Leslie Sansone DVD Giveaway.

There is a cool giveaway going on at Diaries of a Fat Girl.  It’s for a Leslie Sansone Walk at Home DVD/food guide package.  Check it out here.

CDCC update

Since my Sunday post was so short I thought I would add some more here for the middle of the week update.  I still don’t have a power cord for my home computer so I have to do this blog post during my break at work.  Anyway,  I haven’t been that great at logging my food on My Fitness Pal.  However, I have been trying to eat better.  There is still room for improvement especially in portion size.  My water intake has been so-so.  I don’t know how some of you drink the amounts you do in one day.  It’s like I need an IV drip to get that much water in.  I’m working on it though.

I'm still doing my 5k in 100 days for my exercise.  It's going well, but I hope to add in some more on the off days.

I have been reading the book called 100 Days of Weight Loss and it’s going well.  A few highlights would be:

Day 2: Interested or Committed?  Are you just interested in losing weight or are you committed.  If you are just interested you can be easily distracted and depend on the scale to move lower all the time.  If you are committed you will do things “no matter what”.  Keep your motivation strong even when you aren’t seeing the results right away.

Day6: Protect Your Program.  If you are going to go out to eat at someone’s house or a gathering and someone asks if you want to eat a non plan food you can respond with “Not just yet; I’m going to wait a little while”.  By saying this to the person they think you will eat later and they will probably never notice you didn’t eat.  Don’t let others force you into eating something you know isn’t part of your plan.

Day 12: Fuel or Filler.  Write down the things you eat and then at the end of the day ask yourself was that food fuel for your body or just a filler.  A filler is a food that tends to add extra calories but provide minimal nutrients.  Try to make sure you are eating foods that fuel your body.

That’s all I have time for.  I hope you all are doing great this week.  If you are struggling reach out to those around you or to your bloggy friends. 

Shrinkvivor Week One, Initial weigh in

Hello all, Today is the start of Shrinkvivor.  I am part of team: 

My team mates are:

Mindy H, @mindyh74

Michelle P, @M_MPilcher

Sara R, @lifesawheeze

Jaemie G, @jaemie

Marla S, @castingon

Beth S, @Sahutske

I’m really looking forward to kicking some butt with these ladies.  I hope we are all ready for the challenge and ready to put the work in to achieve our goals.  With that being said, my official weigh in is:

This week our challenge is to log our exercise minutes.  The team with the most minutes will win immunity.  I’m going to have to step up my exercise. I get three days a week in now, but I’ll have to add some more.

CDCC update

This if going to be short. My computers power supply isn't working so I dont have a computer at home to use right now. Doing this on my phone.
My weigh in this week is 233.8. Down .2 pounds.  It was lower during the week then higher soI'm not suprised.
Food needs to be better. Book and exercise going good.

Skrinkvivor Tribes Announced

The Shrinkvivor tribes have been announced and I am on the Lilac tribe!  It starts with the first weigh in on Wed, September 28^th.  Like I said before I really don’t know that much about what we will be doing but upinthecosmos.blogspot.com did a good post summing it up so I’m going to use most of her words now.

I know that there will be weekly fitness related challenges that we will need to complete to try to win immunity for our teams.  The challenges will be announced on Thursdays and then we have until the next Wednesday to complete them and report back with our weight for the week.

There were 144 people that wanted to participate this year so there are 20 teams.  Each week there is a losing tribe that has to vote off a member, or if they don’t want to vote, the one with the lowest percentage of weight lost goes and that person is put on Exile Island.  So, they aren’t out of the challenge but they will not be the ultimate Shrinkvivior and win some great prizes (and weight).  The Exile Islanders still have a chance of winning some prizes and the ultimate gift of shedding more pounds if they stick with it so they aren’t out by any means.

I think doing this challenge along with the CDCC one will just give me the extra push since there will be exercise challenges each week.  I hope my teammates are ready for the challenge and will give it their all.  I think last year the Shrinkvivor grand prize package was worth $1000.  Crazy right? 

