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THE PAIN OF DISCIPLINE OR THE PAIN OF REGRET, YOU CHOOSE!

Main Purpose of this blog!

This blog is for you! Our family and friends who need a little extra motivation when it comes to eating healthy and exercising. Most of you have seen the popular TV series The Biggest Loser and have noted the life changing events that have occured. We are going to do our own version of the biggest loser only we are calling it The Healthy Habits Challenge. If you are interested we are asking that you send 20 dollars to my cute mom Linda Brindley Chipman asap. The challenge will begin on Monday, January 10th, 2011 and goes for 8 weeks which means it will end Sunday, March 6th. The more who participate, the more money their will be in the pot. At 20 dollars each, it is going to add up fast, but all money aside we really want to use this blog as a place where we can post our progress and encourage each other with ideas of what we are doing to keep fit and healthy. Please refer to the "log in" information (on side bar) so you can post your ideas. Remember to read the rules carefully (on the side bar) as well as the Healthy Habits Contract (first post). Good Luck Everyone!

Monday, February 28, 2011

Week 7 Results

I have most of the figures in for the week. There has been 1 person who has not yet reported so I am using last weeks weight in these figures. If she reports to me a different weight, I will change these figures. For the eight week challenge we have lost a total of 441.4 pounds. Just a reminder, we need your FINAL WEIGHT by Midnight March 7, 2011 in order to qualify for prize money. No exceptions. We need your weight no later than Monday night. The winners will be posted next week along with the percentages lost. If you would like to figure your percentage, this is the formula. Take starting weight then subtract your weight now. Divide the starting weight into the total number of pounds lost. Then times by 100. This is your percent of weight lost. For instance: say your starting weight was 195 and your weight now is 180. 195 minus 180 equals 15 lbs. Divide 15 by 195 which equals .07692. Times this by 100 and your percentage is 7.692. If you would like me to figure your percentage for you for today's date, just email me westernpride@q.com

FINAL WEIGH IN MARCH 7TH BY MIDNIGHT

Hi Ladies, thank you to those who call or text or email their weight in on time (by midnight Monday's) Several of you did not report your weight last week. If you want to remain in the contest, I need weights for February 28th by tonight. Our next and final weigh in will be next Monday March 7th. WE HAVE TO HAVE YOUR WEIGHT ON MARCH 7TH BY MIDNIGHT IN ORDER TO BE FAIR TO ALL PARTICIPANTS. GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!
Thank you for your participation. Hopefully, we have been able to set some personal goals to help us be healthier and happier. It has been so fun receiving your nice emails. Thank you for your honesty and integrity.

Monday, February 21, 2011

It's All in the Attitude!

Hello Everyone,

I don't know about you, but I sure could use some motivation. It seems like the past two weeks have been difficult for me. I have slacked off a little in my food choices and I must admit there has been a day or two that I didn't exercise just because I didn't want too. But now, we are finding ourselves in the last two weeks of this competition and we can't afford to slack off. This is the time that we need to reevaluate our goals and put our best self forward so that we can finish this strong. I have a little note hanging on my wall above my treadmill. It says, "It's all in the Attitude!" This has been my source of motivation the past 6 weeks. It is all in our attitude. We can choose to be happy and do our best or we can choose to pout and just give up. I encourage all of you to be happy and do your best. Only two more weeks! Let's show ourselves what we are made of!

Robyne

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Food CHECK, Exercise NOT

Ok, for the first 4 weeks I have been working on getting my food in check. I have done really well. I have not gained, and I have lost a fair amount. AMAZING what a little calorie counting can do! :) I decided that the first 4 would be to get my food in order and the last 4 would be the exercise part. Tonight I did 40 min total. Hoping it will get easier and I will keep doing it! I am so EXCITED that we are on the tail end of the challenge!!!! Good luck everyone!

Top Twelve After 4 Weeks Healthy Habits

Here are the top 12 in no particular order Kamari Jensen, Tempe Jenkins, Teara Hodges, Hillary Gale, Tracy Smith, Ashlee Gleave, Angela Aimes, Cindee Backus, Sam Taylor, Kesley Branham, Abbey Hayden, Liz Boucher

To everyone else, PLEASE KEEP TRYING. This race is so close. We are talking thousanths of a percent. Just because you are not in the top twelve does not mean that you cannot pull ahead in the next four weeks. Keep it healty, keep it honest. No extremes here. Remember this is a healthy diet and exercise program. If we suspect that you are going about things in an unhealthy or extreme way, you will be disqualified. Thanks, Linda

Caloriecount.about.com --- WOW!

