My journey

I can’t believe it has been eight weeks! I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who supported me during my journey! It is incredible to see how far I have come in the last eight weeks. Where I was then and now the person I have become. To me this challenge was more than just “losing weight.” It was a time to take a serious look at myself and who I had become and realize I had the power to change.

Honestly when I first started, I didn’t know if I could do it. I wanted to do it. I thought I could possibly do it, I just had failed so many times before, and I didn’t want to fail again. More than weight loss, I wanted to feel strong, happy, and confident in who I was. I wanted to like myself.

I took it one day at a time, one meal at a time, one workout at a time. I started to believe in myself. I started to feel strong and confident in what I was doing. I realized I had the power to change. Every day I was faced with a decision. I could work towards my goals or I could let life just happen and see where I ended up. Each day I CHOSE to become healthier. It was HARD! And at times I wanted to give up. Especially when I was SO exhausted and my kids were all fighting, whining, and crying, or when I was discouraged because my weight had not changed, or when our extended family went out to eat at my favorite restaurant and I got something healthy to eat! Each day was a battle, but now I can say I am SO GRATEFUL I stuck to my goals and kept with it.

It was AWESOME to lose the weight, but for me the journey was about so much more. It has shown me that I CAN accomplish the goals I put my mind to. I AM strong. I CAN choose to be healthy and happy. I CAN take the time to take care of myself. This challenge has been a great stepping stone in my life to help me start becoming the person I have always wanted to become.

One of my favorite quotes is “We BECOME what we want to BE by consistently BEING what we want to BECOME each day,” (Elder Richard G. Scott). This challenge has proven to me that anything is possible! We CAN become who we CHOOSE to become. We just have to consistently work towards our goals and remember the great woman we are inside!!!!

People ask me how I lost the weight and what tools I use to help me make this journey. The principles I used were from a book called “Transformation” by Bill Phillips. It is similar to the “Body for Life” principles (same author) but the 18 steps in “Transformation” have really made the difference. I am actually only ½ way through my 18 week transformation, but I have applied the principles and have seen results. For me, CONSISTENCY was the key. There is a website that has been awesome too. It is an online community where others are also trying to lead healthy lives. It has been a really helpful tool as well. If you want to join, it is free. Look it up and check it out. It is transformation.com. If anyone decides to join, look me up! My user name is “Huckleberryforest.”

Thanks again for joining me in this journey. I wish you all the best of luck in achieving your goals in the future.

Angela Ames

AND THE WINNER IS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our Healthy Habits 2011 Challenge winner is the amazing ANGELA AMES from Enoch, UT.

Angela has demonstrated a lot of hard work, will power and perserverance. She lost an amazing 14.599 percent body weight for a total of 20 pounds.

Her prize was $700.00 and a bag of Cadbury mini eggs so she can now enjoy a free day. We had a great time showing up unexpectly this morning. Keep up the good work, Angela. You are amazing and a great example!

Congratulations to all of you and for trying hard and even if you didn't try so hard. We hope you will continue with this challenge to try to eat better and exercise more so that you can have a long, full, healthy and happy life ahead of you. I am posting the top ten and their pounds lost, percentage lost, and their place.

OUR AMAZING TOP TEN!!!!!!

Name Pounds Lost % Prize

1. Angela Ames 20 14.599 $700.00

2. Kesley Branham 15.5 11.071 $200.00

3. Abbey Hayden 21 10.995 $100.00

4. Kamari Jensen 30.5 10.627 $50.00

5. Elizabeth Bouche 20 10.417 $50.00

6. Rachael Brindley 13 9.559 $50.00

7. Lauren Nelson 20.5 9.284

8. Brittney Israelson 17 9.189

9. Ashley Gleave 19.5 9.070

10.Sam Taylor 18 9.045

LADIES, WE LOST A COMBINED TOTAL OF 492 POUNDS. YOU ARE ALL SO AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!

A BIG CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF YOU.

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.

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

Weight Loss For Week Four

This is our weight loss for week #4 65.6 lbs.

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!

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."

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

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.

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.

