yeehaw!

I put down 6 miles today and weighed myself to find a new middle digit in my weight!!! It only last a few minutes (until I actually rehydrated) but it was there and next week I'll find it for good!!

Now I'm off to Denver...last minute trip with Cody!

In case any of you are interested, I had a roommate from college that gained a lot of weight and ended up having lapband surgery. She has a blog that she has recorded her story...feel free to check it out, she definitely inspires me!

http://melissaslapbandjourney.blogspot.com/

quote of the day!

If hunger is not the problem, then eating is not the solution. ~Author Unknown

Happiness is looking in the back of the closet, pulling out a pair of jeans, putting it on and.......it fits.

Subway Slimdown!

Next week is the first challenge...the Subway Slimdown! For the third week whoever loses the most weight that week (from May 1st to May 7th) will receive a $10 gift card to Subway! The person who places second will receive a 1-pound pass for the next challenge, and the person in third place will get a 1/2 pound pass for the next challenge.

quote of the day!

Your body keeps an accurate journal regardless of what you write down...

staying focused!

I feel like I've entered the zone. I pretty much think about everything I eat and plan meals ahead plus I'm getting in some exercise. I'm looking forward to another good weigh in!!!

I hope you're doing good too. Let me know if there's anything I can do for you. If you have good tips on weight loss go ahead and post!

Quote of the day

One of the most effective exercises you can do is to place both hands firmly against the dinner table and push away!

quote of the day!

"There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting
people up."
John Andrew Holmes

can I cook?

I'm not sure if you know about my issues with cooking/burning food but I'm not a great cook. This week however I tried some healthy recipes. Most turned out yummy. I took a picture each day to show proof that I cooked! The pasta was so-so. I made it too spicy and it just reminded me that I only really like squash with LOTS of butter. I think that means I really don't like squash, just the butter. My favorite of all of these is the first one, "chicken breasts with crab meat stuffing". They were delicious but looked nothing like the picture in the book.

4 boneless chicken breast halves
3/4 cup whole wheat crackers
3 ounces crabmeat drained and rinsed twice (I used immitation and it was great)
1/4 cup fat free mayo
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons finely chopped green onions
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (I just used it from the bottle)
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 cup lowfat milk

pound chicken breasts between two pieces of plastic wrap to 1/4 inch thickness, using flat side of meat mallet or rolling pin.

combine 1/4 cup cracker crumbs, crabmeat, mayo, cheese, onions, lemon juice and pepper sauce in medium bowl. Divide filling evenly among chicken breasts. Roll up each chicken breast from short side tucking in ends. Secure with wooden pick.

Combine remainin 1/2 cup cracker crubs, parsley flakes, black pepper and paprika in a shallow bowl. Dip chicken in milk; roll in cracker crumb mixture. Place chicken in microwavable round or square baking dish. Cover with waxed paper. Microwave at high 10 minutes or until chicken is not longer pink in center. Remove chicken from dish. Remove wooden picks. Add remaining milk to pan juices; microwave on high 1 minute or until sauce comes to a boil. Serve chicke with sauce.

Makes 4 servings

I've actually really enjoyed cooking this week. I've planned ahead and I think it's made a huge difference. Usually I wait until the last minute and then I have no choices on what I'll make and it turns out pretty unhealthy!

lesson learned?

Yesterday I loosened up a lot and ate some things that weren't all that healthy, perhaps ate too much all together. It made me wonder if I will learn my lesson EVER? My body felt awful...all week I've felt great and thought about how the reward of eating healthy is in how your body feels. I think of the analogy of putting diesel fuel into my unleaded engine. Hopefully I'll remember this feeling next time I make those types of choices! Don't worry though, I just did time on the treadmill to pay for my mistake!

Next on the agenda: If you want to do the quote of the day just do it. When I see your post I'll hold off and fill in the blanks when no one does one, capiche?

quote of the day!

"At the end of each day, you should play back the tapes of your
performance. The results should either applaud you or prod you."
Jim Rohn

losing weight isn't easy!

I think the first week was awesome! Thanks for all your participation. Please feel free to post anything you like in the future.

I'm happy with my week and I hope you are proud of your weight loss. Even if you think the weight you lost is a small amount, wait until it all adds up in the end. It will be worth it. If losing weight were easy we'd all be skinny right? So be proud of yourself for making such a great effort!

