How's Everyone doing??

Well we are a little over half way through with this challenge and I was wondering how we were all doing? I am losing weight but def not half of what I want. Looks like I need to step it up!

I have lost about 5 lbs total.... yep that's it. But I am just glad its going down and not up. Post your updates and let us know what's going on! Love you all! -Ara

First Weigh IN

Well Dad and I weighed in this morning.

Dad lost 3 pounds and I lost 1 pound.

Yes, I was a little depressed, but it didn't last long.

I am determined to loose more this next week.

Then it will be hard to loose since I will be down and out for a while.

I will order my wet suit soon!! LOL

Praying you all had success too!

Love to all, Mom (and Dad)

I hope you all are ready!!!

I hope you all are ready to get this weight loss fun going! You should already have your chart made, found your scale and tape measure and put it all in a well-seen area. You should also have done your first weigh-in today.

Make sure you record your first weight and inch measurements on your chart and start thinking about what your goal is going to be.

Here is a weight calculator that you may find helpful... http://myweightlosscalculator.com/

It seems a little complicated to me but you can at least hit the 'measure your metabolism' link and it will help you know what kind of calories you are probably burning right now and how you can change it in the future to meet your goal.

Remember you are in charge of your own weight loss plan.... try new things and keep track of what your doing and share with us what works!

Personally I have decided to plan to lose about 2 lbs a week so my goal is to lose 26 lbs. Leave a comment and let us know your goal!!!

New Challenge to start us off in the right direction!

I have an idea.... lets get back to losing weight and getting fit!

Here's my challenge:

Week 1: Find your scale, Measuring tape, and make a chart

This week (starting today) find your scale and dust it off. I know my scale is looking kind of shabby since the whole pregnancy thing. I got the joy of weighing in at every doctors visit so I avoided weighing in at home at all costs!
Find a measuring tape! Not the hard metal kind for construction.. you need the vinyl kind that will wrap around your arms, waist and hips! Put this measuring tape in the same location as your scale. (the measuring tape is a great addition to the scale because some weeks you can see inches come off even when the pounds aren't!)

These both should be in a place where you cannot ignore them... thinking about putting mine in the kitchen! A great reminder when I'm in a snacking mood!

Lastly, make a chart. You will need to start on Monday, September 19th. You will weigh every single Monday for 3 months. So on Monday you will fill in your current weight and then you will figure out a goal for 3 months and fill that in.... next Monday I will make another post on how to make a healthy realistic goal for yourself. You will need to reply to that post saying what your goal is. You don't have to say your weight number... just say something like "my goal is to lose 30 lbs" and then each Monday you will tell us how much you lost (or gained :P) that week. You will also need to post something you are trying that seems to be working for you, such as "eating more veggies" or "walking at night". You are in charge of your own weight loss, but maybe charting it all together will help us try new things and get us all moving in the right direction!

OK - so let me know what you think and if you're up for this challenge! The people who reach their goal at the end of this challenge get to throw water balloons at the people who didn't during Christmas vacation (and the losers have to buy the water balloons and fill them up)!

Love you all, Ara D.

PS....Mom, let me know if Dad wants to join this challenge! You guys can post together if you want (but you have to do your own separate charts!)

Bad Example

I want to apologize to all three of my sweet girls, my husband and to anyone else reading this blog. I have been a very bad example. I seem to start out with a bang and then I let life, stress, work, and almost anything else get in my way of progress.

I am the best at making excuses and "starting over".

No excuses this time - I am a bad health example for my 3 daughters.

My New Years resolution is to purge purge purge - not only weight, but stuff in my life. Stuff around the house, cluttered closets, furniture and schedules. I plan to go to the gym at least 3 times per week to at least walk and I plan to cut way down on all the food and snacks that I eat. I love food, but I am old enough now that the food I eat just stays with me and makes me bigger and unhealthier!

I am going to be a YaYa in May and I want to be able to enjoy every minute of that grandchild's life and others to come in future years. I am a young 54, but I need to change my eating habits and start moving more, so I can stay that way. I also want to be a better (on the way to GOOD) health example for my beautiful 3 daughters. PaPa and I both need to eat better and exercise so we can grow old together and enjoy the later years of life that God will bless us with.