Have a great weekend everyone and I’ll be back on Sunday with my CDCC weekly weigh in post.

Workouts and Races

I’ve been really tired lately.  Yesterday my alarm went off at 5:05am so I could get up and do W11.1 for 5k in 100 days (run/walk) before work.  I turned off my alarm and next time I looked at my watch it was 5:22am.  For the next 10 minutes I contemplated not getting up and just sleeping in.  I played all the scenarios over in my head about how I could do it today instead and then my next one could be on Thursday night after work, etc.  Somehow I managed to convince myself to get up and just do it.  I left the house later than I should have because of this and got in 4 of my scheduled 5 intervals before I ran out of time.  I’m happy with that considering I was tired after the 4 intervals anyway.  After I did the workout I was glad I didn’t just sleep in.  Tomorrow I’ll get up early again to do W11.2.  I hope I don’t have as much trouble getting up tomorrow.

Yesterday was also my brother’s birthday so we all went to a steak house for dinner.  I ate pretty well there by ordering the chicken and steamed veggies, but I did partake in a little too much bread and a few bites of his birthday dessert.  My eating has been pretty good lately, but there is some room for improvement.

So my 5k in 100 days program ends on October 19^th if I continue as the schedule shows, so last week my husband and I signed up for a 5k and a 10k.  I will do the 5k and he will do the 10k.  This 5k takes place on 11/6 and it fits in well with the 5k in 100 days end.  It even gives me a little more time if I decide to drag out these last few weeks if I feel I can’t keep upping my interval time.  However, today I signed up for the Run the Hood Virtual 5k/10k that shrinkingjeans.net is hosting.  When I saw the word virtual in the title I thought…huh? That is weird.  But when you sign up you will be sent a race t-shirt and when you finish and report your time you will receive a medal.  Who doesn’t want some race bling?  I think the biggest only reason I signed up was for the medal.  I can do a 5k any day of the week, but add a medal to the mix and you have reeled me in.  hahaha  If you want to participate you have to sign up my tomorrow 9/22/11.  The race is on 10/22/11 and I hope to do it in under 45 minutes.  That is the goal I have set for myself as of right now when I haven’t completed my 5k in 100 days program. 

Does anyone have any races set up in the near future?

Craft Giveaway

There is a cool giveaway over at 24nomore.com.  Go check it out here.

Camping Recap

I had a lovely weekend camping.  We brought a tent to sleep in, but the first night (Friday) we got there too late to set it up so we slept in my parents 5^th wheel.  My two kids were on the table bed and I was on the sofa bed.  Sleep was awful that night due to my daughter falling off the bed in the 5^th wheel twice.  The first time wasn’t a big deal, but the second time caused her to cry and then she was awake for at least 2 hours, probably longer.  I felt so bad because I knew my daughter was keeping my parents awake as well as myself.  She is only 16 months and after the second fall she came to sleep with me on the sofa bed. 

Saturday we had a nice breakfast and then walked around the camp.  There was a craft bazaar and a classic car show.  The kids played at the park for a little bit until my 3 year old son got bit by a bee.  The stinger was still sticking out of his ear.  The poor guy was a trooper though.  He didn’t cry that much, but he was pretty clingy for awhile.  We had lunch and then just hung out for awhile.  My husband got off work and showed up about 1:30pm.  He took a nap with the kids and I had some me time reading a book.

We all hung out for the evening, ate dinner and played a couple games.  This time we slept in the tent and sleep was much better besides the oh so inconsiderate girls sleeping in a cabin on the hill above our camp site.  They were making noise on and off until after midnight.  UGH…some people are so clueless to other people.

