So. It's midweek. How we doin so far???
No Maddie to speak of yet. Still waiting... poor sister is busting at the seams.
The kids have colds, I have one brewing but I'm going to ignore it. Mind over matter. I don't have time for this cold, I refuse to acknowledge it.
But it's been a great workout week so far, I did my long run on Sunday, legs and abs on Monday, 30 minutes of Wii Fit and a 2 mile run on Tuesday, and we'll see what today holds and if the kids will be well enough for me to head out to the gym or if I'll workout at home while there are naps going on.
So. I found something cool this week...
Anyone need a virtual workout partner? Anyone?? Bueller??? Because Mizfit is brewing up something really cool over at her place. As in, an accountability partner. A partner in crime. It's like the accountability that we have here in the contest, only one-on-one. Smaller scale. A double-layer, if you will. Security. What is this "accountability partner" I speak of, you ask? She is pairing people up with a buddy and once paired, you guys will become a healthy tagteam. You can e-mail, text, call, whatever. Whatever you both decide once you're paired up. It's supposed to be healthy, but above all, it's supposed to be fun, not all naggy and stuff. You must read all about it here. And if you decide you want in on her fantastic little matchmaking scheme, her e-mail is in that post. I'm doing it! You should too! It's a great idea to keep us going through this whole thing! Safety in numbers! So head on over there!!
Hope everyone's having a great week!
Wednesday
HFH: Grab a partner, do-si-do!
Saturday
Results + Weekend Chatter
Good morning losers!!
Haha! Remember when saying that was a bad thing? Our weightloss this week is:
Congrats to us! Yes, you may notice it's slowing a bit but that's ok. That's to be expected. People hit plateaus, there are lulls and gains because of, well, life, and a few people have dropped out too, which made the number of people contributing to the giant fat ticker lower too. But not to worry. So, the moral of the story? Just keep swimming, swimming swimming....
We shall get to that 500 pound mark. We shall. Heck, we're just now approaching halfway through! We're on pace!! So stay with us here. Feel like dropping out? Don't. Because you know why? Then you're stuck going it on your own. And who wants this journey to be a lonely solitary one? Not me! So come on, stick it out! Take it one week at a time! On Fridays when you weigh-in, if it's been a rough week, just hit the "restart" button and yell, "Do over!" As my favorite funnyman the late Chris Farley once said, "Stay strong, little root!"
Finally, there were a couple of 3 pound losses reported this week, you guys rock!! They are: Rachelle at The Sparks Family, and Bikinime at Bikini Quest! Congratulations to you guys, and all of you get to have this little guy:
Congratulations to everyone, and come back Monday to see what the next prize is. Again, and I'll say it till I'm blue in the face, this is a long journey. Hang in here with us! We'll help you get there! It's all about safety in numbers! Feel free to sound off about this weekend, right here and right now!
Oh! And ps! Today is my sister's due date!!! Where are you, Maddie??????
Tuesday
Tuesday HFH CHITCHAT (Other posts below)
How's it going??? Didja see the prize and project this week???
Thursday
A Word About Our Sponsor...Plus LAST CHANCE WORKOUTS!!
Judi rocks. I hope you like what my blog is wearing (if you don't, that's ok too!) because I do! Because I love flowers and I love pink. And I love pink and orange. And I love tea, and when it comes to writing things or designing things, I am a pain in the butt. Total control freak, actually, because I like what I like and I get an idea in my head about something and I have to run with it and if anyone is standing in my way I get frustrated. And if I have to rely on someone other than myself to help me carry out my vision, then I can only hope and pray that they share my vision. I know. See what Judi from Doodlebug Designs had to put up with?
On top of being a great blog designer, she is patient. Verrrrry patient.
And miraculously, she did share my vision. Because it came out just like I pictured, and actually better. She's done a lot of pretty blogs, and I like to venture over there sometimes just to look at all the pretty pictures...
I'm a dork.
