News from Andrea!

Gord (my Dad), Paula, me, Stephanie, Nathaniel (my brother)

A lot can happen in a month! As most of you know, I graduated from the University of Southern California on May 15, 2009 and received my Masters of Arts in Teaching. My family came out to support me and celebrate with me!

AT GRIFFITH OBSERVATORY
Anthony, Paula, Stephanie, me

We had a wonderful time together. This is a picture of all of us (excluding the photographer, my father); which is fine because I just realized that the rest of us are on here! Anyhow, we are at the Griffith Observatory. When we arrived we were surprised by how popular the place was and soon discovered that the parking lot was closed; we had to park a ways down the road. As luck would have it, the entire walk to the observatory was uphill! Just as we passed the entrance to the parking lot, it was deemed empty enough to open up; yes, this was our lucky day alright! Ha! However, we were able to console ourselves with the fact that we had gotten some good exercise!

This blog has seen some great positive change in the last month as well!

First, Aunt Carol-Ann gave the blog a bit of a face lift, and now we are current and up to date!

Second, Stephanie has decided to join us, and she is off to a fantastic start! I’m pretty sure everyone who reads this is familiar with all the participants, but I’ll give a little introduction anyway. Stephanie is my older sister, and she decided to join the blog when she came out to visit me in CA for my graduation. We got to work right away exercising and eating healthy (well, most of the time, anyhow).

With all the excitement, I figured it was time to do a proper wrap-up for the month of May...

In the past 31 days we have put in a total of

22 hours and 40 minutes of exercise

and
lost a total of 9.0 pounds

We are well on our way to being winners by losing! Keep up the good work, team!

Milestone for Andrea!

Andrea has broken into the 150s!!
Great job, Andrea!
Way to go!

Your goal is in sight!

Thanks, Andrea!

Just check out what I got in my email last night! Impossible to ignore, that's what this is!

Aunt Jeanette!

I am here to demand that you weigh in tomorrow! You cannot tip toe around the issue any more. It is time to face the music.

And you will also set a new short term goal and write a little blurb on the blog about it. We are here to keep you accountable, and we will not let you down. Because if we did not demand this, we would be letting you down. (This is all in love)

So I am excited to see you get back in the game, put in at least 30 min of exercise, weigh in, and make a new goal this week. You can do it! We are all rooting for you.

Love you,
Andrea


So I am pulling myself together! Actually, I had already had a consultation with myself about this very thing, but getting this email was the clincher!

Here's my plan:

• I will weigh in today
  
• I will exercise at least 30 minutes this week, probably more
• I will write down everything I eat (the way that works best for me)
  

As to the new goal, I want to lose 15+ pounds by June 15. That sounds ambitious! And maybe it is. But at least I've said it, so the real work can now begin!

An update from Andrea!

It’s that time again…
Spring is approaching and the warm weather outside reminds me that I should be out THERE exercising instead of in HERE watching TV!!! I’ve gotta get out there and start enjoying the fresh air. I know that if I make it a priority I can fit it into my schedule, but when I start putting it off I never get around to it! Time to get in motion!

I also have a quick update on how everything is at school. I can’t believe that it is almost May! The colors on the exercise log for May are gold and maroon; I chose these colors because they are my university’s colors, and I will be walking across that stage on May 15th to get my diploma! Whew! And then I can relax!… oh wait… I still have to write my thesis over the summer… and finish all my assignments from this semester… and pray that I passed my project (the Performance Assessment of California Teachers). But receiving my diploma will be a milestone for me, and I can’t wait!

My student teaching is going pretty well. Today was the first day I have seen my class since Spring Break, but it went really well! In fact, I got my first ‘excellent’ review from the math coach who comes and observes me once a week. That felt really good and I am feeling ready to be in my own classroom. I really think that I will love my job (once it is official) because it inspires me!

Now the job search begins! Argh!!! Putting together a job resume is the first step, and I really need to get on it! So that will be occupying my time for the next week, and then I need to decide where I want to teach and go to job interviews. I will be sure to keep you all posted on my quest for employment!



