Morning all!  Well I heard a funny quote today regarding the above table... a coworker of mine said that whenever he went to the doctor, he would see this table and there was a sign that read, "You are not too fat, you are just too short!  Look up your weight to see how tall you are supposed to be!"  How funny is that! In that case I would love to be 5-11 :)  We are almost at week 7, I am hoping you all are seeing a difference? In this chart alone, I like that I am leaving the orange area behind, and headed to the yellow and green!!!  I just wanted to add that quick note.. It made me smile, so if you read this Kevin (MN Kevin) thanks :)

I will be out of town starting Friday, goin to visit a friend. I will try to post pics and blog while I am out! Have a great weekend, and Happy Leap Day :)

4 Weeks!!!

Morning everyone!! Hope everyone had a great weekend! Well can you believe it? We made it to week 6!  I think a few people may have dropped out, or lost motivation, but there are still a few of us out there kickin and trying to do this!  I am so very proud of all of us! We have taken the effort and tried our bests to make lifestyle changes!  Thats the most important thing of all, we have changed the way we think, eat, and hopefully the way we exercise.  I decided to go through my closet this weekend tried on clothes and was so excited that I had a garbage bag full of stuff that was too big! YAY! Too big is always a good thing! I can tell on the scale I have lost the weight, but not until I decided to go thru my clothes, could I tell where I have lost it.  Apparently all over, jeans are too big, shirts too big! Such a great feeling!   Well I have tons to do today so I just wanted to send a quick note! Take care everyone!! Happy Dieting!  kisses amy

DOH!!!!

 I tell you its Wednesday but it sure feels like Monday all over again!  I havent blogged in awhile with the promotion at work, and life at home, I just havent had a chance to fit it in!   Today I thought, I will blog.. well geez.. its been so long I couldnt remember my log in, my password, or even the email I used!   Low and behold, if you enter in the correct email.. You will get in!  Note to self.. only have one email account ! lol  ANYWAYS..... How the heck have you all been? I am feeling great!!! I made a personal goal to myself last week, I had only been losing half a pound here or there, and I said nope, Im not doing that anymore.. So I told myself, I will lose 2lbs, last wk, and Im striving for 3 this week.  Well, I got on the scale mid week last week just to see and I thought the scale was wrong. I got off, got back on, got off, then back on.  To my great suprise, I had dropped 3.6 lbs! I was so EXCITED! It was 4am and I wanted to call everyone I knew!  Since I figured they would all probably kill me, I decided my 8week old puppy could share the news with me! I said "Scout!!! Mommy lost 3.6lbs!!!

 Can you see the excitement on his face? ==============>

I think he was so happy he just could not contain himself..  seconds later, he was asleep! Oh well. I told SOMEONE!! By the time it was weigh in time on Monday, I weighed again and was down another .6lbs, so in all my hard work for that week helped me to drop 4.6lbs! YAY!!! I was so excited! I actually worked out so much between hiking, and the eliptical at the gym, and the constant mopping due to a potty training pooch, I was burning so many calories, and gaining that back in food allowance for my day, I just couldnt eat all the calories I was given!  I deffinitly feel great about it though! For the 1st time in about 10 years I am under a digit I didnt want to be under!  And even better my BMI (Body Mass Index) went from "obesity level 1" to "overweight".  I am totally ok with just being overweight! But I am working on that so I wont even be that, I want it to say "HEALTHY"... and at the rate I am going I should be there soon!   I hope all of you are doing the same, feeling great, making lifestyle changes and overall, being happy with who YOU are.  Theres only one of us, and we have to make the most out of what we were given!   I will get back on here soon! Maybe a small post from the gym later.. have a great week!! * Week 5 by the way!!! We are half way thru the challenge and as a combined group, the 13 of us have lost 77lbs! If you divide it up, its about 5.92 lbs per person, give or take, since we have some OVER ACHIEVERS in the group, they will remain nameles... ( Peggy and Warren)  just kiddin! Great job everyone!! until next time!   kisses amy!

YAY!!!

YAY ME!!!  I have to pat myself on the back for a minute, not because Ive lost a ton of weight but because a long time personal goal finally came through for me.  I have been in my current work position for the last 7 years, I interviewed for a promotion, was given the promotion but due to the work hours I unfortunately had to decline.  Well 3 hours later my supervisor came to me and said she wasn't allowing me to decline, they found hours that would work for my schedule!! YAY! Someone was looking out for me!!  So needless to say this has been a huge turnover for me. A new outlook on 2012.  2011 was very rocky for me, and I am working everyday to make it better, so this has been a great motivation!  Our weight loss challenge is also such a good thing. I started working out and trying to lose weight the day before Thanksgiving? Crazy I know, but I have done well.  I have lost 17 lbs so far, 4 of those with this challenge. Its such a good thing for me! I haven't had the opportunity to work out at the gym that much the last few weeks due to kids, work, life.. But I have done as much as I could at home to get that exercise in! Lets just say my floor has been swept and mopped twice this week! :)   I have 1100 sq feet of ceramic tile, so its not an easy chore! Ive also cleaned my garage and car, and I did manage to hike last Sat and Sunday.  I liked it so much, I am going to do it again this weekend!  Well I had to share my news, Its been a good week so far! Got rid of alot of Junk in my life, new job title, raise, now its time to buy that winning LOTTO ticket!!  Have a good Friday everyone!! kisses amy

38 days!

