Exercise! I hate it!

My life has been very hectic as of late and as such the first thing to go for me is exercise. I would rather get the other things done. Until this changes in my life my weight will always be a challenge for me. Until I decide that exercise and a well balanced diet comes first as a daily chore before things like errands and sleep I will never be the size I want to be. Now as a part of this challenge this goal or pursuit if you will I need to daily decide what is most important and what is best for my life, which should always be my health.

So as we move through the weeks, I ask you to hold me accountable, to choose exercise over sleeping for just a bit longer.

This is the same concept as your daily time with the Lord, so many times when our lives get out of control or get to busy the first thing we put on the shelf is our Bibles and we leave them there until it is convenient for us again. Just like with exercise we will never get where we want with out daily being engrossed in the Word of Christ, with out His daily guidance our day just wont go right.

So a new challenge has just been formed, along with daily saying I am going to exercise instead of sleep, first wake and read some scripture, spend a few moments quietly speaking with God, then move on to exercise. See if it makes your day easier, see if you feel healthier and happier through the day, see if you dont struggle as much to put the important things first. Let me know how it changes your life.

Good luck! I will let you know how it changes mine.

DPA

DPA Meeting two commenced. Lets start with old business My name is Ginger Davis and I have not gone a day with out Dr. Pepper in a long time. I am struggling with my ability to give this horrible, yet so deliciously wonderful drink up. Last time we talked about knowing how bad it was for me but drinking it anyway. Well once again all the bad side effects have not swayed my desire to drink it. However moving on to new Business next week I will be embarking on a Cruise with my mom and Best friend, Robin. If any of you have been on a cruise before you know how outrageously expensive sodas are, so I will be going a week with no Dr. Pepper by the sheer fact that I dont want to PAY that much for one. So hopefully that week on the ship will have a huge impact by the time I come back and my cravings will be down allowing it to be easier for me to accomplish this goal. Now if there is no more new business this meeting of DPA is adjourned.

Well I have not been faithful and diligent in this challenge, I have not put as much focus into this as I really should have. In the past couple weeks my life has been insanely busy from taking on a remodel project, having company, to hosting a garage sale at my home, I have not had time to focus on anything. During week four I did lose 2.5 pounds, but this past week I fell short and stayed right where I was at. Sadly this week has not been a huge change from the norm. I have eaten slightly healthier but not like I should. I did go shopping last night and purchase food that would make healthy eating decisions easier bc I didnt buy the bad stuff lol.

On the Menu for lunch today is a 350 Calorie Marie Calendar meal with a salad and all the trimmings, mushrooms, carrots, cucumbers, spinach, romaine, purple cabbage, with lite honey mustard dressing. Heres to trying for another week and hoping that week six is better than week 5.

Next week on my cruise, they have such a wonderful array of healthy foods, but dessert is always my favorite so I will keep you posted on the decisions that are made. Wish me luck.

Week Five We're half way there

It seems like nothing in life can come easily, but gaining weight, however the hard part is in taking it all off. So here is the struggle from last week as we try to focus on healthy eating, exercise and making time to change our lives for the better.

Beth ~ Lost .5 lbs! Way to go Bethany, she says, "I lost half a pound, but that is ok, because I am on my way at least"

Robin ~ " I lost nothing, didnt make a true effort towards the goal so I deserved it"

Ginger ~ I stayed the same this past week. Struggle with so many things going on in my life. Choosing to get less sleep to exercise is still not my first choice. It is a learning process and I am getting better. Still on my way to better health.

The 30 Challenge

So I set out on a challenge of running 30 mins in 30 days.

It seemed crazy to me to think that I could ever in my entire life run for 30 mins straight, but with a 5k goal by this summer it was something that I need to accomplish.

So on wed. April 14th I reached day 30 and I could run for 30 mins straight! I was pretty much running very slow, but thats not the point right now! I ran 2.3 miles in 30 mins! I couldn't have done it without the support of my husband with me. 23 laps around the indoor track (because it was pouring snow outside) is kind of boring! but we made it!

