Kicking B*tt!

Since I last participated in this challenge, I've started taking Tang So Do, a Korean form karate, with my oldest.  My start was kind of a fluke.  My middle decided he no longer wanted to attend, but we still had half a year's contract to fulfill.  So, I thought, instead of just sitting and watching, I could do this. So I took my middle's place and then ended up continuing on and renewing the contract again.  My oldest and I just tested over the weekend.  He for his red belt (the last belt color before black, although he has 4 stripes yet to go) and I tested for green.

We both kicked b*tt! Both literally and figuratively. Because I've been running a bit, I had more endurance to survive the hardest part: sparring (fighting hand and foot) against three men, all of whom were 2-6 inches taller than me.  I even managed to score a few points against two of the guys which made me feel like a NINJA!

It's so much fun to do something with my oldest and not only to learn with him, but also to learn from him.  I feel like I'm being a good mom and being good to myself at the same time.

P.S.  In order, my three are hydration, exercise, and eating my fruits & veggies.

Will It Be You?

Ok! I guess you are ready to start.  Here is the plan.  We start tomorrow June 3rd and will end Saturday June 15th.  That way we can have a break on Father's Day and start again on June 17th.

You pick the three things you would like to work on.  

The hardest is worth 15 pts. a day.
The second is worth 10 pts. a day.
The third is worth 5 pts. a day.

At the end who ever has the most points is the challenge winner.  The next round you can keep the same ones, or change it around.  Remember, changing habits takes about 21 days.

Finally, you should really post and tell us what you are doing and if you are willing to share, what your three goals are.  

Summer is a busy time for everyone.  It seems like it's just as busy as the school year just with different things filling up are days.  The desire to be healthy is not short term.  The things you are doing should become part of your daily life.  The idea is adding a little at a time makes those things stick before you add more.  You may not write down what you eat every day forever but you should always continue to try to eat healthy.  Trying to do healthy things should be something you can achieve MOST days.
 
Now go get em'. 

Three Hard Things

The hardest thing for me is exercising. Once I start, it's easy. It's just that the starting is hard. 

The second hardest thing is hydration. What I'm going to write will be foreign to many of you, but I can go a whole day on just one cup of coffee, one glass of water and one beer. I know, I know, that's just not enough (and not the ideal forms of hydration either.) I can mentally see Audrey shaking her head at me and wagging a finger as well. So HYDRATION does not come naturally to me...but it should.

Third hardest is getting enough veggies. I get enough fruit. And, don't get me wrong, I love veggies. I just don't always make them at lunch or, I don't serve myself enough of them at dinner. When I track my food, I realize I need more veggies.

 So my TOP three to track this summer would be exercise, hydration, and veggies!

Running Slowly

Hi all! I've gone and done the impossible: I started running. Impossible because I have an old parachuting knee injury and mild exercise induced asthma. Also I used to have that problem so many Mamas have when bouncing and running. You know what I'm talking about. Well, no more. So now, I'm running very slowly. My goal: complete my first 5k in early June. My hope is to do it in under 44 minutes and 38 seconds...that was the slowest race time in all age brackets last year. I can do hard things and my body can be strong and resilient! I'm with you Mindy!

Bueller...?

LADIES!!!!!

Are you out there?  Can you hear me?  Do you miss this place as much as I do?  Do you need this place to motivate you like I need it? 

Are you interested in firing this blog back up?  Maybe just for summer?

Who's in?

PS- I changed my posting name a while ago from Mindelicious to Pinspot.  Mindelicious was making me think of Fergie, who disgusts me in nearly every way.  My mom has called me Pinspot for as long as I can remember. 

I won!

Update for the maintain, don't gain contest...I won!  I worked out every day since Halloween (not counting Sundays).  I turned in my stamped booklet and won.  The disappointing part was that the pot was not the prize.  I think they spent about $25 on the prizes plus they extended our gym membership for three more months.  Anyway...I kept exercising and lost 9 lbs in the process.  Gotta work on my eating habits now.  My first wedding as a mother is coming up in 6 months!

A new challenge?

If anyone's interested, I'm starting up a new blog for the challenge.
Brand new year, and I need to get back on track.

A Healthy Challenge

Hope somebody will join me!

No Excuses!!!!

It's me...I know it's hard to maintain or lose weight during the high carb/high calorie time of the year...but it's part of life, right?  In the summer it's all the summer salads and BBQ's that get us and now it's Halloween candy, Thanksgiving dinners and Christmas Parties!

