MJ on Vacation

I'm out of town!
Just found internet access.
$10 + $2 for stretching milestone.
12 bucks in all.

Have a great weekend everybody!
xoMJ

This post is dedicated to 5 free day and 4 peanut butter cups . . by Jj

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know that was last week and I talked about it then but I've just got to say . . this whole over the plateau thing is REALLY nice!

This week has been a little hectic and I've only managed half of my regular workouts because of freelance jobs in the evening and stuff like that. However, I did manage to hit the gym after the Jazz game on Monday (which I am very proud of, btw). So with workouts and food I have $5.00 to put it but . . . I've hit two milestones this week!! Whoohoo! I lost an 1" around my hips and I've lost another 3 lbs. So that brings my grand total up to $9.00.

Now . . here's to hoping we can all keep it up through the Thanksgiving holiday. I have a sneaky suspicion that today is going to be way over on the food since I'm heading home this afternoon and we all know that Thursday is going to be a free day and then there will be left overs on Friday . . . guess we'll all have to walk around the malls and stores a lot on Friday to work off all of those calories. Have a great holiday, ladies!!

Maria Week 10

ARGH! I worked my butt off this past week and I still gained 2.5 lbs. Ok, ok, so I also ate like crap. :-( So I have no one to blame but myself. I've been sick for eating so badly and ... again, still haven't learned my lesson. Maybe someday I'll get it through that thick head of mine. For now, I'm weak - chocolate and peanut butter and salty tortilla chips have been calling my name and I've completely given in. (I blame PMS - for the cravings AND the weight gain.)
So, with all my workouts, fruits and veggies most days, minus $1 for gaining more than 2 lbs, I will be depositing $16. (Told you I worked my butt off! I'm thinking of having all my mail delivered to Gold's Gym since it is my primary residency.)

Yummy Chicken Salad

Okay, I made the best salad last night and it was low carb and low calorie and WAY easy (only took about 15 minutes) so with the holiday's coming up I had to pass it on.

And, no, I didn't take the picture. I stole it from the website where I found the recipe.

Pomegranate Chicken Salad with Almonds

Ingredients:

1 cup arils from 1 large Pomegranate 1/2 cup golden raisins 1 pound cooked chicken breast meat, cut into 1-inch chunks (I boiled the chicken to save on the calories from the oil - and I put some parsley in the water while it was boiling to infuse the flavor a little bit) 1/3 cup toasted sliced almonds 1 chopped apple (I prefer red delicious but next time I think I might use both a red apple and maybe a Granny Smith) 1/2 cup chopped or thinly sliced celery 1 tablespoon chopped Italian parsley (I just used dried parsley - just as good, I'm sure) 1/4 cup chopped green onion 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon curry powder (optional)(didn't have any curry powder so I didn't use it but I love curry so it could make for an interesting additional flavor) 1/3 cup extra-virgin oil 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar Salt and pepper to taste (I didn't think I would like it but I tried it with a little salt and it really brought out the flavors so try it!)

Directions:

1. Score 1 fresh pomegranate and place in a bowl of water. Break open the pomegranate underwater to free the arils (seed sacs). The arils will sink to the bottom of the bowl and the membrane will float to the top. Sieve and put the arils in a separate bowl. Reserve 1 cup of arils from fruit and set aside. (Refrigerate or freeze remaining arils for another use.) 2. In a large mixing bowl combine the pomegranate arils, raisins, chicken, almonds, apple, celery, parsley, green onion and curry powder. 3. In a small bowl whisk together the olive oil and vinegar. Pour in chicken mixture, mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste. I then mixed one cup of the chicken salad with 2 cups of green salad and tossed it to spread the dressing a little bit. It is so AMAZINGLY good! I was walking around the office with my salad this morning making everyone try it because it was so freakin' awesome. I think I'm going to triple the recipe and make it for the fam for Thanksgiving. Now I'm wishing I hadn't eaten it all and that I still had some to munch on this afternoon. PS If my calculations are right, here is the nutritional information: 17 carbs, 6 grams fat, 3 grams protein, 141 calories.