On Sunday morning we ate breakfast and my husband and I went for my walk/run workout 3 of the week. (W10.3 of 5k in 100 days) I’m really glad he was with me because I really would have cut my intervals short had he not been with me.  This workout involved a 10 min. fast walk and then 4 intervals of 7 minutes each.  I really had to push myself.  Even though it wasn’t much of a workout for my husband, he jogged beside me and encouraged me several times.  He didn’t even break a sweat.  I was just really proud of myself for doing my workout while camping.

The rest of the day was pretty mellow, lunch, nap, kids bingo, clean up, and go home.  As soon as I got things situated at home the kids got a much needed bath.  Unfortunately, the pictures we took while there were on my mom’s camera.  But, I’ll leave you with a few I took on my IPod before we left.  The kids decided to play in the dirt while my dad emptied the trailer water.  This is what they looked like before we left the campground.



Look at that face and shirt



You can see the dirt on her leg too





Look at her skirt caked with dirt, she's a mess!



Dirty but having a good time!



Shrinkvivor

I forgot to mention in my last post that I am going to join another challenge called Shrinkvivior being put on by Shrinkingjeans.net.  I found it on another blog yesterday and it sounded fun.  I thought since I was already doing the CDCC challenge I might as well do another one.  It will help push me to do what I need to do to lose the weight and to make sure I get in my exercise.  You  need to sign up by 9/21 if you want to participate. It's a 7 week challenge from 9/28 to 11/16.  Check it out here if you are curious. 

CDCC update

I will be going camping this weekend so I am going to go ahead and post this today so all I have to do on Sunday is link up.  I don’t want to forget and then be out of the challenge.  I did 2 of my 3 scheduled workouts for the week. The third one will be on Sunday while I am camping.  How dedicated am I?! hehe 

My eating and drinking have been great this week.  I finally started reading my challenge book.  I have gotten caught up on the last 6 days in the book and I’m feeling motivated.  My mother is buying the food for our campout, but I told her we are trying to eat healthier and to not bother buying any cookies and such for us.  Camping is notorious for unhealthy snacks.  I am bringing carrots, celery, and nuts for snacking.

And last, but not least I lost 1.8 pounds this week! 

Last week 235.8

This week 234

I hope you all have a great weekend and I’ll be back on Sunday to link up.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, I didn't win the Calphalon giveaway.  :-(

Last Chance

It’s early still and I don’t have anything great to say today, but I just had to get in one more Calphalon giveaway notice.  I actually managed to blog about it every day of the timeframe so that ups my odds quite a bit when it comes time to pick a winner.  Hehe  Have a great day everyone.  To my fellow CDCC people I wish you a day of good choices.

Another Early Morning Workout

When my alarm went off this morning all I wanted to do was continue sleeping.  But, its workout day and I knew I had to get up and just go.  So I did!  I did workout 10.1 today.  I had to do (5) 6 minute intervals.  I was struggling during interval 4 and didn’t know if I was even going to do #5, but I just kept telling myself it’s only one more interval.  You are almost done.  You can’t wimp out now.  Somehow I pushed through and completed it.  It was my first time doing 6 minutes and I have to admit it was a long 6 minutes.   I know the time is just going to get longer and longer, but I’m not sure I’m up for it yet.  I still have so much extra weight to carry around and my poor legs get so tired. My lower back also starts hurting towards the end of my workout.  I’m not giving up, but I just might take longer than the 14 weeks to complete this program.  I’m already in week 10 and I know that in week 14 we are to run 17 minutes.  WOW…17 minutes.  That seems like an eternity to me right now.  I’ll just keep pushing along and see what happens.

In other news, my book for the CDCC challenge arrived yesterday.  I will start reading it tonight.  I did good with my water and food yesterday as well.

Only two more days to enter the Calphalon giveaway at All the Weigh.

Friend Making Mondays

If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links there too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

FMM: All About Me

1. What are your talents? I try to be a good listener.

2. What is your best habit? I have a habit of eating. Hahaha, I don’t know what I would consider my best habit. 

3. If you had to be stuck with someone in an elevator for 8 hours, who would you want it to be? My hubby, but without the kids.,..otherwise it would be stressful trying to keep them entertained.

