A Great Day!

Just a quick journal post to say that it was a great day! What a wonderful surprise this morning to get up and see the scale register back to 139. Last week I was at 141 and have been working towards getting back into the 130's. Success! The extra exercise and healthier eating is starting to pay off.

I have been able to get a few walks in this past week, and today I made it to the gym for a workout. My goal is to go to the gym twice a week, but for now if i can just get there once it will be an improvement. It is about a 30 min. drive, so i usually combine the trip with errands in order to conserve gas.

One thing that has been going well for me this first week is to drink 2 Qts. of water a day, and make sure that i have at least one piece of fruit. I am trying to think about what i need to add, instead of dwelling on what i should stop eating.

A treadmill in the basement

We got to the home where we are staying for this 3 day conference late last night and the hosts were showing us around the home. After getting the family settled into their rooms I came out and asked the hosts if they would mind if I used their wifi connection to check my mail on my ipod. We had to go down into the basement where the router was to find the password to get online and I passed by a big treadmill! I asked our hostess if I would be able to use it and fully intended to get a workout in if we went back to the house during our free time this afternoon but we ended up just staying at the church all day. I am still hoping that perhaps if we get home at a reasonable hour tonight I may go down in the basement and get a workout in for the first time this week. Now if I were really dedicated I would set my alarm bright and early and get another good workout in tomorrow morning. We got up between 6:30 and 7:00 this morning as it is so I would probably have to get up at 5:30 or 6:00 AM. If you know me, you know that is a REALLY BIG DEAL. I'll let you know if I do it tomorrow.... after I break out the smelling salts and revive my husband who will probably faint dead away if I am up before him.

The Furlough Fifteen

Remember at college how they would talk about the "Freshman 15" : those pesky pounds the freshman would put on due to the junk food and the extra food intake from the cafeteria and/or the dorm room snacking? Well we have spent the last few days at Maranatha Baptist Bible College so that my son could check out the college (he's just a couple years away from graduating from high school). We ate a couple of meals in the cafeteria and I have to say it would be very easy to put on 15 lbs at that school. The cafeteria is fantastic! There are so many choices at every meal! I did put a large portion of salad from the salad bar on my plate at lunch and only a very small drizzle of salad dressing. I also left off a lot of the options, mainly because I don't like a lot of funky stuff in my salad. I left off the bacon bits too just because I knew I didn't need the empty calories and fat. I did go through the stir fry section of the line where you could tell the cook the ingredients you wanted in your stir fry and which kind of sauce you wanted and which kind of rice. I chose chicken, green peppers, broccoli and onions with soy sauce over brown rice. There were 4 other food lines -- pizza, rotisserie chicken, subs, taco/nachos and I don't know what else. Amazing. I am glad we had other plans and didn't go back for dinner because it was difficult being self controlled. I do feel like I stayed away from the worst of the choices -- the highest in carbs, for example.

We are having breakfast there Monday with a professor .... and I will try to be careful to make good decisions. Probably will pass up the belgian waffle maker and get an omelette instead. I also find that when I can "eat all I want" that I overdo it with things like juice. I drank 2 large glasses of OJ the other day without even thinking about it. Monday I will have water or some hot tea and either leave off the juice or just have 4 oz. We will probably take advantage of the chance to skip a meal while travelling and just eat well for breakfast and then skip lunch. We are on our way to a 3 day conference where we will be staying with church people and probably have our meals scheduled at different homes. Those days are especially hard since I have so little control over my food or my schedule. The following week I will be travelling but it is going to be a girls' getaway with my youngest sister in law to go to Dallas and visit my husband's older sister. The SIL I am travelling with is also trying to be active and healthy so she and I are already planning how we can workout together while the other SIL is at work. We'll see how successful we are. Still hoping to get rid of some of the "furlough 15" before Christmas.

Just little ol' Me

I'm sorry that I've not been able to keep up lately.  Life has sure taken off  here and it seems that exercise and good eating habits have been the last thing on the agenda. (not on purpose)  It's hard when you don't see the scale budge when you ARE trying.  So it's like why try.  Deep down though, I don't want to give up because I know I can do it.  Please pray that God will help me these last 4 weeks.

What type of exercise have I been getting for the summer

Swimming is the answer. It is really hot here in Tucson right now. I decided that this pool would be a great way to beat the heat and get my exercise in too. It's also a nice way to spend time with Trevor. We are really enjoying it. It doesn't look like much but it's enough.

