The Firm works!!!!!!!

I want to thank you all for thinking of my daughter. I say "the baby" - but she will be 3 this weekend, so I guess she's not technically a baby anymore. She's still MY baby though. At any rate, she's fine now. She spent much of the weekend laying on the couch and telling me how sick she was so I would let her watch another movie. She's a stinker. Thankfully the other 2 kids and hubby never did get sick and I was only queasy that first day - which was probably the hypochondriac in me shining through   

What I really want to talk about is The Firm - and more specifically the new TransFirmation series. I started it on 12/19/07 and got in 3 workouts before putting it away for the holidays. I got back to it on January 1st and on Sunday 1/13/08 finished the first 10 workout rotation (only it took me 13 since I had that false start LOL). The Firm promises visible results in 10 workouts and it's true! Here are my results:

• Weight ~ lost 4.2 pounds (not HUGE, but remember the holidays!)
• upper chest ~ lost 2 inches
• bust ~ lost 2 inches
• midriff ~ lost 2.5 inches
• upper arm ~ lost .5 inch
• waist ~ lost .5 inch
• hips ~ lost 2 inches
• thigh ~ lost 2 inches
• calf ~ stayed the same

That's 11.5 inches in 2ish weeks. I'll take it!!! My thighs and calves are definitely more muscular. I can feel the muscles in my arms, but I can't see them yet. I'm sure I must be doing some good things to my abs - but they are so hidden by fluff that it'll just have to be a nice surprise for me as the weight comes off  I'll measure again after the next 10 workouts - I'm really hoping the inches keep melting off because the pounds are hanging on a little too tightly these days!

Weigh in day!

I don't have much time to post this morning because I need to make a phone call and the baby has the flu, but I wanted to post my weigh in results.

I'm down 1.8 pounds this week!!!! I maintained last week and the scale has been looking about the same all this week, but then made a huge drop overnight. Love it when that happens!

I will try to pop back in later today and catch up on blogs. Hope you are all having an awesome week!!!! Please pray that no one else in my house comes down with this nasty bug *ugh*

I'm such a dork!

I spent so much time catching up on eveyrone else's blogs (which is a GOOD thing) that now I'm too tired to put any effort into my own LOL

So nothing but the facts today!

• I'm up to day 7 in my exercise challenge! Yesterday I did Hi Def Sculpt and today I did Cardio Party. I'm really not a HUGE fan of CP, but I'm getting better at it.
• I'm taking my daily vitamin like a good girl
• I'm drinking lots and lots and lots of water every day
• My pants are starting to feel a little loose and my shorts are about ready to fall off
• I've been making great food choices and trying lots of new (healthy) recipes.
• The Biggest Loser was FABULOUS last night!!!

So that's it from my house. I'm feeling a little feverish tonight so I'm gonna' go lay down in front of the fan (I do live in Florida afterall) and veg out with The Bob Newhart Show or maybe some Mary Tyler Moore.

Have a good one!!!

The shimmies are not for amateurs

Howdy campers! Hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend. It's been pretty low key around my house - which is definitely a good thing. The kids are still wound pretty tight and very, VERY loud. I will never understand why they can't just speak in a normal tone of voice, but they certainly seem to lack the capacity. Next week we get back to our school routine, so I'll wear out their brains and then send them out into the yard to wear out their bodies...then maybe it'll quiet down around here

In exercise news, today is January 5th and I have already earned $5 from my exercise challenge. In case you lost count, that means I've been exercising EVERY DAY! Today was The Firm's Cardio Party. It's not my favorite workout, but it does get the ticker pumping. The last segment is Allie del Rio's "Fiesta" which involves some latin dances. I am soooo not coordinated, but I give it my best shot. Thank goodness I don't have an audience (or a mirror!) when I work out because the shimmies would be too funny to watch.

Tonight's dinner:

• spaghetti with whole wheat pasta
• whole wheat garlic bread (with some mozzarella)
• broccoli
• corn
• pears
• milk

And later (after the kids are in bed and I can hear myself think) I'll have a brownie in a mug for dessert. YUM!!!!

I still need to drink a little more water and take my vitamin - but it's been a pretty good day.

Off to a great start

I've been working hard at losing weight for the last week, and today I was rewarded with a big old maintain  It's ok, REALLY, but a loss sure would have put a smile on my face. Next week though!

