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August 18 Nothing much new...Well, life has been good, but I'm still really frustrated with my weight. I've been working out more, and volleyball has started, but I just don't know what to do to kick my butt in gear to really lose the weight that I need to. I've been trying to change my eating habits, but it's been hard. I just feel like losing the weight is MUCH harder than putting it on! (obviously, I guess!) So, I'm at the same weight - trying to work out regularly and trying not to eat out as much! Just trying!! I've also had the opportunity to think about some blind date options, and I'm really struggling with what I think about that - we'll see! Well, talk to you soon! June 16 Finally, an Update...Well, life is good!! Got back from Trinidad & that was fantastic! I really struggled knowing what I looked like before going and reuniting with friends who haven't seen me in 14 years! But when we got there, I just sucked up my pride and did all the things that I was afraid of - swimming in the ocean, swimming in the pool, getting dressed up for the wedding, etc. There were some humiliating moments - just knowing that people were staring at the beach because we looked different from most people on the beach, etc. Also, there were some girls on the trip (relatives of the bride), who were very into their looks and having a "good time" - which was frustrating because I felt like I obsessed about that a little more than I would have otherwise. However, I noticed a complete change in who I was on this trip compared to who I was coming to Trinidad as a teenager! I was more confident, sure of myself, and not worried about looking stupid. I made conscious choices to disregard any uncomfortable feelings I had & just tried to enjoy the trip and the people I had missed seeing so much!! It was really good!
Anyway, I'm still on my "journey" towards physical health - trying to work out more regularly & plan my meals more. I'm at basically the same weight as when I started this, but I feel like I'm making progress, nontheless! Anyway, just a little update - I'll write more later.  April 15 Keep on keeping on...Well, here I go again! Sending out our progress on our weight loss journey! I'm down 6 pounds total now!  John has also lost about 3-4 pounds. So, YAY for us!! The bummer is, both of us would like to be a lot further along in our journey by now. It's like we start with so many good intentions, and then we just give up when it gets too hard or when we get too busy. John is pretty for sure going to have gastric bypass surgery, so he's getting revved up for that! But before the surgery, he still has to lose about 25 pounds, so he and I are still really trying to motivate each other! I'm really wanting to lose at least 30 pounds before we leave to go to Trinidad (which I know is very ambitious, but it's a goal!). Well, I'll sign off for now, but know that we're going to keep on persevering and striving towards our goal. Even the baby steps are steps!!  Have a blessed day!March 31 Spring is in the Air!Well, hello again! The trees are starting to bud, the snow is melting, the ground is softening - spring is on it's way
 !! I'm so excited because I want to be able to go outside and start walking more, throw the baseball around and play with my nephew. I'm hoping that this spring will be a time of growth for me, too! I have a trip to Washington D.C. that I'm preparing for, so I need to start walking more every day, and I have a trip to Trinidad with my family coming up that I'd like to lose weight for. These are some powerful motivators for me, and I'm really wanting to change!! I've lost 3 pounds total, and I really need to step up my goals and actually meet them. I'm thinking of starting a food journal to actually make myself accountable for the food choices I make, and I'd like to do a body cleanse soon to flush out toxins, eliminate sugar cravings (at least for the 10 days I'm on it), and get a jump start on some weight loss. John is doing well with most of his goals! He is still avoiding fast food, but is struggling with getting enough exercise and fruits/veggies. He has started coaching his indoor soccer league
 , so that's keeping him busy right now, too.John and I have a hard time finding the time to exercise and do really tough things physically. I think that our avoidance stems from a fear of discomfort (instilled by overprotective parents), and also a lack of taking time for ourselves and our own health. I think that this sometimes comes from a performance mentality, where we have to prove ourselves in our jobs or with our accomplishments, so we spend so much time doing those things, that we have no energy left to work hard on ourselves!! Oh, man, it's time to really deal with this and it's going to be hard! Well, wish us luck!
 March 24 Long time no write...Well, it's been awhile since I last wrote! Some intense last few weeks - John's been struggling with staying the same weight even though he's been doing AWESOME on his goals! In fact, he hasn't had fast food for 3 whole months!! That's incredible! Right now, he's seriously considering gastric bypass surgery, so he's looking into it and taking classes and trying to think through it all. He's just looking at an option that will get him to the point that he can take over and complete his return to health. He just feels that right now he can't make a dent and he needs something to help him get to the point where he has more energy to finish the process.
I've been fluctuating a lot lately. At my highest, I was up 4 pounds over my starting weight and at my lowest I was seven pounds under my starting weight. The hilarious thing is that I lost 11 pounds in one week while baby-sitting 3 kids for a family I know. This being a "mom thing" is HARD WORK!!
 Seriously, though, that week kept me so busy that I wasn't just sitting at home eating snacks, etc. Right now I'm down 5 pounds from my starting weight.John and I have a trip to Trinidad coming up - with our family (for the wedding of one of our friends), so we're trying to lose some weight for the trip & just to be in shape and looking good for it. We'll be meeting a lot of people that we haven't seen since I was about 15 and we both look a lot different now than we did then (unfortunately). So, I'm hoping that this trip is a motivating factor for us! We've been doing really well motivating each other and trying to help one another out because we both realize that we're in this for the long haul and that as brother and sister, we're going to be a part of each other's lives for the rest of our lives, so we should start being more positive and investing in each other even more! Well, we continue on in our journey towards health ! John's and my goals are to exercise MORE, to eat less and more healthfully, and to continue to encourage each other. Have a great week!
February 19 Going after our goal!I stayed the same in my weight this week & John has now lost 2 pounds. So, combined we're down 6 pounds! John and I got together to work out this weekend, and both of us are now going out to a movie at the end of the week if we meet all of our goals! So, hopefully that will inspire us to complete the goals that have been tough to do!
