Grrrrr....

I had a super bad week and half...no working out and lots of junk food. Today I am back on track. I hit the gym. I did a pretty killer upper body weight lifting session and now I can barely move my arms.  It feels good. Can't wait to get stronger!

Mike is in...

the 200's. My goal is to get my knee fixed and then start rehabbing the heck out of it. I would like to be walking normally and be able to go on any of the rides. Maybe I should bring crutches so we can skip lines! I joined Planet Fitness and have been riding the stationary bike to keep my knee loose and it has been working. I have also been a guinea pig for the PT students to practice all the tests. That hurts. If there was a way to naturally make body hair go away that would be my goal. I'll just shave it off.

Actual numbers....

So I finally went to the gym yesterday...and the actual weight I am at is 163...lame. On the plus side...I have now worked out 2 days in a row.

Juicing

I am just throwing this out there because it has been something that has helped me feel better. Late in 2012 Tait and I watched the documentary "Fat Sick and Nearly Dead" it changed our lives. We decided to re-examine how we ate...it wasn't good. We saw our selves on a very fast track to very bad life long health problems because of how we ate. I planned meals around my carb of choice that day. We drank lots of soda...I ate insane amounts of sugar. We didn't feel good. After watching the documentary we decided to change. We bought a juicer and started juicing. We noticed a difference in our energy. I bought an app called 7 lbs in 7 days that has all these different juicing recipes. I lost about 10 lbs over 2 weeks of strict juicing. And my energy soared. No joke I started to feel so much better. No more naps during the day...no more gas and bloating. It was pretty awesome...now don't get me wrong it was HARD. But now I juice as part of my normal diet. I may have juice for breakfast or lunch or both. But I try to drink juice at least several times a week so that I am drinking and actually absorbing the vitamins I need. Vitamin supplements that we take are mostly just wasted money. We need to eat more nutrient dense foods. I discovered Kale...something I thought I would NEVER eat. I juice it regularly now.  I started ordering bountiful baskets so that I had more fruits and vegetables on hand. When it has something i don't know what to do with I google recipes and learn how to eat it or cook it.

We now eat very different. Our dinner may consist of just a piece of chicken and a *huge* portion of asparagus or fresh sauteed green beans or salad. No carbs. We try to eat something green every day. I only buy the organic multigrain bread from bountiful baskets. I simply don't buy white bread anymore.....every now and then we splurge on the fresh backed costco garlic bread...:) But overall we are trying to be more conscientious about what we eat...and more importantly what eating habits we pass on to our kids.

Now don't get me wrong...I just made an incredibly delicious and not at all healthy chocolate ice cream cake for Tien's birthday...but that is the exception NOT the rule. My problem is that over the last 9 months I started thinking "well I juice so its ok to eat 3 doughnuts today...or half a bucket of ice cream...or an entire bucket of Costco chocolate covered toffee in 48 hours...yes all of those things actually happened all to regularly. I have to stop eating the sugar and still eat the healthy.  I am SO ADDICTED TO SUGAR. I dream about it when I am not eating it. I think about it all day. This is very hard for me.

For this contest I am trying out the Body for Life program in which you eat super healthy for 6 days a week with one "cheat" day where you eat what you want...I am super looking forward to my cheat day this week!!! I feel my sugar cravings all day long. It isn't easy...but it is worth it.

If anyone is interested you can pick up the Body for Life book at any Library I am sure. Or check out bodyforlife.com. It has some pretty motivating before and after shots.

Anyway I just wanted to share. If you are needing some extra motivation check out "Fat Sick and Nearly Dead" pretty sure its on Netflix or you can probably find it for free on the internet. it is very very motivational. I think I need to watch it again.

Valeri's Before Pictures...

 

I can't believe I'm posting these! Ugh! But here's all 203 pounds of me! My only goal other than getting down to 180 before the reunion is toning up my arms. Even when I was at my skinniest they were big and flabby.

 

keep in mind, I've already lost 32 pounds... yuck! I'm so glad I didn't take pictures when I was that heavy.

 

 

Heidi's In!

You know I mean business when I put on my purple stretchy pants.

 

Alrighty, here's the deal. I have gained weight with each child. That's normal. But I told myself that 180 would be my limit; my "this has gone too far" weight. Well, I'm at 186. Not cool. But at the same time, I haven't wanted to put forth the effort to change it. I HATE exercising. And I LOVE chocolate. I'm hoping, and I think it will work, that doing this with my family, whom I ADORE, will be the motivating factor I need.

 

My goals are not all pound/weight related. They are....

 

1. Be able to wear my wedding ring. That's right. I haven't been able to wear my mother's wedding ring for 2 years now. It sucks. This is my #1 goal.

2.  A smaller stomach pooch. I don't need rock hard abs, I just want a smaller pooch.

3. Lose at least 15 pounds. Oh my gosh, that scares me to type. Can I really do that? Maybe I should put 10 instead. But no, I will push myself (something I am not good at doing!).

 

Love to you all!

Heidi

Bootylicious is in

I am so glad that so many of us are signing up and I am loving the posts and comments! This is going to be so great.