Pushing the styrofoam noodles in the water is excellent resistance training for the shoulders and arms. Swimming in circles is great for the back and abs. Kicking my legs in the water is great resistance training for the leg muscles. Swimming underwater makes for great exercise for the whole entire body. After about an hour or so in the water, I really feel it. I just don't know how many calories I'm burning since my heart monitor doesn't work in water.

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer.

Charlie

My final spring journal

Here is a picture of Trevor and I on Easter Sunday. So that will be my final picture. Although I haven't lost a tremendous amount of weight. I gained alot more muscle and strength, which probably has accounted for why the scale wasn't showing alot of change. I get compliments from people that know me and they all have noticed a big difference. These are all the pros.

Now for the cons, my wardrobe has shrunk because I need new clothes to properly fit into them. I'm beginning to look like a rag bag. hahaha!!!

With the Lord's help we will all be able to maintain this lifestlye.

Thank you everyone for motiviating me all the way.

Charlie

And Our Winners are......

All of you!!!

You all are more than conquerors through Christ! 

1st - overall points -Made to Crave book (or $15 gift certificate)

Alice Dysert 

- with a total of 603 points - 

68 hours of exercise,

 5 pounds lost, 

 7.3 inches lost. 

Charlie Crawford 

83 hours of exercise! 

 I will be giving her the Made to Crave Book as well, for all her hard work in helping moderate the blog! 

Thank you, Charlie! I couldn´t have done it without you.

2nd- overall weight lost - $10 gift certificate

Elena

with a total of 567 points

22 inches (57 cm)

5 pounds lost ( 2.3 kilos)

3rd- overall inches lost - $10 gift certificate

Sarah De

with a total of 512 points, 

11 pounds lost, 

 18 inches!

I am still waiting to hear from our junior members. 

Great job, ladies! I wish I could give everyone of you a special gift for all your hard work! Actually, I plan to make a cook book from all of our recipies. It will be in PDF. It will take me some time to figure it out, but that´s the plan. That´s your certificate for finishing the challenge! 

Please keep writing on the blog and keep in touch. 

On the Fitness Journey for life with you,

Dani Joy

Dani´s last Springy Journal

Hey there, ladies, we made it! 

You all did an awesome job! Way to keep with it and be consistant. Here I am with Sharla G.

She came up to visit her husband´s family, and they came to our church! It was so great to see her after almost 8 years. She hasn´t changed! She keeps exercising and eating well to not gain and to stay healthy. She is an inspiration. Thank you, Sharla, for coming to see us and for being such a great testimony in the area of taking care of ourselves. 

 Next, I got to see Maribel. She never ceases to amaze me! 

She too, eats healthy and keeps exercising. I have known her for over 11 years and she hasn´t changed! 

I think she might be a little more daring and crazy though since she has met me. ( or maybe she has always been that way too. jeje) We seem to have this affect on each other. We even did Jillian Michael´s Burpies in the cafeteria! Go, Maribel! 

Ok, so our pet Reese the guinnea pig wasn´t in on our challenge, but she too does some great exercise and eats a very healthy diet of fruits and veggies. 

Here I am after the challenge.

 I lost a few, gained a few. I really wanted to do a bit better but, without you all I would definately not be as encouraged to keep maintaining my weight and fitness journey. 

I lost several inches and a few pounds in total. Ok.. I didn´t do a final measure because, we were not home. But, I know I lost. ;) 

 I played a lot of basketball and football with the guys. It kind of reminded me of the olden days when I was a little girl playing with the neighborhood boys.

I had an idea about the next challenge. I thought, why not just keep right on without a break? 

I thought we could just put all the tickers to 0, Go back to the original points and keep right on. 

What do you all think?

Only those who have been on this challenge can go on to the next one,  an exclusive 

Summer Workout Series.

Any ideas?

Dani Joy

Final post

Well, you could say I did not finish the best way possible, having vacation time these final days, but I enjoyed being part of this challenge. I will rethink strategies and join you for the next one. I have been working out in different ways and plan to do the 30-day shred beginning next week.

Congratulations to everyone who got this far and who lost something on the way. Keep it off.

My final measurements are:

Weight: 57.2

Bust: 95 cm

Chest: 77 cm

Waist: 71 cm

Hips: 96 cm

Right Thigh: 53 cm

Left Thigh: 54 cm

Right Arm: 26.5 cm

Left Arm: 27 cm

cms lost: 3

Maribel

Well, ladies, we have finally come to the end of another fitness challenge. I always enjoy being a part of these because it is just the extra motivation I need to really push and see results in my fitness journey. I didn't lose as much weight as I had hoped this challenge - only 3 lbs. - but am glad for all the hours of excercise I did and hopefully some muscle built that resulted in less weight loss on the scale but more good long run. I did also lose a few inches here and there, which of course is always positive! I am not very good at posting - I find it hard enough to keep up with three preschoolers and get my excercise in and good cooking done. :) But I have enjoyed reading most of the other posts and seeing how others have done over the last few weeks. I don't have any pictures of me excercising, but here is a picture that was taken last month of our family looking over the city where we now live. May you all have a wonderful summer and keep up the good habits we have been establishing the last few weeks!