And remember… it is a beautiful day outside and exercise relieves stress! Make it happen!

Hang in there!

Well, I hope that we have at least been holding our own this week. I got more exercise than last week, but I also ate very unwisely at times. The day after tomorrow, I am going to get on an airplane and go spend a week in Canada with Carol-Ann and her family and my mother. If it is like previous trips, I will get there, turn around twice, and it will be time to fly back again! And who knows how the exercise and eating will go while I am gone... Hopefully better than when I am at home, but we shall see!

This is not just about how we look; this is about something even more important -- our health. The older I get, the more I can feel it, too.
We can do it!

Weigh-In Day!

(Click on the cartoon to see it better)

All of our active members have had a GREAT week!
Congratulations, everyone!

February Progress Report!

By Andrea

This has been a really fun month on here, and each member has contributed to the rising energy on this blog. Therefore, it seems fitting that we take a minute to realize just how successful we have been!

February has been a record-breaking month for our group! (Go ahead, give yourself a pat on the back). In the past twenty-eight days we have:

Put in 27 hours and 10 minutes of exercise

Lost 7.8 pounds


This is a HUGE success! I’m so excited about and proud of our progress and dedication.

Let’s see if we can beat ourselves in March!

Weigh-In Day!

Here's a cartoon for weigh-in day, just in case we need a little humor to lighten things up! Andrea and I have been searching these out and plan to post one each Monday if we can.

There's a grain of truth in this, even when it makes us laugh...
Any cutting back from what we have been doing is progress, so let's give it our best shot this week!

An Encouraging Story!

Thanks to Andrea, Anthony, and Paula, our little blog has some new life! I think the exercise log may have a lot to do with it. Since our son Trent moved out on his own, we have an empty room in our basement, so Barry repainted it, put in a new light fixture, and moved our exercise equipment in there. We have the treadmill in one corner, and next to it is the HealthRider. Then there is the weight bench with every imaginable size of weight that can be added to the bar. So now I have no excuse, not even bad weather!

Andrea enjoys watching "The Biggest Loser," and she sent me this link. What an amazing story! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did!

Ali Vincent's Story

If Ali can do it, so can we!

(Thanks for the link, Andrea!)

Here we go!

Happy weigh-in day!

I got on the scale this morning... covered my eyes... took a deep breath... and squinted down through my fingers... Yes, just as I thought! Over this long food-filled break I have taken, I have definitely lost ground. But things could have been MUCH worse, I know. So I am feeling encouraged. And I hope you are, too.

With this new start, I am trying a different approach. I have set my goal weight at 10 pounds less than my weigh-in today. I am only trying to lose 10 pounds right now. When I get there, then I'll decide what to do about the next 10 pounds.

This last week, as I have been doing my medical transcription work, I have had to chuckle several times over the thoughts the doctor just cannot keep out of his tone of voice... "The patient's weight is up a WHOPPING 33 pounds since his last visit!" I grin, but I can identify with that patient. It is much easier to go up that whopping 33 pounds than down, isn't it! Let's make sure we are moving in the right direction!

Suggestion for this week: Try to make some food substitutions. This is not about starving but about making some healthy changes. Last week when I went to the store, I bought some mangoes, something I don't usually get. Several times since then I have found that one of those cut up and eaten piece by piece at my desk as I work is a really satisfying alternative to snack foods. I am going to try a different fruit next time I am at the store.

A Little Bird Told Me...

...that there are big happenings over here at the Winners blog! Just to look at it, you won't be able to tell just yet, but there will be some new additions to our sidebars, and I'm feeling pretty excited about it!

We have been struggling along, each of us fighting our own battles. Through this blog we have tried to join forces and work together, but our failure (what a nasty word!) has been really discouraging, not to mention the extra pounds we are still carrying around.