I would encourage anyone who doesn't think they can run for a long period of time or at all to give it a try. The routine is pretty simple. On the first day you run for one minute walk for 29.
The second day you run for 2 mins and walk for 28. And you just follow this schedule until you make it to day 30 when you run 30 mins straight. I still walked a couple laps at the end of my 30 mins, to slow my heart rate back down, but thats good.

so at the begining of my month I could probably not have even jogged for 5 mins and now i can do it for 30 mins straight. Running really is a good endurance workout. It helps you be able to last durning Turbo Kick class and do now if i do the eliptical for 30 mins I can burn more calories then before in the same amount of time.

So 30 mins might not seem like that long, but I sure am proud of myself! So now I'm going to continue on towards the goal of the 5k and the 10% and of course those skinny jeans!!

Week 4 How did Easter affect us?

Week for proved to be a trying week for all of us. Easter hit us pretty hard. Why do Holidays come with so much eating? I think we need to set out to change that. So here is how it went for everyone.

Robin ~ "I stayed the same, again! Really it makes sense though because I've been so scattered, I haven't been focusing on what I eat - plus Easter = coconut filled Hershey kisses"

Ginger ~ "I lost 2.5 LBS!!! I was super shocked, with Easter candy and not working out like I should I expected to have gained, but my husband and I worked our tails off all week on our house and putting in the garden. All that sweating must have paid off."

Beth ~ "Well this week I stayed the same on my weight. But I have kept on schedule with my running so that's a plus!"

Three weeks and counting

I guess the title has two meanings - we've been going for just over three weeks at this challenge and I haven't stayed steady on towards my goal.  Also, its three weeks and counting (down) until I embark on a cruise.  I want to hit my goal by that time - 10 pounds in 3 weeks, I can do it!   I think...

I tried on some shorts (old, yes) that I'd put on last summer to have fit (I'd lost some weight then too) and they sure didn't fit on Saturday... They may not fit by the time we leave but they will again sometime soon.

On that subject - I need/want to go clothes shopping before we leave - I can't be walking around the cruise ship in jeans.  It's hard to accept buying new clothes when I am not at my goal weight, but the point is that I will look better in clothes that fit rather than baggy or super tight pieces.  If I take a real liking to a piece, I can get it altered, or do it myself once it no longer fits.

The Biggest Loser Pound for Pound Challenge

Last week was a rough week for me. I started out good doing lots of out door activities and being unusally active for my self. Not necessarily doing any specific exercise, but doing lots of out door chores. Then as the week went on I managed to get the flu which put a nice little halt to most of my activity. So when the week came to a close and I had only lost a pound I wasnt to happy about it, but decided to cheer up and look on the bright side of things. Now this has been three weeks since we started and I have lost 3 pounds. If I am going to reach my goal of ten percent in 10 weeks I really need to step up my game. I need to focus more and really try my hardest to accomplish a healthier life style, something that will make the rest of my life so much easier if I could just get over the hurdle of losing the weight.

Now on a different not as I am sure you could tell from one of my previous post I am an avid biggest loser fan. I have been watching since the very first season. I can still remember watching that with my older brother every week during my first year in college. As many changes have come with my life since the first season so they have also come to the show. The Biggest loser now provides a simple and easy way to be involved and help the hunger epidemic in America. Which is huge because while most of the American population spends their time over eating there are still so many people who must spend their days in hunger only dreaming of when they might be able to get another meal.

Through all of this watching the biggest loser I have seen the pound for pound challenge for several seasons and done nothing about it. Now that I am committed to a weight loss of 10% in 10 weeks I have no excuse not to join. Today I took the plunge, no more excuses. I encourage everyone out there to also take the pound for pound challenge and be apart of helping the vast and widespread hunger issues in America. It is simple easy, and only takes a few moments of your time to change the lives of several Americans.

Best of luck!

Week 3

So as I'm sure you can tell from our posts, week three was a slow one - or a busy one, depending on how you look at it.

Robin reports in with "no weight loss - better than last week's gain, but still not quite helping towards my goal."

Ginger says: "One pound this week, nothing to blame it on, but lack of energy towards the goal. Pushing on for better results this week."

Bethany shares: "One more pound down this week and up to 19 min jogging outside!"

Great job ya'll - let's keep going!