ACABE MI CARRERA CON GOZO

Hola !!!

Doy gracias a Dios por haber podido trabajar una temporada más con vosotras, ha sido de gran ánimo y de desafió, y a veces de sufrimiento jejeje. Realmente no he bajado mucho solo dos kilos pero me encuentro mucho mejor.

Este viaje ha sido muy divertido porque lo pude hacer con mi amiga Elena. Teníamos un tiempo de devocional y oración, y luego de gimnasia, realmente ha sido gratificante

Doy gracias a todas por vuestros testimonios. Otra vez Daniela gracias por invertir tanto tiempo para que nuestras ilusiones se hagan realidad.

"Pero de ninguna cosa hago caso, ni estimo preciosa mi vida para mí mismo, con tal que acabe mi carrera con gozo, y el ministerio que recibí del Señor Jesús, para dar testimonio del evangelio de la gracia de Dios" Hechos 20:24

Hasta el proximo desafio. BENDICIONES

MI FOTO FINAL

Hola! Hermanas solo queria compartir mi foto. Me la he echo hoy.
Y también escribiros unos versiculos que debemos de aprenderlos y aplicarlos a nuestras vidas.

"1 Por tanto, nosotros también, teniendo en derredor nuestro tan grande nube de testigos, despojémonos de todo peso y del pecado que nos asedia, y corramos con paciencia la carrera que tenemos por delante,
2 puestos los ojos en Jesús, el autor y consumador de la fe, el cual por el gozo puesto delante de él sufrió la cruz, menospreciando el oprobio, y se sentó a la diestra del trono de Dios.

3 Considerad a aquel que sufrió tal contradicción de pecadores contra sí mismo, para que vuestro ánimo no se canse hasta desmayar." Hebreos 12:1-3


No hemos acabado la carrera debemos de seguir corriendo para no ir marcha a tras y pensemos en el señor Jesús que no paró hasta llegar a la meta que era la cruz y el dolor por nuestros pecados. Pero no desmayemos como no desmayo nuestro Señor Jesús. Y sigamos esta carrera que con esfuerzo hemos empezado; para servir mejor al Señor, para cuidar mejor de nuestras familias y también, como no, para sentirnos mejor con nosotras mismas.
Corramos con paciencia la carrera y no desmayemos porque el Señor Jesús esta con nosotros.ÁMÉN

MUCHOS BESOS Y BENDICIONES A TODAS

Sarah D Final Post

Ladies, This has been quite the journey for me! And a good one, too. At the beginning I just thought I would participate and even make a few changes in my diet - smaller portions, etc - but nothing drastic. And then I decided a week or so into this challenge that if I was going to see any results at all I was going to have to do something major, so I cut out desserts. I'll be honest - it was hard! I never thought I could do it, but I did! I hope that I can stick with it because I am sure that changing my diet is the only way that I will continue to lose weight. I can't do it with exercise alone, and I still would like to lose about 30 pounds more!

So, here is my final tally:

11 pounds lost (starting 210, ending 199)

Bust - 39 to 36.5 - 2.5 inches lost
Chest - 33 to 31 - 2 inches lost
Waist - 35 to 31 - 4 inches lost
Hips - 46 to 44 - 2 inches lost
Right thigh - 28 to 25 - 3 inches lost
Left thigh - 28 to 25.5 - 2.5 inches lost
Right arm - 14 to 13 - 1 inch lost
Left arm - 14 to 13 - 1 inch lost
For a grand total of 18 inches lost!

And... pictures...

First the before...

And then the after...


I'm not sure how much of a difference you can really tell, but I know that where before I was a definite size 16, now I am wearing my "smaller" 16s and even some size 14 pants! So that is good. I hope to continue with the weight loss and definitely will participate in the next challenge, Dani Joy! Thanks for the great opportunity here. I really have enjoyed the blog and the "companionship" of the other ladies. Thanks to everyone who participated! Blessings!

Alice's final post Spring challenge

Here is a screenshot of my spreadsheet with the measurements over the course of this challenge. Remember you can click on the picture to make it larger and be able to read it easier. The weight is in pounds and the measurements are in centimeters.

