MJ: I Need Help Calculating The $

OK...After reading what everybody posted today, I realized I forgot to calculate my $ amount earned this week. I need to know how much to put in. The problem I'm having is figuring out what my work outs are worth. I read back over the original guidelines and I 'm still not sure. I don't do cardio because of my hip and I'm not sure what counts as toning. Would it be OK if I list my workouts here on the blog and you guys can help me figure out what I owe this week? Then, I'll use it as a guide from now on.

I walk with a friend of mine every morning M-F for 45 minutes. It is up hill halfway and downhill the other half, obviously. The distance is just over 2 miles.

I also work out 2 night a week for 30-60 minutes down at our gym. I am on the treadmill and so I usually keep track of the calories I burn rather than distance. I shoot for 200+ each night. I can't run so I usually increase the grade every minute or so until it is at the max and then I go back down every minute or so. Am I making sense?

Anyway, I also have a 15 minute workout that is similar to power yoga and focuses on breathing. I love it and I did it 3 times last week. This week I'm adding an ab video that doesn't take long. It's 200 crunches.

So, girls, what do you think?

Rachel's 1st week

This week has been crazy! Everything turned in the garden and all I've done is canning. I haven't stopped moving from sun up to past sun down. I now have 6 more quarts of tomatoes, 14 quarts of peaches, 16 quarts of pears, enough peach pulp in the freezer to do two batches of jam at a later date (thank heavens) and more still to do!! Unfortunately it has interfered with exercising; however, I did loose one pound, 1/2 inch in my waist, an inch in my hips, and been more aware of my water intake. I basically exercised the way people did before there was a gym to hit! So I don't think I should put any money in this week but I am proud of what I accomplished.

An Official Report from Jj Hansen

Okay, so I've been trying this low carb thing for the past week and I've got to say, it's much harder than it looks. I been fairly good about keeping it in the 175-225 range (except on my free day which I used to totally blow any and all progress) but hopefully as I find more recipes I'll be able to get that number even lower. My biggest problem is milk! I just can't give it up! But I've been better about not just taking the whole gallon with me. Usually I make dinner and sit down with a glass and a gallon in front of me and drink at least 3-4 cups with a meal - but I've been measuring it out and only drinking 2 cups at each meal and then drinking water after that. Can I just say it's killing me??
Anyway, due to my sprained ankle I've had to cut back or change my workouts a little bit so I didn't strain it even worse before our hike on Saturday but I've still managed to get some decent workouts in. Some of my cardios were shorter than required due to the ankle but I've done my best to make it up with toning. Plus, I've gotten all of my fruits and vegetables in almost every day this week (I don't know what I'm going to do when watermelon is out of season and I can't get it anymore).
So, that being said, I will be depositing $7 into our account as soon as it's set up. Oh, and I took my measurements and weighed myself this morning . . not the most amazing progress, but there's a little. I've lost a half inch around my ribs and a half inch on my thighs. As far as weight goes, only a half pound . . but I just started a new medication yesterday that also acts as a diaretic. Some side effect, huh? I looked up the med and most people reported losing 10-15 lbs when they started taking it. If only I'd known it could be so easy . . .

Maria Weighing In

I feel I need to start by saying this has been a tough week for me. I went out of town on Wednesday and was gone until Sunday. I'm sure you all know how difficult it can be to eat well when you're traveling. It was also my anniversary - so there was a little celebration dinner (or two) for that, a BYU home game (i.e. stadium food), and my belated birthday dinner with the Sanders family (i.e. cake). On Monday morning I weighed myself and was disappointed, but not surprised, to see that I had gained 0.4 lbs since my last weigh in (Wednesday morning).
That said ... I did 1 hour of cardio Wednesday morning, 1 hour of cardio Thursday morning, 1 hour of cardio Friday afternoon, 1 hour of cardio Monday morning, and 1 hour of weight training Tuesday morning. And I am happy to report that this morning, when I stepped onto that scale, not only had I lost the 0.4 I had put on over the weekend, I had also lost another 0.6 lbs for a total of 1 lb since last Wednesday. Considering the week I've had - I think that's pretty good!
I'll be depositing $5 for week 1 as soon as we have a place to deposit it.