John and I are both struggling with the working out goal. I think it's mostly because we're not setting time in our schedules for ourselves. I went to hear a motivational speaker in Minneapolis last week, and one thing he said was that we need to spend twice the time on improving ourselves and our own lives as we do on our jobs. That was really impacting to John and I because we're both really hard workers and both spend a lot of time at our jobs! We want to be successful and influential at our jobs, but not at the expense of our health and our own personal happiness!
Therefore, we're recommitting ourselves to be more dedicated to our goals and to spurring one another on in our fight against the flab!! On a positive side, my mom and dad have been doing awesome at not trying to fight this fight for us! John & I were worried going into this that they would interfere and critique, but that hasn't happened at all & we've all been encouraging one another! It's been great! Here's to a week full of success & achievement!! February 10 Rocky Week so FarThis was a tough week for John & I! I didn't really take time to exercise, and as a consequence, I gained 1/2 a pound this week.  Also, John came down with pnuemonia, influenza, 2 ear infections, and a sinus infection. So, needless to say, he hasn't been able to get out & exercise, etc. I think that he's still mostly stuck to his goals, but he was almost put in the hospital, so I don't think he's going to be out exercising very much in the next few days. He just realized that he needed to be cleaning out his C-Pap machine (for breathing at night) in a different way, so that's probably one of the reasons he developed a sinus infection. Anyway, this week, my goal is to seriously stick to my goal of working out 4 times a week, and to continue on in my goals of drinking 4 bottles of water a day and not eating after 8pm. Last week, I did really well in the packing my lunch goal, so it would be good if I kept that up - I need to go grocery shopping today! I know this is going to be a long process - in some ways that's why I like the idea of going on Biggest Loser, because you are taking time out of your daily schedule to just do grueling work on your body. Although, the contestants have weeks where they only lose 2 pounds or even gain, so I suppose no matter how you get healthy, there's still ups and downs. One thing I think the people on Biggest Loser do learn, though, is that they can do something really grueling and still be all right! So, that's my inspiration for this week - push through the uncomfort and just do it!  February 06 Struggles and Triumphs!Wasn't Biggest Loser exciting last night??!! It was great to watch the show & feel pumped up for the next week! John & I have had a good week! He's been sticking to his goal of not eating out - he hasn't had any meals at restaurants in 3 weeks!! That's awesome!! He's also been eating his goal of fruits & veggies every day and he's been trying not to eat after 8pm. Rachel's also been doing well - she's lost 4 pounds so far!! YAY!! She's very excited about that!! She's been doing well on her goal of not eating after 8pm, drinking enough water every day, and packing more lunches for work rather than eating out. We've struggled most with our exercise goal, but are making plans to meet and work out so we can spur one another on!! Rachel just got back from a trip with her students at the Boundary Waters in northern MN, and she got a WORKOUT there playing broomball and hiking through the snow on trails and to go watch the Beargrease Dogsled race (which was amazing!). We'll try to post more pics soon! Have a great week!January 27 On Our Way!Well, John and I had a good first week! We stuck to most of our goals, called one another frequently and worked hard to push ourselves! John hasn't lost any weight yet, but I lost one pound!! Yay!
A small victory, maybe, but a start!I struggled the most with my goal for working out, but I'm trying to make time to do that more consistently! I didn't eat after 8pm, which was really good, but hard on some nights. I didn't realize how much I snack after supper - it's more like grazing because I do it unconsciously (which means I eat more than I need). John's been doing really well eating more fruits & veggies, and also stopped eating after 8pm. He struggled with the workout goal, too, so that's an area we're going to have to push each other in for the future.
One pound down, 79 to go!! We're going to keep after our goals - even if we don't do them perfectly, we're going to keep advancing! January 22 Joining the Biggest Loser Challenge is the First StepWe're a brother-sister duo from Minnesota that's hoping to encourage and inspire each other into living more healthy lifestyles. Both of us are wanting to become better role models - Rachel to her students and volleyball players, and John to his son and soccer players! We love the show The Biggest Loser and have thought about entering it for several years. The problem has been figuring out how to put that into our schedules. So when the Biggest Loser Challenge came along, we thought that would be a good way to motivate ourselves with the great prizes, but also be here at home with our jobs and families.
We're both hoping to lose at least 80 pounds this year (so a combined total of 160), but living a healthy lifestyle is more important to us than just the weight loss. John's goals are: To workout 2 times a week for 20 minutes, eat at least 3 fruits and 3 vegetables a day, allow himself only 1 fast food meal a week, limit himself to only 4 cans of pop a week, and stop eating food after 8pm every night. Rachel's goals are: To workout at least 4 times a week for at least 30 minutes, pack at least 3 lunches a week (to avoid eating out), drink at least 4 bottles of water a day, and also to stop eating food after 8pm every night. Both of us have these as starting goals and then plan to increase them as we succeed. We are going to meet once a week to encourage each other and to hold one another accountable to our goals. We are also hoping to find times to work out with each other to continue to spur one another on.
Both of us have struggled for a long time with the idea that we need to be physically fit in order to be loved by others, and so we enter into this challenge with hopefulness but also with a lot of fear. We really want to lose weight and be healthy, but we also really want to heal these past hurts at the same time. So, we would like to win this challenge in order to prove to ourselves that we can be rewarded for starting the journey towards losing weight and having healthy lifestyles. Even if we don't do everything perfectly, at least we have attempted to change our lives, be role models to those around us, and heal past wounds to our hearts, Thank you, Biggest Loser, for inspiring us to take this journey! |
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