I just went and signed up for the step it up program that Tori posted about earlier. I'm so excited to see how many steps I can get in a day! Right now they are out of pedometers but Cody and I just went and bought our own so we could get started, they're $5 at Wal-mart. They will get more pedometers in a few weeks.

Week ONE weigh in!

Good job everyone!!! Sorry if the chart is hard to read...if you click on it you can get a closer look! I will keep the names in order of who has lost the most and on down. I hope everyone is comfortable with their own pace though...we're all different, it's good to compare but not dwell on it.

We never repent of having eaten too little. - Thomas Jefferson

The first and the best victory is to conquer self. - Plato

Hi, my name is Deedra Hinds and I am an eataholic.

I live in Tooele, and have 4 kids. Three girls and one boy. Chad (husband) and I met Cody and Donna in Logan seven years ago when Donna and I served in the Young Women together. We tried playing some early morning bball for a while, until Donna injured herself, than I injured myself when Donna healed up. But we love Cody and Donna and are glad Donna is better at keeping in touch than I am! (You rock Donna!)

I love to play basketball and volleyball and try to play as much as I can. My husband loves bball and he plays as much as he can. My oldest daughter (Taylor 7) is doing gymnastics and my son (Jalen 6) is doing soccer. My other two girls (Courtney 3, Mya 21 months) Tag around to everything. I stay home with the kids (and am always looking for stay at home jobs, if you know any). Staying home is kind of stressful sometimes, but I think I am staying sane...but I don't think the mold that talks to me from the toilet is all there (he's crazy). That pretty much sums up our lives.

Thanks to everyone for participating! This will be fun!

quote of the day!

I'm not there yet, but I'm closer than I was yesterday!

Fajitas

We love this Fajita recipe. I eat mine on whole wheat tortilla shells. My husband and little boy will not eat whole wheat shells.

1/4 Cup lime juice
2 T water
1 T olive oil
2 Cloves of garlic minced
2 T jalapeno peppers chopped
1/4 t salt
1/4 t black pepper
1lb beef flank steak or chicken breasts

Whisk together in shallow dish cover and refrigerate for 8 hours
Remove from marinade grill or broil until done.

T is tablespoon
t is teaspoon

Whisk together in shallow dish cover and refrigerate for 8 hours
Remove from marinade grill or broil until done.

We have green peppers and onions with the meat. Avocados are really good with it also.

Step it up

For everyone who lives close to Logan. You can sign up at the Logan Rec center for the Step it up program. The cost is $5 and that is good for 1 year. They give you a pedometer, t-shirt, and a tracking log. For every hundred miles that you walk you can have either 5 passes to the rec center or 3 passes to the pool. My little boy is always keeping track of how many miles I go because he wants to go to the pool this summer. It is a pretty good motivator to get as many steps as you can.

kickin' butt & takin' names!

I just did a great workout, we'll call it my last chance workout since I won't do one in the morning. I'm excited for weigh in...hope you are too. I've been working hard for it!

quote of the day!

"The man at the top of the mountain did not fall there."

some easy and fast recipies

I have lots of healthy recipes, I am lucky because I have a son who is allergic to all Dairy and eggs so it is easy for our family to stay away from the fattening stuff.
one thing I make all the time is Salmon with brown rice, I drizzle the salmon with lemon and a little salt and it is supper yummy. I usually make the brown rice in a large batch and keep it in the fridge since it takes so long to cook. The salmon I buy at Costco in bulk frozen and broil for about 15 min. Its a very quick and easy meal, I sometimes use my left over salmon and put it in salad with some vinegar. I will put on some recipes soon.
-Christy

motivation to walk

I bought a pedometer to help me know how far I walk everyday. I set a goal to walk at least 10,000 steps, yesterday I easily hit 12,000. I did it by walking my kids to school instead of driving and then running two miles. I find the pedometer an easy way to keep me motivated.
-Christy

quote of the day

"There are too many people praying for mountains of difficulty to be removed,
when what they really need is the courage to climb them."

going well

I've been really focusing on my goal to lose weight and it's going well. Last night Sandra and I survived a family birthday party. We both turned down the icecream and had just a taste of the cheesecake! I cooked out of my lowfat cookbook last night. It was great but I don't know if I'll post that recipe because it required quite a few ingredients...speaking of which Cody and I spent a LONG time at the grocery store the other night trying to buy the healthy ingredients we need for the next meals we plan to make. Turns out I can find frozen pizza and french fries with my eyes closed, but the health stuff is a lot harder to find since I've never paid any attention to it. I've been running on a regular basis and being more active all together. My new trick is to chew a piece of gum after every meal to get a sweet taste in my mouth so I won't look around for any dessert. I should have a pretty good number to turn in this week so I can't wait until weigh in!

quote of the day

Why? Why not? Why not you? Why not now?
Aslan

Greetings from California!

