Slow but steady is how I can describe my weight loss at this point.  Can't be too disappointed, 1 pound a week is steady progress.  Gook luck to all.  Today we will post the video of our dinner preparations from last evening...keep watching!

Hi, Everything is going well.  Tonight we will be video taping the makings of our dinner, which will be from Jillian Michaels site.  She has delicious meal plans!  If you like pork tenderloins with rosemary and mushrooms stay tuned for the next video clip.

 

To all of our friends out there...Keep up the good work!!

Denise

Well, the scale is moving VERY slowly...but...the inches are coming off.  My clothes are looser, my rings turn on my finger but the scale is slower than a turtle.  Some day the pounds will match the effort, soon I hope!

 

 

 

 

 

We did it...went to the gym for 1 hour and 50 minutes.  Tara burned 486 calories on the treadmill tonight.  I (Denise) did 10 min. warm up on the eliptical trainer, 20 minutes on the bike, a circuit of weight machines and some free weights, just can't calculate calories burned on that.  We feel great and also watched the "Biggest Loser" while working out.  Not bad for one night if I do say so myself.

 

 

 

 

 

I, Denise, accomplished doing Jillian Michael's workout this morning and then 60 minutes on the Eliptical machine and treadmill.  This is a big accomplishment for me and I am "PROUD OF WHAT I DID FOR ME" today.

I KNEW YOU COULD, I KNEW YOU COULD, I KNEW YOU COULD. 

 

Love, 

Mom

 

2 days ago I joined Jillian's site to use her as my trainer.  The site is great, plans GOOD meals and gives shopping lists plus much more.  I did my 1st workout this morning and did...almost perfect.  Some sets of 15 were shortened to 12 but let's face it, it has been a very long time since I lifted a weight.  I feel really good about today and the days to come.  Denise

Well today I (Denise) had my Sestamibi Stress Testing and the result is that I can workout as much as I want.  My endurance far exceeds what is normal for my age.  I did cough after the workout and needed my inhaler and cough drop...but I can live with that.  NO CARDIAC ISSUES!!  Time to go to the gym.  My diet for the past 3 days has been excellent so off to the races we go.

I call it ~ Veggie Garlic Tandoori Pizza

 

 

 

 

 

So somebody please come to my house and kick my butt all the way to the gym! I have the best intentions; acting on them seems to be a different story~

 

Tomorrow WILL be a GO TO THE GYM DAY!

 

I, Tara, vow from this day forward to get off my butt and be a work-out-a-holic instead of a shop-a-holic!

 

 

Day 4 did not go so well for me (Denise) because of a birthday party.  I have lost only 1 lb since 1/1/08 but have not been able to go to the gym due to the asthmatic symptoms I am having.  Today is the beginning of day 5, maybe walking slowly on the treadmill will work so today I will try that (a little exercise is better than none.  Hope everyone elses efforts are paying off.

Today the healthy eating has been going good... my problem has been eating enough I think. At meal times I definitely each well portioned meals but getting in those snacks in between is harder than I thought. When I was student teaching at an Elementary School it was easy because the second graders got snack time so I ate at snack time too! Now I don't even seem to be hungry between meals. I forced myself to have some chips and salsa (this is how I get in enough vegetables for the day). Don't worry the chips are whole grain and organic. ok ok so maybe saying that only makes me feel better about eating them. However, I ate 1 slice of toast for breakfast, a half of a deli chicken sandwhich, applesauce, and a water for lunch, and for snack; it was chips and salsa.  We will be having organic hamburgers for dinner (mine will be without the bun, of course). So it wasn't such a horrible day... one step at a time, right?

For as long as I can remember, my mother and I have been overweight. My mother, before she was married to my father and before giving birth to me, weighed 105 lbs on her 5'1 frame. She was thin growing up and throughout her early early adulthood. It was not until having me she went from 115 lbs into the 130's then 140's and the scale kept on climbing to a weight she vowed never to see on the scale again; that weight was 199 lbs. Fortunately for her she hasn't reached that weight again but unfortunately her weight scales just below it.

 

I on the otherhand have never been a thin person, always chubby or as my friends like to call it we are fluffy. In kindergarten, I weighed somewhere around 56 lbs. If you aren't sure this is overweight for a 5-6 year old. When I was 10 I remember my doctor telling my mom that I was developing high cholesterol and that if my weight stayed at 111 lbs I would grow into my weight. At 12 years old I weighed 122 lbs and was an adult size 8 (I remember my favorite pair of LEVI shorts were that size). At 13 I was lying to my friends, saying that I weighed 120 when really I weighed 136. Numbers I would love to see now. At 14, the scale went up to 164 lbs. I wore pajama pants and loose fitting clothes so that I didn't have to shop at the plus size section of stores. At 15, my best friend and I went on a diet. The eat as little as you can in a day and hope your stomach doesn't eat you alive diet. We lost 30 lbs each and finally fit into a size 9. At 135 lbs, we were happy. Over the next year I am not sure how much I weighed because it didn't seem important to me to weigh myself, all I knew was that I was thinner than most of my closest friends and I was about a suck in away from a size 5. That was the thinnest I had and have ever come close to.

 

My family tries to eat right and we do most of the time. It is the ice cream and candy and cookies we have a hard time with. Self-Control I suppose, is something my mother and I lack. I am one half of a newlywed couple. My husband is a moderate sized man. He likes to say he is manican size. He never has to try anything one because if you just look at the manican thats the size you have to buy. He is a Medium in tops and has a 32-34 waist. I on the otherhand struggle to find descent pants that aren't either too tight or too long on my 5'2 frame. My mother shops primarily at Lane Bryant and can never find something that fits her properly either. She is petite in the shoulders and legs and struggles to find pants that fit her belly correctly.

 

Clothes shopping sucks. I have learned to love shoes and purses. They are forgiving in the thighs and belly and the right pair of shoes thin out those calves. My mother just avoids clothes shopping when she can but when in need we need hours of trying things on and plenty of feeling defeated.