So sorry to report that I gain a bunch of weight this last month...between my sweet neighbors bringing over the high cal/high carb dinners and all the yummy bread and treats, plus my trip to New York to see my dad...I'm pretty sure they were out to sabotage me with cookies, brownies, cake and doughnuts...not to mention all the eating out!  No, I am not the pillar of strength I wish I was!  Luckily, it comes off as quickly as I put it on...so 7 lbs off this week!  I'm suppose to lose 11 more to get back to my Oct. 11th weight, but on Dec. 11th, I'm suppose to be down 6 more lbs than that to meet goal!  This will be one tough cookie to crack!

So for some encouragement, I joined the Maintain, Don't Gain contest at my gym.  The prize is the pot!  A couple or three hundred dollars, I believe.  Can you say...New Clothes!  The contest ends about mid January.  No more excuses!  I have the time and the mind to dedicate to seriously eating healthy and getting my exercise in!  Today was a kickbox class at 6 and an hour of 1 on 1 racquetball at 8.  I have been pretty good about keeping up the weight lifting...minimum of 2 times a week, but mostly 3 times.  Even in NY, I found a gym that would give me a free 1 week membership and my dad took me 3 times while I was there (So sweet of him!  He just ran an errand or read in the parking lot til I was done.  It was about 35 min. drive from where he lived).  Tomorrow is weights and racquetball.  Maybe I'll have to add 10-15 min on the treadmill just to make sure I'm burning the calories I need to.

The challenging part for me is to figure out what to eat and to have something for my boys to eat...that they like.  That's my goal today...make a menu!  Any suggestions?

Biggest Loser Finale

I'm the one in yellow!

So I know you are on pins and needles wondering how the Biggest Loser contest ended.  It was a great run!  We had a great trainer that would see us about 3 times a week.  She taught us how to eat healthy and the value of good cardio and weight lifting.  Most of all, she taught us how to stay on track while living life.  Not everyone can eat exactly what they should, every meal, every day...but we can still make good choices instead of excuses!

My team mate, Steve, won the grand prize...which, I'm sorry to say...were pretty lame prizes...but the real prize is our good health (is what I keep telling myself !) and the new friendships we formed.

Basically, I lost about 40 lbs total for the year...not enough to win the contest, but enough to look and feel more healthy.  With taking care of Jake...it was all I could do to maintain the past 2 months (not an excuse...just part of life)!  The physical strength I gained helped me to be able to lift Jake when needed and it gave me confidence and strength mentally to handle unexpected challenges.

I was ready to quit trying to lose more weight (about 20 more lbs to go), but I was reminded that I am also part of a Waist a Weigh program that requires me to lose about 3 lbs a month so they will keep reimbursing me for my gym memberships.  I can do this! (dang it!)  So I'm not off the hook since the contest ended.  Life goes on so so must I!

Important

Hello friends,

Please go to Rose's blog to see an important post.  I know she would want you all to see it.

For the Sake of Jake        http://forthesakeofjake.blogspot.com/

Please keep her family and her in your prayers.

Love, 

Missy

Happy Toes!

Remember when I dropped a 45 lb. weight on my toe and broke it?  Well the bruise is still there under the toe nail.  Everytime I look at it, it reminds me of my clumsiness.  Not anymore!  My friend, Missy, came to visit us on the beach and painted my toenails...first time they have been painted since...highschool!  Now I look at my toes and feel the love! :)

Pink Beach Babes!

Thanks for the boogie board lessons, Andrew!  The boys enjoyed playing in the surf and hunting for treasures in the sand!    Jake didn't feel up to coming with us, but the rest of us had a great time at the beach!  Thanks Missy and Andrew!  You guys are awesome!

So nice!

Guess what 'Healthy Wives'?  I got to meet our sweet Rose and her wonderful family this week.  I was in Utah on vacation and was able to meet them.  I got to meet her husband, and all of her five sons including her kind and handsome Jake.

Just wanted to brag a little - I feel so lucky!  I hope you are all doing well. I think of you often.
Missy

Not so good news...

The doctor has given Jake a few months to live. We are making them the best we can. Tumors are growing so fast I quit counting. I am hoping he will make it until his best friend comes home off his mission the first of December...but if not...let's just say I expect this Christmas to be the worst one of my life!

Biggest Loser update

Hi Ho my HWHL friends!  I know you guys check here occasionaly to see if anyone has posted anything new (because I do!) so I will update you guys!

First the good news...I have lost 40 lbs so far!  Yay! (insert happy dance here).  They cut 3 people off our team and 3 people move on.  I moved on.  As far as the contest goes...pretty lame!  No team competitions, no team prizes and really, really lame prizes...but, I do have the best trainer and I am getting healthy...that is the best prize right there!

Camping pic back in July

As for Jake, well he can't have sugar or processed foods so I have been cooking a lot more.  Brother's aren't crazy about not having sugar around the house, but it's good for all of us!  That and the liver cleanse I think is helping with the latest weight loss.

