Shrink for Good Parade of Cans

Get a load of my cans!


Our last challenge at the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans revolved around Weight Watchers' Lose for Good campaign. We named our challenge (most appropriately) Shrink for Good! The premise was for every pound lost, we would donate a pound of non-perishable items to our local food banks. In conjunction with this, Weight Watchers committed to donating $1 million to help fight childhood hunger.

Let's just say we're all shrinkers and our local food banks are growing, for good.

Personally, I only lost 3.6 pounds during our challenge, but I did commit to donating 100 pounds of food, no matter how much I lost.

This is a picture of 50 pounds of my donation. Yes, I sat down with a calculator and tallied up all the ounces after figuring out my scales wouldn't cooperate and weigh my stuff for me! This 50 pounds is also representative of all the weight I've lost since I started this journey 3 1/2 years (and a baby!) ago. WOW.

I will be stopping at the grocery store tonight to pick up the rest of my food donation, and I'll be dropping it all off later this week, so come back and check out the rest of my cans, m'kay?

And if you feel so inclined, sift through your pantry today and pull out some cans for YOUR local food bank. Somewhere there's a child who might be so grateful you took the time.

OH! I almost forgot!!

Last week: 142.6
This week: 141.2
Loss: 1.4 pounds WOOT!!!!

Shrink for Good

At the Sisterhood, we've teamed up with Weight Watchers and their Lose for Good campaign! We're shrinking, and as we shrink, we're setting aside canned goods (equal to the number of pounds we've lost) to donate to our local food banks. For real! It's amazing and inspiring, and I haven't had any problems with motivation over the past two weeks. As a matter of fact, I made a very big promise to everyone at the Sisterhood that I aim to keep!

And as if that wasn't enough, we've also teamed up with EA Sports Active for their 30-Day Challenge! We're a little over a week int to the challenge, and all I can say is WOW! Who knew that working out could be so fun. Seriously. I would normally rather run over my feet with a lawn mower than workout, but I actually look forward to EAS 30-Day Challenge. Of course it helps that I'm doing it with all my sisters and brother!

Here are the fruits, or non-perishables if you will, of my labor over the past 2 weeks (that's Mia serving as my hand model-a-la-Vanna-White):



Last Week: 144.8
This Week: 143.6
Loss: 1.2#

That's 2.4 pounds gone so far, and only 7.6 more to go!! Can I do it?!!!

If you want to lose a few pounds, there's never been a better time or a better reason. Lose for Good is benefiting 2 amazing charities, Share Our Strength and Action Against Hunger, by donating $1M, and encouraging all their members (and non-members) to donate canned goods to local food banks. Last year over 4M pounds of food was donated. WOW!!

Even if you don't need to lose a few pounds, you can still participate in Lose-a-palooza. I mean, with a name that freaking awesome, why wouldn't you want to participate?! Here's the skinny: Weight Watchers wants you to get social. Hit Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and your blog, and share the love of Lose for Good with your readers! Go here to read more about how Weight Watchers will donate a dollar every single time you mention Lose for Good on September 15th!

That is all. Well, except I really want to encourage you to grab a few cans from your pantry right now, and next time you're out, drop them off at the nearest food bank. Click here to find a food bank in your zip code. You could be making all the difference in the world to a child who's hungry.

Weigh-in Wednesday

It's week 5 for the Shrinking Days of Summer Challenge over at the Sisterhood, and I'm proud to say that I'm down again. Really down. More down than I've been in the past 10 years! Woohooo!!

Challenge Start: 148.8
Last week: 145
This week: 143.6

I've lost over 5 pounds on this challenge and I'm super stoked. I feel like I've finally had a break through. I've been thinking about what I've done differently, and to be honest, I've completely quit counting points. I've been semi-tracking calories, but mostly, I've just been watching what I eat. I feel like I've finally figured out what I need to eat and what I don't need to eat. Getting in my 5 servings of fruit and vegetables everyday and making sure to keep up with my water has been key. I'm trying to get into the swing of working out everyday again, as well.