Honey Chicken Stir Fry - Cindee

This is a healthy meal I tried for dinner the other night and it was a hit with the rest of the fam. Hope you like it!

Ingredients
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 garlic clove, minced
3 teaspoons olive oil, divided
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 (16 ounce) package frozen broccoli stir-fry vegetable blend
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon cold water
Hot cooked rice

Directions
1. In a large nonstick skillet or wok, stir-fry chicken and garlic in 2 teaspoons oil. Add the honey, soy sauce, salt and pepper. Cook and stir until chicken is lightly browned and juices run clear. Remove and keep warm.
2. In the same pan, stir-fry the vegetables in remaining oil for 4-5 minutes or until heated through. Return chicken to the pan; mix well. Combine cornstarch and cold water until smooth; stir into chicken mixture. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1 minute or until thickened. Serve over rice.

Footnotes

Nutritional Analysis: One serving (1 cup stir-fry mixture; calculated without rice) equals 243 calories, 5 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 66 mg cholesterol, 470 mg sodium, 19 g carbohydrate, 3 g fiber, 28 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 3 lean meat, 3 vegetable.

Snack Ideas

So I don't know about the rest of you, but snaking is my nemesis! I stay home and want to eat all day long with my kids. Not good, not good. So I thought that I would share some of my favorite snacks and a website that had some good ideas.

-Laughing cow cheese, 35 calories per wedge with come Wheat thins or an apple. There are a couple of different flavors to choose from.

-Lite String cheese, 100 calories with a slice or two of lunch meat. I like to let my string cheese sit out for 10 minutes or so and then eat it. I don't know what it is but something about it being soft makes it even better.

-Jello Mousse Temptations, 50-60 calories. These are really good if you crave chocolate, like me, because they have a caramel flavor and a chocolate flavor. YUMMY!

-Great Value High Fiber Oats and Chocolate bars, 140 calories. I like these because they have LOTS of fiber, 9g and keeps you full longer.

-Quaker Rice cakes, 60 calories for 8 cakes. Light and Crispy and I love the Apple cinnamon!

-Any sort of Thin buns or bagels, about 100 calories. These are great for toast and sandwiches. I love to eat one slice with a little bit of peanut butter and a banana after I run. Totally hits the spot and yummy!

-Crystal Light or just the GV brand. We have used these forever and are a great way to have something yummy to drink without the guilt of using your calories on a drink.

Here is a GREAT article that has some good ideas for snacks also.

Then go to Hungry Girl to check out all kinds of other info that she has.

Hope this is of some help to some of you. I would LOVE to hear what some of your favorite snacks! Happy Snacking!

Melissa C.

Bean and Pasta Soup

Hey Everyone,

I tried this recipe from "Fab Up The Flab" yesterday. It was really yummy! I love it because it is chock full of veggies, but you still have a little pasta in there to look forward to. I had everything on hand (thank you bountiful baskets!). I did substitute the spinach for purple/white chard because that is what I had on hand and I added some summer squash and eggplant as well. I wasn't sure if my kids would like it, but my little boy ended up having two helpings, hooray! Hope you all enjoy!
Just click on the link below for the recipe!

~Mindee~

http://fabuptheflab.blogspot.com/2011/01/yummy-soup-for-dinner-tonight.html

Healthy :)

I don't know about everyone else, but the fact that the title of our blog says "HEATHY HABITS CHALLENGE" makes me crave chocolate! I wanted to take a few lines to blurb about how motivating this challenge has been for me and how I have gone from "HEATHY" to "HEALTHY." It adds a little shuffle to my step and vegetables to my diet. I, too, am focusing on moderation and am trusting the process. One of my colleagues at the elementary school has lost 16 pounds in the last two months. She constantly advises, "Trust the process."

Trusting the process means doing your part by eating less and being more active. She also says moderation is a vital component and that the scale can break you. It may read a certain weight for three days. On day four, you may be down 3 pounds. BAM! Once again, trust the process and BELIEVE!

According to Deepak Chopra, when we eat to 80% of our capacity, we feel invigorated and healthy. Keep up the great work ladies, and remember this quote by Epictetus: "No great thing is created suddenly. There must be time. Do your best!"

Ashlee L.