It is slightly discouraging to realize that I am basically just back to where I was at the end of the fall challenge. Those 5 1/2 lbs that I lost over this challenge were all put on between Christmas and mid February. I have 4 more pounds to go to reach my goal, which is to be at 129 lbs. (where I was last summer) by the time I start furlough on June 28th. I want to start furlough out at my lowest possible weight since I know how easy it is to gain while in the States. I will miss the interaction and accountability of the blog but I will be continuing to work out (or I will never get the last 4 lbs off).

The most encouraging thing for me, besides being in the lead in the points (that was a big deal for me to be ahead of Dani this challenge) was that I did almost 69 hours of exercise over the course of the last 10 weeks! That is a HUGE deal for this diehard couch potato.

As the far as the points go, here is my breakdown on my 603 points:

25 pts for 5 pounds lost

18 pts for 18.5 cm lost

206 pts for 68.6 hours of exercise

41 pts for regular blog posts

313 pts of bonus points throughout the challenge which included 16 days of getting the bonus for drinking my water.

MI DESPEDIDA GRACIAS A TODAS

Hola! Hermanas os escribo mi último post para daros mis avances en esta carrera.
Mis logros mayores han sido en los centímetros perdidos como podréis ver a continuación:

Busto 93cm – 87cm he perdido 6 cm
Pecho 81-77 he perdido 4cm
Cintura 91-77 he perdido 14 cm
Cadera 102-96 he perdido 6cm
Muslos derecho 62-50 he perdido 12 cm
Izquierdo 61-52 he perdido 9 cm
Brazos derecho 30-28 he perdido 2 cm
Izquierdo 31-27 he perdido 4 cm

Aunque también he perdido kilos.

Peso 49,6- 47,3 he perdido 2,3 kg

La carrera del blog a acabado pero seguiré corriendo en mi carrera particular contra los kilos.
Doy gracias a todas por los ánimos y por la compañía; aunque por problemas del idioma no he entendido muchas cosas y no he escrito más a las hermanas por ese motivo.
El Señor os bendiga.
GRACIAS A DANY POR ESTA INICIATIVA.
Mañana publicare una foto

Last weigh in

I thought the easiest way to show my changes...was to put in the excel program Dani sent out...
My overall weight loss was 2.8 pounds...I've been lower at times...my lowest being 154.0 so far, but it seems on my weigh in day...it's never that low! So, I will keep working!

My inches lost has been 7.25!! I'm pretty excited about that. I can see a difference and I feel better eating this healthier way.

Weight Loss Bust Chest Waist Hips R Thigh L Thigh R Arm L Arm
16-Feb-11 158 beg. Tot. 34.50 31.00 28.50 39.00 24.25 23.75 12.00 12.00
23-Feb-11 158.8 0.8 35.00 31.00 28.50 37.50 24.00 23.75 12.00 12.00
02-Mar-11 157.6 -0.4 34.50 31.00 28.75 37.50 24.00 23.00 12.00 12.00
09-Mar-11 157.8 -0.2 34.25 30.50 28.50 37.50 24.00 23.00 12.00 12.00
16-Mar-11 155.4 -2.6 34.25 30.50 28.50 37.00 24.00 23.00 12.00 12.00
23-Mar-11 155.8 -2.2 33.50 29.75 28.50 37.00 23.75 22.75 12.00 12.00
30-Mar-11 155.2 -2.8 33.50 29.75 28.25 37.00 23.75 22.50 12.00 12.00
06-Apr-11 155.2 -2.8 33.60 30.50 28.50 37.00 23.50 22.50 11.75 11.75
13-Apr-11 155.2 -2.8 33.50 30.00 28.50 36.50 23.75 22.50 11.75 12.00
20-Apr-11 -158
27-Apr-11 155.2 -158 33.50 30.00 28.50 37.00 23.00 22.50 11.50 11.75
It didn't copy well, but you can get the picture! Thank you Dani Joy!!

Crossing the Finish Line!

I made it to the end of week 10! I did so much better in this challenge being consistent, than I did at the Christmas one. Thank you, Dani, for putting this together and keeping us going. It was a fun journey. I didn't quite reach my goal of 10 lbs. lost, but I made 80% of that, so I still have some work to do. Here are my results:

Pounds lost: 8

Inches lost: 14

Bust:-2.5

Chest:-1.5

Waist: -2:5

Hips: -1.5

R.Thigh: - 2

L. Thigh: -2

R Arm: -1

L arm:-1

Points Total: 336

The last two weeks weren't as successful because I got off track when I visited my dad and had a hard time getting back. The nix the fix week was the most successful. I enjoyed the posts, the humor, the sharing of your hearts. Thanks for the tips. Here is one that I wanted to share: As you get older, you lose strength in your lower body. So all you young people out there, keep exercising and keep your lower body in good shape. I hope we can do this challenge again soon. I feel like I have a whole new set of friends. May God bless in all you do. This is my final post, though it makes me sad to see this end, I know it has started me on a new path of fitness for my life. Thank you, Dani, and thank you ladies.