So here's to another great week of shrinking, Sisters!!

p.s. WAY TO GO TEAM RED!! All of you did great this week, and I'm so proud of you!

Weigh In Wednesday

Today is the last weigh in for the Shrink Into Summer Challenge over at the Sisterhood. Are you sitting on the edge of your seat and biting your nails in anticipation of my weight loss revelation?! Well, sit back and get those nasty fingernails out of your mouth. I did not lose. As a matter of fact, I GAINED.

*crickets chirping*

Do you want to buy me a drink? Please.

Challenge start weight: 146.6
This week: 149.2
Change: +2.6 lbs.

That's right, I gained 2.6 pounds during this challenge.

Let's break it down. The first weigh in, I gained. Second, I lost. Third, I gained. Well, you get the picture, right. Somewhere in there I did the 30 Day Shred and then went out of town for week. I lost my motivation and found it. Several times.

Overall, I feel much better about myself today. Much better. I am working out. I did the 30 Day Shred. I am doing it again. I can see a difference in my body. I might not be lighter, but I feel so much stronger. I am fully committed to losing the last 19.2 pounds. Heck, I've already lost 43 pounds, so I know I can do it. I just need to stay on track.

I was talking to Lisa last night and I came to the conclusion that I might be a little bored with Weight Watchers. Heck, I've been doing it off and on for years. It just donesn't feel challenging anymore. It's boring, and when I get bored I lose interest. Doesn't everyone? So I'm thinking about trying something different. Maybe I'll just get old fashioned and count calories? Maybe I'll try the South Beach Diet. I'm not sure. I know that I have 2 weeks until the next challenge starts, so I can figure something out. I do know that I'll continue Shredding and working out everyday. I've never felt better. My body is firmer, less jiggly. Less jiggly is good. Very good.

p.s. Why did Weight Watchers change their site AGAIN? Is it so we won't get bored? I think it would be great if the damn pages would load to I can enter my weight and look at my chart. Whatevs.

Weigh-in Wednesday - Weightloss Rollercoaster

It's weigh in Day with the Sisterhood!!

I refuse to say that I'm yo-yo-ing. I am not. I am moving down slowly, but surely. I know weight loss takes time, patience, perseverance, and more patience. It is often frustrating, hard, and I occasionally suffer from a huge bout of total and complete burnout. I don't know if you noticed or not, but I didn't weigh-in last week. It was that bad. At least it felt that bad to me. I was mad at myself, and a little too embarrassed to share my results.



Let's take a look:


4/15 - 147.4


4/22 - 149.6


4/29 - 147.0



So as you can see, I slipped, fell, wallowed in complete burnout, and then I picked myself up, dusted off and tried to turn it around. I honestly think that gain was alot of water retention because I ate crazy things like fried chicken (gasp, and on the day before weigh in!) and Mexican food. Lots of sodium there, Sisters.



The point I'm trying to make is that all of us are going to have those weeks. The weeks when we eat like crap because we're burned out. The weeks where we fall off the exercise wagon because we just don't feel like doing another squat, lunge, or push up. The weeks when we just want a break. And that's okay, as long as you realize that each day is a brand new day, a day to start fresh, to not wallow in self-pity, to realize that you can go on. Live and learn, girls. Live and learn and then get back on the wagon and recommit yourself. You must!!



Weightloss is a roller coaster. You are not going to have a loss every sinlge week. Heck, some weeks you'll probably gain. That is okay because over the long run, you'll go down, down, down (just with a few little hills in the middle!).



Here's is my Weight Watchers weight tracker - it highlights perfectly what I'm talking about. As you can see, I've come down alot. But look in the middle at all of those weeks when I went up a little (well except for that week it went way up, just ignore that one, I'm pretty sure my scale was on crack that week).

And yeah, my first name is Virginia, just in case you noticed :)

So here's to a new week. A fresh start.