Hi everyone,
I just wanted to share a free online tool with you all which I discovered today. It is called caloriecount.about.com and it is free! You can enter your daily foods and your activity and it will calculate daily caloric intake and nutrition information. It has a whole mess of other neat things too which I haven't had time to look into but I love that it is free and that all I have to do is search for the foods I ate in the database and it does the rest. It was also a really user friendly site - easy. I have been journaling my foods, exercise, weight, inches etc... in a notebook and probably still will but I think this tool will be easy for me to sit down at the end of the day and find out just how many calories I'm consuming and burning. I even thought if it turns out to be a pain later on to do it every day I could import from my notebook weekly and find out my averages. I am excited about this as I lost two pounds right off the bat and then have been stuck at the same weight for three weeks now. This just made it easier for me to really evaluate how much I'm putting in my mouth each day. Bless you all in your healthful efforts!
-Shawnee

Last Minute Idea

A previous post said that the Top Ten post is only going to be posted for a certain amount of time. I'm afraid that I am going to miss this post and miss the information that I'm so looking forward to reading. I don't get to look at this blog every day and I'm sure that I am not the only one who has a busy schedule.

So here is my thought. Perhaps the top ten could be posted as a comment to a post. That way the people who want the top ten info can read it when they want and those that don't want to know the top ten info can skip the comment.

Just a thought. Take it for what it is worth.

Thanks for all you guys do!

Sunday, February 6, 2011

What did you eat for the Superbowl???

Sundee posting
Did you eat healthy or is it confession time???? It's confession time for me. My sister made a delicious chips and bean dip, little smokies, dipped strawberries, caramel brownies, little sandwiches, a vegetable tray and lime aid punch. We went and crashed her party. The food was yummy. Needless to say, I am dreading weigh in tomorrow morning. So what did you eat?

4TH WEEK WEIGHT IN

Tomorrow will be our 4th week weigh in and half way point. Just as soon as I get all of your numbers, I will post the top 10. Please weigh in first thing in the morning as this is usually your lightest weight. This is so fun. Everyone is trying hard and a few have slipped a little including me but lets get back up and KEEP TRYING. We still have four weeks to work hard. WE CAN DO THIS !!! I like the last two lines of the poem Invictus"I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul."

Thursday, February 3, 2011

DAY IN THE LIFE...

K I am not big into blogging....so I hope I do this right! I have been having great success with some of the things I am doing, so I just wanted to share a few ideas.

FOOD
Instead of eating 3 large meals, I try to eat 5-6 small meals. Each meal consists of a protein and a carbohydrate. Then for at least two of the meals I usually add a veggie. I try to keep the meals around 300 calories or less. The idea of these small meals comes from the book "Body for Life." They have a bunch of helpful info on the diet online, just google "Body for Life."

Typical Day:

Meal 1- Protein shake with one banana and 1/4 cup blueberries
Meal 2- Sliced turkey meat, 1 slice whole wheat bread, bit of light mayo, carrots
Meal 3- Sweet Potato, chicken breast
Meal 4 - Ligth yogurt, light string cheese
Meal 5 - Chicken, brown rice, veggies
Meal 6 - Healthy pop popcorn, or Golden Spoon Fat Free Frozen Yogurt (This is my end of the day treat if I make it all day eating clean) :o)


EXERCISE
I try to exercise first thing in the morning, which is sometimes impossible with kids!!! I do a High Intensity Interval Training (also from Body for Life) for 20-25 minutes. I give it all I got. I was just doing this everyday, but now I am strength training 2-3 days and then interval training 2-3 days. Sometimes I try to do a longer run on Saturdays. But know that I am NOT perfect! There are those days when I just can't seem to fit it in. I don't lose hope I just try to set the goal for the next day.

I take it one day at a time and celebrate my "wins" for that day. If I mess up, the next day will come and I get a chance to start new.

REWARDS
For me I like to reward myself at the end of the day or the end of the week if I have stuck to my plan. If I need a treat at the end of the day, I look for something healthier but still yummy. My favorite is GOLDEN SPOON fat free frozen yogurt. Did you know there is only 100 calories in 4 ounces! That means you could eat a mini all to yourself and not feel guilty! If there is no Golden Spoon around, my other favorites are: Healthy pop kettle corn popcorn (you can eat the whole bag to yourself and it is only 245 calories), sugar free pudding (about 70 calories), a bowl of Kashi cereal with almond milk (200 calories). If I am going to reward myself at the end of the day, I always use it as one of my meals.

Another reward I have used is a "Free Day" which has been already talked about in a post. Or a "free meal." I can eat whatever I want and feel VERY full. Then the next day I get back to work and eat clean again for six days in a row.

I hope these ideas help! Especially the yummy GOLDEN SPOON idea. (Can you tell it is my favorite!?!) I think everyone is doing great! Keep up the good work! We CAN do this!

Angela Ames

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Half way results to be posted next Tuesday!

Just want you all to know that we are going to reveal the top 10 biggest losers on the blog next Tuesday. Make this week count. Also we just want to make sure that everyone is going about this in a healthy way. If we suspect that any are being dishonest or taking extreme or unfair measure to loose weight, they will be disqualified!

The results will only be posted for a short amount of time.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

I need your input!!!!

Sundee posting
OK, I have had a few people say they want to know who is winning so far. I have also had a lot of people say they don't want to know because they don't want to loose motivation if they aren't winning. So everyone please leave a comment and let me hear your thoughts. You can also inbox me on facebook and pleade your case. Let's talk about it:)

My mom (Linda) is keeping a weekly record of everyones pounds lost. She has not yet calculated percentages.