So... as you already know if you have been keeping up with us, Andrea called us back into action. She posted comments here, and every Monday morning a message from her popped up in my email: "Are we in?" I have to admit that I looked around at all of us and didn't see anyone responding, so I half-heartedly and without much confidence took a timid step forward and raised my hand! "Okay, Andrea, let's be a team of two," I said!

Last week, I cut out all the over-abundance of sweets that have taken over since the beginning of December. That was tough! Then this week I started writing down most of what I ate so I could try to get a handle on it. Second tough week. The lady at Wal-Mart must have wondered why anyone needed that much gum! I'm not sure the scales are showing anything yet except for the horrendous backsliding I have been doing, but I do feel a bit better and less achy.

Then imagine my excitement yesterday morning when my phone rang! It was Andrea! "Guess what?" she said after our pleasantries were over. "Anthony wants to come on the blog with us!" Anthony is Andrea's boyfriend, and he has thrown down the gauntlet with his claim that he is going to beat us all at weight loss!! I am so pleased that he is going to join us! But I know I am no match for the two of them on weight loss, so it took the next thing to REALLY lift my spirits!

Another email popped up in my inbox...from Andrea!

GUESS WHAT???!!!???!!!!

I have been recruiting, and my mother has agreed to join us! Attached is a very flattering picture taken of her at my graduation :) She says that she weighs in on Saturdays, and I am guessing that she will either tell you or me to post it for her. I really wanted her to join so that you two would have some support and accountability. You know, during those way-too-delicious-to-say-no Sunday lunches you put on every week or the calorie-laden Monday nights, you two will be able to join forces and help each other. AND even exercising for a mere 30 minutes together would be no problem!

I'm excited for our revamp of the blog!

"YES WE CAN!!!"


Now I am REALLY encouraged! Today Paula, Andrea's mom, called and asked if I wanted to walk this evening, so we put in 30 minutes of brisk walking around the neighborhood, and we made plans for a regular exercise regimen. (I'm afraid my legs will not like me in the morning, though!)

In the next few days, we will have new faces on the sidebar. So if anyone else would like to make a new start along with us, come and join in! And if you can, convince a friend to be your partner and join us, too. That just might make all the difference!

Olympic Medals are Handed Out!

Well everybody, today Barry and Jeanette left for a few days of relaxation and I am inclined to think (since I just turned around and put on a pound right after breaking down into the 150's) that we all might do well with taking a little break!

Actually, Jeanette and I have been discussing some possible changes to the format of our little connection place here, so let's just kick back for a few weeks and then start up again with a will in a month's time. I'm suggesting our next weigh-in day be September 15th. That gives us just over a month to decide what kind of a surprise we want to present on the blog on the 15th!

STOP! DON'T CLICK AWAY YET!
THERE'S ONE MORE THING TO DO:

In order to go out with a bang and come back in with a swoosh, we need predictions! Please submit your hopeful prediction for September 15th in the comment section of this post. No specific numbers! Simply state your prediction of having gained, having lost or having earned the "Elmo Award":

And to close this Olympic round, let's take a look at the scores:

Jeanette: ....Started with ... 187.4 ...... Ended with ... 182.9 ......
Total lost ... 4.5
Carol-Ann: Started with ... 164.7 ...... Ended with ... 160.8 ......
Total lost ... 3.9
Roger: .........Started with ... 233.4 ...... Ended with ... 229.4 ......
Total lost ... 4.0
Pat: ..............Started with ... 160.5 ...... Ended with ... 157.5 ......
Total lost ... 3.0
Andrea: ......Started with ... 186.4 ...... Ended with ... 182.2 ......
Total lost ... 4.2
Michelle: ...Started with ... 213.0 ...... Ended with ... 214.0 ......
Total gain ... 1.0
Elmo: ..........Started with ....... 3.8 ...... Ended with ....... 3.8 .......
Total lost ... 0.0

Three Cheers for the winners of GOLD, SILVER and BRONZE
And because the Gold medalist has been both a Canadian and American citizen at different times of her life, we are all standing at attention while both anthems are played and we are ALL WINNERS!

