Saturday Challenge #2

Today we played soccer!
It was indoor soccer, 3 v. 3. Pretty fun!!!

I watch so much soccer, it was a nice change to be able to participate in it.

Sadly though, for various reasons (some female related - but also because I lost so much last week) this week I only lost .2lbs and had to be eliminated.

Yep.
Depressing.
There is a chance though to still get back into the competition on week 10 (i think it's week 10, I need to double check) and believe me after I am done being sad (I give myself one day for self pity) then I will rock it and do my best to be back in then and sneak up and WIN. Wouldn't that be the coolest!!! AND the really great thing is even if I don't win the competition, I will have won for trying.

So - it's all good!

But - today I am bummed. :(

First Challenge

First of all, I am posting this from Jeff's office so... I have a picture at home that I'm going to add later tonight or tomorrow. It's a pretty funny picture. edited: i'm home now and added the picture. jeff found it hilarious because i was so wet, and even muddy in it. I however do not love this picture so not sure how long it will stay here.....

So.... the first challenge was to play flag football!
Yes, you read that correctly. {{And right now if you are snorting diet coke out your nose from the visual of me doing that...... sorry. Next time I'll warn you. ;) }}
Did I mention it was POURING rain and had been for two days???
It was pretty interesting - I'll say that!

Truth be told it was fun! I can't say that it's going to be a new side hobby for me or anything, and I'm not sure I added too much to the team, but it was fun! We were drenched, muddy, and up against a team with 3 or 4 guys on it (I forget at the moment). Our team was 6 women. We did pretty well honestly! We didn't win... but we tried. OH and one time I did get a flag off Wes when he had the ball. So that was a good thing!

As to the loss...

My whole team made it through! Whoo hoooooo!!!
Personally I lost 8 pounds (my gosh!) and was like 14th (of 30). I don't remember my exact percentage and it's not posted yet so I can't check but I think it was something like 4%. This is extra amazing to me personally since last week as of Wednesday (9/3) i had gained 2 pounds. So my gosh! That's technically 10 down!!!

Okay, the kids are going bonkers in Jeff's office so I need to turn the computer back over to them. More later ~

Mind Set

Two for one posting on Saturday I guess!
The reason for this one... the other day at 5:30am Jessica was having a discussion about positive affirmations. Well, yes {thought I} positive affirmations are good. Usually I think I am a pretty positive person and optimistic. Easy pacheezy.
Then I started thinking about it.
How often I make fun of myself to hide uncomfortable feelings.
Say, "just squeezing my fat a** by" and things like that.
Most often trying to be funny.... but at my expense.
It seems like I am either trying to be funny - or trying to hide (oh and right there I almost added a joke about how hard that is at my current size - see it's a habit now).

I'm thinking that's not such a good idea.

I'm thinking that for too long I have concentrated on the barriers and not the opportunities.

I'm thinking that's its too easy to say I can't:
"I can't or I'll hurt my knee...."
"I can't I have weak arms..."
"I can't I have no balance..."
Or the big one that everyone uses:
"I can't because I have no time..."
etc.

Time to focus on what I CAN do.
I can do pretty darn good following choreography in classes.
I like to walk and jog.
I can turn myself into a runner. Knee or no knee.
I can continue to improve.

What are your goals?
Writing them down makes them real.
Tell us... where do you want to see yourself fitness/health wise in the next month, 3 months, year?

I believe in you - you'll get there!
I will too!!! :)

Have a nice weekend!
Jenny

The Brady Bunch

Well, here we are in all our "before" picture glory!Let me tell you it was not easy to post a picture like this! Really typically I try to hide the muffin top a little better then that!!! That said, it is a "before" and I wanted to really see how it was. So now you get to see too. Do you feel ever so lucky or what?!

My teammates - left to right in the picture - Jen, Jessica {our trainer in case you couldn't tell!}, Talana and Me. Our mentor Jerry was a contestant last time and he's not in the team picture but you can meet him by going here (go to the after pictures of the royal blue team - there's Jerry!). It is so fantastic to have the contestants from last year around to help us! Takes away some of the intimidation factor.

Our first challenge is the day after my birthday, September 13th. Wish us luck!!

GO ROYAL BLUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In the Beginning

Well, I am finally getting this blog up and going.
Knowing where to begin - well that is a bit of a predicament.

Because, let's face it, I've been trying to "lose" forever.
Every diet out there - it feels like I've tried it.
Tried Weight Watchers so many times I think I should have stock in the company.
It all works, a bit, for a bit.

THIS time I'm trying something sort of novel.
I'm in the "Biggest Loser" contest at SWAT gym (local to me).
Now along with my low GI (glycemic index) diet and counting calories a bit for now I am exercising like a fiend. Or, I suppose, like a healthy person!

So, this is the beginning.
The contest officially started (working with the trainers) on August 31st and I started working out at the gym on August 28th.
My knees and legs hurt a bit lately - I jogged/ran/walked for over an hour yesterday (ouch) so I suppose that's to be expected. Other then that I have discovered that I H-A-T-E push ups. YICK, YUCK, and EWWW! Unfortunately it seems like they are the exercise of choice for many reasons, so I will be sucking it up (but I can't promise I will do so without complaint...).

I am going to leave you with a quote that really hit home for me:

"Most people lose lean mass (mostly muscle and water) as well as fat when they lose weight. This is especially true if they diet by cutting calories without exercising. When the weight comes back, most of it is fat. With each loss/gain cycle, the percentage of lean mass decreases and percentage of fat increases, all of which slows your metabolism. For every pound of fat you gain, your body burns a mere 2 calories a day, compared to an average of 50 calories for each pound of muscle you put on. So, if you lost 5 pounds of muscle by overly restricting calories and not exercising, you're burning about 250 fewer calories a day." (from "The Biggest Loser Fitness Program")

Yipe.

I always knew the yo-yo thing was bad, but never had it explained to me in quite that way.

Let's hope I can turn things around.

I hope, if it's your desire to do so - you can too.