An early Spring cold set me back a little this week, fortunately I still made some progress thanks to an aggressive approach to the last 15 hours heading into my weigh in. In 2 walks I put in 6 miles and an additional 8.9 miles on my recumbent bike, plus 30 minutes of weight training. The added miles brought my weekly totals to 16.7 miles walked and 35.2 miles on the bike and another loss of 2.4 pounds. I'm still coughing my head off on occasion, but feel much better seeing another loss on the scales. Bev had a tougher week with more health concerns for her dear Mother and a very nasty cold of her own, which played havoc on her running schedule, but she still managed to drop to 180.2. With a week that rough, just maintaining is hard enough. I applaud your continued hard work darlin! Our schedules will make it tough to get in another Biggest Loser weekend together again soon, so I'll be surly for a month or so!  lol Please pray for my babies! ( JUST KIDDING!!! They are my pride and joy, my purpose for living! ) ) You are such an inspiration for me Bev! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

 

How about everyone else in the community? How do you handle colds or injuries while trying to stick to your weight loss goals? Any suggestions or tips?

I goofed up last night and fortunately Bev found it in her big loving heart to forgive me. Thanks darlin! She had posted all of our stats from last week and without realizing I was doing it, I totally wiped out her entry. I had posted a comment on her posting and wanted to change it, but instead of deleting my comment, I deleted the whole entry. Anyway, Bev had another great week and lost down to 180.3 and now stands on the verge of another major break through, leaving the 180s behind her! Way to go teammate! She is also consistently running between 8 and 9 miles a week and has started increasing her speed. I think those 5 Ks are just around the corner! Do you need a cheering section?   Now that she has inspired me to get myself moving more, I have to do a better job of convincing her that weight training will greatly benefit her too!

 

The ladies did an awesome job on tonight's show! I hope Kelly can pull it all off!

I walked 17.5 miles and rode my bike another 39 miles last week and lost 5.4 pounds. It was great to get back up and going again after losing much of the previous week to an injury. I hit a couple of my goals last week. I went over 50 pounds lost, overall since I first started and in so doing went below the 325 mark for the first time in a long time. I was in Weight Watcher's off and on for over 2 years and always hit a wall when I would get to the 325 mark. I wasn't in the right frame of mind and wasn't doing it for the right reasons then. Unfortunately, I hurt my back, got discouraged and put back on most of the weight I had lost.  This time things are much different. I have my priorities in order. The second goal I hit, actually surpassed, last week was going over 55 miles total for a week between my walking and biking. Both goals felt awesome, now on to the next, going under 300 for the first time since the 1990s!

 

Keep raising the bar for me Bev! Your continued hard work and success are so impressive! I couldn't be more proud of you!

I just got a text message from him saying he is at his lowest weight in 5 years!!!   Can't wait to get the weigh in results tomorrow.   Hope you are having a great and satisfying week our Biggest Loser friends.  Spring is here - time to go outside for a walk... or a run!!

Just wanted to post my numbers for last week.  Definately not my best week with my foot injury, but this week will be better! I walked 7.5 miles  and biked 33.5 miles for the week. I'm off to a good start this week and with no more setbacks, I expect a good weigh in. Thanks for all your support after my disappointing weigh in last week. Other than the weigh in, it was an incredible weekend with Bev. She will always have a place in my heart and my life. I love you darlin.

 

Like Bev, I had started losing some weight before this wonderful community was created. My highest measured weight was 377. It was 370 back in November when Bev urged me to start taking better care of my health. I can't thank her enough for giving me the kickstart I desperately needed. So as of Saturday, I've lost almost 41 pounds total and want to lose at least 100 more. It's a long road, but with determination and the support of my dear friend and this great community, I'm hoping it can be done by this time next year! Here's to a successful 2008 to everyone!

 

 

Well, I'm down 64 lbs from my all time high when I started my own personal weight loss journey in December 2006.  It had no idea how helpful our Biggest Loser community would be over the last few months.  And Buc... what a man!  He has a special place in my heart saved for him alone  and  yes... there is still  there, too.   He's just that great a guy and what a wonderful, inspiring and incredibly supportive partner.  And he looks absolutely amazing!

 

So tell me friends, now that the contest is over what are you doing to keep motivated in the weeks and months to come?  I'm ready to race into the kitchen right now and devour the leftover hamburger from dinner but am doing my best to not eat it in hopes of losing some tomorrow.  The 65 marker is SO close... I'm trying to resist!!!

I got to join my amazing friend with her family in the mountains. She graciously offered me a weekend away from the stress from my area into the mountains which I quickly accepted. It's been an amazing weekend, from helping to put in flower beds and helping to coach a wonderful little guy on my limited baseball knowledge and having breakfast made for me by an excellent cook to long sessions of laughing and talking with my dear friend into the wee hours and many other truly awesome things. I thank them one and all and very much look forward to doing it again soon!

 

Now for the bad news, my weigh in was my worst so far. With my foot injury limiting my workouts and my eating habits still needing fine tuning, I put on 1.2 pounds and now weigh in at 329.2. Bev weighed in at 181.6, another good week for my inspring teammate! 