By a special note of encouragement, Michelle, if you look at our scores you will see that we have all taken turns going up and down! Next time we tally up for our medals you shall have more than one week's worth of points to count!

Congratulations, all! Don't forget to enter your prediction in the comment section! See you in September!

Ideas, anyone?

Well, everyone, what are we going to do? Carol-Ann has not weighed in yet, but she may be like me -- scared to get on the scale today! So far, we have not had any huge gains, just little ones that keep adding up, so I'm hoping we can come up with some ideas that will help all of us get back on track. Perhaps we could compile some of these and post them all together. I'm going to start us off. Andrea and I have a distance to go, and Carol-Ann and Pat are not all that far from their goals, so maybe the approaches need to be different.

1. Set mini-goals of 5 pounds. My last goal was to have the scale give me a number under 180 no matter what time of day I got on it. I met that, but now I will have to work on it again.
2. Come up with strategies that work to divert our attention. For example, I find that chewing gum sometimes helps me forget about chewing on actual food. I once knew a lady who decided that, instead of eating when she shouldn't, she would pray for her children until she forgot about the food. I thought that was very creative and served a very good purpose, as well. That might not work for all of us, but can we think of something helpful like that?
3. Is there a competition we can have going among us that would spur us on? Most weight loss in a month? At least a pound a week? Could we have a rewards section on the sidebar or at the top somewhere where we can earn (or lose??!) stars or points? Maybe several different kinds of little medals for different things, like consistent exercising?
4. How about giving ourselves a non-food reward for reaching our final goal, something we can look forward to? Maybe for reaching significant interim goals, too.

What do you think? We have to push each other somehow, but how? Tell me what you are thinking!

Spring!

Our backyard is just beautiful with apple blossoms covering the trees and the lilac hedge with buds that will soon be in full bloom.

How are we all doing on our weight loss?? Monday is coming...

Now is the time we can start to get out in the fresh air, get rid of weeds, plant flowers, and make a new start on any weight loss plans.

Good luck on Monday!

My Trip -- Part 2

In 1977 (many, many moons ago -- in fact, was I even alive then??), I was engaged to Barry, but we did not plan to get married for another long year, so I enrolled in the one-year secretarial course at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario. That was an excellent decision because what I learned that year has been the foundation for all the work I have done since then. Typing, grammar, and shorthand skills weren't the only benefits, though. Three of us students -- Pat, Frances, and I -- became friends and spent a lot of time studying together and hanging out between classes.

Over the years, Pat has been just wonderful about keeping in touch with me. She wrote lots of letters before the days of email and sent pictures and Christmas cards. I have not been nearly as good at that as she has, but I have always admired her ability to do it so well. Thirty years later, we still love to keep in touch which is much easier now with emails back and forth and blogs and such! Still, there is nothing like getting together and gabbing the hours away over coffee, which is exactly what we did during my visit with Carol-Ann. Here is Pat, looking back at me from across the coffee-shop table.

This is a weight-loss blog, so I am duty bound to say that I totally resisted the urge to get more than coffee! We were surrounded by goodies at this wonderful coffee shop, but I raised my chin and stiffened my upper lip! (Actually, I better be honest and admit that I had just eaten!) Now, though, we are starting into the Christmas season with all the goodies and big meals that go with it.

This is my plan: Keep drinking more water, take only one helping at meals, give in and eat only one little sweet each day, and run around like crazy to burn off calories!!

On a more serious note, though, I have been thinking about how in some parts of the world there is no need for weight loss because there is not even enough food to sustain healthy life. So let's remember this Christmas to be very thankful for our many, many blessings!

Let's Try Gearing DOWN This Time!

We have learned some awesome things this past week. One of them being that we are much better encouragement to each other in the area of weight-loss when we are FAR APART!