I've always heard that losing weight is more about the journey than the goal, and lately that's been sinking in a bit more. Maybe it's my "old" age speaking, but I'm finally at the point where I'm comfortable with slow losses. Of course I'd be thrilled to see those Biggest Loser losses, but I'm not willing to put in THAT kind of work. I have a husband, three kids and a puppy to take care of. I homeschool and clean and shop and play on the computer and read...I don't want to stop everything and workout 2-4 hours/day and deprive myself of all my favorite foods just so I can post big numbers each week. So I'm happy making small changes in my diet and exercise habits and truly making this more of a lifestyle change than a temporary diet. I did the diet thing before. It didn't work. That's why I'm taking this journey again. I'd like to think I'm not just older this time around, but also smarter and more patient. We'll see.

Having said that, I've really upped the exericse now that I've started using The Firm's TransFirmation series. I'm not in love with the cardio workouts, but I really like the sculpting and cardio fusion workouts. So far I'm on day 4 - can't wait until I can take my measurements after my 10th workout to see how far I've come.

I've joined a 100 day exercise challenge. The idea is to put $1 in a jar every time you exercise and when you get in that 100th workout, you have $100 to buy something for yourself. I haven't decided what I'll get yet. I was thinking about an MP3 player, but I'm not sure I would use it since I don't walk or jog often. What else do you use yours for??? I was also thinking about getting that Hoopnotica set I've been dreaming about for ages, but I can't decide. Another option would be to just buy a bunch of different workout videos from www.collagevideo.com - like yoga, line dancing, Richard Simmons - fun stuff to keep it all interesting. For now I think I'll just keep collecting that money until I reach $100 and then figure out what to do with it. How fun to have possiblities!!!

The other thing I'm doing to keep it all interesting is a recipe challenge. I am trying 1 to 2 new recipes every week. This week I made Crockpot Sour Cream Salsa Chicken and after I get groceries I'm going to make Oatmeal Creme Brulee. Next week I'm making a hamburger helper style recipe and "church" potatoes (which is a healthy version of the cheesey hashbrowns that always show up at church pot lucks).

And since pre-planning NEVER hurts, I (yes ME -  the queen of cooking on the fly) made a dinner menu for next week. So far it looks good and it's making me hungry  

Happy New Year!!!!!

Hope everyone had a wonderful New Year's Eve!!! Ours was really nice - hung out with hubby and the kids, played some games, ate some snacks. Definitely low key and fun.

My big news is that when I stepped on the scale this morning, I was DOWN another .2 pounds. Again, not a huge amount - but I'm THRILLED considering it's New Year's Day. Today's not my official WI day (that's Friday) but I wanted a beginning weight for the year and for my new workout schedule. So 237.6 is my 2008 starting point!

My goals for 2008:

• exercise 230 out of 365 days
• drink a minimum of 3 bottles of water each day
• take a daily multi-vitamin
• make and keep a dr's appt

I lost 8.2 pounds for the month of December - my January weightloss goal is 7 pounds. I did The Firm's Hard Core Fusion today - definitely a good workout! I don't care for their cardio workouts because they move so quickly, but I am vowing to stick with it because I want to melt off a few inches and more than a few pounds. I can't remember if I've posted this before, but I want to get to Onderland by 4th of July so I need to lose about 1.5 pounds each week. It's a big goal, but it's doable if I am conscientious about what I'm doing...and lucky at the scale!

Gotta' scoot for now. The Biggest Loser is about to start and I could really use the extra motivation. I may even get all crazy and spend some time on the elliptical during the show  

Down, down, down

I'm down .4 this week. Not a huge loss, but definitely better than a gain! I'll take it :o)

Not much new to report on this week. I'm nursing another migraine (dang weather) and dealing with extremely grumpy kids (excitement hangover, I suppose) - but otherwise we're trucking right along. I've only done a couple of Firm workouts, but intend to hit it hard after NYE.

Anyone do New Year's resolutions? I usually vow to make THIS the year that I lose the weight...but I'm not going to do that this year. I'm just going to keep doing what I've been doing for the last month and continually make adjustments and improvements to my program and see what happens. I would LOVE for this to be the last "fat" NYE - but I've been fat for a long time and I'm ok with it taking awhile to get normal-sized. So this year I'm just resolving to take care of myself - through diet, exercise, dr visits, Bible studies, whatever it takes.

Does anyone know what day the new Biggest Loser season starts? I can't wait!!! I'm not in love with how they do the show, but honestly, watching those people huff their way through the workouts really does motivate me to get up off my duff.