P.S. I know that gaining 0.4 lbs is not a big deal - you can easily fluctuate as much as a pound in a day (if not even more!). Knowing this, however, does not make it any less frustrating to see that extra 0.4 lbs on the scale.

MJ

Girls! I lost an inch from my lower abs! Yes! I measured last night and couldn't believe it so I did it again this morning! Hooray!

OK, now that the excessive celebration is over, I'll really report in. I exercise everyday and so I'm mostly trying to balance my diet at this point. Last week was a learning week for me. The food journal was extremely helpful. I found out that I'm not taking in enough fat or carbs. I've always assumed I had too many carbs in my diet because I snack all day and drink Mountain Dew. I need to boost my metabolism by eating more. Didn't see that one coming.

I realized that I don't eat fruit. I stopped eating fruit when I had gestational diabetes and I don't really ever crave it anymore. I'm not too worried about that but I did buy some frozen berries to add to my breakfasts for their antioxidant benefits.

Also, I don't eat much dairy. I'm just not a big fan. I did buy yogurt and managed to get a couple of containers into my diet this last week. Lexa ate the rest, thank goodness!

In order to address my stress issue, I added a vitamin b supplement. I also took some time before bedtime to stretch and make myself relax so that I could sleep better.

This weeks goals:
More water!
More veggies to boost complex carbs and fiber.
I'm adding nuts and continuing with the flax seeds.
I'm going to do a daily exercise video that targets abs.

Getting old sucks . . .

So I took my measurements just a couple of weeks before my 31st birthday and they were obviously not anywhere near where I wanted them to be - but when I took them this morning they were even further from that point. What the heck?!? I'd been eating - moderately - better and taking my dog out regularly and yet I was still getting even bigger. I guess it's true what they say about hitting a certain age and having your metabolism drop and mine obviously did just that. So I guess it's time to make so REAL changes in my life style if I ever want to feel good about myself again - so here goes!
After talking to Maria I decided that I'd jump start our fitness challenge by starting with a low carb diet for the first month or so. Wow! So much harder than I thought it would be! It seems like everything is packed full of carbs except meat. I don't eat that much meat so it's going to be difficult so if anyone's got any pointers on that one then bring it on!
I'm looking through my milestones and I think they'll need some tweaking too but I think we'll all find that along the way. However, I think it's going to have to wait until tomorrow because it's late and I'm tired after my hour at the gym tonight.
Oh, and I thought I'd pass these on. I've been using this website: www.sparkpeople.com to track all of my food (consider it an online food journal) and my workouts. It will help you calculate how many calories you should be eating and help you see patterns in your eating habits. And in my search through their site earlier tonight I found a pretty cool link that will help you to calculate the carb, calories, fat and everything else in any homemade dishes - just plug in the ingredients and the portion sizes and it will do it all for you.
xoxo
Jj

Here goes nothing... wait I mean the weight!

It's been an interesting start and I am shocked at what some of my measurements are! However, those baby inches need to go, again. Please notice that I've changed my milestones. In the middle of the night, when I do my best thinking instead of sleeping, I realized that some milestones weren't milestones but my modifications to make the plan work for me. So here's how I am going to build my healthy body. I will exercise 30 minutes a day five days a week because I can find 30 minutes a day for me. I will do 10 minutes of toning each day to get rid of the flab. I will keep a food journal so that I am responsible for what I eat! So say goodbye to unwanted flabby Rachel and hello to healthy, take care of my heart and mind, happy with my life style changes Rachel!

MJ Signing In!

OK, I took my measurements and weight. That wasn't fun but it's over with now. I actually thought we were starting in a week, good thing I looked at the blog last night! I'm keeping everything in a journal. Today is the first day that I'll be keeping track of what I eat. Haven't done that since the gestational diabetes days.