Shout out to VL

I want to give a shout out to VL who has lost 8 lbs in a little over a week and has been working out consistently and eating healthier. I am honored and flattered to know that I am inspiring and motivating others to lead healthier lives. And the greatest compliment I could ever get is that someone made better choices because of me.
Wa-hoo! VL - you are a rockstar! I am so proud of you. Keep up the good work and keep calling me to check in ;-) You are motivating and inspiring me to be better, too!

MJ

OOOPS! I missed Wednesday. Sorry about that!

It's been a pretty good week. I did some yoga and realized how much I miss it. I think it will really help me with my goal to become more flexible.

Just a word or two about positive peer pressure...It is a great thing! I have a couple of friends that I work out with. They are doing so great! One of them has been losing a pound a week since we started and the other one needs to go buy smaller pants because the ones she has been wearing are about to fall off!!! As for me, I get up and go because I know they will be there. It really helps, especially on cold mornings when I'd rather stay in my warm bed.

I guess I have some of the same feelings that Maria is having this week. I love the changes that I'm experiencing and I've noticed that our fitness challenge seems to be making a difference in the lives of people around me. Thanks girls! I sure needed this and I'm glad that we are doing it together!

$10
Working on getting a milestone next week!!!

I think I am going to die!

My body doesn't love me anymore. Depositing $3.

Over the P-word . . by Jj

Okay, so I was originally going to take Wed thru Fri off from my diet to jump start my system since I hit my . . (plateau) but then was too lazy to worry about going back on the diet on Saturday or Sunday so it turned into a 5 day break, rather than just 3. But in all honesty, I don't think I went over on Sunday. I just didn't record anything. I didn't, however, take a break from the workouts. I think Maria was right. It would have been really hard to get back into them after almost a week off - and just the diet was hard enough. I don't think I could have done both.

So anyway, as of this morning the break seems to have helped. I'm actually down a half pound from last Wednesday's weight in. I don't have any substancial inches, but I really didn't expect any considering the fact that I ate four (yes, I said four) individual Reese's peanut butter cups in one day. They were left over from Halloween and I just had to tell myself that it was for the greater good.

Having to start over on the water and F&V milestone. For some reason I think you're going to be hearing that from me every Wednesday for the next few weeks. I'm really trying though, I swear! It's just SO much to get in! I may have to rethink it . .

Anyway, depositing $6.50 this week for workouts and the F&V I got in once I started back on the diet.

Maria Week 9

Lost a full pound from last week. I'm very excited about that because I now weigh less than the weight reported on my drivers license. I'd be willing to bet that there are very few people out there who can say that!
Also, I have reason to believe that I have inspired more than just my fellow Butterfly girls to get in shape.
I have gotten a few compliments at the gym from guys in my classes that I talk to, but not necessarily "friendly" with. They've been telling me that I look great and that I've lost a lot of weight or that they've really seen a change. Always nice to hear. Oh, and my favorite - one asked me what my goals were. Different sort of question than I usually get - specifically said goals. I liked that.
Depositing $10

MJ Yoga "Noga"

I have a yoga milestone. Really an easy one. Yoga every Saturday for a month. I had this milestone last month and put it off until this month. There was a time when I could do this--->

I can still do it but I wouldn't want anybody to see me because I wobble all over the place. Here is my yoga update:

November 1st

I found my favorite yoga workout video.

I wrote Yoga on my To Do list.

I got a schedule from the rec center and noticed they do yoga every Saturday morning.

I thought about all of those yoga stretches that I really enjoy.

I underlined Yoga on my To Do list

I looked at the yoga video case and thought, "I love this workout."

I put the yoga video down and got sidetracked.

November 2nd - yesterday

I did not do yoga.

Today

I remembered my milestone.

I felt guilty.

I thought about blaming it on the weather. (Jj. wink wink)

I know it isn't because of the weather.

So I did some yoga breathing in the car on the way back from picking up the kids.

Now you know why I might as well call it Noga.