4. Share one odd fact about you that we’d never know to ask.   I was in band in middle school and played the bass clarinet.

5. What’s your latest project (work, home, whatever you care to share?)  getting healthy and more active.

6. If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be? I would shrink my huge thighs down and also my bat wings. Ugh.

7. What do you do in your spare time? Play with the kids, watch tv, read blogs.

8. What is your biggest pet peeve? Inconsiderate people.  Those people who are oblivious to anyone but them self.

9. Why do you blog?  It helps keep me accountable to my getting healthy journey.  I think it is also a good diary of my life to look back on.

10. Are you tidy or messy? A little bit of both.  I can’t stand it being too messy, but I do have to admit that the house isn’t as tidy as it could be.  It’s too hard with little ones.  15 minutes after you do something it’s already a mess again.

11. What’s the last song that played on your iPod? Umm, my IPod was on shuffle during my run/walk yesterday so it says: It Was a Very Good Year by Frank Sinatra

12. Do you cook?  If so, what’s for dinner tonight? I do cook, but I don’t have any clue what we will eat tonight.  I’m hoping my husband will be home before me and start something. haha

13. Do you like sports?  If so, list your teams. I occasionally like to watch sports.  I’m not a big fan, but I’ll watch.  No special teams for me, but my husband likes the Lakers.

14. How often do you read and/or watch the news? I check out MSN online during the week, but tend to stay away from the news, it’s so depressing.

15. Did you stick to your new Year’s resolution this year?  I didn’t make one, but in the back of my mind is always taking control of my weight, which I’m trying to do.

16. What are you looking forward to most in the remainder of 2011?  Losing more weight and getting healthier.

17. Shoes, sunglasses or handbags?  None.  I’m not a fashionista.

18. How do you feel about sleeping on satin sheets?  I have no feelings about sleeping on satin sheets.  I don’t believe I ever have but I would think they would be slippery. haha

19. Do you sing in the shower? No

20. Describe yourself in one word. caring 

Now it’s your turn to answer the questions!  Don’t forget to link up at alltheweigh.com in the comments!  Try commenting on a few blogs that you haven’t visited before, and enjoy your Monday!  **And don’t forget to enter the giveaway for your chance to win a 10-piece set of cookware from Calphalon!**

Harvest Crusade at Dodger Stadium

We went to the fashion district in Los Angeles yesterday afternoon and did a little shopping and then we went to the Harvest Crusade led by Greg Laurie (www.harvest.org) It was at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.  It didn't start until 6pm, but we got there just before 5pm to get seats and stuff.  We had never been to one and thought that would be early enough.  We were so wrong.We got there and the stage was set up in a ring around the bases.

All the seats where you could see the stage we already taken on the main level so we decided to try to go upstairs.  BIG MISTAKE.  We were literally stuck in the stairwell for a good ten minutes just trying to get up to the top.  It was so hot in the stairwells. We each had a kid on our hip and I thought I was going to sweat to death in there.  We never made it to the top.  We got fed up and went back down and just sat on the side.  The picture above is from our seats.  It wasn't so bad because there was a jumbo screen to see the action in the front.  We could also see the crowd this way which was kinda cool.  The stadium was pretty full.

There was good music and a good message.  The kids were pretty good through out.  Here are a couple pics of them.

Little Lady....I love my daddy.

Little Man...you can't see me. Don't take my picture.

At the end of the speech by Greg Laurie he gave the invitation for people to come down to the field to receive Christ or to renew commitments.  Well this is what happen in the next 20 or more minutes.

The Fire Marshall actually closed the field for more people to come down.  Pretty crazy.  I'm sure a lot of those people where friends or family of people who wanted to commit, but it was still pretty cool.  We left before the very end because we wanted to get out to the car and out of the parking lot before the masses ensued.  I think it was a pretty good decision.  It was a breeze leaving the parking lot.Overall a great time.

