Hi Everyone!   I've been out sick for a couple of weeks hence my recent rapid weight loss.  But I'm finally on the mend and just had to write and tell everyone how proud I am of Buc.  If you are out there struggling in any way, I encourage to you keep persevering and keep an eye on Buc.  He's been working so hard all of these days and exercising vast quantities of miles.  The one key to success he'd postponed using to it's fullest advantage was his food intake.  And then two weeks ago at our most recent Biggest Loser weekend, that changed.  I don't really understand how or why but the important thing is Buc went home and started journaling again.  As you can see from reading his blog entry below, that really is the ticket for him.  And with another week of journaling, he's had another great week - 5.6 pounds gone!  And look at this weight loss tracker - he is getting close to his halfway mark and has lost almost 10% of his total body fat.  WOOHOO!  And one of Buc's best friends has now joined him on this journey.  You know who you are - congratulations to you, too!

 

Buc is a great guy and a fantastic friend.  I'm so proud to be making this journey with him.   You're shown great strength and character - this time you get the dozen roses!

After a huge slow down, it was great to finally put back up a good loss number for the week. Don't get me wrong, I do realize how vital it is to knock off those 1 and 2 pound weeks and weeks where you maintain are very important too, but with so much weight to lose, those small numbers do make me wince. Especially when I look back and know I didn't do everything I could to have a great week. My BL weekend with Bev and her wonderful family couldn't have come at a better time. I was frustrated with my efforts and wasn't getting the results I wanted. And once again, my dear friend Bev talked through it with me and encouraged me to start journaling again, something I hadn't done in the 3 previous weeks. Just like hard work has it's just rewards, laziness has it's costs and my laziness about journaling had cost me the numbers I wanted. Something so simple, yet I had just been refusing to do it. Well, thanks to Bev and a good swift reality check, I now know journaling, for me anyway, is an ABSOLUTE MUST! The proof was in the pudding. I lost more weight this past week than I had in the 3 previous weeks combined. So once again, I have to thank you Bev! I know you brush it off when I give you so much credit for where I am today, but it undeniably true! I know I do the work, but without your encouragement, support and sometimes tough love I wouldn't have lost nearly as much as I have. Thanks darlin. I know you have been under the weather all week and it's killing you to hit the track again. Just take it slow and before you know it you will be hitting your stride again in no time! Thanks again for another totally AMAZING weekend! I can't wait til the next! Hopefully I'll be flirting with going under 300 by then!

 

Thanks to journaling and over 15 hours of workouts (including 20.3 miles of walking and 41.5 miles of biking), I lost 4.8 pounds last week. I'm still amazed I went over 60 miles for the week! Just 6 months ago 6 miles would have been a good week! LOL Best of luck to all our Biggest Loser friends this week!

Do you have that one person in your life who knows you better than you know yourself, but still likes you? That person who will support you and encourage you and give you a good swift kick if need be? That person who knows when to listen, when to talk and most importantly when absolutely nothing can or needs to be said? That person who lends a hand or a shoulder and knows just which one you need? That one person who you just can't imagine living your life without? (Other than my babies that is!!!) If you do, thank God for them daily and let them know just how special they are to you. I do and you are all this and more to me Bev. Thank you!

 

Ok everyone, thanks for letting me say all that. We had a wonderful BL weekend this past weekend! Lots of talking and sharing things that can help each other and ourselves. I tried chasing Bev around the track too. I have no idea what she sees in this running thing, but I'm glad she enjoys it so much! ;-) She has improved so much as a runner. In less than 6 months she has gone from no running to going 4 miles with still more in the tank! She has upped her pace and form too and is truly thrilled about running!! I just don't understand it! lol I couldn't be more proud of her! Bravo my amazing teammate. Together we looked at what's been going on in my recent slow down and as much as I hated admitting it, I had to face that journaling is essential! So I started again yesterday and hope it turns things around for me this week! I'm working harder physically, but had let my eating habits slip and it took it's toll. As Bev noted, if I worked as hard on my eating as I do my exercise, I'd be much farther down the scale. She does a wonderful job in tracking her eating habits and improving them where she can and now is upping her physical activity with the warmer weather. So if I'm gonna be able to keep up with her, I'm going to have to start working harder on my eating habits. Scares me and I know I'll struggle with it, but at least I know where my plateau started and can now start working on it. We also took some more pics this past weekend that we will be posting soon. Bev looks totally fantastic! She has done a wonderful job!

 

My numbers were down a little last week. I was exhausted on Thursday and sleep won out over working out, but I did walk 6 days last week for 15.4 miles and ride my bike for 34.4 more miles. I only lost another 1.2 last week. Hopefully with the journaling this week, that last number will at least double! Hope everyone out there has a great week!