The Fall challenge is still on - we will still weigh in on Dec. 19th and the most weight lost or maintained will still get their bonus. So in 8 days, girls, we all step on the scales and send a text to Mommy. The winner will be surprised at Christmas.

Looking forward to Christmas and New Years with my beautiful family and friends!

Looking forward to the 2011 New Year with the additional blessings from God of the arrival of our 1st Grandchild and a new way of living life - with less stuff and weight.

Love and prayers, Mom

Well Hello

So i finally figured out my password. i have been reading the blog and everything! I am so proud of everyone and how we are pressing each other to do better.

Up here in colllege im doing great! I am trying to eat right but mostly im focusing on porchens and how much i eat. I work out almost evey day but one day to let my body rest and then if i have a huge test to study for!!! I have also learned that when i dont work out i get really cranky or really down, but when i work out im at a cofertabul level to study and consontrate and be relaxed to deal with stressful situations i might come across.

Today at the Rec i came across a Judo matches going on and it made me miss how hard wrestling pushed me and so i pushed myself really hard at the gym today :)

I also am having to learn how to balance everything that i want to do and who i want to be, so that could be another reason why im down or feel bad about myself.

i feel really incarged reading all of your updates and im so proud of my family taking the first steps to haveing a helthy long life!!! :)

love always
Emma

Birthday Weekend Splurge

It was worth it, but not it is time to get back to the schedule.
Over the GREAT birthday weekend, I ate the food I wanted, at meal time. I didn't really snack much AND we did a lot of walking, site-seeing, and riding Segways!! When I tried on a pair of dress pants this morning for work, they fit better than they had in the past. I know that I didn't loose any weight celebrating in San Antonio, but I don't think I gained any either.

Starting tomorrow, Oct. 8, I plan to get back on schedule. I am also going to begin my own challenge. For 2 weeks I plan to eat very few carbohydrates. I know that My body craves the carbs, but I am going to fight against those cravings for 2 weeks in hopes of seeing success in weight loss. Then I will slowing add them back into my meals, but at a minimum. I know that a balanced diet is the only way to eat and stay healthy.

I am not asking for any of my girls to do this challenge with me, because DiAnn and my grandbaby need the carbs now, Carlyn needs the energy carbs provide to keep up her hectic schedule, and Emmalee is too active to cut out the carbs - her body needs them to help keep up her energy to study and exercise too. Just keep eating healthy and pray that I can fight the cravings.

Love you all, Mom

Challenge Ended......Ara Failed

Well..... I did not do so good! For those of you reading I want you to know that I just found out that I am pregnant so this whole challenge went out the window for me - lol.

Lately I have been feeling sick looking at certain foods, I've been tired, had cramps and the only thing in the world I want to eat right now is ribs. No sides.... just ribs and a cold glass of water.

So needless to say I did not feel like cooking or even eating what I cooked if I did. Kevin has been wonderful and has taken me out for ribs and even gone for a few small cravings throughout the week.

Conveniently he and I are on the same craving wave-length! When I crave something... it suddenly sounds good to him too!

Anyway, I do want to complete this challenge. I am starting to feel better than I was so I hope that when most of my nausea has gone away I can complete it. I actually think we got through the first week fine.... it was the second week that went down the toilet!

How did you guys do??

Stuffed Green Bell Peppers

I don't really have a recipe for this one (just kinda threw it together)

So tonight I made stuffed green peppers with shrimp, rice and onions... And will put up a picture soon... I made two, but want to add something to it before I put a picture up. It is really good the way it is, but I feel it is kinda missing something... Not sure what to add... any suggestions?