Another shameless plug for the Calphalon giveaway at alltheweigh.com.

Christmas Dress Countdown Challenge 2011 (CDCC)

Today is the start of the Christmas Dress Countdown Challenge 2011.  This challenge will be running for 14 weeks from September 11 through December 18^th.  The goal of the challenge is to lose a dress size by the end of the 14 weeks.

My starting weight is 235.8.

I don’t really go anywhere to warrant a special Christmas dress so instead I have opted to find something in my closet that currently does not fit properly and make it look better on me.  I don’t know the size of this skirt because it doesn’t have a tag.  GRRR.  I was able to shove myself into the skirt to take this picture.

As you can see it does NOT fit well and I would not be wearing it anywhere right now.  My waist looks like a plump sausage in this outfit.  I managed to close the side zipper to take the picture, but I would not sit down for fear of breaking said zipper.  So my goal is to fit into this skirt much better and to be able to sit down in it without fear of ripping anything.  I would also like to reduce the belly so there isn’t a big roll there either.

The book I have chosen is called 100 Days of Weight Loss: The Secret to Being Successful on Any Diet Plan by Linda Spangle.  There are 100 daily reading/thinking activities to make you think about why you do things.  It is the perfect book since this challenge is 99 days.  Each day I will have something to do to work on myself.

It seems like 100 days is my magic number.  I have been working on 5k in 100 Days by Brad Gansberg and now this challenge is just shy of 100 days and the book has 100 days in its title.  It must be the perfect length of time to accomplish things.

Anyway, back to the challenge. 

I have set my caloric level at 1520 which is what My Fitness Pal suggests based on my weight and losing 1.5 pounds a week.  We will start there and see how it goes.  I also want to aim for at least 8 glasses of water a day, but hopefully more like 10 glasses a day.  I find that drinking enough water is hard for me.  I will be using My Fitness Pal to track the calories.

My exercise in the beginning will be a continuation of my 5k in 100 days program which will take me to the middle of October.  Then I may continue my runs with alternating some other form of exercise like bike, workout video etc.

So there you have it; my plan to get me through this challenge and into a smaller size.  I look forward to seeing how the other people do with this challenge.

P.s If you haven't already check out the Calphalon giveaway. Sorry to keep posting this, but I really want to win so I will continue to do so until 9/14.  hehe

Friday

Woo Hoo, the weekend is here.  Well not really yet, since I still have to finish out the work day, but you know what I mean.  Tomorrow I'm going to go meet my husband in Los Angeles when he gets off work and we are going to do some shopping in the fashion district.  Then we are going to the Harvest Crusade with Pastor Greg Laurie at Dodger Stadium.  It's the first time the Harvest Crusade has been to Dodger Stadium.  I have never been to the one at Angels Stadium either.  The timing of this one just works out this time.  It should be fun. 

I'll be back tomorrow for my initial Christmas Dress Countdown Challenge post.

Oh, and don't forget about the Calphalon giveway at All the Weigh.

Workout 9.2 and a Challenge

I did my Fartlek workout today.  I couldn’t remember what the time frame was for this workout since I watched the video a couple of days ago, but I started out with a 20 minute fast walk.  Then:

a 5 minute my regular pace run (I wanted to set myself up for workout 3 of this week)

walked

2 minute faster pace run

walked

1 minute 30 seconds run with a small portion of that running as fast as I could (I felt like I was going to keel over after the fast running)

walked

4 minute regular pace run

walked some more.   I took a shorter route today and that is what fit into getting me back home.  There were a lot of people out and about this morning so I felt a little insecure doing weird Fartlek stuff. Haha

I will be starting a challenge on Sunday called Christmas Dress Countdown Challenge 2011.  It will run from Sept. 11- Dec. 18^th.  You can check it out here. I’m looking forward to setting my “weight wagon” off down the hill.

Calphalon Giveway

Kenlie at All The Weigh is having an awesome giveaway for some Calphalon cookware.  Go check it out here.