Hellloooooo and top of the morning to ya!   Its the second week of February, can you believe it?  Which means there are only 38 days left of our challenge? So far people are really sticking to it! I am so happy! We are making life changes here, not temporary changes!! So.. what did you all do this weekend?? I climbed a mountain, TWICE!  I have wanted to start hiking and just havent gotten a chance, well I went to visit my parents and they have a mountain right in front of their house, so my husband, my 71 year old father and myself tackled the mountain!  It was awesome! I felt great afterward, so I made my neice join in with me the next day!  What a great feeling to accomplish something like that! Plus its GREAT cardio!  In the two days, with about 2 hrs worth of excercise, I burned 1178 calories! yay!!!! Now I am hooked I want to do it again!  So I guess Im hoping that you all go out and try something new this week, something different, the weather is beautfiul ( depending where you are) so take advantage of being outside. Ride bikes, hike, roller blade, shoot wash your car! Its all great for you!  Have a fantastic day! I will chat again soon! kisses Amy

1...2...3...4

Morning Ya'll! lol.. Happy Thursday to ya! So I was sitting here counting out my goldfish for my morning snack and wondered is anyone else doing this?  My coworkers probably think I am crazy?  I really wonder how many people actually pay attention to the serving size amounts. I know at times I dont. For instance,  I love trail mix I have no problem grabbing a bag thinking yay, this is good, there are raisins and nuts, and a hint of chocolate, then I sit and eat the whole bag .( small bag, or individual sized bag)  Well I decided one day to look at the calories, did you guys know that the calorie info is on the package! lmao..To my surprise this entire bag, a 4oz bag has 520 calories in it! OMG!!! AND worst of all its 2 servings! Unbelievable I could have actually eaten a Kit Kat bar, all 4 sticks and it only have been 220 calories.. and oh so much tastier!
Basically I guess what I am getting at... looks are deceiving.. just because it looks better for you doesnt mean it is!  A grilled chicken Caesar salad, is actually worse than a Hamburger and fries? Silly huh! Definitely pay attention to your labels, or before you decide to go out to eat, check the nutritional info online, you will find that you may be better off to stay home or you may think twice about where you go to eat.  Same thing goes for the grocery store, definitely read the labels! Yah there may be only 100 calories, but how many servings? One or two?  Think before you eat!  Im kind of rambling today had alot of different thoughts go through my mind, and since my breakfast didnt smile at me today, I just couldnt get it all together! wink wink :)  Hope everyone has a fantastic day!!! kisses Amy

What a way to start the day!

Good Morning!!! On my way to work this morning I was running unusually early, and thought man I wish the gym was open at 4am, well since it isnt, I decided I will do my own mini workout!  So I ran into the building, dropped my stuff off, logged onto my computer, and ran up the 5 flights of stairs we have here!  When I say ran, I mean it.. I got to floor 4 and then it was a slow walk! lol.. REGARDLESS.. I got my metabolism goin 1st thing! And I feel AWESOME!!!!   Experts say that if you do at least 11 minutes of excercise 1st thing in the morning, you set your metabolism for the entire day!  Well I think I did it.. I feel so good, 5 minutes of stairs, and here it is 30 minutes later and I still feel my heart pumping.. Its gonna be a good day!  Wanna know how I knew that?  Well I came back to my desk panting away, and looked over to my left, and my breakfast was smiling at me <=========  CRAZY HUH!!! Even my food was proud of me! :)  Anywhooo  we are in week twoooo!  (look at me I am a poet and didnt know it)  lol I am crackin myself up today!  Week two people, only 8 short weeks to go, and over all for the 13 of us that have decided to continue with this little journey, as a combined group we have lost 59lbs total in the 2 wks! Thats 4.5lbs per person, or 2.25 lbs per person per week.. Thats amazing!!! If we keep it up,at this rate,  we can reach almost 250 total pounds lost, totaling a loss of about 18lbs a person. OMG!!!  Bathing suit weather here we come! Shoot once we get to that point, I can honestly see a round 2 coming along!!! Just think, the middle of March is our ending date, if we start up again for another 10 wks,we will be done before Memorial day ( the official start to the summer season) ! We can be down close to 40lbs each!   Thats unbelievable, yet ACHIEVABLE!  For myself, 40 lbs down, that means less insullin, which in turn means Great Hemaglobin A1c ( or overall blood sugar levels) This alone, is way more important to me than the 40lbs.. But then again, being able to wear a cute swimsuit and not feeling like I need to wear a t-shirt over it, thats also a good thing!   I guess in all this rambling today I just want to say GREAT JOB EVERYONE!!! Keep it up! If you are having a bad day, well tommorrow is a new day, start over again.  If you usually ride the elevator in your office, take the stairs.  If you have a long hallway at work ( like I do) try doin some squats!  Lol you make think I am joking, but I do this, and people look at me like I am a freak cause I am bouncing up and down over our walls. Then they go "Oh its just Amy doin her squats again!"  Well at least Im doing something!  Go for a walk around your office, if you work out of your home, stand instead of sit, do a few jumping jacks, anything to get your heart pumping and your blood flowing!
Make it a good day! Dont let anyone ruin your day, if they want to have a crappy day, so be it, but take my advice today (ok ok, and Bon Jovi's) "when the world looks in my face, I say HAVE A NICE DAY!"
Kisses,Amy