Hi My name is Christy Jones, I met Donna while serving a mission in Phoenix Az, We were companions for a brief 3 weeks and had the same trainer. I grew up in Beaverton, Oregon and went to school at Ricks for two years before my mission. After I got home I lived in Logan, UT for two years where I met and married my husband. After I got married my husband got a job in Vancouver BC Canada, we lived there for five years, we moved to Torrance California for my husbands work last May. I have been married for 9 years and have 3 kids 8,6,3 two boys and a girl. I was always pretty skinny till I had children, I have gained 10lbs per kid and would like to loose about 20lbs by this summer. I am currently training for a Marathon in June that is a 10k. I am excited to have the encouragement to continue my goal!

Goals

Lisa

Hi, I'm Lisa Ward and I live in Nibley, too. Donna is my neighbor and we've gotten to know each other through church volleyball and basketball. I grew up in Hyrum and my husband, Ryan and I have 4 girls, Hannah & Aimee (8), Chloe(5), Holly (2). We've been married for 11 years. I've struggled with my weight my whole married life. My goal for this challenge is to lose 2 pounds a week. I am training for the Wasatch Back Relay which is in June. It would be much easier if I wasn't carrying around extra weight (my knees would appreciate it too!). I am also doing weight watchers online, too.

picture of Sandra

In case you didn't catch it, Sandra is my sister so that's why I can do a dorky post and make fun of her. Utonya, you crack me up...you're right Sandra is quite interesting! LOL

Here's the picture I promised of her family.

newcomer!

We have a new comer! Christy is a friend from my mission. I'm going to let her do her intro post so you can all get to know her as well!

Thanks for joining us Christy!

goals I have so far...

Here's what I've been given so far. I do have a number from Katie but I wasn't sure if it was her total or just 4-week goal. Please help me fill in the blanks- send me the rest of your numbers.

recipes please!

Your next assignment is to find a really good and healthy recipe and post it for the rest of the group to try! I don't have mine yet, I'm going to try a few first and see what really works! You can post as many as you like.

Hope you are all having success!

quote of the day!

"Diamonds are only lumps of coal that stuck to their jobs."
B.C. Forbes

Info

This is Tori. I am from Idaho. I went to Raft River High School. I then went to Utah State and graduate with my bachelors. That is where Donna and I met. Brian and I have been married for 12 years. We have an eight year old son. We live in Logan and are building a new house and will be moving in the end of April. I work for the special needs preschool in the mornings and do advertising and graphic design for Flying J out of my home. I would like to lose at least 15lbs by summer. I am always looking for new exercise ideas. So if any one has any please share.

Today at church one of the little girls in my class asked "Do you have a baby?" I replied "no". Her response, "Then why do you have such a big belly?" I guess I have more to lose than I want to admit.

Thanks Donna for putting this together. I hope everyone has lots of success.

quote of the day!

My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four. Unless there are three other people. ~ Orson Welles

Good day!

I had a good day today. My eating was all healthy and although I didn't go running I used a shovel all day and my body is reminding me of that. I'm glad you are all doing this with me, I will be so much stronger and because of that...I know I will succeed. I went to the store and stocked up on healthy food (I just have to accept that groceries cost more when they're not the easy fat filled foods!) Some of my favorite things to eat that are healthy are tomato soup with a grilled cheese (I make the grilled cheese on wheat bread and grill it on the George Foreman so I don't add any butter at all), smoothies, yogurt, carrots, apples, etc. Today I found some turkey bacon on a good deal so I think I'll give it a try! I hope you are all doing good, I talked to a few of you today and I can see you are working hard at it too!!!

quote of the day

Discipline is remembering what you want.