Sarah D end of Week 10!

I can't believe this is the end of the challenge, ladies! I just wanted to get this post up for this week before I post my final one tomorrow.

I did NOT expect to have any results this week because instead of having one cheat day I pretty much cheated all weekend! With the holiday weekend and we had a guest in town, I was not as "good" as I normally am. So I was not expecting anything. BUT I weighed and measured this morning and was down a pound and 1.5 inches! So that is good!

I also was able to get in my 4 hours of exercise this week so that was good, too!

I hope to take "after" pictures to compare to my "before" pictures for my final post. I am not sure how different I will actually look even though I feel different and know I have lost weight and inches!

Punching up the cardio

Here is a review and video of the program that my husband and I have been using for cardio workouts, especially when the weather or our schedule makes it hard or impossible to get a workout outside. I try to get at least 1000 punches in before stopping for the day, which takes between 30 and 40 minutes. What I like is that it does make me work up a sweat... much more than I get from walking or even from jogging.

Fit for Life

Hi Ladies,

It has been sooo much fun and encouraging to have been able to participate on Dani's fitness blog. Even though I haven't been keeping up with all of the competition, I have been encouraged to keep on exercising and eating right.

I haven't been writing for a couple of weeks because of Easter and also because we are moving the rest of our things out of the storage room and it is like moving all over again and with all of the mess:(

During Easter vacation we went up to Gijon where my husband's family lives for a visit. The most exciting thing was visiting Dani and Jose and three boys and being in their Wed. night service.:) The next morning we were able to see their new location for their church. What a blessing to see their vision and heart for the Gijoneses. We will be praying for them as they start out on this new adventure and journey for the Lord.

My journey of eating right and exercising I guess started when I was 28 years old and I was diagnosed with endometriosis. Actually I think it started when I was a child and growing up. My mother cooked homemade meals and when we went to Uruguay, we could only get natural foods and had to make everything from scratch. This is probably a good tip for all of us mothers to keep encouraging our kids to eat right. But I tended to get slack on fitness and health after I got married and had a couple of children and we got busy with the work here in Spain.

I remember when my parents left Spain and they left me a bunch of books. I picked one up and read it about Fit for Life. I decided to to do the basics of what this couple was presenting as a new way of eating. It was just eating fruit and sugar on an empty stomach and not mixing your carbs and protein. So whenever I ate protein, I ate it with veggies and salad and I did the same whenever I ate carbs. My husband couldn't believe that I lost weight and seemingly didn't go hungry at any time, so he decided to try it. He lost 9 kilos in a month and a half. We are no longer on that kind of a diet, but I still use a lot of their recipes. Whenever I want to feel better I don't mix carbs and proteins. I feel so much lighter after a meal. I know that there is soo much out there today. I also have found that smaller portions and eating several times a day help a lot.

Getting fit for life is getting into good habits. Breaking bad habits take time and effort. My experience over the years is to keep exercising and eating healthy for several years, and soon it becomes a habit.

Now that I have reached 50 and I am still in menopause, I have to really try harder to stay fit and eat healthy. When you are in menopause, the only thing you want to do is the opposite of what you should do. I feel like sitting down and doing no exercise most of the time, so I have to do just the opposite. I feel like eating junk food all the time, so I have to do just the opposite and so on. It is a fight to do what is right!:)

Dani's blog has helped my to get back into the exercise and healthy eating mode which I had left by the wayside about a year ago. I have lost a whole size and am now back into my comfortable size 8. I would like to get down maybe to a size 6 but don't know if my face can handle it. Ha, Ha!

Believe it or not I started to do Jillian's DVD of ripped in 30. I just about died the first three days, but I managed to get through the week and week 2 is not so hard.:) Yah! Soo if you hear I had a heart attack, you will know why. Just kidding!

Here are my measurements for the end of the 10 weeks:

weight: 61 kilos

waist: 23 in.

hips: 29 in.

r and l thighs: 16 in.

r and l arms: 8 in

chest: 23 in.

breast: 26 in.

Thanks for all of the comments and I have really enjoyed reading all of your testimonies. May the Lord keep each one of you and bless you until we meet again on the blog.

Praying and keeping fit,

Sharla G.