New Recipe to Share

Spinach & Chicken Quiche
(Bob's Title: Spinach, Cheese & Chicken Pie because "real" men don't eat quiche)

1/2 cup chopped Red Onions*, saute
1/2 tsp. minced garlic, saute
4 tsp. butter
10 oz. Pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
3/4 tsp. Tobasco sauce
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. fresh basil leaves (from the jar is good)
5 whole mushrooms, sliced
1 cup Lowfat Bisquick
1 cup Lowfat Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded
4 eggs ( I threw out 2 of the yokes), beat well
1 1/2 cup lowfat milk
4 cooked boneless/skinless chicken breasts*, cut up

Saute onion and garlic in melted butter. Add mushroom slices and cook until tender. Remove from heat and add all the rest of the ingredients. Mix well. Grease a 10" deep pie plate and pour the mixture in carefully. Bake 45 to 50 minutes on 350 degrees. Should be firm in the middle.
Let stand 10 minutes before serving. While waiting add 1/4 cup more shredded cheese over the top if desired. Fix a salad and your meal is ready. Make 6 large pie slices of quiche or 8 smaller slices.

This was a big hit with Bob, even though he doesn't like the official name. He still ate it up.
For those that don't eat meat - I would add more mushrooms or portabellas in place of the chicken. For those that don't like onions, you can leave them out, but you will be missing out on some wonderful flavor!!

:)) Tonight, I made a homemade Fruit Smoothie for my dinner. It is really good, but Emmalee still makes the best!!

:{{ One mistake I have made in cooking this week - - I added fresh broccoli to a whole pan of King Ranch Chicken. The broccoli flavor took over. No matter how much sour cream and Picante we added, it still tasted like a broccoli casserole. So, don't add broccoli to your King Ranch - serve it on the side with cheese and it will be a great meal!!

Be sure to share your new creations and lets us know about your cooking mistakes!!!

Love ya, Mom

New Challenge Starts Tomorrow - 2 Weeks of Homemade Food!

Hi Guys - our new challenge starts tomorrow and here are the rules!!!

It starts at breakfast tomorrow (Sept 8th) and goes through to midnight on September 21st. This is a challenge to keep us from eating restaurant, frozen or pre-packaged meals. Keep that in mind if you have a not so clear decision to make...

1. Do not eat out at restaurants or fast food places unless you are asked by friends or there is a planned event you will be attending. BUT DO NOT try and trick your friend into asking you out to eat... that is cheating!! If you do go to a restaurant with a friend.... make healthy decisions and DO NOT bring home a doggie bag (I know this seems wasteful but maybe try to order something smaller or share so that you will not have any leftovers).

2. Do not eat frozen meals. I say 'frozen meals' because I still think you should be able to use frozen veggies or fruit and make it into something homemade... I don't expect you to home grow all your veggies..... We are trying to stay away from things like frozen pizza, lean cuisines and hot pockets!

3. No prepackaged meals ...... such as Lunchables, Cans of Soup or Ramen (unless used inside another recipe). We are also trying to break the lazy habit of just having a can of soup because we don't want to do anything else.... they are usually stuffed with sodium. Instead look up an easy, healthy recipe to make your own soup! This will also mean YOU know what the ingredients in it are.... and can pronounce them!

4. Things like bread or lunch meat are fine.... as long as you are making YOUR OWN sandwich.... not picking one up at Subway! You can make this pretty easily but I would encourage you to find some new sandwich recipes and see if you can make things as yummy at home as they seem in a sub shop!

5. Cereal and Milk are fine for breakfast at home. Remember we are just trying to keep ourselves from running through McD's on the way to work. Also if you want coffee or something at work/school you can have it if its made there or bring your own but NO STARBUCKS!!

6. Try a new recipe each week (it will be 2 total in the end). Its bad to get stuck in the same recipes over and over because we get bored and we go out to eat. Try new things and see what you like. You may never know that you were able to make Chicken Cordon Bleu at home so easily! REMEMBER to share the recipe that you tried here on the site. Tell us if you liked it.... if you changed anything... and how easy it was.

*** I don't want to make a rule for every kind of food but I think you can see from here what we are focusing on. I will let you guys be the judge for your own decisions. If you feel that what you are about to eat was made by you and was not the easy way out - then good, you can eat it!