Hi! This is Kate. I don't know anyone here so I'm going to give a little intro. Honestly, I barely even know Donna, like she said, our husbands went to high school together. I'm from Ohio and my hubby and I are currently living there. We met while I was going to Ricks then moved to Logan for a few years and we've been in Ohio almost 5 years. I'm a SAHM of 2 kids, almost 7 and 3 1/2. I'm 27, married almost 8 years.
I've been thin (average thin, not skinny) all of my life until I had children. After kid #1 I did Weight Watchers to lose the 30lbs I couldn't shake and had great success with that. After kid #2 I just never got back on the WW bandwagon. What can I say, I'm a stress eater and life has been stressful. So now I have 60 lbs to lose but can't afford to go back to Weight Watchers. I've started the program on my own many times over the years but can never get past the first few days. The stress in my life has finally chilled enough now that I'm ready to get my head back in the game and get back in shape (at least I hope I'm ready). I miss having energy and feeling healthy. I joined this group b/c I'm hoping it will motivate me enough to get me going and then I can keep the ball rolling.
Today I didn't do as badly as I could have. The sun finally came out here in Ohio so I was out at the playground most of the day, no fridge to tempt me, ya know? But then tonight I forgot all about the weight loss thing when my girl friend showed up with my favorite cookie dough. Not good at all. Well, the cookies were good, but eating them wasn't. So alas I'll begin again tomorrow.
Happy losing everyone! Good luck this weekend!
Oh, and I searched for pictures of myself and can't find any. I'll have my hubby take some when we get a chance.

One down 83 days to go!

So I made it through the first day and I am happy with the day. I ate things like oatmeal and yogurt. I also went running, it was great weather for it. Tomorrow I'm going to stock up on carrots and apples and yogurt and my favorite healthy snack...plain popcorn. I also like tomato soup at lunch time for a healthy meal.

I hope you had a good first day! We're out of the gates!!!

Thank you all for posting your pictures and stories! They've been so much fun to see. I hope the rest of you will do it too!

Sandra Larkin

Written by Donna

Since she won't do her own post I'm doing it for her and then she'll have to replace it because I'm not going to do a good job. Sandra is from Kaysville, Utah. She played a lot of sports growing up. She went to Utah State. She has an associates degree with her name on it but she has earned at least 2 bachelor degrees that bear the name of Joe Larkin (her husband) and Donna Sorensen. She's a smart person and she likes to do things quickly. I have to decorate for her because she doesn't like to be bothered with those kinds of things. She married Joe in like 1994 or something and they lived in Cache Valley the majority of their married life except for a short stint in Layton/Roy. They have 5 kids, the youngest of which is extremely naughty! I could write a book about that. She has actually weighed less than she did in high school for the past 5 years or so on and off. She has to weigh under a certain amount every June so insurance will reimburse her premium and she is so strong willed and loves that refund so much that she gets down to that weight every year. This year we're going to help her do it before the last week so that she doesn't have to starve so much that last week and be mean to anyone who dares approach her! I only have a picture of her kids but when I go to her house next I'll edit this post and put one of her whole family on!

Utonya Nielsen

Hi all. This is my family-The Nielsens. I grew up in Layton and went to Kaysville schools. Long story. My husband and I have been married 14 1/2 years and I hope to make it to 15. We have lived in Cache Valley for 9 years and love it here. It is a great place to raise my family. We have 3 boys. Tanner just turned 12, Tyler is 10 and Jamieson passed away at only 10 days old almost 6 years ago. I have never been considered thin or heavy but never been happy with the way I look. I am tired of being obsessed with the way I look. I hope I can be motivated to exercise eat better and be happy with ME.

Nicole Dickson

This is me. Since I avoid pictures like the plague there are not many of me and in most of them, like this, I am hiding behind someone else. I am 33 years old and 5 foot nothing, so any extra weight I pack is pretty obvious. I have lived in Cache Valley since I was married 13 years ago. I was always a skinny, little thing and packed with muscles. However after the kids and life I am not so skinny and unfortunately I am packed with flab. For about 3 months now I have been working out hardcore and in the beginning I lost about 10 pounds. However I have become stagnant and discouraged of late. I can see some changes in my body but nothing as far as the scale goes. I hope that this challenge will motivate me to do better with my food choices so that I can see a difference on the scale.

Donna Lee Thorson Sorensen

Most of you know everything about me but some don't so here's my post. I hope you will all do this and have fun with it!

I'm from Kaysville, Utah. Lived in the same house from age 2 until I left for Utah State when I was 18. I love to play sports and did so all growing up. I left for a mission when I was 21 to Phoenix, Arizona. I met my husband Cody the last two months of my mission, he was also a missionary there. When we got home from his mission 8 months after I did, he came to find me and we were married 7 months later. I graduated from Utah State with a degree in Business in 2000. We have lived in Cache Valley through our entire marriage. We're celebrating 10 years in May! We've built two houses in Nibley, we currently live in the second one. You all know we've struggled to have our family but we do have a great son, Corbett, who turned three in January. We currently have our papers in for adoption with LDS Services. I enjoy doing crafts and sports. I ran a marathon in 2007 and I'm considering putting in for the St. George marathon this year.

