Biggest Loser Week 1 Begins

Today was the initial weigh-in of our 10-week round of the Biggest Loser challenge at our local mini-grocer. Interesting place for a weight-loss challenge, I know. But it's more of a corner quick grab when you're out of milk, cigs, beer, or need to pick up the weekly gossip.. I mean paper. We are a town of about 600 people. We take our encouragement where we can get it. Tania and Connie are super neat gals who, like many of us, want to get the weight off and think a little camaraderie - and the shot at some spending cash - is a good place to start.

I weighed in this morning at 181.4. I much preferred the 177 my scales showed. I know mine are accurate as I've tested them with the #10 hand weight. So every week I'll post both.

Week 1: 181.4/177

I think my body is sufficiently healed. So my plan for Monday is to get back on the Wii... with the program I had intended to start with before my sinus' had their own plans.

I'll be using the Wii Fit. Doing the stretching, game-type stuff to warm up, then go into the aerobics routine. In the evening I'll play more of the athletic type games like tennis and golf on Wii Sports.

My plan is that once my body is used to activity again, then I'm going to alternate the aerobics stuff with Jillian Michaels' Fitness Ultimatum 2009. I've heard this is a really difficult workout so we shall see. I am going to reward myself with Zumba for the Wii when I've stuck with Jillian for 2 weeks. Based on rumors... wish me luck! In the mean time, I'd love to hear what you think of her workouts. Which ones have you tried. What did or didn't you like about them?

When it comes to eating, one program I've found really helpful in the past is FitDay . With FitDay you can track every aspect of your weight loss journey. You can set a Weight Goal, and the program will help you chart how many calories you can safely consume per day based on your activity level and lose pounds. There is a tab for entering your activity and the length of time you participate and it will tell you how many calories you've burned.

The food log is one of my favorite parts of FitDay. I can keep a daily food diary, create my own food list based on either pre-packaged foods or dishes fixed using my own ingredients. So I don't have to go back and recalculate every time I fix a particular favorite dish. For example, select any meat from a long list, pick your method of cooking for the portion and it will tell you how many calories you will use. It really does matter how it's cooked!

How you feel on any given day, at any particular moment will affect how you eat. FitDay provides a Mood for things such as Happiness, Clarity, Health for each day to help you keep an eye on things that might be triggering you to backslide on your journey.

And finally, a journal. A place for you to dump the garbage that can affect your over-all health, not just your weight loss journey.

The best thing about this program is it is password protected. No one need see any of the information but you.

You can use the FREE version on-line. If you'd like it a bit more handy, you might want to purchase the PC version so you don't have to be on-line or the more portable version for the iPhone. Any way you choose to use this tool, it's one of the best friends you make as you travel towards your GOAL.

Enjoy your Journey!

Happy New Year!

Okay, I know we're three weeks into 2012, but trust me I had a really good reason for not getting in here before now. New Years Eve I got hit with a serious sinus infection. I did virtually nothing but veg and sleep for almost 12 days! Without going into details, suffice it to say I was miserable. Thankfully hubby had come home 3 days before and we'd taken care of Christmas. New Years Eve... not so much celebrating. The Nyquil and I were in bed by 9 p.m. LOL Hubby rang in 2012 without me.

In case you're curious as to how hubby did on our challenge... he lost 15 pounds in 3 weeks. I am so proud of him. To keep him on track, I've been keeping an eye on calories. He is a stickler for staying within his calorie range throughout the day, allowing room for his low-cal fudge bar or 1/2 C of no sugar added ice cream for his late evening snack.

And yes.. he is measuring everything! I've tried for years to teach him the visual measuring system I've talked about on here with no success. Now he's using the measuring cups and spoons as well as the food scale. Did I mention I'm proud of him? LOL He lost another 6 pounds the 3 weeks he's home. That's good. The initial 15 was his body adjusting to the new way of eating. Now he's on the even keel of 2 pounds a week.

Thanks to being sick, I relied a little too much on my Mello Yello to keep the throat cleared of junk while I was sick. I didn't gain nor lose a single pound while he was gone. On the up side - I've lost 2 pounds since Monday. I'm watching my calories to keep me on track, too. It will help as over the next three weeks I begin to plan meals ahead of time for when he comes home again. We can look at the list and put a meal together rather than having to figure everything up first.

One of the programs I used to use and am going back to is Fit Day.com.

And that's my topic for tomorrow.

Enjoy the Journey