It was a wonderful week sitting here stuffing our little faces with bread and bread and more bread! We have ZERO will-power when we are together! We want to pamper each other with food, it seems! Well, I guess we've finally found a good reason why it is better to live in different countries far enough away to need to fly rather than drive for a visit!

Mom and Bruce and Kinza and I just loved having you here for a few days! Mom said as soon as the front door closed, Mini dashed to the chair and leaped up to watch us out the window when we left to take you to the airport. She said when the car finally disappeared down the road, only then did Mini give in to the reality that we'd left without her and she flopped sadly to the floor where she remained for the entire hour+ that it took for us to get back home! We've joined her with the droopy puppy ears and big sad eyes!

Thanks for all the effort it took to come and try out my new scale!

Gearing up!

Tomorrow is the next weigh-in! I think we should put Elmo's vest and scarf on him and stuff those bulbous feet into heavy shoes so he will gain some weight! Best wishes for good numbers and better figures for all of us!

To be honest, I would love to see my numbers plummeting rapidly, but I know slow and steady is more in my best interests for healthy weight loss that lasts.

I'll be eagerly checking those stats tomorrow!

What does this week look like for you?

Congratulations, Roger! What great weight loss! Maybe you could comment on what has worked so well for you thus far??

I'm doing a mental review of what is happening this week, and I'm going to need a will of steel to have any loss at all next Monday. Today is my daughter Coral's birthday. She is 28. In case you are reading this and aren't familiar with our family, she has cerebral palsy (considered severe) and has a wheelchair as her constant companion. In fact, it is quite clearly an extension of herself. We must talk in code if anything on it needs fixing, as such an event is truly unconscionable, and any talk about it will precipitate a "scene," to put it nicely! All this to say that tonight we are celebrating 28 great years with pizza and ice-cream cake (her personal favorites). Woo-hoo for my waistline!

Then Thursday is Thanksgiving where I live, so guess what is happening in my house? A turkey will be roasting to a delicious golden brown, I will be whipping potatoes with butter and sour cream, there will be stuffing and all the trimmings, and pie with whipped cream for dessert! Oh, dear! The good thing about hosting this at my house, though, is that I will be too busy to do the overeating of which I know I am capable.

Your prayers for my self-control will be truly appreciated, and I'll be praying for yours, too. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." --Galatians 5:22,23

Wait? Weight?

Ready.....Set.....WAIT!
There's still another day before we have to do the weight thing!
Let's not rush this!

Hunger Pangs = Encouragement

I have to get my encouragement wherever I can, and today it is in the hunger pangs! I don't like them very much and would really prefer to satisfy them with some munchies. BUT ... right now I am choosing to be encouraged by them. What do they mean? They mean that my stomach is not getting what it is used to getting; in fact, it is getting less than it wants. That's a good thing, but nothing seems to be satisfying them today. They keep gnawing even after that piece of chicken and the veggies should have quieted them. What's up with that?? I would like to forget about my stomach, but no, it has to gnaw, gnaw, gnaw... and not on food, I might add!

I did get a big boost today, though! The supervising nurse made a home visit to check up on Coral's health, make sure everything is going well, and check on the aide that comes each afternoon. I haven't seen her for about 3 months. She is a young mother, probably early 30s, trim and attractive.

As soon as she came in, she said, "Wow! Have you lost weight?"

Taken aback, I said the first thing that came to mind! "It's the black top I'm wearing!"

"No," she insisted. "It has to be more than that."

So I admitted, "Well, I have lost a little bit."

"How much?" She had this by the scruff of the neck and would not let it go!

"About 10 pounds."

"That's impossible! You have to tell me it is at least 15 or 20!"

I'm telling you, new energy is beginning to pump through these now sleek and svelte muscles! My face is beginning to glow! Wrinkles are disappearing! I am at least 20 years younger!!

Oh, the power of someone noticing that I did not give in to the hunger pangs! Her honest and genuine compliment to me today has made it so much easier to endure this journey I am on. There is a lesson in here somewhere...