Can't wait to see your posts!

quote of the day

If you wish to grow thinner, diminish your dinner. Henry Sambrooke Leigh

First Day!!

There's excitement in the air today! I'm so excited to do this, with all of you watching me I can't possibly fail, right! Good luck!

new participant

we have one more person participating since I did the intro post!

Katie - another friend from college. She lives in Logan still, has 5 kids, and works for H&R Block so she's celebrating the END of the the tax season (I assume) Katie is from Bountiful, Utah.

Welcome!

Quote of the day!

Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow ye diet. ~ Lewis C. Henry ...

Donna,

You didn't explain that you don't have to tell your weight, just how much you lost that week. Some of us don't like telling our weight, even though it's a little obvious :)

who's in?

Kate commented that I could do an intro post because you all know me, but you don't all know each other! Let me give you a run down of who's in!

ME...you all know me now, soon you'll know the skinny me!

Sandra - my sister, a year older than me, lives a mile and a half from me, 5 kids, from Kaysville Utah, just like me.

Utonya - a friend from our previous ward in Nibley who also went to my high school (Davis High, go darts!) and is my sister Sandra's age. Sandra and Utonya know each other too. Utonya has 2 kids.

Brooke - my friend from working at ICON (ugh...ICON). At least Brooke was there to entertain me. She just had a baby and now lives in Oregon with her husband and 3 kids.

Deedra - friend from when we lived in the Blackhawk condos, we were in Young Women's together. She now lives in Tooele and has 4? kids.

Kate - friend through my husband Cody who grew up with Kate's husband Darin. They now live in Ohio, which I believe is close to where she is from??...and have 2 kids.

Tori - friend from college, we roomed together our first year and have been friends ever since. She's from Malta, ID. She's building a house that will be done in 2 weeks that I'm not AT ALL jealous of because it's not the least bit amazing! (that's saracasm in case you didn't catch it, the house is beautiful).

Lisa - friend from my neighborhood/ward. She has 4 girls, two of them are twins. Lisa has been working hard for a while now and has already lost some weight...good job Lisa!

Nicole - my next door neighbor and friend. She has 3 kids and is from Illinois. She is a substitute teacher.

There's only a few people who know other people in the group. I hope I got all your info right (i.e. how many kids you have) You've all been great friends and I'm excited to lose weight with everyone here!

example of chart

here is the chart you'll see each Friday. Please send me your weight loss each Friday morning via email. So far there's 9 participants, there may be a few more!

I did it!

So there I was standing in line at Subway, I go there on Wednesday a lot of times because Wednesday is my day out, my sister Sandra takes Corbett for a few hours and I get to enjoy a few hours of freedom!...so the girl asks what I would like. Normally I would order chicken bacon ranch, and because the footlong is only $5 I order a footlong (if I order a 6" I always think I'll get the short end of the bread...silly) and then I would proceed to eat the majority of a footlong all by myself!

Not today! Today I ordered the Wednesday special, which is Turkey, I had it on wheat, (I like wheat anyway) and had oil and vinegar for dressing (I'm not sure if oil & vinegar is bad for you or not). I packed it with veggies. So first milestone, no more footlongs!

my before pics

you don't all have to do this, but I wanted to post my before pics. I wanted to delete them because they're so awful, but I have to face them. They are not "just a bad angle!" So here they are. Feel free to post yours if you want, at least take some so you can see the difference.

Ready, set...

I'm committed to losing the weight so I'm starting now to change my routine. Today I ran 35 minutes on the treadmill. That's not unusual for me, (sometimes I go through a long slump where I don't exercise at all though) but the part I struggle with is the food. If you all have any great tips on healthy eating, let me know! I hope you will all participate and post as you like! Send me your email addresses to CDSorensen25@yahoo.com and I will add you as an author on this blog. Also report your weight loss for the week to that email address. If you want to set a goal for weight loss over the first month, I will cut you out ANY vinyl sticker you want if you achieve your goal!!! Just send me your goals or post them on the blog!

I'm really excited about this, the more who participate the funner it will be!