But among the blogs you may recognize, she's also done Maggie's blog, at Maggie's Mind, and I think she captured Maggie's personality perfectly on that one. Spot on.
And during the last challenge here (the "Summer of Me" weightloss challenge), ET at Titus 2:3-5 won a blog makeover from Doodlebug Designs and hers turned out just so darned cute! So take a look over there, she has something for everyone! There is a blog makeover up for grabs this week so don't forget to weigh-in! If you don't have a blog, maybe this is a good time to start one! :) Good luck this week!
So, guess what today is?
It's THURSDAY! Which means the weigh-in is tomorrow morning. Which means last chance workouts all around! I have a three mile run today and I got brand new sneakers (pink! well, gray and pink) for my birthday and they are so cute and awesome, they are like strapping on air onto my feet they are so light. I usually buy Asics but this time it was the Nikes that caught my eye. And by the way, I found myself trying on a blue pair of Asics but only because they had the word "Nimbus" in the name and I thought, how cool would it be to have Nimbus 3000 sneakers, I'd be like the Harry Potter of running, whatever that would mean. I guess he really never needed to run anyway, he had a broom. Maybe it means I could be as fast as Harry Potter on a broom. I'm delirious. It's late. I just got back from visiting my mom in the hospital and I am hopped up on coffee. She is doing very well, thank you for all your kind thoughts and words. :)
Anyway, back to shoes, I didn't like the blue Nimbuses as much as the pink and they weren't as light as my pink featherlight Nikes which I love. (Have I mentioned I love them?)
I also got a great belt that holds two tiny water bottles for me to wear while I run and beat that still ridicu-florida-heat. I really got it for the crazy 4 and 5 mile runs that are going to be occurring on Sundays that have me scared to death.
Wednesday
HFH: Humpday Chit Chat
Monday
Motivation Monday + Prize + Question O' Week
Good morning!
I hope everyone stayed strong this weekend!
We had a couple a birthday parties and I partook (is that a word) in some cake but only a bite or a sliver. I did miss my long run today because I stayed out wayyy past my bedtime Saturday night and I woke up a little too late to go on the run in the Florida sun so I will have to do it today. Scratch that. I must do it today.
So I'm wondering. Are you in a plateau? Are you stuck in a rut? Are you working out but not seeing results? I am not in any way certified, but I can tell you what worked for me when I was stuck.
A few years ago I lived in Salt Lake City and I had put on a few pounds. I was actually right where I am now. I decided to train for a 5k which I had never done before and the plan called for running 4 days a week. So I was running 4 days a week and logging at least 10 miles a week (which is not a lot for some people but it was for me!), sometimes more depending on the length of my runs. I was doing this for WEEKS and nothing was coming off. NOTHING! And I was miffed because I was running 2 and 3 miles at a time and for me, that was a lot!
And so I got to talking to a trainer at my gym one day and he tweaked my workout schedule by adding weights to the mix on the days I wasn't running. Boy did that help! I was running Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday and weight training on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I would do two days of legs and one of arms, then the next week I'd do two days of arms and one of legs.
My body changed within weeks. No joke. He looked at me a couple weeks later and said, "See?"
I moved back to Florida and after my first baby, I got back into the gym working out three days a week and eating well. Months later, I hadn't lost a thing. Nada. Again. I added another day and still, nada. Finally what worked was 5 and 6 days alternating weights with cardio. Again. So what I learned was that three days of working out a week was good for me to maintain, but to actually lose weight? Yep. It required more work.
Of course, different things work for different people, but I, my uncertified self, highly recommend adding weights to the mix if you haven't already. Read here for more insight on the topic and enjoy!
That being said, let's stay strong this week! Make the healthy choices. The ones that will further you to your goal, not deter you. Because we are "strong ass women" and we are empowered to do it. You and you alone are in charge. Not food. Not time. Not other people. You.
So, here's the question(s) of the week and you can write a post about it (or not) but if you do, let us know on Friday, either in the comments or the linky so we can all visit each other!