 

Hurray for Ali! I was hoping for Kelly to win, but Ali did an amazing job.

On the first day of first grade (35 years ago) I met my best friend, Laura.  I used to stay with her summers after she moved and we were best friends until her death 13 years ago.  Last night, her sister called me to tell me their mom died on Monday.   We all died a little when my friend did but noone more than her mom.  It turns out the funeral was today and I was actually able to go.  The last time I'd been at that funeral home was when my friend died and that's where today's service was held.  And now Laura and her mom are buried right next to each other.  It was a sad, sad day but as with so many other funerals, the blessing was seeing so many loved ones.  Before I drove home, I went back to the gravesite and sat with Laura and her mom.   When we were children, we  used to eat red licorice all the time.  So on the way to see  them, I bought some red licorice and as I sat there thinking about all the wonderful memories we shared, I ate it in memory of her.  Laura also greatly loved Billy Joel, so if you have any of his music please consider playing a song in honor of a wonderful person who died too young and the broken-hearted mother she left behind.  They are together now at peace and that is a great comfort to me. 

Sorry I've not been blogging, but as my wonderful teammate has noted, I've hit a wall and I'm struggling. I had a long talk with Bev last night and she hit the nail on the head. If and when I can commit as fully to my eating habits as I have to my exercise, the walls will fall quickly. I increased my workouts this week to levels I haven't hit since I played football many many years ago, but only managed to lose .6 pounds. (Better than gaining, but far from my potential.) I walked for almost 6 hours last week and covered 18.8 miles. I rode my recumbent bike for 36 minutes a day and went for 40.5 more miles. I lifted weights for 30 minutes on 3 days and devoted another couple of hours to other exercises and stretching. That's almost 13 hours of sweating for the cause last week. On the down side, as I discussed with Bev, for the past 2 weeks I've been looking in the mirror and still seeing the 377 pound me and turning to food in frustration for comfort, falling on the sword time after time.  I feel the difference in my clothes, in how much easier I can move, how much my energy level has increased, but I still fell victim to my poor self image. I've worked on that for the past several months in therapy and changing my body, but now see I'm not there yet. I can do this. I know I can. I just have to start believing in myself again. It gets tough at times. 56 pounds in the past few months is nothing to sneeze at, but it's not the finish line either. I have to go back to taking things day by day and realizing that I didn't get this way overnight and there is no way to lose it overnight. Getting to where I was and getting to where I want to be were and are processes that I have to realize took / take time. I have stumbled hard for the last 2 weeks and will stumble again before I get to where I want to be. What I have to do now is forgive myself, pick myself up, dust myself off and get right back in the game. It's not going to be easy. I've lived a lifetime of being hard on myself, guess it's time to give me a break.

 

On a much happier note, my amazing teammate hit a 14 year low on her weight! WOW! I couldn't be more happy or proud of you darlin! Thank you so very much for listening to me last night, letting me vent and saying what needed to be said. You are incredible and I'm very fortunate to know you! I'm thrilled about getting to share another BL weekend with you this coming weekend! Just don't rough me up too bad!

Our weekly losses  haven't been huge but we are making progress just the same.  Yesterday I weighed in at 178.2 - the lowest I've been in 14 years!!  Buc's combined exercise mileage was over 50 miles, almost 60!!  He is now more than 1/3 of the way to meeting his goal and between the two of us, we've lost 124 pounds.  That's equal to my sister and then some.

 

We are having another BL weekend in a few days and will take and post pictures.  Buc is down 35 and Bev is down 16 since the Biggest Loser Couples Challenge began.  Time to share the results.

This morning Buc sent me a text that he was feeling discouraged that his 50 lb loss to date wasn't all that significant on a fellow whose starting weight was over 370.  50 pounds is a huge loss no matter WHAT your starting size!!   I suspect that as the weekly losses are slowing down some and he is encountering plateaus, the discouragement has crept in.  Let's hear for my guy Buc!   He is so much healthier AND smaller than he used to be.   Actually I think he is finally getting used to his new size and that is why it doesn't feel as significant as it used to.  I know my head was spinning when I mentally made the transition from feeling like a small fat woman to a fat regular sized woman.  I actually felt fatter if that makes any sense at all.  So hang in there Buc and any of the rest of  you who may be going through this.  Your weight loss rocks!!!

I've been eating low GI (glycemic index) foods for more than a year and that is the central feature of my 65 lb weight loss to date.  Today I got published in their newsletter as a success story!  I'm thrilled and just had to share it with you my BL friends...

 

 http://ginews.blogspot.com/2008/04/your-success-stories.html

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