Jake, Grandma Sweet, John (twin bro.)

It hurts my heart to consider that every event may be the last one I get to spend with Jake.  Hopefully, this week we will find out what is causing him so much pain in his back.

Sorry, Girlfriend...

My conscious mind has not set a goal this summer for my body and health. However, my bathroom scales have informed me that my unconscious-mind/hormones/general-psychology have decided that my summer goal is to Gain 20 pounds. Ummm... does anyone else out there need a big kick in the rear, too? I'm sitting here, knowing I need a drastic intervention, something to motivate me to get my act together, and right now I'm sitting at the I-am-a-stubborn-2-year-old stage, where I feel like I need to be bribed to get back on track. Where's the Magic I'll-pay-you-a-thousand-bucks-if-you-lose-50-pounds Fairy when you need her? Does anybody else want to get back on track, and could we get some kind of contest or something going?

Aaaack!!!

Jake Update

Here's the link for the pathology test on Jake.
We knew it would be a possibility, but were hoping for a better outcome! (sigh!)

Jake Update...

 

Tumor is OUT!

We are hoping to take Jake home tomorrow!  Right now he's kinda grumpy!  This pic was his first trip all the way around the unit.  He said his arms were not feeling very strong, but it felt really good to ge out of the bed.  For some reason, the food here smells terrible to him, so he won't eat it.  I have to bring him stuff from home so he'll at least eat something!  I made him cupcakes this morning.  He was pretty happy with that!

We will find out Wednesday if he is Cancer Free!  It's been a long, long road.

BL update:  I gain 6 lbs of muscle this month!  My trainer is very proud!  Fat is down 4%.  I haven't been eating on target so much with Jake in the hospital, but I'll get back on track as soon as he's out!  My exercise program hasn't faltered too much (have have to do something to keep me sane!).  I hate sitting in the hospital and do nothing!

Thanks for caring!

Blog ya later! :)

Another Rose update!

Jake will be having his tumor removed on June 29th.  He will also be having his port removed.  There is no other cancer cells showing up in Jake's body, so we are praying that this operation will make him CANCER FREE! 

Weight's still coming off.  Down 32 lbs so far!  I feel much stronger (from weight lifting) and for some reason, probably as a result of your prayers, I feel stronger emotionally.  I still cry...often, but I have a lot of hope that everything will be ok...eventually.  Healing will come...to Jake and to my heart.

This weekend, we will go do some family bonding, breath the healing aroma of the mountains, give all our worries to God and let Him take care of them.

BL and Jake Update

Hey HWHL friends!
It's been a while for all of us!  We all lead busy lives don't we?  I keep checking here to see if anyone is doing anything exciting or challenging, but same as you...did not post anything...till now!

Biggest Loser update:  Well, I had a little set back with my weight.  I believe that my change in eating habits had my stomach confused.  I gained 10 lbs in 2 weeks!  I wasn't eatig badly...but still beating myself up for it.  My "gut" feeling was that my gut was not processing all that extra protein I was ingesting.  I had to do a tea cleans to finally get things moving in the right direction!  By my wiegh in on Friday,  I had lost the extra 10 lbs I had put on and by this morning I had lost the 5 more lbs that came off this month with my exercise and good eating habits!  It came off as mysteriously and as fast as it came on!  Finally some encouraging results!

I'm so glad I didn't give up and go back to my bad eating habits!  I have to admit that I did turn to some comfort food in my depths of frustration...but not over doing it...just enough to help me feel better...then guilty about not eating the way I know would help me to be healthy.

What I find most encouraging is the shrinking numbers...from the scale and the measuring tape! 
It's all good!

Jake update:  Jake's blog  click on this link to read the latest.  Jake finished his last chemo and we are waiting to do a P.E.T. scan to make sure the tumor is dead tissue.  It looks to me that the tumor is actually bigger, but if it's dead tissue, it doesn't matter.  We are going to see a Urologist and hopefully have most of his hospital/doctor visits finished by the end of this month. 

I'm really looking forward to things being "Normal" for a while.  Won't that be nice! :)

I'm still here and doing Cat's Challenge

It's been really quiet on Healthy Wife.

I've been wondering how all of you are doing and checking the blog to see if anyone has posted.

Cat's doing her 120 mile challenge again this summer and I was hoping that some of you might want to join me in doing it, I've already signed up. I did it last year, it was a great incentive for me to get my cardio in each week. I finished in August having reached Cat's goal and with a smaller tush and gut.

Let me know if you are joining the challenge too.

http://nutsinanutshell.blogspot.com/2011/05/fat-butt-friday-summer-challenge.html