This is not a W post. I just wanted to put it in type to remind myself to do it!!! No more Noga for me! Yoga from here on out! I will be subtracting $5 from my total every week if I don't get the yoga in.

xoMJ

Maria's Week 8

I felt like it was a good week for me. I look back on my BodyDaemon journal and I missed several work outs (or else I missed logging them because I don’t feel like I missed that many work outs.) But good results this week so I’m happy. I lost inches almost all over, but I will only report what is significant. I lost another inch from waist – that’s a milestone! But more importantly, I am an inch smaller than I was in high school (and then I was SUCKING IN!!!!!!! This time I wanted it to be accurate so there was absolutely no sucking of any kind.) I didn’t specify a milestone for losing inches from my butt, but I’m going to count it anyway – I lost 1 ½ inches from my butt! This is like losing inches off my chest – a little bittersweet. We all know I didn’t have much of a butt to begin.
Good thing I hit those weigh and measurement milestones because I’m sucking it up on my newest ones. In fact, I completely forgot that I had set one not to eat out for two weeks. Hmmm … may need to rethink that one.
Had my bodyfat % tested – FINALLY! And I so wish I had done this before I started working out. But I am extremely happy to report that it was 3% less than it was when I had it measure in high school and again in college. WA-HOO!!!!!!
Finally, there is this ultra fit and thin woman in my classes and the past two classes I’ve had with her she’s commented on how great and how thin I look. You gotta love that – it never gets old!
Depositing $12.50
Oh, and adding new milestone - every 1% of bodyfat lost.

MJ

OK, I'm -1 inch this week on my lower abs!!! That makes 4 more for a milestone! Sometimes I feel like I'll never get there. Can I just tell you that I was walking with my friend Monday morning and the most discouraging thing happened! We walk on an indoor track at the local rec center since it's too cold to walk outside in the mornings. She was in the stroller lane and I was in the next lane. We were walking at an average pace and talking about something or other when we got passed by a white haired gentleman. He must have been in his 70's! AHHHHHHHHH!

I can't tell you how much I would love to RUN around that track! But if I do, I won't be able to walk the next day. I wish I didn't have this hip injury. Anyway, it made me so mad that I went down to our gym that night and walked at a 15 incline (the highest one on that treadmill) for 45 minutes. He might pass me every morning this winter but his butt and legs will not look as good as mine!!!! (Hee hee hee. Of course he is around 70 years old so I've got an advantage!)

$10

xoMJ

I hate to say it . .

(bad word warning) . . . but I have TOTALLY plateaued. I haven't lost any weight or inches (if anything I've gotten a little bigger but nothing really measurable) in about three weeks. How is that possible when we're only on week eight now?? I blame the weather and it sucks. Anyway, last weeks report . .

I forgot to record my food for a couple of days but I've got a general idea of what I ate and I know I didn't go over so I'm just going to let it slide this time. I'll be depositing $7.50 for my workouts. I've also screwed up my water and F&V milestone so I'm starting over . . again. It's the weekends that get me! Obviously, since I've plateaued I haven't hit any milestones so I've got nothing exciting to report. Wow - this is a really pathetic and depressing post. So sorry.

Anyway, I think I'm going to take a few days off on the calorie/carb watching so I can get over this hump. I was hoping to make it last so I could take the week of Thanksgiving off but I can't stand the idea of having to go another two weeks without any progress. I think I'd totally give up if I went that long. So I'll take a couple of days and see if it does me any good. Just out of curiosity I'm still going to record what I eat but I'm not going to count it for or against my deposits. Hope no one minds. Here's my question though . . and I guess Maria would probably be the one to answer it . . what about my workouts for these next couple of days? Should I keep going like normal or take a break from them too? Or maybe just change the lenght of time or something like that??

Rachel is here

Depositing $8 this week.
Heading off to the doctor's office to see why my littlest dude is having blood in his poop! There it is folks two weeks in a row talking about bowel movements.
Keep us in your prayers that it isn't anything too serious and that he just needs to up his water, fruits and veggies. Maybe I should pay him to eat his 4 a day!

Winter Makes Me Fat and Lazy . . by Jj

This has been the worst week as far as food goes. I didn't even try to track or wonder about what I ate on Friday. I figured there would be tons of junk at the party and I'd go to town, turns out none of it looked good to me (which really, now that I think about it is no surprise cuz I HATE eating in public - unless at a restaurant - more than I would hate being being pantsed in the middle of a party. It's weird and I have issues. Deal with it). So really, I didn't end up eating anything there but didn't track anything else I ate that day. And since I knew that I wasn't too bad on Friday, I didn't bother on Saturday either. I blame the cold. I lose all motivation when I'm cold. Winter is not my friend. It's weird and stupid and probably 97.6% mental but I find being cold to be absolutly painful. Guess I'll never move to Alaska.