I wanted to say a big thank you to all those who have rallied behind my amazing teammate. She is one of the strongest ladies I've ever met. She is a big inspiration to me and all those around her. This community is so wonderful. I only wish the people at Biggest Loser came up with the idea earlier. The support and advice and encouragement have been so helpful. Sometimes people forget that just a pat on the back or kind word can brighten a very cloudy day, but the people we have "met" on here understand and rush to help. I hope that we have been as helpful to all of you. Have a wonderful weekend!

 

On my week, it was a slow one because of another foot injury. I tried to do better with my eating, but I'm never comfortable heading into a weigh in knowing my exercise for the week has suffered. Fortunately it's almost healed and next week will be much better!

This has been a hard, sad week.  My mother's illness meant at trip to the ER, two nights in ICU and then putting her in a nursing home.   It is designed to be a short rehab stay but there is always the possibility she won't go home again.  Needless to say, I'm totally worn out.  Thankfully, my family has all pulled together and my beloved friend Buc is coming up for the weekend.   Thank you Buc.   While I did eat the odd piece of Easter candy in the ICU and some pancakes the other night, I've not turned to food for comfort.  For that is EXACTLY why my mom's physical health is so terrible.  Once again, it became crystal clear to me that no food can make any problem better.  It may taste good and you might enjoy it, but it cannot help.  This was never more blindingly evident than this week.  Instead I ran yesterday and all those emotions just fueled the run.  I felt like the Energizer bunny all wound up all I had to do was take the first step.  My legs and emotional upset took over and 2.5 miles later, I felt much better.

Well, the contest is officially over, but the challenge continues. Bev and I are still working on strategies to improve our efforts for ourselves and each other. It's a long road ahead, but worth every bit of the work it will require. I can't think of anyone I'd rather walk with on this road. Thank you so much Bev! Good luck to everyone!

We both made progress this week!     Buc:   Lost 3.1 pounds, walked 18 miles and biked 37.9 miles!!   Bev:  Lost 4.8 pounds and ran 8.1 miles. 

 

 

Buc:   Weight Loss = 28 pounds            Bev:   Weight Loss = 12.2 pounds         

           Biked = 270.5 miles                                      Ran = 47.6 miles

           Walked = 94.9 miles

 

Every time I step up my workouts, my teammate just has to top me! ;-) I'm so proud of the hard work you are doing Bev. With the difficulties you are facing, holding firm in your resolve to continue improving your health is very inspiring!

 

I took a 2 mile walk in the rain this evening, just to clear my mind. My kids just laughed when I asked if they wanted to go with me. lol Fortunately the heavy rains had moved on, so it was not much more than a heavy mist to a light rain. Anyway, I'm finding how liberating these walks have become. I suppose one day I'll load my mp3 player to have music on my walks, but for now I'm content just listening to the voices in my head! :-) Hopefully that doesn't sound too crazy! I'm just finding that when issues pop up in my life, hitting the road or track or trail does wonders for my mental health.

Maybe it was the run?  Or the overall weight loss?  Today I had one of those days when I just wasn't that interested in food.  Any food.  I ate breakfast and a just a bit for lunch because I knew it was the responsible thing to do - especially post run.  But somehow eating and food just didn't seem like a big deal.  My appetite usually decreases after a run - pretty coool! Iit's like something is really beginning to shift inside and while I enjoy food, it's finally taking a backseat to the rest of my life.  Today I enjoyed my run much more than the food I ate and that is a fabulous change I hope continues!!!!    

The weeks are quickly heading toward the end of this challenge. I hope everyone plans on continuing on with their new improved lifestyles. I know without doubt that Bev and I plan on it. I'm hoping they keep this community open so that we can all continue supporting one another and cheering each other on as we approach our own "finish lines". We have met some wonderful inspiring people on here. Just wanted to say a big thank you to one and all. Good luck to everyone as they try to hit their goals by the end of this challenge and much more luck to continuing on from there!

It was a warm beautiful day here, so I took advantage of it and got in 4.6 miles of walking. A good start to my week always makes the rest seem to be less scary in some ways. Being a single parent can be fairly stressful at times and cut into any exercise time. Fortunately my kids are supporting my efforts which definately helps. With Bev's help and support my eating habits are improving, in spite of last weekend's stumble. Fortunately exercise for me has a snowball effect and every bit I do leads me to want to do more. When I get the 2 sides in sync, I'm gonna really start dropping pounds! One of my life long friends is morbidly obese too. I'm hoping my improvements will inspire him to work on his own health. We have started talking about it, so at least it's a start. Bev was my inspiration and I'm hoping I can pass her efforts on down the line. Thank you darlin.

 

On a sad note, the world lost one of the most amazing guitarists on Sunday. Jeff Healey lost his vision when he was very young, but still learned to play the guitar and share his gifts with the world. He fought cancer throughout his life and despite the pain he lived in, he brightened the lives of those who got to enjoy his music. RIP Jeff Healey. God bless all those dealing with his death.

Whew.  That's one week that sure was hard and we made it through.  Neither Buc nor I had our best weigh ins but considering the week, they were reasonable.  We kicked some *** on the activity though!    Buc lost 1.1 lbs, walked 14.3 miles and biked 36.3 - all time highs on the exercise. Go Buc!!   I didn't lose a thing but ran 8.2, so I feel good on that end of things.  And neither one of us lost our mind, so all in all, it worked out.