Another day, another WI

I am down another pound this week despite TOM's crazy arrival! I'm still caffeine free, but I have had a couple of Sprites in the last week. Once when we were at Pizza Hut last Friday and then another one last night with my Subway sub. I think I had one last Sunday too...but I can't remember. Anyway, I'm so happy I was able to kick my Pepsi addiction and can be satisfied with 3 CF drinks in a week vs 3 Pepsi's every day!!! Gee I wonder why this weight is finally coming off?

My TransFirmation set arrived on Tuesday! I originally planned to wait until after the holidays to use it, but I couldn't resist and did my first workout on Wednesday. I really liked Hi Def Sculpt, but wasn't overly thrilled with Cardio Party. Some friends told me they didn't like it at first either, but it's grown on them now that they know the steps and can keep up. We'll see about that! I could never get into my other Firm workouts because the pace was too quick. But I'll stick with it since they seem so happy with it. I really liked the sculpting workout though and had sore muscles the next day for my effort. I was complaining to hubby that it seems like I'm sore if I do work out and sore if I don't. Guess there's no reason to quit then, is there? LOL

So holiday plans...food isn't really an issue for me since we'll be doing the family thing with just the 5 of us. I meant to order a ham, but never did. I wonder if it's too late? I should probably talk to hubby and see what he wants to do for a back up! We'll probably have broccoli & cauliflower, rolls, mashed potatoes and pumpkin fluff for dessert. Nothing crazy or super fattening. We still have a HUGE bowl of Halloween candy, so I don't plan to get much for the girls' stocking (especially since my youngest is allergic to most of it anyway). I don't think food will be much of a problem this holiday. YAY!

I have some Christmas money burning a hole in my pocket already. I'm really really really thinking about getting that Hoopnotica workout. But, if I was smart, I'd put the money in the bank since I just got this Firm stuff. That's so boring though LOL I swear I'm just like a little kid when I have extra money - can't wait to spend it.

I'm gonna' pop into a few blogs and see how everyone is doing. Hope you all have a wonderful and blessed Christmas!!!!!

Big loser!

I did it! I'm down another 2.8 for a grand total of 6.7 since recommitting to Weight Watchers this month. Woohoo! Gotta' love how the program works when you work the program :) And what do I have to thank for this weight loss? Certainly paying more attention to what I'm eating and my comfort zone, but a big 'thank you very much' goes to God for helping my FINALLY kick my Pepsi addiction. Prayer works.

Speaking of The Biggest Loser (I'm sure I was  ) I can't wait for the finale show. I'm really rooting for Amy - wanna' see how she did it on her own. She looked great at the end of "her" show. I'd also like to see Amber again. I don't know if you remember, but she was the first one kicked off - the one who told Kim to send her home during one of their first workout sessions. I really hope she found the strength to make some life changes. Of the final 4, Julie is my favorite - but I really don't care who wins. I'm just happy Neil is gone!

I have a couple of NSV's to report: (1) I went to my daughters' girls' club Christmas party and ate NONE of the goodies. Instead I nibbled on my 100 Cal pack and sipped my water and was happy as can be and (2) We went to Pizza Hut tonight and I enjoyed a salad and ONE slice of pizza. Is that not INSANE? I'd really love to hit the 10 pound mark by Christmas so I'm trying to just choose my splurges wisely. So far, so good.

That's it from my end of the world. Hope you guys aren't all snow bound. From the sounds of the weather forecasters it's gonna' be a NASTY weekend for you northerners. Stay warm!!!!!

You Got Your Peanut Butter in My Chocolate Mousse

I haven't tried this yet, but I'm going to!!!!! You Got Your Peanut Butter in My Chocolate Mousse

Serves 4 - 8

Ingredients:

• 1 box sugar-free fat-free Chocolate Fudge pudding mix
• 4 Cups fat-free plain yogurt, separated
• 1 box sugar-free fat-free White Chocolate pudding mix
• 2 splashes SF Davinci Peanut Butter Syrup

Instructions:

1. In a bowl, mix 2 cups of yogurt with the chocolate mix.
2. In a separate bowl, mix remaining ingredients.
3. Put both bowls in fridge for 5 - 10 minutes.
4. Layer in 4-8 desert bowls and serve.

Cook’s Notes
I think using sugar-free fat-free vanilla or cheesecake pudding mixes in place of the sugar-free fat-free white chocolate would be just as tasty.

Inspired by the creative minds on the Weight Watcher’s message boards.