Anyway, so as far as workouts go, I did pretty good there but didn't lose any weight. I blame the crappy eating but at least I didn't gain anything. I also didn't lose any significant inches either, but, again, I didn't gain anything. Hope I'm not hitting one of those bad words that Maria mentioned. Is that really possible when you've only been really trying for about 2 months? I have done much better with my water and my fruits and veggies since making it a milestone but Sunday sucked cuz it was Fast Sunday and it's really hard to get that many servings into one meal (digital eyeroll). So I'm not counting Sunday as a negative. I'm just going to ignore that day all together. And with that, I'll be depositing $9.50 for my workouts and F&V's. Sigh. One day I'll hit another cool milestone that I can brag about.

PS I've got a movie line stuck in my head . . is it from Saturday's Warriors? I see a blonde writing a letter, getting annoyed and just saying, "Try harder." That's how I feel right about now.

The effects of water on Rachel

We're into to this 5/6 weeks(I've already lost count!) I'm already feeling better and healthier. The best part is that I can see my desire to be active and fit is influencing people around me, especially George. He was doing really well in exercising until the death of our baby. He has now joined a league basketball team with people from work and goes and plays church ball more often. I know that my kids are watching and I'm working out how to do more active things as a family. My mom has even commented on my desire to exercise. I hope this helps her to find the motivation. I'm so excited!

Now on to the effects of H2O! I don't get as much as I should every day but I know that I'm drinking more. Also, my kids are drinking more because they see me drinking water. Actually they just take gulps from my water bottle! Oh well... but that will have to change soon with flu season on us. I like to share but... the flu? No thanks. Another change that I think has come from water is my bowel movements. Since having kids I've had a difficult time staying regular. So I would add more fiber rich foods and more fruits, even prunes! Nothing worked! Now that I have been drinking water regularly I don't have that problem.

So for this week I will be depositing $8 for the workouts and toning. Nothing for fruits and veggies because, even though I've been good, I think Halloween canceled out the goodness of eating them.

MJ

Hi, ladies! Time to check in again!

This week has been OK. I haven't worked out as much as I usually do because I was fighting off a head cold. I got over my cold very quickly and I seriously think it has to do with water and multivitamins. I've mentioned these before but I have to say, they have really made a difference in my life. I feel so much better when I drink enough water during the day.

I have started to stretch out every night before bed. I think I'm addicted!!! It feels great and I sleep better. I actually have tight muscles that need to be stretched because I exercise every weekday. I never thought sore muscles would make me happy but they do! I am changing! My clothes fit differently. I am so glad we started this challenge. I absolutely needed it my life!

I really want to push myself this next week! Sore muscles, here I come!

Depositing $8

PS I read Rachel's post before I signed in to finish mine. Rach, you are not alone in your bathroom issues and water has helped me too. Thanks for being willing to put that out there!

Maria Week 7

I know the title of my post is really boring, but it helps keep my hopeless brain a tiny bit organized.
I worked extra hard this week to try and make up for all the workouts I missed last week. I think I did pretty good as far as that goes. I also tried harder to eat more fruits and veggies. I need to measure myself (promised myself I'd do it this week, but I'm menstrating so I put it off!) I'm feeling a difference even in my few new items of clothing so I think I might hit that go down a size milestone soon. YAY! (Except that I'm not financially ready to go buy a new wardrobe - ARGH!)
Didn't lose any weight this week - that's two weeks in a row. I'm hoping this isn't a (watch out - naughty word warning) "plateau".
Also, I think I've got my free day under control. I weighed myself the morning of my free day (or free meal, rather) and then again the next day and I'd only gone up 0.2 lbs! I was careful with what I ate all day except that one meal and then I didn't eat anything after 6 PM. I did notice that I am not getting enough water on my free days and I think that could be part of the problem, too. I'm dehydrated, but I think I'm hungry so I eat.
I'll be depositing $16 - unless anyone has any objections to that. I know that it's past the "limit" but I earned it (without milestones) and I want a very expensive reward next year.