it to Jamaica in a couple of months and then stop exercising so you are not allowed to get ahead of where we are supposed to be, you are only allowed to catch up or stay on track no matter how much exercise you do (of course we all self monitor this so you can do whatever you want and if you really want to get ahead, no one is going to stop you). We picked Jamaica because it was the right distance away and we thought it kind of represented a vacation/doing something for yourself so when you make it to Jamaica you get whatever reward you have decided on. We were hoping everyone would write in and say what their reward was so that it was set and we all knew what we are working for. I also thought it would be fun for people to write what their fitness goals are so that we have more incentive to complete them. This is all optional of course. One last thing, could everyone who is planning on trying this please let everyone know so that if we send something to the walk to Jamaica group we don't leave anyone out or bother anyone not doing it? Debbie

I've started

So last week I started my exercise regimen using Jillian Michael's kick butt dvd's. (Jillian is the gal who does the Biggest Loser TV show, for those of you who are interested). Anyways, she has been kicking my butt, but it is a good workout. It's 30 minutes of aerobic resistance training, so we use a step, light weights, and a mat. Which I like. So now that I am started, I just need to take a picture and print it, so I can remind myself daily why I am doing this.

Oh and by the way Carrie, thanks for posting the measurements chart. It helps to see what I would like to lose in inches too and not just weight. Hopefully I can see success next time I weigh in and measure myself which will be September 25th. Maybe I'll check the scale in between now and then but I really don't want to unless I know I am losing, just so I don't get depressed. Hope you are all doing well with your goals. Best of luck!

Laura

Standard Measurements

As I've been trying to get in shape I've found that I can see my progress better if I concentrate on my measurements instead of just my weight. I found a list of the standard measurements and thought some of you might be interested. These measurements are for Misses and not for Juniors. All measurements are in inches.

Carrie

Size	Bust	Waist	Hip
0	30½	23½	32½
2	32	24½	34
4	33½	25½	35½
6	34	26	36½
8	35	27	37½
10	36½	28½	38½
12	38	30	40
14	40	32	42
16	40½	32½	43
18	42½	34½	45

Apparantly Aaron posted that blog trying to make it sound like me... Weirdo! Anyway- I just thought I would mention that when anyone posts a blog make sure to put your name at the end so that we know who is posting.

Becca

It's Official!

So girls, it's official, we are going to do this! I hope this blog helps us all stay focused and motivated to reach our individual and group goals. I am so excited that we are all in this together!