And yes, I'm still Shredding. Everyday but 2 so far. I'm on Level 3 Day 3 today and I've never, ever felt better. NEVER!

Wednesday Weigh-In

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's weigh-in day, blah blah blah. Ugh.

So I gained 1.2 pounds. And it sucks. And I'm disappointed, but that's okay! There are still 2 weeks left in the challenge and my new goal is to get into the 140s by then. Yes it is!!

Last week: 151

This week: 152.2

This week I'm actually going to log all my points into Weight Watchers online. Oh, yes I am. I've been a total and complete slacker, so I have no one to blame but myself for my gain. I thought I was doing a good job of keeping track of points in my head, and honestly I felt like I had a really good week. Good eating, more activity, lots of water, etc. But I miscalculated, or really, didn't calculate, so I gained. And that's that.

Goals:

Get into the 140s by the end of the Challenge

Log every last point into WW online. EVERY.ONE.OF.THEM.

I hope you had a fabulous week. And if you didn't, it's okay, just try harder next time, okay! ;)

If you haven't checked out the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans yet, what are you waiting for? Seriously. Get over there now.

Also, this week 2 of my very dear friends suffered unimaginable losses. Please go and give them support.

You can also follow the Sisterhood on Twitter: @shrinkingjeans

You can follow me on Twitter: @reallifeadv

Wednesday Weigh-In

I was really dreading today. Really dreading it. I haven't weighed-in in 3 weeks. At least officially, and I knew it wasn't going to be cute. And it wasn't.cute.at.all.

My weight today is 158.4. If you're keeping track, let me just remind you that I started the Challenge at 155.8. GASP. And 3 weeks ago I was at a svelte 152.2. SHOCK. So yeah, I did quite a bit of damage over the holidays.

I'm done beating myself up though. Seriously. I had my few moments of total shock and disbelief and anger because I'd totally blown it, but then I got over it and realized that today is a new day. I can turn it around. And I will.

My biggest struggle with this Challenge was all the traveling I did during December. I went to Houston one weekend, and then spent an entire week in Austin followed by another weekend in Houston. That's alot of eating out folks. Because that's what I do when I travel. Don't get me wrong, I'm not making excuses, but I do feel like I was a little doomed. When I was home, I was eating right. Drinking water and following the plan.

I'm really looking forward to the new year and a new me. I will lose this weight. I will lose it in a healthy way. And I will incorporate excercise into my daily life. I promise.

Checkin' In - WW

Today is my 3rd day on WW and I'm doing really well. We even ate out for lunch after BJ's soccer game today and I was able to make good choices (even though everyone else in my family was having yummy and greasy breakfasts!).

I really do love to cook, so it's been fun getting back into the swing of cooking my favorite WW recipes. Tonight we had chicken fajitas and they were delicious. I made homemade pico de gallo with avocados and it was sooooooooo good. We also had Mexican rice that was wonderful. I did go over by 10 points today, but that's what flex point are for, right?

Tomorrow will be another dining out challenge as were heading to a neighboring town for window treatment shopping and a birthday party. We'll eat lunch before we leave, but will most definitely be dining out for dinner. I'll probably blow the rest of my flex points and have to walk the straight and narrow until my weigh-in on Thursday. Yikes! I do tend to do better during the week when Brian's not here because we don't really go out to eat, so maybe it won't be so bad. I feel like I can control myself if I cook at home.

My biggest challenge today? Getting all of my water in. Some days I do fine and drink more than enough, but days like today, where we're constantly going, I find myself seriously lagging behind. I'll have to play catch up this evening which means I'll be running to the potty all night!

Back in the saddle again...

Beth and I joined Weight Watchers online today! Almost 2.5 years ago, we both lost a whole bunch of weight together, so I'm certain we can do it again. That girl is a motivator!!

I'm sure I'll be posting lots about our journey, and I might even start a separate blog for it. Just having trouble thinking of a fun and catchy name for it. If you have any suggestions, let me know.