I've tried to be extra good so far. Be proud of me ya-yas. I actually gagged down some yogurt. Plus, I added some milled flax seed to to the yogurt to get those omega 3-oils. I've been hearing a lot of great stuff about flax seed lately and I've been wanting to add it to my diet. The flax seed wasn't bad so I'm going to stick with it. Maybe I'll post some recipes with it later on.

I am so excited about this, hearing about Maria's results have really helped me to think that I can do it!
xoMJ

Ok, Janis, I finally did it!

Janis has been encouraging me to measure myself again for the past several weeks. As I've mentioned before I have been working out pretty intensely for about four months now. I've lost about 10 lbs and went down one pant size. But for some reason getting out the measuring tape was a very daunting task. I was just so concerned about being disappointed. Well, last night, I bit the bullet. I needed to remeasure myself for the beginning of this new challenge anyway. There wasn't significant changes in most of areas - just like half an inch in my thighs, hips, etc. But in my waist - 3 inches. Wahoo!

How the Yaya's are going to get to Paradise

This is us before (and chubby). By this time next year we will all look as good if not better - since we're younger and all - than every single one of the women in the movie poster behind us thanks to our ingenious diet and exercise plan outlined below. Wish us luck (and don't bring us any cookies).

Everyone should begin by weighing themselves and taking their measurements the morning of Thursday September 18th and then log into: http://nutrition.about.com/library/bl_nutrition_guide.htm to determine the amount of calories needed in their daily diet to reach their set weight loss goal. This will determine the daily caloric and carbohydrate intake and workouts needed to reach their goal. You are allowed one free food day each week.

Everyone is required to report in on the blog between Tuesday morning and Wednesday at noon. At that time progress should be reported along with listing the amount of their deposit and what each dollar represents and any other encouragement needed including recipes, workout ideas, etc. The theory is that if we’re keeping tabs on each other we’ll be more likely to accomplish our fitness goals and then of course there’s the vacation . . . that’s always a bonus.

Everyone is to deposit the money earned from the previous weeks activities between Tuesday morning and Wednesday at noon in a designated online savings account. Cash can be earned in the following ways:
Up to 4 – 45 minute cardio workouts $1.00 each
Up to 4 – 25 minute toning workouts 1.00 each
Milestone reached 2.00 each
Meeting fruit and or vegetable servings each day 0.50 each day

Cash can be deducted from deposit in the following ways:
Consuming 50 or more calories/day than allotted $1.00 each day
Gaining more than two pounds since last weigh-in 1.00
Less than four total workouts in one week 1.00

Milestones are to be determined by each individual at the beginning of the challenge and posted on the blog but should be something similar to the following:
Losing 5 lbs
Going down a dress or pant size
Losing 5 inches
Running a 5k
Entering a cycling race
However, milestones other than those originally listed can be added at a later date if you feel you’ve accomplished something that deserves recognition.

If everyone deposits the $5 weekly minimum, we will have accrued approx. $1,000 by August 31, 2009 (however if everyone deposits the maximum of $10 a week – not including milestones – we will have $2,000, before interest). At that time the final amount will be divided between the four of us to be put toward a Yaya vacation. In order to ensure that everyone is an equal participant the following guidelines will be applied:
If at any time someone deposits less than the $5 minimum for more than one week in a row, $3 will be deducted from their final total.
Example: If we had $1,000 in our account it would first be divided into $250 each and then deductions would be made. If Janis deposits only $4 two weeks in a row five different times through the year, she will lose $15 from her final total, meaning that she would have only $235 and Rachel, Marion and Maria would each have $255. If the final amount doesn’t cover the trip everyone will be required to come up with the rest out of pocket.

If at any time someone needs to drop out of the challenge the cash will be divided in four and their quarter will be set aside to go toward their trip. Everyone is welcome to come even if the challenge is not completed but they will have to pay the remainder of their way on their own.

Our trip will be determined by the amount of money in our account at the end of August 2009. The following options have been presented:

$1000 Spa getaway in Park City or another location
$1500 Shopping trip to New York City
$2000 Cruise to Mexico or some other sunny place