Weigh in Wednesday

So today is weigh day.  Drum roll please….I lost 1.8 pounds!

Starting weight: 242.8

Last weight: 237.8

Today’s weight: 236

It’s been two weeks since I had a weigh in and I know my weight has been fluctuating during that time.  I really like to look at the scale after I have been out on my run/walks and sweated out some water weight.  Those numbers are lower. Hehe  But this was from this morning and there was no exercise done before it.  I’m a little afraid it will be higher in the next couple of days due to Holiday eating on Monday, but it’s okay. I’m jumping back on the wagon now and hopefully the wagon will be going downhill.  :-)

Today I did workout 9.1 for 5k in 100 days.  I am past the half way point of this program and feeling good.  Today I did 5 intervals of 4 minutes each.  My next workout will be 5 intervals of 5 minutes each.  I will also do a Fartlek workout for my third workout of the week.  It will be interesting to see how long I can run or how fast with no time constraints placed on me.  The mornings are getting darker and darker as the days go by. I find it incredibly hard to get out of the house when there is still some darkness outside.  I’m going to have to get over this, but my mind just thinks I should be asleep still. Haha  But, one benefit of getting up so early is being able to catch a picture of the sunrise. 

The sun was hiding behind the cloud as I was finishing up my run and then it showed itself and lit up the sky so I could take this picture of me after the workout.  This picture is literally 5 minutes after the picture above.  Weird how bright it is on me.

Friend Making Monday

If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links there too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

FMM:  Favorite Things

1) What is your favorite food?  I don't know that I have a "favorite" food.  I like food in general.  I would probably say my favorite type of food is Italian.
2) What is your favorite childhood memory? I am really bad at remembering things in my childhood.  None of it was bad, I just have a poor memory.  I really loved going to our family reunion every two years in New Mexico.  We still go and I enjoy it just as much.
3) What is your favorite way to burn calories?  Well I guess it would be the learning to run that I'm doing.  I was really bad about doing any exercise until I started the 5k in 100 days program.  Now I'm getting out there 3 times a week and feeling good about it.
4) What is your favorite mode of technological communication? Phone,  I do really like Skype as well.  My in-laws live in Thailand and so it's nice for them to see the kids using Skype.
5) Who is your favorite actor/actress? I just recently took and interest in Emma Stone movies.  She is super funny and sarcastic, but it works.  My husband met her recently on the train.
6) What is your favorite lip color? I don't usually use lipstick.  I'm an au natural kind of girl.  If I do use it, then it would be a natural type color.
7) Who is your favorite athlete? I don't have one. I'm not so deep in sports to have certain participants as a favorite.
8) What is your favorite TV network? I like the CW.  
9) Who is your favorite historical figure? History is my worst subject.  :-)  There are lots of great people who have contributed to society.
10) What is your favorite site on the web? Hmmm, my email, haha.  Lots of great bloggers I have found recently, including Kenlie at All the Weigh.

Now it’s your turn to answer!  Don’t forget to link up at www.alltheweigh.com!

So-So

So I haven’t posted in a few days.  I have been a little under the weather with a cold and just haven’t felt like posting.  I have only done one of the two workouts scheduled for 5k in 100 days, but luckily it’s the recovery week and they are shortened anyway.  I will get the other one in probably Sunday if my cold feels better.

My eating this week has been okay.  Not great, but not horrible…as usual.  I think this cold has aided in that.  I do feel a little lazy since I am behind on my run.  It’s amazing what missing a workout does to motivation.  I’m not losing my motivation, but it’s been a little delayed with the cold. 

It’s a three day weekend due to Labor day on Monday so I’m looking forward to an extra day off and some family time on Monday.  We are going to my mom’s house for a BBQ on Monday.  Most of the family is supposed to be there this time which is nice because the last few get togethers not everyone came.  I’ll do my best to make smarter meal choices and not go overboard on Monday.  I hope you all have a great weekend.  Any big plans?