I spoke in church in November and I spoke on being Self Reliant... something Mom and I learned a lot about last year. One of the ways of being self reliant is in our health. Something I lack is impulse control. Some people have drug addictions and some people are alcoholics. I could easily be both. Thankfully I have the gospel and I am able to avoid those things. I am not so good at controlling my impulses when it comes time to avoid chocolate cake, jelly belly's, butter, etc.

While preparing that talk I also thought about the pioneers. I do not see how anything short of miracle would have gotten me from Bonners Ferry to Sandpoint the way that I am now. I have 2 very active boys. Like, Liz wants to do with her girls, I want to be outside playing with them and still be able to breath.

I too am at my heaviest weight. When I hit 220 I told myself that if I ever hit 230 I'd check myself into a program or something. I weighed myself when I got home from work this morning and I was, I kid you not, 229.9 lbs. First thing that I wanted to do when I saw that number was eat cinnamon toast and climb into bed. I wasn't motivated I was depressed. 

Which brings me to why I am so excited to be part of this blog now. I am going to be honest so that I can be accountable. That is what I need to do. I'm tired of being depressed about my weight. I want to be better not sadder. So that's my goal.

I'd love to be down to 160. That's 70 pounds away. 70! I'm going to do it though. I'm the only one holding myself back.

PS- I weigh 87 pounds more than my husband. That's hot.

my confession...

So Amy was saying even her "fat clothes" don't fit her...I feel you girl. I resorted to wearing some maternity pants the last two weeks because I felt bad leaving the house in my sweats. I am not exaggerating. I literally can not fit into any of my jeans and a lot of my shirts are now VERY uncomfortable. I just thought I would share because maybe it will help me stay motivated....

Jared is in...

And weighing in at 250 lbs...I would love to be able to put my socks on without holding my breath or farting. Little by little this weight has been creeping up over the past few years and it needs to come off now! It always seems like my diet or workout starts on "Monday". Well today is Monday and it has officially started. My end goal weight is 200lbs. The doc says I need to get down to 185, he's dreaming! BMI is a bunch of crap. My goal by the reunion is 220lbs. This is my swim suit for Boulder Beach.

See you on the skinny side.

Liz is in....

Ok, I don't have a scale but the last time I weighed myself was at Laura's and I was 160. I did take all my measurements just this week. Are we posting those?? I will spare you the picture I took of myself in my sports bra...But also remember to you lovely tall ladies a persons BMI is very much dependent on height...I would kill to be as tall as you lovely ladies!! My goal by the reunion is 140. I have some other goals I am doing with Tait as well. Such as I am going CANDY FREE for a year. NO CANDY. And I am also trying to follow the Body for Life eating plan where I eat 6 smaller meals and have 1 free day to eat whatever (except candy). I have a very serious sugar addiction and would really like to have that out of my life. I am doing good so far since the 1st I have had no candy and sweets only once per week.  I know that when I eat better I feel better. I am also really into juicing so if anyone would like any info or tips about that let me know. We really love juicing and how we feel when we are getting a lot more green in our diet.  I also discovered a brown rice, quinoa thing at Costco. It is pre-cooked all you have to do is microwave it. Very convenient since my fam doesn't like brown rice but I do.

I love you ladies!!

Amy's stats

I've had such a hard time even losing a lb after Tennyson. I'm the oldest one doing this, so you youngins have an advantage 😉 im the biggest I've ever been, and it sucks. I can't wait to hear how good everyone starts to feel as we all lose weight (and we will!!!) so glad everyone's on board and we will be accountable to everyone. We are all in this together.:) thanks Mel for setting this up. I'm stuck at 155, but my wt after tavin I got back down to 130 which is where I feel great at, and want to get back to. That makes it 25 lbs for me, but I'd be happy at 140.  And aunt Rachel just started an IG with friends with healthy recipes. Just checked them out and so far they are great, quick ideas. And you CAN eat healthy on a budget. No excuses!;) may the odds be in your favor. -besos😘

Valeri's Numbers..

I'm in!

Here's my weight (ugh!)
When I got pregnant with Ryan I was 236. I lost weight during the pregnancy and at my last doctors appointment two days before I delivered him I was 226. I'm now 204! So I'm down 32 pounds from my PRE pregnancy weight. My goal is to be 180 by the reunion so I have 24 pounds to go.

So if you want to enter into this family friendly contest simply create a post that says I'M IN!

Hey family! I have started a blog for those of you who want to follow or join. There are quite a few of us that have expressed the desire to get slim, trim and healthy prior to this year’s reunion. Pictures and stats are not required; I trust that none of us are going to be liar heads. I however am going to post my stats. It’s going to be EMBARASSING but sadly honest. I’ll take them tomorrow and post. Heidi had the great idea that those of us who want to put $20 toward a fun contest and the whoever has the largest percentage of weight loss wins the pot. Let’s cheer each other on! ♥ ya’ll! PS- I don't have everyone's email addresses. Can you forward on to any family members who will be at the reunion who might want to join in the fun? Thanks!