Best of luck to everyone!!! Leave comments if you have any questions! -Ara

New Challenge to BEGIN Wed. 9-8-10

NEED to hear from Carlyn and Emmalee about the last contest.

NEW competition begins tomorrow - Wed. Sept. 8!!

Ara DiAnn - lay out some of the guidelines like,

1) Must home cook every meal - breakfast - lunch - dinner?? or carry something that was made from home - sandwich, etc.

2) Do not buy fast food or drive thru for 2 weeks.

3) If invited out by friends or already invited to an event - exceptions are made.

4) Try a new recipe each week.

5) etc. - confirm these guidelines and any others

Looking forward to the challenge!! Love ya, Mom

Mom's Results

I can proudly say that I passed the sugar test. My only slip up was when my sweet husband offered me a cup of morning coffee on our 33rd Anniversary morning. He was so sweet, I just couldn't tell him that I wasn't supposed to have the creamer in the coffee. That was the only cup I had with creamer - the next 2 were black.

I also have to say that I haven't even craved any chocolate this week. My chocolate jar is still full at work for my peers and they love me for it, but this week I continued to pass by the jar and not take one piece. Truthfully, I haven't craved sugary items this week at all. I just pray that this continues.

Congratulations, Kevin and Ara D. give yourselves a star for completion. Give me a star also.
Need to hear from Carlyn and Emmalee. Love to you ALL, Mom

Challenge Results - Ara and Kevin

Well, Kevin gets an F...... well I'd maybe give him a D- because he only messed up a couple times (that I know of). And it's not that he forgot - oh no..... he just has a huge sweet tooth I guess!

I did pretty good with the help of Stevia and Jamba Juice. They were good to help curb the overwhelming urge for sugar!!! I avoided all sorts of cookies, drinks, and even desserts that people offered to buy for us!!! It was a tough week but it really made me realize all the times I had to actively turn down sugar. Its in a lot of stuff we eat!

Plus - Kevin and I have both seen a drop in our weight since we have been focusing on our Protein!! Its really amazing! I've seen a scientific drop on the scale and Kevin says his pants are feeling looser. We are both really excited about knowing our metabolic type. Its really changed a lot of the things that I cook and things we order at restaurants. I nearly always go for the pasta and we always eat bread. Plus at home we can go through a box of Wheat Ritz like a tornado through a trailer park! We thought they were fine because they were wheat.... but its just not good for our type of metabolism!!

Hope everyone else did great on their challenge!!! Love you guys!! -ara

Idea for Next Challenge....

I had an idea for the next challenge..... but I want you working ladies opinions on it! It would take a lot of planning and effort but might be worth it.....

Two Weeks Eating NOTHING but Homemade Food

This came into my head because its sooooo easy to grab frozen foods or go by a fast food place and its never good for you. I think it would be a huge challenge to make all your food for 2 weeks. And I say 2 weeks because we want to make these things habits right??? And I'm not saying we should never eat out BUT if we force ourselves to find time to cook healthy things or prepare things in advance maybe we'll find its not as hard as we thought and do it more often??

Also I would add to the challenge that each week (so 2 times total) you will need to make something you've never made before..... a healthy something. And then you can post the recipe you used on the blog and say if it was easy or hard to do and if you liked it. Then we can steal each others recipes for cooking in the future!!

Disclaimer: I know events come up in our lives where friends or invite us out for dinner... don't be rude and go ahead and go with them. But eat light and healthy and DO NOT bring home leftovers. The biggest thing is not planning to eat out on your own.....

So what do you guys think? When would be a good time to start it for you guys?

Carlyn's Metabolic Type!

I took the test and I am a mixed metabolic type, but I am planning on taking it again, after I have focused more on what I have been eating and how it makes me feel afterward. I will keep you updated!

I have been keeping track of my food and calorie in take and have been doing pretty well, with eating when I am hungry, not when I "want" to.

I am in for the challenge and am ready to make some changes!

Ate shrimp tacos tonight! YUMM!!! I have an awesome roommate!