We've been doing a lot of thinking about where we are in life and what we want to do in our life, so this week we're going to do a photo essay of sorts. Take pictures of the following things and you can have any interpretation you want:
1. Someone or something that inspires you.
2. Something that you love to do.
3. Something that makes you crazy.
4. Something healthy in your life.
Now: onward to the prizes! This week's prize comes to us from Doodlebug Designs. Wonderful, wonderful Judi, who designed my blog and I love her. She's offering a free blog makeover to the lucky winner of Friday's drawing!! Woohoo! Head on over there and take a look at her work, she really is awesome and she will make sure you are 150% happy with your new blog and work tirelessly to make sure of it. So don't forget to weigh-in Friday to be eligible for the drawing!
Oh and here's some new stuff this week: You know how I have daily chatter entries on the blog here? Well I have created a forum for us on one of our sponsor's sites, Runners Lounge. You don't have to be a runner to do this, either. Here's what you do. 1) head over to the site. 2) create a login and all of this is free by the way 3) click on the tab at the top of the Runners Lounge homepage that says "Connect With Runners". 4) Then click on the 2nd option, "Find or Start a Lounge Group". 5)Under "Group Name" type in "HFH" (without the quotes--that's our private discussion name). 6)Click on the forum. And voila! We've got a forum.
On the final and somewhat unrelated note, I'd just like to say goodbye to you, dear Yankee Stadium! I've loved watching you and stepping onto your field where legends have played with passion and blood and sweat and tears. Where millions of people who have loved and hated this team and yet have loved this wonderful game have come together and roared and screamed and cheered. I am so sad you are going. I will miss you!
Saturday
HFH Weekend Chatter: (Winner and Results below!)
It was a late night last night, we were in the car for 9 hours on the way back from Atlanta with one stop at a Cracker Barrel that was touch and go. I've mentioned that Poops has a tiny problem controlling the VOLUME OF HIS VOICE particularly the SCREAMING part and he loves to do this in restaurants which typically results in "No yelling, we're in a restaurant" one million times over and over again followed by, inevitably, walking out of the restaurant for time out. Anyway, it's nice to be home although I miss you already Clairanne!!!
This weekend will be a bit of a challenge for me but I will make good choices because you're right, Miz, we are grown women and we can do that!!!
MizFit left me a comment last week that has made me think and I love comments like that and this is it:
That is so true. A GROWN ASS WOMAN just needs to keep her GROWN ASS WOMAN attitude about her and not even say "I'll try" to make good choices because that "try" always gives me a little leeway to make a bad choice. I am the one in control here.
Isn't that funny how there is a lot of mental preparation that needs to be done? Even for something like weight loss? I have to use mental trickery and word games. Change my way of thinking. But there are two birthday parties and I'm going out tonight to dinner with my cousins, so I will have to think very much about how much my goal means to me over what I should stick in my pie hole.
So this week's loss, though only a pound, brings me 4 pounds closer to a new decade of numbers! That's over the 5 pound-hump! And that got me to thinking. I don't know how any of you look at it, but one thing that helps me to get through this journey is to make small goals along the way.
Like for instance, I take it one decade of numbers at a time. That big number goal is just so daunting to me sometimes, but dropping weight one lonely pound at a time can get so frustrating too. But say you're in the 180's. And for a few weeks you just concentrate on seeing a "7" on the scale and you work on getting to 179. That's a whole new decade!
And then, it feels like all of a sudden the pounds start to add up and you're seeing 6's and 5's and it gives you the drive to keep on going because you want to see more numbers you haven't seen in a long, long time! See how this works? It's like a built-in reward system! You can buy treats or jeans or shoes or purses when you reach a goal, but there is nothing like seeing brand new decades of numbers on the scale and the personal satisfaction that you have worked your ass off to get there. All by yourself!
It's a babystep approach. But it has worked for me. Anyway, good luck this weekend. It's always easy to fall off, but stay strong, little root! Remember, you are Grown Ass Women! (Thanks Miz. WWBD, right?)