Mini Challenge - NO Sugar

Ok, Dad has a Protein Metabolic Type and I am Mixed. So, I think we will focus on the Protein Type at first and see how I do with that. Haven't seen a blog entry from Carlyn or Emmalee yet. Please post your Metabolic Type so we have it recorded.

I have a mini challenge for this week. In your e-mails I will send another document called "The Top 10 Most Common Nutrition Mistakes" The first 2 items mentioned in this document are about sugar and artificial sweeteners. The mini-challenge I propose is that this week, beginning, Mon. August 16th:
We avoid ALL artificial sweetener and added sugars for one week.
We have all completed this challenge before, but if you were like me, you went right back to the old ways - flavored creamers in my morning coffee, diet sodas, crystal lite teas, etc. As you will read in the 10 mistakes document, once you wean yourself, then the cravings will go away.

I can't put the Metabolic Test or the 10 Mistakes document out on this site, because I purchased them from a company on line, for my family. Anyone interested in purchasing these documents themselves the website is www.thedietsolutionprogram.com .

I know that you have all been doing well and I encourage you to continue. We will ALL be winners in the end. Love to all, Mom

Metabolic Results for Ara

I am the protein type!!!

This is what I learned after taking the Metabolic typing test. Which makes sense. This morning I had a breakfast of wheat ritz crackers and it feels like I had nothing!! Looks like its a lot more eggs, dairy and meat for me! Just have to watch out for the bad fats and such!

Off to the grocery store!! Exciting!!!

Oh - also... just had Kevin take the test and he is a Mixed type. So he agreed that we are going to try following the protein type model for awhile and see how he feels. And he can add in some more carbs here and there if he feels he needs them!

Chocolate Cake BAD

Well, at work today, there was a BIG Chocolate Cake in the kitchen area for anyone to eat from.
Several said that someone who wanted to win the BIGGEST LOOSER put the cake out to temp others. Well, even though I am not a part of the company loosing team, I avoided the cake.
Hope that you 3 girls had a successful day also!! Love ya, Mom

Mom-3Daughter Challenge

So…. At my office they started the Biggest Loser competition. I received the flyer and read it over and thought about it, BUT I DON'T want to be judged daily for what I eat and weigh by the same people that judge my work ability. Work is enough pressure! And I didn't want to toss in 25 of my dollars for someone else to win.

Mother - 3Daughter Challenge

I would rather work with and support my 3 daughters in a weight loss challenge. So, as the Mom, I propose that I toss in $25 for each member of our team - 4 - so $100.

The Challenge for Yvette, Carlyn and Ara DiAnn is to lose as much weight, in a healthy fashion, by Dec. 19, 2010. Our official starting date will be this Sun. Aug. 8, 2010. Emmalee's part of the challenge is that she NOT gain the Freshman 15 from her wrestling weight of 148. (Emmalee has already agreed to this and she wants to be in full support of us loosing.)

Things to do: Weigh in Sun. Aug. 8 or Mon. 9th and send text to Mom.

(I don't care if we share with each other, just not publicly)

Watch what we eat - how much we eat - drink water.

Find an exercise routine that works for you.

Set you own goal - make it realistic - 5 to 10 pounds/month

Continue to support each other in prayer

Commit to write on the blog at least once a week.

Write accomplishments and failures on this blog

Share any helpful advise through the blog.

On Dec. 19th we will all weigh in and send text to Mom. By using % calculations for loosing and gaining, I will determine the winner and the $100 will be in their Christmas stocking.

I have ordered some materials that I will share with each of you through private e-mails only because it is purchased materials. We can share the results of our use of these materials. When they come in, the first thing I will share is a "Metabolic Typing Test" for us each to take. It will help us learn about what type of foods & eating habits best satisfy us. We could all be the same or all completely different.

Your Dad will benefit from my change of cooking and shopping habits and he will really like that. Kevin should benefit too for the same reasons. I also think both men should take the Metabolic Test, then we can supplement foods that will help them be satisfied.

It is about time that "the MOM" set a good example in the eating area. I am ready physically and mentally to take this challenge with you.

So, let me know if you are willing to take the Challenge together.

Love you all, Mom